GR translation: Though thy Glass today be run

[Mike Jing]

Thanks, János.  Your explanation and recommendation are much appreciated.
As been mentioned several times before, I do try to be as literal as
possible, but sometimes if you are too literal, it would not make any sense
at all in Chinese. An extra challenge here is that there is no
capitalization in Chinese, so the "Hand" would be just a "hand", which
would lose much of its significance. Something has to be done about that.

By the way, the published Chinese translation treated the "Glass" as a
drinking glass, which is probably not the intended meaning, literal or not.



On Fri, May 13, 2016 at 7:19 AM, János Széky <miksaapja at gmail.com> wrote:

> 1. Yes, it's the Hand of God Almighty.
> 2. Although God is Almighty, you, personally, may (and surely will) die
> before He can turn the time.
> I don't remember where I read an analysis that said the logic derails from
> the third line. A recommend translating the poem literally.
>
> And congratulations!
>
> 2016-05-13 12:04 GMT+02:00 Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>:
>
>>
>>    - Elegy
>>
>> Tichborne's *Elegy* (his rhyming, final soliloquy
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soliloquy> poem [10]
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chidiock_Tichborne#cite_note-10> ), uses
>> two favorite Renaissance figures of speech - antithesis
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antithesis> and paradox
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox> - to crystallize the tragedy of
>> the poet's situation.Antithesis
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antithesis> means setting opposites
>> against each other: prime of youth / frost of cares (from the first line).
>> This is typical of Renaissance poetry, as for example in Wyatt's "I find no
>> peace, and all my war is done", with the lover freezing/burning. We also
>> see it in the poem by Elizabeth I, "I grieve and dare not show my
>> discontent", e.g., "I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned."A paradox
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox> is a statement which seems
>> self-contradictory, yet is true, e.g., "My tale is heard, and yet it was
>> not told", or "My glass is full, and now my glass is run."Often a
>> Renaissance poem will begin with antithesis to establish circumstances and
>> reveal its themes through paradox..
>>
>> The *Elegy* is remarkable for being written almost entirely in
>> monosyllables <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllables> (every word in
>> the poem is of one syllable, with ten words in each line
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_(poetry)>, Monostich
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monostich> style), with the possible
>> exception of the word "fallen". However, in early editions it was written
>> as "fall'n" which is monosyllabic
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllables>.[11]
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chidiock_Tichborne#cite_note-11>
>>
>> The *Elegy* has inspired many *homages* and 'answers' including those by
>> Jonathon Robin at allpoetry.com ; a rap version by David A More at
>> www.marlovian.com ; *After Reading Tichborne's Elegy* by Dick Allen
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Allen_(poet)> (2003) and an
>> affecting reworking by Nick Montfort
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Montfort> called Tichborne's
>> Lexicon, which is an alphabetical list of the words in the Elegy (
>> http://nickm.com/poems/#riddles). The *Elegy* has also been set to music
>> many times from the Elizabethan era to the present day by, among others,
>> Michael East, Richard Alison (fl1580-1610, in *An Hour's Recreation in
>> musicke*, 1606), John Mundy
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mundy_(composer)> (1592) and Charles-François
>> Gounod <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Fran%C3%A7ois_Gounod> (1873)
>> and more recently Norman Dello Joio (1949) and Jim Clark (see [1]
>> <http://wn.com/Tichborne's_Elegy_Poem_animation>).
>>
>> On Fri, May 13, 2016 at 5:02 AM, Jochen Stremmel <jstremmel at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm surely not the only one on the list to know this great poem:
>>>
>>> My prime of youth, is but a frost of Cares,
>>> My feast of joy, is but a dish of pain,
>>> My Crop of Corn is but a field of tares,
>>> And all my good is but vain hope of gain:
>>>     The day is past, and yet I saw no Sun,
>>>     And now I live, and now my life is done.
>>>
>>> The Spring is past, and yet it hath not sprung;
>>> The fruit is dead, and yet the leaves are green:
>>> My youth is gone, and yet I am but young:
>>> I saw the world, and yet I was not seen.
>>>     My thread is cut, and yet it is not spun:
>>>     And now I live, and now my life is done.
>>>
>>> I sought my death, and found it in my womb,
>>> I look'd for life, and saw it was a shade:
>>> I trod the earth, and knew it was my tomb,
>>> And now I die, and now I am but made.
>>>     The glass is full, and now my glass is run,
>>>     And now I live, and now my life is done.
>>>
>>> I wonder if you have to be not a native speaker to recognize what it
>>> makes so special.
>>>
>>> 2016-05-13 9:22 GMT+02:00 Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>:
>>>
>>>> V760.28-35, P776.1-8
>>>> There is a Hand to turn the time,
>>>> Though thy Glass today be run,
>>>> Till the Light that hath brought the Towers low
>>>> Find the last poor Pret’rite one . . .
>>>> Till the Riders sleep by ev’ry road,
>>>> All through our crippl’d Zone,
>>>> With a face on ev’ry mountainside,
>>>> And a Soul in ev’ry stone. . . .
>>>>
>>>> I assume the "Glass" means hourglass, is that correct?
>>>>
>>>> Also, is the "Hand" the Hand of God?  And what exactly is the sense of
>>>> "Though" here?
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
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