ode to the plum blossom revisited

i happened across tony barnstone's translation. he's an incredibly accomplished translator who has published extensively, and his translation, in comparison to mine, shows why. i tried to take some poetic license and dropped some things. although it conveyed the feeling and sentiment i was looking for, it rendered the poem unrecognizable. so, for the time being, i will forget about ezra pound, and shoot for more accuracy.

edit: i also found james j.y. liu's translation in sunflower splendor. i'll put that up to.


"Plum Flowers" To the Tune of "Fortune Teller"

By a broken bridge outside the horse relay station
plum flowers bloom for no one.
Already it is evening and sad and lonely
and they are beaten by rainy wind.

They don't wish to compete for spring,
though other flowers envy their early blossoming.
When petals drop to the mud and are ground to dust
the fragrance remains the same

---Translated by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping


Tune: "Song of Divination"
On the Plum Tree

By a broken bridge outside the courier station
In silent solitude it blossoms without a master
Already grieving by itself at nightfall,
How much more so when wind and rain come!

Not wishing to compete bitterly for spring
It allows the other flowers to be jealous.
When its blossoms are scattered in the mud and ground to dust,
Only their fragrance will remain as before.


song of divination:
ode to the plum blossom
by lu you

near the fallen bridge
they bloom for no one
under a pale black sky
filled with loneliness
that swells with the wind and rain

the others envy its will
to battle the bitter early spring
and tumble to earth
to become mud and dirt
always exuding its same sweet scent