美国国家公共电台 NPR 'World Make Way': New Poems Paint Classic Pictures

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Pictures can be poems and vice¹ versa, feelings captured in a phrase, a stroke or an image. Leonardo da Vinci said, painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen. Lee Bennett Hopkins and the Metropolitan² Museum of Art asked a number of poets to look at great classic art from the museum's collection and reflect their feelings in new poems. The book that results is "World Make Way: New Poems Inspired By Art From The Metropolitan Museum Of Art." And Lee Bennett Hopkins, who's also an artist, a poet and holder³ of the "Guinness Book Of World Records" citation⁴ for compiling the most anthologies for children joins us from member station WGCU in Fort Myers, Fla. Thanks so much for being with us.

LEE BENNETT HOPKINS: Oh, thank you.

SIMON: What interested you in this?

HOPKINS: Frankly⁵, I began my career as an elementary school teacher in New Jersey⁶, and my work in poetry was really influenced by children I was teaching. I found that using poetry with them was a very miraculous⁷ thing, particularly with slower learners. Poems are usually short, vocabulary simple, and I've always maintained that more can be said or felt in eight or 10 lines than sometimes in an entire novel. And the whole book is really based on a form from the Greek called ekphrastic poetry where poems are inspired by art. I assigned these varied⁸ paintings to 18 of the top children's poets in America, who would then write their emotions toward the painting. Rather than describing the painting, it's what they feel.

SIMON: Well, let's give people an idea of what we're talking about in this match between painting and poems. "Dancing" a poem by Alma Flor Ada that she wrote in response to Botero's "Dancing In Colombia." This is a very famous painting - a group of musicians playing dance music and a couple totally focused on each other and dancing. Could I get you to read this poem?

HOPKINS: I would love to. It's by Alma Flor Ada, who, by the way, is a leading Latina poet in America. She writes (reading) music fills the room as we play. Seven of us grow, taking up all the space, leaving only enough room for a couple to dance with quick steps, her flying hair in abandonment. Two absorbed by our music, which continues to take over the world, everything else forgotten, unimportant, like scattered⁹ litter strewn on the dance floor.

SIMON: The poem as much as the painting does capture that sense of abandonment to joy, doesn't it?

HOPKINS: It does.

SIMON: Let me ask you about another one - "Cat Watching A Spider" - Julie Fogliano. This is one of the most famous paintings I think in the the museum's collection. And it's a grey cat watching a spider - watching intently. Also the cat has a nice kind of Japanese scarf around its neck.

HOPKINS: (Laughter).

SIMON: Do you mind if I get to read this?

HOPKINS: Of course not. I'd love it.

SIMON: OK. (Reading) So silent and certain, a spider can cause a watchful¹⁰ and wondering cat to pause, all prowl and prance¹¹ and teeth and claws.

Oh, you could write a whole other poem about - from the vantage point of the spider, couldn't you?

HOPKINS: Oh, my goodness, yes. There are so many interpretations¹².

SIMON: I hope you don't mind, the painting and that poem inspired me to try another Japanese form, a haiku, for this painting.

HOPKINS: Oh, wonderful.

SIMON: Would you mind if I contributed that?

HOPKINS: I love haiku (laughter).

SIMON: All right. Let me try this. OK. Keep in mind, all right, this is written from the view of the spider, all right? The spider muses¹³, each step of one of eight legs, goads¹⁴ me, keep going. I'm too small for him.

HOPKINS: Wonderful.

(LAUGHTER)

SIMON: Kind of a hopeful poem, isn't it? Do you hope these poems can invite youngsters - well, adults, for that matter - to look into these paintings in a different way?

HOPKINS: I think that's the premise¹⁵ of the entire book. Peering into any piece of art, whether it's a painting or a sculpture, they capture your eye and capture your ear, magic happens. New things are seen. New things are felt. I think I want to ask the children and adults what have these poets seen when they looked at the painting? More important, what do you see? What do you feel?

SIMON: Lee Bennett Hopkins - the book - "World Make Way: New Poems Inspired By Art From The Metropolitan Museum Of Art." Thanks very much for being with us.

HOPKINS: Thank you so much.

(SOUNDBITE OF DIOS TRO'S "SHARK TOP")

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

3 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

4 citation   

n.引用，引证，引用文；传票

参考例句：

• He had to sign the proposition for the citation.他只好在受奖申请书上签了字。
• The court could issue a citation and fine Ms. Robbins.法庭可能会发传票，对罗宾斯女士处以罚款。

5 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

6 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

7 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。

8 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

9 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

10 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

11 prance   

v.（马）腾跃，(人)神气活现地走

参考例句：

• Their horses pranced and whinnied.他们的马奔腾着、嘶鸣着。
• He was horrified at the thought of his son prancing about on a stage in tights.一想到儿子身穿紧身衣在舞台上神气活现地走来走去，他就感到震惊。

12 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 muses   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• We have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe. 欧洲那种御用的诗才，我们已经听够了。 来自辞典例句
• Shiki muses that this is, at least, probably the right atmosphere. 志贵觉得这至少是正确的气氛。 来自互联网

14 goads   

n.赶牲口的尖棒( goad的名词复数 )v.刺激( goad的第三人称单数 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人

参考例句：

• They are motivated by the twin goads of punishment and reward. 他们受赏与罚的双重因素所激励。 来自互联网

15 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。