Romantic folksong, Li Bai style
In a controversial new reading!
Picking Water Lilies Li Bai At the edge of the Ruoye, Girls are gathering lotus, Through the lilies their voices And laughter ring. Sunlight shines on new makeup, Fresh as sparkling water, As their sleeves filled with perfume Float on the breeze. And they glimpsed by the Ruoye, In the curtains of willow, Handsome squires who linger In knots in the shade. Painted stallions nickered Horse hooves click with impatience, How hearts break as they walk on Through petals like rain. 李白 采莲曲 若耶溪边采莲女，笑隔荷花共人语。 日照新妆水底明，风飘香袂空中举。 岸上谁家游冶郎，三三五五映垂杨。 紫骝嘶入落花去，见此踟蹰空断肠。
“Picking Water Lilies” is the name of a tune. In this case, the poems written for this tune seem generally be about the scene that the title suggests: in the autumn, young girls climb into boats and pick water lily flowers. It was a situation in which unmarried girls might be exposed to potential suitors, so full of romantic possibilities. The Ruoye River is a tributary of the Yangtze, in modern Zhejiang Province.
Li Bai’s version of this theme is heavily romanticised. Without ever making a direct simile or personification, the poem leads us to see the flowers and the girls as one. Interestingly, this makes the willows on the bank male – usually willow trees are symbols of femininity.
Most of the interpretations of this poem that I can find declare boldly that the last couplet (the last stanza in my translation) is about the poet as an onlooker. However, I can’t find anything in the text to justify this. I see no reason not to think that the horses belong to the young squires and that the breaking hearts are those of the squires and the girls.
What a lovely ritual that must have been for the poet to observe.
I hold with an observer, not with a participant observing. I’m with you on that.
As one who has spent much time around horses (almost fluent in Horse), I stumbled on the “snickers“ of the mounts.
The word, “snickers” (imho) injects an element of disdain into the poem where I don’t think there should be any disdain. And who would be disdainful of this ancient ritual. Not the horses, unless they were just disdainful of watching pretty girls instead of charging into battle, and certainly not the men, and most certainly not the girls.
* Must ask horse.
Horses, whinny and they neigh, they nicker and they chortle and they snort. They squeal. But most of their communication is nonverbal.
I was just wondering, as a translator, what were your choices based on the Chinese characters you were referencing from the Li Bai original.
Did you mean to inject an element of disdain into this pristine scene?