Book of Songs
王风·兔爰
佚名
有兔爰爰，雉离于罗。
我生之初，尚无为；我生之后，逢此百罹。
尚寐无吪。
有兔爰爰，雉离于罦。
我生之初，尚无造；我生之后，逢此百忧。
尚寐无觉。
有兔爰爰，雉离于罿。
我生之初，尚无庸；我生之后，逢此百凶。
尚寐无聪。
Translation
The hare moves freely, while the pheasant is caught in the net. When I was born, such disorder had not yet come; after I was born, I met a hundred afflictions. I wish I could sleep and never stir. The hare still roams freely, while the pheasant is trapped. When I was born, such troubles had not yet arisen; after I was born, I met a hundred sorrows. I wish I could sleep and never wake. The hare still moves at ease, while the pheasant is caught again. When I was born, such burdens had not yet come; after I was born, I met a hundred calamities. I wish I could sleep and hear no more.
Analysis
Tu Yuan is one of the darkest poems in Wang Feng. It begins with a striking contrast: the hare moves freely, while the pheasant is caught in the net. The image becomes a metaphor for unequal fate in a troubled world. The speaker repeatedly looks back to the beginning of life, when such disorder had not yet appeared; afterward came afflictions, sorrows, and calamities. The closing wishes — to sleep without moving, without waking, without hearing — deepen stanza by stanza. They are not simple complaints but signs of exhaustion under historical disorder. The poem’s repeated structure creates a feeling of being trapped in the same sorrow again and again.
About the Author
Wang Feng is one of the regional sections in the Airs of the States within the Book of Songs. Its poems are anonymous and belong to an early tradition of songs later gathered and preserved as part of the classical canon. Compared with some brighter regional airs, Wang Feng often carries tones of separation, service, social unease, and inward feeling. Its language is simple, but its repeated forms and everyday images give it lasting emotional force.