Haiku-Translation

[Lake]

Selected Haiku
-from Chinese haiku poets 《汉俳诗人》

小溪（熊家楚）

傍着山脚走
一生未见江海面
却是波涛祖

Stream (Xiong Jia Chu)

along the foot of a hill
it's never seen the sea -
waves’ ancestor

风筝（高勇）

风送入云天
再高未有自由权
游人把线牵

Kite (Gao Yong)

however high
in the sky, it's not free
string held by a hand

问梅（郑卫）

梅花扑鼻香
若非一番寒冬雪
会是怎样呢

Plum Blossom (Zheng Wei)

sweet smell
without a winter's snow
how would it be?

海之梦（林林）

海鸥对海说
给我生命的欢乐
离你不能活

Sea’s Dream (Lin Lin)

seagull says to the sea:
give me the joy of life
without you, I’ll die

冬日怀想（庄庄）

燥动的大地
开始慢慢地平息
奢华的色调

雪静静落下
仿佛是一种预言
让道路隐没

Winter’s Reveries (Zhuang Zhuang)

restless earth
slowly quiets down
a luxurious tone

silent snowfall
as if a prophecy
the road disappears

回声(晓帆)

掉一滴眼泪
镜湖知道你是谁
回一生清脆

Echo (Xiao Fan)

"who are you?"
Mirror Lake asks -
sound of a teardrop

.

[twoleftfeet]

Hi Lake,

Is there any chance of you recording these (including the original Chinese)?

I only have one suggestion:
restless earth
slowly quiets down
a luxurious tone
- can you make the last line a little clearer? Is "tone" refering to sound, colour...?

Nice work
Geoff

[Lake]

Hello Geoff,

Is there any chance of you recording these (including the original Chinese)?

I've never done it on haiku, but why?

I only have one suggestion:
restless earth
slowly quiets down
a luxurious tone
- can you make the last line a little clearer? Is "tone" refering to sound, colour...?

You got it right, Geoff, both I guess. Can it be both, sound and colour?

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Lake

[twoleftfeet]

Hi again, Lake
As each haiku is so short , I thought it would be nice to hear you read each one in Chinese, then translate it into English.
Please don't feel that I'm putting you under pressure..

I only have one suggestion:
restless earth
slowly quiets down
a luxurious tone
- can you make the last line a little clearer? Is "tone" refering to sound, colour...?

You got it right, Geoff, both I guess. Can it be both, sound and colour?

Yes, Lake - you are right. It can also be used with reference to emotion, as in referring to someone's tone of voice.
e.g you might say "Don't take that tone with me!" to someone who gets angry at you for no reason.
I'm guessing that we may be talking earth/man, tone/quiet/meditation also.

I looked up "luxury" in the dictionary.
1. Something inessential but conducive to pleasure and comfort.
2. Something expensive or hard to obtain ...

Your thoughts?

Geoff

[Lake]

Hi Geoff,

How do you read it so deep?

I'm guessing that we may be talking earth/man, tone/quiet/meditation also.

I looked up "luxury" in the dictionary.
1. Something inessential but conducive to pleasure and comfort.
2. Something expensive or hard to obtain ...

Your thoughts?

My thoughts are always simple but after reading your thoughts I think the earth may refer to this world including its people. I have to admit unlike others who read things in great depth, most of the time I pick the meaning of the first definition of a word.

As each haiku is so short , I thought it would be nice to hear you read each one in Chinese, then translate it into English.
Please don't feel that I'm putting you under pressure..

I don't feel pressured, just thought it must be a challenge to read haiku since it is so short. Would you like to have a listen to this? Issa's haiku read by Robert Hass.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal ... html?id=23

I really enjoy his reading.

Regards,

Lake

[twoleftfeet]

Lake,
Thanks for the link to Robert Hass.
Those haikus are wonderful - funny yet often profound.

Geoff

[Ros]

John Barlow is I reckon one of the primary haiku writers around at the moment.

http://www.simplyhaiku.com/SHv5n4/haiku/Barlow.html

[twoleftfeet]

John Barlow is I reckon one of the primary haiku writers around at the moment.

http://www.simplyhaiku.com/SHv5n4/haiku/Barlow.html

Is that you, Lake?
I could swear no one ever came here apart from us..

[Lake]

Those haikus are wonderful - funny yet often profound.

Yes, Geoff, I totally agree with you, these are wonderful haikus, funny and profound.

Ross, welcome to this cell of the grave.

Thanks,

Lake

[Ros]

Sorry, I didn't realise this was just a tete-a-tete

[twoleftfeet]

Sorry, I didn't realise this was just a tete-a-tete

Not at all ! You are most welcome, Ms Wainwaring

[Ros]

' I was just wondering who would be the first to spot that.'

Capt. M.