Today I would like to share a famous ancient Chinese poem written by 元稹/Yuan Zhen. Being an excellent poet in Tang Dynasty, he was on a par with his best friend Bai Juyi, so they were together called '元白/Yuan Bai' in history.
Now let's enjoy it!
离思
(唐• 元稹）
曾经沧海难为水，
除却巫山不是云。
取次花丛懒回顾，
半缘修道半缘君。
Of which there is a perfect antithesis in the first pair of sentences, such as沧海/the wide sea matches 巫山/Mountain Wu, 水/water matches 云/cloud. And they have become a famous quotation in Chinese literature, symbolizing the unforgettable deep love.
云/Yun(cloud) in the second sentence rhymes with 君/Jun(thee) in the last one.
In Memory of the Departed
Yuan Zhen (Tang Dynasty)
(Its translator is unknown)
Having once been to the sea, no other waters would one seek;
If not on Mount Wu, nowhere could a worthy cloud be.
Nevermore will I turn my head to appreciate the flowers,
Partly to cultivate my mind, but partly for thee.
Here the departed means the author's late wife named 韦丛/Wei Cong, from a wealthy official family who stuck faithfully by him through thick and thin. And Mount Wu, situated in Si Chuan's province, is noted for its fascinating cloud. It is said that on Mount Wu there is a Goddess and the cloud there is the incarnation of her.
The other version of its English translation is from the same Professor Xu Yuan Chong.
Think of My Dear Wife
No water's enough when you have crossed the sea；
No cloud is beautiful but that which crowns the peak.
I pass by flowers that fail to attract poor me；
Half for your sake and half for Taoism I seek.
It is well-known that his English translation is characteristic of rhyming. We can find 'see' rhymes with 'me'; 'peak' rhymes with 'seek'.
I just leave you to decide which version is better. Maybe I prefer the first one since I feel it expresses that kind of melancoly feeling of losing the beloved more directly and vividly. However, for people who pays attention to the rhyming of poem, no doubt the second version is wonderful.
Someone says that John Denver’s lyrics resound the kind of love in plain detail: “You fill up my senses, like the night in the forest, like the mountain in springtime, like a walk in the rain, like the storm in the desert, like the blue sleepy ocean. You fill up my senses, come fill me again!” I couldn't agree more.
At the same time, I wanna post a poem about a sealed love story I wrote a few years ago here.
I love the sentence:
"Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist.”
by Guy de Maupassant,
which I read from this blog at the first time.
It is absolutely right: our memory can give back life to those who no longer exist.
Especially when our memory is transformed into a beautiful classical poem, the true love will never die.
Below is my original poem:
记忆锦盒
A brocade box of memory
把你的一切锁进记忆的锦盒
I locked all of you into a brocade box of memory
再裹上厚厚的红丝绒
Then wrapped it with the thick red velvet
如同尘封一坛女儿红
As if sealing a pot of yellow wine
(According to Chinese custom, the family would seal and preserve a pot of yellow wine when daughter was born. The wine keeps intact until the daughter gets married.)
交给岁月，交给时光
Hand it over to the years and it is all about time
会是哪位幸运的诗人打开锦盒？
Which lucky and kind poet will there be to open this brocade box?
惊喜地发现那口被深埋的爱之井
依然鲜活如初
To his surprise, he finds the well of love being deeply buried so long is still vivid as in the beginning
且愈加香醇
And more aromatic and purer
Thanks for watching! I'll see you over in the next episode of Ancient Chinese poetry.
P.S. : I highly recommend you read the blog about memory from 