Four Poems by 玉珍 Yu Zhen
Yu Zhen’s work is rooted in the rural setting of Hunan’s Yanling mountains. Drawing on the pastoral tradition while resisting the platitudes of poverty, she writes poems that are lyrical, occasionally rhapsodic, but lucid and sharp in their observational detail. These four poems showcase the visual richness of her poetry, but Yu Zhen’s wider body of work incorporates a range of styles, sometimes echoing Haizi’s exclamatory invocations of nature, sometimes presenting philosophical claims with the aphoristic assurance of Emily Dickinson, concretising vast abstractions (love, death, suffering) in elemental imagery (fire, water, wind).
——Dave Haysom
Four Poems by 玉珍 Yu Zhen
Paper Republic, (Online)
Aug. 2022
Translated by David Haysom, from works by Yu Zhen
Contents:
| I did not know | tr. David Haysom | from 我并不知道 | by Yu Zhen |
| Wo Bing Bu Zhidao | by Yu Zhen | ||
| rainforest | tr. David Haysom | from 雨林 | by Yu Zhen |
| Yulin | by Yu Zhen | ||
| back at the gap in the tree | tr. David Haysom | from 回到树洞面前 | by Yu Zhen |
| Hui Dao Shu Dong Mianqian | by Yu Zhen | ||
| one day | tr. David Haysom | from 一天 | by Yu Zhen |
| Yi Tian | by Yu Zhen |