THE SHE KING; OR, THE BOOK OF ANCIENT POETRY

320 THE BOOK OF POETET. [PAET III. BE in. i.] THE BOOK OF POETET. 321
5 Heaven now regards us with its blackest scowl;—
Boast not yourselves, nor try men to cajole.
Good men who see your reason thus o'ercome,
Like those who personate the dead, are dumb.
The land with sighs and groans the people fill,
Yet we dare not attempt to probe tlieir ill.
The wild disorder all their means devours,
But they know not one kindly act of ours.
6 You,hear the whistle; straight the flute you hear ;—
Heaven's slightest touch the people quick revere.
As one half mace you on the other lay;
As something light you touch and bring away ;
An easier task you could not undertake :—
Think it not hard tho people good to make.
Perversities they have, and not a few;—
Perversity of yours let them not view.
7 Men of great virtue like a fence are found ;
The multitudes, as walls, the king surround.
Great States the kingdom from barbarians shield;
Great families, as bulwarks, safety yield.
The cherishing of virtue gives repose;
The king, by brethren guarded, laughs at foes.
Let not the strong wall crumble in the dust;
Let not our king have none in whom to trust.
8 The wrath of Heaven revere with trembling awe;—
From it let no vain sport your thoughts withdraw.
Revere Heaven's changing moods with fear profound,
And, thoughtful, fly from pleasure's whirling round.
Great Heaven on you its clearest glance directs,
And all your doings carefully inspects.
Far sees great Heaven with its all-piercing eye ;—
And watches you arnid your revelry.
BOOK III.
DECADE OF TANG.
THIS Book is calied a decade like the others, but it really contains
eleven pieces. The Chinese critics say nothing, so far as I know, on this
anomaly.
The Tang; narrative. WARNINGS ADDRESSED TO KING LE ON THE
ISSUES OF THE COURSE WHICH HE WAS PURSUING, SHOWING THAT
THE MISERIES OF THE TIME. AND THE IMMINENT DANGER OF EUIN,
WERE TO BE ATTRIBUTED, NOT TO HEAVEN, BUT TO HIMSELF AND
HIS MINISTERS.
This piece, like the 9th of the last Book, is assigned to duke Muh of
Shaou. The structure of it is peculiar, for, after the first stanza, we have
king Wan introduced, delivering his warnings to Show, the last king of
the Shang or Yin dynasty. The matter of the piece suits only Le and
Yew of all the kings of Chow within the period embraced in the She.
Le, it was hoped, would transfer the figure of Show to himself, and alter
his course, so as to avoid a similar rain.
The sovereign of Hea in the last stanza is the tyrant Keeh (B.C. 1817—
1764). King Le was to look to Show as his beacon, as Show might
have looked to Ke'eh.
What the " demon lands " in st. 6 were we cannot tell. The same
phrase occurs in the Yih King. So early had the Chinese begnn to
apply this opprobrious name to countries beyond their own.
1 How great is God, who ruleth men below !
In awful terrors now arrayed,
His dealings seem a recklessness to show,
From which we shuddering shrink, dismayed.
But men at first from Heaven their being drew,
With nature liable to change.
All hearts in infancy are good and true,
But time and things those hearts derange.
2 Thus to the tyrant Show our king Wan said:—
" Alas ! alas ! 0 king of Yin,
To you the proud oppressors give their aid,
And 'gainst you fierce exactors sin!
VOL. III. 21
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