解手

就是把揣在衣兜里的手
解脱出来。把忙于数钱的手
解脱出来。把写抒情诗的手
解脱出来。把给上级递烟的手
解脱出来。把高举旗帜的手
解脱出来。把热烈鼓掌的手
解脱出来
把举手表决的手解脱出来
把举手选举的手解脱出来
把举手宣誓的手解脱出来
把举手投降的手解脱出来

THERESA MUNFORD (Trans.)

Relief

It is, in fact, about letting go that hand
That hand tucked in your pocket,
Letting go
That hand busy counting change,
Letting go
That hand scribbling feelings into verse
Letting go
That hand offering a cigarette to a superior
Letting go,
those hands clapping madly
Letting go.
Dropping it
That hand raised to vote
Dropping it
That hand raised to elect someone
Dropping it,
That hand raised to swear an oath
Dropping it,
That hand raised in surrender.


WILLIAM WALLIS (Trans.)

Getting it out

just gotta get that balled-up hand
out of my pocket. get that money-counting hand
out of there. get that poetry-writing hand
out of there. get that cigarette-offering hand
out of there. get that banner-raising hand
out of there. get that noise-making hand
out of there
get that ‘show of hands’ hand out of there
get that ‘let’s take a vote’ hand out of there
get that ‘I solemnly swear’ hand out of there
get that ‘don’t shoot’ hand out of there


I chose the poem by Xu Xiangchou for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Xu is a representative of the ‘Low Poetry’ (di shige) movement in China, which since the early 2000s has attempted to move modern Chinese poetry away from its lofty ‘high culture’ aspirations towards a much earthier philosophy of ‘worshipping the low’ – often expressed in an embrace of the dirty side of human existence, as can be seen in the play on words featured in this poem (Jieshou means to relieve oneself or go to the toilet, which echoes the theme of release found throughout the poem). Some people think this kind of colloquial, rough and ready writing does not deserve the title of ‘poetry’ at all, but for me and many others it marks a welcome change from the linguistically more complex and, some may suggest, slightly pretentious tendencies in much contemporary poetic writing. Secondly, there is a common assumption that poetry that is easy to read and understand is equally easy to translate – and I think this particular poem proves that is far from being the case! Sometimes what appears to be the simplest kind of writing can pose the greatest challenge to translators, as the elusive ‘poetic quality’ present in the original may be hard to capture when converting simple phrases into another language; the kind of linguistic wordplay and use of repetitive phrasing that feature in poems like this one by Xu Xiangchou also do not always transfer easily.
                                                                                                                                         – Heather Inwood