{"collection":"cfu","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/cfu/bop/bop244.htm","path":"cfu/bop/bop244.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/cfu/bop/bop244.htm","text":"The Book of Poetry, tr. by James Legge, [1876]\n2A strong-willed, earnest king was W\u00ean,\n And still his fame rolls widening on. p. 332\n The gifts that God bestowed on Chou\n Belong to W\u00ean's descendants now.\n Heaven blesses still with gifts divine\n The hundred scions of his line;\n And all the officers of Chou\n From age to age more lustrous grow.\n3More lustrous still-from age to age,\n All reverent plans their zeal engage;\n And brilliant statesmen owe their birth\n To this much.-favored spot of earth.\n They spring like products of the land,\u2014\n The men by whom the realm doth stand.\n Such aid their numerous bands supply,\n That Wan, rests tranquilly on high.\n4Deep were W\u00ean's thoughts, sustained his ways;\n His reverence lit its trembling rays.\n Resistless came great Heaven's decree;\n The sons of Shang must bend the knee;\u2014 p. 333\n The sons of Shang, each one a king,\n In numbers beyond numbering.\n Yet as God spoke, so must it be:\u2014\n The sons of Shang all bent the knee.\n5Now each to Chou his homage pays,\u2014\n So dark and changing are Heaven's ways.\n When we pour our libations here,\n The officers of Shang appear,\n Quick and alert to give their aid;\u2014\n Such is the service by them paid,\n While still, they do not cast aside\n The cap and broidered ax,\u2014their pride.\n Ye servants of our line of kings,\n Remember him from whom it springs.\n6Remember him from whom it springs;\u2014\n Let this give to your virtue wings.\n Seek harmony with Heaven's great mind;\u2014\n So shall you surest blessing find.\n Ere Shang had lost the nation's heart,\n Its monarchs all with God had part\n In sacrifice. From them you see\n \u2019Tis hard to keep high Heaven's decree. p. 334\n7\u2019Tis hard to keep high Heaven's decree!\n O sin not, or you cease to be.\n To add true luster to your name,\n See Shang expire in Heaven's dread flame.\n For Heaven's high dealings are profound,\n And far transcend all sense and sound.\n From W\u00ean your pattern you must draw,\n And all the states will own your law.","title":"The Book of Poetry: Book I. Decade of King W\u00ean: I. W\u00ean Wang","type":"page"}