天平山上白雲泉，
雲自無心水自閑。
何必奔衝山下去，
更添波浪向人間
He tried a version based on the master's, entitled he Blue Sky, 碧雲天 壬寅孟春, following the original rhyming.
樓高一覽碧雲天，
天自无心吾自閑。
懶叫春風飄雨露，
坐聽造物弄人間。
As for my version, an inspiration about a desert lake of tranquility. One thing leads to another, my theme morphed into the Japanese tale of Hagoromo (羽衣) and the Chinese 7th Fairy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennin
1 九霄嚴規瑣碎寰 Nine Heavens is a place filled with trifle regulations,
2 七仙無聊倦壓閑 And the seven heavenly maidens are bored and tired with leisurely hours.
3 難得偷渡下凡趣 Rarely a chance for them to steal down to the earth for fun,
4 天池羽衣在人間 Left at the Heavenly Pool in the realm of mortals is a feathered cloak.
1 Chinese believed that there are nine levels of heaven. There are many rules governing the denizens of Heaven. One main regulation is there is no intermingling with mortals. Flouting this law can lead to dire consequences including death to the offender. Despite of this, there are many such stories.
2 Technically, there are no fairies in Chinese mythologies. The closest equivalent are female immortals of great beauty and they don’t have wings like in British tales. Because of popular misunderstanding, the accepted translation is now the “fairy” terminology usage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Fairies_(China)
4 This refers to the lake in the Heavenly Mountain range.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_Lake_of_Tianshan
Friday, August 25, 2023
However, I didn't feel that it was refined enough and that another stanza was needed. Then came my 41 days trip to Asia. Didn't have much time until I was bored on the flight across the Pacific Ocean or in a tour bus that I finally was able to refined the poem.
1 九霄嚴規處處難 Everywhere in the Nine Heavens is filled with severe regulations,
2 七仙無聊偷下凡 Bored are the seven heavenly maidens stealing down to Earth.
3 天池羽衣盜取去 And in the Heavenly Pool where a feathered cloak was stolen,
4 莫非借意伴人間 Could it be an excuse to remain as a companion to the mortal world?
5 東君何惜春日好 The Lord of the East does not cherish the beauty of a spring day,
6 暮雲方解玉露煩 But evening clouds would understand the vexations of jade dew,
7 晦魄環照各面愁 And as time passes, each faces their own sorrows,
8星河豈答今夜闌 How could the Milky Way answer the desolation of tonight?
1 Chinese believed that there are nine levels of heaven. There are many laws inflicted upon the denizens of Heaven - absolute no intermingling with mortals without permission. Flouting can lead to dire consequences including death to the offender. Despite of this, there are many such stories that went against this rule.
2 Technically, there are no fairies in Chinese mythologies. The closest equivalent are female immortals of great beauty and they don’t have wings like in British tales. Because of popular misunderstanding, the accepted translation is now the “fairy” terminology usage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Fairies_(China)
3 This refers to the lake in the Heavenly Mountain range in Sinkiang.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_Lake_of_Tianshan
5 The Chinese sun god representing spring to mean youth.
6 The dew formed in autumn. Here they mean the tears of one’s autumn years.
7 The first four characters comes from a line in the Thousand Character Classic, 璿璣懸斡, 晦魄環照.
晦 is the last day of the lunar month when the moon wanes (朔 is the first). The first light of the new moon is魄. The term for full moon is known as 望. 環 means a cycle, a rotation in this context ie the moon is going through its cycle in the month. In the context of the poem, interpretating it to mean the earth is also acceptable. The sorrows refer to the denizens of Heaven longing for the mortal world while mortals long for the heavens.
8 This line means that each group has their own reasons for their sorrows. This poem is about not to be rash in their actions until they understand the reason for rules being made, otherwise one will regret in time.
Thursday, December 14, 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment