On Love and Separation: Western vs. Eastern

While I am on the subject of love and poetry by western and eastern poets, here are two more poems that offer another kind of contrast. A week ago in a Fresh Air segment on NPR, I heard and was impressed by an unpublished poem Breakfast Song of Elizabeth Bishop. Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), the 1949 Poet Laureate of U.S., published less than a hundred poems in her lifetime. She is famous for her perfectionism and is extremely economical and precise with words. According to a Meghan O’Rourke 2006 article Casual Perfection, Robert Lowell, another great poet and her contemporary, once wrote to her: "Do/ you still hang your words in air, ten years/ unfinished, glued to your notice board, with gaps/ or empties for the unimaginable phrase—/ unerring muse who makes the casual perfect?” That explains why some were upset when publishers put out her unpublished or draft collections. But this particular love poem, written in 1964, in my opinion, is too beautiful to be left buried. The setup is “the morning after”; it is so intimate and tense on one hand but calm and casual at the same time. By the way, she was very shy and known to be a lesbian.

早餐 Breakfast Song

親愛的, 我的至愛, My love, my saving grace,
你的眼睛如此的藍. your eyes are awfully blue.
我親吻你有趣的臉頰,
I kiss your funny face,
和那帶咖啡味的嘴脣. your coffee-flavored mouth.

昨夜我與你共枕
Last night I slept with you.
今日我愛你如故
Today I love you so
又怎能離你而去
how can I bear to go
(雖然我日子已近)
(as soon I must, I know)
到那死氣沉沉
to bed with ugly death
冰冷的地方,
in that cold, filthy place,
沒有你
to sleep there without you,
緩緩的氣息,
without the easy breath
和我習慣
and nightlong, limblong warmth
徹夜肢體的溫暖.
I've grown accustomed to?

沒有人願意死,
- Nobody wants to die;
告訴我你騙我!
tell me it is a lie!
但,那是真的;
But no, I know it's true.
必然的,
It's just the common case;
無法避免的.
there's nothing one can do.
親愛的,我的至愛,
My love, my saving grace,
你的眼睛如此的藍
your eyes are awfully blue
清晨,瞬間的藍.
early and instant blue.

Half a century earlier in 1926 across the ocean in China, young and famous poet Xu Zhimo 徐志摩(1897-1931) wrote the poem Encounter 偶然. Xu Zhimo, leader of New Poetry and the Crescent Moon Society in early 20th century China, invented new poetic forms in Chinese vernacular and had huge and lasting influence on modern Chinese literature. He was well-known for his unrelenting (often considered overly carefree in those days) pursuit of love, freedom and beauty. The romantic elegance of his work is incomparable and serves a stunning contrast with those full of raw emotion and energy. Here is the poem with my English translation.

偶然 Encounter

我是天空裡的一片雲， I am a cloud in the sky,
偶爾投影在你的波心， By chance cast a shadow on your wavy heart.
你不必訝異更無須歡喜，
Don't wonder or joy;
在轉瞬間消滅了蹤影。 In a moment it vanishes without a trace.

你我相逢在黑夜的海上，
We met on the sea in the dark of the night,
你有你的，我有我的，方向；
You were on your way, I was on mine;
你記得也好，
Remember me if you will, yet
最好你忘掉，
better though, to forget
在這交會時互放的光亮。
the flare of our beaming light.

Given the popularity of this poem in China, there have been multiple attempts by composers to write music for it. Below are three most popular ones in progression of time, each is about one generation apart. The earliest one that we sang when I was kid is by Li WeiNing 李惟寧. The second one is composed by Chelsia Chan 陳秋霞 in 1970's and a 2006 performance by her can be seen here.

The most recent one is by Yiu-kwong Chung 鍾耀光 in 1990's. Enjoy and talk to you soon!