黃湘淇

Poetry for the Masses？

小時候，可能每個人都被逼著去背誦唐詩宋詞，可那些朗朗上口的文字到底有什么用呢？也許，我們對詩詞的疏離就是對生活本真的漠然。喜怒哀樂，風花雪月，朗朗乾坤，天地玄黃……如若沒有詩歌，我們該怎么抒發(fā)那腔至真至深、難以釋懷的情感呢？

“Alright class， lets all say these lines again. Look at the words and let the sounds come out clearly. I want to hear each syllable1. No mumbling2.”

The teachers eyes roved the classroom looking at the bowed heads， busy hands， slow moving pencils， or palms and fists cradling heads， muffling ears in thought and confusion.3 The droning voices of eight and nine year olds repeated the third stanza again.4 It was a long poem， the longest we had ever tried to memorize. I was worried that if called on to do a solo oral recitation I might forget some words，5 and the class would laugh. Making a mistake was not something to be taken lightly6 in Miss Terrells 4th grade class. We all were competing for gold stars placed alongside our names on the wall chart every Friday. We were in a constant race to see who was tops7 in the class. All of us were from proud families.

Today， most Chinese adults can recite poems from their early education. Li Bai， Du Fu， Chairman Mao， and others all have made an impact on their memories of educational experiences. I do not know about many Americans love for poetry， or memory skills from classroom drills8. I do know that of the three different Junior high schools I attended， only at one of these did we deal with poetry in our English classes. My foundation for poetry came much earlier in Elementary school9. This was when I began to write rhyming verses and love sonnets.10 Getting recognition11 was never a goal， writing and reciting were things I simply loved doing. To this day I also remember a few classic poems written by famous Western poets. Works by Henry W. Longfellow， Robert Frost， Ralph W. Emerson， and Edgar Allan Poe were among my first writing role-models.12

These poets wrote ballads13 that told stories. I was intrigued that it was easy to tell a story through amusing rhymes coupled with reason， using patterned meter.14 “Childrens Hour” was the long poem that would stay with me through rough times15 well over 50 years ago.

Years later， I discovered James Weldon Johnson， Countee Cullen， Langston Hughes， and Gwendolyn Brooks，16 all Black American poets. Their words struck me deeper because they voiced concerns about the presence of racism which I increasingly faced.17 I was amazed that these writers had the courage to express outrage and unhappiness regarding this deep and apparently permanent social plight.18 Finally， I no longer felt that I lived in isolation， there was a much larger community of brethren and sisters who long ago articulated discontent.19 The questions posed by Langston Hughes， in “A Raisin in the Sun”， touched my core as it had so many others.20

“What happens to a dream deferred21？

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun？

Or fester like a sore—22

And then run？

Does it stink like rotten meat？23

Or crust and sugar over—24

like a syrupy25 sweet？

Maybe it just sags26

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode？”

This poem became the title of a classic American play and later television drama， “A Raisin in the Sun”. Its powerful ending marked， or predicted， the direction of social consciousness in America. I was still drawn to poems and ballads that told stories like Poes “The Raven.”27 In this poem a dark bird called a raven， talks and terrifies an old man who sits musing28 late at night. The man questions the bird about many things， and the responses of the black feathered creature seem fitting.29

Later， in my youth I discovered a long poem written by Gwendolyn Brooks that focused on society and the critical role of teachers. “The Life of Lincoln West” is touching and polemic.30 In this poem the drama of racial meanness， and petty hatred， is juxtaposed against youthful innocence in a way making it impossible to ignore human insensitivity.31

I have found literature， whether national or international， to be fascinating because of universal themes. The most basic themes of love and fear connect us all. However， life is not only about survival and relationships， but also learning and becoming more aware. Chinese poet， Wang Zhihuan， penned a poem with a universal theme that transcends nationality， creed， or faith.32

“The setting sun

Enters the yellow river

Viewing one thousand miles

Going higher to see farther.”33

Teachers play a role helping us see that the world is much larger than our individual selves， and often guide us to find writers whose words open our eyes， minds， and hearts. “Diamonds in the Rough”， was penned several years ago as my attempt to encourage students to recognize that they are special， and over time they can achieve their dreams through persistence and hard work.34 My goal is to inspire students to dedicate themselves toward helping humanity.

“Are you that diamond in the rough， waiting for your moment to shine，

rare talents and integrity35 your gifts to share with all mankind？....

Yours is a lasting brilliance when you come of age，

youll master every challenge as you take your stage...”

1. syllable： 音節(jié)。

2. mumbling： 含糊話，喃喃。

3. 老師環(huán)顧教室，看到那些低垂的腦袋，忙碌的雙手，緩緩書寫的鉛筆，或者在沉思和困惑中撐著腦袋或捂著耳朵的手掌和拳頭。rove： （眼睛）掃視， 環(huán)視；bowed： 低垂的；palm： 手掌；cradle： 這里指支著腦袋； muffle： 捂著，蒙住。

4. droning： 低沉單調的；stanza： 詩的一節(jié)。

5. call on sb. to do sth.： 要求某人去做某事；solo oral recitation： 單人口頭背誦。

6. take lightly： 掉以輕心，忽視。

7. tops： 非常好的，第一流的。

8. classroom drill： 課堂訓練。

9. Elementary school： 小學。

10. rhyming： 押韻的；verse： 詩歌；sonnet： 十四行詩。

11. recognition： 認可。

12. Henry W. Longfellow： 亨利·W. 朗費羅（1807—1882），19世紀美國最偉大的浪漫主義詩人之一，代表作有《人生禮贊》、《海華沙之歌》等；Robert Frost： 羅伯特·弗羅斯特（1874—1963），20世紀最受歡迎的美國詩人之一，代表作品有《未選擇的路》、《雪夜林邊小駐》等；Ralph W. Emerson： 拉爾夫·W. 愛默生（1803—1882），美國思想家、文學家、詩人，代表作品有《論自然》等；Edgar Allan Poe： 埃德加·愛倫·坡（1809—1849），美國詩人、小說家，代表詩作有《烏鴉》等；role-model： 典范，榜樣。

13. ballad： 民謠，敘事詩歌。

14. intrigued： 被迷住了的，好奇的；rhyme： 押韻；couple with： 與……相結合；meter： 韻律。

15. rough time： 艱難時期。

16. James Weldon Johnson： 詹姆斯·韋爾登·約翰遜（1871—1938），美國詩人、作家，代表詩集為《上帝的長號》； Countee Cullen： 康梯·卡倫（1903—1946），美國詩人、作家及學者，作品主要關注美國黑人同胞們的生活，代表作有詩集《膚色》、《古銅色的太陽》等；Langston Hughes： 蘭斯頓·休斯（1902—1967），美國詩人、小說家和社會運動家，被譽為“黑人民族的桂冠詩人”，代表作有《黑人談河流》；Gwendolyn Brooks： 格溫多林·布魯克斯（1917—2000），美國詩人、教師，首個獲得普利策詩歌獎的非裔作家，獲獎詩集為《安妮·艾倫》。

17. voice： 表達，吐露；racism： 種族主義。

18. outrage： 憤怒；permanent： 永久的；plight： 困境。

19. 最終，我感到自己不再活于孤立之中，因為有人數更多的兄弟姐妹群體，很早以前就表達了他們的不滿。isolation： 孤立； brethren： 即brothers的舊用法，弟兄們；articulate： 明確有力地表達；discontent： 不滿。

20. pose： 提出；raisin： 葡萄干；touch ones core： 觸及某人的內心。

21. defer： 推遲，拖延。

22. fester： 腐爛；sore： 潰瘍。

23. stink： 發(fā)出臭味；rotten： 腐爛的。

24. crust： 結成外殼；sugar： v. 在……外面裹糖。

25. syrupy： 糖漿似的。

26. sag： 下垂。

27. be drawn to： 被……所吸引；“The Raven”： 《烏鴉》，是愛倫·坡于1844年創(chuàng)作的詩。

28. muse： 沉思，冥想。

29. feathered： 長著羽毛的；fitting： 合適的，恰當的。

30. touching： 動人的；polemic： 有爭議的。

31. 在這首詩中，種族卑劣、狹隘仇恨被并置在一起壓迫著青春的純真，其程度慘烈到讓人無法忽視人性中的麻木。racial： 種族的；meanness： 卑下，低劣；petty： 狹隘的；hatred： 仇恨；juxtapose： 并置；innocence： 單純，天真；insensitivity： 麻木。

32. pen： v. 寫；transcend： 超越；nationality： 民族，國家；creed： 信仰，教義。

33. 中文即王之渙的《登鸛雀樓》：白日依山盡，黃河入海流。欲窮千里目，更上一層樓。

34. 《未加工的寶石》寫于多年以前，是我為了嘗試鼓勵學生而作，讓他們意識到自己是特別的，經歷時間的考驗，通過堅持和努力，他們就能實現(xiàn)自己的夢想。in the rough： 未加工的，粗制的。

35. integrity： 正直，誠實。