<p>My translation.</p>
<p>Let me first of all preface it with a poem by William Blake:-</p>
<p>“To see a World in a Grain of Sand</p>
<p>And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,</p>
<p>Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand</p>
<p>And Eternity in an hour.”</p>
<p>The poem posted by OB however is about &quot;seeing&quot; the &quot;cosmos&quot;, meaning Life, human existence, through one's own or another person's eyes, i.e. the eyes are both the arbitrative interpreter and a private &quot;window&quot; to a person's &quot;soul&quot; or innermost thoughts or emotions.</p>
<p>So, we have,</p>
<p>我傻楞着 -- I was stunned,</p>
<p>不知说的是你 -- not to mention for you as well,</p>
<p>那么要读懂这宇宙 -- that in order to understand this cosmos / universe,</p>
<p>就只须读懂一个人的眼睛 -- you needed to understand the eyes of a person,</p>
<p>该是什么样的眼睛 -- or rather what sort of eyes those are.</p>
<p>The poem is therefore about an epiphany, (a moment of sudden understanding or revelation, he was stunned?), that the &quot;kind&quot; of eyes a person has, (meaning whether they are judgmental or not, condescending, bias, etc,), would impact, affect how a person sees the cosmos, (i.e. life, human existence, etc,)</p>
<p>That is, life is how we see it with the sort of eyes we possess.</p>
<p>As in William Blake's poem, you may see a grain of sand, but the poet sees a World; a Wild Flower, he sees Heaven.</p>
<p>On another level, in OB's poem, there is also the banal interpretation. That is, the physical Universe is also subject to a personal interpretation, depending on what sort of eyes one has.</p>
<p>For some eyes, there is only the vast, infinite expanse of stars, planets, galaxies, wondrous as they are; but to other eyes, they see the creative splendor of a Supreme Being.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-17T07:34:21.583Z
Very insightful! Thank you!
Coleman Gailloreto
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-16T14:45:18.610Z
2021-02-16T15:29:41.557Z
2021-02-16T15:29:41.557Z
Wayne Cheah
<p><em>My traslation:</em></p>
<p>I shocked<code>我傻楞着</code></p>
<p>And don't know it is you<code>不知说的是你</code></p>
<p>So to understand the universe<code>那么要读懂这宇宙</code></p>
<p>I just need to understand one's eyes<code>就只须读懂一个人的眼睛</code></p>
<p>What are these eyes like?<code>该是什么样的眼睛</code></p>
<p><em>This poem is really hard to understand. Can you show us the context?</em></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-17T07:42:42.123Z
This is part of a project I'm working on for a client, so I don't want to share too much of the poem. All the same, thanks for your helpful feedback!
Coleman Gailloreto
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-16T11:56:15.920Z
2021-02-16T11:56:15.920Z
T-Pioneer
<p>These are some lines from a verse I was translating:</p>
<p>我傻楞着，不知说的是你
那么要读懂这宇宙，
就只须读懂一个人的眼睛
该是什么样的眼睛</p>
<p>My rough translation:</p>
<p>&quot;Being foolish, I don't get what you're saying,
That <em>those who seek to know the cosmos
only need to understand what's in a person's eyes.</em>
What kind of eyes are you talking about?&quot;</p>
<p>Is my interpretation – that the narrator of the poem is interpreting another person's metaphor way too literally – correct?</p>

<simplified-characters><poetry>
A Chinese Poetic About Understanding the Universe
# A Chinese Poetic About Understanding the Universe

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-16)

These are some lines from a verse I was translating:

我傻楞着，不知说的是你
那么要读懂这宇宙，
就只须读懂一个人的眼睛
该是什么样的眼睛

My rough translation:

"Being foolish, I don't get what you're saying,
That *those who seek to know the cosmos
only need to understand what's in a person's eyes.*
What kind of eyes are you talking about?"

Is my interpretation – that the narrator of the poem is interpreting another person's metaphor way too literally – correct?

**Tags:** simplified-characters, poetry


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-02-16. Score: 1

My translation.

Let me first of all preface it with a poem by William Blake:-

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.”

The poem posted by OB however is about "seeing" the "cosmos", meaning Life, human existence, through one's own or another person's eyes, i.e. the eyes are both the arbitrative interpreter and a private "window" to a person's "soul" or innermost thoughts or emotions.

So, we have,

我傻楞着 -- I was stunned,

不知说的是你 -- not to mention for you as well,

那么要读懂这宇宙 -- that in order to understand this cosmos / universe,

就只须读懂一个人的眼睛 -- you needed to understand the eyes of a person,

该是什么样的眼睛 -- or rather what sort of eyes those are.

The poem is therefore about an epiphany, (a moment of sudden understanding or revelation, he was stunned?), that the "kind" of eyes a person has, (meaning whether they are judgmental or not, condescending, bias, etc,), would impact, affect how a person sees the cosmos, (i.e. life, human existence, etc,)

That is, life is how we see it with the sort of eyes we possess.

As in William Blake's poem, you may see a grain of sand, but the poet sees a World; a Wild Flower, he sees Heaven.

On another level, in OB's poem, there is also the banal interpretation. That is, the physical Universe is also subject to a personal interpretation, depending on what sort of eyes one has.

For some eyes, there is only the vast, infinite expanse of stars, planets, galaxies, wondrous as they are; but to other eyes, they see the creative splendor of a Supreme Being.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Very insightful! Thank you!  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-02-16. Score: 1

*My traslation:*

I shocked`我傻楞着`

And don't know it is you`不知说的是你`

So to understand the universe`那么要读懂这宇宙`

I just need to understand one's eyes`就只须读懂一个人的眼睛`

What are these eyes like?`该是什么样的眼睛`

*This poem is really hard to understand. Can you show us the context?*

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: This is part of a project I'm working on for a client, so I don't want to share too much of the poem. All the same, thanks for your helpful feedback!  

---

