Eighth Post!

[hoisinsauce]

It's one thing if mankind is hunted to extinction by ChatGPT, but I really do object to being executed by Bing.

(https://secretfanspace.dreamwidth.org/2511.html?thread=3169743#cmt3169743 )

Welcome back! Fandom chat, misc creativity, internet weirdness, books, films, anything! Tell meme about it so we can get to the next post title!

(start a comment thread by replying to this post)

Comments

Re: Poetry - You are the April of the World (你是人间的四月天) by Lin Huiyin (林徽因)

[(Anonymous)]

— in praise of love
我说 你是人间的四月天；
i say: you are the april of the world;
笑响点亮了四面风；
your laughter sets the four winds alight;
轻灵在春的光艳中交舞着变。
nimbly mingling and dancing in the spring radiance.
你是四月早天里的云烟，
you are the delicate mist on april mornings,
黄昏吹着风的软，星子在
the softness with which twilight carries the wind, as the stars
无意中闪，细雨点洒在花前。
sparkle unaware, as the drizzling rain scatters atop flowers.
那轻，那娉婷，你是，
that gentleness, that grace, you are,
鲜妍百花的冠冕你戴着，
crowned with a vibrant hundred-flower laurel,
你是天真，庄严，
you are innocence, dignity,
你是夜夜的月圆。
you are the round moon every night.
雪化后那片鹅黄，你像；
the downy yellow after the snow melts, you seem;
新鲜初放芽的绿，你是；
the fresh green of the first new buds, you are;
柔嫩喜悦，水光浮动着你梦期待中白莲。
tender and joyous, the water shimmers about the white lotus your dreams await.
你是一树一树的花开，
you are tree after tree blossoming,
是燕在梁间呢喃，
you are the swallows murmuring in the eaves,
— 你是爱，是暖，
— you are love, are warmth,
是希望，
are hope,
你是人间的四月天！
you are the april of the world!

Finally, a happy poem that's actually happy. This one's exactly what it looks like - it was written either to commemorate fellow poet (and, uh, ex-boyfriend) Xu Zhimo (徐志摩) or to celebrate the birth of her newborn son.

Lin Huiyin was a brilliant, multi-faceted woman - professor, architect, writer, socialite. However, her achievements are irrevocably entangled with and overshadowed by those of her husband, Liang Sicheng (梁思成), who is considered both the father of modern Chinese architecture and responsible for preserving much of China's architectural history. She was his equal partner and collaborator, but she was denied a degree in architecture because of her sex and rarely worked under her own name.

Still, her husband clearly deeply respected her. In his later years, when asked to provide a resume of his works, he carefully labeled every single one as a collaborative effort between himself and his wife.

Re: Poetry - You are the April of the World (你是人间的四月天) by Lin Huiyin (林徽因)

[(Anonymous)]

https://language.chinadaily.com.cn/2015-06/12/content_20948186.htm

On a side note, I also found a collection of different translations of this poem. I'm not really sure what these translators' credentials are and some of them have clearly gone full Ezra Pound on the text, but it might be interesting if you want to check out how varied translations of a poem can be. Lin Huiyin's poem is fairly simple, but it does use some artistic imagery that's difficult to convey while keeping the style.

I especially liked the second one, which is a straight ripoff of Sonnet 18.

Re: Poetry - You are the April of the World (你是人间的四月天) by Lin Huiyin (林徽因)

[(Anonymous)]

I like how the translator didn't know how to use "thou" and "thee", and seemingly just chose at random. XD

Re: Poetry - You are the April of the World (你是人间的四月天) by Lin Huiyin (林徽因)

[(Anonymous)]

Though the one that got it right is even worse. Actual tears of laughter:

Shall I compare thee to an April Spring?

Thine chortle is all around the breeze wheeing.