Shu Li

Preface: "Millet Dense" is a poem mourning the fall of the Zhou ancestral temples and altars. A great officer of Zhou, traveling on official business, came to the former capital of Zhou. Passing by the sites of the former temples and palaces, he found they had all become fields of millet and sorghum. Grieving over the fall of Zhou, he lingered, reluctant to leave, and composed this poem.

That millet grows so thick and dense,

That sorghum has put forth its tender shoots.

I walk slowly along the road,

My heart unsettled and trembling.

Those who know me say my heart is full of sorrow;

Those who do not know me ask what I am seeking.

O distant blue heavens above,

What kind of people have brought this about?

That millet grows so thick and dense,

That sorghum has put forth its ears.

I walk slowly along the road,

My heart dazed as if drunk.

Those who know me say my heart is full of sorrow;

Those who do not know me ask what I am seeking.

O distant blue heavens above,

What kind of people have brought this about?

That millet grows so thick and dense,

That sorghum has ripened into grain.

I walk slowly along the road,

My heart blocked as if choked.

Those who know me say my heart is full of sorrow;

Those who do not know me ask what I am seeking.

O distant blue heavens above,

What kind of people have brought this about?

"Millet Dense" has three stanzas, each of ten lines.