Line 1

One sits oppressed under a bare tree and strays into a gloomy valley. For three years one sees nothing.

The deepest exhaustion — blind, isolated, and stuck. The only path is patient endurance. This, too, passes.

Line 2

One is oppressed while at meat and drink. The man with the scarlet knee bands is just coming. It furthers to offer sacrifice. To set forth brings misfortune. No blame.

Even in oppression, help is approaching. Do not force the situation. Inward ritual — sacrifice, patience — is the right response now.

Line 3

A man permits himself to be oppressed by stone, and leans on thorns and thistles. He enters his house and does not see his wife. Misfortune.

When one allows themselves to be crushed by what should not have power — stone, thorns — and loses sight of what is most intimate and sustaining, all goes wrong.

Line 4

He comes very quietly, oppressed in a golden carriage. Humiliation, but the end is reached.

Even comfort can be oppressive when it is not honestly earned. Moving forward despite the constraint brings eventual release.

Line 5

His nose and feet are cut off. Oppression at the hands of the man with the purple knee bands. Joy comes softly. It furthers to offer sacrifice to the supreme being.

Maimed but not destroyed. The oppression from those in power is real, but quiet joy — and turning toward the deepest source of meaning — is still available.

Line 6

He is oppressed by creeping vines. He moves uncertainly and says, 'Movement brings remorse.' If one feels remorse over this and makes a start, good fortune comes.

Entangled and hesitating — but the moment one decides to move despite the remorse, the vines release and fortune returns.