唐诗《滁州西涧》分析.doc

Peter KilbourneDecember 11, 2011Wei Ying-wu (737-791)Wei Ying-wu was born near the capital city of Changan, on an estate on the Tuling Plateau. Wei was the third son of a distinguished family, which produced both high-ranking officials and respected artists. His great grandfather and his great-great-great grandfather were both Grand Councilors to emperors, and his father, uncle, and cousin were well-known painters (Pine xiii.) By the time of Weis birth, however, the familys fortunes were on the decline. The estate was no longer producing the same kind of revenue it had in earlier years, and it seems likely that Weis father and his grandfather got caught up in political upheavals at the court.In spite of these setbacks, Wei was invited to join the Palace Guard at the age of 15. At first he freely joined in the excesses of the court, but in the winter of 755, General An Lu-shan began his rebellion, and everything changed for Wei. He met and married his wife Yuan Ping, also known a Fo-li, or Buddha Power (xv.) Political turmoil notwithstanding, being a civil servant was the only possible career for an aristocrat like Wei (Fairbank & Goldman 83.) When the emperor regained some of his power in 759, Wei was given an exemption because of his illustrious family and enrolled in the Imperial College. With the government desperate for loyal officials, Wei was swiftly promoted and given a job as magistrate in Loyang County.He was very disappointed in the job and the life of a government official. A conscientious Buddhist, who was uncomfortable and stiff in a crowd, he didnt get along well with the other bureaucrats, and he didnt like the way the army mistreated the civilians (Pine xvi.) As the Emperor was forced to cede power to the military, and the administration became more regionalized (Fairbank & Goldman 83), there followed for Wei a series of unsatisfactory government jobs mixed with stays in monasteries when he was out of work. During all this time, like so many other officials, he wrote poetry. In fact, being a good poet was necessary for those wishing to advance in bureaucratic circles (Barstone lxii.) By the time of his death in 791, Wei is said to have written about 600 poems (Pine xx.) Wei Ying-wus poetry was not popular during his lifetime, perhaps because his style was slightly unusual for the era. But he was beloved by other poets. 35 years after Weis death, famous poet Pai Chuyi would write that Weis work left him “speechless, the feeling of his poems is so pure and serene.” (Pine ix) Like Wang Wei, Wei Ying-wu was known as a nature poet, and the two poets were said to share the same “flavor limpid and remote, like the penetration of clear water” (Varsano 409.) Unlike other Tang poets, who used their poetry, full of elaborate and showy language, to show off their knowledge with clever allusions, Wei used simple language to draw his reader into a scene of serenity and solitude (Pine x.)Weis poetry is full of a sense of isolation and loss. The emperor Xuanzongs reign coincided with a golden age of Chinese poetry, perhaps because the emperors fall provided the countrys artists with an abundance of tragic subject matter to work with (Keay 269.) Poetry could also be a form of protest, and the Tang poets who were affected by the An Lu-shan rebellion wrote with great feeling and poignancy (Barnstone 92.) Weis poetry reflects the sense of loss even more than his contemporaries. Perhaps this can be attributed to his own family s decline as well as his dissatisfaction with his profession and his co-workers (Pine ix.) Even when he is exploring the beauties of a nature he clearly loved, you can feel Weis sadness.In spite of the seemingly simple lines we read today, there were rules of symmetry and rhythm that governed the poetry, or regulated verse (Barnstone lxii.) Wei most often used a 5-character line, instead of the more popular 7-character line (Pine x) although Chuchous West Stream is a 7-character quatrain. Wei wrote the poem 7 years after the death of his beloved wife, while serving as magistrate in Chuchou, a post which he considered a demotion. At a time when other magistrates were rebelling against the government, the emperor needed loyal magistrates, but Wei felt he had been “sent to the provinces.” He missed his cousins and nephews and did not like being far from home. However, the job was not time-consuming, giving him plenty of time to explore the countryside and write poetry. It was during this time that Wei wrote many of his best poems (Pine xviii.)It is a challenge to interpret poems written in another language, in another time, because the translators each have a different vision of what the poet was trying to say. I have 5 translations of my chosen poem; some are by scholars and one was done by a friend from China. They are all quite different, and each translation can make for a different interpretation of the meaning of the poem. John Wu, who uses the Giles translation, is sure that the ferryboat whose ferryman is gone is a metaphor for China without a leader (Wu 162.) Red PineIn my view, Pines translation version does not convey the political allegory as you have analyzed here. The word “country” in the line “an unmanned country ferry” does literally concern the village, rather than the motherland. But we cannot exclude the pun used by translator Red Pine. If it does, his understanding is above the original meaning of the poem. What a pity it is!, who did his own translation, wonders whether the poem is a political allegory, with the unnoticed plants a symbol for “virtuous, but unappreciated, officials” and the singing birdsThe symbolic understanding is beyond the original meaning of this poem. representing those whose “voices are heard but ignored.” The last couplet might mean that the country is going to hell, and there is nothing left to do but save oneself. Or the poem could just be describing Wei encountering a lovely scene in the country. As Red Pine says, “Maybe this is just a poem about having the countryside to himself on a day in springPine reached the key point.” (Pine 110.)The language of most of the translations of Chuchous West Stream You get to understand the images contained in this poem.evokes serenity; even with the trill, or possibly the scream of the birds, the unnoticed plants or tender grasses and gliding ferry suggest something much calmer than the panic of a country going to hell save yourselves! Still, the reader suspects there is more beneath the surface than the seemingly simple description of an evening sceneYou are right. Beyond the evening scene described in lines, the poet wanted to show his strong emotions of his political ambition that came to naught. . As Paula Varsano says, Wei is “a poet for whom the inner state is best conveyed by his depiction of the natural scene” (Varsano 408.) In Chuchous West Stream, Wei, returning home from a country walk, is alone in nature; he describes what he sees, and although he clearly thinks what he sees is beautiful, you can sense the isolation and wistfulness behind his words. In all of the translations, there is a contrast between the beauty of the scene and the emotions the poet is feeling, which are suggested but not described. The scene is clearly described, but the undertones are seen through a veil, highlighting the clarity of the description with the suggestion of something more.Line by line, however, there are differences between the translationsLanguage analysis is a good way to catch the distinction between the translations. In the first line Red Pine and Ying Sun place the poet directly in the sceneYou are on the way. But I advise you to further expound the implied meaning by using the first pronoun “I” or not. : “I love unnoticed plants.”and “Green grass by the brook is what I like best,” while Bynner and Giles just describe what the poet sees. Giles uses the most “poetic” language in his translationGiles translation seems like to narrate a story, which has its own logical relationship. For example, he uses the word “for” to indicate the cause of “the ferry-boat swings idly”, and the word “while” to show us the dimension of “time”. This version destroys the natural images conveyed in original poem. So you can embark on discussing it from this perspective., using phrases like the freshets of spring and the torrent rushes on. His translation also rhymesYou can explain the differences of rhymes in the light of languages, especially Chinese and English., which it would have done in the original Chinese (Derbyshire 3.) The only other translator to attempt a rhyme scheme is Ying SunEvery line in his translation begins the four images grass, orioles，rain and ferryboat, which highlights the fact that poem expresses emotions via things or entities. You can expand the analysis of some sort. , although his results are nowhere near as successful. In fact, Yings last line “A ferryboat is left half-across for lack of guest” doesnt really make sense in English. Red PineHere you discussed Red Pine once again. If you analyze it above, with other versions, your essay would be structured well on the condition that you illustrate the differences item by item. Possibly you like Red Pinds translation best. But you d better list your reasons for enjoying it. uses the simplest language in his translation, which seems appropriate, given that Wei Ying-wu was famous for his simplicity. His translation also does the best job of evoking Weis sense of solitude and wistfulness. Giless is the most violent translation; his birds scream, while the others trill and sing. His torrent rushes on, while the others current quickens or refer to last nights rain. His ferryman is gone, possibly suggesting some kind of wrong doing, while the others simply describe a solitary scene. According to Red Pine, there would have been a cable for a traveler to pull himself across the stream (Pine 206), so his line “I pull myself across on an unmanned country ferry” might actually make the most sense. In contrast, Bynners line “The ferry-boat moves as though someone were poling” coveys a hidden force at work, what Wei suggests “lies beyond its shimmering surface” (Varsano 414.)I chose Chuchous West Stream because its simple narrative reminds me of what I like best about being in the wi