I am in a Chinese state of mind these days, as we plan to go off for a week to Beijing and Xi'an.
And Mr Ramanan sent me this absolutely spectacular picture of the Godlen Oriole he spied at Vedanthangal. As I admired those eyes that looked like they were kohl-lined, I was immediately struck by the thought that someone must have been inpired to rhyme by this lovely bird.
And there it was. Du Fu, the Chinese poet from the Tang dynasty period composed this four-line poem.
A pair of golden orioles sings in green willows
a column of snowy egrets flies off in blue sky
my window contains peaks with a thousand years of ice
my gate harbors boats from ten thousand miles downriver
( Red Pine. Poems of the Masters, p. 100. Copper Canyon Press 2003.)
Another translation:
Two golden orioles sing in the green willows,
A row of white egrets against the blue sky.
The window frames the western hills' snow of a thousand autumns,
At the door is moored, from eastern Wu, a boat of ten thousand li.
http://www.chinese-poems.com/d29.html
I like the second translation better.
The capital of the Tang dynasty in the first century AD was Xi'an. But Du Fu himself seems to have moved to Chendu, where he is reported to have composed this quartrain sometime around 759 AD.
The Golden Oriole seen in China some 1,200 years ago, and photographed so beautifully in Madras by Mr Ramanan. The poem survives and so does the bird!
Gives me goosebumps.
And Mr Ramanan sent me this absolutely spectacular picture of the Godlen Oriole he spied at Vedanthangal. As I admired those eyes that looked like they were kohl-lined, I was immediately struck by the thought that someone must have been inpired to rhyme by this lovely bird.
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| Golden oriole - Photo by Mr Ramanan |
A pair of golden orioles sings in green willows
a column of snowy egrets flies off in blue sky
my window contains peaks with a thousand years of ice
my gate harbors boats from ten thousand miles downriver
( Red Pine. Poems of the Masters, p. 100. Copper Canyon Press 2003.)
Another translation:
Two golden orioles sing in the green willows,
A row of white egrets against the blue sky.
The window frames the western hills' snow of a thousand autumns,
At the door is moored, from eastern Wu, a boat of ten thousand li.
http://www.chinese-poems.com/d29.html
I like the second translation better.
The capital of the Tang dynasty in the first century AD was Xi'an. But Du Fu himself seems to have moved to Chendu, where he is reported to have composed this quartrain sometime around 759 AD.
The Golden Oriole seen in China some 1,200 years ago, and photographed so beautifully in Madras by Mr Ramanan. The poem survives and so does the bird!
Gives me goosebumps.
How lovely! The bird and the poem and your tying everything together.
ReplyDeletelovely :)
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