Yang Mu, "Start: Fourteen-line Poems for Ming-ming"
======================================================

.. post:: Mar 12, 2021
   :tags: poetry

One year ago today (March 13 Taiwan time), `Yang Mu <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Mu>`_, passed away. And just a couple of days before, I visited UC Berkeley, Yang's alma mater (PhD Comparative Literature, 1971), for the first time. Back then, I was struggling to decide which program to attend. After learning his death, I picked up his essay, "The Berkeley Spirit," and it was the turning point for me: "Knowledge can be power only when it’s freed and enters the society, the world we live in." [#]_  

While I'd been singing "in New York you can be a new man" since 2016, my "longing for something to be a part of" was evidently stronger, and it resonated with me on a deeper level. Admittedly I'm not exactly sure what the tradition, or traditions, to which Yang Mu belongs are exactly, but I am sure I want to be part of them, however tangential. A few days after his death, I decided to come to Berkeley. Of course, I considered quite a few other factors, most much more rational, but that's for another post elsewhere; in this blog, Dionysus rules. 

Enough backstory. To remember the poet, I'm presenting my translations---or, poetic interpretations, as I'd like to call them---of his work. My ideal is that I'll be doing this on this day every year, but who knows. This time, I'd like to share my rendering of his sonnet sequence, originally titled, "Chūfā:  Gěi Míng-míng de Shísìhángshī." It consists of fourteen fourteen-line poems, dedicated to his son, Ming-ming, newborn at the time of writing, March 1980. In them, we see the father's eager anticipation, his earnest care and wishes, all for his son.

In rendering any poem, I pay most attention to readability. This is not supposed to be a scholarly edition filled with footnotes, although interestingly I like to translate poems that normally require footnotes even in the original language. I abuse my license as a translator, or author, of some sort. I look to replicate the aesthetic experience through another language, preserving obscurities and allusions but also some interpretive space.  If you want more something more literal, closer to the original text, there are other translations (some mentioned below). I would also sincerely suggest you study the original language in which it was written.

With that said, in approaching the poem, it is useful to know to have a bit of idea of what poetry as a artistic medium is for Yang Mu himself. It's a difficult topic, and a lot has been said. I will just point you to his coda to *Someone* (1986), which I happen to have translated before:

:raw-html:`<blockquote class="multi">`

For poetry, we seek new modes of expression; its spirit, its intention, its cultural ambition,
its tenacious longing for artistic breakthrough at its core, and its social concern, the
way in which it harmonizes criticism and didacticism with poetic cadence and textual
referentiality---all that does not change with political reality and ideology.
Life of poetry renews as it evolves within itself; it has its own ebbs and flows, beginnings
and endings, for it has the capacity to engage, and to transcend. Indeed,
poetry is ever-new.

Poetry is persistence, not compromise.

|sep|

Poetry, or our organic life of culture as a whole, must be defined only through experimentation and breakthroughs, if it is to deserve of our unwavering persistence.

:raw-html:`</blockquote>`

Among other things, I will first point out that this form of the sequence here is worth particular attention. I'd say Yang Mu was inventing a different kind of sonnet for the contemporary lyrical tradition in world literature, and he made a conscious choice not to imitate the form on the superficial level---in terms of quatrains, metrical feet, and rhyme scheme, products of the Western tradition characterized by Petrarch, Shakespeare, etc. For Yang Mu, it seems to me, modernity oscillates between the old and new, the past and present, the classical and contemporary, the East and West, solipsism and collectivism.  In this light, in appropriating the otherwise foreign form of sonnet, Yang draws on the illocutionary affordance of the form: that it's inherently dialogic, passionate, and resistant to some tradition---which is strongly felt, at least by me, in the sequence below.

To be more specific, I am making this rather idiosyncratic choice: I choose "fourteen-line poems" in lieu of "sonnets" for the title. I argue that the form of the poems here is Yang Mu's own invention, so it follows that it is inappropriate to just call them "sonnets"---they are not, and, as we will see, they refuse to be part of the relevant tradition in Western literature. The "fourteen-line" seems apt also because in the classical Chinese tradition, forms are often named after its most characteristic number: the seven-character quatrain, say. It is my argument that "fourteen-line poem" more adequately conveys the poet's ambition: make it new, and bring disparate traditions together.

Another glaringly idiosyncratic choice I made is the other part of the title, which is different from the other two existing translations I can find. "Departure,"[#]_ it seems to me, is more about leaving someplace for another, with an inherent stress on the destination, not point of departure per se, which is not what the poems are about. "Embark,"[#]_ on the other hand, doesn't seem to be in the same register as *Chūfā*. I thought about "Starting from Here," but that's just too long. The other day it occurred to me that all my favorite episodes from *This Is Us* have a one-word title, and *Frasier*, which I've been re-watching, is another example of one-word title. They seem oddly powerful, clean, and crispy. So, I'm landing "Start" for the time being. And yes, the act of translating is decidedly personal for me.

I translated part of the sequence (I, II, VIII, XI, XIV) in 2019 for my reading group at Carnegie Mellon. The rest was done recently, and still subject to likely extensive revision in the future. In any event, here goes:

:raw-html:`<div class="literary-title">`

*From* The Coast with Seven Turns

Start |br|
(Fourteen-line Poems for Ming-ming)

:literary-attribution:`translated by Kent K. Chang`
:literary-attribution:`с любовью посвящается Ване`

:raw-html:`</div>`

I
---

After a little bit of wind and rain, bright sunshine |br|
wakes up clover, lichen, and ferns. We cross |br|
the lawn together, arms and shoulders linked, examining |br|
the damp wall that exudes the whif of an early spring. |br|
In the northwest corner we plant a Chinese holly |br|
and also fix the side gate with nails. And then |br|
a windy and rainy night pulls tight the prophetic strings |br|
on the magnificent ancient zither of our life, and |br|
opens up an expanse of solemnity and grandeur |br|
which is March, opulent. We lean on each other |br|
in the early morning chill, we wait in anticipation, |br|
listening attentively to the farthest rain clouds--- |br|
gradually gather, and dispense, above the sea: |br|
a dignified horn toot, a precise point on the drum. 

.. 一些些風雨之後，強大的
.. 日光照醒苜蓿，地丁，薇蕨
.. 我們相扶持走過草地，巡視
.. 潮濕的圍牆，發散著早春的
.. 氣味，往朝北朝西的方向
.. 移植一棵冬青，順手將角門
.. 釘牢。然後又是徹夜的風雨
.. 在我們生命巨大的古琴上
.. 拉緊預言的絃，張開一片恢弘
.. 嚴肅崇高，豐盈的三月天
.. 我們在凌晨的小寒中依偎
.. 互相期許等待，傾聽最遠處
.. 雨雲在海面漸漸聚集，分裂：
.. 莊嚴的號角聲，準確的鼓點

II
----

On that perfect day, we witness winter chill |br|
gradually yielding to the warmth of spring. |br|
A sonic boom at daybreak---on both sides of |br|
the long bridge---causes the vast, misty lake splash. |br|
When Life chooses that day, with extraordinary determination |br|
and the hefty resonance of boisterous thunder--- |br|
Life proclaims on that perfect day . . . |br|
After sunrise there is a brief flurry of snow, |br|
downpour thus cleanses the sober earth at noon. |br|
Mountains raise higher, rivers flow faster and faster, |br|
blue pines clamor and hurry in the wind, out of a sudden |br|
of a sudden, a flock of white birds flits over the sprouting |br|
prairie, flying hail knocks on the sea-facing window: |br|
You have arrived on the perfect day, the day of your choosing.

.. 在那個完整的日子裏，我們
.. 目睹冬寒節節向春暖讓步
.. 破曉爆炸的聲響，在長橋
.. 兩側，濺起廣大的湖水和煙
.. 當生命以超越的端毅，挾貫耳的
.. 萬鈞雷霆在那選擇了的日子
.. 那個完整的日子裏向我們宣示⋯⋯
.. 朝陽後迅速下過一場細雪
.. 豪雨乃在午間洗滌清醒的大地
.. 山脈升得更高，河流急急
.. 蒼松在狂風裏喧嘩催促，瞬息
.. 瞬息間，一群白鳥掠過萌芽的
.. 原野，飛雹敲打面海的大窗：
.. 你選擇了一個完整的日子來到

III
----

I hear the earth shaking like an olive leaf. |br|
As it experiences the gale of spring returning  |br|
to where it came from, Wave, in the guise of Time,  |br|
brings forth the past, the present, and the future |br|
in the boundless space---it's the sound that is real,  |br|
and beyond our sensations; I see this persistent light, |br|
like a flaming torch, like the seven bright stars,  |br|
like swordplay, like spark, like a pure and innocent |br|
mirror, like a beam from Nirvana, shining  |br|
on the palace rid of dust or moss--- |br|
the dazzle that is real, that is above all else,  |br|
to the east of the eastsouth, the north of northwest--- |br|
We hear, and we see, when Life presents itself |br| 
with the free, fearless sound and light.

.. 我聽到宇宙震動如橄欖葉
.. 當它感受歸來的春風，海浪
.. 在無限的空間裏以時間的
.. 面貌將過去，現在，未來
.. 雍容地延續——超越感官的
.. 真實的聲音；我看到天地間
.. 久久堅持的一份光明如爝火
.. 如北斗七星，如劍訣，如電
.. 如哲人無垢之鏡，一燈心傳
.. 長照除卻灰塵苔綠的寶殿
.. ——超越一切的，眞實的炫耀
.. 在東南之東，北西以北——
.. 我們聽見，看見，當生命
.. 以大無畏的聲音和光明呈現

IV
----

Facing the growing leaf bud, the rigid gesture of |br|
a huge tree, my door is left wide open.  |br|
A flock of birds is taking off from the grass--- |br|
they chirp after one another inside and outside |br|
the walls, and conquer the branches now adorned with |br| 
a touch of green---our eaves are now ringing. All |br|
flower buds are bursting, earlier than usual, |br|
shaking off the winter from last year. An earthworm just |br|
quickly turned over in the mud. A tiny moth is feeling |br|
anxious, crashing into a golden pupa with his growing |br|
wings; Classical and Romantic books keep fighting |br|
on the selves: How many poems to read aloud? What's |br|
the procedure? Starting with Chinese, or English?--- |br|
All welcoming their new little master with vociferous cries.

.. 面向萌發的葉芽，巨樹
.. 森嚴的手勢，我的大門洞開
.. 羣鳥從草地上躍然飛起
.. 啁啾相呼於牆裏牆外，搶據
.. 新綠的枝頭，叮噹搖響的
.. 簷角，所有的蓓蕾都提早
.. 迸裂去年的寒衣，蚯蚓
.. 在土壤裏迅速翻了一個身
.. 小蛾焦躁，頂撞著金色的蛹
.. 以他正成形的翅膀；古典的
.. 和浪漫的書在架子上爭持不下
.. 應該朗誦幾首詩？以甚麼程序
.. 進行？中文先呢還是英文？
.. 迎接他們啼聲宏亮的小主人

V
---

This is your kingdom, the realm of milk. Your first |br|
home is like a strawberry island. Thousand miles |br|
of stirring waves---do remember, home is |br|
that prosperous island, miles of stirring waves away. |br|
Imitate it, be billion times greater than it. Remember |br|
that south temperate zone, one of bananas and pineapples. |br|
Its west coast against the blue sky and ocean, the chain |br|
of majestic volcanos breaking through the ridges and |br|
peaks that mark the snow line. And all rivers are flowing  |br|
towards all directions, towards the boundless ocean, gazing, |br|
awaiting. This is exactly your kingdom, where we gather |br|
together, in the rainy, cool north temperate zone. I need |br|
you to know the latitude and altitude of your surroundings. |br|
Strawberries and milk. You'll start from here.

.. 這是你的王國，牛乳領域
.. 最初的家園譬如草莓小島
.. 風波萬里——牢記蓊鬱一片
.. 萬里風波外的才是鄉土
.. 模仿它，億萬倍廣闊偉大
.. 牢記香蕉鳳梨的南溫帶
.. 藍天大海的西涯，美麗的
.. 火山連鎖裏突破雪線的峯巒
.. 而所有河水都向四方奔流，齊赴
.. 仰望，等待的汪洋。這就是
.. 你的王國，是我們集結的
.. 營盤，在多雨微涼的北溫帶
.. 我要你認識這小院落的經緯
.. 草莓和牛乳。你從這裏出發

VI
---

We are more impatient than you are yourself. At noon |br|
we cannot take our eyes off you in the dandelion stroller. |br|
You look surprised, as if you are facing a mirror. |br|
We can somehow see your eyebrows. Your eyes are directed |br|
right at the sun, and have taken in all the skies. |br|
You have no idea where you are, but we do. At night |br|
it feels like I am opening a box of crayon, looking at you |br| 
conducting a great experiment of colors. Before the lamp, |br|
yellow and blue harmonize into the dashing green; red and black |br|
are pumping up each other, into the most profound and undying classics |br|
of Europe. I even let you tear up the seven colors of light |br|
on a mirror, just as you wish, and look at how you are confused |br| 
over the rather gloomy outcome, experience your true nature, and |br|
your mistake after you let your imaginations go wild---

.. 我們比你自己性急，中午
.. 凝視你在蒲公英的手推車上
.. 驚喜如對鏡，眉毛逐漸成型
.. 逼向日光的眸子聚滿遼闊的天
.. 你不知道你在何處，我們知道
.. 夜裏我彷彿打開一盒粉蠟筆
.. 看你進行偉大的顏色試驗
.. 在燈前，黃與藍調和為衝刺的
.. 新綠，紅與黑互相砥礪，構成
.. 歐洲最深刻，不朽的古典
.. 我甚至讓你肆意將光的七色
.. 揉碎在一面鏡子上，看你如何
.. 對著暗淡的後果納悶，體驗
.. 性情，一次放縱想像力的失誤

VII
---

And from one minor mistake, how you make sense of  |br|
that which is beyond our fantasy, how you use precise lines |br|
and colors, like for a small tree of life of the garden. |br| 
The beginning of the harvest season, the shallow sky, |br|
at twilight---drifting clouds and rainbows come closer |br|
as they move away, teasing those towers and castles |br|
and horses kicking up sand, and the flags of warriors--- |br|
all of a sudden all become a seven-stringed zither, a bamboo fan, |br| 
a cutter and a ruler, a swing, or, these dreamy beings |br|
that will prove to exist beyond our experience. And yet,  |br|
through our yard of falling petals, up there near |br|
the northern window, a military plane is flying straight |br|
from east to west without making any sound, breaking through |br|
the shadows of swings now dismissed. Let us listen attentively.

.. 並且自一次小小的失誤中
.. 領悟夢幻以外的經驗，準確的
.. 線條和顏色如東籬新栽的
.. 菊苗。小滿黃昏淺淺的天——
.. 雲霓忽遠忽近，在雨後搬弄
.. 一些樓臺和城堡，嘽嘽揚塵的
.. 馬匹，武士的旗幟——瞬息間
.. 化為古琴，團扇，刀尺，秋千
.. 或者這些將證實為經驗以外
.. 帶著夢幻色彩的現狀，然而
.. 透過落花的小院，北窗高處
.. 若無聲息一架軍機，筆直
.. 由西向東飛行，突破解散的
.. 秋千影，讓我們神馳傾聽


VIII
-----

[*Justice and social issues became a key theme in Yang Mu's writings later in his career, and the change is often associated with his change of penname from Yeh Shan to Yang Mu in 1972. VIII can be interpreted as alluding to the* :raw-html:`<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_Yi-hsiung"><i>Lin family massacre</i></a>` *that took place on February 27, 1980.*]

Beyond the seventh heaven, at the beginning |br|
and the end of the universe, is the sea of stars, forever |br|
glittering, stars we can relate to. So familiar are |br|
your voice and face, so familiar. |br|
A long time ago, in another time and age, we were one--- |br|
one form and one shadow traveled side by side, |br|
drifting beyond the seventh heaven of |br|
incomparable silence. We fight against--- |br|
with a will that will not be commemorated--- |br|
the earthly, foolish, futile laws and philosophical systems, |br|
challenge passionate authorities, with detachment, |br|
with a smile that cannot be interpreted or imitated. |br|
We once trudged across mountains and rivers, side by side, |br|
in search of earthly justice, righteousness, and compassion. [#]_

IX
---
　
You will recognize for sure, through fluffy, |br|
choral odes and praises, recognize the stage |br|
of characters and actions. Should it be possible, |br|
stay silent amongst cheers, use our rational mind |br|
to observe and to experience, look through this |br|
long, repetitive drama without showing any sign of compromise, |br|
forever and ever, and with arete, insist |br|
on the law of unity we have inherited---then you will recognize |br|
that, all space, time, and characters must be in unity, |br|
in harmony, like an oracle. The truth and the false |br|
will be distinguished, according to Nature---the Sun, |br|
the Moon, the stars, the mountains, the rivers--- |br|
according to the law and order afforded by the Universe. |br|
Other than that, we will allow and tolerate nothing.

.. 你必將認知，通過一些喧囂
.. 誇張的歌詠和頌讚，認知
.. 人物和事件的舞臺；倘若可能
.. 在歡呼聲中保持我們的沉默
.. 用理性的心靈去觀察體會
.. 逼視冗長，一再重複的戲劇
.. 帶著不妥協的眼光，永遠永遠
.. 卓越地，堅持我們傳承的三一律
.. 則你將認知，一切空間時間
.. 和角色都必須和諧統一如神諭
.. 事件的虛實可以辨別，根據
.. 大自然，日月星辰和山岳河川
.. 根據宇宙開闢的法則和秩序
.. 除此之外，一切都不必容許
　
X
---

Beyond the apple trees, the tardy summer sun is painting |br|
a picture of times that have passed. The wind blows, |br|
from the valley, from the home of salmons, and embraces |br|
the ocean---amid the stench of the taiga. We will explain  |br|
to you, how the ocean current flows, its gesture |br|
eternally aggressive and expansive---returning |br|
to one abstract, potent prime meridian, from the north |br|
of the North Pole, cutting perpendicularly southward |br|
into the icebergs of penguins. You will fly over |br|
this eternal abstraction and the potent feelings, and |br|
explore all along the kind and familiar Northern Tropic, |br|
moving along the axis of East and West--- |br|
to the most beautiful island of your life, with its ever rising |br|
temperature and humidity, and the saturated, dashing green.

.. 遲遲的夏陽在蘋果林外
.. 渲染歲月連綿，風從山谷
.. 從鮭魚的家鄉吹來，擁向
.. 大海，濃厚的針葉林的氣味
.. 我們將為你說明，一般的
.. 洋流方向，廣闊汹湧的姿勢
.. 亘古而然——歸向一條抽象
.. 威猛的子午線，由北極以北
.. 垂直向南切入企鵝的冰山
.. 你將飛越這永恆的抽象和威猛
.. 感受，且旋轉尋覓親切的
.. 北回歸，西東不斷的走向
.. 再上升的氣溫和濕度中，葱龍
.. 快綠，平生最美麗的島嶼

XI
---

The wind blows down the valley too, the river originates |br|
from primitive tranquility. Tattoos, humming cicadas--- |br|
that is our secret world, filled with the unreachable, |br|
and it cannot be portrayed with just a few crayons. |br|
A searing heat comes from the other end |br|
of my childhood; once frustrated and cooled |br|
in my lifetime, it leads to this end, searing as ever. |br|
No need for you to be afraid. Walk toward the blooming |br|
betel palms, use simple dialect and polite, |br|
friendly gestures that suit the occasion, |br|
return people’s curiosity with smiles. They will |br|
support you, like brothers, in their tribe. [#]_ |br|
Home, our inviolable soil. |br|

.. 風也吹向山谷，河水來自
.. 原始的寧靜。刺青，鳴蟬
.. 那是我們秘密的世界，充滿
.. 無遠而弗屆，不是ㄏ，有一種
.. 焚身的炙熱，從童年的彼端
.. 傳來，曾在我生涯裏挫折冷卻
.. 又導回童年的此端，熾熱如昔
.. 你不必畏懼，往檳榔樹開花的
.. 方向走去，使用簡單的方言
.. 有禮親善的手勢，在適當的
.. 場合，以微笑回報族人的好奇
.. 他們將擁戴你如部落的兄弟
.. 故鄉，我們不可凌辱的土地

XII
----

All of them are real. Reed flowers, just like that, |br|
let them dash through the throbs of cars and hearts |br|
under the railway bridge; they are real. Deep, heavy, |br|
tumultuous, they are not the clouds wandering  |br|
in the barbaric state; they flash through your eager, |br| 
inquisitive eyes, and once again they stay in your |br| 
boisterous, clamorous memories. The fishnet along |br| 
the coast line under the sun: let it bring out |br| 
our ancestors' will to survive, treading towards |br|
the ceaseless waves, just like raging raindrops |br|
that would rather be one mere moment of the endless world |br| 
just to witness one singular will spreading all out, or |br| 
just like a curved knife cutting into the dark woods. |br| 
All of them are real---our inviolable ancestors.

.. 這一切都是眞實的，蘆葦花
.. 如此，容許它在鐵路橋下飛奔
.. 過車聲和心血的脈搏，眞實
.. 凝重跌宕，不是異邦的白雲
.. 它閃過你學習認識的眼睛
.. 復停留在磊落鏗鏘的記憶
.. 海岸線曝晒的漁網，容許它
.. 張開我們先人求生的信念
.. 蹈向無窮的波浪，如同憤怒的
.. 雨點，寧為浩瀚天地之一霎
.. 碎落虛無深處，見證擔當
.. 一份意志之揮舞，又如彎刀
.. 砍入黑暗的森林。這一切都是
.. 眞實的，我們不可凌辱的先人
　
XIII
-----
　
You will take akin to, our own accent, you |br| 
will be eager to listen to the clock, drums, mantras |br| 
in temples, the wind gently blowing through |br| 
the sugarcane field, rustling into afar---the sweet faith. |br| 
Indeed, humans were once lost in dialogues and debates, |br| 
and in false news and in rage, we found a stable standpoint. |br| 
We indifferently observed the dust creeping, hiding |br| 
all around, and took ludicrous declarations |br| 
and accusations lightly. Because we too were once |br| 
lost---only that after careful considerations, we |br| 
have chosen the lofty mountains, the sobering |br| 
and nurturing running rivers. From the country we |br| 
went into the city, and yet to the country we return, |br| 
untarnished, exhilarated---just like a new drum.

.. 你是會喜愛，我們的鄉音
.. 甚至積極聆聽寺廟的鐘，鼓
.. 焚唄，微風吹過甘蔗田，瑟瑟
.. 悠遠，甜蜜的信仰。是的
.. 人們曾經失落在交談和議論
.. 在不實的消息和忿怒之中
.. 我們找尋到穩固的立足點
.. 冷眼觀察竄走潛伏的灰塵
.. 輕薄可笑的宣言和控訴，因為
.. 我們也曾經失落，卻在認眞的
.. 思考之後，選擇了青山巍巍
.. 流泉的冷冽和充沛，我們
.. 從鄉村進入都市，又回歸
.. 鄉村，清潔亢奮如新鼓

XIV
----

The start this is---amid the sound of the horn |br|
a day of bells and drums, breeze and drizzle. |br|
Sunshine aplenty is your bedspread, ah spring--- |br|
Daffodils and bees have spread in the field |br|
of your speedy growth. You wave your powerful arms |br|
decorating the sky with brilliant musical notes. |br|
You must know them and master them. Let the wild geese |br|
in ranks *gah gah* the western magnitude, and |br|
the whale splashing be the northern latitude. Moonlight |br|
colors them peacefully, twinkle twinkle little stars adorn |br|
the bed where you learn to lift your head and turn over. Carriages |br|
and ships await at the post, with precision, like a symphony, |br|
like the seal and like the scribe, like classical, symmetrical |br|
and sartorial patterns, and like a sequence of fourteen-line poems.

.. 這是出發，在號角聲中
.. 鐘鼓齊鳴的日子，微風細雨
.. 充足的陽光是你的被褥，啊春天
.. 水仙和蜜蜂已經廣泛散開在
.. 你快速成長的領域。你揮動
.. 有力的雙手，佈置滿天燦爛的
.. 音符。你必須認識這些
.. 進而加以支配。讓飛雁的行列
.. 嘎嘎為西經，鯨魚噴水是北緯
.. 月色安詳着色，小星星亮晶晶
.. 裝飾你學習抬頭翻身的床
.. 車馬和船舶都在驛站上等候
.. 準確如音樂交響，如篆如隸
.. 如黼如黻，如一組十四行詩

:raw-html:`<div class="literary-date">1980</div>`

:raw-html:`<div class="footnotes">`

.. [#] Unless otherwise noted, translations are mine.
.. [#] Adopted by Michelle Yeh and Lawrence R. Smith in :raw-html:`<a href="https://www.amazon.com/No-Trace-Gardener-Poems-Yang/dp/0300184204"><i>No Trace of the Gardener</i></a>`.
.. [#] Adopted by Colin Bramwell and Wen-Chi Li; see `here <https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/ccs.2019.0311>`_.
.. [#] Note to self: VIII and IX are my favorite, at least in March 2021.
.. [#] The place alluded to in this one is `Hualien <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hualien_County>`_, home to a few indigenous tribes in Taiwan. Hualien is close and dear to the poet, and it has been chosen as his resting place.

:raw-html:`</div>`