Eighth Post!

[hoisinsauce]

It's one thing if mankind is hunted to extinction by ChatGPT, but I really do object to being executed by Bing.

(https://secretfanspace.dreamwidth.org/2511.html?thread=3169743#cmt3169743 )

Welcome back! Fandom chat, misc creativity, internet weirdness, books, films, anything! Tell meme about it so we can get to the next post title!

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Comments

Re: Poetry - Longing for Home (乡愁) by Yu Guangzhong (余光中)

[(Anonymous)]

小时候
when i was little
乡愁是一枚小小的邮票
longing was a tiny postage stamp
我在这头
i was on this side
母亲在那头
my mother, on the other.
长大后
when i grew up
乡愁是一张窄窄的船票
longing was a narrow boat ticket
我在这头
i was on this side
新娘在那头
my bride, on the other.
后来啊
later on
乡愁是一方矮矮的坟墓
longing was a low gravestone
我在外头
i was outside
母亲在里头
my mother, inside.
而现在
and now
乡愁是一湾浅浅的海峡
longing is a shallow strait
我在这头
i am on this side.
大陆在那头
the mainland, on the other.

Not exactly subtle, right? This poem was written in 1972, twenty-three years after the KMT retreated to Taiwan and effectively ended relationships between the two governments. Like many from his generation, Yu Guangzhong still hoped for reconciliation.

Re: Poetry - Longing for Home (乡愁) by Yu Guangzhong (余光中)

[(Anonymous)]

The title of this poem is more commonly translated as 'nostalgia,' but that didn't sit quite well with me. 乡 means 'hometown' in this context, so it's more 'homesickness' - but that's also a long and ugly word, so 'longing' it was.

I really like the repetition in this poem. Aside from the 'this side / other side' repetition, each section follows this pattern:

乡愁 / 是 / 一枚 / 小小 / 的 / 邮票
homesickness / is / one (measure word) / tiny tiny (repeated for emphasis) / adj. connector / postage stamp

English doesn't really have measure words, but Chinese does. You use different measure words depending on the shape and use of what you're measuring, so it almost makes it easier to visualize each item. The postage stamp is small and flat (枚). The boat ticket is thin and paper-like (张). The gravestone is square (方). The strait is like a bend in a river (湾).