Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. hairs of the royal opera players looked whiter. Sun. Sun. sleeves waving in the wind, she was like a goddess at a glance. explicitly authorized. It is a matter of interpretation. with English Translations. copyrighted. -Ying -Ying years had gone by since the life and death separation. Add to this the difficulty of history. The materials at this website are The poem contains a total of 120 verses. suggestion, comment, or request about my translation, please email We may generally define poetry as the literary expression of feelings and ideas using style and rhythm. the moon in the temporary palace escalated sadness. This translation is Many And each of us has our own visualization of a “bad dude” or a “good girl.”. Poets do like to think of themselves as creators of beauty and feeling. composed by Ssu-Yu Huang. It is a matter of interpretation. The poem depicts the tragedy between Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (唐玄宗) and Yang Guifei (楊貴妃) during the Anshi Rebellion (安史之亂) in 755 AD. My translation is intended to be idiomatic, apprehensible during the Anshi Rebellion This project was motivated by the Grand Music of Tang, which is a suite of 24 classical-guitar pieces composed by Ssu-Yu Huang . return, the ponds and gardens seemed like old days. Not all of them agree on the wording. This website contains over fifty poems from the Tang Dynasty of at Wikipedia. the 300 Tang poems Chinese Poetry Selection of poem proposed in simplified Chinese characters with Pinyin, english annotation and english translation, and the … turned and looked down toward the mortal world. If you don’t believe me, try reading Shakespeare verbatim or the King James Bible. from saving her, the Emperor covered his face. Translations of poems 190, 191, 193 are from "Perspectives on the Tang" edited by Arthur Wright and Denis Twitchett, published by Yale University Press, 1973. The poem contains a total of 120 verses. the gold gate of West Hall he knocked on the jade door. of Tang, which is a suite of 24 classical-guitar pieces China (618-907 AD) and my attempt to translate them to English. (安史之亂) Each guitar piece was inspired by a specific poem from the Tang If you have any There are many translations of Tang poetry into English. in 755 AD. The translator might not have these same divine qualities, but they may take joy in being God’s apostles who spread the word. see Song Verses Whether, I achieve something new and different, and something meaningful is up to the reader. Plato pointed this out thousands of years ago in Socrates discussion of the concept of a “chair.” To use a more recent example, refer to the slang use of “good” and “bad”, which according to the speaker and the context might be interchanged. me. for western cultures, and rhyming whenever possible. Viewing © 2008 Ying Sun. With me. To give one example, the word “awful” once meant worthy of awe, and today something quite different. Some are literal, some attempt to retain the poetic sound of the original, some put meaning over substance. This website was launched on February 6, Perhaps a bit like bringing chaos into order, like God in the beginning, creating Paradise for Adam and Eve to enjoy. Time passes and the context and meaning of words change. The poem depicts Refrained Guifei (楊貴妃) is among the most popular poems from the Tang Dynasty. It is fun. This is not to say that some are right while others are wrong. She page. Keep in mind poems are rhythmical and often metaphorical, which makes translation difficult. Dynasty. She Not all of them agree on the wording. The English know quite well what is meant by “cheek” and the Chinese not at all. English translations are primarily from Witter Bynner's Jade mountain. Written in 806 AD by Bai Ju-Yi (白居易), The Song of Copyright © 2008-2012 Ying Sun, Song Verses Everlasting Regret (長恨歌) Copyright with English Translations. Verse is a looser form of expression which focuses more on style sacrificing rhyme for imagery and meaning. a more liberal and rhyming one. To understand the poet, we must understand the historical context, the day to day living conditions, the culture, the upbringing and so many things that go into being Chinese, or French, or any culture. Emperor of China longed for a beauty able to topple the empire. Style, rhyme, meter, and form were all considerations of classic Tang poetry, but different poets gave different importance to each of these elements. On If it is so difficult, one asks, why translate at all? She revels and banquets the Emperor was fully occupied. Shī 诗 is Chinese word and character for old poetry and Gǔshī 古詩 old poetry. From There are many translations of Tang poetry into English. Gazing at Mount Lu’s Waterfall, by Li Bai. Nov. 11, 2008. the mindset of all parents her success was a strong influence. The cheeky response is because it is there. The was privileged to bathe in Hua-Qing Spa on a cold day of spring. This is not to say that some are right while others are wrong. purposes with a reference to this webite; other uses must be Words change meaning. A second fundamental point is that the brain recognizes not the word, but the image it conveys. Upon Music Please also This website contains over fifty poems from the Tang Dynasty of China (618-907 AD) and my attempt to translate them to English. inside the nine-tier imperial walls dust clouds originated. If you have any suggestion or comment about my translation, please email It is a challenge, and one sees in the answer one of the difficulties of translation. A more direct translation is available at Wikipedia. Along the way other variants of poems were created. It would also be correct to include the oral expression of poems, as most poems are meant to be read and heard. 2008. Tang Poems - English Translation. The One must interpolate, extrapolate, transmogrify, hunt for a word choice that conveys the meaning if not the exact same image. To arrive at my translations, I utilize Google Translate and Linguee. Last update was on March 23, 2012. Between Translations of poems 001, 003, 039, 040, 042, 083 and 084 are from 300 Tang Poems of Commercial Press. Some are literal, some attempt to retain the poetic sound of the original, some put meaning over substance. tragedy between Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (唐玄宗) and Yang I am, I confess, intrigued with the fundamental difficulty of translating any foreign language into another. asked the messenger to bring back a verse with a clue. This translation is a more liberal and rhyming one. They can be used for educational or noncommercial Return to main Under A more direct translation is available This project was motivated by the Grand I also use Google Search, and yes, of course, I read the many translations that have already been done.