Verse of the Wu Garden by Wen T’ing-yun 溫庭筠《吳苑行》

吴苑行
溫庭筠

錦雉雙飛梅結子,平春遠綠窗中起。
吳江澹畫水連空,三尺屏風隔千里。
小苑有門紅扇開,天絲舞蝶共徘徊。
綺戶雕楹長若此,韶光歲歲如歸來。

Verse of the Wu Garden by Wen T’ing-yun
Brocade pheasants fly in pairs, the plums bear fruit.
Green spreading out to the distant in vast spring rises within the window frame.
Water of Wu river, a light ink painting, stretches to the end of the sky,
While a three-foot-wide screen divides a thousand miles.
There are red doors opening to the tiny garden,
Catkins and dancing butterflies hover around above.
Should the ornamented window and decorated railings long be here as they may.
Year after year, the spring light returns so.

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2 thoughts on “Verse of the Wu Garden by Wen T’ing-yun 溫庭筠《吳苑行》

    1. Thank you for your comment. I agree that Pound and Wen (and a whole school of poets like him) share the qualities of their delicate, refined images and the ambiguity. Pound actually had one collection of his translations of classical Chinese poetry. Although he had basically no real knowledge of the Chinese language and the “translations” were rather reinterpretations and recreations of the original texts. I believe he sensed the literary effects of them and was inspired by the imagery at a certain level.

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