Translation Trashbin - 23. Parting from Him

This is so sad. Beautiful. Lovers know they are to go their separate ways ... and colts separated.. it's a pitful picture.  One hopes they will meet again.  Thanks AC xoxoxo for sharing.

2 hours ago, Mikiesboy said:

This is so sad. Beautiful. Lovers know they are to go their separate ways ... and colts separated.. it's a pitful picture.  One hopes they will meet again.  Thanks AC xoxoxo for sharing.

Thanks for reading this one, Tim. I agree that the images in this poem are all so strong and clear. Li Bai was known for that, that and loving his wine and boys -- yes, he's the Chinese Omar Khayyam  

Lovely translation AC. The imagery of this piece brought tears to my eyes.

21 minutes ago, BHopper2 said:

Lovely translation AC. The imagery of this piece brought tears to my eyes.

Oh, the highest compliment of all! Hugs 

An amazing translation, the pictures are beautiful and strong and touching. It is like hearing the departing voices as echo even after one has finished reading. Magnificent. Muha

What beautiful images this poet brings to my mind. Li Bai made the lightest thing - dandelion down - into such a powerful emotive idea. Sunsets and  young colts become icons of the sorrow of parting. Thank you for bringing us this. 

A fantastic, striking and powerful, translation, AC. 

On 3/17/2019 at 11:44 PM, Lyssa said:

An amazing translation, the pictures are beautiful and strong and touching. It is like hearing the departing voices as echo even after one has finished reading. Magnificent. Muha

Yes, and it reaches across time. These love echoes heard by us as strong as ever, even though the actual parting happened in the 700s. 

Did I mention, I love poetry Thanks again, Lyssa

On 3/18/2019 at 6:57 AM, Parker Owens said:

What beautiful images this poet brings to my mind. Li Bai made the lightest thing - dandelion down - into such a powerful emotive idea. Sunsets and  young colts become icons of the sorrow of parting. Thank you for bringing us this. 

Thank you, Parker. I am teaching myself more about traditional Chinese poetry. As you may have noticed (or not ), this poem is a series of couplets. Apparently, the aesthetic goal was to create individual units of poetry (the couplets) that are self-contained, complete and present their own unique imagery. The artistry was how these several couplets changed the reader in the progress of reading them, and created a unified whole as a single poem. There is much artistry in how Li Bai does it here, and it's inspiring to learn about it.       

On 3/19/2019 at 4:08 AM, Defiance19 said:

A fantastic, striking and powerful, translation, AC. 

 

I try my best, Def. Translations are always hard, and like here, it's the simplest things that are the hardest. Like the title of this poem uses a pair of characters that is usually whitewashed in English as a generic "friend." The one character alone can mean friend, but in the subtlety of the combination lies a relationship that is much deeper; 'a long-time companion' would be more accurate, but of course that -- longtime companion -- nowadays is rendered less guardedly as simply partner or boyfriend. So, I decided the phrase "from him" in the title sets the reader's mindset at the correct starting position for the poem

Thanks for reading. I always appreciate hearing what you have to say.