Commuters in Shanghai and London can enjoy poetry in motion from
next month.
More than 500 posters displaying works by four famous English
poets are to be displayed in some trains of Shanghai's underground
system.
In return, underground lines in the capital of England will
feature more than 2,000 posters carrying masterpieces of four
Chinese poets, according to the Cultural and Education Section of
the British Consulate-General in Shanghai yesterday.
Cultural officials from both sides are still discussing exact
details of the exchange program, Poems on the Underground.
"We will launch the program in middle or late February. The
display of poems will last for at least one month," said Bonnie
Hua, public relations officer with the British consulate.
Four English poems have been chosen. They are "Auguries of
Innocence" by William Blake, "Daffodils" by William Wordsworth,
"Butterfly" by Michael Bullock and "The Blue Boat" by Kathleen
Jamie.
The Chinese poems are still yet to be selected. The four pieces
will be from works by famous poets in Tang Dynasty (AD
618-907).
Li Bai and Bai Juyi, two most talented poets from the dynasty,
are among the favorites, said Hua.
Both the original and translated versions of the poems will be
displayed to enable people from both countries to better appreciate
the beauty of the poems, she said.
Chen Kai, an employee with a foreign-funded company in Shanghai,
who takes the metro to work almost every day, said: "I think it is
a cool idea to have English poems in the subway. Shanghai should
have the courage to accommodate other cultures."
Another middle-aged passenger, surnamed Chen, said that there
should be more such posters displayed outdoors in Shanghai.
"People here are all eager for quick success and instant
benefit, especially the youngsters. Poems can improve their
thinking and sentiment," he said.
(China Daily January 12, 2006)
