The Book of Songs

Arthur Waley, Joseph Roe Allen

Grove Press, 1996 - Poetry - 388 pages

Joseph R. Allen's new edition of The Book of Songs restores Arthur Waley's definitive English translations to the original order and structure of the two-thousand-year-old Chinese text. One of the five Confucian classics, The Book of Songs is the oldest collection of poetry in world literature and the finest treasure of traditional songs that antiquity has left us.
Arthur Waley's translations, now supplemented by fifteen new translations by Allen, are superb; the songs speak to us across millennia with remarkable directness and power. Where the other Confucian classics treat "outward things, deeds, moral precepts, the way the world works," Stephen Owen tells us in his foreword, The Book of Songs is "the Classic of the human heart and the human mind."

What people are saying

User Review -

The songs in Chinese is great!! but the translation in this book is suck.
for example the first song in page 1, my translation works better( it's not a advisement.. i am just a student)
GUAN! GUAN! CRY THE OSPREY DOVE
--Book of Songs
關雎 Guān jū
《詩經》 Shī jīng
Guan! Guan! Cry the osprey dove
on sandbars in the river
a slim mild-mannered good girl
fine match for the gentleman.
關關雎鳩 Guān guān jū jiū
在河之洲 Zài hé zhī zhōu
窈窕淑女 Yǎo tiǎo shū nǚ
君子好逑 Jūn zǐ hǎo qiú
mixed nymphoides floating on the water
left and right she trails it
that slim mild-mannered good girl
awake, asleep, I search for her.
參差荇菜 Cēn cī xìng cài
左右流之 Zuǒ yòu liú zhī
窈窕淑女 Yǎo tiǎo shū nǚ
寤寐求之 Wù mèi qiú zhī
I search but cannot find her
awake, asleep, thinking of her
endlessly, endlessly,
turning tossing from side to side.
求之不得 Qiú zhī bù dé
寤寐思服 Wù mèi sī fú
悠哉悠哉 Yōu zāi yōu zāi
輾轉反側 Zhǎn zhuǎn fǎn cè
mixed nymphoides floating on the water
left and right she picks it
the slim mild-mannered good girl
harp and lute to make friends with her.
参差荇菜 Cēn cī xìng cài
左右采之 Zuǒ yòu cǎi zhī
窈窕淑女 Yǎo tiǎo shū nǚ
琴瑟友之 Qín sè you zhī
mixed nymphoides floating on the water
left and right she sorts it
the slim mild-mannered good girl
bell and drum to delight her.
参差荇菜 Cēn cī xìng cài
左右芼之 Zuǒ yòu mào zhī
窈窕淑女 Yǎo tiǎo shū nǚ
鐘鼓樂之 Zhōng gǔ yuè zhī 

Review: The Book of Songs: The Ancient Chinese Classic of Poetry

User Review  - Rosie - Goodreads

some of these are beautiful

Contents

• South of Zhou 111: 5
• South of Shao 1225: 13
• Airs of Bei 2644: 23
• Airs of Yong 4554: 38
• Airs of Wei 5564: 46
• Airs of the Royal Domain 6574: 56
• Airs of Zheng 7595: 64
• Airs of Qi 96106: 77
• Airs of Wey 10713: 84
• Airs of Tang 11425: 90
• Airs of Qin 12635: 99
• Airs of Chen 13645: 107
• Airs of Gui 14649: 113
• Airs of Cao 15053: 116
• Airs of Bin 15460: 119
• The Minor Odes Poems 161234: 129
• The Major Odes Poems 23565: 223
• The Hymns Poems 266305: 287
• The Zhou Hymns 26696: 291
• The Lu Hymns 297300: 308
• The Shang Hymns 30105: 318
• Waleys Notes on Books Used: 324
• Waleys Additional Notes: 326
• Waleys Original Topical Categories and Order of Poems: 333
• A Literary History of the Shi jing: 336
• Selected Bibliography: 384

About the author

Arthur Waley (1889-1966) is highly regarded for his many translations of Chinese & Japanese literature.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Book of Songs; An Evergreen book
• Editors: Arthur Waley, Joseph Roe Allen
• Translated by: Arthur Waley, com, Arthur Waley, Joseph Roe Allen
• Contributor: Stephen Owen
• Edition: revised
• Publisher: Grove Press, 1996
• ISBN: 0802134777, 9780802134776
• Length: 388 pages
• Subjects: Poetry / Anthologies (multiple authors); Poetry / Asian / General; Political Science / General