Category Archives: Literature

BOOKS: “Silk Dragon II” ed. & trans. by Arthur Sze

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Silk Dragon: Translations from the Chinese (Kage-an Books)Silk Dragon: Translations from the Chinese by Arthur Sze
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Release Date: May 28, 2024

Let me begin with a note of clarification: The edition that I read was the “Silk Dragon II” collection, which is due out in May of 2024. I mention this because there is potential for confusion in that this book looks like a sequel (i.e. a completely new set of poems,) but really it is something between a new edition and a sequel. That is to say, while it has a substantial amount of new material, it is built on the original “Silk Dragon” volume. This edition adds eighteen new poem translations, most of which are from poets of the modern era (I mean that loosely, not technically, so 20th century onwards.) I’d recommend readers get this edition, but not both this and the original.

This collection includes a wide range of poems from ancient times through China’s various dynasties to the modern day. It includes translations that are extremely well-known, such as Li Bai’s “Drinking Alone with the Moon” and Liu Zongyuan’s “Snow on the River.” But it also includes many pieces that are likely to be new to most poetry readers, particularly given they will be reading translations (i.e. Non-specialists in Chinese poetry.) As mentioned, the bulk of the new poems are from recent decades and tend to be free verse. [Though there are four new classical poems, as well.]

I found the translations to be evocative and approachable. I am unable to comment on how well Sze captures the feel of the original, but I can say that the translations of poems I’m familiar with were at least on par with other translations that I’ve read. The translations don’t always display the sparseness one sees in classical Chinese poetry, but the challenge of conveying form and meaning and metaphor through translation is immense and, at some level, impossible.

I’d highly recommend this poetry collection for readers of poetry and translated literature.

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“Poet on a Mountaintop” by Shen Zhou [w/ Audio]

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Art and Poem by Shen Zhou, a Ming Dynasty Artist
White clouds engird the mountain.
 Stone steps climb to nothingness.
 Alone, the poet leans on his staff,
 gazing into the expanse,
 and accompanies the stream:
  bamboo flute joining murmurs
  of unseen flowing water.

“A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns [w/ Audio]

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O my Luve is like a red, red rose
 That's newly sprung in June;
 O my Luve is like the melody
 That's sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
 So deep in luve am I;
 And I will luve thee still, my dear,
 Till a' the seas gang dry. 

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
 And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
 I will luve thee still, my dear,
 While the sand o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve!
 And fare thee weel awhile!
 And I will come again, my Luve,
 Though it were ten thousand mile.

“Religion” by Paul Laurence Dunbar [w/ Audio]

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I am no priest of crooks nor creeds, 
 For human wants and human needs
 Are more to me than prophets' deeds;
 And human tears and human cares
 Affect me more than human prayers.

Go, cease your wail, lugubrious saint!
 You fret high Heaven with your plaint.
 Is this the "Christian's joy" you paint?
 Is this the Christian's boasted bliss?
 Avails your faith no more than this?

Take up your arms, come out with me,
 Let Heav'n alone; humanity
 Needs more and Heaven less from thee.
 With pity for mankind look 'round;
 Help them to rise -- and Heaven is found.

“Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost [w/ Audio]

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Nature's first green is gold,
 Her hardest hue to hold.
 Her early leaf's a flower;
 But only so an hour.
 Then leaf subsides to leaf.
 So Eden sank to grief,
 So dawn goes down to day.
 Nothing gold can stay.

“A Drinking Song” by William Butler Yeats [w/ Audio]

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Wine comes in at the mouth
 And love comes in at the eye;
 That's all we shall know for truth
 Before we grow old and die.
 I lift the glass to my mouth,
 I look at you, and I sigh.

“A Noiseless Patient Spider” by Walt Whitman [w/ Audio]

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A noiseless patient spider,
 I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
 Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
 It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament out of itself,
 Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my soul where you stand,
 Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
 Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
 Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
 Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

BOOKS: “Robert Frost: Sixteen Poems to Learn by Heart” ed. by Jay Parini

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Robert Frost: Sixteen Poems to Learn by HeartRobert Frost: Sixteen Poems to Learn by Heart by Robert Frost
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

Release Date: March 12, 2024

This book presents sixteen of Frost’s poems, each with a commentary on the poem, how events in Frost’s life influenced said poem, and assorted background details. It includes the “greatest hits” (e.g. “Mending Wall,” “The Road Not Taken,” “Fire and Ice,” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,”) a few of Frost’s more obscure works, and a number that are in-between in status.

I found the commentaries to be interesting and readable, which is important as Frost’s poems are now in the public domain, and so the value of this volume hinges on Parini’s work. Parini includes some stories that offer insight into Frost’s mindset, as with the story of the lady who approached him after a reading to ask the meaning of “Fire and Ice.” Reading Frost isn’t like reading, say, Allen Ginsberg, the latter being one who put it all out there – unabashedly, Frost’s poetry is more guarded and deals more in nuanced metaphor. This makes a volume like this useful if it can offer any insight into the poet’s mindset, which I think Parini does.

I considered reading this book to be an opportunity to learn more about the poems and poet, and – therefore – did not heavily weight the stated theme of presenting poems that should be rote memorized. I mention this because I suspect Parini had other criteria in mind as well. While the book does include poems that are easily memorized (e.g. “Fire and Ice” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”) as well as poems that have messages worth learning by heart (e.g. “Mending Wall” and “The Road Not Taken,”) it also includes poems that aren’t so memorable because they are long, not especially lyrical, or not particularly filled with stand-out ideas or vivid imagery (e.g. “Directive,” “The Wood Pile,” and “Birches.”) This also begs the question, why one wouldn’t include a poem like “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” which is short, lyrical, and has an easily grasped message (i.e. easily memorized.)

As for ancillary matter, there is an appendix that offers tips for memorizing poems as well as a short “recommended reading” bibliography.

That said, I enjoyed reading this book; I got a lot out of Parini’s commentary, and I would recommend the book for poetry readers.

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“So We’ll Go No More a Roving” by Lord Byron [w/ Audio]

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So, we'll go no more a roving
 So late into the night,
 Though the heart be still as loving,
  And the moon be still as bright.

For the sword outwears its sheath,
 And the soul wears out the breast,
 And the heart must pause to breathe,
  And love itself have rest. 

Though the night was made for loving,
 And the day returns too soon,
 Yet we'll go no more a roving
  By the light of the moon.

“Rouged Lips” by Qin Guan [w/ Audio]

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Drunk, me and my boat float freely downriver.
 Unfortunately, I can't stay amid the flowers.
 Hazy waters sprawl; sun, countless mountains high.
 Red blossoms shower downward.
 I don't know how I got here.