Chinese and Arabian Literature - E. Wilson - The Search For Mecca

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THE SHI-KING
The Wife of Some Great Officer Bewails His Absence
Shrill chirp the insects in the grass
All about the hoppers spring.
While I my husband do not see,
Sorrow must my bosom wring.
O to meet him
O to greet him !
Then my heart would rest and sing.
Ascending high that Southern hill,
Turtle ferns I strove to get.
While I my husband do not see,
Sorrow must my heart beset.
O to meet him
O to greet him
Then my heart would cease to fret.
Ascending high that Southern hill.
Spinous ferns I sought to find.
While I my husband do not see,
Rankles sorrow in my mind.
O to meet him!
O to greet him !
In my heart would peace be shrined.
The Diligence of the Young Wife of an Officer
She gathers fast the large duckweed,
From valley stream that southward flows;
And for the pondweed to the pools
Left on the plains by floods she goes.
The plants, when closed her toil, she puts
In baskets round and baskets square.
Then home she hies to cook her spoil,
In pans and tripods ready there.
In sacred chamber this she sets.
Where the light falls down through the wall.
'Tis she, our lord's young reverent wife,
Who manages this service all.
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