Airalyn B.

Sandoval
ABM - A

Unsteady is that Cypress Boat

The following poem is from the Shih Ching. It is the the 45th poem appearing in Mao's ordering
of the Shih Ching, but is often numbered 53rd in English versions of that anthology.

Unsteady is that cypress boat

In the middle of the river.
His two locks looped over his brow
He swore that truly he was my comrade,
And till death would love no other.
Oh, mother! Ah, Heaven!
That a man could be so false!

Unsteady is that boat of cypress-wood

By that river's side.
His two locks looped over his brow
He swore truly he was my mate,
And till death would not fail me.
Oh, mother! Ah Heaven!
That a man could be so false!
 Unsteady is that Cypress Boat
by: Shih Ching
A Summary

“Cypress boat” is a famous Chinese ancient poem. The speaker in the poem is a helpless lady
pressured to remarry by her family and friends after her husband death.
Among the most striking things in the poem is how each stanza of the poem has been defined
using powerful image that elicit interesting observation; the boat that is tossed on the sea is an
imagery of the speakers remorseful and agitated heart in her attempt to resist the pressures. Another
striking thing is the speakers helpless and remorse full tone as captured in most stanzas, like in the
second stanza the speaker says “my heart is not a mirror, to reflect what others will”.
This tone has been largely displayed by the line in the last stanza where the woman says that
sorrow clings unto her like unwashed clothes. It’s very evident how the speakers display her agitated
emotion; she is fretful, brooding, grieving and lamenting in an attempt to elaborate her plight. Betrayal
is also elaborated by the stanza where the lady turns to her brothers with pleas but they turn their
back on her with anger.