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Monday, March 11, 2013

CHINESE TO BAHASA INDONESIA



Oleh Mengikuti Tanganku, Saya Menulis

Saya menulis "sarang"
dan di itu, burung menjadi terkejut kemudian terbanglah.
Saya menulis "api"
dan lembaran kertas ini tidak ada.
Saya menulis "kegelapan"
dan itu sudah diresapi oleh cahaya.
Saya menulis "kelanggengan"
dan saya menyaksikan berlian sedang mencair.
     --Dai Wei, my tr.

Dai Wei is a contemporary Chinese poet.  I've seen two of her poems and so far have not been able to find any others.



 随手写下
       代薇
当我写下“鸟巢”           
里面的鸟群惊飞了

当我写下“火”
这页纸已不存在

当我写下“黑暗”
它其实已经被照亮

当我写下“永恒”
我就是在目睹钻石的溶化



I hope this translation is better than it ought to be, with my being deficient in both the original language and the target language.  I worked from the English word-by-word and literary translations by Fan Jinghua on his blog, Poetry Chinese.  My Bahasa Indonesia is pretty minimal.  So I had to look up a lot of words and and then retranslate the BH into English again, going back and forth until the English made the sense I was aiming at.
I then accepted the BH that this last English version came from.  Very presumptuous and a lot of work.

You can see Fan's translation to English here:   http://poetrychinese.blogspot.com/search/label/Dai%20Wei

Sunday, March 10, 2013

the Late Shen Xiaxian


   沈Shen 下贤Xiaxian
There is no title to the name, which shows that this person had not any official affiliation.

斯this 人man 清clear 唱sing 何who 人man 和join in the chorus or reply a poem
草grass 径path 苔moss 芜weeds 不no 可able 寻search, find
一one 夕night, dusk 小little 敷Fu 山mount 下below 梦dream
水water 如alike 环circular 珮jade pendant 月moon 如alike 襟frontal piece of a garment

Translation 翻译
   Shen Xiaxian        by DU Mu (803-852 Late Tang Dynasty)
For this man’s unaffected voice, who can ever play a chord?
Amid the mossy paths beneath weeds, no trace of him can be found.
One night by the Little Fu mountainside may accommodate many a dream,
And water encircles like a jade pendant, and the moon is shining on your bosom.http://poetrychinese.blogspot.com/search/label/DU%20Mu



To your clear voice, who could echo in chorus or answer in verse?      16
Here on grassy paths with moss and weeds, if sought, you are not found  15
Dreaming, dusk into night, at the foot of Little Fu Mountain  15
water a jade circle pendant, moon a silver silk panel over the heart.  19


To your clear voice, who could echo in chorus or answer in verse?
Here on grassy paths gone to moss and weeds, if sought, you are not found.  16
Dreaming, from dusk into night, at the foot of Little Fu Mountain.   16
Water a circlet of jade; moon, a silver silk panel over the heart.

Friday, February 22, 2013


Poetry (in Chinese)

Poetry (in Chinese)

word+temple=poetry
(reproduced from Jinghua Fan's Blog: Poetry Chinese,
of which I am a new follower.)

Sunday, December 30, 2012

ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE GODS


Every thing
being samsara
it hardly matters
on what level of illusion
Shiva dances.

Unless
of course you pray for
a flat screen tv
or an enemy smiting.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

TANKA TRANSLATED AS TANKA


Short as a segment
of Naniwa marsh reed,
not even that much

time for us to meet again
on the long passage, is there?
    --Lady Ise





Now out of darkness
onto the path of darkness
Unwilling I go.

Linger to shine on me, moon,
poised at the rim of the hill.
    --Izumi Shikibu





Only for you, lord,
am I out here in spring fields,
pulling early greens,

with snow falling
thick on my sleeves.
  --Emperor Koko




How few the moments
that my gaze has lit upon
the flowers of spring.

How many the months and days
that I have passed without fruit.
--Fujiwara no Okikase




Should we never meet,
and entwine, threads making cord,
now this way, now that,

upon what line shall I string
all the jewels of my life?
--Sakanoe Korenori





Unmistakably
even here, far south in Tsu,
winter's come at last

to my cottage, hidden down
in a blanket of rushes.
--Minamoto no Shigeyuki




Unbearably cold,
sanderlings cried in the wind
across the river

the night I went to see her
whom I loved beyond bearing.
--Tsurayuki

Thursday, December 20, 2012

ONE (After Sappho)


of those sweetest fruits
of apple grafted on quince,
on a slender branch

still hangs in her conceit,
overlooked or out of reach.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Deer Park Many Wei's


Here is my translation of Wang Wei's famous poem known most commonly as "Deer Park:"



DEER FENCE
Empty Mountain.
Seeing no one.
Hearing someone's
echoing voice.
The late day sun
enters again
the deep forest,
shining once more
on the green moss.


I invite you to compare it to the multiple translations of the same poem on this site: