VOA标准英语2011--US Poet Laureate Captures Struggles of W

US Poet Laureate Captures Struggles of Working Class

美国新桂冠诗人菲利普·列文

America's newest poet laureate is Detroit native Philip Levine, 83, who is known for capturing the poignancy 1 and grit 2 of a now-vanished industrial America, and the overall struggle of the working class.

诗人菲利普·列文8月被美国国会图书馆任命为新的美国桂冠诗人。现年83岁的菲利普·列文是底特律人。他以率直的诗句，颂扬美国工业界的粗狂辛辣，以及劳工阶级的奋斗精神而闻名。

Levine, small and wiry, sits in the living room of the Brooklyn apartment he shares with Frances, his wife of nearly 60 years. He's published 16 collections of poetry and is knowledgeable 3 about poetry concerning a vast array of subjects spanning centuries.

个头瘦小而又结实的菲利普·列文，在纽约布鲁克林区公寓的起居室里坐着。他和妻子弗朗西斯在这里生活了将近60年。列文已经出版了16本诗集。他读遍了几个世纪以来数量繁多、不同主题的诗文。

Yet he creates verse culled 4 largely from what he calls the drudgery 5 of the Detroit factory job he held in the 1940s and 1950s.

可是他的创作精髓，依然以于1940至1950年代，在底特律工厂中辛勤工作的感受为主。

“I remember when I worked at General Motors, sometimes people would come in being led on a tour," Levine says. "They were looking at us like we are in a zoo. I felt demeaned by it. I also felt I am a smart guy. I am not living on my wits. And I've got to figure out a way to live on my wits because my back is getting tired. And I did finally get out of it. I got out of it by publishing poetry, curiously 7 enough.”

他说：“我记得，当我在通用汽车公司工作时，有些人被引导前来参观。他们看到我们，就好像我们是在动物园里供人参观一样。我觉得自己被贬低了。但我觉得我是一个有脑筋的人，我怎么不靠自己的智慧为生？所以，我必须找出一条靠自己聪明才智生活的方式，那时我的背脊已经劳累不堪。令我惊异的是，我终于摆脱了这些，靠的是出版诗集。”

Levine’s subject matter has acquired new relevance 8 in today’s difficult economy. His poem, “What Work Is,” was the title work of a volume which won the National Book Award.

列文的创作主题，在经济困顿的今天，表现了新的认知。在他一部荣获国家书奖的诗集里，其中有一首名为“工作是什么”：

We stand in the rain in a long line

waiting at Ford 9 Highland 10 Park. For work.

You know what work is--if you're

old enough to read this you know what

work is, although you may not do it.

Forget you. This is about waiting...

“在雨中，福特高地公园里，我们排着长队，

等候工作。

如果你年岁够大，能看懂这些，

你知道这工作意味着什么，

即使你不会去做。

忘了吧，我们说的是等待。”

Although Levine loves the variety in city life, he and Frances often return to Fresno, California, about 250 kilometers inland, where they keep a home. There, he says, life is “fixed,” and he writes a different sort of poetry. Here is an excerpt 11 from “Our Valley.”

虽然，列文喜爱这样的都市生活，他和妻子弗朗西斯还是经常回到加州的老家弗雷斯诺。那是一个距离海岸250公里的内陆市镇。他们在那里还留着一栋住房。他说，在那里，生活是悠闲的。他在那里写出不同的诗。有一首名为“我们的山谷”：

We don't see the ocean, not ever, but in July and August

when the worst heat seems to rise from the hard clay

of this valley, you could be walking through a fig 6 orchard 12

when suddenly the wind cools and for a moment

you get a whiff of salt, and in that moment you can almost

believe something is waiting beyond the Pacheco Pass,

something massive, irrational 13, and so powerful even

the mountains that rise east of here have no word for it…

“我们从来望不见海，

但七、八月炎热暑气自山谷的硬黏土升起，

你步行穿越无花果园时

凉风一阵袭来，依然感到一股咸味

这顷刻间你几已相信

巨大的，无理性的宏伟力量远候在巴切可山隘外

对此东边那拔地而起的群山，也无法形容。”

Levine cherishes silence and celebrates it in “He Would Never Use One Word Where None Would Do.”

列文珍惜沉默的时刻。他的诗“若一字为多他就一字不说”：

Fact is, silence is the perfect water:

unlike rain it falls from no clouds

to wash our minds, to ease our tired eyes,

to give heart to the thin blades of grass

fighting through the concrete for even air

dirtied by our endless stream of words.

“沉默有如完好之水

不像雨无云不落，

它洗涤我意念，舒缓我疲倦双眼。

让心迎向草叶的刀锋，

奋力穿过具象的压迫，甚至空气也被我们

无尽的词语之河弄脏了。”

The words Levine does use can be earthy. These lines are from “The Simple Truth,” the title poem of the collection that earned him the 1995 Pulitzer Prize.

列文喜欢使用朴实自然的字眼。他的诗“简单的真相”获得普利策奖，诗中写道：

Can you taste

what I'm saying? It is onions or potatoes, a pinch

of simple salt, the wealth of melting butter, it is obvious,

it stays in the back of your throat like a truth

you never uttered because the time was always wrong,

it stays there for the rest of your life, unspoken,

made of that dirt we call earth, the metal we call salt,

in a form we have no words for, and you live on it.

“你能品味，

我说的？

那是洋葱，洋芋，一小撮盐，和厚实融化的奶油。

显然，它像一个真相，留在你喉咙背后。

而你从未说出，因为时机总是不对。”

Levine also believes in the epic 14 courage and tenderness of human beings. He is an admirer of the anarchists 15 who fought alongside the Republicans against Gen. Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

列文也相信史诗上的勇气和人性的柔弱面。他仰慕1930年代西班牙内战时期，那些和中间偏左的共和国军并肩作战，反对佛朗哥政权的无政府主义者。

“I was truly inspired by their belief in the boundless 16 nature of the human that, given the opportunity, human beings could work out a way of living that was based on generosity 17 and common ownership and sensitivity to each other and they could treat the world as a place they didn’t have dominion 18 over but had to take care of."

列文说：“我确实受到他们那种人类天性无疆界信念的鼓舞。如果人类有这种机会的话，就能够创造出一项基于慷慨共有和相互理解的生活方式。他们将能以照顾代替支配的态度来对待这个世界。”

As to what he hopes to achieve during his tenure 19 as U.S. poet laureate, Levine says he'll do what he does when he writes a poem. He won't know where it's going; he'll just follow his instincts.

当被问到作为美国的桂冠诗人，他希望与人共享什么样的成就时，列文半带玩笑地回答说，他希望能编选一个最差诗集。他说，这样将激起每一个人的思想和乐趣。他认真的说，他将一如既往的写诗，他不知道会走到哪一条路上。他只是随着他的本性走下去。

点击收听单词发音  






1
poignancy

  
 


n.辛酸事，尖锐


参考例句：





As she sat in church her face had a pathos and poignancy. 当她坐在教堂里时，脸上带着一种哀婉和辛辣的表情。
The movie, "Trains, Planes, and Automobiles" treats this with hilarity and poignancy. 电影“火车，飞机和汽车”是以欢娱和热情庆祝这个节日。












2
grit

  
 


n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关


参考例句：





The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。












3
knowledgeable

  
 


adj.知识渊博的；有见识的


参考例句：





He's quite knowledgeable about the theatre.他对戏剧很有心得。
He made some knowledgeable remarks at the meeting.他在会上的发言颇有见地。












4
culled

  
 


v.挑选，剔除( cull的过去式和过去分词 )


参考例句：





The herd must be culled. 必须有选择地杀掉部分牧畜。 来自辞典例句
The facts were culled from various sources. 这些事实是从各方收集到的。 来自辞典例句












5
drudgery

  
 


n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作


参考例句：





People want to get away from the drudgery of their everyday lives.人们想摆脱日常生活中单调乏味的工作。
He spent his life in pointlessly tiresome drudgery.他的一生都在做毫无意义的烦人的苦差事。












6
fig

  
 


n.无花果(树)


参考例句：





The doctor finished the fig he had been eating and selected another.这位医生吃完了嘴里的无花果，又挑了一个。
You can't find a person who doesn't know fig in the United States.你找不到任何一个在美国的人不知道无花果的。












7
curiously

  
 


adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地


参考例句：





He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。












8
relevance

  
 


n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性


参考例句：





Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。












9
Ford

  
 


n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过


参考例句：





They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。












10
highland

  
 


n.(pl.)高地，山地


参考例句：





The highland game is part of Scotland's cultural heritage.苏格兰高地游戏是苏格兰文化遗产的一部分。
The highland forests where few hunters venture have long been the bear's sanctuary.这片只有少数猎人涉险的高山森林，一直都是黑熊的避难所。












11
excerpt

  
 


n.摘录，选录，节录


参考例句：





This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？












12
orchard

  
 


n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场


参考例句：





My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。












13
irrational

  
 


adj.无理性的，失去理性的


参考例句：





After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。












14
epic

  
 


n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的


参考例句：





I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。












15
anarchists

  
 


无政府主义者( anarchist的名词复数 )


参考例句：





Anarchists demand the destruction of structures of oppression including the country itself. "无政府主义者要求摧毁包括国家本身在内的压迫人民的组织。
Unsurprisingly, Ms Baburova had a soft spot for anarchists. 没什么奇怪的，巴布罗娃女士倾向于无政府主义。












16
boundless

  
 


adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的


参考例句：





The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep repose of nature.无边无际的森林在大自然静寂的怀抱中酣睡着。
His gratitude and devotion to the Party was boundless.他对党无限感激、无限忠诚。












17
generosity

  
 


n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为


参考例句：





We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。












18
dominion

  
 


n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图


参考例句：





Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里，当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。












19
tenure

  
 


n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期


参考例句：





He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。