Matt's madcap rebellion regardless, I intend to continue with the poems in Hengtang Hermit Edition order. I don't know enough Tang poetry to know which poems out of the 300 I really like; one of my minor goals with this project is to learn more about Tang dynasty poetics. I have to move in some order, so I might as well proceed in the traditional one, which will provide me with classics and hidden gems in equal measure.
002张九龄:感遇四首之二
兰叶春葳蕤,桂华秋皎洁。
欣欣此生意,自尔为佳节。
谁知林栖者,闻风坐相悦。
草木有本心,何求美人折?
lán yè chūn wēiruí, guì huā qiū jiǎojié
orchid leave spring abundant luxurious, cassia flower autumn clear pure
xīnxīn cǐ shēng yì, zǐ ér wèi jiā jié
happy happy this life meaning, I you become good festival
shéi zhī lín xì zhě, wēn fēng zuò xiāng yuè
who know forest lonley (type of person), hear\smell wind & so mutual joy
cǎo mù yǒu běn xīn, hé qiǔ měi rén zhé?
grass wood have root heart, why beg beauty person return?
Zhang Jiuling, Four Poems of Encountering, No. 2
Orchid leaves in spring: abundant, luxurious; cinnamon flowers in fall: bright, pure.
Happy, happy this life; spring and fall are joyous revels.
Who knows the lonely forest, hears the wind and so becomes like breeze.
Grass and wood have a rooted heart; why return to seek honor among men?
Even without Kang Laoshi to excoriate me I can see a handful of issues with this translation, which I'll start to bring up tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy your evening!
The more I learn about Tang poetry, the more ignorant I feel. Progress towards up!
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of issues with the translation, mostly thanks to things I learned reading the Baidu Baike article on 《感遇》.
The first are a few strict character meaning problems (one of which you've already posted about so I'll comment there) and then an issue of larger context. I'll start with the second line:
自尔, is as far as I can tell, better rendered to approximate the modern 各自如此, with 尔同如 as they say. The gist, then, of the fourth 句 (would we say "verse"?) is actually much as you have rendered it, but from the perspective of the flowers. It is the orchid and the cassia who are happy with their life and meaning.
I agree with your reading of 自尔 as representing the flowers, since they're the subjects of the first two lines. Baidu Baike actually has a definition for 自尔 with this poem as a key example, which they say it means 犹自然. I suppose I should follow Baidu but I like the version that turns on the "this and that" meaning.
ReplyDeleteGlancing through the Baike entry, I see a few other issues with my translation myself. I should probably consult the big online annotations earlier in the process, but it does feel a little like cheating.
(Deleted earlier post because it somehow removed a few of the characters above.)