31. Evening, Lodging at Xuyi Province
A poem by Wei Yingwu, translated by Hyun Woo Kim
Its sail lowered, moored at a berth of Huai,
The anchored ship is facing a lonely post.
Torrents and torrents of wind, raising waves;
Deeply, deeply sinks the sun into the evening.
People return, and the mountain village darkens;
Wild geese alight, and the reed bed whitens.
Alone at night, reminiscing of Qinguan,
A wayfarer, yet to fall asleep, listens to the bells.
「 夕次盱眙縣」
落帆逗淮鎮
停舫臨孤驛
浩浩風起波
冥冥日沈夕
人歸山郭暗
雁下蘆洲白
獨夜憶秦關
聽鐘未眠客
From Hyun Woo:
Today, I do not want to write a long commentary. This poem is my favorite piece by Wei Yingwu, and I am proud of my translation in all honesty. Thus, I ask you to just let it sink in. All the extra information you might need is that Huai is the name of a river and Qinguan refers to Changan, Wei Yingwu’s hometown. Oh, how yearny the heart of a wayfarer can get…
If you enjoyed my work, you can buy me a cup of tea. I am not a coffee person, by the way.
Wow! This poem is so strong, so acutely evocative of sea fairing life. As I read, I grew tearful and I cried for a moment. My dad is a merchant marine: he spent half of his life out at sea on a great big cargo ship landing from port to port across SE Asia, though mostly he was painfully alone on the ship in midst of the pacific. He’d go away for six to nine months at a time to live at sea, with the typhoons and a solidarity existence. Your translation feels so distinctly familiar to me, it reminds me the stories of being at sea that I grew up with. The sea fairer’s isolation, their loneliness, their 2nd life away from home. This is a heartbreaking poem. Thank you for sharing your vivid and emotional translation. I could feel each powerful word pull softly at my heartstrings. Beautiful work.
Great translation and thank you for highlighting this poet. Great poem