Saturday 15 June 2024

陸雲《谷風》| The Valley Wind by Lu Yün


 


I've seen this poem making the rounds in poetry circles in English with the translation by Arthur Waley. As talented as Arthur Waley is, translations are always an unrequited love letter to the original poem, especially when trying to translate between Chinese and another language. I include below romanisation in pinyin for mandarin and jyutping for cantonese, as these poems always tend to hold the better rhyme in Cantonese.


Living in retirement beyond the world
Silently enjoying isolation

閒居外物,靜言樂幽。

Xiánjū wài wù, jìng yán lè yōu. 
haan4 geoi1 ngoi6 mat6 ,zing6 jin4 lok6 jau1 。


I pull the rope of my door tighter
And stuff my window with roots and ferns.

繩樞增結,甕牖綢繆。

Shéng shū zēng jié, wèng yǒu chóumóu. 
sing4 syu1 zang1 git3,ung3 jau5 cau4 mau4 。


My spirit is tuned to the spring season
At the fall of the year there is autumn in my heart

和神當春,清節為秋。

Hé shén dāng chūn, qīng jié wèi qiū. 
wo4 san4 dong1 ceon1 ,cing1 zit3 wai4 cau1 。



Thus imitating cosmic changes
My cottage becomes a universe.

天地則爾,戶庭已悠。

Tiāndì zé ěr, hù tíng yǐ yōu.
tin1 dei6 zak1 ji5 ,wu6 ting4 ji5 jau4 。


Image is calligraphy by Xia Guoxian, source here

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