237 replies to this topic

[Jake Holman]

Clear after Rain

The sky has shed its water, autumn clouds thin out,
The west wind sweeps in across ten thousand miles.
This morning presents a fine landscape:
The long rain has done no damage to the farms.
Rows of desert willows show a bit of green,
Skeins of mountain pears are tiny but red.
A Tartar flute plays high up in a tower.
A lone wildgoose soars into the void.

--Du Fu (712-770)


《雨晴》杜甫

　　天水秋雲薄，從西萬里風。今朝好晴景，久雨不妨農。

　　塞柳行疏翠，山梨結小紅。胡笳樓上發，一雁入高空。

Edited by Jake Holman, 05 February 2008 - 08:51 PM.

[Jake Holman]

The Cricket

Cricket, so tiny, so lowly,
why do your sad notes move us so?
Among the grass roots you cry inconsolably,
under the bed, wanting companionship now.
Can the traveler, long on the road, hold back his tears?
Can the abandoned wife endure the hours till dawn?
Plantive strings, shrill piping of woodwinds,
never stir us as do Nature's sounds!

--Du Fu (712-770)

Translated by Burton Watson


《促織》杜甫

　　促織甚微細，哀音何動人。草根吟不穩，床下夜相親。

　　久客得無淚，放妻難及晨。悲絲與急管，感激異天真。




Insect painting (cricket at bottom) by Qi Baishi (1863-1957)

[Jake Holman]

A Youth

Who is that young prettyboy on horseback?
He rides up to the steps, dismounts, and seats himself on my couch.
Without telling me his name, like an arrogant punk,
He points at the silver jug and demands a drink of wine.

--Du Fu (712-770)


《少年行》杜甫

　　馬上誰家薄媚郎，臨階下馬坐人床。

　　不通姓字粗豪甚，指點銀瓶索酒嘗。




Lady of Guo on a Spring Outing (detail), Zhang Xuan (fl. 713-741)

Edited by Jake Holman, 09 February 2008 - 03:30 AM.

[Jake Holman]

Bathing My Son

Everyone hopes their children will be clever,
But my whole life has been ruined by my intelligence.
I wish only that my son grows up dull and mediocre,
So he may quickly rise to the highest office.

--Su Shi (1037-1101)


《洗兒》蘇軾

人皆養子望聰明，
我被聰明誤一生。
但願孩兒愚且魯，
無憂無慮到公卿。






Bathing the Infant, Zhou Wenju, Five Dynasties (907-960)

Edited by Jake Holman, 27 June 2008 - 06:50 PM.

[Jake Holman]

Song of the Grape

The grape vine from untrodden lands,
Its branches gnarled in tangled bands,
Was brought the garden to adorn
With verdure bright; now, upward borne,
The branches climb with rapid stride,
In graceful curves, diverging wide;
Here spread and twin, there languid fall,
Now reach the summit of the wall;
And then with verdure green and bright,
Enchanting the beholder's sight,
Beyond the mansion's roof they strive,
As though with conscious will alive.
And now the vine is planted out,
It climbs the wooden frame about,
The lattice shades with tender green,
And forms a pleasant terrace screen.
With dregs of rice well soak the roots,
And moisten all its leafy shoots,
The flowers like silken fringe will blow,
And fruit like clustered pearls hang low.
On "mare's milk" grapes the hoarfrost gleams,
Shine "dragon scales" like morning beams.
Once hither came a traveling guest;
Amazed his host he thus addressed,
As strolling round he chanced to see
The fruit upon th' o'er-hanging tree:
We men of Jin, such grapes so fair,
Do cultivate as gems most rare;
Of these delicious wine we make,
For which men ne'er their thirst can slake.
Take but a measure of this wine,
And Liangzhou's rule is surely thine.

--Liu Yuxi (772-842)

Translated by Theos. Sampson

This charming translation, published in 1869, was reprinted by Edward Schafer in his great book, "The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics". "Mare's milk" (actually "mare teat") grapes were so named for their elongated shape and are still grown in Xinjiang. "Jin" is an ancient name for the province of Shanxi; during the Tang Dynasty the region of the city of Taiyuan was noted for its vineyards and wine. Liangzhou is the modern city of Wuwei in Gansu Province, which was also famous for its fine grapes during the Tang. Although grapes had been imported into China from Central Asia at least since the Han Dynasty, grapes and grape wine were still considered exotic delicacies during the Tang. For more information on grapes and grape wine in Tang China, see "The Golden Peaches of Samarkand", pp. 141-145. I highly recommend this book (and anything else by Professor Schafer) to anyone with an interest in Tang Dynasty China.


《葡萄歌》劉禹錫

　　野田生葡萄，纏繞一枝高。移來碧墀下，張王日日高。

　　分岐浩繁縟，修蔓蟠詰曲。揚翹向庭柯，意思如有屬。

　　為之立長檠，布濩當軒綠。米液溉其根，理疏看滲漉。

　　繁葩組綬結，懸實珠璣蹙。馬乳帶輕霜，龍鱗曜初旭。

　　有客汾陰至，臨堂瞪雙目。自言我晉人，種此如種玉。

　　釀之成美酒，令人飲不足。為君持一鬥，往取涼州牧。






The famous (and delicious!) grapes of Turpan city, Xinjiang Province

Edited by Jake Holman, 30 July 2008 - 10:35 PM.

[Non-Han Nan Ban]

Excellent.

[taiji in motion]

Song of the Grape is beautiful in its own right as translated! Delightful!

[Tang Scholar]

As I have made a daring suggestion, to make an index to the subforum. I will upload a table in word as a help to that. I hope it will be possible.

Attached Files

•  Jake_Holman____ndice_de_poemas_en_CHF.doc   48K   2 downloads

[kaiselin]

As I have made a daring suggestion, to make an index to the subforum. I will upload a table in word as a help to that. I hope it will be possible.

excellent idea!

[Jake Holman]

Sitting by the Fire

A lone lamp shines on a sleepless man.
Wind and rain fill the western woods.
So many things occupy my mind.
I write in the ashes deep into the night.

--Li Qunyu (c.810-c.860)

《火爐前坐》李群玉

孤燈照不寐，風雨滿西林。多少關心事，書灰到夜深。



Lamp and Rat, Qi Baishi (1864-1957)

Edited by Jake Holman, 27 February 2010 - 06:18 PM.

[Jake Holman]

Watching the Rain from a Tower in Xianyang County

Masses of cloud pour from the mountains like wild beasts.
Light rain, gentle wind, spread over the Wei River.
The sky's a blur, can't see a thing all day
Except flocks of geese in formation, flight after flight.

--Wei Zhuang (836-910)


《登咸陽縣樓望雨》韋莊

　　亂雲如獸出山前，細雨和風滿渭川。

　　盡日空蒙無所見，雁行斜去字聯聯。

[Jake Holman]

from "Written Aboard a Boat on the 'Little Cold Food' Day"

A boat on the water in spring--like sitting on top of the sky.

--Du Fu (712-770)

(from The Selected Poems of Du Fu by Burton Watson, p. 161:
"boat on the spring waters, like sitting on top of the sky;").

Watson's note: Little Cold Food was the day after the Cold Food Festival, held on
the 105th day after the winter solstice, when cooking fires were
extinguished and only cold food was eaten for three days.


《小寒食舟中作》杜甫

春水船如天上坐。

Edited by Jake Holman, 06 March 2010 - 04:40 AM.

[Jake Holman]

On Sound

The ten thousand things produce noise
But the Great Void is always still.
All things arise from silence,
And into silence they vanish.

--Wei Yingwu (c.737-791)


《詠聲》韋應物

　　萬物自生聽，太空恒寂寥。還從靜中起，卻向靜中消