Du Fu's spring scene
by strannikov
state a shambles, mountains and rivers endure.
meanwhile, the city hides amidst spring's thick growth.
season's blossoms and flowers shed their spring tears,
migrating birds' songs tell us they soon will leave.
beacon fires have burned for at least three full months.
word from the folks would be worth a pound of gold:
worried, I've scratched bald spots into my white hair,
this hatpin of no use just stuck in the hat.
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Author's Note
This is consequence of running into both David Hinton's and Stephen Owen's translations, with helpful comments from Lucas Klein in a 2016 LARB review of the latter.
(This piece I posted/appended with my other Chinese paraphrases under the "Liu Ch'e" heading below.)
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Well done.
"beacon fires have burned for at least three full months.
word from the folks would be worth a pound of gold:"
I like it.
the colloquial tone of this is engaging, the ordinary elevated into a very human poetry
worth a pound of gold. *
I love the sparse nature of this *
Love, admire.