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

9. 庭中有奇樹 - In the Courtyard there is a Strange Tree

[x_los]

庭中有奇樹
tíng zhōng yǒu qí shù
[court] [in] [has] [strange] [tree]
In the courtyard there is a strange tree.

綠葉發華滋
lǜ yè fā huá zī
[green] [leaf] [send out] [flowery] [excite]
Flowers burst forth from green leaves;

攀條折其榮
pān tiáo zhé qí róng
[pill] [item] [break] [its] [glory]
I break off the most splendid,

將以遺所思
qiāng yǐ yí suǒ sī
[desire] [take] [leave with] [that which] [think of]
desiring to give it to the one I long for.

馨香盈懷袖
xīn xiāng yíng huái xiù
[fragrant] [sweet] [fill] [breast] [sleeve]
The sweet fragrance fills my breast and sleeves.

路遠莫致之
lù yuǎn mò zhì zhī
[road] [far] [there is none] [deliver] [it]
But the road is long and there is no way to deliver it.

此物何足貢
cǐ wù hé zú gòng
[this] [thing] [how] [sufficient] [gift]
How could this thing be a sufficient gift?

但感別經時
dàn gǎn bié jīng shí
[only] [move] [part] [pass] [time]
Only because I am moved by how long ago we parted.

Re: 9. 庭中有奇樹 - In the Courtyard there is a Strange Tree

[x_los]

I'm not sure I understand the final line?

Re: 9. 庭中有奇樹 - In the Courtyard there is a Strange Tree

[ann712]

Is the gift made worthy by the depth of the giver’s sorrow at the length of their parting.

Re: 9. 庭中有奇樹 - In the Courtyard there is a Strange Tree

[superborb]

She suddenly remembers how long ago it was and is sad?

Re: 9. 庭中有奇樹 - In the Courtyard there is a Strange Tree

[superborb]

Baike:

Glosses the 'strange tree' (the literal meaning) as beautiful/auspicious tree.

Also learned ancient Chinese differentiated between flowers of herbaceous plants (华) and woody plants (荣). The former turned into modern Chinese's 花.