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".
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
弘一法師 華枝春滿 天心月圓 Spring is in full swing
《華枝春滿 天心月圓》弘一法師 遺偈
君子之交,其淡如水, 執象而求,咫尺千里。 問余何適,廓爾亡言, 華枝春滿,天心月圓。 THE LAST RIDDLE -- by Monk Hongyi (1880-1942) -- Translated by Frank C Yue
What's Friendship between men of virtue? It is like Water that is (so clear, pure, tasteless and) quite plain. Chasing after "Form" (and outward things), you'll complain Your friend's miles away, his being next to you despite! Where are you really going? -- People ask me; Unattached, I have no words for it, you see. Spring is in full swing -- the flowery branch in full bloom; Like the heart of Heav'n, serene and round is the Moon!
from an old posting of mine:
< from the net, to aid in the e-readers' appreciation of monk hongyi's final riddle he left behind for his friends and followers. (this is of course one of a number of possible interpretations.)>
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