Great Works I: Remixing Memory

It’s very interesting that all these poems translated, have different interpretations. If you look closely at them, the poem named The River-Merchant’s Wife A Letter by Ezra Pound was translated in 1915 does not seem to have a lot of context than a poem translated later on such as A Song of Ch’and Kan written by Witter Bynner in 1929. In The River-Merchant’s Wife A letter the author states “Two Small people without dislike or suspicion “, I believe that this can be interpreted in many ways. If you look at A Song of Ch’and Kan the author interprets this as, “Both of us young and happy-hearted”. The lines right after just really stood out to me, the two couples seemed to be happy at first but than once they got married when she was fourteen, she suddenly became unhappy, “I never laughed, being bashful”. My question is what caused her to become downhearted right after the marriage. If you continue on reading, in the poem written by Witter Bynner he states, “At fifteen I straightened my brows and laughed, leaning that no dust can ever seal our love, that even unto death I would await you by my post and would never lose heart in the silent watching”. This leaves me to conclude that they were simply having a rough time in their youthful relationship. Later on as you continue reading, in the poem The River-Merchant’s wife A Letter the author states, “At sixteen you departed, you went into far Ku-t[]-en, the river of swirling eddies”. In the other poem A Song of Ch’and Kan the author states, “Through the Gorges of Ch’u-t’ang, of rock and whirling water”. There’s a difference between the places within the two interpretations. If you look at the interpretation by Shigeyoshi Obata, he also uses a different place “Keu-Tang Gorge”. The version I like the most is A Song of Ch’and Kan interpreted by Witter Bynner. The reason why I like it the most is because it’s written in way that’s really easy to comprehend. The author did a phenomenal job.

The first difference I noticed between the poems was the part when they describe her husband leaving her. Focusing on Pound said “You dragged your feet when you went”. From Pound I’m portraying her husband doesn’t want to go as stated “Dragged your feet”. You can get that  he doesn’t want to leave his wife. And W.J.B Fletcher “That Parting at Ch’ang Kan” and Ezra Li Po “The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” descriptions they both paints two different sceneries. Fletcher Stated “Before the door, where stood your parting feet”(19). Reading this line you catch no emotion from her husband.

The Second difference I captured was between Pounds poem and Shigeyoshi Obata “Two Letters From Chang-Kan-I”. Looking at Pound’s poem she stated “At sixteen you departed” (15). And for that same scene Obata translated it as “I was sixteen when you went on a long journey” (18). Pound’s doesn’t have much description in her sentence, But as you read Obata you get details. That he didn’t just left he actually went faraway from her. The advantage about Obata poem you can feel the depression from that line that her husband is going to be away for a while.

Lastly paying attention to the end of the poems to the line where the wife states that she will wait for him and meet him, tmost of them states where she wants to meet her husband. “Ch’ang Kan”  it said “I will go straight until I reach the Long Wind Sands” (30) and Fletcher has “Across the sand the wind flies straight to greet”(30).  In my opinion Fletcher is describing this place call “Long Winds Sand”.

From reading all the translation of Chang Kan, I have to say Shigeyoshi Obata “Two Letters From Chang-Kan-I” is my favorite. I was able to understand the intentions of the poem better and understand what line meant, as to comparing it to W.J.B Fletcher who’s poem was written in an ancient time language.

There are different versions of “The Songs of Ch’ang Kan” written by different narrators. They have explained the main idea of the poem in different ways by using different words and sentences. “That Parting at Ch’ang Kan” by Fletcher, here, the narrator has said that “At fourteen years lo! I became thy wife”. This sentence means that, the wife is saying to her husband that she has become his wife at fourteen years old. In another version of the same poem, “Ch’ang Kan” by Amy Lowell, the narrator has said, “At fourteen, I became the wife of my lord”. In this sentence, the wife is saying the same thing that, she has become his wife at fourteen years old. However, here the narrator has used different words, for example, he has said “my lord”, and it shows much respect than saying, “I became thy wife”. “I became thy wife” is too general and it does not show any kind of importance.  On the other hand, “my lord” shows some respect and some importance. “Ch’ang-an Memories” by Wai -Lim Yip, here the narrator said, “We wished to stay together like dust and ash”. In this sentence, we can see that the wife is so desperate to be with her husband. The voice of this sentence sounds adorable and desperate but it is a bit straightforward. On the other hand, another version by Shigeyoshi Obata -“Two Letters From Chang – Kan – I” – the narrator said the same thing but in a different way, “And beg you to love me till we were dust and ashes”. He has said it in a more dramatic way, and here the voice sounds deep, more adorable and more desperate. Among all the versions I like the one by Shigeyoshi Obata “Two Letters From Chang-Kan-I” because here the voice of the narrator sounds very adorable and deep.

One difference that struck me right off the bat was how all but Ezra Pound’s translation called the plums the two characters played with green (Line 4). Having read the Pound translation before the others set me up with the notion that the objective truth is that the plums these two toss around are blue in color. But every other translation, when the plums are mentioned, call them green. Is Pound’s grasp of the original Chinese just that much worse than the other translators’? I’d think that these two colors would be difficult to mix up. It’s not even so much the color, as it is the fact that green fruit are typically unripe, and a blue plum would be considered ripe. If the other translations say “green” to convey a tone of the lack of readiness the girl has for her relationship to her lover, then that would make sense. But why then does Pound call the plums blue? Is that also metaphorical and symbolic for the state of their relationship? I don’t think so, I think someone messed up real bad in this translation, even though Pound’s was the absolute best out of them all.

Second difference would be in Witter Bynner’s translation. In his translation, Line 12, he writes, “Learning that no dust could ever seal our love”. Not so much a difference but the energy it conveys made me feel different about this part than when I read the other translations. The other translations make it clear that even in death, when they are both ashes and dust, they are together, forever. But this line confuses me mostly because the word “seal” makes me think that the translator means the exact opposite of what the other translators imply. That death is not a state where love exists. That in this translation, their love transcends the bounds of death, that being dust and ash does not appeal to the girl. That they take on a form of love that death can’t tie down, can’t seal. Which is pretty much what the other translations say, but this translation in particular expresses this sentiment so much more powerfully.

A third difference is between the line “And I will come and meet you and will never mind the distance” (Line 29) in Bynner’s translation, in comparison to Yip’s, Pound’s, Lowell’s, and Obata’s translations. Bynner does it again, manages to convey a deeper, heavier meaning to this line than anyone else. “I will never mind the distance” paints an incredibly strong portrait of devotion and loyalty, whereas the others say something along the lines of “i’ll meet you at the place”. Like alright, that’s nice I guess.

Ezra Pound’s translation is the best. It was a genuine pleasure to read. Bynner’s is a close second. The other translations paled in comparison. I HATED FLETCHER’S TRANSLATION. GO HOME FLETCHER. NOBODY LIKES YOU. I’d also like to say that the word “skyey” in Obata’s translation (Line 23) is a terrible word that should never be used again by anyone ever.

9While reading these poems, they look very similar, in fact they have the same sequence of acts but the way they write the translations change the reader’s opinion and feelings about the poems.

I am going to focus on the poems translated by Wai-Lim Yip (1976) ‘‘Ch’ang-and Memories’’, the one by Ezra Pound (1915) ‘‘The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter’’ and the one wrote by W.J.B Fletcher (1919) ”That Parting at Ch’ang Kan”. These three poems seem so similar but they actually have some points altered by the translations.

First of all the poem by Ezra Pound had a sense of feeling more extreme than the other poems. I think it is because the way that she expressed herself through the poem she was really feeling it. Or at least it what it seem to me. It is well shown in the verse ‘you walked about my seat playing with blue plums’ as a simile of her side, that a romantic way of saying that you came to be next to me, to be my partner. As well Fletcher write ‘And wreathed my bed with greengage branches o’er’ it is the same significance as the other he came to conquer her and be her partner. But as we can see the difference how the write it is great, referring to different objects that might confuse the readers thoughts. As is he conquering her or is he trying to have sex with her being romantic. Nevertheless Wai-Lim Yip it is more sober and direct in his poem made all by statements ‘ and around the bed we played with green plums’. As we can see the first one and the second one while reading the poem seem that he went up to her to conquer her, but in the last one it seem what it was just direct and without your ming flying in the sky, he came and he played with her with green plums.

As well this sense of deeply or intense feeling it is shown in ‘at fourteen I married My Lord you’ , meaning that she will marry him but having written down Lord as the most respected and loved man of her life. It is a good way to show the intense of the poem. Instead in the other poems recite ‘I became thy wife’ ( W.J.B. Fletcher) or ‘I became your wife’. That it is a good way of say it, but you lose the connection with the reader’s feelings, it is too direct and it is converting a poem in an statement therefore I believe the first version by Ezra gives a more intense feeling in the story of Ch’ang Kan, and keeps alive the story plus the feelings.

All the different translations were very interesting to read and I was hoping I would discover some sort of pattern amongst them. I am not sure what kind of pattern I was looking for but all these different translations made it seem like it was a puzzle to be solved. However, after reading all the variations, I did sum up three key differences. One thing I noticed about the poems is that some are more vague while others are more descriptive. For example, in Amy Lowell’s version, “Ch’ang Kan” she translates one of the lines as “Seeing them, my heart is bitter with grief, they wound the heart of the Unworthy One.” So much is going on here. The reading feels the wife’s pain and it is emphasized by her devaluing her since she is without him. On the other hand, if one takes note of the same thought translated by Ezra Pound (“The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter”) he states “They hurt me.” Okay. It is rather direct.
Another difference I took note of was how some translations of the poem were almost romanticized whereas others were simply recited. Again, I feel like Amy Lowell’s translation romanticized the poem by how it just flowed nicely. “Ch’ang-an Memories” by Wai-Lim Yip is the one that one would just simple recite, which could be due to it’s format. The last difference is how some translations are a lot more dramatic than others. For example, W.J.B. Fletcher states in “That Parting at Ch’ang Kan”, “Yet ah! the modest shyness that I felt!” and because of the way he worded it and the punctuation adds a flare to his version of the poem. One can compare that to Wai-Lim Yip’s version, as he states, “I seldom laughed, being bashful.” Both are descriptive but one is more dramatic than the other.
My favorite translation of “The Song of Ch’ang Kan” is by Amy Lowell. I like that she is very descriptive and I can feel the wife’s sorrow. And also, she romanticizes the story. As one reads along, they can feel the smooth rhythm.

One of the differences in the versions that I noticed right away was that Wai-Lim Yip wrote his version in a way that it resembles a list. He numbered each line like he was listing them in an order. I am not sure why he lists them in this way because the lines tell a story more than list events. Another difference I noticed was the first line was never same in each of the different translations. One says the authors hair barely covered her forehead, and in another it is said the authors hair is cut straight across her forehead. Another difference I noticed was that one version said “You might call me a thousand times, not once would I turn round.” and another version said “Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back.” This is very different because one is saying that she was being called a thousand times and never looked, but the other is saying she won’t look if she is called. In one version is can’t look back when she is called, and in the other version she says that she won’t, but the action never occurs so when reading just one of the versions instead of multiple, you may not be getting the actual meaning.

My favorite version is Witter Bynner’s version. This version makes the most sense to me. The lines aren’t numbered and there isn’t any unnecessarily weird way of saying some of the lines so I can understand it without reading the line a couple times to fully get it.

One main difference I noticed throughout all of the translations, is that in the beginning of each one the translator mentions hair being across a forehead except in the translation by W.J.B. Fletcher. In this person’s translation, the first line states, “When first o’er maiden brows my hair I tied”. This is the only translation of the poem that doesn’t mention the character’s hair being covered over their forehead.

The same translator, W.J.B. Fletcher, states in the third line, “You riding came on hobbyhorse astride,”. All of the other translated poems mention this certain person coming in riding on a bamboo horse.

Amy Lowell and Wai-Lim Yip’s translations of the poem are the only ones who translate the ending as this person meeting someone even as far as “Long Wind Sand”, while the other translations mention other places. For instance, Witter Bynner states that the person would travel “All the way to Chang-feng Sha.”.

My favorite version of this poem is Ch’ang-an Memories translated by Wai-Lim Yip. I believe this is my favorite version because I feel it is the most simple translation. The other poems were a little more confusing than this one but I like how this translation explained the feelings this woman had for her husband. It also explained how far she would go to see him after he had left her.

The most difficult translation to read out of the five poems was the second one called That Parting at Cha’ang Kan by W.J.B. Fletcher. The style of writing was incredibly outdated and impossible to understand. I was only able to make sense of it after reading the rest of the poems. This specific poem was different from the others in the sense that at the very end she states, “Across the sand the wind flies straight to greet.” In all the other poems however the narrator instead is very directly asking to let her know when he will be arriving so that she could come meet him. Ch’ang Kan by Amy Lowell stood out because it spoke in third person rather than from the narrator’s perspective. All the other poems used “I” while this poem used “She.” This poem also referred to the woman as “Your Unworthy One.” In the other poems I didn’t get the sense that she believed herself to be unworthy at all, but that she was just shy and bashful. This poem made the woman sound a little self hating and insecure rather than just timid. All the poems mention a different month when referring to the butterflies showing up. In That Paring at Ch’ang Kan te butterflies appear around September, in The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter they arrive in August, and in Two Letters From Chang-Kan—I they arrive in October.

My favorite poem was A Song of Ch’and Kan. To me, the verses flowed the best and it had a happier vibe than the others. Even though she was missing her husband in this poem the same as the all the other poems, here she sounds more hopeful and excited to someday see him again.

Each interpretation of this song shows us how each translator read the song. While they all tell the same story, the differences in language used vary greatly. I will discuss the interpretations by W. J. B. Fletcher, Amy Lowell, and Wai-Lim Yip.

The first difference I noticed was the difference between W. J. B. Fletcher’s interpretation and everyone else’s. Fletcher’s interpretation is full of exclamation marks and has a clearer pattern to it. It seems to be more like a song than the others the read like poems.

Another difference i noticed was Fletcher’s and Lowell’s interpretation of Long Wind Sand. In the last line of Fletcher’s interpretation it says, “Across the sand the wind flies straight to greet.” This shows us how he thinks of it as passing through the desert. Lowell interprets it to say, “I will go straight until I reach the Long Wind Sands.” Lowell’s interprets Long Wind Sands to sound more like a location instead of the act of travelling through a desert like Fletcher’s interpretation.

The third difference i noticed was between Yip and Lowell’s wording of the poem. Yip’s interpretation stayed in the point of view of the wife’s throughout the entire poem while Lowell’s starts off with an outsider’s point of view. Throughout Yip’s interpretation the wife tells the story using  I, my, and we while Lowell starts the poem with “When the hair of your Unworthy One first began to cover her forehead, / She picked flowers and played in front of the door.” Lowell pictures the beginning of the song as a third person narrator creating the scene in which the story starts.

My favorite translation was by Wai=Lim Yip because his translation seemed the closest to what the song was trying to convey. It would have been the one by Fletcher, but his interpretation seemed too upbeat for a poem about a wife grieving about her missing husband.