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.
1 response so far ↓
p.moran // Mar 31st 2015 at 10:13 pm
I think that Wai-Lim Yip, did that as a way that he could remember the events happening. It is not my favorite version but it is the one that you will understand quicker. It is true that reading something in that kind of fomat lose all the beuty of the poem or song or feelings that the text could have.
It look like as a scheme for study more than a poem.
Also I agree that Witter Bynner’s version it is clear and you can get it easily without having a list in front of you. But also I like Ezra Pound version that gives an intense feeling to the poem and it is easy to understand