Tuesday, 24 May 2011

Kokinshu #89

Tuesday, 24 May 2011 06:54
lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
Written during the poetry contest in the Teiji Palace.

The cherry blossoms
have scattered
in the wake of the winds

rising up as waves
into a sky without water

—14 May 2011

Original by Ki no Tsurayuki. For the contest, see #68. The central image of this relies on a idiom taken literally: nagori is the waves that continue after the wind dies down, and by metaphoric extension any aftermath -- "wake" comes close to encompassing this double-meaning. To convey even a ghost of the original's effect (not to mention maintain the ambiguity of whether the wake or petals are (seen as) waves) I had to break with trying to keep the form -- it was either that or pad the language, which felt even more inaccurate. It's the really good poetry that's hardest to translate.

And with the scattering inflected to indicate a completed action, we are finally done with cherry blossom season. Onward to other flowers of late spring!


sakurabana
chirinuru kaze no
nagori ni wa
mizu naki sora ni
nami zo tachikeru


---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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