Ancient Poems: Song Proses (Modern Chinese and English Text)

Song Proses is a unique collection of classical Chinese "ci" poetic gems rendered into naturally flowing modern Chinese and English verse. This book contains 59 "ci" lyrics from Song poets, among them, 7 from Liu Yong, 1 from Yan Shu, 1 from Ouyan Xiu, 1 from Yan Jidao, 9 from Su Shi, 1 from Qin Guan, 8 from Zhou Bangyan, 5 from Li Qingzhao, 20 from Xin Qiji, 6 from Jiang Kui.

Book title: Song Proses
Modern Chinese translation by A Cheng
English translation by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang
Published by Foreign Languages Press, 2001
Paperback: 312 pages; Dimensions (inch): 0.09 x 8.00 x 5.06
ISBN: 7119028197

In Chinese literary history, there were certain periods which were dominated by one distinctive predominant literary genre, such as "fu" (descriptive prose interspersed with verse) during the Han Dynasty, poetry in Tang, "Ci" poetry (a special poetic form) of Song and "qu" (singing verse) of Yuan. The "ci" lyric is very different from the "shi" type. While the older Tang Dynasty "shi" lyric can be read without minding the underlying melodies - even if there existed some underlying melodies - "ci" poetry must be seen as written songs. Most of the poems do not even have their own title, but they are named after an original melody. Composers and writers used this melody to write a new poem that could be sung to the original famous melody or tune pattern ("cipai"), a technique called contrafactum. This is the reason why we often see the same title for a "ci" poem, like "Die Lian Hua", "Man Ting Fang", "Yu Mei Ren". There are more than 800 tune patterns. "Ci lyric" emerged during the Tang Dynasty in response to the popularity of foreign musical tunes imported from Inner Asia. Already the outer shape of the "ci" lyric is clearly different to the "shi" lyric: the verses have different length. The early "ci" writers of the 9th century wanted to meet the needs of singing girls in the entertainment quarters in the lower Yangtse area. The most famous "ci" poets of Tang Dynasty are Wen Tingyun and the last king of Southern Tang, Li Yu. The great time of "ci" lyric was the Song Dynasty. Under the the influence of the great writer "Su Shi" ("Su Dongpo"), the "ci" poem began to free itself from its musical background and became primarily a literary creation.

宋代著名詞人經典名篇鑑賞

宋词（汉英对照）/古诗苑汉英译丛
作者：聂鑫森 今译，杨宪益，戴乃迭 等英译
出版：外文出版社 2006.1
页数：312
ISBN-10：7119028197
ISBN-13：9787119028194

《古诗苑汉英译丛：宋词（汉英对照）》是对未来世界的一项文化献礼，其中流淌着中国古典的诗魂词魄，倾注着名作家的个性白话诗译，并辑录权威译者半个世纪的古诗词英译点滴。它提供了全新的阅读模式，也是现代人憩息的一片心灵家园。

雨霖铃（寒蝉姜切）

凤栖梧（独倚危楼）

望海潮（东南形胜）

定风波（自春来惨绿愁红）

八声甘州（对潇潇幕雨酒江天）

鹤冲天（黄金榜上）

忆帝京（薄衾小忱天气）

蝶恋花（槛菊愁烟）

踏莎行（候馆梅残）

临江仙（梦后楼台高锁）

江城子·密州出猎

江城子（十年生死两茫茫）

蝶恋花·春景

水调歌头（明月几时有）

浣溪沙（照日深红暖见鱼）

水龙吟·杨花词

定风波（莫听穿林打叶声）

念奴娇·赤壁杯古

卜算子·黄州定慧院寓居作

浣溪沙（漠漠轻寒上小楼）

少年游（朝云漠漠散轻丝）

苏幕遮（燎沉香）

解语花·上元

六丑·落花

花犯

过秦楼

蝶恋花·早行

绕佛阁

如梦令

渔家傲·记梦

武陵春

声声慢

永遇乐

鹧鸪天·东阳路中

水龙吟·为韩南涧尚书寿甲辰岁

青玉案·元夕

浣溪沙·黄沙岭

西江月·夜行黄沙道中

……

Tags: Ancient Poems, Chinese poetry, Song Dynasty, Song Proses, Su Shi