Song of the Mountain Goddess by Meng Jiao

wu shan qu
Going upstream, I see mountain on mountain high;
The twelve green peaks with Sunny Terrace scrape the sky.
The king in hunting caught by sudden evening shower
Slept there and dreamed of the Goddess in Sunny Bower.
To her charm added the mist-veiled rainbow dress bright;
Away she flew with faded stars and clouds in flight.
However far I stretch my eyes, she can't be found;
Hearing the monkey's wail, in longing tears I'm drowned.

Original Poem:

「巫山曲」
巴江上峡重复重,阳台碧峭十二峰​。
荆王猎时逢暮雨,夜卧高丘梦神女。
轻红流烟湿艳姿,行云飞去明星稀。
目极魂断望不见,猿啼三声泪滴衣。

孟郊

Interpretation:

This poem is mainly about the legend of the Goddess of Wushan, and the poet has successfully depicted the image of the Goddess in a figurative and ethereal way. Meanwhile, the poet has perfectly blended his own thoughts with the legend of the Goddess Peak and the scenery in the gorge, and has evocatively expressed the special feelings he had in the canoeing gorge.

The first two lines: The mountains in Badong Three Gorges are one after another, and beside the balcony mountains are the twelve turquoise and craggy peaks.

Poet along the river upstream, into the gorge after the mountains and water, repeated twists and turns, so witnessed the famous Wushan twelve peaks. Among the twelve peaks, the most strange and mesmerizing is the Goddess Peak, which is surrounded by clouds and smoke, and changes its color. The charm of the Goddess Peak comes from the peaks of the strange and craggy, but also from the legend of the Goddess of Wushan. Anyone who passes through the Wushan Gorge will be reminded of that ancient myth and be brought into the context of the legend.

The third and fourth lines: King Jing was hunting when the rain was thick in Wushan, and he dreamed of the Goddess of Wushan while lying on a high mountain at night.

The poet, by virtue of his imagination, moved the King of Chu's hunting place to the vicinity of Wushan Mountain, and the place where he dreamed of meeting the goddess was replaced by the high hill where she resided, which made the plot of the whole poem more centralized. Here, the boat trip on the gorge meets rain and the king of Chu hunting and hunting meets rain, in the poetic realm intertwined into a piece, meditating on the poet and the story of the king of Chu God. What follows is both the goddess that the king of Chu saw in his dream and the goddess in the poet's imagination at the same time.

The fifth and sixth lines: the clouds, rainbows and light rain wet the goddess of beauty, the moon and stars goddess into a traveling cloud in the gorge fly away.

Here to write the goddess appeared, she has the general characteristics of the goddess, light and ethereal, in the flying flowers and the dazzling clouds and smoke in the slightly “beautiful posture”; but also has the general characteristics of the goddess does not have, she with crystal wet water light, a moment and into a cloud, which is the characteristics of the rain, clouds. This wonderful poem, as for the reader's heart has long been vaguely existed in the goddess lifted the veil, so that the eyes look like, light and colorful.

The last two lines: looking far away, no longer see the goddess shadow, hear the gorge apes and monkeys sound sad, do not feel people tear down wet clothes.

The stars are thinning, this romantic scene in front of the poet slowly dissipated. So a kind of melancholy feeling of loss came to him, and finally used the ancient proverb as a conclusion, the sadness of the journey and the story of the poignant end and the disorientation of the scenery in the gorges into a piece, chewing endlessly.

The whole poem combines the scenery of the gorge, myths and legends, and ancient proverbs into one, writing out the author's special feelings when he was boating in the ancient gorge. The style of the poem is elegant, the language is condensed and beautiful, and the mood is fantastical and colorful.

Poem translator:

Xu Yuan-chong (许渊冲)

About the Poet:

Meng Jiao (孟郊) was born in 751 - 814 AD, a native of Deqing, Zhejiang Province. Meng Jiao's poems include more than 400 poems, most of which are about personal sorrows and loneliness, expressing cynicism, while some of them expose the social phenomenon of disparity between the rich and the poor, and sympathize with the people's suffering.

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