blue plums sounds better anyways... just my my opinion.... Hiroko Uno wrote: > Dear Dan, > > In the original poem Li-Po uses the Chinese character meaning the color > blue, but the same character also means another color green as well as > youth > or immature condition in some context. So, "blue plum" means unripe fruit > of plum, which is actually green. > > Unripe fruit of plum is called "blue plum" in Japan, too. By the way, in > Japan we call one of the colors of a signal "blue," although it is > actually > green. > > According to Peter Brooker, Arthur Waley "has 'green plums'" in his > translation. Authur Cooper also has "green plums" in his book "Lipo and > Tufu" in Penguin Books. However, I think Pound is correct, using "blue" > here, because he follows Chinese and Japanese cultures and because Li-Po > actually uses the character "blue." > > According to Kumiko Kakehi, a Japanese scholar of Chinese ancient poetry, > the line with "blue plum" refers to another ancient Chinese poem > "Hyo-Yu-Bai" in Shikyo (I am sorry these are in Japanese > pronunciation), in > which very young people express their first pure love with unripe blue > plums. > > Therefore, in this poem Li-Po suggests the faint or indistinct love > between > the two young children by the "blue plums." > > Hiroko Uno (Japanese) > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Back door" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 4:41 PM > Subject: "The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter" > > >> I was preparing Pound's translation of "The River Merchant's >> Wife: A Letter" for class, when I came across another translation >> of the same poem. This one is by a Gary Geddes, and is from the >> Chinese original. He called it "The Song of Ch'ang-kan". >> Pound's is from the Japanese Rihaku version. >> Here are the first few lines of the Geddes: >> >> "While the hair barely covered my forehead >> I plucked a flower and played at my front door. >> You came by riding a bamboo horse >> and we circled the well, innocent as green plums." >> >> Why Pound would have used blue for the >> color of the plums. Green makes more sense? >> WHich translation is correct? >> >> Any thoughts? >> Thanks, >> Dan. >> >> _________________________________________________________________ >> Take advantage of powerful junk e-mail filters built on patented >> Microsoft $B%g (B >> SmartScreen Technology. >> http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-ca&page=byoa/prem&xAPID=1994&DI=1034&SU=http://hotmail.com/enca&HL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines >> Start enjoying all the benefits of MSN $B%g (B Premium right now and >> get the >> first two months FREE*. >> >> >