My feeling of "Jonathan Livingstone Seagull" in poetry and photography 感自「天地一沙鷗」之詩與圖

【Photo Inspiration】
《My feeling of "Jonathan Livingstone Seagull" in poetry and photography》:

《Letter of Sentiment in a Night Journey》
 by TU Fu, Tang Dynasty /
Translated by Peter Bok

Riverside grass swing in breeze so light,
A lonely mast dashes high in a lonely night.
The wide field shines with stars dangling low,
The river reflects the moon on the gorgeous flow.
Will literary works bring a man with fame
Being old and ill makes retirement an official game?
What am I like, drifting on so free?
A seagull roaming nowhere on the earth and sea.

When I took photographs of these flying geese, their beautiful forms of flight remind me of the "Jonathan Livingstone Seagull" the name of a best-seller book written by an American writer Richard Bach in 1970. It is the name of a seagull which tells the story how to lead an idealistic and meaningful life with hope and courage. The seagulls in the book were beautifully captured. I came across this story book in Hong Kong when Reader's Digest published its Chinese edition and thereafter made it a radio drama in the Commercial Radio Hong Kong. It was well received. The Chinese name of the book is really a masterpiece! Instead of interpreting the English name directly, the translator adapted the last line of  the poem "Letter of Sentiment on a Night Journey" written by TU Fu, a great poet in Tang Dynasty. It literally means "A Seagull in Heavens and Earth". The poem depicted poet's frustration and sentiment as a result of his forced retirement of a government official and in the following yeas as a refugee drifting for a shelter like a seagull in heavens and earth. I love this poetry although its content is different from the story of Richard's book. The brave will of being a drifting seagull is the same -- full of hope and courage. Here I attempted my English translated poetry to present my zeal of learning Chinese culture which interacts with my joy of studying the contemporary literature from the west. The art of photography is no exception though!
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Photo equipment:
Nikon D300s with GP-1 GPS
Nikon AF 17-55mm f/2.8
Nikon AF 80-200mm f/2.8
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【畫意書情】《感自「天地一沙鷗」之詩與圖》：

《旅夜書懷》杜甫 (唐朝）
細草微風岸，危檣獨夜舟。
星垂平野闊，月湧大江流。
名豈文章著，官因老病休。
飄飄何所似？天地一沙鷗。 

當我拍攝這些飛雁的照片，他們美妙的飛姿使我想起《天地一沙鷗》，這是美國作家李察•伯克在1970年寫成的一本暢銷書的名字。「喬納森•利文斯通」是一隻海鷗，通過牠的故事來表現希望和勇氣有助追求理想生活的好例子。書中的海鷗照片拍攝得很美。我在香港碰到這本書時，是讀者文摘剛出版的中文版，故事後來被改編成廣播劇在商業電台播放，大受歡迎。該書的中文名字是一絶！譯者放棄直接翻譯英文名字，卻採用了唐代偉大詩人杜甫「旅夜書懷」詩的最後一句：「天地一沙鷗」作為書名。此詩描繪了詩人被逼退官下放而感到無奈和傷感。在以後的日子裡，他的退休生活猶如海鷗漂泊天地，尋找容身之所。我喜歡這首詩，雖然內容與李察的小説不同，但海鷗堅強的意志卻一樣：充滿期盼與勇氣。現嘗試將杜詩英譯。我熱衷於中國文化，也享受與西方現代文學作互動硏習。當然，攝影藝術也不例外！

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#1.  Jonathan Livingstone Seagull
天地一沙鷗

#2.  What am I like, drifting on so free?
飄飄何所似？

#3.  The brave will of being a drifting seagull is the same -- hope and courage!
海鷗堅強的意志卻一樣：期盼與勇氣!

#4.  The beautiful forms of flight remind me of the courageous "Jonathan Livingstone Seagull".
美妙的飛姿使我想起勇敢的《天地一沙鷗》

#5.  Its story sets an example to lead a meaningful and idealistic life.
牠的故事是追求意義理想生活的好例子

#5.  Its story sets an example to lead a meaningful and idealistic life.
牠的故事是追求意義理想生活的好例子