Youth of Wu-ling

in typhoon season, fish crowd into bus aisles
my blood flows into the Yellow River
it is a cold river; it needs a trickle of alcohol
my genealogy floats in my glass
Hey! another glass of wine

the Sui tribe lives in my wrath, and Da Yu is in my tears
Zhuo-lu beats in my ears
a legendary grandfather shot down nine suns
the name of an uncle struck fear in the Khan
Can you hear it? a bottle of wine

the Golden Fleece hangs from the yellow-rimmed kitchen window
nothing left of the Horse of Many Colors but arthritis
no more weekend rendezvous on the West Gate Road
so I incubate a chivalrous novel under my pillow
hey waiter, another bottle of wine

a biting wind can cause delusions of heroism
a ribbit of a cough grows into a wolf's howl
ribs ring on the insane asylum's iron fence
a tornado is ripped from the lungs
No matter, I need at least three more glasses!

worshipful specters await the last bus
Raincoat! Where's my raincoat?
insomnia waits for me on six-layered tatami
waits for me to cross six unlighted streets
I don't want to get up! I'm not drunk!

- Yu Guang-zhong

五陵少年

台风季，巴士峡的水族很拥挤
我的血系中有一条黄河的支流
黄河太冷 需要渗大量的酒精
浮动在杯底的是我的家谱
喂！ 再来杯高梁

我的怒中有燧人氏 泪中有大禹
我的耳中有涿鹿的鼓声
传说祖父射落了九支太阳
有一位叔叔的名字能吓退单于
听见没有？ 来一瓶高粱

千金裘在拍黄行的橱窗挂著
当掉五花马只剩下关节炎
再没有周末在西门町等我
於是枕头下孵一窝武侠小说
来一瓶高梁哪，店小二

重伤风能造成英雄的幻觉
当咳嗽从蛙鸣进步到狼嗥
肋骨摇响疯人院的铁栅
一阵龙卷风便自肺中拔起
没关系，我起码再三杯！
　
末班巴士的幽灵在作祟
雨衣！我的雨衣呢？
六席的榻榻米上，失眠在等我
等我闯六条无灯的长街
不要扶，我没醉！

- 余光中

Spiderweb

Twilight is a crafty spider
stealing across the water to strike.
Rising and falling on soft, redundant legs -
leaving no trace on the tranquil sea.
We don't know where it will come ashore,
until, with but a backward glance,
you and I are suddenly seized -
caught in the endless gray web.

- Yu Guang-zhong

蛛网

暮色是一只诡异的蜘蛛
蹑水而来袭
复足暗暗地起落
平静的海面却不见踪迹
也不知要向何处登陆
只知道一回顾
你我都已被擒
落进它吐不完的灰网里去了

-余光中

A Star's Burial

Shallow blue evening spills over the sill - summer is overfull.
Firefly lanterns dream away
of Tang palaces, of being chased by delicate fans.

A dream of another summer night, a star's burial.
A dream of a flashing stroke and destruction -
of your surprise, my recognition, and a pale, confounded moment.

- Yu Guang-zhong

星之葬

浅蓝色的夜溢进窗来，夏斟得太满
萤火虫的小宫灯做着梦
梦见唐宫，梦见追逐的轻罗小扇
　
梦见另一个夏夜，一颗星的葬礼
梦见一闪光的伸延与消灭
以及你的惊呼，我的回顾，和片刻的愀然无语

-余光中

First Post!

Hi! Welcome to my blog!

Ever since my middle-school days, when my brother showed me "A Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I have loved poetry. That is one of the reasons I decided to major in English Literature when I first came to BYU in 2002. Then, in 2004, God sent me to Taiwan to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the (Mandarin) Chinese language.

That said, now that I am a poetaster and aspiring professional translator, I think it only natural to start a blog of translated Chinese poems to help Westerners appreciate the succinct beauty of the Chinese language a little more than they do.

When I was visiting Zhong Shan University in Gaoxiong, I met a certain fellow named Yu Guang-zhong. At the time, I had no idea I was speaking to a very renowned and respected poet, and I'm sure he was at least a little annoyed about our complete ignorance in regards to who he was.

At any rate, I feel compelled to use one of Mr. Yu's poems as my first translated text here. Enjoy!

大家好！欢迎来我的博克！

我在中学的时候，我哥哥把亨利·沃茲沃思·朗費羅写的一首“生活诗篇”给我看。从那天一直到现在，我都喜爱看诗。因此，我2002年来杨百翰大学读书时，我决定了要主修英文文学。然后，我2004年收到天父的召唤去台湾传播福音。

因为我现在是外行诗人和专业翻译员，写中文诗篇博克是自然的。这样，希望我可以帮助西方人多一点享受中文的简洁美丽。

当我拜访高雄的中山大学时，我碰到一位姓余的男生。当时，我不晓得跟我讲话的是一位很有名很受人尊敬的诗人。他就是余光中。我猜他觉得我们对他这样完全无知至少有一点恼火。

因此，我觉得在我博克的第一次帖子里，翻译余先生的一首诗才好。希望大家会喜欢！


My Solidification

In this place, in this international cocktail,
I remain a chunk of ice that refuses to melt:
I maintain a subzero coldness
and the hardness of a solid.

I too was once very fluid.
I too loved to flow, and boiled easily.
I would slide down rainbows.

But China's sun is too far from me.
I have crystallized; I am transparent, hard,
and unable to return to the spring.

- Yu Guang-zhong

我之固体化

在此地，在国际的鸡尾酒里，
我仍是一块拒绝溶化的冰——
常保持零下的冷
和固体的硬度。

我本来也是很液体的
也很爱流动，很容易沸腾，
很爱玩虹的滑梯。

但中国的太阳距我太远
我结晶了，透明且硬，
且无法自动还原。

- 余光中