酷我-北美枫

[星子]

James Deahl invited me to read my poems on Poetry Month event in Hamilton at Blue Angel gallery. It will be Sunday April 13. Since I never meet him in person and I hope to interview him, so I accepted his invitation and asked if we could do the interview too. Two years ago, I received James' email and he asked me to write a book review for his translation of Chinese poems. I wondered how he could translate Chinese traditional poems into English while he didn't know Chinese. After I read his book and in his preface, I found the answer. Here is my review on his book.

http://www.coviews.com/viewtopic.php?t=21837&highlight=James+Dea

Now, since I plan to interview him, so I want to prepare a few questions about his translation and his opinion of chinese poems and western poems. I also need to get known him more, I find the following information. I post it here and hope anyone who is interested in it, also provide your questions, so I could make a list of questions for the interview. I will update it soon.

http://www.danforthreview.com/features/interviews/remembering_purdy.htm
_________________

[[ANNA]]

James Deahl invited me to read my poems on Poetry Month event in Hamilton at Blue Angel gallery. It will be Sunday April 13. Since I never meet him in person and I hope to interview him, so I accepted his invitation and asked if we could do the interview too. Two years ago, I received James' email and he asked me to write a book review for his translation of Chinese poems. I wondered how he could translate Chinese traditional poems into English while he didn't know Chinese. After I read his book and in his preface, I found the answer. Here is my review on his book.

http://www.coviews.com/viewtopic.php?t=21837&highlight=James+Dea

Now, since I plan to interview him, so I want to prepare a few questions about his translation and his opinion of chinese poems and western poems. I also need to get known him more, I find the following information. I post it here and hope anyone who is interested in it, also provide your questions, so I could make a list of questions for the interview. I will update it soon.

http://www.danforthreview.com/features/interviews/remembering_purdy.htm
_________________

[fanfan]

[[FFFFFF]]

[星子]

I just read Terry Barker & James Deahl's interview.

I wonder what is difference between liberalism and existentialism, some examples?

Does he still hold the same view today for people's poetry ?
_________________

[[ANNA]]

I just read Terry Barker & James Deahl's interview.

I wonder what is difference between liberalism and existentialism, some examples?

Does he still hold the same view today for people's poetry ?
_________________

[星子]

I agree with James:

It is harder to believe in something than to believe in nothing. Many people these days lack the courage to believe.
_________________

[[ANNA]]

I agree with James:

It is harder to believe in something than to believe in nothing. Many people these days lack the courage to believe.
_________________

[星子]

Very interesting question and good response . . .

TERRY BARKER: In his recently-published literary and intellectual biography of Al Purdy, The Last Canadian Poet, Sam Solecki suggests that the argument he presents points to the conclusion that Purdy ‘may be both the first and last of our (Canadian) poets.’ What is your view of this radical assessment?
JAMES DEAHL: It’s total nonsense. If anything, it displays Solecki’s stunning misunderstanding of our literature and its tradition. I have long said - and I’ll say it again - the greatest block to the development of a truly great culture in Canada has been our almost complete lack of intelligent and insightful criticism. Men like Solecki, I think, more than prove my point. That a professor at what claims to be our finest university can make such remarks is astounding. The first important Canadian poet was Isabella Valancy Crawford. And, although it is true that both Canada and the Canadian people are vanishing, there still are a few Canadian poets around. And some of them, such as John B. Lee, are better writers than Purdy.
_________________

[[ANNA]]

Very interesting question and good response . . .

TERRY BARKER: In his recently-published literary and intellectual biography of Al Purdy, The Last Canadian Poet, Sam Solecki suggests that the argument he presents points to the conclusion that Purdy ‘may be both the first and last of our (Canadian) poets.’ What is your view of this radical assessment?
JAMES DEAHL: It’s total nonsense. If anything, it displays Solecki’s stunning misunderstanding of our literature and its tradition. I have long said - and I’ll say it again - the greatest block to the development of a truly great culture in Canada has been our almost complete lack of intelligent and insightful criticism. Men like Solecki, I think, more than prove my point. That a professor at what claims to be our finest university can make such remarks is astounding. The first important Canadian poet was Isabella Valancy Crawford. And, although it is true that both Canada and the Canadian people are vanishing, there still are a few Canadian poets around. And some of them, such as John B. Lee, are better writers than Purdy.
_________________

[anna]

Some poems by James

http://www.janushead.org/7-2/Deahl.pdf

http://www.bardsnook.com/envoy/Envoy%2019_Sept2007.pdf

http://www.brokenjaw.com/catalog/pg78.htm

Another question:

Why did he want to translate TuFu's poems?
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

Some poems by James

http://www.janushead.org/7-2/Deahl.pdf

http://www.bardsnook.com/envoy/Envoy%2019_Sept2007.pdf

http://www.brokenjaw.com/catalog/pg78.htm

Another question:

Why did he want to translate TuFu's poems?
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[戴玨]

[[Edgar]]

[星子]

Thanks Fan Fan and Edgar.

I will bring your questions to him.


-----

The poetry of Tu Fu has been translated by many hands. All versions I have read display both strong points and weaknesses, as is the case with mine. Existing translations range from the highly accurate to the highly poetic. I was introduced to the poetry of Tu Fu during the 1960s by the loose translations of Kenneth Rexroth. In terms of being fine English-language poems, Rexroth’s remain without equal. At the time I was reading Rexroth I was also reading the Jade Mountain by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu. These are quite different poems; they are less successful in English, but more Chinese in flavor. Much later I came across the work of David Hinton, whose translations capture more of the content of Tu Fu’s work than any other English-language versions. His The Selected Poems of Tu Fu is essential to any complete understanding of the poems, unless one can read the ancient Chinese originals, which I cannot. But in its relentless pursuit of meaning, Hinton’s work is all too often bad poetry, or even non-poetry.

It is my hope that the poems herein are more Chinese than Rexroth’s and more poetic than Hinton’s. My chief though is that a translation must be a successful poem in terms of the language into which it has been translated. Rexroth passes this test; his versions are English-language poetry of the first water. But my second though is that the translation must give the feeling of the language of the original poem (in terms of form, structure, and pacing). Rexroth fails here.

The reader may ask why I have produced this work. At the time I gave no thought whatsoever to publication. These versions were written out of love for Tu Fu’s work, for his vision of humanity, and his understanding of a poet’s responsibilities. I have written these versions for the same reason I have read his poetry in translation since I was a college student: because it has made my life deeper and more complete, I love these poems and wanted to make them mine, to take them into myself totally and without reservation.
Tu Fu’s life was enriched by the writing of these poems; my life continues to be enriched by reading them as translated by a dozen different hands and, more recently, by producing the versions offered here. If it should happen that your life is also made richer because of what I have undertaken then, perhaps, the circle started by Tu Fu twelve centuries ago is complete.

James Deahl
_________________

[[ANNA]]

Thanks Fan Fan and Edgar.

I will bring your questions to him.


-----

The poetry of Tu Fu has been translated by many hands. All versions I have read display both strong points and weaknesses, as is the case with mine. Existing translations range from the highly accurate to the highly poetic. I was introduced to the poetry of Tu Fu during the 1960s by the loose translations of Kenneth Rexroth. In terms of being fine English-language poems, Rexroth’s remain without equal. At the time I was reading Rexroth I was also reading the Jade Mountain by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu. These are quite different poems; they are less successful in English, but more Chinese in flavor. Much later I came across the work of David Hinton, whose translations capture more of the content of Tu Fu’s work than any other English-language versions. His The Selected Poems of Tu Fu is essential to any complete understanding of the poems, unless one can read the ancient Chinese originals, which I cannot. But in its relentless pursuit of meaning, Hinton’s work is all too often bad poetry, or even non-poetry.

It is my hope that the poems herein are more Chinese than Rexroth’s and more poetic than Hinton’s. My chief though is that a translation must be a successful poem in terms of the language into which it has been translated. Rexroth passes this test; his versions are English-language poetry of the first water. But my second though is that the translation must give the feeling of the language of the original poem (in terms of form, structure, and pacing). Rexroth fails here.

The reader may ask why I have produced this work. At the time I gave no thought whatsoever to publication. These versions were written out of love for Tu Fu’s work, for his vision of humanity, and his understanding of a poet’s responsibilities. I have written these versions for the same reason I have read his poetry in translation since I was a college student: because it has made my life deeper and more complete, I love these poems and wanted to make them mine, to take them into myself totally and without reservation.
Tu Fu’s life was enriched by the writing of these poems; my life continues to be enriched by reading them as translated by a dozen different hands and, more recently, by producing the versions offered here. If it should happen that your life is also made richer because of what I have undertaken then, perhaps, the circle started by Tu Fu twelve centuries ago is complete.

James Deahl
_________________

[ericcoliu]

One more question for Mr. Deahl:

Deep sympathy for the people aside, what are other characteristics of Du Fu's poems appealing to him?
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

One more question for Mr. Deahl:

Deep sympathy for the people aside, what are other characteristics of Du Fu's poems appealing to him?
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[星子]

Thanks Eric. Good question.


Here is the discussion of a few versions.

http://www.coviews.com/viewtopic.php?t=19005&highlight=James

I will bring your opinions to discuss with him.
_________________

[[ANNA]]

Thanks Eric. Good question.


Here is the discussion of a few versions.

http://www.coviews.com/viewtopic.php?t=19005&highlight=James

I will bring your opinions to discuss with him.
_________________

[星子]

To Wei Pa, a Retired Scholar by Tu Fu

The lives of many men are
Shorter than the years since we have
Seen each other. Aldebaran
And Antares move as we have.
And now, what night is this? We sit
Here together in the candle
Light. How much longer will our prime
Last? Our temples are already
Grey. I visit my old friends.
Half of them have become ghosts.
Fear and sorrow choke me and burn
My bowels. I never dreamed I would
Come this way, after twenty years,
A wayfarer to your parlor.
When we parted years ago,
You were unmarried. Now you have
A row of boys and girls, who smile
And ask me about my travels.
How have I reached this time and place?
Before I can come to the end
Of and endless tale, the children
Have brought out the wine. We go
Out in the night and cut young
Onions in the rainy darkness.
We eat them with hot, steaming,
Yellow millet. You say, “It is
Sad, meeting each other again.”
We drink ten toasts rapidly from
The rhinoceros horn cups.
Ten cups, and still we are not drunk.
We still love each other as
We did when we were schoolboys.
Tomorrow morning mountain peaks
Will come between us, and with them
The endless, oblivious
Business of the world.

From One Hundred Poems From The Chinese, by Kenneth Rexroth, New Directions Books, 1971


James Deahl 's version

For Wei Pa

Although we're old friends, it's almost as hard
For us to meet as for two stars to cross.
So we must cherish tonight as we sit
Bound together by candlelight.

Youth always fades and we are far from young.
Our hair turns grey. Half our friends are dead --
Ghosts troubling our hearts with tales of grief.
What schoolboy knows mortality's burdens?

How could we expect twenty years to pass
Before we would meet each other? You were
Still single then; now your row of sons and
Daughters welcomes this tired traveller.

They inquire about my journeys, and later
Bring out wine, young onios wet from
the evening's rain, and millet steaming
Yellow from the fire. So much, So much!

We drain ten cups to health, to friendship and
Still we are not drunk, unless it's from hearts
Overflowing with the wine of our love
For each other, our memories still clear.

Tomorrow morining dark mountains will rise
To cut our lives apart. You will remain
in quiet retirement while I re-enter
The realm of clamour and endless strife.
_________________

[[ANNA]]

To Wei Pa, a Retired Scholar by Tu Fu

The lives of many men are
Shorter than the years since we have
Seen each other. Aldebaran
And Antares move as we have.
And now, what night is this? We sit
Here together in the candle
Light. How much longer will our prime
Last? Our temples are already
Grey. I visit my old friends.
Half of them have become ghosts.
Fear and sorrow choke me and burn
My bowels. I never dreamed I would
Come this way, after twenty years,
A wayfarer to your parlor.
When we parted years ago,
You were unmarried. Now you have
A row of boys and girls, who smile
And ask me about my travels.
How have I reached this time and place?
Before I can come to the end
Of and endless tale, the children
Have brought out the wine. We go
Out in the night and cut young
Onions in the rainy darkness.
We eat them with hot, steaming,
Yellow millet. You say, “It is
Sad, meeting each other again.”
We drink ten toasts rapidly from
The rhinoceros horn cups.
Ten cups, and still we are not drunk.
We still love each other as
We did when we were schoolboys.
Tomorrow morning mountain peaks
Will come between us, and with them
The endless, oblivious
Business of the world.

From One Hundred Poems From The Chinese, by Kenneth Rexroth, New Directions Books, 1971


James Deahl 's version

For Wei Pa

Although we're old friends, it's almost as hard
For us to meet as for two stars to cross.
So we must cherish tonight as we sit
Bound together by candlelight.

Youth always fades and we are far from young.
Our hair turns grey. Half our friends are dead --
Ghosts troubling our hearts with tales of grief.
What schoolboy knows mortality's burdens?

How could we expect twenty years to pass
Before we would meet each other? You were
Still single then; now your row of sons and
Daughters welcomes this tired traveller.

They inquire about my journeys, and later
Bring out wine, young onios wet from
the evening's rain, and millet steaming
Yellow from the fire. So much, So much!

We drain ten cups to health, to friendship and
Still we are not drunk, unless it's from hearts
Overflowing with the wine of our love
For each other, our memories still clear.

Tomorrow morining dark mountains will rise
To cut our lives apart. You will remain
in quiet retirement while I re-enter
The realm of clamour and endless strife.
_________________

[星子]

Here is an interesting article.

http://www.xinghui.com/chinese/guojiwenhuajiaoliu/zi/tangshi.htm
_________________

[[ANNA]]

Here is an interesting article.

http://www.xinghui.com/chinese/guojiwenhuajiaoliu/zi/tangshi.htm
_________________

[fanfan]

One question for Mr. Deahl:

What were the circumstances that led you to become a poet ? What other creative outlets do you explore?
_________________
Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon.

[[FAFAFA]]

One question for Mr. Deahl:

What were the circumstances that led you to become a poet ? What other creative outlets do you explore?
_________________
Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon.

[星子]

Yes. thanks Fanfan.

Just too busy. There are multi-tasks for me in April and May . . .

Many projects to handle.
_________________

[[ANNA]]

Yes. thanks Fanfan.

Just too busy. There are multi-tasks for me in April and May . . .

Many projects to handle.
_________________

[Champagne]

One more question for Mr. Deahl:

In my view, translation should be viewed as a literary mode of being deeply-rooted in the specific cultural and historic context. How do you prepare yourself to understand the socio-historic context in which Tu Fu wrote his poems? What is your view of translation fidelity?
_________________
I'm Champagne,
Bottled poetry with sparkling joy.

[[Champagne]]

One more question for Mr. Deahl:

In my view, translation should be viewed as a literary mode of being deeply-rooted in the specific cultural and historic context. How do you prepare yourself to understand the socio-historic context in which Tu Fu wrote his poems? What is your view of translation fidelity?
_________________
I'm Champagne,
Bottled poetry with sparkling joy.