Book of Songs
Juan Er · Cocklebur
Anonymous
采采卷耳
不盈顷筐
嗟我怀人
寘彼周行
陟彼崔嵬
我马虺隤
我姑酌彼金罍
维以不永怀
陟彼高冈
我马玄黄
我姑酌彼兕觥
维以不永伤
陟彼砠矣
我马瘏矣
我仆痡矣
云何吁矣
Translation
I gather and gather cocklebur, yet cannot fill even my shallow basket. Ah, I am thinking of the one I long for, so I set the basket down beside the great road. Climbing that rugged height, my horse grows weak and weary. For now I pour wine from the golden vessel, only to keep longing from lasting forever. Climbing that high ridge, my horse loses its strength and color. For now I pour wine from the rhinoceros-horn cup, only to keep sorrow from lasting forever. Climbing that stony slope, my horse is worn out and ill. My servant too is exhausted. What can be done? Only a long sigh remains.
Analysis
"Juan Er" is a poem from the "Zhou Nan" section of the Book of Songs. It is usually read as a poem of longing, spoken by a woman who misses her absent husband or beloved. The poem begins with the simple act of gathering plants, then shifts into an imagined journey across difficult mountains. The opening lines show a woman gathering cocklebur. She gathers again and again, yet cannot fill even a shallow basket. Her mind is elsewhere. The body performs ordinary work, while the heart is occupied by longing. The later stanzas move into the hardship of the road. The speaker imagines climbing rugged heights, high ridges, and stony slopes. The horse becomes weak, then loses its color, then is worn out and ill. The servant too becomes exhausted. Each stanza increases the sense of distance, difficulty, and bodily strain. The lines about pouring wine are also important. The speaker drinks not from joy, but to keep longing and sorrow from extending without end. The word "for now" matters. Wine cannot solve grief. It can only hold it back for a moment. The final stanza ends without resolution. Horse and servant are exhausted; the road is difficult; the one who longs can do nothing but sigh. The poem gives no reunion and no answer, only the deep weariness of separation. What makes "Juan Er" powerful is its movement from a small domestic scene to a vast emotional landscape. Its simplicity is deceptive; emotionally, it is very sophisticated.
About the Author
"Juan Er" comes from the "Zhou Nan" section of the "Airs of the States" in the Book of Songs. Its author is unknown. The Book of Songs 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. The "Zhou Nan" poems often concern courtship, marriage, household life, labor, and ritual culture. "Juan Er" is one of its most memorable poems of longing, using the image of gathering plants to open into an imagined world of travel, fatigue, and emotional endurance.