Click the icon in each poem to continue reading.

Translator's Note

Shaolian Su's "Heart Changes" is a suite consisting of a central poem within which six shorter tangential poems are imbedded. Its print version is a textual representation of a hollow man in modern society, wandering and searching for his "heart." In this digital version, each line of the poem suite constantly oscillates at an independent speed. This dynamic layout extends a formal gesture implying the agitation of the modern heart. The central poem and the six lexias intertwine and interlink as a loop, a formal simulation of a circular course with no exits, portending no hope of salvation. The dynamic layout, evolved from the tradition of concrete poetry, remains within the realm of representation, whereas the simulation of a loop with no exits transforms the reader into a participant in a textual VR world, wherein he becomes a character simulating/enacting the first-person narrator's endless quest for [a] heart in a life of repeated routines. As a whole, this work manifests an artistic connection between content and form.

In Chinese, the central poem stands at the beginning of the suite. It is relocated to the end in the English version for reasons of translation and readability.

About the poet

Shao-lien Su was born in 1949 in Taichung, Taiwan.  He graduated from Taichung Normal College and now teaches at the Shalu Elementary School in his hometown.  Su was a founding member of celebrated poetic societies such  as "New Wave," "Dragon People," and "Taiwan Poetics Quarterly."   He has published more than fifteen books of poetry.  His hypertext writings debuted on "The Garden of Forking Paths" in 1998. Currently he is the webmaster of "The Isle of Modern Poetry."  [more]

About the translator

Shuen-shing Lee was born in 1963 in Changhua, Taiwan.  He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, National Chung Hsing University.  Lee has published two novels, and has contributed hypertext reviews to the China Times' column, "The Net Reading District," since 1997.  In 1998 he created one of the first Taiwanese  websites devoted to Chinese hypertext literature.  One year later he initiated "Hypertext Literature" and "Literature and Hypermedia Arts," new courses in the undergraduate and graduate curricula of his university. [more]

Chinese Version