Unit6HowtoWriteaRottenPoemwithAlmostNoEffort课文翻译综合教程三

1、Unit 6How to Write a Rotte n Poem with Almost No EffortRichard Howey1 So you want to write a poem. You' ve had a rotten day or an astounding thought or acar accident or a squalid love affair and you want to record it for all time. You want toorganize those emotions that are pounding through your

2、 veins. You have something to com muni cate via a poem but you don' t know where to start.2 This, of course, is the problem with poetry. Most people find it difficult to write apoem so they don ' t even try. What ' s worse, they don ' t bother reading any poems either. Poetry has bec

3、ome an almost totally foreign art form to many of us. As a result, seriouspoets either starve or work as acco unt executives. There is no middle ground. Good poetsand poems are lost forever simply because there is no market for them, no people whowrite their own verse and seek out further in spirati

4、 on from other bards.3 Fort un ately, there is a soluti on for this problem, as there are for all imp on derables.The an swer is to make it easy for every one to write at least one poem in his life. Once aperson has written a poem, of whatever quality, he will feel comradeship with fellow poets and,

5、 hopefully, read their works. Ideally, there would evolve a veritable society of poet-citizens, which would elevate the quality of life worldwide. Not only that, good poets could make a livi ng for a cha nge.4 So, to begi n, have your paper ready. You must first un dersta nd that the poem youwrite h

6、ere will not be brilliant. It won' t even tBuhiewobba better than 50% ofall song lyrics and at least equal to one of Rod McKuen' s best efforts. You will bein structed how to write a four-li ne poem but the basic structure can be repeated at will tocreate works of epic len gth.5 The first li

7、 ne of your poem should start and end with these words:of Inythe mind. ” The middle word of this line is opti on al. Any word will do. It would be best not touse a word that has bee n overd one, such as “ win dmills or “ garde ns ” “ playgro und.”Just think of as many nouns as you can and see what f

8、its best. The rule of thumb is topick a noun that seems totally out of con text, such as “ fili ng cab inet ”r “ radiator or“ parking lot.” Just remember, the more unusual the noun, the more profound the image.6 The second line should use two or more of the human senses in a conflicting manner, as p

9、er the famous, “ listen to the warm. ” This is a sure way to conjure upIf more“ poetic ” feeling and atmosphere. Since there are five different senses, the possibilities areen dless. A couple that come to mind are“ see the no ise” and “ touch the sound.taste the color of my heari ng.Rhyming, of cour

10、sle , is opti oncomplexity is desired other sen ses can be added, as in"I cuddled your sight i n the aroma of the ni ght.7 The third line should be just a simple statement. This is used to break up thein sightful images that have bee n prese nted in the first two lin es. This line should be asp

11、rosaic as possible to give a “ downto- earth ” moocto the poem. An example wou ld be“ she gave me juice and toast that morning,” or perhaps " I left for work next day on the 8:30 bus. The content of this line may or may not relate to what has gone before.8 The last line of your poem should deal

12、 with the future in some way. This gives thetomorrow will be apoem a forward thrust that is always helpful. A possibility might be, better day, or " I ' ll finsomeone sometime, "or “ maybe we ' ll meeigain in July. 'This future-oriented ending lends an aura of hope and yet need

13、 not be grossly optimistic.9 By follow ing the above structure, anyone can write a poem. For example, if I selectone each of my sample lin es, I come up with:In the park ing lot of my mind,I cuddled your sight in the aroma of the ni ght.I left for work next day on the 8:30 bus.s a poemMaybe we '

14、 ll meet again in July.10 Now that poem (like yours, when you' re finished) is rotten. But at least itand you ' ve written it, which is an accomplishment that relatively few people can claim.11 Now that you ' re a poelteel free to read poetry by some of your more accomplishedbrothers and

15、 sisters in verse. Chances are, you' Ifind their offerings stimulatingand'verefresh ing. You might even try writ ing some more of your own poems, now that you broken the ice. Observe o thers ' emotions and experienee your own that '-s what poetry is all about.write to Bobby Goldsboro

16、12 In cide ntally, if you find it impossible to sell the poem you or Joh n Den ver, burn it. It will look terrible as the first page of your an thology whe n it published.轻轻松松写烂诗理查德豪伊1. 这一天你过得很糟糕，或是有了个绝妙的想法，又或者遭遇车祸， 再或情场失意，你想 把它永久记录下来。你于是想写一首诗。你想把在你血管里澎湃着的这些情感组织一下。 你 有些东西需要用诗的形式来传达，但不知道从哪里下手。2. 写诗当然

17、有这个问题。大多数人觉得写诗很难，所以根本连试都不去试一下。更糟糕的 是，大家现在也不再费心去读什么诗了。 对多数人来说诗已经成为一种几乎完全陌生的艺术形式。结果是，严肃诗人要么饿死要么改行去做客户项目经理了。连折衷的余地都没有。优秀诗人和诗歌永远消失了，就是因为没有市场一一没人写诗，也没人想从别的诗人那里汲取灵感。3. 幸运的是，像其他难以精确估量的东西一样，这个问题有一个解决办法。 答案是让每个人一生中至少可以轻轻松松写一首诗。一旦某个人写了一首诗，不论质量如何，他会跟其他诗人产生亲近感，那样就很有可能会去阅读他们的作品。理想的状态是，名副其实的诗人公民社会发展起来了， 全世界范围内的生活

18、质量得以提升。不仅如此，优秀的诗人也可以换种方式谋生了。4. 好了，先要把纸准备好。 你首先得明白，你在这张纸上写出的诗不可能会太出色， 甚至 可能连平庸之作都算不上。但它至少会比 50%的歌词要好，也至少能与罗德 麦丘恩的某篇 得意之作不相上下。我会指导你写一首四行的诗，但这只是基本结构，可以随意重复，就算 要用它来写一部鸿篇巨制也没问题。5. 你的诗作第一行的首尾字词应该是这样的：在我脑子的 里。”这一行中间的词是可选的。什么词都可以。最好别用那些已经被人用滥了的词，比如风车”或花园”或游乐场”尽量多想名词，越多越好，看哪一个最合适。经验法则是选一个看起来完全不合 上下文的词，比如 档案柜”或 散热器”或 停车场”。只要记住，这名词越不同寻常，意象就 会越深刻。6. 第二行应该以自相矛盾的方式提到两种或两种以上的人类感觉，比如那句著名的倾听温暖”用这个办法来营造 诗意”情感和气氛真是十拿九稳。因为人类共有五种感官，所以 能有无穷无尽的组合。现在闯入我脑海的两个就是看见噪音”和触摸声音”。如果希望更复杂些，还可以加上其他感官，比如，品尝我听觉的颜色”或我在夜的香气中依偎你的视线