Poem

Xi Chuan

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Eternal Cypresses

Some day I will sleep forever without waking
Never again will I see the cypresses of the northern plains

These cypresses at their mysterious prayers
These black and dripping churches
These swallows perched stiffly on the rushes
These oil-lamps

One day I will sleep forever without waking
While the wind blowing through the iron branches of the cypresses
will remain in the heart of a corpse

© Translation: 2006, Tao Naikan and Tony Prince
From: Eight Contemporary Chinese Poets
Publisher: Wild Peony, Sydney, 2006

ETERNAL CYPRESSES

Xi Chuan

Xi Chuan

Xi Chuan (official name Liu Jun), poet, essayist, translator, was born in the City of Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, in 1963. He studied English literature at the Peking University from 1981 to 1985, and later worked as an editor for the magazine Huangqiu (Globe Monthly) for eight years. He was a visiting scholar to the International Writing Program of the University of Iowa, in 2002, and a visiting...

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Eternal Cypresses

Some day I will sleep forever without waking
Never again will I see the cypresses of the northern plains

These cypresses at their mysterious prayers
These black and dripping churches
These swallows perched stiffly on the rushes
These oil-lamps

One day I will sleep forever without waking
While the wind blowing through the iron branches of the cypresses
will remain in the heart of a corpse

© 2006, Tao Naikan and Tony Prince
From: Eight Contemporary Chinese Poets
Publisher: 2006, Wild Peony, Sydney

Eternal Cypresses

Some day I will sleep forever without waking
Never again will I see the cypresses of the northern plains

These cypresses at their mysterious prayers
These black and dripping churches
These swallows perched stiffly on the rushes
These oil-lamps

One day I will sleep forever without waking
While the wind blowing through the iron branches of the cypresses
will remain in the heart of a corpse

© 2006, Tao Naikan and Tony Prince
From: Eight Contemporary Chinese Poets
Publisher: 2006, Wild Peony, Sydney

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