) I can tell you that the
Szechwan
Road as
described in the poem that Mr.
described in the poem that Mr.
Li Po
[Many of the above poems have been translated before, in some cases by
three or four different hands. But III. 4, III. 26, XV. 2, and XXIII. 9
are, so far as I know, translated for the first time. ]
DISCUSSION ON THE FOREGOING PAPER
THE CHAIRMAN (MR. GEORGE JAMIESON): Mr. Li T'ai-po was, I am afraid,
a bit of a Bohemian (laughter), and his Bacchanalian experiences have
been repeated in later days even with the great poets. I am sure you
will all join with me in expressing a hearty vote of thanks to Mr.
Waley for his address and the very felicitous language in which he has
translated a number of these ancient poems. I trust his paper will
be printed and preserved with the rest of our publications, because
these poems, as far as I can judge--but hearing them read does not
impress one so much as reading them at leisure--are well worthy of
careful perusal. It is curious to note how unchangeable and immobile
China is. At the time these poems were written we in Great Britain
were living under King Alfred and trying to keep out the Danes and
other things. (Laughter.
) I can tell you that the Szechwan Road as
described in the poem that Mr. Waley has read is just the same now
as it was when the poem was written. And the social conditions of
the people are the same now as they were at that time. I have often
thought that Chinese poets are very limited in their range. They
seem to be deficient in the quality of imagination. China has never
produced a great epic poem. Of course I speak subject to correction,
but I believe I am right in saying that China has never produced a
poet comparable with Homer, Dante, Virgil, or Milton. There has been
no one born with the power of telling a story like Homer. The poets of
China appear to me to be emotional and descriptive, but incapable of
any high flights of imagination. I think that Macaulay says that great
flights of imagination are peculiar to the early periods of a nation's
civilization, and that story-telling reaches its highest form as an art
before printing has been much in vogue.
Mr. M. F. A. FRASER: I have listened to this lecture with the greatest
interest. The English was particularly pleasing, and I am glad that the
lecturer has broken away from the old custom of seeking rhymes, and
followed the French custom in the translation of these poems.
