Looking for help with Chinese translation.

[HurriSbezu]

I found this in a box of dishes, and I have found out that some of this is quoted from a poem. Help with translating the rest, or in making sense of it?

[HurriSbezu]

Sorry for double-posting, but I thought that this information I received about it on another site might aid in the translating. ^^;

Originally Posted by Hendryk from Alternate History Discussion Board

I concur, this text doesn't make sense. If you read the last seven words in the first vertical column, and then the six words next to it, you get two lines from a classical poem, but the rest seem to be random words.

The poem is "At the Garden Gate" by Ye Shaoweng, a Song dynasty scholar. This part translates as:

The spring tide cannot be shut within the garden,
Over the wall peeps out a crimson spray of apricot.

And I have pointed out to him that it is probably the case here that the writing above those words might be part of horizontal rows. I KNOW that is not good Chinese, but as far as I can tell from looking at it, that seems to be how it was written.

I mean, I had to eyeball it to figure out which side looked like it was up, right? And I got that right? ^^;;; I think that means I might be on to something with that comment . . . *shrugs*