tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post7933532610814812177..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: "How Sordid Is This Crowded Life"Stephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-42887459160604556862011-06-23T20:00:02.680-07:002011-06-23T20:00:02.680-07:00Mr. Sigler: thank you for stopping by again.
Yes,...Mr. Sigler: thank you for stopping by again.<br /><br />Yes, that does seem to be common in Ryokan's poetry and in much of traditional Japanese and Chinese poetry, doesn't it? As much as I love the poetry, I have always worried that there is an unbridgeable gap between the originals and the translations that I am dependent upon when it comes to the attention to small things that you refer to.<br /><br />Part of this worry stems from having studied Japanese (including some study of kanji, the Chinese characters) while living in Japan for a year: there seems to be so much that is implied (and perhaps untranslatable) in the characters. Hence, of course, the sometimes wide variations in translations.<br /><br />As always, thank you for your thoughts.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-54008245627402594522011-06-23T19:37:38.036-07:002011-06-23T19:37:38.036-07:00As always, thank you for visiting, Tim.
I wasn...As always, thank you for visiting, Tim.<br /><br />I wasn't aware of Howarth's book. I was able to find most of the Davies chapter on Google Books. Both it and the entire book look very interesting. Thank you very much for the reference.<br /><br />As for the lines from "Leisure": I fear that those lines aren't well-known over here, but I shouldn't presume to speak for my fellow countrymen and countrywomen.<br /><br />Thanks again, Tim.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-12583818028628372462011-06-23T07:01:25.624-07:002011-06-23T07:01:25.624-07:00Love that Ryokan one - a whole life a momentary il...Love that Ryokan one - a whole life a momentary illusion, then the intensest attention on the smallest thing, all in one short poem, very zenWAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10403669322174979974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-90225741759429025082011-06-23T01:42:59.435-07:002011-06-23T01:42:59.435-07:00There's a very good scholarly chapter on Davie...There's a very good scholarly chapter on Davies in Peter Howarth's British Poetry in the Age of Modernism. Most Brits can quote Davies, without ever having heard of him: 'What is this life if, full of care, / We have no time to stand and stare'. Are those lines known in the States?Tim Kendallhttp://war-poets.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com