Chinese Nature Poetry in Deborah Warner’s Arcadia

2021-07-07 ☼ blog

Arcadia, Deborah Warner’s visual art installation at the Manchester International Festival, gave audiences a chance to experience “a field of luminous tents housing a murmuring soundscape of poetry inspired by the natural world”. I was asked to contribute a selection of Chinese nature poetry (both originals and translations), and I came up with the following list:

• “Birth to Our People” from The Book of Songs (c. 15th–6th century BCE)《诗经》《⽣民》– translated by David Hinton
• “The Mountain Spirit” from “Nine Songs” in The Songs of Chu (c. 3rd century BCE) 《九歌·⼭⻤》 《楚辞》– translated by David Hawkes
• “Climbing Green-Cliff Mountain In Yung-Chia” by Xie Lingyun (385–433) 谢灵运 《登永嘉绿嶂山诗》– translated by David Hinton
• “The New Moon” by Du Fu (712–770) 杜甫《初月》– translated by David Hinton
• Untitled poem by Li Qingzhao (c. 1084–1150) 李清照《湖上风来波浩渺》– translated by David Hinton
• “Tree” by Zheng Min (1920-) 郑敏《树》– translated by Herbert Batt and Sheldon Zitner
• “Under the Pomelo Tree” by Tu P’an Fang-ko (1927–2016) 杜潘芳格《柚⼦樹下》– translated by Michelle Yeh
• “The Flame Tree” by Leung Ping-kwan (1949–2013) 梁秉鈞《鳳凰木》– translated by Gordon T. Osing and Leung Ping-kwan
• “The Window on the Cliff” by Bei Dao (1949-) 北岛《峭壁上的窗户》– translated by Bonnie S. McDougall
• “Swan” by Hai Zi (1964–1989) 海子《天鹅》– translated by Eleanor Goodman