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In the “Jade Terrace” Style #1, Quan Deyu
Sunday, 28 August 2022 12:04A phoenix cries, orchids are very red—
I look outside, east of the capital.
This “face-paint” perspires in the slanting light,
My fragrant robes caught one by one in the breeze.
A feeling comes before I am aware—
Halting in the shadows: five flowery steeds.
玉台体 之一
鸾啼兰已红，
见出凤城东。
粉汗宜斜日，
衣香逐上风。
情来不自觉，
暗驻五花骢。
A “jade terrace” ordinarily means the quarters of an upper-class woman; here, however, it’s referring to a genre of semi-erotic poetry collected in the mid-6th century anthology New Songs from the Jade Terrace—see here for a couple examples.
This is a set of imitations from the late 8th century, one of which I previously translated as 3TP #243. Back when I did that, I’d no idea it was part of a set, and since I liked that poem and was looking for a palate-cleanser of something easier than Du Fu, I pounced. Even though, yes, they’re written by a late Tang poet imitating a once-living Southern Dynasties style, but as I said, I was looking for easy and different.
To be explicit, these are semi-erotic poems written by a man from a patriarchal culture, so CW: very male-gaze. But at least it’s different from 3TP’s restricted range and I hope to get something fun out of it.
Specific for this poem: a carriage pulled by a five-horse team is a perquisite of a high official, who has stopped to visit this courtesan on the sly at sunset. More literally, her layers of clothing are “lifted” up. Tricky bit: there are a couple fabulous Chinese birds that can, in most situations, be translated as “phoenix.” One place they cannot is when more than one are named, as here: 鸾 (luán) and 凤 (fèng). The second is part of an elegant sobriquet for the capital, so I went for clarity instead of colorful. That said, one text had 莺 (yīng) “oriole” instead of the very similar 鸾, which is really tempting reading to accept (“Orioles sing, orchids are very red— / I look outside, east of Phoenix City”).
ETA: After much thought, I'm accepting the "oriole" reading -- it's much more consonant with the realistic sensual details of the rest of the poem.
---L.
I look outside, east of the capital.
This “face-paint” perspires in the slanting light,
My fragrant robes caught one by one in the breeze.
A feeling comes before I am aware—
Halting in the shadows: five flowery steeds.
玉台体 之一
鸾啼兰已红，
见出凤城东。
粉汗宜斜日，
衣香逐上风。
情来不自觉，
暗驻五花骢。
A “jade terrace” ordinarily means the quarters of an upper-class woman; here, however, it’s referring to a genre of semi-erotic poetry collected in the mid-6th century anthology New Songs from the Jade Terrace—see here for a couple examples.
This is a set of imitations from the late 8th century, one of which I previously translated as 3TP #243. Back when I did that, I’d no idea it was part of a set, and since I liked that poem and was looking for a palate-cleanser of something easier than Du Fu, I pounced. Even though, yes, they’re written by a late Tang poet imitating a once-living Southern Dynasties style, but as I said, I was looking for easy and different.
To be explicit, these are semi-erotic poems written by a man from a patriarchal culture, so CW: very male-gaze. But at least it’s different from 3TP’s restricted range and I hope to get something fun out of it.
Specific for this poem: a carriage pulled by a five-horse team is a perquisite of a high official, who has stopped to visit this courtesan on the sly at sunset. More literally, her layers of clothing are “lifted” up. Tricky bit: there are a couple fabulous Chinese birds that can, in most situations, be translated as “phoenix.” One place they cannot is when more than one are named, as here: 鸾 (luán) and 凤 (fèng). The second is part of an elegant sobriquet for the capital, so I went for clarity instead of colorful. That said, one text had 莺 (yīng) “oriole” instead of the very similar 鸾, which is really tempting reading to accept (“Orioles sing, orchids are very red— / I look outside, east of Phoenix City”).
ETA: After much thought, I'm accepting the "oriole" reading -- it's much more consonant with the realistic sensual details of the rest of the poem.
---L.