Category Archives: Literature

Wen Fu 4: “Ekstasis” [文赋四] by Lu Ji [陆机]

Posted on by
Reply 
It's all the amusing matters
   That sages admire without bounds.
 Writers find their way through the void --
   Knock on silence to find its sound.
 Silk scroll messages from afar,
   The bard's words surge forth from the heart.
 Words and ash grow to overflow --
   Thoughts transcend depths to become art.
 Flowery fragrance pungently sprawls;
   Plants shoot forth verdant greenery.
 The brush winds swirl to whirlwinds
   Clouds climb above the academy.

Note: I previously posted other translators’ (Barnstone and Chou) version of this poem as The Joy of Words @ https://berniegourley.com/2024/12/31/the-joy-of-words-by-lu-ji-w-audio/

Original poem in Simplified Chinese:

伊兹事之可乐，固圣贤之所钦。
课虚无以责有，叩寂寞而求音。
函绵邈于尺素，吐滂沛乎寸心。
言恢之而弥广，思按之而逾深。
播芳蕤之馥馥，发青条之森森。
粲风飞而猋竖，郁云起乎翰林。

“Tavern” by Edna St. Vincent Millay [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
I'll keep a little tavern
   Below the high hill's crest,
 Wherein all grey-eyed people
   May sit them down and rest.

There shall be plates a-plenty,
    And mugs to melt the chill
 Of all the grey-eyed people
    Who happen up the hill.

There sound will sleep the traveller,
    And dream his journey's end,
 But I will rouse at midnight
    The falling fire to tend.

Aye, 'tis a curious fancy --
    But all the good I know
 Was taught me out of two grey eyes
    A long time ago.

PROMPT: Character

Posted on by
Reply
Daily writing prompt
If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?
View all responses

Wu Song (武松) from Water Margin (水浒传.)

Because he’s a traveler with zero f#&ks to give. There is no more freedom to be had than that.

“The Blossom” by William Blake [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
Merry, Merry Sparrow!
 Under leaves so green
 A happy Blossom
 Sees you swift as arrow
 Seek your cradle narrow
 Near my Bosom.
  
Pretty, Pretty Robin!
 Under leaves so green
 A happy Blossom
 Hears you sobbing, sobbing,
 Pretty, Pretty Robin,
 Near my bosom.

“Bamboo Grove Cabin” [竹里馆] by Wang Wei [王维] [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
4 
Sitting alone -- secluded bamboo grove:
   I whistle or pluck my zither;
 People don't know my deep forest;
   Moon and I shine on each other.

Original in Simplified Chinese:

独坐幽篁里
弹琴复长啸
深林人不知
明月来相照

“Night Rain Sent North” [夜雨寄北] by Li Shangyin [李商隐] [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
When am I coming home? I don't know.
   At Bashan, night rains swell Autumn ponds.
 Recall, candles in your West Window?
   Ah, through night rains, to talk and bond!

The original in Simplified Chinese:

君问归期未有期， 巴山夜雨涨秋池。
何当共剪西窗烛， 却话巴山夜雨时？

Note: This is poem #298 of the 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首.]

“I like to see it lap the Miles –” (383) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
I like to see it lap the Miles --
   And lick the Valleys up --
 And stop to feed itself at Tanks --
   And then - prodigious step

Around a Pile of Mountains --
   And supercilious peer
 In Shanties -- by the sides of Roads --
   And then a Quarry pare

To fit its sides
      And crawl between
   Complaining all the while
 In horrid -- hooting stanza --
   Then chase itself down Hill --

And neigh like Boanerges --
   Then - prompter than a Star
 Stop - docile and omnipotent
   At it's own stable door --

BOOKS: “George Bernard Shaw: A Very Short Introduction” by Christopher Wixson

Posted on by
Reply
George Bernard Shaw: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)George Bernard Shaw: A Very Short Introduction by Christopher Wixson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – OUP

This concise guide to George Bernard Shaw is an exploration of the works of the prolific playwright and how his philosophy and life experiences influenced the stories he created. The book is arranged by periods of Shaw’s own determining, including: Unpleasant, Pleasant, Puritan, Political, Extravagant, and Farfetched. The book does mention Shaw’s novels, literary criticism, and some of his major non-literary activities, but largely in the context of the comedies, tragedies, and histories he wrote for the stage.

If you are interested the works of George Bernard Shaw and how they came to be, I’d recommend this book. It’s a quick read and offers some fascinating insights.

View all my reviews

“Once there came a man” by Stephen Crane [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
Once there came a man
   Who said:
 "Range me all men of the world in rows."
 And instantly
 There was a terrific clamor among the 
   people
 Against being ranged in rows.
 There was a loud quarrel, world-wide.
 It endured for ages;
 And blood was shed
 By those who would not stand in rows,
 And by those who pined to stand in rows.
 Eventually, the man went to death, weeping.
 And those who stayed in the bloody scuffle
 Knew not the great simplicity.

“To the Muse” by William Blake [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
Whether on Ida's shady brow,
   Or in the chambers of the East,
 The chambers of the sun, that now
   From antient melody have ceas'd;

Whether in Heav'n ye wander fair,
   Or the green corners of the earth,
 Or the blue regions of the air,
   Where the melodious winds have birth;

Whether on chrystal rocks ye rove,
   Beneath the bosom of the sea
 Wand'ring in many a coral grove,
   Fair Nine, forsaking Poetry!

How have you left the antient love
   That bards of old enjoy'd in you!
 The languid strings do scarely move!
   The sound is forc'd, the notes are few!