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1、I Principles of Poetic Imagism in Cathay: A Case Study of Ezra Pound s Translation Theory 华夏集中的诗歌意象主义原则：庞德翻译理论的例案研究摘 要庞德是 20 世纪早期美国现代诗歌革新的奠基者和领导者。作为一个诗人，他倡导和推动了意象派诗歌运动,他的意象主义诗歌把英美诗歌从讲究修辞和机械呆板的节奏中解放出来.同时他又是个翻译家，他探讨了诗歌的可译性并且在很大程度上， 改写了诗歌翻译的性质和理念。他的一些翻译原则和实践， 与他的诗学是密不可分的。 他的诗歌翻译处处体现了他的意象主义思想。这篇论文将首先探讨庞
2、德的一些基本的翻译思想。然后以他的华夏集为例， 对他翻译中的意象主义作进一步研究。庞德的华夏集中国古典诗歌的翻译, 他代表了的诗歌翻译理论， 并且对西方文学有重大的影响。 与以往中国古诗翻译不同， 在华夏集中庞德使用了一种新的翻译方法，这种方法支持他提出的意象主义观点。庞德，“中国诗歌的发明者” ，不仅仅模仿，改编，改写了中国古典诗歌，并且用现代主义意象诗歌的特点重现了中国古典诗歌里的意象。因此，一种新颖而独特的庞式翻译方法由此而生。关键词：华夏集、庞德的翻译思想、诗歌翻译、意象主义Abstract Ezra Pound is the founder and leader of modern
3、American poetic innovation in early 20thcentury. As a poet, he advocates and promotes the Imagism Movement which sets American and European poetry free from the rhetorical diction and rigid rhythmical pattern. Meanwhile he is a translator. As a translator, he has discussed the translatability of poe
4、try and has largely redefined the nature and ideal of poetic translation. His poetry translation principles and practices are closely related to his poetics. This thesis will firstly focus on some of Pound s basic translation thoughts and then take a case of study of his Cathay to explore the imagis
5、m in his translation. Pound s Cathay-translation of Chinese classical poetry is representative of his poetry translation theory and has a great influence on the western literature. Different from others translation of Chinese classical poetry, in of Cathay, Pound employs an innovative translation me
6、thod which loyally followed and carried on the Imagism poetic principles he advocates. Pound, “the inventor of Chinese poetry” , not only imitates, adapts and rewrites the classical Chinese poetry, but also re-made the images in the classical Chinese poetry with the modern imagism poetic characters.
7、 Therefore a new and unique Poundian translation method came into being.Key words:Cathay, Pound s theory of translation, poetry translation, imagism III CONTENTS 摘要 . 错误！未定义书签。Abstract . 错误！未定义书签。Chapter 1 Introduction . 错误！未定义书签。11 An overview about Ezra Pound . 错误！未定义书签。12 Pound as a poet . 113 Po
8、und as a translator . 错误！未定义书签。Chapter 2 Pound s Basic Ideas on Translation . 错误！未定义书签。2.1 The role of translator . 错误！未定义书签。2.2 The motivation of translation . 42.2.1 Literature enrichment . 42.2.2 Cultural salvation . 42.3 The Translatability of Poetry . 62.3.1 Melopoeia . 62.3.2 Phanopoeia . 62.3
9、.3 Logopoeia . 7Chapter 3 Case Study on Cathay . 73.1 The translation of Chinese classical poetry before pound . 73.2 Pound s Translation Strategies in Cathay. 83.2.1 The treatment of rhyme and form . 错误！未定义书签。3.2.2 The treatment of image . 10 3.2.3 The treatment of allusion . 12 3.3 The mistranslat
10、ion in Cathay . 13 3.3.1 Accidental mistranslation . 13 3.3.2 Deliberate mistranslation. 14 Chapter 4 Conclusion . 14 References . 错误！未定义书签。 5 Appendix . 17 Acknowledgements . 34 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 An Overview about Ezra Pound Born on October 30, 1885 in Hailey, Idaho, Ezra Loomis Pound gr
11、ew up in Philadelphia. With a strong will to become a great poet, he entered University of Pennsylvania at the age of fifteen and got MA degree. In 1908 he left America for Europe where he made friends with many literary peers, started the Imagism movement and became famous. During World War II, he
12、delivered many speeches full of Fascism and anti-Semitism on Rome Radio. After the war US government arrested and charged him with treason. However, Pound was found insanity and sent to St Elizabeths. Hospital and stayed there as long as twelve years. In 1949 he was awarded the Bollingen Prize for t
13、he Pisan Canto , which astonished the literary circle then. With the help of Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Eliot and other poets and writers, Pound finally discharged from St. Elizabeths and returned to Italy in 1958. Afterwards, he devoted to finishing Canto and studying Confucianism. In 1927, he passed a
14、way in Venice and buried in San Michele Cemetery on the island of san Giorgio Maggiore. In a sense, it is Ezra Pound who started the American modernism literature. Leading Imagism, he revolted against the conventional and Victorian poetry. Throughout his life he contributed to the innovation of lite
15、rature continuously and had left many great works such as: A Lume Spento, Personae, Exultations , Cathay, Certain Noble Plays of Japan, The Cantos, and Translations of Confucius and so on. Besides his own work, Pound supported and encouraged other modernists. “ The strange thing is that Ezra was so
16、inexpressibly kind to anyone who he felt had the faintest spark of submerged talent ” recalled H.D. 3 This may explain why so many writers helped to get Pound set free in his later life. 1.2 Pound as a PoetIt is no doubt that one of Pound s great achievements is his poetics. The core of his poetics
17、is Imagismand Vorticism. (Vorticism is the further development of Imagism.)After sufficient theoretical preparation and ceaseless poetic practice, Pound became the most outstanding leader of Imagism. He defined image as an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time, as a vortex or clus
18、ter of fused ideas with energy. This may be difficult to understand. His three principles of Imagism are much more concreted: 2 1.direct treatment of the thing whether subjective or objective 2.to use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation 3.as regarding rhythm: to compose i
19、n the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of a metronome These principles provide some basic writing rules for the Imagist writers. The imagist theories call for brief language, pinpointing the precise picture in as few words as possible, which to some extend coincide with the princi
20、ple of Chinese Classical Poetry. Stressing free choice of subject matters, musical phrases, economy of expression and the use of a dominant image, or a quick succession of related images, Imagism revolts against Romantic and Victorian poetry. Thus, it ushered in a whole new era of poetic experimenta
21、tion. 1.3 Pound as a Translator There has been an endless discussion about whether Pound is a translator or not. “ The case of the scholars against Pound as a translator, ” as G.S. Fraser 2 has observed, “ is that he perpetually shows signs of not knowing properly the language he is translating from
22、.” However, this view is not credible, for “ Pound studied, among other subjects, English, Latin, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Provencal, Anglo-Saxon, and Greek ” 14. This proves Pound s serious attitude to learn multi-languages to better understand the original. The explanation for his transla
23、tions going against the original lies in his special translation principles and ideas. As Lawrence Venuti commented in a nutshell, “ In Pound s view, the autonomy of translation takes two forms. A translated text might be interpretative , a critical accompaniment , usually printed text to the foreig
24、n poem and composed of linguistic peculiarities that direct the reader across the page to foreign textual feature, like a lexical choice or a prosodic effect. Or a translation might be original writing , in which literary standards in the translating culture guide the rewriting of the foreign poem s
25、o decisively as to seem a new poem in that language. The relation between the two texts doesn t disappear; it is just masked by an illusion of originality, although in target-language terms.” 14The dominant translation tradition before the 20thcentury in the West focuses upon the concept of faithful
26、ness. The prevalent translation strategy advertised by translation practitioners is the linguistic approach. This may explain why Pound s approach to Chinese poem is often denounced as full of mistakes. Pound with his special translation thoughts and practices make people started to see translation
27、in the perspective of literature and culture. 3 Chapter 2 Pound s Basic Ideas of Translation2.1 The Role of Translator in Pound s Eyes Generally speaking there are three kinds of the role of translator: the invisibility; the servant and the rebel. Norman Shapiro is the supporter of “ the invisibilit
28、y of the translator” : “Isee translation as the attempt to produce a text so transparent that it does not seem to be translated. A good translation is like a pane of glass. You only notice that it s there when there are little imperfections-scratches, bubbles. Ideally, there shouldn t be any. It sho
29、uldn t be any. It should never call attention to itself. ” 5Traditionally faithful to the original is the priority in translation. For instance, Eugene A.Nida claimed that “ translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, fi
30、rst in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style ” 6. Under this principle, the translators must try to make their works be equivalent to the original and hide their own opinion. Thus, the author of the original is just like the master while the translator is an absolute server who has no choi
31、ce but to obey. People jokingly call the translator “ a dancer with chains on the heels ”. For thousands of years, this guide ignored and killed the activeness, personality, and creativity of the translator. However, in Pound s eyes, the translator is by no means a servant. Pound insists on the acti
32、vity of the translator. “ .what he insists upon, though, is that the translator should first and foremost be a reader. Through his many notes and comments on translation, there is a consistent line of thought, which attributes to the translator a dual responsibility. The translator needs to read wel
33、l, to be aware of what the source text is, to understand both its formal properties and its literary dynamic as well as its status in the source system, and then has to take into account the role that text may have in the target system. Time and again, Pound reminds us that a translation should be a
34、 work of art in its own right, for anything less is pointless” 10From passage above we can know that Pound has a very clear mind maximizing the power of the translator. In his mind, the original work is the information provider, while the translator is the maker, the master. The translator should at
35、 one time respect the original but at the same time change it as needs. Translation is to reflect the essence of the original and satisfy the motivation of the translator. Therefore the translator must be active, from choosing the material to transfer the meaning. In Pound s translation, he dares to
36、 be visible and adds to his label. 4 2.2 The Motivation of Translation Translation is a human activity and human activities usually have motivations, thus translation is no exception. In Pound s view, there are two kinds of motivation for his translation.2.2.1 Literature Enrichment With a full aware
37、ness of the importance of the translation, Pound in his essay remarked: “ It (English literature) was kept alive during the last century by a series of exotic injections. Swinburne read Greek and took English metric in hand; Prossetti brought in the Italian primitives; Fitzgerald made the only good
38、poem of the time that has gone to the people; it is called, and is to a great extent, a trans- or mistranslation .After this period English literature lives on translation, it is fed by translation; every new exuberance, every new heave is stimulated by translation, every allegedly great age is an a
39、ge of translation” 2. Pound believes that translation could bring new energy to target literature. Hugh Kenner in The Pound Ezra (1971) noted that “ It seems to have been about 1911 that Pound came to think of translation as a model for the poetic are: blood brought to ghosts” As for his poetics, th
40、ere is no doubt that it is Imagist Movement. He finds his way into rejuvenating the English poetry by translating Chinese classical poems. Pound himself explains the reason why he translates Chinese poetry in his essay “ Chinese Poetry” , “ it is because Chinese poetry has certain qualities of vivid
41、 presentation; and because certain Chinese poets have been content to set forth their matter without moralizing and wihtout comment” 1. He regards translation as a model for the poetic art. Translating Chinese classical poems into English greatly enriches the American poetry and provided English rea
42、ders with freshness. By absorbing and digesting the Chinese poetry, Pound is able to take the nutrition and gradually transfuse it into native American literature coupled with his great admiration and respect for Chinese poetry. During the translation, Pound does not pay much attention to the tradit
43、ional faithfulness which emphasized the linguistic equivalence. On the contrary, he imitates adapts and rewrites the original works. 2.2.2 Cultural Salvation Pound once wrote that literature does not exist in vacuum. It is the same with translation. A good translation should not consider its literal
44、 meaning but also the reality meaning in the target society. Take Cathay for example to understand Pounds thoughts of translation as cultural salvation.According to textual research17，“ Cathay” is an antiquated English word referring to a far away fairly land . In addition, on the left of the cover
45、of the first edition of Cathay is a big Chinese character “ 耀”which literally means “ shining ” . To be specific the title of this book is “ 耀5 &Cathay ”. Since it is a convention that the title of the book must correspond with the content of the book, the title seems to tell that in this book Pound
46、 will introduce a rich, prosperous and fantastic China to us. There are 18 English poems translated from 19 Chinese classical poems. (Pound combined two of Libai s poems into one) Fenollosas manuscripts provide Pound with 150 Chinese poems concerning diverse themes. However, Pound mainly chooses tho
47、se sad ones. As Hugh Kenner points out, “Cathay is largely a war book.Its exiled bowmen, deserted women, leveled dynasties, departures for far places, lonely frontier guardsmen and glories remembered from afar, cherished memoriesThe Cathay poems paraphrase an elegiac war poetry nobody wrote.”8Out of
48、 the 19 poems, three focus on the motif of the complaint of the frontier soldiers. These are Song of the Bowmen of Shu , Lament of the Frontier Guard, and South-Folk in Cold Country. Another three poems The Beautiful Toilet, The River-Merchant s Wife: A Letter, and The Jewel Stairs Grievance concent
49、rate on the complaints of the abandoned wives. The sadness of departure is also an important motif, which can be seen in Four Poems of Departure, Separation on the River Kiang , Taking Leave of a Friend , Leave-taking Near Shoku and The city of Choan . Another five poems center on the poet s lonelin
50、ess: The River Song, Poem by the Bridge at Ten-Skin, Exiles letter, Sennin Poem by Kakuhaku , and To-Em-Mei s “ The Unmoving Clound. ” . Only the last two poems are about the good days in the past. However these are also sorrowful because the good belongs to the past. The sadness of soldiers, abando
51、ned wives, departing friends, lonely persons and the reminiscence of the past are consistent throughout Cathay. From the discussion above, we know that the title of the book contrast greatly with the content of the book. If we relate to the background of that time, it may be easier to understand Pou
52、nd s motivation during the selection.In and before the year of the appearance of Cathay, Europe was torn apart by world war two. People were tortured by tough war affairs, forced departure and misery of death. Soldiers traveled far away to defend the glory of their nations, sometimes in vain, leavin
53、g their beloved ones depressed and desperate. The sense of estrangement and disillusion prevailed. Under this circumstance, Pound s acumen for the war-torn people helped set the tone of sadness for the anthology of Cathay. The early 20th century in the west is filled with the contradictions between
54、man and nature, man and society and between men themselves. Apparently, Pound was talking about the society of old China while in fact it was about the cruel reality in modern western world. Under the persona of alien culture, it moved the western readers. 6 2.3 The Translatability of Poetry Transla
55、tion of literal works is indeed a difficult task not even the translation of poetry. For many years, people try to define the translation of poetry. Robert Frost s remark that “ poetry is what gets lost in translation” 10implies that poetry is some intangible, ineffable thing which, although constru
56、cted in language cannot be transposed across language. However, Pound commits to the translation of poetry and determines to find “ the indestructible” or “ what can not be lost” in poetry translation. 2.3.1 Melopoeia In his Polite Essays2, Pound laid out three of poetry, in which language is charge
57、d or energized. the first is melopoeia, or the musical property of the words, which means that music directs the shape of meaning. In Pound s words, this musical quality can be appreciated by “ the foreigner with the sensitive ear, even though he be ignorant of the language translated from.”However,
58、 “ it is practically impossible to transfer or translate it from one language to another, save perhaps by divine accident, and for a half line at a time ” .1 The music property of poems is mainly embodied by sound and rhythm. The intensity of sound can be achieved by the use of rhyme, alliteration,
59、assonance, consonance and so on. At that time, the overwhelming rhythm used in poetry is iambic pentameter. Greatly objected to monotony and meaninglessness in Victorian poetry, Pound advocates free verse. In his translation, Pound freely breaks and links the lines to adapt to various emotions. 2.3.
60、2 Phanopoeia The second is phanopoeia, or the visual property of the words, which is the “ casting of images upon the visual imagination. ”1Pound regards it as the easiest to translate. It can be translated “ almost, or wholly, intact ” for it touches upon the creation of images in poetry which is c
61、entral to Pound s poetics.The perception on objective objects makes analogous images. Therefore people from different cultures understand one another and great poems meet echoing souls across time and space. The commonness of human in aesthetics provides the understandability of image even from diff
62、erent cultures, accordingly the possibility of image translation. Apart from the widely presentation of images, Pound also gets the visual beauty in syntax. As we know, Chinese is a syntactic language. There are usually nouns with no verbs in a sentence. To achieve the syntactic equivalence, Pound e
63、ven imitates the Chinese sentence pattern in his English translation by omitting verbs and leaving nouns alone in a sentence. 2.3.3 Logopoeia 7 The third is logopoeia, described by Pound as “ the dance of the intellect among words” 1, which is regarded as the most complex. It indicates not only the
64、direct meaning of words, but also the changing meaning of words in a specific context. It is deemed to be untranslatable, though it may be paraphrased. To understand logopoeia, the translator must take the time, the place, the biography of the author and other relevant things into consideration. Sin
65、ce the translator should try to establish various relations, the newly-made translation probably is a creative writing. Pound s ideas of translation are largely reflected in his translation of Chinese poetry and Confucius classics, among which Cathay stands as an important milestone. Chapter 3 Case
66、Study on Cathay3.1 The Translation of Chinese Classical Poetry before Pound As early as 18thcentury, Sir William Jones(1746-1794) had talked about The Book of Odes(诗经 ) and provided two versions of the translation: one was translated word for word; another was translated according to the poetic form
67、. By the middle of the 19th century, with the help of some Chinese scholars, sinologist James Legge (1814-1897) began to translate the The Book of Odes. Firstly, James got to know the literal meaning of Chinese classical poetry and then adopted them in the English poetry form. It is not until 1896 t
68、hat the poetry out of The Book of Odes began to be translated by the sinologist Herbert A. Giles. All of their translations intended to be as faithful as possible to the literal meaning therefore they are full of detailed explanations. As far as the form, they adopted mainstream Victorian poetic tre
69、atment. Thus the Chinese poems translated seemed well within normative English poetics, with recognized familiar features of meter rhyme, and poetic diction. The strangeness and otherness that might have existed in the original Chinese all but vanished, except the exotic names of persons and places.
70、The sinologists tried to reproduce closely the original Chinese poetry in content, form, rhyme and metrics. Although they themselves knew the beauty of the Chinese classical poetry, their translation did not convey the essence of Chinese classical poetry-image. And their translations did not arouse
71、much of people s interests. In the early 20thcentury, China became the quasi-colony of the western countries, which resulted in the appropriation of Chinese cultural artifacts and their imitations in the museums and salons of the west. Pound started to know Chinese literature and have a fancy for it
72、. He received the late Fenollosa s manuscripts in 1913 and worked on it. In 1915 his efforts was paid off, the 8 publication of Cathay-translations of Chinese classical poetry was a huge success. 3.2 Pound s Translation Strategies in CathayPound received the late Fenollosa s manuscripts in 1913. As
73、the executor of these notes, Pound published Cathay-a small book of translation of Chinese classical poetry in 1915 in London. It enjoyed great success soon after it published. Almost of all of the modernists such as Yeats, Fort, Eliot expressed praise of its freshness, beauty and conciseness. In th
74、e preface of the book T.S. Eliot called Pound “ the inventor of Chinese poetry ” and said “ through his translation we really at last get the original. ”12 Mr. Ford Madox Hueffer even commented “ The poems in Cathay are things of a supreme beauty. What poetry should be, that they are.” 13 Although s
75、ome sinologists disapprove with Cathay believing it is unfaithful to the original, no one could deny the influence of it in American literature in 20th century. It opened the window to the eastern for the English readers. Moreover, in Cathay, Pound firstly brought up the unique quality of Chinese cl
76、assical poetry and formed a new pattern of translation. 3.2.1 The Treatment of Rhyme and Form It is easy to notice that Pound adopted free verse in Cathay. Just choose one of the poems in Cathay-Leave-Taking Near Shoku to explore Pound s treatment of rhyme and form. 送友人入蜀Leave-Taking Near Shoku“Sans
77、o, King of Shoku, built roads ”见说蚕丛路，They say the roads of Sanso are steep. 崎岖不易行。山从人而起，Sheer as the mountain. The walls rise in a man s face, 云傍马头生。Clouds grow out of the hill, at his horse s bridle. 芳树笼秦栈，Sweet trees are on the paved way of the Shin, Their trunks burst through the paving, 春流绕蜀城。An
78、d freshets are bursting their ice in the midst of Shoku, a proud city. 升沉应已定，Men s fates are already set, 不必问君平。There is no need of asking diviners. The original Chinese poem is composed of four lines with five words in each line; however, 9 Pound renders it into five lines with diverse words in eac
79、h line. The original Chinese poem has a strict contracture, while the English version does not translate applying this contracture. Apart from not sticking to the original form, Pound also pays little attention to the rhymes of the original poems. It is known to us that Chinese classical poetry is s
80、trict with rhymes especially the end-rhymes. In the Chinese poem, “ 行” rhymed with “ 平 ” ; “ 生” rhymed with “ 城” . In the Pound s version, he just employs the free verse. Take another poem for example: The Beautiful Toilet(青青河畔草 ) 青青河畔草，郁郁园中柳。盈盈楼上女，皎皎当窗牖。娥娥红粉妆，纤纤出素手。Pound s version: Blue, blue is th
81、e grass about the river And the willows have overfilled the close garden. And within, the mistress, in the midmost of her youth, White, white of face, hesitates, passing the door. Slender, she puts forth a slender hand. Herbert A.Giles s version: Green grown the grass upon the bank, The willow-shoot
82、s are long and lank A lady in a glistening gown Opens the casement and looks down. The rounded arm is dazzling white. The original poem is featured by repetitive adjectives at the beginning of each line. Giles renders it in strict end-rhyme such as “ bank” and “ lank” ; “ gown” and “ down” . This is
83、 typical of Victorian poetry that is strongly opposed by Pound. Pound pays little attention to the rhyme, but remains the reduplications at the beginning of lines “ blue, blue” ; “ white, white” and “ slenderslender.” However, he does not imitate the reduplication completely. In this way, Pound kept
84、 the feature of the Chinese poem while distinguishes with the Victorian poetry. The River-Merchant s Wife: A Letter is an example of the concise language. From the perspective of a solid woman recalling her childhood, new marriage life, this poem expresses the woman s deep concerns and misses for he
85、r husband. The following are part of his translation “At fourteen I married My Lord you, 10 I never laughed, being bashful. Lowering my head, I looked at the wall. Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back. ”Though language is plain, these lines vividly described a shameful young lady. Pound
86、uses many short phrases, such as “ my lord ”“ being bashful ” , “ lowering my head ”“ called to ”“ look back” “a thousand times” expressing the mind state of the young lady. 3.2.2 The Treatment of ImageChinese poetry is rich in vivid images which in Pound s eye are translatable. The following exampl
87、e is the typical example. 送友人李白青山横北郭，白水绕东城。此地一为别，孤蓬万里征。浮云游子意，落日故人情。挥手自兹去，萧萧班马鸣。It is a poem containing beautiful scenery: riding on the horse, the poet is seeing his friend off outside of the town. Looking forwards, they saw mountains before the north walls, water flowing across the eastern town. On
88、ce separated, the poet s friend will leave like clouds floating to the faraway. The sunset seems to understand the sad of departure and is unwilling to leave. The horses can not help neighing. Through the description of natural scenes, personal feelings and emotions are delivered. The rich images ca
89、n create various pictures in readersimagination and can spontaneously stimulate the sadness for the departure. Pound s translation of the poem is as follow: Taking Leaving of a Friend Blue mountains to the north of the walls, White river winding about them; Here we must make separation And go out th
90、rough a thousand miles of dead grass. Mind like a floating wide cloud. Sunset like the parting of old acquaintances Who bow over their clasped hands at a distance. Our horses neigh to each other as we are departing. It could be seen that the major images in Libai s poem have all been presented by th
91、e translation: “ blue mountain ” as to “ 青山 ” , “ the north of the wall ” as to “ 北郭 ” , “ white water ” as 11 to “ 白水 ” , “ dead grass” as to “ 孤蓬 ” , “ floating wide cloud ” as to “ 浮云 ” , “ sunset” as to “ 落日 ” , “ our horses neigh to each” as to “ 萧萧班马鸣 ” . In his version, Pound emphasizes each
92、single image which he thinks revels the truth of the original poem. Each image is translated carefully. Generally speaking, “ 青 ”in Chinese could mean “ blue, green, grey or black ” . For example, “ 青山 ” in Amy Lowell s version is “ clear green hills ” . However, in Chinese landscape painting mounta
93、ins in near distance are deep green whose color in far distance turns blue or pale. We can clearly know that the mountain is seen from faraway, so “ blue” is much better. Besides, in English, the word “ blue” is associated with gloomy and depressed feeling which implies the theme of the poem. In Pou
94、nd s translation of “ 浮云游子意，落日故人情” , he keeps the images of “ 浮云 ” and “ 落日 ” with analogous expression to represent the sadness of departure. Even though Ezra Pound lives far apart on the other hemisphere of the earth and thousands years long span of time he does understand the metaphor of floating
95、. I d like to compare it with another version by Herbert A. Giles: “ Your heart was full of wandering thought; For me; -my sun had set indeed.” In his version, the associations between cloud and thought as well as sunset and old friend s feeling are lost, even though his translation is more ordinary
96、 according to English grammar. His translation adds those elements that can be omitted in Chinese, such as possessive pronoun “ your” , “ my” and the tense of verbs “ was”“ has set” . However, Pound imitates Chinese sentence pattern omitting articles, verbs so that only images are left. This leaves
97、much more space for readers imagination. In Ezra Pound s version, the image of sunset is retained to emphasize the feeling but he omits the verbs of the original poem. He emphasizes the expressive force of images and omits the other logical coherence. This is right the doctrine of modernist pioneers
98、. At the time they advocated the Imagism in order to discard the disadvantage of direct expression, empty doctrine and lengthy words in traditional poetry. Coincidently, rich images in Chinese poetry meet their avocation to write connotatively. In Pounds another translation on玉阶怨玉阶生白露 , 夜久浸罗袜。却下水晶帘
99、, 玲珑望秋月。 （李白）The jeweled steps are already quite white with dew, It is so late that the dew soaks my gauze stockings, And I let down the crystal curtain. And watch the moon through the clear autumn. 912 The poem is stressed on the feeling of “ grievance” of the court girl. To express the feeling, th
100、e poet didn t use any direct words but expressed in connotative way. From the images “玉阶，白露，罗袜，水晶帘，玲珑秋” the atmosphere is created where the sad feeling of the lonely maid in deep night. Pound appreciated the poem very much and he put notes under his translation: “ Jewel stairs” , therefore a palace.
101、 Grievance, therefore there is something to complain of. “ Gauze stockings” , therefore it is a court lady, not a servant who complains. “ Clear autumn” , therefore he has no excuse on account of weather. Also she has come early, for the dew has not merely whitened the stairs, but has soaked her sto
102、ckings. The poem is especially prized because she utters no direct reproach. The understanding of the images makes Pound keep them as it is. Furthermore, he added “it is so late that” ，and change the line “玉阶生白露”to be “the jeweled steps are already quite white with dew ” to reflex the long time wait
103、ing and the bitter loneliness of the court girl. Furthermore, it reveals that the expressive force of objects makes it possible to empathize and project human s feeling on the objects. Even though the poem is titled “ The Jewel Stair s Grievance” , no single word concerning grievance appears in both
104、 Chinese original and Pound s English translation. However, the sense of sadness spreads through the whole poem. Although the heroine speaks no words, the poet and the translator let the external images spoken her emotion implicitly and indirectly. From this poem, we can find Pound has a special way
105、 of getting to the essence of the original by intermingling the internal emotion and external objects. 3.2.3 The Treatment of Cultural Elements There are lots of allusions in Chinese classical poetry. These allusions are deemed to be untranslatable, though it may be paraphrased. To understand allusi
106、ons, the translator must take the time, the place, the biography of the author and other relevant things into consideration. Since the translator should try to establish various relations, the newly-made translation probably is a creative writing. For instance, Pound makes a point of deleting litera
107、ry allusions in Chinese poems even though they are detailed and documented in Fenollosa s notes. This is his intentional rewriting. Take his version of Libai s Chang gan Xing for example. In “ The River-Merchant s wife：A Letter ” , the seventh and eighth lines: 常存抱柱信，岂上望夫台。十六君远行，瞿塘滟滪堆。There are thre
108、e stories in the above lines: (1) “ 常存抱信柱 ”the story of Weisheng who drowned loyally waiting for his girl who never showed up (2) “ 岂上望夫台 ” the story of a woman 13 who turned to stone faithfully waiting for the return for her husband (3) “ 瞿塘滟预堆 ” perils of sailing by the Yanyu Rocks as warned by th
109、e boatmen in a popular song when the Yanyu is as big as a man s hat, one should not venture to make for Qutang, because it is dangerous to get drowned there. Pound translated these, without notes, into: For ever and for ever and for ever Why should I climb the look out? At sixteen you departed You w
110、ent into far Ku-to-yen, by the river Of swirling eddies. In so doing, Pound kee p the “ faithfulness” in the first story, the “ waiting” in the second, and the “ impassable rapids” in the third. So between the annotations and poetry, one is compelled to make a choice, and Pound chose the latter. Pou
111、nd s strategy of dealing with allusions was a kind of dilution-to generalize the reference so as to relieve the English readers from the burden of footnotes. 3.3 The Mistranslation in CathaySince Pound did not know Chinese at all when translating the Chinese classical poetry, he relied completely on
112、 Fenollosa s notes. Some of his notes are so accurate. Thus it is inevitable to make mistakes during his translation. These are called the accidental mistranslation. 3.3.1 Accidental Mistranslation Accidental mistranslation is unavoidable for Pound. Here I will just give one example: Pound combines
113、two poems into one The River Song. He never imagines the title “侍从宜春苑奉诏赋龙池柳色初青听新莺白啭歌” would be so longer that he mistakes it for a line in The River Song. 3.3.2 Deliberate Mistranslation This kind of example can be found in his translation of Lament of the Frontier Guard. The fifth line “ 荒城空大漠 ” is
114、 transferred as “ Desolate castle, the sky, the wild desert.” People will easily blame Pound for misunderstanding “ 空” (vacant, empty) as the “ sky” . Fenollosa s notes here are actually very clear. “ 荒城空大漠”Rough castle vacant great wide “The ruined castle stands vacant in the great desert.”(Wai-lim
115、 Yip, 1969:100) 14 When we compare Pound s translation with Fenollosa s notes, we can clearly know that this change of “ vacant”to the “ the sky”must be Pound s deliberate efforts to amplify the artistic intensity. The shift from “ vacant”to “ sky”perfectly expresses the theme of the poem. Clearly a
116、ware of this effect, Pound inserts another dimension of the image, “ the sky” . The sense of loneliness and desolation is thus enhanced with the juxtaposition of the desolate castle, the sky and desert. Upon the wild desert, and under the endless sky stands a lonely castle. The three objects form a
117、picture that can express this feeling. Readers can easily experience the desolateness and loneliness created in the poem without moralizing or commenting. Chapter 4 Conclusion Through my study of this topic, I find that Pound s translations of Chinese classical poems in Cathay accord with his Imagis
118、m principles. “ The direct treatment of the thing whether subjective or objective”can be seen in his treatment of images. He deliberately keeps or juxtaposes or translates the images. The language of poetry in Cathay is not only colloquial and contemporary but also precise and economic which is espe
119、cially manifested in The River-Merchant s Wife: A Letter. This keeps with his principle of “ to use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation” . As regarding rhyme, he intends to use free verse, which applies to every poem in Cathay. In addition, Imagism tries to record observa
120、tions of an object without moralizing or commenting . The Jewel Stairs Grievance is a typical sample of that. Just like MingXie said in his essay: “ Poet s translations stimulated and strengthened his poetic innovations, which in turn guided and promoted his translations. Pound s poetics is essentia
121、lly a poetics of translation and he has largely redefined the nature and ideal of poetic translation for the twentieth century.”?In the translation of Cathay, Pound employed an innovative translation method which loyally followed and carried on the three Imagism poetic principles he advocated. From
122、the study, I come to the conclusion that Pound, “ the inventor of Chinese poetry” , not only translated the classical Chinese poetry, but also re-made the images in the classical Chinese poetry with the modern imagism poetic characters. 15 1Ezra Pound, How to Read. T.S.Eliot (ed.),Literary Essays of
123、 Ezra Pound , 2nd ed. London&Boston: Faber and Faber.; 2Ezra Pound, Polite Essays. London: Faber and Faber,1937; 3Ira B.Nadel, The Cambridge companion to Ezra Pound, London: Cambridge University Press, 1999 ；4Kenner, H. The Pound Ezra . London: Faber and Faber,1972; 5Lawrence Venuti, The Translators
124、 Invisibility: The History of Translation ,London: Routledge, 2005; 6Nida, Eugene A., Language and Culture-Contexts in Translating, Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001; 7Nord, Christiane. Translating as a Purposeful Activity, Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press,
125、 2001; 8 Peter Wilson, A Preface to Ezra Pound , Being University Press, 2005 9Ronnie Apter, Digging for the Treasure: Translation after Pound, New York; Peter Lang, 1984; 10Susan Bassnett& Andre Lefevere, Constructing Cultures Essays on Literary Traslation, Multilingual Matters Ltd., Clevedon, Uk.,
126、2000; 11Susan Bassnett& Andre Lefevere, Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame, London and New York, 1992; 12 T.S.Eliot , Ezra Pound: Selected Poems , London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1934; 13Yip, Wai-lim, Ezra Pound s Cathay, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969; 14Venu
127、ti,L. The Translation Studies Reader, London and New York, London：Roultedge,2000 ；15 吴其尧 ，庞德与中国文化 , 上海,上海外语教育出版社， 2006 16 祝朝伟， 构建与反思 ，上海，上海译文出版社，2005 17 周宁,永远的乌托邦 , 湖北，湖北教育出版社 , 200018 http:/paintedricecakes.org/languagearts/poetry/ cathay_pound.html 16 The complete text and recordings of. CATHAYTra
128、nslations by Ezra Pound for the most part from the Chinese of Rihaku, from the notes of the late Ernest Fenollosa, and the Decipherings of the professors Mori and Ariga (1915)Catalog 1诗经，采薇SONG OF THE BOWMAN OF SHU 2古诗十九首，青青河边草THE BEAUTIFUL TOILET 3 李白江上吟&侍从宜春苑奉诏赋龙池柳色初青听新莺白啭歌THE RIVER SONG 4 李白长干行，其
129、一THE RIVER MERCHANTS WIFE: A LETTER 5 李白古风十八，天津三月时POEM BY THE BRIDGE AT TEN-SHIN 6 李白玉阶怨THE JEWEL STAIRS GRIEVANCE 7 李白古风十四，胡关饶风沙LAMENT OF THE FRONTIER GUARD 8 李白忆旧游谯郡元参军EXILES LETTER 9 王维送元二使安西FOUR POEMS OF DEPARTURE 10 李白黄河楼送孟浩然之广陵SEPARATION ON THE RIVER KIANG 11 李白送友人TAKING LEA VE OF A FRIEND 12
130、李白送友人入蜀LEA VING-TAKING NEAR SHOKU 13 李白登金陵凤凰台THE CITY OF CHOAN 14 李白古风六，代马不思越SOUTH-FOLK IN COLD COUNTRY 15 郭璞游仙诗，翡翠戏兰芍SENNIN POEM BY KAKUHAKU 16 汉乐府古诗十九首，陌上桑A BALLARD OF THE MULBERRY ROAD 17 卢照邻长安古意OLD IDEA OF CHOAN BY ROSORIU 18 陶渊明停云TO-EM-MEI S THE UNMOVING CLOUD2 Contents SONG OF THE BOWMAN OF SH
131、U Here we are, picking the first fern-shoots And saying: When shall we get back to our country? Here we are because we have the Ken-nin for our foemen, We have no comfort because of these Mongols. We grub the soft fern-shoots, When anyone says Return, the others are full of sorrow. Sorrowful minds,
132、sorrow is strong, we are hungry and thirsty. Our defense is not yet made sure, no one can let his friend return. We grub the old fern-stalks. We say: Will we be let to go back in October? There is no ease in royal affairs, we have no comfort. Our sorrow is bitter, but we would not return to our coun
133、try. What flower has come into blossom? Whose chariot? The Generals. Horses, his horses even, are tired. They were strong. We have no rest, three battles a month. By heaven, his horses are tired. The generals are on them, the soldiers are by them. The horses are well trained, the generals have ivory
134、 arrows and quivers ornamented with fish-skin. The enemy is swift, we must be careful. When we set out, the willows were drooping with spring, We come back in the snow, We go slowly, we are hungry and thirsty, Our mind is full of sorrow, who will know of our grief? by Bunno Reputedly 1100 B.CTHE BEA
135、UTIFUL TOILET Blue, blue is the grass about the river And the willows have overfilled the close garden. 3 And within, the mistress, in the midmost of her youth, White, white of face, hesitates, passing the door. Slender. she puts forth a slender hand; And she was a courtezan in the old days, And she
136、 has married a sot, Who now goes drunkenly out And leaves her too much alone. by Mei Sheng B.C. 140 THE RIVER SONG This boat is of shato-wood, and its gunwales are cut magnolia, Musicians with jeweled flutes and with pipes of gold Fill full the sides in rows, and our wine Is rich for a thousand cups
137、. We carry singing girls, drift with the drifting water, Yet Sennin needs A yellow stork for a charger, and all our seamen Would follow the white gulls or ride them. Kutsus prose song Hangs with the sun and moon. King Sos terraced palace is now but barren hill, But I draw pen on this barge Causing t
138、he five peaks to tremble, And I have joy in these words like the joy of blue islands. (If glory could last forever Then the waters of Han would flow northward.) And I have moped in the Emperors garden, awaiting an order- to-write! I looked at the dragon-pond, with its willow-colored water Just refle
139、cting in the skys tinge, And heard the five-score nightingales aimlessly singing. 4 The eastern wind brings the green color into the island grasses at Yei-shu, The purple house and the crimson are full of Spring softness. South of the pond the willow-tips are half-blue and bluer, Their cords tangle
140、in mist, against the brocade-like palace. Vine strings a hundred feet long hang down from carved railings, And high over the willows, the find birds sing to each other, and listen, Crying Kwan, Kuan, for the early wind, and the feel of it. The wind bundles itself into a bluish cloud and wanders off.
141、 Over a thousand gates. over a thousand doors are the sounds of spring singing, And the Emperor is at Ko. Five clouds hang aloft, bright on the purple sky, The imperial guards come forth from the goldren house with their armor a-gleaming. The Emperor in his jeweled car goes out to inspect his flower
142、s, He goes out to Hori, to look at the wing-flapping storks, He returns by way of Sei rock, to hear the new nightingales, For the gardens of Jo-run are full of new nightingales, Their sound is mixed in this flute, Their voice is in the twelve pipes here by Rihaku 8th Century A.D. THE RIVER MERCHANTS
143、 WIFE: A LETTER WHILE my hair was still cut straight across my forehead Played I about the front gate, pulling flowers. You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse, You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums. And we went on living in the village of Chokan: Two small people, without dislike or
144、 suspicion. At fourteen I married My Lord you, I never laughed, being bashful. Lowering my head, I looked at the wall. 5 Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back. At fifteen I stopped scowling, I desired my dust to be mingled with yours Forever and forever and forever. Why should I climb the
145、 look out? At sixteen you departed, You went into fat Ku-to-yen, by the river of swirling eddies, And you have been gone five months. The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead. You dragged your feet when you went out. By the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses, Too deep to clear them a
146、way! The leaves fall early in autumn, in wind. The paired butterflies are already yellow with August Over the grass in the West garden; They hurt me. I grow older. If you are coming down through the narrows of the river Kiang, Please let me know beforehand, And I will come out to meet you As far as
147、Cho-fu-Sa. by Rihaku POEM BY THE BRIDGE AT TEN-SHIN March has come to the bridge head, Peach boughs and apricot boughs hang over a thousand gates, At morning there are flowers to cut the heart, And evening drives them on the eastward-flowing waters. Petals are on the gone waters and on the going, An
148、d on the back-swirling eddies,But to-days men are not the men of the old days, 6 Though they hang in the same way over the bridge-rail. The seas color moves at the dawn And the princes still stand in rows, about the throne, And the moon falls over the portals of Sei-go-yo, And clings to the walls an
149、d the gate-top. With head gear glittering against the cloud and sun, The lords go forth from the court, and into far borders. They ride upon dragon-like horses, Upon horses with head-trappings of yellow metal, And the streets make way for their passage. Haughty their passing, Haughty their steps as
150、they go into great banquets, To high halls and curious food, To the perfumed air and girls dancing, To clear flutes and clear singing; To the dance of the seventy couples; To the mad chase through the gardens. Night and day are given over to pleasure And they think it will last a thousand autumns. U
151、nwearying autumns. For them the yellow dogs howl portents in vain, And what are they compared to the lady Riokushu, That was cause of hate! Who among them is a man like Han-rei Who departed alone with his mistress, With her hair unbound, and he his own skiffsman! by Rihaku THE JEWEL STAIRS GRIEVANCE
152、 The jeweled steps are already quite white with dew, It is so late the dew soaks my gauze stockings, And I let down the crystal curtain And watch the moon through the clear autumn 7 by Rihaku Note.Jewel stairs, therefore a palace. Grievance, therefore there is something to complain of. Gauze stockin
153、gs, therefore a court lady, not a servant who complains. Clear autumn, there fore he has no excuse on account of the weather. Also she has come early, for the dew has not merely whitened the stairs, but soaks her stockings. The poem is especially prized because she utters no direct reproach.LAMENT O
154、F THE FRONTIER GUARD By the north gate, the wind blows full of sand, Lonely from the beginning of time until now! Trees fall, the grass goes yellow with autumn, I climb the towers and towers to watch out the barbarous land: Desolate castle, the sky, the wide desert. There is no wall left to this vil
155、lage. Bones white with a thousand frosts, High heaps, covered with trees and grass; Who brought this to pass? Who was brought the flaming imperial anger? Who has brought the army with drums and with kettle-drums? Barbarous kings. A gracious spring, turned to blood-ravenous autumn, A turmoil of wars-
156、men, spread over the middle kingdom, Three hundred and sixty thousand, And sorrow, sorrow like rain. Sorrow to go, and sorrow, sorrow returning. Desolate, desolate fields, And no children of warfare upon them, No longer the men for offence and defense. Ah, how shall you know the dreary sorrow at the
157、 North Gate, With Rihakus name forgotten And we guardsmen fed to the tigers by Rihaku 8 EXILES LETTER To So-Kin of Rakuyo, ancient friend, Chancellor of Gen. Now I remember that you built me a special tavern By the south side of the bridge at Ten-Shin. With yellow gold and white jewels we paid for t
158、he songs and laughter, And we were drunk for month after month, forgetting the kings and princes. Intelligent men came drifting in, from the sea from the west border And with them, and with you especially, There was nothing at cross-purpose, And they made nothing of sea-crossing or of mountain-cross
159、ing, If only they could be of that fellowship, And we all spoke out our hearts and minds, and without regret. And then I was sent off to South Wei, smothered in laurel groves, And you to the north of Raku-hoku, Till we had nothing but thoughts and memories in common. And then, when separation had co
160、me to its worst We met, and travelled into Sen-Go Through all the thirty-six folds of the turning and twisting waters, Into a valley of a thousand bright flowers, That was the first valley; And on into ten thousand valleys full of voices and pine-winds. And with silver harness and reins of gold, pro
161、strating themselves on the ground, Out came the East of Kan foreman and his company. And there came also the True-man of Shi-yo to meet me, Playing on a jeweled mouth-organ. In the storied houses of San-Ko they gave us more Sennin music, Many instruments, like the sound of young phoenix broods. The
162、foreman of Kan-Chu, drunk, danced 9 because his long sleeves wouldn t keep stillWith that music playing. And I, wrapped in brocade, went to sleep with my head on his lap, And my spirit so high it was all over the heavens. And before the end of the day we were scattered like stars or rain. I had to b
163、e off to So, far away over the waters, You back to your river-bridge. And your father, who was brave as a leopard, Was governor in Hei-Shu and put down the barbarian rabble. And one May he had you send for me, despite the long distance; And what with broken wheels and so on, I won t say it wasnthard
164、 going, Over roads twisted like sheep s guts. And I was still going, late in the year, in the cutting wind from the North, And thinking how little you cared for the cost, and you caring enough to pay it. Then what a reception: Red jade cups, food well set on a blue jeweled table, And I was drunk, an
165、d had no thought of returning. And you would walk out with me to the western corner of the castle, To the dynastic temple, with water about it clear as blue jade, With boats floating, and the sound of mouth-organs and drums, With ripples like dragon-scales, going glass green on the water, Pleasure l
166、asting, with courtesans going and coming without hindrance, With the willow-flakes falling like snow, And the vermilioned girls getting drunk about sunset, And the waters a hundred feet deep reflecting green eyebrows Eyebrows painted green are a fine sight in young moonlight, Gracefully painted And
167、the girls singing back at each other, 10 Dancing in transparent brocade, And the wind lifting the song, and interrupting it, Tossing it up under the clouds. And all this comes to an end. And is not again to be met with. I went up to the court for examination, Tried Layu s luck, offered the Choyo son
168、g,And got no promotion, and went back to the East Mountains White-headed. And once again, later, we met at the South bridgehead. And then the crowd broke up, you went north to San palace, And if you ask how I regret that parting: It is like the flowers falling at Spring s end,Confused, whirled in a
169、tangle. What is the use of talking, and there is no end of talking, There is no end of things in the heart. I call in the boy, Have him sit on his knees here To seal this, And I send it a thousand miles, thinking. by Rihaku FOUR POEMS OF DEPARTURELight rain is on the light dust The willows of the in
170、n-yard Will be going greener and greener, But you, Sir, had better take wine ere your departure, For you will have no friends about you When you come to the gates of Go. (Rihaku or Omakittsu) 11 Separation on the River Kiang Ko-jin goes west from Ko-kaku-ro, The smoke flowers are blurred over the ri
171、ver. His lone sail blots the far sky. And now I see only the river, The long Kiang, reaching heaven. Rihaku Taking Leave of a FriendBlue mountains to the north of the walls, White river winding about them; Here we must make separation And go out through a thousand miles of dead grass. Mind like a fl
172、oating white cloud, Sunset like the parting of old aquaintances Who bow over their clasped hands at a distance. Our horses neigh to each other as we are departing Rihaku Leave-taking Near ShokuThey say the roads of Sanso are steep, Sheer as the mountains. The walls rise in a mans face, Clouds grow o
173、ut of the hill at his horses bridle. Sweet trees are on the paved way of the Shin, Their trunks burst through the paving, And freshets are bursting their ice in the midst of Shoku, a proud city. Mens fates are already set, 12 There is no need of asking diviners Rihaku The City of Choan The phoenix a
174、re at play on their terrace. The phoenix are gone, the river flows on alone Flowers and grass Cover over the dark path where lay the dynastic house of the Go. The bright cloths and bright caps of the Shin Are now the base of old hills. The Three Mountains fall through the far heaven, The isle of Whi
175、te Heron splits the two streams apart. Now the high clouds cover the sun And I can see Choan afar And I am sad. South-Folk in Cold Country The Dai horse neighs against the bleak wind of Etsu,. The birds of Etsu have no love for En, in the north, Emotion is born out of habit,* Yesterday we went out o
176、f the Wild-Goose gate, Today from the Dragon-Pen. Surprised. Desert turmoil. Sea sun. Flying snow bewilders the barbarian heaven. Lice swarm like ants over our accoutrements. Mind and spirit drive on the feathery banners. Hard fight gets no reward. 13 Loyalty is hard to explain. Who will be sorry fo
177、r General Rishogu, the swift moving, Whose white head is lost for this province? * I.e., we have been warring from one end of the empire to the other, now east, now west, on each border. Sennin Poem by Kakuhaku The red and green kingfishers flash between the orchids and clover, One bird casts its gl
178、eam on another Green vines hang through the high forest, They weave a whole roof to the mountain, The lone man sits with shut speech, He purrs and pats the clear strings. He throws his heart up through the sky, He bights through the flower pistil and brings up a fine fountain. The red-pine-tree god
179、looks at him and wonders. He rides through the purple smoke to visit the sennin, He takes Floating Hill* by the sleeve, He claps his hand on the back of the great white sennin. But you, you damd crowd of gnats, Can you even tell the age of a turtle? * Name of sennin (spirit.)A Ballad of the Mulberry
180、 Road 14 The sun rises in south east cirner of things To look on the tall house of the Shin For they have a daughter names Rafu, (pretty girl) She made the name for herself: Gauze Veil, For she feeds mulberries to silkworms. She gets them by the south wall of the town. With green strings she makes t
181、he warp of her basket She makes the shoulder-straps of her basket from the boughs of Ketsura, And she piles her hair up on the left side of her head-piece. Her earring are made of pearl, Her underskirt is of green pattern-silk, Her overskirt is the same silk dyed in purple, And when men going by loo
182、k at Rafu They set down their burdens, They stand and twirl their moustaches. (Fenolloso Mss., very early) Old Idea of Choan by Rosoriu I The narrow streets cut into the wide highway at Choan, Dark oxen, white horses, drag on the seven coaches with outriders The coaches are perfumed wood, The jewele
183、d chair is held up at the crossway, Before the royal lodge: A glitter of golden saddles, awaiting the princes; They eddy before the gate of the barons. The canopy embroidered with dragons drinks in and casts back the sun. 15 Evening comes. The trappings are bordered with mist. The hundred cords of m
184、ist are spread through drinks in and casts back the sun. and double the trees, Night birds, and night women, Spread out their sounds through the gardens. II Birds with flowery wing, hovering butterflies crowd over the thousand gates, Trees that glitter like jade, terraces tinged with silver, The see
185、d of a myriad hues, A net-work of arbors and passages and covered ways, Double towers, winged roofs, border the network of ways: A place of felicitous meeting. Rius house stands out on the sky, with glitter of color As Butei of Kan made the high golden lotus to gather his dews, Before it another hou
186、se which I do not know: How shall we know all the friends whom we meet on strange roadways? To Em-meis The Unmoving Cloud Wet springtime. says To-em-mei, Wet spring in the garden.I The clouds have gathered, and gathered, and the rain falls and falls, The eight ply of the heavens 16 are all folded in
187、to one darkness, And the wide, flat road stretches out. I stop in my room towards the East, quiet, quiet, I pat my new cask of wine. My friends are estranged, or far distant, I bow my head and stand still. II Rain, rain, and the clouds have gathered, The eight ply of the heavens are darkness, The fl
188、at land is turned into river. Wine, wine. here is wine! I drink by my eastern window I think of talking and man, And no boat, no carriage, approaches. III The trees in my east-looking garden are bursting out with new twigs, They try to stir new affection And men say the sun and moon keep on movin because they cant find a soft seat. The birds flutter to rest in my tree, and I think I have heard them saying, It is not that there are no other men But we like this fellow the best, But however we long to speak He cannot know of our sorrow. Tao Yuan Ming A.D. 365-427
