Home › Poems › The Ospreys Cry
Guān JūThe Ospreys Cry 关雎
The first poem in the Book of Songs, about a young man longing for a girl.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
关关雎鸠
guān guān jū jiū
在河之洲
zài hé zhī zhōu
窈窕淑女
yǎo tiǎo shū nǚ
君子好逑
jūn zǐ hǎo qiú
Simplified characters; traditional title: 關雎. This is a long poem; only the best-known lines are shown, and “……” marks omitted passages.
Note on the text: This page presents a well-known excerpt; the full poem is longer in the traditional corpus.
English translation
Guan, guan, cry the ospreys
on the islet in the river.
A lovely, graceful girl —
a fine match for a gentleman.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Ospreys call on the river isle; a graceful young woman is the good mate a gentleman seeks. The opening of the Book of Songs became the pattern for love poetry to come.
Background
The first poem in the Book of Songs, about a young man longing for a girl.
Key words
- 关关 guān guān
- guan-guan — the cry of ospreys
- 雎鸠 jū jiū
- osprey; fish-hawk (in the Book of Songs)
- 窈窕 yǎo tiǎo
- gentle and graceful; fair and modest
- 好逑 hǎo qiú
- a fine match; worthy mate
About the poet: Book of Songs
The Book of Songs (Shijing) is the oldest anthology of Chinese poetry, compiling ritual hymns and folk songs from the Zhou dynasty.
Lifetime: c. 11th–6th c. BCE. Other famous works: The Quince (木瓜); The Ospreys Cry (关雎); Reeds (蒹葭); The Banks of the Qi (淇奥); On the South Hill (南山有台); The Deer Cry (鹿鸣); Heaven Protects You (天保); The Peach Tree Is Young (桃夭).
More by Book of Songs
- The Quince木瓜
- Reeds蒹葭
- The Banks of the Qi淇奥
- On the South Hill南山有台
- The Deer Cry鹿鸣
- Heaven Protects You天保
- The Peach Tree Is Young桃夭