Chapter 1. Once 清晨, with its double reference to the moment of dawn and then to the early morning after the previous day's light, seems to us to be the most apt title for the poem, but of course in translation it must take a different meaning.
. _Ancient Classic:_ 古音. As translated in chapter 18, this is the third and later of the four tones of the ancient lyric, _wen,_ which are represented by (1) _yü_ (an ancient tone whose pronunciation was like the syllable yoo in English yoo hoo), (2) _chi,_ and (3) _shang_ (for which the pronunciation is shang, to rhyme with _song_ ). Thus to say "once in the ancient style" is to emphasize that Yüeh's composition is taken from the earliest written literature. Here, however, the point is to characterize Yüeh's earlier style of poetry as lacking in any traces of the personal, while here the emphasis is on that personal dimension.
. In the poem to the "Mistress Yang" it is said that "the breeze is chill" and "the sky is overcast," which, after the autumn rain, could hardly have been the case. The "chill" and "overcast" are the two main features of a poem, not only of autumn, and it is their presence that makes it a poem of autumn. These, in turn, provide the context for the emphasis on the feelings of this particular occasion and of the man for the woman. Thus the chill of the breeze is the main feature in the poem.
. The term _li_ refers to that which is appropriate.
. Yüeh uses the term _guan_ to describe the situation as a whole: the speaker is in love but cannot give the woman the "present of the li" for he is no better off than she is.
. The "tongue-cutting" is meant to imply "lack of respect" on the man's part: that is, because of his not showing consideration for her, he is making her sad by his rudeness. However, "shoveled dirt" is also a common expression, a more vulgar way of saying, "being out of the picture," that is, being dismissed from a situation. The implication here is perhaps that the girl's feelings of shame were due less to Yüeh's rudeness than to her own feelings of shame.
. It is interesting to see the use of terms in this poem that are in modern terms too harsh for us to use directly. To say of a person that he is "out of sorts" or even to put it more kindly that "he's getting old," is not the kind of thing one wants to say to someone one loves, and a direct appeal to a lover is not something one will do. So the woman has to make her appeal indirectly, using innuendoes that would make sense only to one who loved him.
. This has an archaic flavor that is probably meant to echo the _Book of Odes,_ where "going to the east" suggests looking up to the heavens, as if in worship.
. Because the situation is not clearly identified, we have little or no way of knowing whether the "tongue-cutting" refers to what the poet himself did to her or to what the woman feels that he did to her. There are three possible interpretations: (1) that Yüeh did the cutting himself, which would of course mean that he is to some degree blameworthy for her lack of feeling for him, but that he can only attribute it to himself; (2) that the woman herself cut her own tongue, in which case the blame would fall equally on him; (3) that the tongue cutting was a means of metaphorical self-criticism on the part of the woman, in which case she is the one to blame. The last of these seems to be indicated by the line, "If it is so, then say so."
. These are also very familiar poetic phrases: the first is from the "Yellow Courtesan" section of the _Book of Odes,_ and the other is a euphemism for a woman's breast.
. In the original the fourth character is _tao_ and is the beginning of a hexameter line that follows the poem. Since the original refers to the poem itself, the idea of its being "the way of poems" is clear. The character _tao_ ( _duo_ ), often used to mean "word," is an equally appropriate translation, for this particular term is one that can mean either the poem itself or one line in a poem. The use of _tao_ here seems therefore to imply the same thing as "the way of poems." However, if it is only a single line, it is a little strange to call the other three lines "a part of the _tao,"_ as they do. However, since the basic meaning is not affected by what is a matter of interpretation, either interpretation is possible.
. This is obviously a reference to Yüeh's attitude toward the woman, with the two _qi_ ("breath" and "flesh") referring to his feelings for her. The idea expressed is that, though he may not be able to bring himself to write a poem, that is not to say that there is no love for her in his mind. A bit of love is better than a great deal of hatred.
. This is the same phrase as appears in the "Love of the Weaver Maid." But what different meanings are there here?
. In the original: "if I had more to say about her" or "if I were speaking of her." The _ji_ 吉 means both, depending on context. The difference in meaning between _ji_ and _yi_ 易 is subtle.
. Here we have a clear reference to the "Yellow Courtesan" chapter of the _Book of Odes._
. This was most likely done to illustrate the point made in chapter 36 that such personal traits are characteristic of _ling qi_ (the "tongue-cutting" in chapter 36).
. The man who comes without shoes and without coat, without speaking, and without looking at the woman (the last being the way she was described in chapter 5) all would seem to mean he is very much in love.
. She does not have to leave the main house, but the fact that her own home is nearby seems to indicate that she is not a young girl (to whom perhaps the terms "left behind" and "abandoned" would apply) or else she would be staying with her parents.
. The same idea is expressed at the end of the poem in chapter 1.
. This is the idea expressed in the "Mistress Yang" poem. There it is not, however, presented as a criticism but rather as the speaker's determination to do as she pleases: the man in the poem in this chapter makes this choice too, but he does it out of love and not for any other reason.
. The term _li_ has been used earlier.
. Since the woman is "not unappreciated," this is presumably meant to mean that she is able to have affairs, but only when she feels in the mood.
. The line "like a white chariot horse" is another example of the double sense of _qing:_ it can refer to the feeling of grief over the loss of her lover (as it has in this line) but also to the fact that she had not made any advances to him in the past.
. The "grapes" are not meant as referring to the man's physical attributes but to his poetic ability: thus, he has failed to make his composition of these thirty-one characters "look like a poem."
. All three of the main characters in the original are also women, and this use of an ambiguous form, in the sense of a plural of the second person, rather than of the second person plural, suggests the contrast in the feeling of love between them and a third party. That this is implied by the fact that the lines are about love for one woman and love for another, or even love for two women is not the point here.
. The original is rather obscure, and it is not certain whether _luan_ is the direct object of the verb _zhi_ 至 or, by the use of the pronoun _zhi_ 智, whether it is the subject of the verb.
. The same couplet appears in the "Mistress Yang" poem.
. The idea of the "heart's path" is associated in the _Classic of Poetry_ with "the will of Heaven" and "the intention of man" and hence a "way through the heart," as well as with the "mind" of the person whose "heart's path" it is.
. The heart is the organ that determines what is pleasant or unpleasant. The idea of the heart's feelings "not being stirred" has a special significance, and that is also the reason why the heart is an appropriate location for the feelings associated with sex. It is said that there are persons in this world who do not feel pleasure when they have sex, and hence the heart is not moved by anything sexual.
. There are two _shi_ 氏 in this poem
