All About Books discussion

I’ve selected three poems by my favorite Song dynasty poet Su Shi (蘇軾)for sharing. One is a lyric poem (“ci” 詞, which is a popular genre of poetry of the Song dynasty that has a freer style than Tang dynasty poems) called “Calming Wind and Wave” (“定風波”), and the other two are regular five-character quatrains respectively called “Pear Blossoms by the East Fence” (“東欄梨花”) and “Plum Blossoms Poem” (“梅花詩”).

Su Shi started off an impassioned, full-of-ideals court career at a young age, only to become totally disillusioned as it progressed amidst peer jealousy, betrayal and back-stabbing in court, which led to his incarceration in mid-life and later to forced exile.

“Calming Wind and Wave” is a poem that describes the nuances of his feelings when his life was at a low point. Su Shi wrote this lyric poem shortly after he got out of jail, where he spent over a hundred days for having written poems that were disrespectful of the emperor (which was in fact a fraudulent charge that his peers maliciously laid against him, deliberately presenting his writings out of context to the emperor). The incident was called the “Crow Terrace Poetry Trial” (烏臺詩案) and it happened when Su was forty-three years old.

While in jail, Su Shi got very nervous about his fate, fearing he might get a death sentence any time, as expressed in several poems that he wrote to his brother Su Che (蘇徹, also a poet) and his wife. Somehow those deeply emotional poems reached the emperor’s ears, and the latter was so touched that he ordered a pardon for Su Shi. His days of nightmarish imprisonment profoundly changed his attitude towards life in general, in particular towards his career as a court official.

The Original “定風波“ (“Calming Wind and Wave”):-

莫聽穿林打葉聲, 何妨吟嘯且徐行;
竹杖芒鞋輕勝馬, 誰怕? 一蓑煙雨任平生;
料峭春風吹酒醒, 微冷, 山頭斜照卻相迎;
回首向來蕭瑟處, 歸去, 也無風雨也無晴。

My translation:-

Stop listening to the rain pattering on leaves,
Why not enjoy a stroll, and sing your heart out?
Giving up horses for sandals and a cane – who would mind?
A straw cloak may be all I need in misty rain.
The spring breeze wakes me up from drowsiness – a bit chilly.
The setting sun warms me though with embracing rays.
Turning back, still mindful of that cold and wretched place.
Now that I have arrived – home at last,
Nothing stirs me any more, the glaring sun, the wind or the rain.


The other two poems are regular five-character quatrains.

The Original “東欄梨花” (“Pear Blossoms by the East Fence”):-

梨花淡白柳深青,
柳絮飛時花滿城。
惆悵東欄一株雪,
人生看得幾清明?

My Translation:-

Pallid pear blossoms afloat, in a deep green sea of willow.
Petals waltzing with catkins in mid-air, all over blown.
By the east fence stands this one sad tree white as snow.
Of life, how clearly can we see, in reality?

The Original “梅花詩”(“Plum Blossoms Poem”):-

春來幽谷水潺潺 ，
的皪梅花草棘間。
一夜東風吹石裂 ，
半隨飛雪渡關山。

My Translation:-

Chanting spring creek through the hushed valley fares;
Among thorn bushes, plum blossoms shimmer in a glare.
One night an east gale surged, with stone-shattering force;
Half the petals, with blowing snow, o’er the border they dared.

Lovely imagery, thanks for sharing Alice.

Alice, wonderful to see you on here again, sharing Chinese poetry. The poet's story reminds me of the English poet Thomas Wyatt's story. Wyatt wrote one of his best poems while imprisoned in the Tower by Henry VIII, Wyatt not even knowing whether or not he was going to be executed (http://sadredearth.com/eating-poetry-...). He had similar feelings about the royal court.

I can feel that same touching world-sadness in the first poem you share. Thanks Alice for sharing them!

@Alannah, thanks for reading.

@Greg, thanks for the link - that's a poignant poem by Wyatt, and indeed it bears some semblance to Su Shi's. There's a Chinese saying: "Being in the emperor's company is no different from lying next to a tiger."
I haven't been posting much, as my mind has been fully occupied with events unfolding in Hong Kong (gluing my eyes to Twitter and blogs and online news day after day), and to tell the truth, I'm still feeling down and worried - the situation seems a dead-end one.

I noticed you weren't commenting as much Alice - been thinking of Hong Kong and you as I've been watching the news. I hope it gets better - I know it must be hard! Make sure to at least take some short breaks from the news to go get a good meal or have a walk.

Several years ago in the famously close American election won by a controversial (and somewhat infamous) Florida vote recount, I was so obsessed and upset by what was happening that I couldn't unglue myself from the TV. It's hard not to let those big events take over completely, but although the larger world is extremely important, it isn't the whole story. The individual human heart is important too. Take care of yourself Alice!

You're kind to be concerned, Greg! I just can't stop thinking - the blinking thought of a leader can change everything (if only Chinese leaders understand that a democratic Hong Kong would be China's best display of soft power to the world!); but history tells us that few leaders really have vision. Don't worry about me, I still can function normally :)

Beautiful poems. The last 2 are so pretty and conjure up wonderful images.

I think the first poem is very powerful. I especially like the first two lines- it resonates with me today and how it's important to live your life.

Thanks for posting, Alice. I am following the protests having visited last year and having a very close friend currently in HK. It is do sad what is happening, I hope there is a way out

That's good to hear Alice! :)

It is a pity that few leaders have real vision. Hopefully they surprise us by actually learning from their past mistakes - that would be a wonderful surprise!

I enjoyed your Chinese poems both times you shared in the Monday Poem. Thanks!

Greg wrote: "I noticed you weren't commenting as much Alice - been thinking of Hong Kong and you as I've been watching the news. I hope it gets better - I know it must be hard! Make sure to at least take some s..."

Same here Greg

Alice, let me add my thanks to you for sharing the poetry and some of your personal situation. I loved the imagery and poignancy of the poems. The second is especially beautiful to me.

@Heather, LauraT and Terri - thanks for your interest in the poems and your concern for me.

Beautiful imagery in these. I'm impressed with your translations (not that I can read the original, but poetry is hard to translate)!

Thanks, Leslie. I wish you could read the original - the imagery of the characters themselves just jump at you.

Greg wrote: "I noticed you weren't commenting as much Alice - been thinking of Hong Kong and you as I've been watching the news. I hope it gets better - I know it must be hard! Make sure to at least take some s..."

It's given me a whole different perspective now that I know someone from Hong Kong (Alice).

Bette BookAddict wrote: "Greg wrote: "I noticed you weren't commenting as much Alice - been thinking of Hong Kong and you as I've been watching the news. I hope it gets better - I know it must be hard! Make sure to at leas..."

Yes indeed! Alice, I hope that you are staying safe.

@Bette, Hong Kong has now made headlines all over the world. But I wish it were under happier circumstances :(

Leslie wrote: "Bette BookAddict wrote: "Greg wrote: "I noticed you weren't commenting as much Alice - been thinking of Hong Kong and you as I've been watching the news. I hope it gets better - I know it must be h..."

Leslie, one of the reasons that I decided many years ago to emigrate to Canada was that I knew I'm not someone who can keep her mouth shut about gross injustices, and that I wouldn't be tolerant of the Chinese Communist Party. I'll be heading for HK for my home visit at the end of this month and hopefully nobody has been paying much attention to my recent tweets and blogposts :P

Lovely poems. I specially loved the first one. Thanks Alice for sharing them.

Alice wrote: "I'm not someone who can keep her mouth shut about gross injustices"

To my mind, a good quality Alice :)

Thanks Dhanaraj! Me too!

Beautiful poems, thanks for sharing them Alice!

Thanks, Alice! Something about the first one really speaks to me. Once again, it is refreshing to be exposed to new poetry.

@Laurel & Shirley, thanks for reading.

Alice wrote: "@Bette, Hong Kong has now made headlines all over the world. But I wish it were under happier circumstances :("

The problem is that in afew more days - or weeks - it'll disappare from our newspapers and we won't really knows what's going on.

@LauraT, I know! And I feel so powerless, knowing there'll be nothing but nasty consequences for the leading young students and activists in the end, even if there's no bloody crackdown.

LauraT wrote: "Alice wrote: "@Bette, Hong Kong has now made headlines all over the world. But I wish it were under happier circumstances :("

The problem is that in afew more days - or weeks - it'll disappare fro..."

Very true, Laura. We are very much fed news that the press think we need to know, and then it's like it's never happened.

This is why I love the Monday poem in this group. I have the opportunity to read poetry that I would have not have been able to read due to the language barriers but thanks to Alice's translations, I can.

Alannah wrote: "This is why I love the Monday poem in this group. I have the opportunity to read poetry that I would have not have been able to read due to the language barriers but thanks to Alice's translations,..."

Yes, that's so true. It is wonderful, love it!!

These are beautiful Alice. I am sorry I am only now getting around to them but didn't want to cram them in with only a minute to spare but wanted some time to read them properly.

And thank you so much for sharing your translations. Is there something particularly challenging about translating Chinese to English? (translating poetry is always difficult I think, but it's great to hear about the specifics of the language)

I've read that he also was famous for his essays and prose writings. Are those read much still?

Thanks, Jenny. Glad you like the poems. The most challenging thing about translating Chinese poems into English is perhaps in the choice of words that can not only convey the accurate meaning of the original but also display the aesthetics, cadence and rhyme in a manner that can be generally appreciated by English speakers. Even so, it is still impossible for the translator to convey the visual impact carried by the Chinese characters themselves which forms an integral part of the whole poetry reading experience.

Su Shi was a prolific writer of prose poems ("fu" "賦") (which are essay-length poems not subject to strict poetic verse restrictions), apart from quatrains, regular 8-line verse poems, ancient verse poems and lyric poems. I have never delved into his prose poems but I know there is a translated collection by C. D. le Gros Clark titled "Su Tung-po's Prose Poems".

As regards Su Shi's writing style, he himself described it thus in a letter to his brother:-

“My style is like a spring of inexhaustible water which bubbles and overflows where it lists, no matter where. Running its course through the plains, it may glide along at the speed of a thousand li a day. When it threads its way through cliffs and mountains, one never knows beforehand what size it would assume to conform with these obstacles – it flows where it must flow and stops where it must stop.”

[Note: "li" ("里") is a Chinese measurement of distance.]

Alice, Su Shi's description of his writing style is simply wonderful.

I think so too Bette :)

Alice, is there an alphabet in Chinese or a simply symbol for each word? I've been dying to know this:)

No alphabet - each character is a symbol that has evolved from some ancient hieroglyphics.