Shi Jing, The Book of Odes: Lessons from the states, Odes Of Bei

[x_los]

This is a longer chapter than the previous two, and people are still catching up with the last two chapters/acclimating to the format. Thus we'll only do one chapter this week.

I'm going to post this week's poem translations in the body of the discussion to make commenting a bit easier. 

Get your 'odes of bae' jokes out early, before the rush.

Comments

41. 北風 - Bei Feng

[x_los]

北風其涼、雨雪其雱。
惠而好我、攜手同行。
其虛其邪、既亟只且。

Cold blows the north wind;
Thick falls the snow.
Ye who love and regard me,
Let us join hands and go together.
Is it a time for delay?
The urgency is extreme!

北風其喈、雨雪其霏。
惠而好我、攜手同歸。
其虛其邪、既亟只且。

The north wind whistles;
The snow falls and drifts about.
Ye who love and regard me,
Let us join hands, and go away for ever.
Is it a time for delay?
The urgency is extreme!

莫赤匪狐、莫黑匪烏。
惠而好我、攜手同車。
其虛其邪、既亟只且。

Nothing red is seen but foxes,
Nothing black but crows.
Ye who love and regard me,
Let us join hands, and go together in our carriages.
Is it a time for delay?
The urgency is extreme!

Re: 41. 北風 - Bei Feng

[x_los]

Another translation:

Bei-feng: Cold Is the North Wind
by Burton Watson
Cold is the north wind,
the snow falls thick
If you are kind and love me,
take my hand and we'll go together
You are modest, you are slow,
but oh, we must hurry!

Fierce is the north wind,
the snow falls fast.
If you are kind and love me,
take my hand and we'll go home together
You are modest, you are slow,
but oh, we must hurry!

Nothing redder than the fox,
nothing blacker than the crow.
If you are kind and love me,
take my hand and we'll ride together
You are modest, you are slow,
but oh, we must hurry!

Re: 41. 北風 - Bei Feng

[x_los]

...if ppl don't lift this shit for a Qiongqi Path fic we are *sleeping*. This one just still hits. Vague, maybe, but it works its angles.