Song of Gaixia
and was searched on the Chinese website "Sou-Yun"
https://sou-yun.cn/
by entering the keyword '四方楚歌声'
and selecting 'Poetic Lines' for the location.
Song of Gaixia
My strength uprooted mountains, my spirit covered the world;
The times are against me, and my steed will not go.
My steed will not go, what can I do?
Yu, oh Yu, what will become of you?
Zhui (騅): A dapple-gray horse. A coat color like that of Oguri Cap, Mejiro McQueen, Biwa Hayahide, or Gold Ship.
"My strength uprooted mountains, my spirit covered the world"
In the 'Biography of Xiang Yu' in the Records of the Grand Historian, regarding Xiang Yu in his youth,
this is related to the phrase 'He could lift a tripod with his strength,
and his talent and spirit surpassed others.'
There was also this commentary.
"The times are against me, and my steed will not go"
In texts passed down in Japan,
the line 'The times are against me, and my steed will not go'
is sometimes written as
'The times are against me and my power fades / My power fades and my steed will not go'
(The times are against me and my power fades, my power fades and my steed will not go),treating it as a seven-character ancient poem consisting of five lines.
It is unclear where this is written, though...
Sentence structure
The song is in theChu Ci styleand the sound of 'Xi' (兮) resonates rhythmically.
(In a broad sense) it is an ancient poem, but I felt the atmosphere was different, and I was wondering about it. I see, it's the Chu Ci style... φ(..) memo memo
Harmony with the King of Chu's Song
Based on Kadokawa Sophia Bunko's "Records of the Grand Historian, Vol. 2"
and searched on the Chinese website "Sou-Yun" https://sou-yun.cn/ by entering the keyword '四方楚歌声',
and selecting 'Poetic Lines' for the location.
The song of Lady Yu, which was sung in response, is included in the 'Chu-Han Chunqiu'
(However, that book is already lost, and that part is now cited in the Tang dynasty's 'Shiji Zhengyi' by Zhang Shoujie).
The Han soldiers have already taken the land; the Han soldiers have already taken the land.
On all four sides, the sound of Chu songs.
The Great King's spirit is exhausted.
How can I, your humble concubine, continue to live?
Although some scholars view this as the ancestor of five-character poetry, the established theory is that the emergence of five-character poetry dates much later, and this song is believed to be a forgery.
Well, among the diverse rhythms, the five-character rhythm eventually secured a stable position as one that suited people's tastes. Even so, the first appearance of works entirely in the five-character form in reliable historical records is during the late Western Han dynasty, in the era of Emperor Cheng (reigned 33–7 BC).
The song of Lady Yu (as it is attributed) is closer to what we learn in school as 'This is Chinese poetry,' and it feels different from Xiang Yu's song in terms of flavor, or perhaps the way the lines are structured.
Xiang Yu's song is in the 'Chu Ci style,' repeating the particle 'xi'.
Lady Yu's song feels like a 'five-character ancient poem that is on the verge of becoming a five-character quatrain.'
(*This is just my personal opinion.)
Bonus: Wushan Gao
A song said to have been sung by Liu Bang's officers and soldiers as they headed toward Nanzheng in Bashu for the awarding of honors, while thinking of returning to the east.
From Kadokawa Sophia Bunko "Records of the Grand Historian, Vol. 2" (Kenji Tanaka and Tomoyoshi Ichiumi)
Searched on the Chinese site 'Sou-yun'
https://sou-yun.cn/.
Wushan is high, high and also large.
The Huai River is deep, deep and also swift.
We wished to return to the east.
Why could we not fulfill it?
It is because we have no poles and no oars to stay.
Why is the water so vast and swirling?
When I face the water and look into the distance,
tears fall and soak my clothes.
The heart of a traveler far away longs to return.
How great is this feeling?
Please forgive me if there are parts where the citation does not match the search results of the site.