FIR-FLOWER TABLETS 7<) 



This is the Bynner-Kiang rendering and it seems more direct 

 and pleasing than — 



"When the hair of your Unworthy One began first to cover 

 her forehead 



She picked flowers and played in front of the door, 

 Then you, my lover, came riding a bamboo horse, 



We ran round and round the bed and tossed about the 

 sweetmeats of green plums." 



"Learning that love survives the dust" is better than "I 

 wanted to be with you, as dust with its ashes" and I like 

 "Chang Sha" in the last line of Bynner's better than the 

 "Long Wind Sands" of Lowell. As a matter of fact it 

 seems to me that both poets have gone quite too far in 

 their translation of the meaning of the names of persons 

 and places. There can rarely be an agreement between 

 any two authors in the poetic interpretation of such names. 

 The "Looking for Husband Ledge" of Lowell becomes the 

 "Tower of Silent Watching" and even Lowell herself makes 

 it a "rock" on page 86. The name is Wang-fu Shih or the 

 Wang-fu Rock. In both versions an attempt is made to 

 convey a meaning which turns out only to> be a hint, while 

 the hidden reference is not wholly explained till one consults 

 Mrs. Ayscough's notes. Where a magnisonant translation 

 of a proper name can give a fairly accurate and complete 

 rendering of a reference, it is quite justifiable, but in most 

 instances the sound of the names should be used, reserving 

 for the Notes necessary or desirable explanations. For 

 instance, Chin Ling in the poem is better as the ancient 

 name of Nanking than "The City of the Golden Mound" in 

 the title (p. 70). 



It is a good omen for the future that it will be possible 

 to contrast Lowell and Bynner, Kiang and Ayscough, for 

 work in a common field will tend to cause both poets and 

 translators to look most carefully to their ways. As com- 

 pared with all that have gone before them, these two sets 

 of collaborators must be placed in a new class but fortunately 

 we shall have the opportunity of comparison each with the 

 other. 



It may be that I have spoken too sweepingly of the 

 work that "has preceded this of the poets. Giles was not 

 a poet, no matter how nearly he missed being one, but I 

 prefer his version of Li T'ai-po's Drinking Song to Miss 

 Lowell's as found on page 39. Giles caught the spirit and 



