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sloatsj's review
4.0
I love Merwin’s poetry and his translations. He is so deeply invested in poetry. His voice is singular.
This is a book of old Asian poems that he had help rendering into English. The best part of the book is the ‘Asian Figures’ section, a collection of short epigrams/sayings/aphorisms from different countries. They are striking and memorable and often funny.
Says yes
when nobody asked (Laos)
If you can’t smile
don’t open a shop (China)
If it’s good
hurry (Japan)
Wake up
as much as you can (Japan)
This is a book of old Asian poems that he had help rendering into English. The best part of the book is the ‘Asian Figures’ section, a collection of short epigrams/sayings/aphorisms from different countries. They are striking and memorable and often funny.
Says yes
when nobody asked (Laos)
If you can’t smile
don’t open a shop (China)
If it’s good
hurry (Japan)
Wake up
as much as you can (Japan)
smm231's review
4.0
These probably aren't technically translations - Merwin doesn't know the languages involved, so he either worked with people who did or consulted former translations. Why I'm OK with him doing that but am decidedly not with Stephen Mitchell, I'm not entirely sure. Most likely it's because Merwin has a poet's voice and Mitchell doesn't. That voice makes these interesting, even if I can't tell whether it's just Merwin or it's in the poems themselves. Either way, it's worth reading.
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