Sheng-yu’s Lament (after Mei Yao-ch’en)
First heaven took my wife,
and now, my son.
These eyes will never dry
and my heart slowly turns to ash.
Rain seeps far into the earth
like a pearl dropped into the sea.
Swim deep and you’ll see the pearl,
dig in the earth and you’ll find water.
But when people return to the source,
we know they’re gone forever.
I touch my empty chest and ask, who
is that withered ghost in the mirror?
The transliteration on Chinese-poems.com reads:
Heaven already take my wife
Again again take my son
Two eyes although not dry
(Disc) heart will want die
Rain fall enter earth in
Pearl sink enter sea deep
Enter sea can seek pearl
Dig earth can see water
Only person return source below
Through the ages know self (yes)
Touch breast now ask who
Emaciated mirror in ghost
Originally posted in December, 2014.
I’ve been meaning to read more Chinese poetry for some time. Maybe in 2016 I will get round to it 🙂
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Leonard Durso has posted quite a bit on his site. You might take a gander.
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Wonderful, powerful.
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Thanks, Emily.
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the literal translation is so raw and wrenching…
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Oh, yes.
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You’ve captured the pain and loss without a lot of verbiage and proved that being concise can convey ache and emptiness of the person’s soul. Loved it!!
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Thanks, B. I’m so pleased it resonated with you.
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Such a moving poem… poignantly written, Robert.
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Thanks, Iris. Mei gets all the credit. I merely tried to honor his poem.
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The second intensifies the first and the effect is quite startling. I’m a little lost for words to be honest! Great post. Xx
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Thank you, Kerry.
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I agree with Kerry. There aren’t words for this one, Robert. The intermingling of intensely personal and metaphysical (I hope this is the right word) is …. words fail.
I’d like to ask about a couple of the transliterations. “Two eyes although not dry” is interesting. Is there a reason to specify “two eyes”? And does “although” have significance?
And the last four lines seem to be delving into self-knowledge.
Thank you for this post.
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Thanks, Nadia. I’m afraid I can’t answer your question about the transliterations. I can’t read Chinese and don’t know how a native speaker would interpret the original. I used the English version found on Chinese-poems.com as the base for my adaptation, but I don’t know whether “two” is specified or if “although” is present in the original.
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Thank you, Robert.
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Perhaps if Mary Tang reads this she might elucidate.
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Beautiful and enviable!!!
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Thank you.
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oh, my heart aches. beautiful.
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Thank you, Belinda. Mei’s life was full of hardship.
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killer.
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Thanks, John.
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Beautiful.
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Thank you.
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I especially like the last couplet of your adaptation. Beautifully sorrowful.
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Thank you, Cate.
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The process of translating or adapting this way yields unexpected beauty in poetry. Thanks for this, both pieces are wonderful.
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I’ve enjoyed working with these – challenging and fun!
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Indeed, the 2nd causes the 1st to bloom and magnify and grow in intensity…thank you, this is so beautiful!
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Thanks, Krys.
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Reblogged this on wwwpalfitness.
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Thanks for reblogging.
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You’re welcome:)
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Great work!
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Beautifully done, Robert.
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Thank you, Ken.
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An end-of-year present to the universe to see you working on one of Sheng-yu’s poems, Robert. You entered those characters and came back with his voice. Happy New Year!
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Thanks, Jeff. I think we both had Mei in our thoughts at this year’s end.
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True! I’m giving a talk about Mei and reading some of the poems from that sequence on Jan 9th in Fredericksburg VA. I’ll be posting more info on it, probably tomorrow.
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Wish I could be there. Will the event be recorded?
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This one really hits home.
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Mei does that to us.
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