Each song addresses a god or spirit of Chu, among them
湘夫人 'the Lady of the Xiang' and
山鬼 'the Mountain Spirit'. The odd one out is
国殇, a lament for soldiers who died for their state, which ends
身既死兮神以灵，
魂魄毅兮为鬼雄。 'Your bodies are dead, but your spirits live on; your souls stand firm, heroes among the ghosts.' The pieces are cited with the cycle name, as 《
九歌·
国殇》.
