Seeing North Light: Translation

Showing posts with label Translation - Chinese. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Poems

by Li Shan Gyan

So hard to meet now

then so much harder to part

there’s no strength left in the east wind

gladioli can only wither

just as a silk worm will spin all its silk

then die

my tears run down

while this candle burns

into ashes

every morning in the mirror

is worry of another white hair

every night while I recite poems

do you too feel the same chill?

our enchanted land is not so far away

shall I let this poem be my messenger

be a companion for you

She has come and gone

her words meant nothing

left no trace

moonlight shines on the watch tower

five empty echoes are rung by the bell

I tried to call her

to detain her

but she would not turn back

I tried to write to her

frenzied letters

but black ink barely marked fresh parchment

it was so dark

only half of a jeweled phoenix

glowed in the candlelight

so silent

only her perfume

leant over from the curtained bed

a poet once went to Paradise

he journeyed 6 months

to live in enchantment

enthralled by goddesses

but she

you are ten thousand times further away

a gentle thunder of raindrops

falling on lily pads

a fine mist of rain trails the east wind

perfumed incense seeps from a golden toad lock

set to open her room

puddles lie splashed near the well

traces of her gleam on tigers

carved on its sides

there was once a great lady

who favored a youth

secretly behind a screen

and another, a fairy queen

who gave her pillowcase to a poet

I wish I could stop loving her

please let me not love her

or every inch of my longing will burn

and become just so many inches

of ash

as she embroidered a phoenix on a green hat

I could see double layers of silk

she was using

coquettishly

she hid

but her moon shaped fan

could not conceal her beauty

horse’s hooves clattered

carriage wheels turned

words

were lost

I waited for her in the dark

long after the candle had burnt out

now pomegranates have begun to blossom

still no word has come

I stand here by the river

my horse tethered by the willows

where to be with you

will the warm wind guide me?

Li Shan Gyan, T’ang Dynasty

translated by David Sen & Dick Russell

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Glenn Hughes on Sextus Propertius

At one of his lectures, Glenn Hughes, then a Professor at the University of Washington, before his retirement, might have been discussing Ezra Pound's "Homage to Sextus Propertius" with his class of student scriptwriters. If so, he might have suggested an idea for a screenplay where:

Sextus Propertius, a poet acquaintance of Ovid's from when they were both in favor at the court of Augustus, might have sent Ovid a translation of a Chinese poem into Latin. The Chinese poem might have referred to a poet having been sent into exile by the Court. So it would have had resonance for those thinking of Ovid's plight, exiled somewhere far away on the Black Sea on the edge of civilization.

If so, Glenn Hughes might have said that the poem below might resemble an earlier poem by a predecessor of Tu Fu, living in the Han Dynasty, whose work might have been known to the Romans. And by the way, he might have reminded his class, but modesty forbade it, he once met Ezra Pound in Paris back in the day!

On Dreaming of Li Po

by Tu Fu

I’ve kept silent

no-one knows my anguish

who doesn’t feel sad

when a friend leaves

but when they sent you away

I was so overcome with grief

it was if you had died

since they exiled you in the South

among fens and swamps

I haven’t stopped thinking of you

though I’ve heard no news

until last night

when you appeared in my dreams

you’re imprisoned in such darkness

you’re so far away

how could you find wings to fly to me?

was it your ghost?

when you appeared

shadows lifted

everything was green

when you were gone

there was darkness

overpowering the mountains

moonlight passed through the trees

shone onto the rafters

somewhere your face

shone vaguely

old friend

be careful!

a storm approaches

those swamps are deep

don’t let the river dragon catch you

still south bound clouds pass by

you who went with them

haven’t returned

for three nights I’ve dreamt of you

cheered by your company

when we said goodbye

I saw anxiety in your face

struggle is never ending

your way home is hard

storms are approaching

your boat may capsize

you left your door

scratching your white head

dismayed at your treatment

while others enjoy favor

you were cast out

downtrodden sad

growing old

lonely

if this be your fate

there is no justice in the world

don’t be ashamed

mix misfortune with your old age

think only of your fame

your fame will last forever

let loneliness take care of itself

Tu Fu

translated by David Sen

interpreted by Dick Russell

Friday, March 20, 2015

song of endless sorrow

synchronize with music attached

http://seeingnorthlight.blogspot.com/2015/03/blog-post.html

Emperor Hsuan Tsung

had ruled 20 years

without finding that beauty he craved

and while he still sought her

concealed in her home

a young girl so beautiful

she could not be hidden or left unknown

was chosen for the Court

synchr____one flick of her eyebrow

one glimpse of her smile

six palaces stood empty

all beauty became nothing

for the Emperor saw her bathing one cold Spring Day

in hot Wah Ching pool

her skin shedding softness to the silken water

snow white

fragile

maids ran to help her in case she should fall

this first day the Emperor rejoiced in her

dark clouds her hair, fresh flowers her face

her crown moved sky as she swayed

through warm Spring nights that seemed so short

a mere flicker of darkness

before sunlight brightened their velvet bed

laughter and lovemaking

leaving no time for the problems of State

beside him she feasted

wine burnished her cheeks

in their chamber, shadows brimming, gold tones at dusk

she prepared for the night

3000 beauties dwelt in the Palace

only 1 had the King’s love

synchr____her relatives were honored

her homeland praised

everywhere parents treasured young girls

Li Palace rose up giving music to the breeze

soft songs slow dance

frozen tableaux in the air

his regal eyes would not gaze away from hers

till Yu Yang’s war drums finally arrived

cut short that lovely

Yee Tong tune

war dust and smoke

a long line of carriages

carried the Court away

fleeing southwest

the Emperor’s flag moving forward on the road

travelled less than one hundred miles

before his Army stopped him

demanded her life should atone for his deeds

his neglect of the State

And the Emperor was powerless

he could not prevent his Army from hanging her

horses watched her die

fade out___ear rings

bracelets

pins

all scattered on the ground

her golden sparrow hairpin glittered among them

but no-one would touch them

his arm to his eyes he heard her sobs stop

his arm fell limp, tears, blood, fell down

5 second pause____

yellow dust filled the sky

cold winds everywhere

those that went with him followed that hard road

that curves up Kan-Kock till beneath Au Mia peak

a remnant around him

his flag paused

gathered strength

clear rivers

green mountains

crisp air

all these could cure any grief

except for the Emperor’s

day and night he longed for her

and if moonlight touched him his heart shivered

and if nights were cloudy the sound of rain like bells

on his tent, cut him to pieces

5 second pause____

then order was restored

the Emperor travelled back

came to Horse Ridge

where his grief began

searched for her jade face buried underground

he could not see her

he waited prayed

his ministers came close to him

their clothes drenched with tears

his horse pulled him home

the Palace unchanged

hibiscus still blossomed by the pool where she bathed

hibiscus like her face her brow like the willows

with images like these could he not cry

Spring came

flowers blossomed

peaches

plums

blew open

autumn rain

leaves shriveled

fell

gardens unkempt

leaves lying in mounds

no-one would sweep them

clowns, jokers

their hair turning white

eunuchs, chambermaids

all grew old

at night only fireflies accompanied him

his oil-lamp burnt out

sleep would not follow

watch bells rang out

each night more endless

who was beside him in the cold grey morning?

when thick frost whitened the yin yang tiles?

for one year this feeling

numb not dead

life absent dreams empty

5 second pause

enter after music____

from Ling Chun a Taoist came to the Emperor

his sincerity allowed him to call on the dead

he could travel on clouds

run like lightning

had been to the sky’s end

the ends of the earth

he offered the Emperor his help

in Heaven in Hell he could not find her

till he overheard angels talking of a mountain

far over the sea

floating free in the air

in five colored clouds

wafted by the wind

between two veils

where dwelling in a city

of delicate houses

a lady Tai Ching

her face full of flowers

like snow her skin

was she not the loved one?

the lost Lady Yang?

brief pause____

the Taoist went there, went to the west-most house

knocked on a jade door

told the maids to announce

Hsuan Tsung’s messenger had come

as if still in her dreams

she rose from her bed

hurriedly smoothing the pillows

bead curtain swept back

silver screen falling

she came quickly from the bedroom

her hairpin tilted

her cap falling loose

just as it had when she danced to that lovely

Yee Tong tune

tears running down had riven her cheeks

like peach blossom stained by rain

she thanked his kindness eyes glowing with love

she hadn’t seen his smile

heard his voice in her dreams

each lonely night she recounted

as she looked down

mist and dust

obscured the Palace where her heart still dwelt

a gold box, a gold hairpin, she broke both in half

bade the messenger to say to her Lord

“his heart and hers like the halves of these tokens

would go on as true as sustaining as gold

till somewhere they would meet”

did the Emperor still remember the oath they had made

at midnight in Chumsong Palace on the 7^th day in July

synchr____“like birds joining wing

we will fly on forever

like entangled roots

we will live never part”

the sky has a height

the earth a limit

eternity will end

their sorrow

flows

beyond

Po-Chu-Yi

music by Chris Horne

translated by David Sen & Dick Russell

First published in Chapman, Volume III, No 4,

Edinburgh, Scotland 1975

Editors: Walter Perrie, Joy Hendry, Robert R. Calder