The Nine Songs of the Songs of Chu: The Young Lord of Fate

Songs of Chu: Nine Songs Series, Shao Siming

Inspired by Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs: Shao Siming," this story is a poetic adaptation.

Autumn orchids and fragrant mugwort grow beneath the hall.

Green leaves, pale blossoms, their fragrance drifts over me.

Surely everyone has a beautiful child of their own. Why should you, fragrant spirit, be so sorrowful?

Autumn orchids, lush and green, with green leaves and purple stems.

The hall is filled with beautiful people, yet suddenly our eyes meet, you and I alone.

You enter without a word and leave without farewell, riding the circling wind beneath cloud banners.

No sorrow is greater than parting in life; no joy is greater than a new acquaintance.

A lotus robe and a belt of fragrant orchids, you come in a flash and vanish just as quickly.

At dusk you lodge in the imperial outskirts. Whom do you await at the edge of the clouds?

I would roam with you among the Nine Rivers, where gusting winds whip the waters into waves.

I would bathe with you in Xianchi, then dry your hair on the sunny slope.

I gaze for my beloved, but you do not come. Facing the wind, I sing a song of longing.

A canopy of peacock feathers, banners of kingfisher plumes, ascending to the nine heavens to brush the comets.

You raise your long sword and protect the young; you alone, fragrant spirit, are fit to guide the people.