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羌村 (一)峥嵘赤云西日脚下平地柴门鸟雀噪归客千里至妻孥怪我在惊定还拭泪世乱遭飘荡生还偶然遂邻人满墙头感叹亦歔欷夜阑更秉烛相对如梦寐 qiāng cūn ( yī)zhēng róng chì yún xīrì jiǎo xià píng dìchái mén niǎo què zàoguī kè qiān lǐ zhìqī nú guài wǒ zàijīng dìng hái shì lèishì luàn zāo piāo dàngshēng huán ǒu rán suìlín rén mǎn qiáng tóugǎn tàn yì xū xīyè lán gèng bǐng zhúxiāng duì rú mèng mèi Theme of Return, arrival: approaching gate, returning “traveler,” from “thousand li,” approaches wife and neighbor who are shocked. Neighbors “swarm” around him. Final intimate scene where he is facing his neighbors and family across the table as if it is “a dream.”Towering red cloud westSun base down level ground scene of returning (lines 1-3). Sun setting.Wicker gate bird sparrow chirp Birds are first to see him. Set it up. First sees wicker gate. More and more familiar as he gets closer. Process of memory…(gate, neighbors, family). Progressive memory—and progressive approach what he sees when he gets there. Return traveller thousand li to >--journey return. “homebound stranger” Don’t get sense from literal that it’s a man coming home to family “homebound stranger” –oxymoron (paradoxical) –he’s stranger to changes that have taken place since he’s left. “homebound stranger”—third person. Disassociation. Turns to “I” when meets wife. Not same as before the war. Rebellion changed him. Li=distance. Sets up that it’s surreal. That he made it back is by pure luck. Wife children surprised I be present third person turns to first personShock calm more wipe tearsLife disorder meet float swing ”tossed and flung”—lack of control. Forced into something (fighting?). Worth it? Swung. Ends up not where he wants to be. Tornado, and he’s spinning in it (float/swing/tossed/flung). Return alive chance succeed surreal. Is this real? I’ve only survived by chance.Neighbour satisfied top of wall stranger to neighbor Neighbors—surprise. Why they “swarm”, distance to home, village he returns to. Reaction of people. Sigh also sobNight late more grasp candle night-time (starts at sunset)Opposite like dream --nights you spend with friends, relateable, intimate. Reunite first time—catching up…don’t realize how time passes. (“wow this is actually happening—pinch me I must be dreaming). Surreal, miracle, to be home with family. Homebound=to family. In our translation:Lofted and lifted—sun is like him—he ends up at home. Sun itself goes through its own journey. But he ends up with his family. Sun descends to level earth=he returns home. But coming to new place that his family is at? Seeing it first time?Qiang Village=where he is from. Left village for city, but returns. Telling that he doesn’t say anything about the rebellion. Not what is important for him. Rebellion is why they’re not together, that’s the reason for the displacement, but never says anything about rebellion. War—no matter what happened, the important thing is being home with family. Last line=Incomplete thought in (some!) of our translations (cliffhanger).“Across from one another as if asleep and in a dream.”—not real that he’s there What makes these poems??More about the effects of rebellion, Rhymes in original, but poetry often doesn’t need rhyme. Can be about structure, rhythm, a lot of which gets “lost in translation” (though we can still find parallels). Wang Wei vs. Du Fu. Less about just talking about nature. Du Fu=“poet historian”—Wang Wei seems harder to read and “get at the meaning” of…but these are straightforward, can interpret it more easily. Why? Nature plus story. Nature is supporting role instead of a main role. Wang Wei vs. Li Bo or Du Fu. Realistic—soldier returns home, people are sad. Narrative more than description, not just stating facts about trees. Face value—what this person sees, this is what they’re writing. We can relate on a human level. We don’t have to see the scene to relate to it. Wang Wei—reading about it, taking at face value, how he says it looks. Human—can understand the emotion someone might see if they see father/husband who they haven’t seen in a while. Both Du Fu and Wang Wei—alive in the time period. Both charged with treason and barely got out of it. Drinking alone with the moon, Li BoCan be alone with himself and see things differently (other people want to be surrounded, but not Li Bo)Creativity of Li Bo Focus on the moon. Wants to spend time alone and have better perception. “soon enough it will be spring” –nature. Meet where Silver River ends. Where? Bank of river begins, moon reflection.End of river—bigger body. Goes at night, looks at reflection. “separate ways” going to bed, night’s ending. See you there tomorrow! Silver River—heaven. “let’s pledge beyond human ties”—afterlife kind of feel. “See you on the other side.” Does like being alone? “heart’s at ease” in Q and ASeems like a crazy drunk guy in the mountains by himself. “I sing, I dance”—separate ways—passing outTrying to be friends with shadow and moon—can’t physically be friends with them. More optimistic about being alone. Usually has negative connotations to us. Finds friendships in inanimate objects rather than people.Only thing that understand him, only thing he can drink night away with. Moon would never go against what he says (higher IQ), where people might object to him as being weird. Moon doesn’t go against him—listens to everything he has to say. Alone with wine. Drinking alone you are usually thinking about something. Looking for a real friend, and that is the moon: Moon doesn’t talk. He says what he has to say. Talking to the moon shows a certain characteristic of him—how open-minded he is. Can just hang out with the moon, let his thoughts out, doesn’t have to worry about opinions of other pople. Vocabulary: Capering? Make merry?Capering—skip and dance around in a playful way. Make merry—friendly, make happy. Merry—drunk. Beauty and the Beast—drunk merry people. More vivacious. Is he alone and sad? But he’s capering, merry—more that he was already happy. Happiness in simplicity. Seems like a hopeless drunk at first, but reading, he seems merry, vivacious. Moon—provides you with a shadow. Not really there. But is he happy because he’s drunk? Funny=”shadow mimes” “leaps and sway”—seems like he thinks his shadow and the moon are dancing with him. Imaginary friends—realistic to you. His creativity, childish aspect. Describes him. Doesn’t let boundaries other people might have limit his creativity. Daoist—Moon symbol of immortality. If you were adept…you could connect with moon, deity. Talks about cloud climbing excursion…fantastical…can connect with the moon. Belief system shown through poems. ................
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