Book of Songs
Ye You Si Jun
Anonymous
野有死麕
白茅包之
有女怀春
吉士诱之
林有朴樕
野有死鹿
白茅纯束
有女如玉
舒而脱脱兮
无感我帨兮
无使尨也吠
Translation
In the wilds there is a dead roebuck, wrapped in white cogon grass. There is a girl with spring in her heart; a good young man draws near to court her. In the woods there are small tangled trees; in the wilds there is a dead deer. White cogon grass binds it cleanly. There is a girl like jade. Slowly, gently now. Do not touch my kerchief. Do not make the shaggy dog bark.
Analysis
"Ye You Si Jun" is one of the most vivid and sensuous courtship poems in the Book of Songs. It presents a scene of encounter between a young man and a young woman in the wild, surrounded by hunting imagery, white grass, woods, deer, and the sudden intimate voice of the woman herself. The opening image is a dead roebuck in the wild, wrapped in white cogon grass. This is not merely a random animal. In early ritual and social contexts, white grass could suggest purity, offering, or proper wrapping. The hunted animal may also function as a gift, a token of courtship, or part of a marriage-related custom. "There is a girl with spring in her heart" is a direct and striking line. "Spring" here means erotic awakening, romantic feeling, or youthful desire. The "good young man" approaches and courts her. The poem is much more immediate than many of the more ceremonially restrained marriage poems in the Book of Songs. The second stanza deepens the natural setting: small tangled trees in the woods, a dead deer in the wild, white grass binding it neatly. Then comes the line "There is a girl like jade." Jade suggests beauty, purity, preciousness, and the need for careful treatment. The woman is desirable, but not to be approached crudely. The final stanza is the most alive. It appears to preserve the woman's own voice: "Slowly, gently now. Do not touch my kerchief. Do not make the shaggy dog bark." This is not a simple rejection. The earlier line has already told us that she has "spring in her heart." But she asks for slowness, gentleness, and secrecy. Desire is present, but so are caution, modesty, social risk, and self-protection. The poem has long invited different interpretations. Some read it as a courtship or wedding-custom poem, involving a hunted animal as a gift. Others emphasize the private or even illicit atmosphere of a meeting in the wild. The strongest reading keeps both sides in view: the poem contains elements of social courtship, but also the immediate tension of embodied desire. Its power lies in its concreteness. Unlike "Tao Yao" or "Que Chao," which place marriage within blessing and ceremony, "Ye You Si Jun" brings us close to the scene itself. Deer, white grass, kerchief, dog, and the woman's whispered caution make the poem feel alive, physical, and psychologically real.
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). "Shao Nan," together with "Zhou Nan," forms the opening part of the "Airs of the States."