The New Directions Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry

by Weinberger, Eliot

• ISBN13: 9780811215404
• ISBN10: 0811215407
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-04-01
• Publisher: New Directions

Summary

Modern American poets translate classical Chinese poetry. The New Directions Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry is a rich compendium of translations like no other. It is the first to look at Chinese poetry through its enormous influence on American poetry, starting with Ezra Pound's Cathay (1915), and including translations by three other major US poets (William Carlos Williams, Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder) and an important poet-translator-scholar (David Hinton), all of whom have long been associated with New Directions. Moreover, it is the first general anthology ever to consider the process of translation by presenting different versions of the same poem by various translators, as well as examples of the translators rewriting themselves. The collection, at once playful and instructive, serves as an excellent introduction to the art and tradition of Chinese poetry, gathering some 250 poems by nearly 40 poets, from the anonymous early poetry through the great masters of the T'ang and Sung dynasties. The anthology also includes previously uncollected translations by Pound, a selection of essays on Chinese poetry by all five translators, some never published before in book form, and biographical notes that are a collage of poems and comments by both the American translators and the Chinese poets themselves.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xvii
EARLY POETS (to 618)
Shih Ching (The Book of Odes)
Song of the Bowmen of Shu [EP, 1915]	3	(1)
``Pick a fern, pick a fern, ferns are high'' [EP, 1954]	4	(1)
``Pine boat a-shift'' [EP]	5	(1)
``Locusts a-wing, multiply'' [EP]	6	(1)
``Pluck, pluck, pluck, the thick plantain'' [EP]	6	(1)
``Three stars, five stars rise over the hill'' [EP]	6	(1)
``Lies a dead deer on younder plain'' [EP]	7	(1)
``Lily bud floating, yellow as sorrow'' [EP]	7	(1)
``Withered, withered, by the wind's omen'' [EP]	8	(1)
``Wide, Ho?'' [EP]	8	(1)
``Don't chop that pear tree'' [EP]	8	(1)
``Heaven conserve thy course in quietness'' [EP]	9	(1)
``Soft wind of the vale'' [EP]	10	(1)
``How cut haft for an axe?'' [EP]	11	(1)
``Fluid as water that all tones reflects'' [EP]	11	(1)
``A boat floats over shadow'' [EP]	12	(1)
``Made his hut in the vale'' [EP]	12	(1)
``By curved bank'' [EP]	13	(1)
``Cleared by its flowing, dip the flood water up'' [EP]	14	(1)
``Great hand King Wu'' [EP]	15	(1)
``Green robe, green robe, lined with yellow'' [EP]	16	(1)
Ch'u Yuan
After Ch'u Yuan [EP]	17	(1)
Liu Ch'e (Emperor Wu of the Han)
Liu Ch'e [EP]	18	(1)
Autumn Wind [KR]	18	(1)
Cho Wen-Chun
Lament of a Graying Woman [WCW]	19	(1)
Pan Chieh-Yu (Lady Pan)
Fan-Piece, for Her Imperial Lord [EP]	20	(1)
A Present from the Emperor's New Concubine [KR]	20	(1)
Anonymous (Han Dynasty)
A Ballad of the Mulberry Road [EP]	21	(1)
The Beautiful Toilet [EP]	21	(1)
``She weaves and ends no pattern to day'' [EP]	22	(1)
``By the river of stars, its brightness'' [EP]	22	(1)
Lu Chi
She Thinks of Her Beloved [KR]	23	(1)
T'ao Ch'ien
To-Em-Mei's ``The Unmoving Cloud'' [EP]	24	(1)
I Return to the Place Where I Was Born [KR]	25	(1)
Home Again Among Gardens and Fields [DH]	26	(2)
from Drinking Wine [DH]	28	(1)
Peach-Blossom Spring [DH]	29	(3)
Elegy for Myself [DH]	32	(3)
from Burial Songs [DH]	35	(1)
Hsieh Ling-Yun
from Dwelling in the Mountains [DH]	36	(12)
Anonymous (Six Dynasties)
Kill That Crowing Cock [KR]	48	(1)
This Morning Our Boat Left [KR]	48	(1)
Night without End [KR]	48	(1)
The Fish Weeps [KR]	49	(1)
Our Little Sister Is Worried [KR]	49	(1)
What Is the Matter with Me? [KR]	49	(1)
Bitter Cold [KR]	49	(1)
All Year Long [KR]	50	(3)
T'ANG POETS (618--907)
Han-Shan
from Cold Mountain Poems [GS]	53	(5)
Lu Chao-Lin
Old Idea of Choan [EP]	58	(2)
Ho Chih-Chang
``Returning after I left my home'' [WCW]	60	(1)
Homecoming [KR]	60	(1)
Meng Hao-Jan
``Steering my little boat'' [WCW]	61	(1)
Night on the Great River [KR]	61	(1)
Mooring on Chien-te River [GS]	61	(1)
Returning by Night to Lu-Men [KR]	62	(1)
Returning Home to Deer-Gate Mountain at Night [DH]	62	(1)
``In spring you sleep'' [WCW]	63	(1)
Spring Dawn [GS]	63	(1)
Late Spring [WCW]	64	(1)
Wang Wei
The Peerless Lady [WCW]	65	(1)
``Light rain is on the light dust'' [EP]	66	(1)
Dawn on the Mountain [EP]	66	(1)
``Poor dwelling near valley mouth'' [EP]	66	(1)
``Sitting in mystic bamboo grove'' [EP]	67	(1)
Bamboo Lane House [GS]	67	(1)
Bamboo-Midst Cottage [DH]	67	(1)
Deep in the Mountain Wilderness [KR]	68	(1)
Deer Camp [GS]	68	(1)
Bird and Waterfall Music [KR]	69	(1)
Bird-Cry Creek [DH]	69	(1)
Autumn Twilight in the Mountains [KR]	70	(1)
``Alighting from my horse. . .'' [WCW]	70	(1)
Poem [GS]	71	(1)
Twilight Comes [KR]	71	(1)
In Reply to Vice-Magistrate Chang [DH]	72	(1)
Li Po
The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter [EP]	73	(1)
Long Banister Lane [WCW]	74	(1)
Ch'ang-kan Village Song [DH]	75	(2)
The Jewel Stairs' Grievance [EP]	77	(1)
Jade-Staircase Grievance [DH]	77	(1)
Poem by the Bridge at Ten-Shin [EP]	78	(1)
Lament of the Frontier Guard [EP]	79	(1)
Exiles' Letter [EP]	80	(2)
Taking Leave of a Friend [EP]	82	(1)
Separation on the River Kiang [EP]	83	(1)
On Yellow-Crane Tower. . . [DH]	83	(1)
Wine [EP]	83	(1)
The City of Choan [EP]	84	(1)
On Phoenix Tower in Chin-ling [DH]	84	(1)
South-Folk in Cold Country [EP]	85	(1)
Leave-Taking Near Shoku [EP]	85	(1)
``The red sun comes out of the Eastern corner'' [EP]	86	(1)
Song for the Falling Kingdom [EP]	86	(1)
Spring Song [WCW]	87	(1)
Summer Song [WCW]	87	(1)
Drinking Together [WCW]	88	(1)
Drinking in the Mountains with a Recluse [DH]	88	(1)
Wandering Ch'ing-ling Stream in Nan-yang [DH]	88	(1)
War South of the Great Wall [DH]	89	(1)
A Letter [WCW]	90	(1)
To Send Far Away [DH]	90	(1)
Thinking of East Mountain [DH]	91	(1)
On Hsin-p'ing Tower [DH]	91	(1)
Mountain Dialogue [DH]	92	(1)
Written on a Wall at Hsiu-Ching Monastery. . . [DH]	92	(1)
Thoughts in Night Quiet [DH]	93	(1)
Calm Night Thought [EP]	93	(1)
Ch'u Kuang-Hsi
A Mountain Spring [KR]	94	(1)
Tea [KR]	94	(1)
Wang Ch'ang-Ling
Chant of the Frontiersman [WCW]	95	(1)
Parting with Hsin Chien at Hibiscus Tavern [GS]	95	(1)
Tu Fu
Wrten on the Wall at Chang's Hermitage [KR]	96	(1)
Written on the Wall at Chang's Recluse Home [DH]	96	(1)
Song of the War-Carts [DH]	97	(1)
Snow Storm [KR]	98	(1)
Facing Snow [DH]	98	(1)
P'eng-Ya Song [DH]	99	(1)
Spring View [GS]	100	(1)
To Li Po [WCW]	101	(1)
Dreaming of Li Po [DH]	102	(1)
Visit [WCW]	103	(1)
To Wei Pa, a Retired Scholar [KR]	104	(1)
For the Recluse Wei Pa [DH]	105	(1)
Moon Festival [KR]	106	(1)
Moonlit Night Thinking of My Brothers [DH]	106	(1)
Traveling Northward [KR]	107	(1)
Standing Alone [DH]	107	(1)
Landscape [DH]	107	(1)
To Pi Ssu Yao [KR]	108	(1)
Outside the City [DH]	108	(1)
I Pass the Night at General Headquarters [KR]	109	(1)
Overnight at Headquarters [DH]	109	(1)
A Restless Night in Camp [KR]	110	(1)
Restless Night [DH]	110	(1)
Brimming Water [KR]	111	(1)
Brimmed Whole [DH]	111	(1)
Full Moon [DH]	112	(1)
Thatch House [DH]	112	(1)
Dawn Over the Mountains [KR]	113	(1)
Dawn Landscape [DH]	113	(1)
from Thoughts [DH]	114	(1)
Night Thoughts While Traveling [KR]	115	(1)
Thoughts, Traveling at Night [DH]	115	(1)
Ch'ien Ch'i
Visit to the Hermit Ts'ui [KR]	116	(1)
Chang Chi
Night at Anchor by Maple Bridge [KR]	117	(1)
Maple Bridge Night Mooring [GS]	117	(1)
Chao Luan-Luan
Slender Fingers [KR]	118	(1)
Red Sandalwood Mouth [KR]	118	(1)
Willow Eyebrows [KR]	118	(1)
Creamy Breasts [KR]	119	(1)
Meng Chiao
from Mourning Lu Yin [DH]	120	(2)
Laments of the Gorges [DH]	122	(6)
Po Chu-I
``Yin-yo laps in the reeds'' [EP]	128	(1)
The Bamboo by Li Ch'e Yun's Window [KR]	128	(1)
Palace Song [GS]	129	(1)
Village Snow, Sitting at Night [DH]	129	(1)
At Flowering-Brightness Monastery. . . [DH]	130	(1)
Autumn Thoughts, Sent Far Away [DH]	131	(1)
Night in the Palace with Ch'ien Hui [DH]	131	(1)
Winter Night [DH]	132	(1)
Dreaming of Long Ago [DH]	132	(1)
Visiting the Recluse Cheng [DH]	133	(1)
Idle Song [DH]	133	(1)
Evening Rain [DH]	133	(1)
Autumn Pool [DH]	134	(1)
Flower No Flower [DH]	134	(1)
For the Beach Gulls [DH]	135	(1)
Long Lines Sent to Ling Hu-ch'u. . . [DH]	135	(1)
from Waves Sifting Sand [DH]	136	(1)
Old, and a Fever [DH]	137	(1)
Wind Sickness Strikes [DH]	138	(1)
Sick and Old, Same As Ever. . . [DH]	138	(1)
Liu Tsung-Yuan
``A thousand mountains without a bird'' [KR]	139	(1)
River Snow [GS]	139	(1)
River Snow [DH]	139	(1)
Chia Tao
A Sick Cicada [DH]	140	(1)
Tu Mu
Unsent [DH]	141	(1)
Li Yu
Bella Donna Iu [WCW]	142	(1)
``Silently I ascend'' [WCW]	142	(3)
SUNG POETS (960--1279)
Mei Yao-Ch'en
An Excuse. . . [KR]	145	(1)
Next Door [KR]	145	(1)
The Crescent Moon [KR]	146	(1)
Melon Girl [KR]	146	(1)
I Remember the Blue River [KR]	146	(1)
Ou-Yang Hsiu
Reading the Poems of an Absent Friend [KR]	147	(2)
East Wind [KR]	149	(1)
Green Jade Plum Trees in Spring [KR]	149	(1)
Old Age [KR]	150	(1)
Su Tung-P'o (Su Shih)
The Red Cliff [KR]	151	(1)
At Gold Hill Monastery [KR]	152	(1)
The Southern Room Over the River [KR]	153	(1)
A Walk in the Country [KR]	154	(1)
The Terrace in the Snow [KR]	155	(1)
The Turning Year [KR]	156	(1)
Epigram [KR]	156	(1)
Rain in the Aspens [KR]	156	(1)
To a Traveler [KR]	157	(1)
Remembering Min Ch'e [KR]	157	(1)
Thoughts in Exile [KR]	158	(1)
Chu Shu-Chen
Sorrow [KR]	159	(1)
Spring Joy [KR]	160	(1)
Spring Night [KR]	161	(1)
Plaint [KR]	161	(1)
Li Ch'ing-Chao
Sorrow of Departure [KR]	162	(1)
Fading Plum Blossoms [KR]	163	(1)
Autumn Love [KR]	164	(1)
To the Tune ``The Bodhisattva's Headdress'' [KR]	165	(1)
Banana Trees [KR]	165	(1)
To the Tune ``You Move in Fragrance'' [KR]	166	(1)
On Spring [KR]	167	(1)
Spring Fades [KR]	167	(1)
A Song of Departure [KR]	168	(1)
Spring Ends [KR]	169	(1)
Written by Chance [KR]	170	(1)
Written on the Seventh Day of the Seventh Month [KR]	170	(1)
To the Tune ``Clear Peace Happiness'' [KR]	171	(1)
Lu Yu
Rain on the River [KR, 1956]	172	(1)
Rain on the River [KR, 1970]	172	(1)
Idleness [KR, 1956]	173	(1)
Lazy [KR, 1970]	173	(1)
Night Thoughts [KR, 1956]	174	(1)
Insomnia [KR, 1970]	175	(1)
The Wild Flower Man [KR]	175	(2)
Yang Wan-Li
A Cold Fly [DH]	177	(1)
Cold Sparrows [DH]	177	(1)
Night Rain at Luster Gap [DH]	178	(1)
Hsin Ch'i-Chi
To an Old Tune [KR]	179	(1)
Chiang Chieh
To the Tune ``The Fair Maid of Yu'' [KR]	180	(3)
ON CHINESE POETRY
Lu Chi
Rhymeprose on Literature (tr. Achilles Fang)	183	(8)
Ernest Fenollosa & Ezra Pound
from The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry	191	(3)
William Carlos Williams
On Rexroth's One Hundred Poems from the Chinese	194	(4)
Kenneth Rexroth
Tu Fu	198	(3)
Gary Snyder
Hsieh's Shoes	201	(2)
Empty Mountain	203	(3)
Distant Hills	206	(3)
Kenneth Rexroth & Gary Snyder
Chinese Poetry and the American Imagination	209	(4)
David Hinton
On Po Chu-i	213	(4)
Sources	217	(4)
Notes	221

Excerpts

EARLY POETS

(TO 618)

SHIH CHING (THE BOOK OF ODES)

(I)

SONG OF THE BOWMEN OF SHU

Here we are, picking the first fern-shoots And saying: When shall we get back to our country? Here we are because we have the Ken-nin for our foemen, We have no comfort because of these Mongols. We grub the soft fern-shoots, When anyone says "Return," the others are full of sorrow. Sorrowful minds, sorrow is strong, we are hungry and thirsty. Our defence is not yet made sure, no one can let his friend return. We grub the old fern-stalks. We say: Will we be let to go back in October? There is no ease in royal affairs, we have no comfort. Our sorrow is bitter, but we would not return to our country. What flower has come into blossom? Whose chariot? The General's. Horses, his horses even, are tired. They were strong. We have no rest, three battles a month. By heaven, his horses are tired. The generals are on them, the soldiers are by them. The horses are well trained, the generals have ivory arrows and quivers ornamented with fish-skin. The enemy is swift, we must be careful. When we set out, the willows were drooping with spring, We come back in the snow, We go slowly, we are hungry and thirsty, Our mind is full of sorrow, who will know of our grief?

[EP, 1915]

(II)

Pick a fern, pick a fern, ferns are high, "Home," I'll say: home, the year's gone by, no house, no roof, these huns on the hoof. Work, work, work, that's how it runs, We are here because of these huns. Pick a fern, pick a fern, soft as they come, I'll say "Home." Hungry all of us, thirsty here, no home news for nearly a year. Pick a fern, pick a fern, if they scratch, I'll say "Home," what's the catch? I'll say "Go home," now October's come. King wants us to give it all, no rest, spring, summer, winter, fall, Sorrow to us, sorrow to you. We won't get out of here till we're through. When it's cherry-time with you, we'll see the captain's car go thru, four big horses to pull that load. That's what comes along our road, What do you call three fights a month, and won 'em all? Four car-horses strong and tall and the boss who can drive 'em all as we slog along beside his car, ivory bow-tips and shagreen case to say nothing of what we face sloggin' along in the Hien-yün war. Willows were green when we set out, it's blowin' an' snowin' as we go down this road, muddy and slow, hungry and thirsty and blue as doubt (no one feels half of what we know).

[EP, 1954]

Pine boat a-shift on drift of tide, for flame in the ear, sleep riven, driven; rift of the heart in dark no wine will clear, nor have I will to playe. Mind that's no mirror to gulp down all's seen, brothers I have, on whom I dare not lean, angered to hear a fact, ready to scold. My heart no turning-stone, mat to be rolled, right being right, not whim nor matter of count, true as a tree on mount. Mob's hate, chance evils many, gone through, aimed barbs not few; at bite of the jest in heart start up as to beat my breast. O'ersoaring sun, moon malleable alternately lifting a-sky to wane; sorrow about the heart like an unwashed shirt, I clutch here at words, having no force to fly.

[EP]

Locusts a-wing, multiply. Thick be thy posterity. Locusts a-wing with heavy sound; strong as great rope may thy line abound. Wing'd locust, that seem to cease, in great companies hibernate, So may thy line last and be great in hidden ease.

[EP]

Pluck, pluck, pluck, the thick plantain; pluck, pick, pluck, then pluck again. Oh pick, pluck the thick plantain, Here be seeds for sturdy men. Pluck the leaf and fill the flap, Skirts were made to hide the lap.

[EP]

Three stars, five stars rise over the hill We came at sunset, as was his will. One luck is not for all. In Orion's hour, Pleiads small Came with coverlets to the high hall. Sun's up now Time to go. One luck is not for all.

[EP]

Lies a dead deer on younder plain whom white grass covers, A melancholy maid in spring is luck for lovers. Where the scrub elm skirts the wood, be it not in white mat bound, as a jewel flawless found, dead as doe is maidenhood. Hark! Unhand my girdle-knot, stay, stay, stay or the dog may bark.

[EP]

Lily bud floating, yellow as sorrow, grief today, what of tomorrow? Gone the bud, green the leaf, better unborn than know my grief. Scrawny ewes with swollen heads, the fish traps catch but stars. What man has food now after these many wars?

[EP]

Withered, withered, by the wind's omen, a state lost for the soft mouth of a woman; What the wind hath blown away, can men of Cheng rebuild it in a day.

[EP]

Wide, Ho? A reed will cross its flow; Sung far? One sees it, tip-toe. Ho strong? The blade of a row-boat cuts it so soon. Sung far? I could be there (save reverence) by noon (did I not venerate Sung's line and state.)

[EP]

Don't chop that pear tree, Don't spoil that shade; Thaar's where ole Marse Shao used to sit, Lord, how I wish he was judgin' yet.

[EP]

Heaven conserve thy course in quietness, Solid thy unity, thy weal endless that all the crops increase and nothing lack in any common house. Heaven susteyne thy course in quietness that thou be just in all, and reap so, as it were at ease, that every day seem festival. Heaven susteyne thy course in quietness To abound and rise as mountain hill and range constant as rivers flow that all augment steady th' increase in ever cyclic change. Pure be the victuals of thy sacrifice throughout the year as autumns move to springs, above the fane to hear "ten thousand years" spoke by the manes of foregone dukes and kings. Spirits of air assign felicity: thy folk be honest, in food and drink delight; dark-haired the hundred tribes concord in act born of thy true insight. As moon constant in phase; as sun to rise; as the south-hills nor crumble nor decline; as pine and cypress evergreen the year be thy continuing line.

[EP]

1 Soft wind of the vale that brings the turning rain, peril, foreboding; Come time of quiet and revelry you'll cast me from your company. 2 Idle the valley wind, hot tempest then, far in your pleasure, near in your pain. Came time of quiet revelry You cast me from your company. 3 Scorching breath on the height, grief, all grass must die, no tree but loseth leaf Soft is the valley wind, harsh on the crest, You remember the worst of me Forgetting the best.

[EP]

How cut haft for an axe? Who hacks holds a haft. To take a wife properly one gets a notary. To hack an axe-haft an axe hacks; the pattern's near. Let who weds never pass too far from his own class.

[EP]

(Fluid as water that all tones reflects of ten-day passion that no man respects.) Under the hill to stand tapping a hand-drum, waving an egret's feather, Tapping an earthen pot on Yiian Road, winter or summer, man you weigh as much as your load: the egret fan.

[EP]

A boat floats over shadow, two boys were aboard. There is a cloud over my thought and of them no word. The boat floats past the sky's edge, lank sail a-flap; and a dark thought inside me: how had they hap?

[EP]

Made his hut in the vale, a tall man stretched out sleeps, wakes and says: no room for doubt. Lean-to on torrent's brink, laughter in idleness, sleeps, wakes and sings; I will move less. In a hut on a butte, himself his pivot, sleeps, wakes, sleeps again, swearing he will not communicate with other men.

[EP]

By curved bank in South Mount's innerest wood clamped as the bamboo root, rugged as pine, let no plots undermine this brotherhood. Heir'd to maintain the lines carnal and uterine; doors west and south, reared up the mile-long house wherein at rest to dwell, converse and jest. Tight bound the moulds wherein to ram down clay, beaten the earth and lime gainst rain and rat, no wind shall pierce to cold the Marquis' state nor bird nest out of place, here is he eaved, who moves as on winged feet, sleeves neat as a pheasant's wing, prompt as the arrow's point to the bull's-eye. And here the audience hall, Rich court in peristyle with columns high their capitals contrived right cunningly; cheery the main parts, ample the recess where he may have repose in quietness. Mat over mat, bamboo on rush so it be soft, to sleep, to wake in hush, from dreams of bears and snakes? Saith the diviner:

Which mean Bears be for boys; snakes, girls. Boys shall have beds, hold sceptres for their toys, creep on red leather, bellow when they would cry in embroidered coats ere come to Empery. Small girls shall sleep on floor and play with tiles, wear simple clothes and do no act amiss, cook, brew and seemly speak, conducing so the family's quietness.

[EP]

Cleared by its flowing, dip the flood water up and it will steam thy rice or other grain; a deferent prince is to his people both father and mother. Rain-water cleared by its overflood if thou ladle it out will wash thy altar jar; To a fraternal prince will his folk return, as to home from afar. In a fraternal prince his folk have rest, as from rain water cleared by its flowing thou hast a pure house, or thy garden is blest.

[EP]

Great hand King Wu vied not, made heat. He drew not as sun rest from work done.

Shang- Ti (over sky) king'd our Ch'eng and K'ang; bound all four coigns; hacked clear their light.

Gong, drum, sound out, stone, flute, clear in tone ring in strong grain; bring here hard ears.

Work, true, shall pay. As we've drunk we are full, Luck ev-er is and shall Come with new grain.

[EP]

Green robe, green robe, lined with yellow, Who shall come to the end of sorrow? Green silk coat and yellow skirt, How forget all my heart-hurt? Green the silk is, you who dyed it; Antient measure, now divide it? Nor fine nor coarse cloth keep the wind from the melancholy mind; Only antient wisdom is solace to man's miseries.

[EP]

CH'Ü YÜAN

AFTER CH'U YUAN

I will get me to the wood Where the gods walk garlanded in wistaria, By the silver blue flood move others with ivory cars. There come forth many maidens to gather grapes for the leopards, my friend, For there are leopards drawing the cars. I will walk in the glade, I will come out from the new thicket and accost the procession of maidens.

[EP]

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The New Directions Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry Copyright © 2003 by Eliot Weinberger
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.