Translation of Poem

[BobbiBrown]

I found this poem regarding Qingming (?) that I thought would be a great dedication to my dad who passed away about 6 years ago. I want to make sure the meaning is appropriate before using it for any type of dedication. Any help in the translation would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

清明时节雨纷纷，

路上行人欲断魂。

借问酒家何处有？

牧童遥指杏花村。

[skylee]

If you google "Du Mu Qingming" you would find plenty of translations.

[lacrimosa1983]

it's really challenging, this poem is over 1000 years old. I can't translate it like an English poem because the Chinese and English are two totally different language system. I try to make it easier to understand.

清明时节雨纷纷: rain fall in the period of Qing Ming festival may be endless,

路上行人欲断魂。people on the street look like broken soul。

借问酒家何处有，I ask a young shepherd where is inn

牧童遥指杏花村 he points to the direction of a village called apricot

[trien27]

Do not trust translations by the person called Witter Bynner or Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys. One or both of them translated "赤" as "purple"! Ever saw the movie 赤壁? It's translated as "Red Cliff" by everyone else, but lookee here: http://www.afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/wengu.php?l=Tangshi&no=290

Either Witter Bynner or Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys, translated it as "Purple Cliff"! I've seen one of Bynner's books and the translations into English were worst than I could ever imagined.

I'm not saying translations are bad, it's just that some so-called Sinologists' "interpreted translations" are bad.

[edelweis]

Actually it looks like the English word "purple" has an obsolete meaning of "deep crimson" i.e. red.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/purple

[trien27]

Actually it looks like the English word "purple" has an obsolete meaning of "deep crimson" i.e. red.

What I'm saying is "Why would you use an obsolete / rare definition" for people living in the modern age who are mostly not even scholars?! Even "crimson" itself is even a deep enough color for the definition of "赤". I guess they were trying too hard to get the "deep" definition across.

Source: check the definition of 赤红(赤紅) @ http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/%E8%B5%A4%E7%BA%A2/5276

[edelweis]

I understand you point.These translations are not so recent, so perhaps they were actually written for a different audience and not readily usable now?

Chinese text and Bynner English translation found at Chinese text initiative. Almost all the poems have been translated by Witter Bynner in The Jade Mountain: A Chinese Anthology (New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1929).

http://www.afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/wengu.php?l=Tangshi〈=fr