M.Tsedendorj was born in Govi-Altai aimag in 1932. He qualified as a teacher in 1952, after which he also began to develop his writing career. Through friends in Moscow, including the poet L.Hushaan, who was Mongolia’s ambassador to the Soviet Union, he was able to access western literature (often in Russian translation), and this he shared with his closest colleagues in Ulaanbaatar. He was also a translator, and (though not a Christian) was involved in translating, with a British missionary who was studying in Mongolia, portions of the New Testament. “You And I Are Moving Towards the Sun” is one of Tsedendorj’s best-loved poems.
You and I are sleeping on the clouds.
You and I are moving towards the sun.
You and I pass over flowing rivers and streams.
You and I pass over grazing herds.
You and I pass over wide steppes and soaring mountains.
You and I pass over wide roads stretching into distance.
You and I pass over the melodies of lovesongs.
You and I are carried on clouds, and moving towards the sun.
You and I are moving towards the sun.
You and I are falling to the earth as rain.
You and I are nourishing flowers with our sap.
You and I are vaporising, rising again into the sky.
You and I are sleeping on the clouds.
You and I are moving towards the sun.
M Tsedendorj (1932-1982)
1 January 1964
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