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[Title Missing], Liu Shenxu (300 Tang Shi #143)
Monday, 21 March 2022 08:42My road leads to the limit of white clouds.
Both springtime and the clear blue stream are long:
That season’s here, for flowers scatter now,
And from afar, the scent of flowing water.
My fence-gate faces toward a mountain path—
In the deep willows, I read of Buddhist halls.
Whenever bright sunlight reflects through the dimness,
Clear radiance illuminates my robes.
阙题
道由白云尽，
春与青溪长。
时有落花至，
远隋流水香。
闲门向山路，
深柳读书堂。
幽映每白日，
清辉照衣裳。
There is some confusion over the poet’s name: my base text has 刘脊虚 Liu Jixu while every other text I’ve checked has 刘眘虚 Liu Shenxu, with a second character that’s rare and easy to misread/typo. Every published translation I’ve checked uses Shenxu except, significantly, Witter Bynner’s—and apparently his version has been perpetuated several places, including on Wikipedia. (I’d correct the article, but my ISP’s IP range has been blocked from editing.)
Then there’s the poem’s title—it really is given as “missing,” as in lost at some point as opposed to just never given a title, the way Li Shangyin did for several poems. Fun fun. (Also, thing I had not realized: the character/word for “title” also means “topic,” which makes me wonder whether the conventional “topic” is the best translation for what’s at the head of a traditional Japanese poem.)
The second line uses 长 (cháng) in its senses of both physically and temporally long. Added in translation: Buddhist, though given the imagery and that the type of hall mentioned is often part of a temple complex, I think it’s a justifiable interpretation.
—L.
Both springtime and the clear blue stream are long:
That season’s here, for flowers scatter now,
And from afar, the scent of flowing water.
My fence-gate faces toward a mountain path—
In the deep willows, I read of Buddhist halls.
Whenever bright sunlight reflects through the dimness,
Clear radiance illuminates my robes.
阙题
道由白云尽，
春与青溪长。
时有落花至，
远隋流水香。
闲门向山路，
深柳读书堂。
幽映每白日，
清辉照衣裳。
There is some confusion over the poet’s name: my base text has 刘脊虚 Liu Jixu while every other text I’ve checked has 刘眘虚 Liu Shenxu, with a second character that’s rare and easy to misread/typo. Every published translation I’ve checked uses Shenxu except, significantly, Witter Bynner’s—and apparently his version has been perpetuated several places, including on Wikipedia. (I’d correct the article, but my ISP’s IP range has been blocked from editing.)
Then there’s the poem’s title—it really is given as “missing,” as in lost at some point as opposed to just never given a title, the way Li Shangyin did for several poems. Fun fun. (Also, thing I had not realized: the character/word for “title” also means “topic,” which makes me wonder whether the conventional “topic” is the best translation for what’s at the head of a traditional Japanese poem.)
The second line uses 长 (cháng) in its senses of both physically and temporally long. Added in translation: Buddhist, though given the imagery and that the type of hall mentioned is often part of a temple complex, I think it’s a justifiable interpretation.
—L.