A brief collection of my attempted English renditions of selected Chinese poems, both contemporary and classical. (Each original classical Chinese poem may be presented in both the traditional and simplified forms, followed by the English translation.) Comments and suggested amendments welcome. (But I may not have the time to respond to every comment.) I am a follower of Andrew W F Wong's excellent blog "Classical Chinese Poems in English".
Thursday, 2 January 2014
刘禹锡 塞北梅花羌笛吹，淮南桂树小山词。In the north frontier, qiang flutes play
《杨柳枝词》 • 刘禹锡
塞北梅花羌笛吹， 淮南桂树小山词。
请君莫奏前朝曲， 听唱新翻杨柳枝。
YANGLIU ZHI CI: "The Willow Twig Song"
--by LIU YUXI (772-842)
-- Translated by Frank C Yue
In the north frontier, qiang flutes play
the tune "Falling Plum Flowers" free;
In the south, for long they sing "The Hermit
and the Cinnamon Tree".
O, The past dynasty's cliche tunes and
songs, please play no more;
Now, Let's hear and sing the new revised
'Willow Twig Song' for all!
《杨柳枝词》刘禹锡
ReplyDelete塞北梅花羌笛吹，
淮南桂树小山词。
请君莫奏前朝曲，
听唱新翻杨柳枝。
The bamboo flute blows about the brave plum tree blossoms of the Frontier North,,
Little Hill poety always touches on the elegant laurel tree of the Huai River South,
Tunes of the last dynasty, please play no encore,
Listen to the newly re-composed “Willow Twig” once more.
(translated by Alan Ma, Jan. 3, 2014).
Email: omega@hkftp.com