Accidentally
Xu Zhimo (Hsü Chih-mo) (1897-1931) 1

 

 

I am a slice of cloud within the sky

accidentally reflecting at your heart in the water

     Don't be too surprised

     Better yet, don't even be too happy

Flicker away instantly without trace of shadow

 

You and I—we meet at the black night ocean

You go your way, I go mine

     If you remember, it's all good

     But it's best to forget

This encounter, our shedding each other our shining light

May 1926

 

translated by Ken Chen

 

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1 Prominent modernist Xu Zhumo founded the Crescent Society and sought to move Chinese poetry away from classical verse forms and towards vernacular and Western models. He was also a party animal, writing, “The central meaning of life lies in subjecting one's soul to endless adventures.” Xu was educated at Beijing, Columbia, and Cambridge and influenced by Hardy, Swinburne, Rossetti and Tagore. Appropriately for an admirer of Keats, Xu died in a plane crash in his early thirties.

 

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