River of Wenlan

■Li Menglun

March, in the breeze and chirping,

The sky so blue and the clouds so white, birds are whispering;

Out and beyond the horizon is the River of Wenlan flowing,

Flowing above the soaring clouds and hills.

Ti's from an endless stream of dreams,

Through the boundless chaotic land and the South Seas.

It flows over the vast sky and the majestic land,

Flowing with the rays of Nietzsche’s Sun,

Flowing with the reflections of Li Bai’s Moon,

Flowing with the ripples of Lao Tzu’s World,

Flowing with the currents of Zhuangzi’s Water,

Flowing with the peace of people’s restful mind,

Flowing with the chorus of frogs in the field,

Flowing with the wisps of cooking smoke in villages,

And it flows into the tales of life.

Drifts of wind, drops of rain, and bundles of flowers,

Maple leaves, and every grass,

All twinkle in the river with the green dewy caress,

Savoring from the water the rays of sun so bright,

Nourishing with the freedom of breath in light.

Village trickles of smoke so filled with life

Brings a glimpse into the long Lingao history.

The Tsubaki tree better than any word tells the stories,

Endless stories over thousands of years.

Old Wenlan River brings life into the future:

Once upon the sides of the river lived our father;

Once upon the tides of the water lived our mother.

Life on this land evolves into legends,

By and far beyond the Wenlan River.

Each and every drop of Wenlan is life of water.

In this very cradle I grew up amongst the whistling tides,

Along with the fish and the birds.

My dream stretches to where Kilin lives,

Over the waves and the sails,

Above the rising sun and in the fishermen’s tales.

Here comes March, not with you;

Only the Wenlan River forever flows.

A willow twig I picked by the flowing river,

To brush away the gentle bubbles of the water.

Tumbling hills to the west and rooted lands to the east,

And the Gate of Heaven into the far distant,

Are the paradise for the people, the cattle and the sheep.

The moon is getting older with the flow of the water;

The water is growing younger despite the flow of the river.

Falling into thought along with the lotus upon the tides,

I feel with Taiyi the wind, the rain, the sun and the moon,

Hearing the stories of those to be told,

Much sweeter stories than the clouds and the birds.

Here marks the flaps of the Phoenix and the steps of Dayu;

Here the Wonder Rice Plant thrives;

Here is left Nuwa’s colored stones;

Here is a station on Chang'e's flight to the moon.

By the river the sun nourishes the beauty for poetic lines;

By the river the moon breathes the life into poems;

With each river tide blossoms the charm of simple words.

With each wind, each raindrop and every inch of the ground,

With each breathing cattle and sheep on this land,

And with rosy cheeks of girls brought up by the tides,

Ignites the flaring hope bestowing the greens so wide.

Here comes the March, not with you;

Only the Wenlan River forever flows.

This season of blossoms under the vast sky,

Babies were born with each drop of the tides,

And in the sun they grow up healthy and strong.

The sun stands witness to mothers’ loving arms they ride;

The boundless land stand by as the new life strives on.

Dancing along with Chang’e to the fine music,

Enjoying the endless beauty of fishermen’s Lilimei songs,

Magpies circling and swallows flapping round and round,

Everyone and everything is singing for the Wenlan ground.

Where there is water, there blooms life;

With each turning season, out flows endless tides.

Every drop of water signifies a bloom of life;

Every drop of water creates a blossom of youth;

Every drop of water embodies the brilliance of the sun,

Seeing off the dark and lighting up the sky.

Oh, Wenlan River, it is the River of the east land;

It breathes with vibrant life of Lingao, my motherland,

Flowing into the dawn and the sun so round,

Flowing deep into the land far and sound.

Li Menglun，Born in 1974, Mr. Li Menglun is one of the leading poets in contemporary Chinese poetry. In a career spanning some thirty years, he has written more than 50 books of his Collected Poems and other poems published in Poetry Journal, People’s Literature, Tian Yan and Forest of Poetry, dozens of the poems were collected in over 50 annals, collected poems and books. Mr. Li Menglun is currently the President of the Poetry Institute of Hainan, the Executive Vice President of Hainan Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Vice President of Hainan Musicians Association, Council Member of Hainan Writers Association and Hainan Calligraphers Association, Member of China Writers Association, Hainan Artists Association, and Hainan Musicians Association. He has received dozens of prizes, including the Poet of the Year 1994, Hainan Literature Award (2014-2015), Nanhai Artists Award (2021), etc; his poems were translated and published overseas in English, Korean and Vietnamese. 

Translator，Dr. Han Dawei received his Ph.D. in English Language and Linguistics from Northeast Normal University, China. He is currently the professor of linguistics in School of International Education, Hainan College of Economics and Business, China. His expertise includes cognitive linguistics and translation studies.  He served as the Chinese Director at the University of Toledo (USA) and a visiting scholar at the University of Otago (NZ). He is the author of one monograph, three translated books and scores of refereed journal articles.

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