Sharing about the last poem from Estelle

by Estelle Jiang

I am a novice at English poetry writing; hence, I cannot teach you the best ways to write a poem in English. However, I’d like to share with you how I wrote my little poem, “The Scent of the Summer Rain.”

To be honest, I first composed this poem in Chinese last summer. I translated it into English when I was asked to offer some tips for this NCCU English Creative Writing Contest. Below is what I experienced when I wrote this poem.

1. Inspiration, emotion, and experience
I walked around the hills in NCCU every morning during my medical treatment last summer. Although it was hot, I was always soothed while hiking in the hills. One rainy morning, I particularly felt I could sense the quintessence of summer intuitively through some of my sensory systems. This became the birth of the preliminary idea of my little poem.

2. Drafting
I began putting down what I felt about the fresh green grass, what I smelled from the depth of the trees, what I heard from the road side of the hills, and what I saw in the distant Chinese-painting-like sky. I tried to capture the tranquil, light, happy, solitary embrace of the summer rain.

3. Revising
But these feelings and senses were not very concrete or precise; consequently, I revised the diction and syntax of the poem repeatedly. To make my poem appealing and fun, I also paid attention to the choice of words, the dividing of each line and stanza, the inversion of the sentence order, the usage of images and symbols, etc.

With my assistant Colleen’s help, I found a website which teaches how to write poetry. I believe you would learn a lot more by clicking on www.poetrymagic.co.uk. This website also includes a list of textbooks. By all means, visit similar websites to gain more.

I only want to add the last tips—walk around NCCU or revisit your memories about your life at NCCU, and put your feelings down in English. Enjoy the joy and pain of writing poems in English!

欣賞過Estelle老師的作品後，
歡迎同學們開始發表自已的創作，踴躍投稿，參與Nccu & Me 第一屆全校英文創作比賽，詳見比賽辦法。

The Scent of the Summer Rain on the Round-Top Circle

同學們在看完英文創作三招後，外語自學中心的指導老師也配合此次英文創作比賽，寫下一首有關 “政大與我”的詩，其中蘊含著豐富的內容與寫作技巧。

The Scent of the Summer Rain on the Round-Top Circle
by Estelle Jiang

In the soft drizzle on the Round-Top Circle of
the green hill, suddenly was enlightened my nose;
I smelled the summer rain

In the tenacity of the wild exuberant grass,
the summer rain enveloped itself

Humming on the twigs of the acacia trees,
it embraced the serenity of
the bashful yellow puffy flowers

Near the closing summer,
it greeted me with the loud passion
of cicadas and bulbuls
on the motley koelreuteria trees

Peeking from the blue bright sky
breaking through the iron gray layers of
clouds, it splashed ink on the vaulted canvas
briskly like a naughty imp

Cooling every pore of the loner
with its fresh, patient, loud, and bright scent
the summer rain rained on


接下來的文章，老師將會藉由這首詩，與同學分享更多英文寫作的原則，同學們請敬請期待。

也歡迎同學開始提出自已的創作，踴躍投稿，參與Nccu & Me 第一屆全校英文創作比賽，詳見比賽辦法。