Su Dongpo – Part 1

This week, we decide, in the middle of doing the podcast, that the Song has so much interesting stuff going on during it that we have to make this series into a longer series. Today, we are going to tackle a single poem by Su Dongpo 苏东坡 (aka Su Shi 苏轼). The poem we are looking at is Su’s “Waking up on a Boat at Night:”

Lee’s Translation:

A small breeze blew, shu shu

puffing over the wet fields.

I open the door and see the rain,

the moon fills the lake.

—

The people on the boat and the water birds,

the two are both dreaming. 

A large fish suddenly leaps

like a running fox.

—

Deep in the night, neither people nor things

are concerned about the other. 

And I am alone, a body and a shadow, 

each enjoying the other. 

—

The tide rises quietly

like the sad sounds of earthworms. 

The setting moon hangs in the willows

like a spider web. 

—

This live passes by so quickly,

with its hardships. 

Clear scenes like this pass before my eyes,

they can last only a moment. 

—

The cock crows, the bell tolls,

hundreds of birds scatter. 

At the boat’s bow, they beat the drum, 

again shouting back and forth.

For the original, check out 百度百科.