Thursday, July 30, 2020

司空圖二十四詩品《飄逸》 / Sikong Tu's Twenty-Four Classes of Poetry, 22 - "Graceful Ease"


We're getting close to the end of the Twenty-Four Classes of Poetry, but I'm no more fond of referring to each of these poems as representative of a class of poetry than I was at the beginning. My friend and colleague suggests using "mood," but even that seems inadequate, given how similar a lot of the poems are in terms of tone.

Not a lot else to say about this one, so I'll leave you to it, reader.

-----

飄逸
司空圖

落落欲往
矯矯不群
緱山之鶴
華頂之雲
高人畫中
令色氤氳
禦風蓬葉
泛彼無垠
如不可執
如將有聞
識者已領
期之愈分

-----

"Graceful Ease"
Sikong Tu

Long estranged, wanting to be gone—
high above the masses
like the crane atop Mount Gou,
the clouds at Mount Hua's peak

In the great man's portrait
a commanding appearance, full of life
a violent wind scatters leaves
that drift far away

Seemingly ungraspable,
on the verge of making itself known—
those who know already understand
those who hope, ever more separated

No comments: