Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei, Week 1 of 2

[x_los]

This week and next, we're looking at Eliot Weinberger's "Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei". This short book discusses many ways to translate a single, brief Tang dynasty poem and the choices involved therein. We'll look at the first nine poems (or versions thereof) this week, and the remainder the following. 

I'll reproduce the translations under discussion here, but c/ping from the pdf is not very reliable and frequently introduces errors. I'm including the text here primarily as a reference point for our discussions: I advise you to look at the book file itself for your reading.

Comments

7. La Foret

[x_los]

Dans la montagne tout est solitaire,
On entend de bien loin l'kIlo des voix htunaines,
Le solei! qui penetre au fond de la foret
Reflete son eclat sur la mousse vert.

- G. Margoulies, 1948

Re: 7. La Foret

[x_los]

They might have done well to note the challenge presented by roughly translating a translation, if we're going to be this precious about the Chinese

Re: 7. La Foret

[forestofglory]

Yes, the double translation seems like an issue that should be discussed a bit

Re: 7. La Foret

[superborb]

This is a recent enough book that we can't assume the audience just knows French!!