Nineteen Old Poems: Week 1 of 2

[x_los]

* The 'due date' for this batch is the week of August 18th: I just thought I'd make the post now so that people can trickle in whenever. There were two votes in favour of East Asia Student's translations, so that's what I've gone with. If you prefer or would like to bring another translation into the discussion, please feel free. 

* Chapter Five of How to Read Chinese Poetry is specifically about the Nineteen Old Poems.

* Every week I search the poems' English results to see if I can find any scholarship or neat bits and pop the results in Resources. Here is this week's collection.

* Remember you can also look at How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context, though it doesn't specifically treat this collection.

* IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS WHO MIGHT LIKE TO JOIN or have other ideas, please let me know on this post.

* I found the best option for the weekly reminder emails, via Gmail. The external service options are more involved than our purposes require. Does anyone know anything about how to arrange an Apps Script? Basically all it has to do is tell ten people, on Saturdays, to come and get their juice/poems.

Until someone knows what to do there, I'll send out manual messages weekly. If you'd like to receive these and are not getting them, please let me know.

Comments

Re: 1. 行行重行行 - Marching On and On

[superborb]

The TL of that last line seems strangely-- muted to me? Like, nuli feels stronger than just a please to me. But possibly it's just that the entreaty to eat more feels more loving in Chinese than English, so it comes out not strong enough in the TL.

Baike:

生別離 [Living far away from you] is a set phrase from that era, means an eternal parting/separation.

Baike glosses the barbarian horses as merely northern and also just says northern in its vernacular TL. Also says one source says that the 'depends' character can be read as a neigh.

The white sun in [The drifting clouds obscure the sunlight] used to refer to the sovereign king, here the husband.

Baike glosses the old in [Longing for you makes one grow old] as wasting away and a wan and sallow appearance.

The phrase 加餐饭 [Please make sure you are eating well], which literally means eat an extra meal, was a set phrase used to comfort others at this time.

Re: 1. 行行重行行 - Marching On and On

[x_los]

'Also says one source says that the 'depends' character can be read as a neigh.' oh so like, they whinny into the northern wind, maybe.

Re: 1. 行行重行行 - Marching On and On

[vorvayne]

Yeah like it's not as if eg Europe didn't have plenty of historical famines but I guess the recency in China is like - there's so much stuff in just everyday dialogue about like are you eating enough, have you eaten, it's like there's this deep awareness that there is no guarantee of that kind of comfort and security.

nuli - yeah I vibe with what superborb is saying. And jia canfan - like in a way I can see the book's interpretation, like if she's getting thin and she doesn't *want* to take care of herself bc she's wasting a way so through great effort she's trying to eat more now. Like I can see it.

But I don't...think that's what the poet meant tbh because 'please eat more' etc is usually a sentiment you turn on others to express love and care so in context. Yeah.