The Forest Lover (Thoughts Ii) ... By Zhang Jiuling Poem by Eugene Levich

The Forest Lover (Thoughts Ii) ... By Zhang Jiuling

Rating: 5.0


Luxuriant are the orchid leaves of spring.
Glistening are the cinnamon flowers of autumn.
He lives here happily according to his heart’s desire.
His life seems like a holiday during every season.
But how can this virtuous forest dweller,
Sitting happily listening to the wind in the foliage,
His reclusive heart at peace with nature,
Possibly be induced to leave this paradise?

感遇其二 Gan3 you4 qi2 er4

張九齡 Zhang1 Jiu3ling2

蘭葉春葳蕤 Lan2 ye4 chun1 wei1 rui2
桂花秋皎潔 Gui4 hua1 qiu1 jiao3 jie2
欣欣此生意 Xin1 xin1 ci3 sheng1 yi1
自爾為佳節 Zi4 er3 wei2 jia1 jie2
誰知林棲者 Shei2 zhi1 lin2 qi1 zhe3
聞風坐相悅 Wen2 feng1 zuo4 xiang1 yue4
草木有本心 Cao3 mu4 you3 ben3 xin1
何求美人折 He2 qiu2 mei3 ren2 zhe2

Sunday, April 20, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: nature
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Due to its abstruse, metaphorical, and terse nature this poem is subject to diverse and conflicting interpretations. Probably for that reason the most noted translators of the past chose simply—and perhaps wisely—to ignore it. Some recent translations—as well as the explanatory notes contained in “Three Hundred Tang Period Poems” [Tang shi san bai shou]—leave me perplexed and unsatisfied. I offer here my own translation, not without some trepidation.

What might Zhang Jiuling have been thinking when he wrote this poem? We know that he was a high-ranking imperial official noted for his honesty, his hot temper, and his willingness to criticize the emperor directly. He was at times dismissed from office. His “Thoughts I, ” which I have posted on PH under the title “The Solitary Swan..., ” indicates that he suffered politically from the envy of others. It seems probable that he wrote both of these poems while out of office—the first as a complaint—the second as a consolation—or perhaps even as a suggestion to the emperor that a new official appointment would be exactly the motivation he needed to quit his forest paradise.

The “cinnamon” mentioned here is cassia, or Chinese cinnamon, similar in taste but botanically different from true cinnamon. Gui4 桂 is the classical name for Guangxi Province in Southwest China due to the profusion there of cassia trees. Zhang Jiuling served for a time as governor of that region.

Eugene Levich 李佑清 Trans.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success