Book of Songs
郑风·东门之墠
佚名
东门之墠，茹藘在阪。
其室则迩，其人甚远。
东门之栗，有践家室。
岂不尔思？子不我即。
Translation
Beyond the eastern gate lies a level ground, with madder growing on the slope. Your house is close to mine, yet you yourself seem very far away. By the chestnut trees beyond the eastern gate stand rows of homes. How could I not think of you? It is you who will not come near me.
Analysis
“Beyond the Eastern Gate” is a brief but subtle poem about emotional distance. Its central line, “Your house is close, yet you yourself are far away,” turns physical nearness into a measure of inward separation. The pain here is not caused by mountains, rivers, or exile, but by the refusal of intimacy. The eastern gate is a threshold space, a place of meeting, departure, and looking outward. The madder on the slope and the chestnut trees near the homes create a scene of everyday closeness. Yet this closeness only heightens the speaker’s loneliness. The final question, “How could I not think of you?” rejects any suspicion of indifference. The real problem is that the beloved will not come near. The poem’s power lies in its restraint. It does not accuse loudly; it simply states the wound with clarity. The poem captures a delicate truth of love: sometimes distance is not measured by roads, but by willingness.
About the Author
Many poems in the Book of Songs are anonymous regional songs from the Zhou period. They preserve early Chinese voices in compact, musical forms. The “Airs of Zheng” are especially rich in poems of love, courtship, longing, and emotional distance, often using simple scenes to reveal subtle human feeling.