Book of Songs
Ji Gu
Anonymous
击鼓其镗
踊跃用兵
土国城漕
我独南行
从孙子仲
平陈与宋
不我以归
忧心有忡
爰居爰处
爰丧其马
于以求之
于林之下
死生契阔
与子成说
执子之手
与子偕老
于嗟阔兮
不我活兮
于嗟洵兮
不我信兮
Translation
Bang, bang our drums resound; we leap and bound, wielding our weapons. Others build walls in the capital and fortify Cao; I alone march south. We follow Sun Zizhong, to settle disputes between Chen and Song. But they will not let me return home; my heart is filled with sorrow. Where shall I live? Where shall I stay? Where did I lose my horse? Where shall I seek it? Beneath the forest trees. In life or death, far apart or together, I made a vow with you. I held your hand; we were to grow old together. Alas, so far apart! I cannot survive. Alas, so long parted! My pledge cannot be kept.
Analysis
"Ji Gu" (Beat the Drums) is a war poem from the "Bei Feng" section of the Book of Songs, and one of the most famous poems about parting and unfulfilled vows in Chinese literature. Written from the perspective of a soldier on campaign, it expresses loneliness, fear, longing, and a promise that cannot be kept. The first stanza opens with the sound of drums: soldiers are training for war. But the speaker immediately draws attention to his personal fate: "Others build walls in the capital and fortify Cao; I alone march south." The word "alone" establishes the poem's theme of isolation. The second stanza explains the campaign: following General Sun Zizhong to settle disputes between Chen and Song. But the fighting continues, and the soldier is not allowed to return home. His heart is filled with sorrow — not ordinary sadness, but a deep inner unrest. The third stanza is the most visually striking. The soldier asks four urgent questions: "Where shall I live? Where shall I stay? Where did I lose my horse? Where shall I seek it?" The answer — "beneath the forest trees" — suggests not just a lost horse, but a profound sense of dislocation: he does not know where he is or where he is going. The fourth stanza contains the most famous lines in the poem, and among the most beloved in all of Chinese poetry: "In life or death, far apart or together, I made a vow with you. I held your hand; we were to grow old together." This is a memory — a pledge made with a loved one, to stay together through all circumstances, until old age. The beauty of the vow is made painful by its context: it appears in a war poem, where such promises are broken by circumstance. The fifth stanza returns to the harsh present: "Alas, so far apart! I cannot survive. Alas, so long parted! My pledge cannot be kept." The distance is too great; the separation too long. The vow cannot be fulfilled. The gap between the promise and reality is the deepest tragedy of the poem. What makes "Ji Gu" remarkable is its focus not on battles or generals, but on the inner world of an ordinary soldier. His suffering comes not from combat, but from forced separation from the one he loves and the painful awareness that his promise will be broken. The universal theme — the fragility of love and promises in the face of fate's cruelty — has kept this poem alive for three thousand years.
About the Author
Anonymous, a poet from the pre-Qin period whose name is unknown. The Book of Songs (Shijing) is the earliest anthology of Chinese poetry, containing more than three hundred poems from roughly the early Western Zhou to the mid-Spring and Autumn period, divided into three sections: Airs (Feng), Elegantiae (Ya), and Hymns (Song). "Bei Feng" preserves songs from the Bei and Wei regions, many of which reflect politics, marriage, family conflict, social pressure, and deep emotional distress.