Renditions of more poems by William Yeats (1865-1939)__江紹倫譯

yeatsThe Coming of Wisdom with Time
All Things Can Tempt Me
Fallen Majesty
He Tells of the Perfect Beauty
On Being Asked For a War Poem
‘Mong Meadows of Sweet Grain
The Dew Comes Dropping
Wherever in the Wastes
To Some I Have Talked with by the Fire
The Old Men Admiring Themselves In The Water

Click here to read the renditions.

Teacher by SL Kong

               Teacher     by Kong Shiu Loon

Those were years of social transition
When teaching was still an admired profession
Young men and women saw it as a lifelong career
Helping children grow and thrive was a challenging frontier

I watched Ms Ho handling a pupil sent to her for disciplining
He had wronged a classmate with swearing and spitting
Ms Ho asked and patiently listened to the pupil his story
He showed defiance and elegance telling her not to worry

It was a long counseling session lasting for half an hour
In the end the pupil recognized his wrongs with tears and a deep bow
Ms Ho was in charge of disciplining pupils other teachers could not handle
Soft-spoken and sincere she approached them to win their hearts almost in total

Teaching to impart knowledge is one easy job
To help children see themselves and to be free and good is another job
Children of the computer age require not information from books
They must learn to know self and others to develop perspective outlooks

I remember Ms Ho handling eight or nine difficult pupils every week
There were times when she and pupil came to terms together weeped
I asked once why she had accepted such nervy tasks so willingly
She said giving herself to teaching came only naturally

[Before the 1997, Teachers’ Day 教師節 was on September 28. After the handover to the People’s Republic of China, the day was changed to September 10, which is when the PRC celebrates the holiday — Wikipedia]

Cool Wind and Moon Bright__Kong Shiu Loon

Bright Moon and Buddha

My mother told me when I was nine
Life is fair and fine within Buddha’s sight
You must be diligent and you must try
You are your own Buddha in life

The moon is the Buddha I learned at night
She always shines to keep the dark world bright
To give those who seek wisdom and peace of mind
A renewing respite after continuing strive

Quietly she guides
To give all followers directions and delight
She is always right
Because in you she resides

My mother is now gone
But the wisdom she had left behind
Is forever in me shone my guide
She is my Buddha and moon lifelong

Mushroom Hunt; Childhood Then and Now.

I Look Into My Glass__ Thomas Hardy

I Look Into My Glass__ Thomas Hardy 鏡中人__蕭若碧
I look into my glass, 在鏡子裡,我端詳自己
And view my wasting skin, 望見了容顏的乾癟
And say, “Would God it came to pass 我對它說,仰上帝恩典
My heart had shrunk as thin!” 但願我心同時枯竭
For then, I, undistrest 因為槁木的心
By hearts grown cold to me, 不再因冷待而憂戚
Could lonely wait my endless rest 而可泰然自若
With equanimity. 寂然等待永恆安息
But Time, to make me grieve, 但時間為了折磨我
Part steals, lets part abide; 消耗了我身
And shakes this fragile frame at eve 卻放過我心
With throbbings of noontide. 在這傍晚的時分
給予我正午賁張的脈搏
暗流 〈讀 I Look Into My Glass by Thomas Hardy 有感〉 來搖撼我這荏弱的驅殼

冬至诗三首, & Let the Sun Shine In 陈耀国 YK Chan

()

 

昔日未空前  明朝焉绝後

喜怒哀樂慾  无为返田園

唐敖消遥游  小山赴红文1

浮生歲月沈  征途日暮歸

 

()                                                   ()

 

早见日中天     晚靠夕阳红                    冬临耳当顺     岁长欲从心

昏黄驯白辉     暗里耀天涯                    或曰人胜天     終归大自然

银光回反昼     太阴悦眼前                    明日永不多     自负成蹉跎

斗柄正北移     银河非寒冰                    心雄非万丈     他山无汗青


—————————————————

1 唐敖、小山俱()李汝珍著<鏡花缘>故事中心人物。

Let the sun shine in

during winter to savour its lovingness.

Its radiance thaws the heart

and invigorates you with compassion.

 

Like gentle tendrils solar rays

cuddle up the slender trunk, mending where it is sore.

Its warmth curls your hair more,

darkening it and rekindling youthful lore.

 

Outdoors it melts the frost

that slowly encroaches like moss,

chilling your conscious mind.

Let the sun shine in and reflect back to the frost.

 

Let not the sun shine in during summer time

when it is too hot to mime.

So scalding it’d numb your soul,

just keep the shutters down to block its tentacles.

 

Let the sun shine in spring and fall,

as it brightens the days you recall.

Drive away the rain and fog,

which are too much to be at odds.

 

May the sun always rise on Golden Pond,

and bring reflections on the water that meanders.

Punting on the way singing an evensong,

for sure I will hear it when you come on board.

詠四季七言句 余晃英 Qijue – The Seasons by Fong-ying Yu

 

註: 以下中文七言句不合七絕規格, 英譯時則力求用單或雙音節字, 每句七音節,  

間亦於二、四句押韻. 這新嘗試的目標是試圖創做英文新詩體– 英文七絕.

两種語文, 或可達到相近境界.

 

Note: While the Chinese seven-character lines below do not conform to
the strict requirements of the Chinese
qijue, the English verse form
might be called “English
qijue
,” with one- to two-syllable words, 7
syllables per line and occasional rhymes. The aim of the experiment is
to bring the two languages together in a similarity of metrical forms.

SPRING


初春 (一)

冬寒已退冷未消         刮臉猶如利鋒刀
驚鳥匿藏葉叢裏         生人步近齐飛高

Early Spring (1)

Winter retreats; its cold stays,
Grazing the face like razor.
Timid birds hide in the bush.
At a noise, to sky they soar.

初春 (二)

春意偷上樹枝頭         含苞羞澀候佳音
小鳥還怯三分冷         不為人間報早春

Early Spring (2)

Spring steals up the branches’ tips.
Blushing buds announce the news.
Birds, with memory of cold
Won’t tell that good times are due.

初春 (三)

立春己過氣猶寒         春雨帶雪灑人間
難堪舊時不忍去         乍暖還冷未開花
 

Early Spring (3)

Chill belies the Day of Spring.
Rain drizzles down mixed with snow.
A slow death dies the old times.
Nor warm nor cold, no flowers blow.

SUMMER

無 題

路旁橋畔野花嬌             蝴蝶偏憐舞蹁躚
大地到處花盈眼             泰半寂寂自榮枯

Untitled

On roadways, gay wild flowers,
Butterflies around them dance.
Flowers fill the eyes, here, there.
Unbeknownst, they live, they die.

炎夏忽至

春長霪兩氣猶寒             炎夏曜曜撲面遲
虛己順時心平置             冷暖早知受無辭

Summer Comes, Late and Sudden

Long rain-filled Spring is cold still.
Sudden summer comes, full-hot.
Humbled, I go with the times.
Cold and hot, just come. So what?

FALL

拾 葉

裸樹肅然立風中             樹底葉塚已墳隆
造化脫胎正換骨             痴情許是拾葉人

Gathering Leaves

Trees stand in wind: solemn, nude.
Leaves form tombs around trunk-beds.
The world itself renewing,
Why are leave pickers’ eyes red?

深秋, 得二首         Late Autumn (2)

 

其一: 霜

楓樹搖落別有姿             涼風習習拂額寒
偏愛秋來添霜韻             蕭瑟草木未衰時

No. 1: Frost

Deleaved maples each a poise,
Cool wind fans my forehead cold;
I love fall — its frosty charm,
And grass and shrubs not yet dead.

其二: 遙看鐵道镇

秋光仍照遠景明            紅霞一抹刷天邊
且取美色存腦海             寒夜暖夢伴秋眠

No. 2: Viewing Metrotown from Afar

Fall-gleams light up the distance,
Red streaks brush athwart the sky;
I’d store the wonder in mind,
To hug warm dreams in cold nights.

冬     WINTER

冬 (一)

衰草頹竹尚苟存             眾芳憔悴早失色
鵝黄欲上怯冬意             萬籟屏息待春溫

Winter (1)

Tired grass, weak bamboo, survive.
Colours have long gone from plants.
Sensing cold, new growth retreats.
Breath bated, Earth waits for spring.

冬 (二)

禿樹一行猶有鳥             瑟縮枝椏吱两聲
烏雲厚壓鎖冬氣             行人哨語問春踪

Winter (2)

Bald trees still harbour some birds.
They cheep in the leaves, once, twice.
Thick clouds lock the wintry chill.
Whistling, I ask, where is spring?

2011/6/7

An Silvia (To Silvia/Who is Silvia? 谁是西尔维亚?) Eduard von Bauernfeld (1802-1890)

A German poem based on a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , from Two Gentlemen of Verona (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Gentlemen_of_Verona), Act IV, Scene 2.

 

It’s also a lied set to this text by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) , “An Silvia“, op. 106 no. 4, D. 891 (1826).  Sung by:

Fritz Wunderlich (tenor) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14AT7-79oJk&feature=related

Lucia Popp (soprano) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX8BuKKpVeY&feature=fvw

Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano) – In English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8vHk038_VY&feature=related

Was ist Silvia, saget an,
Daß sie die weite Flur preist?
Schön und zart seh ich sie nahn,
Auf Himmelsgunst und Spur weist,
Daß ihr alles untertan.
Ist sie schön und gut dazu?
Reiz labt wie milde Kindheit;
Ihrem Aug’ eilt Amor zu,
Dort heilt er seine Blindheit
Und verweilt in süßer Ruh.
Darum Silvia, tön, o Sang,
Der holden Silvia Ehren;
Jeden Reiz besiegt sie lang,
Den Erde kann gewähren:
Kränze ihr und Saitenklang!
 
Original English text:Who is Silvia? What is she,
That all our swains commend her?
Holy, fair, and wise is she;
The heaven such grace did lend her,
That she might admirèd be.
Is she kind as she is fair?
For beauty lives with kindness.
Love doth to her eyes repair,
To help him of his blindness,
And, being help’d, inhabits there.
Then to Silvia let us sing,
That Silvia is excelling;
She excels each mortal thing
Upon the dull earth dwelling:
To her let us garlands bring.