Hi Robert:
I looked up the band and the song. The official name of the band is The Smiths, with an “s” on the end. That would have clarified it, to have had that “s” on the end, referring to a group. So I put that in my corrections, below. Also, that leaves “Meat Is Murder” as the title of a song with all capitals. So, thanks for clarifying this – it did help for me to understand the poem. I had not been aware of this band and its music.
I still cannot find the word “semi-vegetarian” anywhere. That doesn’t make it invalid, necessarily, but I’m not exactly sure what a “semi”-vegetarian even is. But I looked up the lyrics of their song, and I wholeheartedly agree with them. Not only is meat not good for your health, but it also causes cruel suffering of living creatures in both their raising (most on factory farms these days) and their violent slaughter.
Anyway, I think the version below is right with this clarification now. I am not sure that someone could not now understand it, with the title of the song and the name of the band capitalized, as they should be. That alone should be sufficient for someone to look them up and understand.I also understood right away that David Bowie was a vegetarian –
Sorry about that, Robert. I was paying too much attention on the English version, and forgot about the Chinese version that states clearly about the band. My bad.
-----------
Semi-VegetarianismSome asked why I am a semi-vegetarian.
I replied,
"To
bury corpses in my stomach,
more grass is required."
Maybe I was lying.
Maybe I am a fan of Bowie,
"I can't stay, but go make changes."
Some asked why I am not a vegetarian.
"
Meat Is Murder,” The
Smiths said.
So go, be your Buddha or
saint.
I am just a poet, never far from
hell.
羅拔 寫:Dear Noelle:
LTNS. Not bad recently! Thank you!
The Smith is a rock and roll band which is very famous around the 80's. They have one great album titled "Meat is Murder". That's why I put it in my poem.
And thank you so much for your suggestion. Here is the revised English version:
Semi-vegetarianism
Some asked why I am a partial-vegetarian.
I replied,
"To bury corpses in my stomach,
more grass is required."
Maybe I was lying.
Maybe I am a fan of Bowie,
"I can't stay, but go make changes."
Some asked why I am not a vegetarian.
"Meat is murder,” the smith said.
So go, be your Buddha or saint.
I am just a poet, never far from hell.
發表於 : 2016-08-14,6:19 pm