Shi Jing, The Book of Odes: Lessons from the States, Odes Of Zheng

[x_los]

Back after the Christmas/New Year break! I'd really like to get through the Book of Odes in the next months, so we can enter into our next Tang or Song offering. I'll try to be more regulated in the poem posts accordingly. 

Some notes:

* 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.

* I believe the reminder emails have stopped, so I'll seek a new service to run that. 

When the second batch of these is up and running, if you would like not to be on the list and there isn't an unsubscribe option in the email itself, please just respond 'unsubscribe' or something and I'll take you off the reminder roster.

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

* If you haven't read it yet, chapter one, on tetrasyllabic shi poetry, in How to Read Chinese Poetry is hugely useful for the Book of Odes, imo.

**NEXT BATCH FEB 1.**

Comments

82. 女曰雞鳴 - Nu Yue Ji Ming

[x_los]

女曰雞鳴、士曰昧旦。
子興視夜、明星有爛。
將翱將翔、弋鳧與鴈。

Says the wife, ' It is cock-crow; '
Says the husband, ' It is grey dawn. '
' Rise, Sir, and look at the night, - '
If the morning star be not shining.
Bestir yourself, and move about,
To shoot the wild ducks and geese.

弋言加之、與子宜之。
宜言飲酒、與子偕老。
琴瑟在御、莫不靜好。

When your arrows and line have found them,
I will dress them fitly for you.
When they are dressed, we will drink [together over them],
And I will hope to grow old with you.
Your lute in your hands,
Will emits its quiet pleasant tones.

知子之來之、雜佩以贈之。
知子之順之、雜佩以問之。
知子之好之、雜佩以報之。

When I know those whose acquaintance you wish,
I will give them of the ornaments of my girdle.
When I know those with whom you are cordial,
I will send to them of the ornaments of my girdle.
When I know those whom you love,
I will repay their friendship from the ornaments of my girdle.

Re: 82. 女曰雞鳴 - Nu Yue Ji Ming

[x_los]

"Says the wife, ' It is cock-crow; '
Says the husband, ' It is grey dawn. '"

Reminiscent of the Romeo and Juliet morning scene. Also interesting that we're getting that agricultural sense of time, with its arguable but material, sometimes important distinctions between stages of the dawn.

'If the morning star be not shining.' what does this matter?

And I will hope to grow old with you. niceee

'ornaments of my girdle' so what's the significance of these? Is it jade? I feel like we were talking about some ornaments like these a couple books ago.

so is this like a crane wife kinda thing, where she's vowing to do him BIG favours/acts of service out of love? Pulling-feathers-from-my-own-breast energy?

Re: 82. 女曰雞鳴 - Nu Yue Ji Ming

[superborb]

Aww, this poem is so cute.

Baidu says the morning star be not shining is the husband's response -- it's not timeeeeee to wake up yet the stars are still out!! And then the wife is like, you gotta go bag those birds. (Unclear if this is total consensus on the poem lol)

The ornaments are apparently a gift from the husband to the wife as a love token. The last stanza lists some of the things the wife is (caring/appreciative, agreeable/considerate, in love with) and how he repays them with tokens. (I.. am like 90% sure; the language is a bit too sparse for me to completely parse)