Sea Summit: Poems

by Yi Lu, Fiona Sze-Lorrain (Translator)

Influenced by both the “gray, sinister sea” near the village where Yi Lu grew up during the Cultural Revolution, and the beauty of the sea in the books she read as a child, Sea Summit is a collection of paradox and questioning. The sea is an impossible force to the poet: it is both a majestic force that predates man, and something to carry with us wherever we go, to be put “by an ancient rattan chair,” so we can watch “its waves toss” from above. Exploring the current ecological crisis and our complicated relationship to the wildness around us, Yi Lu finds something more complex than a traditional nature poet might in the mysterious connection between herself and the forces of nature represented by the boundless ocean.

Translated brilliantly by the acclaimed poet Fiona Sze-Lorrain, this collection of poems introduces an important contemporary Chinese poet to English-language readers.

Genres: Poetry, China, Asia

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2015

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

▪️SEA SUMMIT: Poems by Yi Lu, translated by Fiona Sze-Lorrain, 2015 @milkweed_books

"that valley is a huge dye vat
I just stand in its edge
feel its rich green
oozing from the sole to toetips and fingertips..." (from 'Valley's Green', pg 72)

"more and more words deviate from the heart
more and more poems empty out true feelings
ten thousand tons of language can't match a real sunrise
a real sunrise can't match a drop of blood the heart can't shed..."
(from 'Many Stars Emerge', pg 208)

Yi Lu's "eco-poetry" was very sensory, with full color / texture description and emotion behind the words and translation by Sze-Lorrain. The shared quote above from 'Valley's Green' really got me because that vibrance of a green field immediately came to my mind. Most poems had nature themes, but some were family and motherhood related. Lovely quiet collection.

[eris · Rating 5 out of 5]

this collection is a journey. i honestly almost stopped reading this at the beginning because even 30 pages in the poems weren’t pulling me in the way poetry i love usually does, but l would have regretted it. this is such a tender collection and it builds, builds, builds until suddenly you’re feeling seven emotions at once and overflowing with tears and wondering how a poem about a flower can possibly make you feel the way you’re feeling. but it can. repeatedly. but then it brings you back down into a comforting embrace by the end of it. and you’re left staring at a wall wondering what to do with yourself now that it’s over.

[s · Rating 2 out of 5]

the delivery just kept falling flat. the repetition didn’t work for me. nonspecific images of flowers and butterflies over and over grated on my patience. there were lots of cliche sentiments about rain and sea. i liked a few poems here and there but mostly i was just anxious to finally get through the collection

[C. Varn · Rating 4 out of 5]

When one is reviewing a translated volume of poetry, particularly from a language as different from English as any dialectic of Chinese tends to be, one is also reviewing the translator. Fiona Sze-Lorrain does render the yearning and questioning of this collection legible to the anglophone ear, although I can't speak to how accurate they are to the Chinese originals. The conceit around oceanic feelings interacting with the turbulence of the 1970s and 1980s in China is comprehensible, if even a bit obvious, but Sze-Lorrain does translate it without it dipping into cliche.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I've said with other poetry translations, it's just not the same to not read the poems in English. However, since I'm learning Chinese, it was fun to pick out the characters that I had already learned. Without this, though, I wasn't a fan of many of the poems, though some of the imagery was quite interesting.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just okay? Not sure, lol. I found the poems a bit repetitive, though there was some thought-provoking imagery. It definitely helps to read the foreword and translator's introduction to understand where Yi is going with these poems. Even though I can't read Chinese, it was really nice seeing the original poem next to the translation.

[Cakehatwombat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm super excited that I have the bilingual edition (even if it's in simplified)~
Reading it it sort of starts 'oh, nice flower poem, oh nice bird poem, oh god emotions' which was a great decision on the part of the editor.

[Rose Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this type of eco poetry. Sure, it can be a little repetitive, but the poems where it brings up a sort of cosmic consciousness and a living planet and universe were quite magical.

[Nav · Rating 4 out of 5]

The imagery! The variety of landscapes! I can't help but wonder how it would sound in its original language.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"how many memories does it use to forget"

[Cindy Bellomy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally read poetry. I read this for the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. I was surprised that I enjoyed this book. Beautiful. (I did have trouble with a few of the poems.)