To translate is to connect and to connect is to be human.
Notes
The original work, from the Song dynasty, was meant to be sung along a melody at a set meter. Thus, preserving the syllabic cadences of the poem was paramount in this translation. To do so, I doubled the number of syllables per line, as English words are multi-syllabic. This preserved the rhythm and design of the original work.
Listening to the Rain – A Poppy’s Song
As a boy I listened atop pagodas to the rain,
Crimson candle behind a sash curtain.
As a man I listened low from within a boat sampan,
River ebbed wide clouds hung low,
Solemn geese called in the western wind wan.
Now I listen to rain from under a vihara roof,
Hair already as the night is starry.
Endless are the sorrows and joys of hellos and goodbyes,
Raindrops patter on the stairs before me until dawn brings tomorrow’s light.
Jiang Jie
虞美人·听雨
少年听雨歌楼上，红烛昏罗帐。
壮年听雨客舟中，江阔云低，断雁叫西风。
而今听雨僧庐下，鬓已星星也。
悲欢离合总无情，一任阶前点滴到天明。
蒋捷
Notes
One of the most famous poems from the Chinese modernist movement, “Another Farewell to Cambridge” bridges the gap between classical and modern Chinese poetry. Though its lexicon is undoubtedly contemporary, its rhyme scheme and meter flow like the myriads of classical poems before. In this translation, I tried to match these features and do this titan of modern Chinese literature justice.
Another Farewell to Cambridge
Gently I left,
as gently as I arrived;
I wave my hand tenderly,
parting with the western sky.
The aurum willow on the riverbank,
is a bride in the twilight;
its palette splayed over the waves,
swing within my heart as if a kite.
The nymphoides on the mire ebb,
some submerged with an oily sheen;
in the cradling ripples of the river Cam,
I long to be a ribbon of reed.
That shadowed pond under the elm,
is not a clear spring, but a rainbow,
shattered amongst the algae,
dyed dreams precipitating aglow.
Dreamchasing? Grab a long quant,
and row countercurrent to greener grass,
with a punt full of color,
sing openly among the hued strass.
Yet I cannot sing freely,
for the reedpipe quietly serenades goodbye;
the summer insecta weep for me too,
sorrowful is Cambridge tonight!
Quietly I departed,
as quietly as I came;
I wave my swaying sleeves,
without a cloud to my name.
Nanhu
再别康桥
轻轻的我走了，
正如我轻轻的来；
我轻轻的招手，
作别西天的云彩。
那河畔的金柳，
是夕阳中的新娘；
波光里的艳影，
在我的心头荡漾。
软泥上的青荇，
油油的在水底招摇；
在康河的柔波里，
我甘心做一条水草！
那榆荫下的一潭，
不是清泉，是天上虹；
揉碎在浮藻间，
沉淀着彩虹似的梦。
寻梦？撑一支长篙，
向青草更青处漫溯；
满载一船星辉，
在星辉斑斓里放歌。
但我不能放歌，
悄悄是别离的笙箫；
夏虫也为我沉默，
沉默是今晚的康桥！
悄悄的我走了，
正如我悄悄的来；
我挥一挥衣袖，
不带走一片云彩。
徐志摩
Cary Wang 