2 november 2022

John Bjarne Grover

Goethe's most famous poem is "Über alle Gipfeln ist Ruh". It has a very precise parallel in chinese poet Li Bai's "Summer day in the mountains". Goethe's poem goes as follows, from the source on this link:

Ueber allen Gipfeln
Ist Ruh',
In allen Wipfeln
Spürest Du
Kaum einen Hauch;
Die Vögelein schweigen im Walde.
Warte nur! Balde
Ruhest du auch.

Li Bai's poem is here quoted from the source on this link:

李白 - 夏日山中

懒摇白羽扇，
裸袒青林中。
脱巾挂石壁，
露顶洒松风。

It is translated on this link - translation by Arthur Waley.

The similarity with Goethe's poem emerges more clearly in my tentative and hasty translation:

Li Bai - Summer day in the mountain

A lazy shake - the white wing of a leaf
in nature's colours of the tree it is in:
A towel hangs from a window's cliff
and waves the top of a tree in wind.

The Yabla dictionary gives these definitions for the chinese signs.

There could even be traces of the 'Malva' image (discussed in this article) in Li Bai's poem.

© John Bjarne Grover
On the web 2 november 2022