Found in Translation

For the past few weeks I have been working through two books of poems– So Chong-Ju’s Unforgettable Things (translated by David R. McCann) and Basho, The Complete Haiku (translated by Jane Reichhold).  By the time I figured out how wonderful they were, I could no longer remember what chain of events had led me to acquire either book.  And so it goes, that whim and circumstance succeed at inspiring me by means which remain elusive to more formal research.  In reading Unforgettable Things I found a collection of quiet, conversational poems in which So Chong-Ju reflects on his life and work as a poet, husband, and father.

My Marriage

“She was cleaning vegetables for kimch’i

there by the well.  When I looked out

from the men’s quarters, through the gaps

in the twig fence the sight of her

bending forward so purposefully as she worked

was enough. ‘We’ll do it,’ I thought,

and went right ahead with the marriage agreement.

So don’t let me hear another word;

just prepare yourself for your wedding.”

That is how Father selected my bride-to-be.

To check whether the choice was the right one,

I dealt out the hwat’u cards to see.

The four of empty mountain came out right,

as did the four of red clover.

The moon on empty mountain was my love,

while the red bush clover was the procurator.

The sign was very clear:

I should take the girl to wed.

The four chrysanthemums were the wine,

while the four in autumn leaves were my worries.

They did appear all at once,

but that king of thing is part of it too…

On my wedding day, at any rate,

as I pondered these matters seated upon a donkey’s back,

how it had turned out seemed in the end

more advanced than the scientific

or love affair route toward a marriage.

Basho, The Complete Haiku contains 1012 of the short poems.  It is also graced with articulate and insightful notes by the translator, Jane Reichhold.

562.

the first melon

shall it be cut crosswise

or into round slices?

Translation is a difficult activity and a fascinating process.  It is a supreme test of fluency which can only be administered by the fluent.  Reichhold is good enough to provide for each poem the original Japanese text, a Romanized reading, a literal translation, and explanatory notes.  This allows for the reader’s own comparison and interpretation of the translation and meaning, and illuminates the accomplishments of both the translator and Basho himself.  Of particular note is his play with and circumvention of the formal requirements of Haiku poetry.

So Chong-Ju’s Unforgettable Things seem to have been written in a more lyrical style, and the lack of formal constraints allows the translation to act more like an original.  The structure of a poem falls away in light of its meaning, and we are able to exist in the “eternal present” of the narrative.  I see these two methods as templates for creative activity, and am trying to balance them in my own studio.