Ode 4, Stanzas 1 and 2. The Yî Pho

p. 386

ODE 4, STANZAS 1 AND 2. THE YÎ PHO.

IN PRAISE OF KING WĂN, CELEBRATING HIS INFLUENCE, DIGNITY IN THE TEMPLE SERVICES, ACTIVITY, AND CAPACITY TO RULE.

Abundant is the growth of the buckthorn and shrubby trees, Supplying firewood; yea, stores of it ¹. Elegant and dignified was our prince and king; On the left and the right they hastened to him.

Elegant and dignified was our prince and king; On his left and his right they bore their half-mace (libation-cups) ²:--They bore them with solemn gravity, As beseemed such eminent officers.

Footnotes

386:1 It is difficult to trace the connexion between-these allusive lines and the rest of the piece.

386:2 Here we have the lord of Kâu in his ancestral temple, assisted by his ministers or great officers in pouring out the libations to the spirits of the departed. The libation-cup was fitted with a handle of jade, that used by the king having a complete kwei, the obelisk-like symbol of rank, while the cups used by a minister had for a handle only half a kwei.