Cedar Grove (after Wang Wei)
I sit alone among the cedars,
play my guitar and hum.
In this dark forest
no eye spies me but the moon’s.
My take on Wang Wei’s “Bamboo Grove,” from this transliteration copied somewhere along the way:
alone sit dark bamboo among
strum lute again long whistle
deep forest man not know
bright moon come mutual shine
“Cedar Grove” made its first appearance in March 2014. I adapted it to fit my circumstances…
You might find the Wikipedia entry on Wang Wei of interest.
Nice take 🙂
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Thank you!
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Nice version
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Thank you, Nick. Much appreciated.
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Simply loved it Robert .
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I’m so pleased. Thank you.
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Interesting read. Enjoyed your take on the poem. Best!
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Thank you, Michael. Flawed in the right way, I hope. 🙂
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Just enough to be a masterpiece!
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Ha!
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This is stirring, Robert.
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Thank you, Tanya.
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So lovely!
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Thank you.
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Welcome!
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So glad you’re doing these again Bob! 😊
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Well, you’d mentioned them. 🙂 I’m working on some new ones, but thought I’d repost a few oldies, too.
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Aww I am honoured! I didn’t want to be too presumptuous so assumed it was just coincidental. I did think this one sounded familiar, in which case I have ‘liked’ twice 🙂
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Nope. Not a coincidence. 🙂
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Lovely lines and love those fingers on the guitar! 😍😍
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Thank you, SFR!
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Always a pleasure.
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Reblogged this on Life is But This and commented:
One of my students wrote this poem, “Bamboo Chamber” in Chinese calligraphy for an exhibition and asked me to translate it for him (since edited); my translation is quite literal and not my own experience so perhaps lacking that something that is in Robert’s version 🙂
獨坐幽篁裡,彈琴複長嘯。
深林人不知,明月來相照。
Sitting alone in a bamboo grove
I whistle the tune I am playing
No one knows I’m in this forest
The moon alone bears witness
(c) Mary Tang
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Love it, Mary. And thanks for reblogging.
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Good tribution to wang wei.
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Thank you!
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