One poem I will read to you as de fa specimen. it is a very short ofo dit Is possibly known to. you and. it gives some of the qualities of Mr. Waley's translation and it is. T think, {in its matter peculiarly -appropriate Just at the moment. It is a poem galled, "On the Birth of his Son. "Famlies when a child is born, want it to be intelligent. I through intelligence having wrecked my whole life only tope the baby will prove ignorant and stupid, then ko will crown a tranquil life by becoming a cabinet minister."
One of the most valuable posses: slong, anybody can have who is, interested in Chinese literature is "The History of Chinese Liberature" by Prot. H. A. Giles. "As to ils accuracy T myself cannot vouch but I understand it is sound and it is a source of delightful entertainment and Prof, Gites renders a very large selection Chinese poetry of all ages into agree ably phrased forms, but it seems to me that the only versions in which tone can feel that one Is coming lose, not only to tke spirit but the method of Chinese poetry is in the translation by Mrs. Florence Ayscough from the Chinese post Tu Fu who belonged to the Tang period of something like 600 B.C. to 900 B.C. He was about 700 B.C. I think actually. The method which Mrs. Ayscough has adopted is by an ingenious system lof printing to show just exactly which part of the line is conveyed by any particular character In Chinese writing.
1 have taken from her bock 2. Jspecimen of a Chinese stanza and these are the words and characters lof which: one tine of that stanza consists—"Wind, forests, black and white sitio moonlight falls." Mrs, Ayscoush renders it something like this—"Wind. forest shades and falling moonlight patterned like black and white sill A charming image rendered with utmost concentration and with exteaordinary power of. concentration which both the Chinese words. as spoken afd the caligraphle characters must convey.
In order to see ow that, to us, extraordinary poetry (but when you into It, extraordinarily satisfying poetry) T speak only, of course, of 3 Transiation—1 cannot Imagine anything better than the two. velumes which Mrs. Ayscough has devoted to this Cinese pact, Tu Fu, not only fo the poet but to his times and the culture of his period. The times which he translates are not easy, reading but strike you at first as somewhat dificult and awkward, but once you get into reading this Englisn equivalent of Chinese art, you will have, T venture to think, ladies and. gentlemen, a very great and memorable reward.
It might be a fitting accompaniment to your enjoyment of that incomparable display of unbroke artistic tradi-Mien to ko seen at Burlington house. will conclude by quoting an epitaph which @ Chinese poet is said to have written for himself. Nothing Jcould be more admirable in. reach fand range of suggestion. Nothing could be more admirable than its concentration. The epitaph Is this, Twill not vouch for it—"I loved the white clouds and the green hills, 1 died of drink."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.