A poem by the Mongolian scholar-poet Zava Damdin (1976- ). Please refer to the Index of Mongolian Poetry and Articles for other works that may be of interest.
________________________________
REFLECTION
(English translation)
In your eyes, a river’s reflection
On the river’s reflection, an image of the moon
The moon’s image is reflected in your thoughts
In your thoughts, a reflection of my image
In your ears, resonates a beautiful melody
This beautiful melody melts into clarinet notes
The clarinet notes touch your hearing
Your hearing is touched by my songs
In your heart, lands a holy dream
In the holy dream, an elusive figure
The elusive figure lands upon your feelings
In your feelings, my poems land
Hero’s Capital
Zava Damdin
______________________________
Translated by Zava Damdin and C.Pleteshner
English interpretation 17.04.2023 from the original Mongolian 15.04.2023
______________________________
Тусгал
(Original Mongolian)
Таны мэлмийд туссан гол мөрөн
Гол мөрөнд туссан сарны дүрс
Сарны дүрсэнд туссан таны бодрол
Таны бодролд туссан миний дүрс
Таны сонорт дуурсагдсан эгшиглэнт аялгуу
Эгшиглэнт аялгуунд хөглөгдсөн цоорын даралт
Цоорын даралтад хүрсэн таны сонор
Таны сонорт хүрсэн миний дуулал
Таны зүрхэнд буусан гэгээн зүүд
Гэгээн зүүдэнд буусан баригдашгүй дүрс
Баригдашгүй дүрсэнд буусан таны мэдрэмж
Таны мэдрэмжид буусан миний шүлэг
Баатарын балгад
Зава Дамдин
15.04.2023
_________________________________
NOTES
Source: A Bilingual Collection of Zava Damdin (1976- ) Poetry. Vol. 1 (2021-2024). The Zava Damdin Sutra and Scripture Institute Library Archive, Manjushri Temple Soyombot Oron, Mongolia. Unpublished manuscript. pp34-35.
Excluding the preparatory training and clarity of narrative structure and ideation required, the journey of such compositions tends to move through three phases, starting with: (i) the creation of the original composition with the vertical Mongol Bichig Script; (ii) the subsequent transfer and rendering of this transcript into the Mongolian Cyrillic Script; and then on to, (iii) a (British) English language interpretation, such as you see here. I bring to this interpretive exercise my own particular collection of English language narrative skills and their imagined audiences. From this perspective, a final English language version of a narrative emerges as a negotiated text.
_________________________________
FURTHER READING
Building upon these initial ‘Reflections,’ another inquiry into the technical dimensions of the discipline of translating can be found in Mongolian Poetry 64: On Writing Poetry
end of transcript.
Refer to the INDEX for other articles that may be of interest.
|
© 2013-2026. CP in Mongolia. “Mongolian Poetry 10: Reflection” is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Open access should not be understood as the absence of attribution. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Posted: 30 March 2024. Last updated: 1 September 2026. |