poems from China

[OnyxCougar]

Originally posted by noodles
a word-for-word version goes something like this(the original a four-liner, each line with 7 characters, rhyme scheme:aaba):

first a phonetic transliteration, though:


sa shuang ying zi wu chi qiang
shu guang chu zhao yan bing chang
zhong hua er nu duo qi zhi
bu ai hong zhuang ai wu zhuang


literal version:

valiant/ heroic bearing/ five/ chi/ rifles
dawning light/ first/shine/(on )drill ground
Chinese/women/have many/unique/ambitions
not love red dress/(but)love martial garb


note:"chi", chinese equivalent of "foot."

Not that I speak Chinese or anything, but how do you translate


"not love red dress but love martial garb"

into

"To face the powder, and not powder the face."?

That's not even close to the same thing. It's not "translation", it's "changing the poem".