thanatography and the poetic voice 131not least, the concept of the ancestral land (尢) and the fate of the
nation is a favorite topos throughout the history of Chinese poetry,
classical and modern alike. «Ancestral Land» is typical of Haizi’s gran-
diloquent side. Qua poetry, I find it much less successful than the other
poems in this section. I have discussed it in recognition of its popularity
in China.
«Spring: Ten Children Haizi» (, कϾ⍋ᄤ, 1989) is radically
different from «Ancestral Land», but equally famous. My rendition
of ⍋ᄤ ‘Haizi’ as child Haizi is motivated by the homophony of the
poet’s name and ᄽᄤ ‘child,’ noted above. It is inconceivable that any
sinophone reader—or writer—would be unaware of the ambiguity,
not just when hearing the poem recited and knowing its author’s name
but also when reading it on the page.^58
«Spring: Ten Children Haizi»
Spring: ten children Haizi all come back to life
in a landscape of light
laughing at that one wild, wretched child Haizi
you slept a long, deep sleep, but what was it for
Spring: ten children Haizi and their deep, angry howl
surrounding you and me, dancing and singing
tearing at your black hair, straddling you, speeding off, dust flying
the pain when you’re chopped open spreads across the earth
In spring, that wild and wretched child Haizi
is the only one left, the last one left
this is a child Haizi of night, immersed in winter, admiring death
unable to free himself, burning with love for the hollow, cold countryside
There, the grain is piled up high, blocking out the windows
they use half on the mouths of a family of six, their eating and stomachs
and half for farming, their own reproduction
winds blow from east to west, from north to south, defying night and daybreak
you spoke of the light of dawn, but what does it meanMost if not all of the manuscripts in Haizi’s legacy were meticulously
dated, noting the year, month and day the poem was written, complet-
ed or reworked from earlier drafts. «Spring» is dated “14 March 1989,
(^58) Haizi 1997: 470.