Translator’s Note

Yuan Changming  

I write poetry mainly in English and occasionally in Chinese, my native tongue; I also do quite a lot of translation between the two languages, but I never enjoy translating poetry, not only because it is often overly demanding, but because the activity is simply too restrictive for me. However, to sharpen my translation skills and satisfy certain readerly interests, I have translated some of my own poems from English into Chinese or vice versa, but only those I consider to be among my “best,” including the two pieces presented here in Waxwing.

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