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Melanie Bettinelli's avatar

which is longer

the flowing of the river

or my missing of you?

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Hyun Woo Kim's avatar

A wonderful translation! Thank you.

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Timothy's avatar

Thank you for helping by further translating the last line: ‘will the river flow longer than how long I will miss you?’

We have all had to leave others behind, and for various reasons. We hold their memories, for different lengths of time, depending perhaps on how much they impacted our lives and how much we love them. A lovely poem.

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Hyun Woo Kim's avatar

I remember the email from you. You must know what it feels like.

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Travel the Seven Seas's avatar

"Li Bai spent some time in Nanjing, the cultural capital of South China ". Hyun Woo, thank you for your high regard for my hometown. Judging by the number of famous poems he wrote about Nanjing, I believe that's Li Bai's sentiment, too. He visited Nanjing at least thrice, each visit lasting months to years.

To learn more about Nanjing, I recommend reading my historical/multicultural novel, The Moon Goddess's Smile, which debuts on Amazon on April 19th. It portrays a resilient family from Nanjing that survived a tumultuous century, spanning the Republic era, the Nanjing massacre, the Japanese occupation, the civil war, the Cultural Revolution, and the economic reforms in the recent decades. It has received five-star reviews from Independent Book Review and Reader's Favorite.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2NTB3J7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22PVLV4M4PJUS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.YG2-6x55cD9oxGJ-pNGcGk3Zofi-2XsTN-q5oPsWAFUYtItI4q2IBvwx-YGepcMjJ4lOEipUbXK08y8uP5p83uRlKr946sFbFT8ZgOqs13vAQciBH1pHB486PHNiht8TIZKJ0G9KfIHrXgpiQo3NKaoFraD-8d-AFVXsnK9087pI-GstNacU5WfPOQTrMKV6jvNJRVj-hSLbyOWW7pJKYOQ5WC0r8_7pxyawkgQhAUs.38xFYIpB_QDQnUVTzEZvh8zN1_JdXcW2waM_cRlLiQ0&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+moon+goddess%27s+smile&qid=1743112599&s=books&sprefix=the+moon+goddess%27s+smile%2Cstripbooks%2C96&sr=1-1

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Hyun Woo Kim's avatar

How come I'm seeing this comment now! I'll check out. Thank you for letting me know.

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Travel the Seven Seas's avatar

Thanks, Hyun Kim! I can send you a copy if you like. Also, best wishes in publishing your novel!

Catherine

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Larisa Rimerman's avatar

You are so good at translating from Chinese to English, meaning that you are a polyglot, knowing so many languages, including Russian, so far away language from your languages. Unbelievable. Thank you.

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Hyun Woo Kim's avatar

Thank you so much! My Russian still has a long way to go, though.

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Chen Rafaeli's avatar

how all these places flow into each other

a lot like people

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Hyun Woo Kim's avatar

Maybe poetry is about the similarities of all beings.

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Chen Rafaeli's avatar

Maybe. Maybe all art is -and everything that elevates to art

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Poetry Lab Shanghai 诗验室's avatar

understand you're trying to maintain the length of the penultimate line, but "试” and “问” are not to be separated in this case hence there should be no meaning of "test"...

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