Today, I am posting my rendition of 杜牧 Du Mu's "Shall Proceed to Wuxing, I Ascend the Leyou Heights: A Quatrain". Differing interpretations of the poem abound. My own interpretation which is apparent in my rendition itself and the accompanying notes is: The poet regards himself as a man of ability, stuck in a junior position in officialdom, though enjoys his pastimes, longs to better serve the Empire. Now that he is being posted to the southeast of the Empire, he ascends the Leyou Heights to pledge his loyalty to the Empire symbolized by the tomb of the great Emperor Taizong.
I do hope you find my interpretation preferable and my rendition more beautiful. Here we go:
Du Mu (803-852): Shall Proceed to Wuxing, I Ascend the Leyou Heights: A Quatrain
1
No duties on hand, I embrace my pastimes,
O do I lack ability?
2
Lone clouds I love, idling at ease, bonzes
I befriend for tranquility.
3
Now I am about to fly my banners, where
the sea and rivers meet,
4
On the Leyou Heights, northwest I look,
to Mound Illuminantility.
Translated
by Andrew W.F. Wong (Huang Hongfa) 譯者: 黃宏發
15
November 2021 (revised 18.11.2021; 23.11.2021; 25.11.2021)
Translated
from the original - 杜牧:
將赴吳興登樂遊原一絕
1
清時有味是無能
2
閒愛孤雲靜愛僧
3
欲把一麾江海去
4
樂遊原上望昭陵
Notes:
*Form,
Metre, and Rhyme: The original is a
7-character quatrain 七言絕句
with a caesura after the fourth character.
This English rendition is a heptameter (7 beats or feet) with a caesura
after the fourth beat. The rhyme scheme
of the original is AAxA which is adhered to in this English rendition with the
perfect feminine rhyme of “-ility”.
*Line
1: I have interpreted 清時 (clear; time) not as “in times of
peace” (late Tang dynasty was not that peaceful) but as “in a post in the
capital with nothing or not much to do”, the poet was in a junior post in the
Ministry of Personnel. I have, thus, rendered
it as “No duties on hand” after considering “no tasks on hand”. 有味
(possess; tastes or interests) is rendered as “I embrace my pastimes”, after
considering “I pursue my interests”. The
apparent statement 是無能
(is or am; no; ability) is interpreted to be a rhetorical question and is,
thus, rendered as “O do I lack ability?” to effectively say “not because I lack
ability”.
*Line 2: The first word 閒 (idle or free) is translated as “idling at ease”. The fifth word 靜 (still or silent) is interpreted to mean “still” only, not “silent” and is, thus, rendered as “for tranquility”. For the word 愛 (love) which appears twice in the line, the first is translated literally as “I love”, and the second is rendered as “I befriend” for variety. 孤雲 (solitary or single; cloud) is interpreted to refer to scattered clouds (not numerically one single piece of cloud) and is, therefore, rendered in the plural as “Lone clouds”. 僧 (Buddhist monk) is translated literally as “bonzes” which word, etymologically, came from French “bonze” and Portuguese “bonzo” originally came from Japanese 梵僧 (pronounced) “bonso” which came from Chinese 梵僧 (pronounced) “fanseng”.
*Line 3: The first word 欲 is interpreted not to mean “wish or desire” but to mean “it is imminent” or 即將 (immediate; shall) which echoes the 將赴 “Shall Proceed” in the title. It is, therefore, translated as “Now I am about to”. 把一麾 (hold; one; banner) is taken to mean “given the warrant to govern (a territory)” and is rendered as “fly my banners”. 江海 (river; sea) refers to the place the poet is posted to, i.e., “Wuxing” 吳興 mentioned in the title, which is present day Huzhou 湖州 in Chejiang 浙江 province on China’s Southeastern seaboard and which is where rivers and the sea meet. 去 (go to) is translated literally as “to” which is taken as covered by the “to” in “Now I am about to”, and 江海去 is, thus, rendered simply as “where the sea and rivers meet”.
*Line 4: 樂遊 (pleasant; travel or visit) is transliterated as “Leyou” while 原 (plain or plateau) is rendered as “Heights” as 樂遊原 is a piece of elevated land, after considering “plateau” and “highland”. 上 is translated literally as “On”. 昭陵 (pronounced Zhaoling) is the name of the royal tomb of the second emperor Taizong 太宗 of the Tang dynasty reputedly the greatest of all Tang emperors. The tomb is located at Jiuzong Shan 九嵕山 some 70 kilometres (source: https://baike.baidu.hk/item/昭陵/3849) to the northwest of the capital Chang’an 長安 (present day Si’an 西安). The question arises as to whether the tomb can be seen from the Leyou Heights (on the southeast of Chang’an) which must be more than 70 kilometres away but, given the vast size of the grounds of the tomb (about 200 kilometres square, same source) and the peak behind it (elevation 1,188 metres, same source), I suppose it is possible to establish the general direction of where the tomb is. I have, therefore, rendered the word 望 (look or gaze) (which follows 樂遊原上) as “northwest I look, to …”, spelling out the direction to the tomb which is not on the Leyou Heights. 昭陵 (clear or bright; hill or tomb) is rendered not in transliteration but as “Mound Illuminantility” with 陵 (hill or tomb) rendered as “Mound” (= burial ground) and 昭 (clear or bright) rendered as “Illuminantility”. Please note, the word “Illuminantility” cannot be found in dictionaries. It is a word coined by me by combining “illuminant” (lighting up, or something which illuminates, source: Shorter Oxford) and “-ility” (“-ty” as suffix = expressing the state or condition something is in, same source) to mean “in a state of illuminating”. I suggest reading “Illuminantility” with these 2 syllables “-lu-“ and “-ti-“ stressed This coined word is needed to complete the “-ility” rhyme.
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