Thursday, 4 February 2010

lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
    In the mountain stream
the wind has built up a weir
    like those for fishing,
and not even autumn leaves
can flow past on the current.

— 31 January 2010

Original by Harumichi no Tsuraki. The last two lines are, grammatically, a bit thorny* -- are the leaves the weir or caught in it? -- though it's easy to catch the drift, so to speak.


yamakawa ni
kaze no kaketaru
shigarami wa
nagare mo aenu
momiji narikeri



* ETA: At least, if you completely miss the point of what a cupola is, and that an attributive form means it's the leaves and not the current that cannot flow. "The weir (etc.) is leaves (that cannot flow on)." Live and learn.

---L.

About

Warning: contents contain line-breaks.

As language practice, I like to translate poetry. My current project is Chinese, with practice focused on Tang Dynasty poetry. Previously this was classical Japanese, most recently working through the Kokinshu anthology (archived here). Suggestions, corrections, and questions always welcome.

There's also original pomes in the journal archives.

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