In Such Hard Times

In Such Hard Times: The Poetry of Wei Ying-wu by Wei Ying-wu, translated by Red Pine, 359 pages

Wei Ying-wu lived in hard times indeed.  The eighth century saw the crisis of the An Lushan rebellion, which forced the Tang court to flee Chang-an, and even the final suppression of the revolt only seemed to increase the power of the regional warlords.  Wei himself lived a life full of disappointments - a born aristocrat but a middling scholar, his career as a civil servant never equaled his early promise.  How much of this was a cause and how much a result of his desire for a retired, ascetic life is an open question.

     reports neglected for days

     no one dealing with ink or words

     it must be because of the quiet

     or because I met a man of the Way

In medieval China, poetry was the language of social discourse, and most of Wei's poems look to past meetings or present ones or future encounters, or all of these simultaneously.

     we met and got drunk among the flowers

     we were going in different directions but not very far

     what the evening tide took away the morning tide brought back

Wei's status as a man of culture with at least aspirations to virtue moving in and out of an imperial administration is one he shared with a number of celebrated figures in Chinese history, many of whom he acknowledges as models.  It gives him a certain sensitivity to human foibles.

     the price of a single cup was a hundred sacks of grain

     it was strong at first and then thin and finally robbery

     but patrons knew its name and nothing of its taste

The world was hardly clamoring for an English translation of the poetry of Wei Ying-wu.  That Red Pine took the task upon himself is itself evidence of the way the life and work of the poet resonate with those of his translator, and the latter's excellent commentary makes it available to the receptive reader.

     whistling out loud I hike past towering trees

     admiring the heights his footsteps have reached