The Lantern and the Night Moths

112 pages

English language

Published Feb. 9, 2024 by Invisible Publishing.

ISBN:: 978-1-77843-038-1

The lantern light seems to have written a poem; they feel lonesome since i won’t read them. —“lantern” by Fei Ming

The work of Tang Dynasty Classical Chinese poets such as Li Bai, Du Fu, and Wang Wei has long been celebrated in both China and internationally, and various English translations and mistranslations of their work played a pivotal yet often unacknowledged role in shaping the emergence and evolution of modern Anglophone poetry.

In The Lantern and the Night Moths, Chinese diaspora poet-translator Yilin Wang has selected and translated poems by five of China’s most innovative modern and contemporary poets: Qiu Jin, Fei Ming, Dai Wangshu, Zhang Qiaohui, and Xiao Xi. Expanding on and subverting the long lineage of Classical Chinese poetry that precedes them, their work can be read collectively as a series of ars poeticas for modern Sinophone poetry.

Wang’s translations are featured alongside the …

The lantern light seems to have written a poem; they feel lonesome since i won’t read them. —“lantern” by Fei Ming

The work of Tang Dynasty Classical Chinese poets such as Li Bai, Du Fu, and Wang Wei has long been celebrated in both China and internationally, and various English translations and mistranslations of their work played a pivotal yet often unacknowledged role in shaping the emergence and evolution of modern Anglophone poetry.

In The Lantern and the Night Moths, Chinese diaspora poet-translator Yilin Wang has selected and translated poems by five of China’s most innovative modern and contemporary poets: Qiu Jin, Fei Ming, Dai Wangshu, Zhang Qiaohui, and Xiao Xi. Expanding on and subverting the long lineage of Classical Chinese poetry that precedes them, their work can be read collectively as a series of ars poeticas for modern Sinophone poetry.

Wang’s translations are featured alongside the original Chinese texts, and accompanied by Wang’s personal essays reflecting on the art, craft, and labour of poetry translation. Together, these poems and essays chart the development of a myriad of modernist poetry traditions in China that parallel, diverge from, and sometimes intersect with their Anglophone and Western counterparts.

1 edition

MimiKong reviewed The Lantern and the Night Moths by Yilin Wang

I liked it

4 stars

The book is split into 5 sections, with each one containing a number of translations from one poet, and at the end of each section there are notes from the translator, Yilin, and I think it's in those notes that the book really shines. At times it feels like Yilin is having a conversation with the original poets and other times they add context that changes your understanding of the poem you've just read.

I read this back in January 2024 but I still think about the poem "I Think" by Dai Wangshu, and if I remember right I think I liked his work the best out of the 5.

The book is split into 5 sections, with each one containing a number of translations from one poet, and at the end of each section there are notes from the translator, Yilin, and I think it's in those notes that the book really shines. At times it feels like Yilin is having a conversation with the original poets and other times they add context that changes your understanding of the poem you've just read.

I read this back in January 2024 but I still think about the poem "I Think" by Dai Wangshu, and if I remember right I think I liked his work the best out of the 5.

el dang reviewed The Lantern and the Night Moths by Yilin Wang

An utter delight

5 stars

It took me months to read this because I wanted to savour every poem, and the very personal essays that Wang included as a sort of translator's notes / author bio hybrid.

The 5 poets have very distinct voices and styles, and I hope that more of each of their work gets translated into English. Without being able to read the originals I can only judge so much about the translation but I found them very readable, the footnotes helpful without being excessive, and the distinctness of each poet's voice seems like a vote of confidence in the translations.

It took me months to read this because I wanted to savour every poem, and the very personal essays that Wang included as a sort of translator's notes / author bio hybrid.

The 5 poets have very distinct voices and styles, and I hope that more of each of their work gets translated into English. Without being able to read the originals I can only judge so much about the translation but I found them very readable, the footnotes helpful without being excessive, and the distinctness of each poet's voice seems like a vote of confidence in the translations.