III. Huang Niao

The Huang Niao; metaphorical. Some officer, who had withdrawn to another state, finds his expectations of the people there disappointed, and proposes to return to the royal domain.

1Thou yellow-plumaged bird, O spare
The paper shrubs and fields of grain!
For me these people show no care;—
I long for kin and home again.
That we judged ill, when we came here,
Does from their cold neglect appear.

2The mulberry trees and fields of maize,
Thou yellow-plumaged bird, eschew!
These people are a dullard race;
I long my brethren's face to view.
That we judged ill, when we came here,
Does from their cold neglect appear.

3Thou yellow-plumaged bird, O fly
Those oak trees, nor the millet eat!
From this bad land I back must hie;—
I long my father's kin to greet.
That we judged ill, when we came here,
Does from their cold neglect appear.