Qu Yuan

"O Soul go not to the West Where level wastes of sand stretch on and on; And demons rage, swine-headed, hairy-skinned, With bulging eyes; Who in wild laughter gnash projecting fangs. O Soul go not to the West Where many perils wait!"

"O Soul come back to watch the birds in flight! He who has found such manifold delights Shall feel his cheeks aglow And the blood-spirit dancing through his limbs."

"惟夫党人之偷乐兮，路幽昧以险隘。"

"余固知謇謇之为患兮。"

"路漫漫其修远兮，吾将上下而求索。"

"世溷浊而不分兮，好蔽美而嫉妒。"

"世溷浊而嫉贤兮，好蔽美而称恶。"

"乱曰：已矣哉， 国无人莫我知兮，又何怀乎故都？ 既莫足与为美政兮，吾将从彭咸之所居。"

"Am I not the poet of witness?...Am I not a descendent of Qu Yuan, whose lyric intensity caused him to drown himself in the Mi Lo River in protest?"

"Ch'u Yüan (B.C. 343–c. 290) ranks undoubtedly as one of the three or four greatest poets of China characterized by his intensity of feeling, his rich mythological details, and his somber imagination. The Songs of Ch'u belong in an entirely different category from either the poems of Confucian China, or from the later T'ang poems. His poems are at the same time among those most difficult to read in Chinese."