Kokinshu #97

Saturday, 11 June 2011 06:56
lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
[personal profile] lnhammer
Topic unknown.

    Every spring there
certainly will always be
    flowers blossoming,
but seeing them once more
depends upon my lifespan.

—8 Jun 2011

Original author unknown. What doesn't come through in translation: the seeing is a mutual action -- an encounter with the flowers rather than just spotting them. The original last line is a terse in a way that English can't readily reproduce: more literally, the seeing "is (mortal) life." The general clunkiness is not the fault of English but my own.


harugoto ni
hana no sakari wa
arinamedo
aimimu koto wa
inochi narekeri


---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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