Translation of Takasugi's "Drunk" Poem (Second Draft)

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(1)酌酒高樓夜氣清　(2)醉闌興足既三更
(3)美人遠在海東上　(4)一曲絃聲促舊情
　　　　　　　　　　　　　(5)東洋一狂生東行醉筆

Translation

(1)Drinking in the tower, the night air is clear;
(2)Intoxication fading, satisfiably entertained, already it is past midnight.
(3)A beautiful woman far away upon the eastern coast --
(4)A single plucked note draws close old feelings.

(5)Penned while drunk by Tougyou, the Wild One of Japan


Notes

This poem is also written in the Chinese style. Unlike the prison poem, however, this one is a seven character quatrain. It also RHYMES. (In Chinese. AABA.) XD

Tentative translation of the notes located here:

Shinagawa Yajirou's (note: Fellow student of Yoshida Shoin. Later became a Meiji politician.) note [of authentication written on a box containing an art work] states that Takasugi wrote this poem on a square paper lantern at the house of a rice dealer named Kashichi, near the ship wholesale warehouse in Mitajiri. Takasugi's characteristic vivid style shows clearly through his drunken words.

Previously I worded my translation so that it read smoother. But I've decided to (try to) keep the somewhat fragmented feel of the Chinese, the sense that he was just drunkenly jotting this down. (This poem makes me giggle madly.)

(2) 三 = three, 更 = one of five periods of two hours each between 7 pm and 5 am (7-9, 9-11, 11-1, 1-3, 3-5). Ancient way of keeping time. Therefore he is referring to the third period, around 11 pm to 1 am. So the best modernized/English translation I thought would be "past midnight." (Note: 三更半夜 is a commonly used phrase that basically translates to the same thing, usually used in context of "Do you know how LATE it is?" XD)

(3) Unsure of what 海東上 refers to, although I reasoned it to be an "eastern coast." Somewhere.

(4) Literally goes something like: One tune, the sound of a string (being plucked), draws close old feelings.

(5) Straightforward. (Though untranslated it is far less wordy and imo more amusing.) 東洋 usually means Orient, but I believe also refers specifically to Japan. I don't think it really makes that big of a difference though. And as mentioned previously, Tougyou was Takasugi's favorite alias.



SOURCES:

- http://ddb.libnet.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/exhibit/ishin/ (in Japanese)
- My handy dandy Chinese dictionary, Lin Yutang's Chinese-English dictionary, Babelfish and @nifty (for translating notes), and Jim Breen's online Japanese-English dictionary.

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*fangirls*

As before, suggestions appreciated (doesn't have to be regarding the translations; suggestions regarding wording are very welcome also). Blabby, very rough original draft is located somewhere at squidboyno2

Wracking my head over the second line especially; also still tweaking the other poem too.

And does anyone know where Mitajiri is? *scratches head* (I'd like to have a better idea of where to place this in my mental timeline.)

Mitajiri... I think:
http://www.kobe-kaibouken.or.jp/web/eng/portinfo/mitajiri.pdf
http://www.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/gyosei/kowan/ports/ports_07mitajiri.htm (need to run this through translator tomorrow -- quickly skimming the timeline, it seems that in the Edo period Mitajiri was used as a base for Choshu's naval forces... and that the three main industries, i.e. "Mori's Three White Policies" were rice, salt, and paper.)
http://shofu.pref.ishikawa.jp/shofu/kitamae_e/kikou/yamaguti/yamaguti_2.htm (the rest of this site is also worth a read)

"In the 260 years of the Edo era, the Mitajiri Salt Farm and the Ako Salt Farm were the two largest producers of salt in the Japan's salt industry. After the great Mitajiri field cultivations in 1669 (Year 12 - Geroku Era), the leading salt field of what is now known as Yamaguchi prefecture was born. Since then, Mitajiri's market stretched all the way to Hokuriku and Hokkaido, until they were discontinued in 1959 (Year 34 - Showa era). This park is a restoration of the salt field on the coast that was built to show future generations the hardships of salt producing. Visitors can see and experience the process of salt making firsthand."
- from a cached site that seems to be dead. (Choshu = present-day Yamaguchi prefecture)