It is snowing so heavy in Washington D.C. which I am due to visit on the 10th, that I have decided to post this little poem by Bai Juyi (or Po Chu-I). It was translated last July/August. I hope you like it.
Bai Juyi (772-846): Night in Snow
1 Surprised to find, O so cold, my quilt and pillow,
2 Then light I see through the papered casement window.
3 Deep in the night, so heavy’s the snow, I know, when
4 Bamboos go crack ~ a sound, now ‘n’ then, I follow.
Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong (Huang Hongfa) 譯者: 黃宏發
22nd July 2009 (revised 23.7.09; 24.7.09; 3.8.09; 4.8.09; 5.8.09)
Translated from the original - 白居易: 夜雪
1 已訝衾枕冷
2 復見窗户明
3 夜深知雪重
4 時聞折竹聲
Notes:
* This English rendition is in pentameter (5 metrical feet) to emulate the original 5-character lines. The rhyme scheme is AABA as I take the original to be. The “pillow, window, follow” rhyme is unstressed (feminine). The internal rhyme of “snow, know” in line 3 is stressed (masculine).
* Line 2: The word 復 here means “then”, not “again”. The word 户 “door” is omitted in the translation as it refers to the Chinese “casement door” which is also a window. The word “papered” is added to make clear it is not a glass casement window/door which did not yet exist.
* Line 4: For the sound of bamboos breaking, I had considered “snap” and “clack”, but have decided for “crack”. For the word 時, I had considered “e’er ‘n’ anon” and “then ‘n’ again”, but have decided for “now ‘n’ then”
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