Your seven strings are like the voice
Of a cold wind in the pines,
Singing old beloved songs
Which no one cares for any more.
Original Poem:
「听弹琴」
刘长卿
泠泠七弦上， 静听松风寒。
古调虽自爱， 今人多不弹。
Interpretation:
The sound of the seven-stringed zither is very serene and quiet, as if the wind is blowing in the pine forest. The zither is an ancient Chinese traditional folk musical instrument, composed of seven strings, so the first line uses “seven strings” as a substitute for the zither, and the imagery is more specific. The wind in the pine forest suggests the mournful sound of the qin, which is extremely graphic and leads the reader into the realm of music. The word “listen” describes the listening to the zither, and it shows the extraordinary sound of the zither.
Although the poet is particularly fond of the beautiful ancient tune, unfortunately, now there are not many people like to play. If the first two lines are describing the realm of music, the last two lines are argumentative lyricism, involving the background of the musical changes at that time. Han, Wei and the six dynasties of the southern Qing music still use the qin and sepals. In the Tang Dynasty, the music changed, “Yan music” became the new sound of the generation, and the instrument was mainly the pipa imported from the western region. “As the pipa began to dance to a new sound, the public’s taste for music also changed. What was popular was the new music that expressed the joy of the world. Although the sound of the lute is as beautiful as the wind of a pine tree, it has now become an “ancient tune”, and how many people can appreciate it with elegance? Between the lines there is a sense of loneliness.
Liu Changqing, who was a world-renowned poet, was twice deported in his life, and was full of anachronisms and a feeling of being out of tune with the common people. In the poem, the poet lamented the coldness of the ancient tone, a metaphor for the world to follow the fashion, tend to follow the times, do not love the ancient style, and their own loneliness and lack of support. Therefore, this poem has the feeling of being lonely and appreciating oneself, and there are few soulmates in the world.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Liu Zhangqing (刘长卿-) was a native of Xian County, Hebei Province. He studied at Mt. Songshan when he was young, and later moved to Jiangxi, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 733 A.D. He also belonged to the Wang and Meng school of poetry. His poems belonged to the school of Wang and Meng, and he was most famous for his five-character poems, and was also most conceited, once thinking that he was “the Great Wall of five-character poems”, which meant that no one could surpass him.
