Chinese Poets: English Translations IV

The Song of Magpies by Lady Ho translation by Michael R. Burch The magpies nest on the Southern hill. You set your nets on the Northern hill. The magpies escape, soar free. What good are your nets? When magpies fly free, in pairs, why should they envy phoenixes? Although I’m a lowly woman, why should I envy the Duke of Sung? A Song of White Hair by Chuo Wen-chun translation by Michael R. Burch My love is pure, as my hair is pure. White, like the mountain snow. White, like the moon among clouds. But I lately discovered you are double-minded. Thus, we must sever. Today we pledged our love over a goblet of wine. Tomorrow, I’ll walk alone beside the dismal moat, watching the frigid water flow east, and west, dismal myself in the bitter weather. Should love bring only tears? All I wanted was a man with a single heart and mind, for then we would have lived together as our hair turned white. Not someone who wriggled fish with his big bamboo pole! A loyal man Is better than rubies. Spring Song by Meng Chu translation by Michael R. Burch One sunny spring, either March or April, when the water and grass were the same color, I met a young man loitering in the road. How I wish that I’d met him sooner! Now each sunny spring, whether March or April, when the water and grass are the same color, I reach up to pluck flowers from the vines; their perfume reminds me of my lover’s breath. Four years, now five, I have awaited you, as my vigil turned love into grief. How I wish we could meet in that same lonely place where I would have surrendered my body completely to your embraces! A Song of Hsi-Ling Lake by Su Hsiao-hsiao translation by Michael R. Burch I ride in red carriage. You canter by on dappled blue stallion. Where shall we tie our hearts into a binding love knot? Beside Hsi-ling Lake beneath the cypress trees. A Greeting for Lu Hung-Chien by Li Yeh translation by Michael R. Burch The last time you left the moon shone white over winter frosts. Now you have returned through a dismal fog to visit me, still lying here ill. When I struggle to speak, the tears start. You urge me to drink T’ao Chien’s wine while I chant Hsieh Ling-yun’s words of welcome. It’s good to get drunk now and then: what else can an invalid do? Keywords/Tags: Female Chinese Poets, English Translations, woman, women, wife, love, heart, hearts, wine, hair, magpies, nets, lonely, loneliness, body, white, water, winter