(no subject)
I can't turn off this little part of me that feels so damn bubbly and positive.
It's disturbing. In a good way? I think? It's not really showing to anyone in the here & now, which is a little sad (I've sort of crawled into a hole as of late, as PPF is quite busy and 小貓貓 isn't hoooome and I miss her and why isn't she back yet?!), but I am looking forward to SO MUCH STUFF. And for once, I'm not terrified it's going to come crashing down. Maybe my neurotic side is retreating slightly in the face of so much overwhelming positive evidence that, um, I'm smart and stuff. Who knows?
We read a very pretty poem in wenyan last week:
”春曉“ 孟浩然
春眠不覺曉。
處處聞啼鳥。
夜來風雨聲。
花落知多少。
It's much easier to translate into baihua than it is to translate into English; I wonder when I'll have the faculty (if ever) to make relatively smooth translations from wenyan into English.
But the general idea is:
"Early Mornings in Spring" Meng Haoran
In springtime, one doesn't know early mornings.
In every place, one can hear the calls of birds -
but thinks about the sound of midnight winds and rains
And asks,"How many flowers were scattered?"
Translation is hard. I am very rusty at it. It is a good thing I am going into history & not EALC specifically, I think. I guess we do have considerably more leeway with poetry (one thing I always liked about it in Latin). I suppose this will come with time. I mean, all poetry is looser than prose, but Chinese poetry is pretty damn loose. Everyone, from woquinoncoin to my future advisors keeps going "Well, this is a lifelong process!", and it's so true - and a little scary! Although it made me feel much better when one professor called to hear her say that she feels like the language ability comes and goes ...although I'm sure after being in the field for 20+ years, you're a relative ninja when it comes to language ability.
It'll come. 慢慢來.
It's disturbing. In a good way? I think? It's not really showing to anyone in the here & now, which is a little sad (I've sort of crawled into a hole as of late, as PPF is quite busy and 小貓貓 isn't hoooome and I miss her and why isn't she back yet?!), but I am looking forward to SO MUCH STUFF. And for once, I'm not terrified it's going to come crashing down. Maybe my neurotic side is retreating slightly in the face of so much overwhelming positive evidence that, um, I'm smart and stuff. Who knows?
We read a very pretty poem in wenyan last week:
”春曉“ 孟浩然
春眠不覺曉。
處處聞啼鳥。
夜來風雨聲。
花落知多少。
It's much easier to translate into baihua than it is to translate into English; I wonder when I'll have the faculty (if ever) to make relatively smooth translations from wenyan into English.
But the general idea is:
"Early Mornings in Spring" Meng Haoran
In springtime, one doesn't know early mornings.
In every place, one can hear the calls of birds -
but thinks about the sound of midnight winds and rains
And asks,"How many flowers were scattered?"
Translation is hard. I am very rusty at it. It is a good thing I am going into history & not EALC specifically, I think. I guess we do have considerably more leeway with poetry (one thing I always liked about it in Latin). I suppose this will come with time. I mean, all poetry is looser than prose, but Chinese poetry is pretty damn loose. Everyone, from woquinoncoin to my future advisors keeps going "Well, this is a lifelong process!", and it's so true - and a little scary! Although it made me feel much better when one professor called to hear her say that she feels like the language ability comes and goes ...although I'm sure after being in the field for 20+ years, you're a relative ninja when it comes to language ability.
It'll come. 慢慢來.