A Night in the Purple Tulip Palace (Adagio) - Yang Lian / 杨 炼

Yang Lian / 杨 炼







A Night in the Purple Tulip Palace (Adagio)


In this seraglio night always consists of moonlight,
jade steps and a curtain of pearls
all imaginary a bunch of flowers against blue wallpaper
imagine caving in under the concubine's clothes a mound of snow
snow waiting impatiently to be possessed its crystalline body slowly
turning constantly curling in on itself in a slow dance
a bunch of tulips divesting itself of the love of self as it brightly declines
a kind of purple whisper which must be spoken breathily
addressing only him as he crushes the petals heavily
a drop of purple milk like a concubine impatiently waiting to be sucked
concentrating the entire world into one burning duct
In this seraglio fire always has the rude playfulness of tongues
a pointed tip licks the emptiness of skin midnight's cling
green like leaves gathered at the concubine's ankles
his preference for her a shower coming from every angle
watering the flower the little purple bowl of her nipple fills
in revenge against time the pigment holds ocean's deepest spoils
a bunch of tulips slips in a single night from soprano to mezzo
tonight tyrannous beauty is balanced by this aesthetic of erosion
this evasive scent which the concubine keeps for him
alone and only lets him savour
when the silky light can't stop purple very gently splays open
In this seraglio there's always this dead bone phosphor
light becoming a pistil's gleam
conducting the body's desire to be played for all four seasons
carving out this hole cut through the concubine's sculpted days
the wallpaper is blue like a crazy mind sewing up all past pains
only once the hours' bitemarks into each flower
darken endlessly the night is stitched onto flesh endlessly fresh and tender
once in the beginning purple gradually spread like a drop of milk
slowly absorbed by the universe which sees his lasciviousness and winks
by staring he bestows on the concubine a totally dark grammar
the vase is like a word resting between the hands


(Translated by William N. Herbert and Yang Lian)







紫郁金宫：慢板的一夜


后宫里的一夜总有月光　玉阶和珠帘
却都是想像的　一束花衬着壁纸的蓝
想像　妃子的紫衣下一堆雪在坍塌
急急等待被占用的雪　用结晶慢慢
转身　每分钟向内卷曲着慢慢舞蹈
一束郁金香璀璨的衰败脱下一场自恋
一种紫色的耳语　必须喘息着说
只对那人说　当他重重碾压着花瓣
一滴紫色的奶　像妃子急急等待被吸尽的
想着　全世界就涌进一根滚烫的脉管
后宫里的火　总有舌头百般的顽皮
被修剪的尖　 舔到皮肤的空 午夜之绿
绿如片片堆叠在妃子脚踝处的叶子
那人的宠爱　 一场来自所有方向的沐浴
浇淋他的花　乳头的紫玉小碗斟满了
报复一个时间　大海沉积在色素里
一束郁金香一夜从女高音滑入女中音
今夜　霸道之美对称着流逝的诗意
妃子只为那人保存的幽香　只交给他把玩
紫色的慢慢粉碎　丝光停不住时
后宫里总有闪烁成一个蕊的磷光
一根针指挥着　肉体四季被演奏的欲望
一种镂空的剪裁　镂空至妃子的生死
壁纸蓝蓝如一次缝合所有伤痛的狂想
只一次　花影中日子咬下的牙印
就无限发暗　这夜色无限鲜嫩　刺绣到身上
原初那次　紫　像滴慢慢洇开的奶
慢慢被宇宙吸收　纵容那人的黄　那么黄
凝视中赐给妃子一个黑尽的语法
当花瓶像个词圆圆贴着手掌









Yang Lian was born in Switzerland in 1955, and grew up in Beijing. His poems became well known and influential inside and outside of China in the 1980s, especially when his sequence ‘Norilang’ was published in 1983. Yang Lian has published thirteen collections of poems, two collections of prose and one selection of essays in Chinese. His work has also been translated into more than twenty languages. His work has been reviewed as "one of the most representative voices of Chinese literature" and "one of the great world poets of our era". In 2017, ‘Narrative Poem’, Yang Lian’s autographical book-length poem was prized with UK Poetry Book Society’s recommended translation. It also won the English PEN Award. In 2016, Yang Lian was awarded the 2016 Pacific International Poetry Prize in Taiwan. In 2015, Yang Lian won the Li Bai Nomination Poetry Prize; Zuo Pin (Works) Magazine’s Prize for Sequence; The First Long Poem Prize (Fushan City, Guang Dong, China); Great Kunlun Cultural Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Poetry. In 2014 Yang Lian won Capri International Poetry Prize. In 2013 Yang Lian’s “Concentric Circles Trilogy” (Yi, Concentric Circles, Narrative Poem) won the first “Tianduo” prize for the long poems. In 2012 Yang Lian was awarded Nonino International Literature Prize in Italy (the juries were presided by V S Naipaul). Yang Lian was also awarded the Flaiano International Poetry Prize (Italy, 1999) and his Where the Sea Stands Still: New Poems won Poetry Books Society’s Recommended Translation (UK, 1999). Yang Lian has been elected a board member of PEN International in 2007, and re-elected in 2011. Since 2014, he was invited to be the writer in residency and lecture professor in Shantou University. In 2013, He has been invited to become a member of The Norwegian Academy for Literature and Freedom of Expression.


杨 炼. 1955 年出生于瑞士，成长于北京。1983 年以长诗《诺日朗》轰动大陆诗坛，其后，作品被介绍到 海外。杨炼的作品以诗和散文为主，兼及文学与艺术批评。他迄今共出版中文诗集十三种、散文集两 种与一部文论集。他的作品已被译成二十余种外文，在各国出版。杨炼作品被誉为世界上当代中国文 学最有代表性的声音之一。2012 年，杨炼和英国诗人W N Herbert 等共同主编的英译当代中文诗选《玉 梯》出版，此书为在英语世界确立当代中文诗思想和艺术标准的突破性作品。2017 年，杨炼英译自传体长诗《叙事诗》获选英国诗歌书籍协会推荐译诗集，并获得英国笔会奖。2016 年，杨炼获得台湾地区2016 首届太平洋国际诗歌奖（累积成就奖）。2015 年，杨炼获得中国首 届李白诗歌奖提名奖，《作品》杂志组诗奖。2014 年，杨炼获得意大利著名的卡普里国际诗歌奖。2013 年，杨炼以他的《同心圆》三部曲获中国首届“天铎”长诗奖。2012 年，杨炼获得由诺贝尔文学 奖得主奈保尔任评审团主席的意大利诺尼诺国际文学奖。1999 年，杨炼获得意大利Flaiano 国际诗歌奖，同年他的诗集《大海停止之处》获英国诗歌书籍协会推荐英译诗集奖。杨炼于2008 年和2011 年两次 以最高票当选为国际笔会理事，现任汕头大学驻校作家暨讲座教授。2013 年，杨炼获邀成为挪威文学 暨自由表达学院院士。