Ezra Pound was known for his huge poetry saga the Cantos, his Imagist poetry [often short, like the famous 'In the station of the metro'] and his translations of ancient Chinese poetry.
He often interpreted it in a really metaphorical way, and it's quite beautiful. Arthur Waley translated as well, but often more seriously than Pound. Pound's concern was more art than perfect translating. His great achievement was that he shows us how much we can relate to the ancients, even ones all the way over in Asia. Just as people often think of themselves peering down at the spectacle of Hector and Achilles fighting, down under the walls of Troy, they can feel the same closeness to poetry leagues away.
This allows for an easier transition to true learning, to reading about the ancient dynasties and their peoples. Here is one example of a poem Pound brought into English to give you a taste of it:
Liu Ch’e
The rustling of the silk is discontinued,
Dust drifts over the court-yard,
There is no sound of footfall, and the leaves
Scurry into heaps and lie still,
And she the rejoicer of the heart is beneath them:
A wet leaf that clings to the threshold.
No comments:
Post a Comment