Alone in her Beauty - pipTalk Forums

How to Join	Member's Area	Private Library	Search	Sanctuary		Login
Main Forums	Discussion	Tech Talk	Mature Content	Archives	A home without a wall, Our haven without ends, A circle we all call Our Family of Friends!

Professor Gloom
Member Elite

since 2000-07-23

Posts 3082
of Depression

0 posted 2002-08-22 02:00 PM

Alone in her Beauty
by Du Fu

Who is lovelier than she?
Whose eyes loose,
At the opportunity
To gaze upon her beauty,
Where she’s here,
This is an empty valley.

They say her Kin was of trust,
Noble lives,
Which humble now into dust.
Brothers and uncles have died,
High office,
Shielded then not they still died
Kuan erupted into strife,
Positions,
Making targets of their life.

Husband with a vagrant heart,
Seeks new face,
Empties her from him in part,
Leaving the beauty that’s made,
Seeks new face,
As if a new piece of Jade.

Morning glories furl at night,
Side by side,
Mandarin ducks land from flight;
Hope goes out,
Like flickering candle light,
And watches
As he rides away from sight.

Is the new smile so lovely?
And not hers,
Is the new voice more lightly
Than the one of early life,
Is it time,
Can not he remember wife?

The brook is pure water clear,
Tears flowing,
And weeping you can not hear,
With pearls her maid she did send
For the straw,
To mend the roof once again.
The water darkens passing
By her home,
Dirty brook now in running.

She picks just a flowers few,
Not for hair,
She’s in sunset and bamboo,
In thin silk,
fingers let pine needles fall through
it grows cold.

Gloom
Inspirational retranslation

Original English Translation
taken from Witter Bynner's The Jade Mountain

Who is lovelier than she?
Yet she lives alone in an empty valley.
She tells me she came from a good family
Which is humbled now into the dust.
...When trouble arose in the Kuan district,
Her brothers and close kin were killed.
What use were their high offices,
Not even shielding their own lives? --
The world has but scorn for adversity;
Hope goes out, like the light of a candle.
Her husband, with a vagrant heart,
Seeks a new face like a new piece of jade;
And when morning-glories furl at night
And mandarin-ducks lie side by side,
All he can see is the smile of the new love,
While the old love weeps unheard.
The brook was pure in its mountain source,
But away from the mountain its waters darken.
...Waiting for her maid to come from selling pearls
For straw to cover the roof again,
She picks a few flowers, no longer for her hair,
And lets pine-needles fall through her fingers,
And, forgetting her thin silk sleeve and the cold,
She leans in the sunset by a tall bamboo.

Translations always vary,
especially when moving from such different languages

[This message has been edited by Professor Gloom (08-22-2002 02:01 PM).]

VAS
Member Rara Avis

since 2000-11-16

Posts 7450
Oregon

1 posted 2002-08-22 06:18 PM

amazing stuff...I think it's amazing to attempt a translation, too

Whether on the shoal or on the shore,
I'll seek the lighthouse evermore.

WhileIWasGone
Member

since 2002-07-18

Posts 486

2 posted 2002-08-22 08:44 PM

I love it.....great job!

DeaDiAmore

nakdthoughts
Member Laureate

since 2000-10-29

Posts 19200
Between the Lines

3 posted 2002-08-23 11:00 PM

She's in sunset and bamboo...pretty picture...
*s
M

Mysteria

Member Laureate

since 2001-03-07

Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada

4 posted 2002-08-23 11:11 PM

I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful these images were in my mind. I wished I had memorized it to recite it with my eyes shut. Simply beautiful and I may just memorize this one.

The most valuable thing you own is a smile, wear it, and share it.
Sharon

Mistletoe Angel

Member Empyrean

since 2000-12-17

Posts 32816
Portland, Oregon

5 posted 2002-08-23 11:40 PM

"She picks just a flowers few,
Not for hair,
She’s in sunset and bamboo,
In thin silk,
fingers let pine needles fall through
it grows cold."

BRAVO!!! Oh Aszard, this is excellent, I LOVE IT!!! You always bring such wonderful oriental imagery to these pages, I love the lushness of your thoughts, we all love you so much! You have such a beautiful heart, sweet Aszard, thank you for sharing!

May love and light always shine upon you!

Love,
Noah Eaton

"Underneath your clothes there's an endless story..."

Shakira

Midnitesun

Member Empyrean

since 2001-05-18

Posts 28647
Gaia

6 posted 2002-08-23 11:41 PM

BRAVO!!! this is an incredibly beautiful translation, and seems to capture the feel and flow of the original. Well done, Professor!

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean

since 1999-11-16

Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA

7 posted 2002-08-25 02:03 AM

Very nice...James

	⇧ top of page ⇧
All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format.