美国国家公共电台 NPR Poet W.S. Merwin, Who Was Inspired By Conservation, Dies At 91

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

W.S. Merwin was a Pulitzer Prize winner and a former poet laureate of the United States. He died Friday at his home in Hawaii at the age of 91. Here is a one-line poem of his - "Elegy¹." (Reading) "Who would I show it to?" That seems an appropriate way to start this remembrance of Merwin from Noah Adams.

NOAH ADAMS, BYLINE²: W.S. Merwin wrote a lot. And he wrote for a long time. As a 5-year-old in New Jersey³, he wrote hymns⁴ for the Presbyterian church where his father was a minister. And in later years, the inspiration was Maui and his conservation work. Here's a poem about his time there. The title is simply "Place." It was recorded at his home as part of a documentary film.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "EVEN THOUGH THE WHOLE WORLD IS BURNING")

W S MERWIN: (Reading) On the last day of the world, I would want to plant a tree. What for? Not the fruit. The tree that bears the fruit is not the one that was planted. I want the tree that stands in the earth for the first time with the sun already going down and the water touching⁵ its roots in the earth full of the dead and the clouds passing one by one over its leaves.

ADAMS: W.S. Merwin from the 2014 documentary titled "Even Though the Whole World is Burning" - the young Merwin, when he was ready for college, earned a scholarship to Princeton, where he also worked in the campus dining halls. He went on to Europe, became a translator and soon a poet. His books started to appear. And if you saw a photograph, you'd notice that. The poet Edward Hirsch thought, this is a great looking guy.

EDWARD HIRSCH: When I first saw his picture, I thought he looked like Orpheus. His physical beauty was really quite startling - always.

ADAMS: Edward Hirsch says Merwin, by the time of his fifth book, was in despair - worried about the planet, nuclear issues, Vietnam. He wanted his writing to be more urgent. And to start, Merwin decided⁶ to do away with punctuation⁷.

HIRSCH: Suddenly, using punctuation felt like nailing words on a page. He was seeking something like the movement and lightness of the spoken word. Then, as he became more involved in the ecological⁸ movement, his poems began to root themselves in the earth. And one of the most amazing things in his work is by the time he became a poet of old age, he had sort of morphed into a poet of praise.

ADAMS: A poet of praise - that happened on the island of Maui. Merwin found a worn-out pineapple plantation⁹ and, with his wife Paula, worked to restore the rainforest. His day would begin early with tea and the birds and the wind and maybe some poetry notes on the back of an envelope. The afternoon was given to bringing back the palm trees. He talked about this in the documentary.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "EVEN THOUGH THE WORLD IS BURNING")

MERWIN: These big, beautiful palms - I planted them almost 30 years ago. I don't think anybody thought they'd grow here. But they look at home now.

NAOMI SHIHAB NYE: He has kept very diligently¹⁰ that precious, quiet oasis¹¹ of solitude¹².

ADAMS: Naomi Shihab Nye is a friend of the Merwins. She's often traveled to Maui. She first read his poetry in 1969 and said, Merwin, this is a voice that could save us. Naomi Nye went on to become a poet herself and a teacher. And once, she was asked to give a week-long workshop at a private girls' school. They said, please use the work of only one poet. She chose Merwin. And afterwards, the girls wrote thank you notes saying it was the sense of mystery they really liked.

NYE: That was the attitude the girls had. How is it possible that poems, which are a little bit mysterious, help us to know so much more about our own lives?

ADAMS: The trees that W.S. Merwin raised as seedlings¹³ and planted - more than 2,000 - the home that was shared and the literary legacy¹⁴ will all be set aside as part of the Merwin Conservancy. Noah Adams, NPR News.

1 elegy   

n.哀歌，挽歌

参考例句：

• Good heavens,what would be more tragic than that elegy!天哪，还有什么比那首挽歌更悲伤的呢！
• His book is not intended to be a complete history but a personal elegy.他的书与其说是一部完整的历史，更像是一篇个人挽歌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 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。

4 hymns   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At first, they played the hymns and marches familiar to them. 起初他们只吹奏自己熟悉的赞美诗和进行曲。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• I like singing hymns. 我喜欢唱圣歌。 来自辞典例句

5 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 punctuation   

n.标点符号，标点法

参考例句：

• My son's punctuation is terrible.我儿子的标点符号很糟糕。
• A piece of writing without any punctuation is difficult to understand.一篇没有任何标点符号的文章是很难懂的。

8 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

9 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

10 diligently   

ad.industriously;carefully

参考例句：

• He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。
• He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

11 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

12 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

13 seedlings   

n.刚出芽的幼苗( seedling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ninety-five per cent of the new seedlings have survived. 新栽的树苗95%都已成活。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In such wet weather we must prevent the seedlings from rotting. 这样的阴雨天要防止烂秧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。