Sacred Books of the East/Volume 3/The Shih/The Major Odes of the Kingdom/Decade 3/Ode 11

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Sacred Books of the East, Vol. III, The Shih King
translated by James Legge
The Major Odes of the Kingdom, Decade iii, Ode 11: The Shâo Min, Stanzas 1 and 2
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3753124Sacred Books of the East, Vol. III, The Shih King — The Major Odes of the Kingdom, Decade iii, Ode 11: The Shâo Min, Stanzas 1 and 2James Legge
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ODE 11, Stanzas 1 and 2. The Shâo Min.

The writer appeals to Heaven, bemoaning the misery and ruin which were going on, and showing how they were due to the king's employment of mean and worthless creatures.

Compassionate Heaven is arrayed in angry terrors.
Heaven is indeed sending down ruin,
Afflicting us with famine,
So that the people are all wandering fugitives.
In the settled regions, and on the borders, all is desolation.

Heaven sends down its net of crime;—
Devouring insects, who weary and confuse men's minds,
Ignorant, oppressive, negligent,
Breeders of confusion, utterly perverse:—
These are the men employed.

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