Poem of the week – Stone Fish Lake by Yuan Jie
In 1918, the eminent English orientalist, Arthur Waley, published a collection of a hundred and seventy Chinese poems. The majority of the poems had never been translated into English before. It afforded European readers an introductory glimpse into the vast and varied Chinese poetic canon.
This week’s poem, Stone Fish Lake by Yuan Jie (AD 740-770), was included in Waley’s landmark anthology. Yuan Jie was the governor of Daozhou, south of Hunan, China, where the lake of the poem lay. The locals hollowed out a boulder in the lake’s centre to store their sweet wine and elegantly sculpted the stone to resemble a swimming fish. People would row their boats out to the stone to collect a cup of wine while other villagers lounged and relaxed on the rocky shores. Children would send small wooden boats to the boulder, and a single drink of wine would be sent back.
Waley explained the prevailing attitude towards Yuan Jie’s verse that his “subjects were always original” but his poems “seldom worth quoting”. No wisdom is espoused, no ethic or profound sentiment is expressed. What we find is simply a man’s musical illustration of the place that made him happiest of all. We hope you enjoy this week’s poem as much as we did.
Stone Fish Lake by Yuan Jie
I loved you dearly, Stone Fish Lake,
With your rock-island shaped like a swimming fish!
On the fish’s back is the Wine-cup Hollow
And round the fish,— the flowing waters of the Lake.
The boys on the shore sent little wooden ships.
Each made to carry a single cup of wine.
The island-drinkers emptied the liquor-boats
And set their sails and sent them back for more.
On the shores of the Lake were jutting slabs of rock
And under the rocks there flowed an icy stream.
Heated with wine to rinse our mouths and hands
In those cold waters was a joy beyond compare!
Of gold and jewels I have not any need;
For Caps and Coaches I do not care at all.
But I wish I could sit on the rocky banks of the Lake
For ever and ever staring at the Stone Fish.