九辩（楚辞）

(attributed to) Song Yu 宋玉

tr. Gopal Sukhu

Alone in the boundless wilds,
with no way out of sorrow,
lives a beautiful woman
whose heart was not glad
to leave her family in a distant land
to come here, a stranger,
and now, a vagabond,
where will she go?

She longs for you only, Lord.
You cannot change her.
If this you refuse to know,
what can she do?
Her resentment builds,
Her longing deepens—
Her heart so vexed by dread,
she neglects her food.

I desire but one meeting
to speak this thing on my mind,
but they are so at odds,
my heart and yours,
that when I left in the carriage you readied,
only to return,
you would not see me.
It cut me inside,
as I leaned on the carriage wall,
and sighed through its lattice window,
and so many tears crossed down my face,
they wet the carriage rail.

I rage that I cannot
stop it.
I am delirious,
lost!
How do I end
this hidden misery?
My frenzied heart pounds,
but always for you.