《诗经•关雎》<peotry anthology•guan ju>

[veronica_china]

关关雎鸠，在河之洲。

(guan guan ju jiu, zai he zhi zhou.)

窈窕淑女，君子好逑。

(yao tiao shu nv, ju zi hao qiu.)

参差荇菜，左右流之。

(cen ci xing cai, zuo you liu zhi.)

窈窕淑女，寤寐求之。

(yao tiao shu nv, wu mei qiu zhi.)

求之不得，寤寐思服。

(qiu zhi bu de, wu mei si fu.)

悠哉悠哉，辗转反侧。

(you zai you zai, zhan zhuan fan ce.)

参差荇菜，左右采之。

(cen ci xing cai, zuo you cai zhi.)

窈窕淑女，琴瑟友之。

(yao tiao shu nv, qin se you zhi.)

参差荇菜，左右芼之。

(cen ci xing cai, zuo you mao zhi.)

窈窕淑女，钟鼓乐之。

(yao tiao shu nv, zhong gu yue zhi.)

Can anyone translate it into mellifluent English poem?

[skylee]

You can find translation of poems in 詩經 here. Not sure if they are mellifluent enough, though.

Translation of 關睢:

Guan-guan go the ospreys ,

On the islet in the river .

The modest , retiring , virtuous , young lady : --

For our prince a good mate she .

Here long , there short , is the duckweed ,

To the left , to the right , borne about by the current .

The modest , retiring , virtuous , young lady : --

Waking and sleeping , he sought her .

He sought her and found her not ,

And waking and sleeping he thought about her .

Long he thought ; oh ! long and anxiously ;

On his side , on his back , he turned , and back again .

Here long , there short , is the duckweed ;

On the left , on the right , we gather it .

The modest , retiring , virtuous , young lady : --

With lutes , small and large , let us give her friendly welcome .

Here long , there short , is the duckweed ;

On the left , on the right , we cook and present it .

The modest , retiring , virtuous , young lady : --

With bells and drums let us show our delight in her .

[HolyShazam]

Check out James Legge's translations of the Shijing, it's written in a weird, semi-archaic English, but it's slightly more 'poetry-ish' than the website in the last post. There is another scholar around today that has translated a bunch of Shijing poetry, his name is Stephen Owen. I haven't really read his translations in earnest, but I would guess they're more on the literal-translation side and less like poetry.

If you can get to a decent-sized university library they probably have his stuff.

[miss_China_so_much]

Check this website:

http://afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/wengu.php?l=Shijing