Quote:
Originally posted by Mary Meriam:
This looks like a Wu Song. Possibly more here: http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Poetry/Li_Po/
The Jewel Stairs' Grievance
Li Po
The jewelled steps are already quite white with dew,
It is so late that the dew soaks my gauze stockings,
And I let down the crystal curtain
And watch the moon through the clear autumn.
(tr. Ezra Pound,
who adds the following
NOTE: Jewel stairs, therefore a palace. Grievance, therefore there is something to complain of. Gauze stockings, therefore a court lady, not a servant who complains. Clear autumn, therefore he has no excuse on account of the weather. Also she has come early, for the dew has not merely whitened the stairs, but has soaked her stockings. The poem is especially prized because she utters no direct reproach.)
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Mary--
When I checked out the above link, I noticed that there's some question about the translation by Ezra Pound. Also at that link, there's another translation of the LiPo poem--titled
Resentment Near the Jade Stairs by Hamill.
Elsewhere, I found that the reason Pound's translation is questionable is because he didn't translate the poem from the Chinese but from a Japanese version of the poem.
It's doubtful that the poem was written using Zeiser's 4-lines, 4-beats formula because the poem was written in the
wujei form--4 lines, 5 characters per line. So . . .
In case you (or Jerry or Michael or anyone else) wanna try your hand at translating the LiPo poem--and, in the process, find some way to <u>
make</u> it conform to Zeiser's 4 x 4 idea of "Wu Songs"--you'll find the Chinese characters at the following URL:
http://www.mountainsongs.net/poem_.php?id=261
Be good. Take care. Don't take any wooden nickels. Etc.
All best--
Patricia