I still don't have a translation, aside from the bewildering Bablefish interpretation -- but I have heard from China Daily:
hi,Dear Mr.poet: Nice meeting you in the beautiful blog!
yes, we are introducing your awesome blog to Chinese readers,to show what life looks like in "a poet's notebook".Our team is called Global Blog,which connects Chinese netizens to wonderful blogs all around the world through brief introductions and blog links. This is a fresh way to show foreign blogs to China and we are the first media to do so. Global Blog belongs to China Daily Website,one of China's top eight news portals at state level.We really appreciate your blog and welcome to our website!
And, from the author of the article:
Hello,I am the person who recommend your peculiar blog to Chinese people.The first time I look through your blog ,I was so attracked by it.I like your special style and the way you observe life though I do not really understand the thorough meaning of all your poem.I hope you can stick on and I believe that you can attrack more and more readers.
I am only a university student and I know little about the meaning of life,but from your blog I learn that one can live his life in such a romantic way,and I really like it.
May you be happy!Posted by: 高月影 | Wednesday, 17 May 2006 at 04:34 AM
Mary says:
Dear SB, you have the most charming comments I've read yet and the only Chinese one I've run across! I try to live my life in such a romantic way as well. As for the meaning of life, both peculiar and particular apply.
Prairie Mary
Which, I think, pretty much sums it up.
Really, I am still delighted by this whole thing. I do think the writer intends to say nice things about Watermark, I just wish I knew what they were. I continue to get a fair number of hits from there.
I rather suspect that romantic means something a bit different to the Chinese than it does to us. But, may I be happy! Yes!
Some Rights Reserved
Being a "romantic" poet is what got Anna Akmotova into such trouble with "Uncle Joe."( Jospeh Stalin)
She too valued those moving, fleetingly wonderful moments that sparkle though your pages -- which in turn flicker on our screens.
Perhaps this is what your readers in China are finding so summoning?
Posted by: Ken | 18 May 2006 at 11:38 PM
foolish boy -- googling a name and getting the wrong spelling!
Here: Anna Akhmatova!
A great figure!
Posted by: Ken | 18 May 2006 at 11:59 PM
I'm only hemidemisemiliterate in Chinese, but this is what I think it says:
A Creative Landscape Indicates a Romantic Existence
Aren't we always looking to lend our lives something of a romantic sensibility? So--have you experienced the beauty of artistic representation? People often regret the lack of poetry in their lives. What would happen if you took every incident of your life and expressed it through a picture and a poem? Well, you'll have to savor the sensation yourself. Don't hesitate--throw off your trepidation--once you've tried it, you may just find the romance that's been missing from your life for so long.
The word for "romance" or "romantic" in Chinese, pronounced langman, is a transliteration from English. The first definition given in the Dictionary of Modern Chinese, the dictionary in most common use (it seems to me) in the PRC, is "rich in poetic feeling; full of imagination." I don't think the word has acquired as strong associations with vapidity and silliness in Chinese as it has in English, but instead has sort of attached itself to a set of traditional attributes of the scholar-poet.
Posted by: Rachel | 20 May 2006 at 03:14 PM