屈原 離騷 translation: An extract from 'The Sorrow of Parting', by Qu Yuan
Happy Dragon Boat Festival! Seeing as today’s festivities are all about commemorating the poet 屈原 (Qu Yuan), it seems appropriate to have a look at a poem that is usually attributed to him: 離騷 (Lí Sāo) - The Sorrow of Parting.
The whole poem is 372 lines long, of which I’m annotating just eight (the full original text is available here).
離騷 Lí Sāo [parting] [sorrow] The Sorrow of Parting
朝發軔於蒼梧兮， Zhāo fā rèn yú cāngwú xī, [morning] [depart] [brake] [at] [Cang] [Wu] [oh] Taking off the brake, departing from Cangwu at dawn,
夕餘至乎縣圃； xī yú zhì hū xuán pǔ; [dusk] [remain] [arrive] [at] [hang] [garden] and before night falls, arriving at the Hanging Gardens;
欲少留此靈瑣兮， yù shǎo liú cǐ líng sǒu xī, [want] [little] [stay] [this] [spirit] [gathering place] [oh] I wish to stay at this gathering place of the spirits,
日忽忽其將暮； rì hūhū qí jiāng mù; [sun] [sudden] [sudden] [it] [will [sunset] yet the sun is about to set;
吾令羲和弭節兮， wú lìng Xīhé mǐ jié xī, [I] [order] [Xi] [He] [restrain] [limit] [oh] I order Xihe to slow to a trot;
望崦嵫而匆迫； wàng yān zī ér cōng pò; [gaze] [Yan] [Zi] [yet not] [hasty] [urge towards] gazing at Mt Yan and Mt Zi, yet not anxious to approach them;
路漫漫其脩遠兮， lù mànmàn qí xiū yuǎn xī, [road] [boundless] [boundless] [its] [cultivate] [distant] [oh] the road is boundless - cultivation so distant;
吾將上下而求索。 wú jiāng shàngxià ér qiúsuǒ. [I] [will] [above] [below] [and] [seek] [search] I shall explore it from beginning to end.
Notes
縣 in the second line is 懸 (xuán), meaning “hanging”; 縣圃 refers to the mythical hanging gardens in the Kunlun Mountains.
瑣 in the third line is 藪 (sǒu), which means both “gathering place” and “marsh”.
羲和 [is a Chinese goddess who rides the sun like a chariot (she’s also described as [the mother of the ten suns in Chinese folklore). 節 here is [按節, meaning to stop a horse or chariot by pulling on the reins.
崦 and 嵫 are both mountains in modern Gansu province.
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