Chen-ou Liu's Translation Project: First English-Chinese Haiku and Tanka Blog

Friday, May 20, 2016

Selected Tanka Sequence: Tomorrow, When Will You Appear?

English Original

as silent and firm
as the rocks
I pine for you ...
the sun sets
but not my shadow

in the glow of sunset
the shadow and I
are companions:
I dream of his life
he longs for my heartbeat

raising the wine cup
you used to drink
I entice the moon
for her, with my shadow,
will make a party of three

Chinese Translation

明日幾時有?

沈默堅立
如同岩石
我渴望妳…
太陽已西下
我的影子佇立不動

在落日光輝中
我和我的影子
是同伴:
我夢想他的生活
他渴望我的心跳

舉起
你常用的酒杯
我邀請明月
她,我的影子
和我三人成為好友

Atlas Poetica, 7, Autumn 2010