My personal warhorse

[flemmings]

華子岡 Huazi Hill

飛鳥去不窮    Flying birds away into endless spaces
連山復秋色    Ranged hills all autumn colours again
上下華子岡    I go up Huatzu Hill and come down-
惆悵情何極    Will my sadness never come to its end?

Wang Wei
tr Robinson

(For once I find the simplified just plug ugly: 飞鸟去不穷，连山复秋色。上下华子岗，惆怅情何极!)

There's a not very good reproduction of a scroll painting of Huazi Hill (click on the small illo and maybe it will load the larger version), and an erhu composition composed after the poem.

Comments

[mvrdrk.livejournal.com]

But, but, ... tr Robinson, 飛鳥 去不窮 isn't that difficult a phrase and has nothing to do with endless spaces!

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

I don't quarrel with Robinson's translations. Everybody disagrees with them, sometimes violently, but they make damn good poems in English.

Besides, 'no limit' *could* apply to the sky the bird flies in as well as to the bird's flight.

[mvrdrk.livejournal.com]

LOL! Yes. It's good poetry.

I will have to go dig out the grammar book, which addresses this stuff specifically. It's either an endless supply of flying birds, the flying birds continue to fly (and never appear to reach a destination), to the flying birds go away and don't return. 去不窮 is one of those stock poetic phrases with a specific meaning. Not that any of this matters, but it will force me to find the darn book and maybe finish reading it!

[paleaswater.livejournal.com]

"never come to its end" seems to be the generic English translation for any number of lines in Chinese poetry.