Friday, 6 September 2019

lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
A side-path sheltered by scholar trees—
Secluded, dark, with many green mosses.
The gatekeeper’s focused on his sweeping,
Worried a mountain monk might come.

    The gate in front of Scholar Tree Lane
    Faces straight towards Yi Lake Road.
    Come autumn’s frequent mountain rains,
    There’s none to sweep the fallen leaves.

宫槐陌

仄迳荫宫槐,
幽阴多绿苔。
应门但迎埽,
畏有山僧来。

    门前宫槐陌,
    是向欹湖道。
    秋来山雨多,
    落叶无人扫。

After a first intimation of a guest arriving, Wang brings the possibility up again. The scholar tree, also called pagoda tree, is a kind of locust. It reads to me that Pei is gently mocking Wang for fancifully adding a non-existent gatekeeper, but that’s a very tentative reading.

—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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