Snow StormTumult, weeping, many new ghosts.
Heartbroken, aging, alone, I sing
To myself. Ragged mist settles
In the spreading dusk. Snow skurries
In the coiling wind. The wineglass
Is spilled. The bottle is empty.
The fire has gone out in the stove.
Everywhere men speak in whispers.
I brood on the uselessness of letters.Tu Fu
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
Happy holidays, all.
best,
Don
this piece/situation
ReplyDeletefar beyond 'hittin the
nail
on the head"
more like dropping the
hammer
on my big toe"
very much the/my situation here last night!
can't get to wood
-pile acause it
is under 2wo feet of snow/ice;
spilled last glass of beer last night reaching for
the phone (wrong number)
no one comes to visit...
only poems and memories for
company...
How Pleasant!
(reading/using two books simultaneously books that I've not opened for several years: The Chinese Theory of Art (translations from the Chinese Masters of Art) by LIN YUTANG Putnam, 1967
and
Chinese Poetry
an anthology of major modes and genres, WAI-Lim YIP (trans), Duke, 1997)
the first begins w ' Powder Appkied Last 6 th Century B.C by Confucius then Chuangtse's (4 th Cent B.C.) 'The Unbuttoned Mood'
and the second book opens with selection out of The Shih Ching 600 B.C. also (selection) by Confucius..
the rule/attitude is:
'concrete before abstractions'
here is a Wang Wei piece:
"Empty/mountain/not/see/man"
which became via Bynner"
"There seems to be no one on the mountain"
I really don't think we English speakeringers/writers "get it"
we tend to not get to the"matter" and treat symptoms rather than causes..
WCW "got it" and Rexroth "got it"
etc.
I really don't think we English speakeringers/writers "get it"
ReplyDeleteAin't that the truth ...
Oh, that damn last glass o' beer breaks my heart -
Rain here washing away the snow, hopefully you too will be able to get to the wood pile.
Yes, the Bynner is a disaster ...
Cheers from the 'Burg, my friend - concrete over abstract ...
"Empty/mountain/not/see/man"
best,
Don
Excellent. I love this one.
ReplyDelete