英语美文背诵 永恒之脉

The thread of permanence

By William Zorach

It is strange how certain things make a great impression on us in childhood. I remember these verses by Longfellow:

"Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the graves is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul."

And again:

"Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime¹,

And departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time."

Of course, my generation was much more sentimental² than today's youth but whether this was great poetry, it communicated in simple language a message, and made a lasting³ impression on a small boy.

When I was fifteen I had an imaginary guardian⁴ angel and when I went to the country to sketch⁵ on Sundays, I asked for guidance, praying that someday I would be a fine artist and paint nature as beautiful as she really is. What this little ceremony brought me was faith in the world and a belief in myself.

My faiths and beliefs have been badly strained. The Atomic Age has caught us in a web of fear. Our lives seem so impermanent and uncertain. There is such a waste of human potential, of things worth while in people which never find expression. I sometimes think it's a miracle that anything survives. Yet I believe that a thread of permanence runs through everything from the beginning of time, and the most valuable residue⁶ will survive.

I believe everybody has an urge to somehow spin his own life into a thread of permanence. It is the impulse of life. Some would call it the drive to immortality⁷. Whatever it is, I think it is good because it gives purpose to existence. But purpose is not enough. Artists are supposed to be notoriously impractical⁸, but for myself, I found I had to make decisions and plans if I were to try to create anything. I realized that I must approach life not only with a sensitivity, a perception of beauty, but with a feeling of humility⁹ and reverence¹⁰.

My creed¹¹ as an artist is to love life and liberty and the world of people. A man who works and loves his work is often a man dreaming, and the spirit of his dreams will find forms and symbols to express that dream. It is a wonderful feeling to create something. But today, I think there is a lack of power of communication. If people, not just artists, but all kinds of people, could only open their hearts and express their sorrow, their happiness, their fears and hopes, they would discover they had an identity with the main stream of life which they never saw before.

sometimes fear and cynicism so grip our minds that we lose heart. Then I try to remember how the great artists of the ages had the power of expressiveness¹². Theirs was the power to communicate, to exalt¹³, to move the observer to joy or tears, to strike terror and awe¹⁴ in the hearts of men; not just to decorate or merely entertain.

If we can expand the boundaries of men's thoughts and beliefs, we will discover we all have creative possibilities - talents to make ourselves real identities as individuals, with a hold on the thread of immortality. If we can awaken¹⁵ ourselves to it, I am convinced we shall find that this is an alive and exciting age of adventure and experimentation¹⁶ from which a new beauty and a finer world will emerge.

永恒之脉

■威廉·佐拉奇

说来也怪，儿时的某些事情常会给我们留下极深刻的印象，像我就一直记得浪费罗的这几首诗：

“人生皆真实！人生非虚无！

最终的归宿绝不是荒坟。

你本是尘土，必归于尘土，

这是指躯壳，不是指灵魂。”

诗中还说：

“伟人的生平提醒我们：

我们能让生活很高尚，

也能在告别人世的时候，

留下脚印在时间沙滩上。”

诚然，我们这代人远比现在的年轻人诗情洋溢，但不管这首诗是不是佳作，它都用朴实的语言传达了一个道理，在一个小小少年心中刻下了永久的印记。

我十五岁时心中有位假想的守护天使。每当我周日去乡间写生时，都会请其为我指引方向，祈求自己有朝一日能成为一名伟大的艺术家，用画笔传神逼真地描绘出大自然的美景。这一次次的祈祷赋予我对世界的信念和对自己的信心。

但我的信念和信心却面临着严峻的挑战。核武时代使我们陷入恐慌，我们的生命几近朝不保夕。人类的潜力、人性的华彩无彰显之机，这无异于浪费。我有时候想，万物能存活简直是奇迹。即使如此，我仍然相信天地万物间存在一种一脉相传的永恒，最有价值的遗产将亘古不灭。

我想每个人都渴望以某种方式让自己的生命也汇入这永恒之脉。这就是生命的冲动，有人称之为永生的动力。不管是什么，我都认为它是一种积极的想法，赋予我们生存的目的。但只有目的是不够的。

人们常认为艺术家一点也不实际，但就我自己而言，在进行任何艺术创造之前，我一定要作出决定和计划。我认识到面对生活，我不仅要敏感，能感知美好的事物，还有有一颗谦和恭敬的心。

作为一名艺术家，我热爱生活、热爱自由、热爱世界人民——这就是我的人生信条。一个热爱自己工作的人往往是一个有梦想的人，而他的梦想也总会通过某种方式和某些符号传达出来。创作的感觉是非常美妙的，但现在我觉得人与人之间缺乏沟通的能力。如果所有人，不只是艺术家，都能敞开胸怀，表达自己的忧愁与快乐、恐惧与希望，就一定会发现他们已融入生活的主流，这是他们从前看不到的。

有时候，恐惧与嘲讽也会让人心灰意冷。这是我就会努力回想那些古往今来伟大的艺术家如何拥有表现力。他们的表现力不仅仅是为了装点生活或是供人消遣，而是一种与人沟通、提升人的品格的力量，是让观者产生或悲或喜或惧或敬的共鸣的力量。

如果我们能扩大视野、拓宽思路，就会发现每个人身上都有创在的天分。正是这种创造力让每个生命的个体独具个性，在永恒之脉上有一席之地。如果我们能认识到这一点，我相信我会发现自己生活在一个激情澎湃、充满奇遇与革新的时代，它将带领我们走向一个更美更好的世界。

1 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。

2 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

4 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

5 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

6 residue   

n.残余，剩余，残渣

参考例句：

• Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
• Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。

7 immortality   

n.不死，不朽

参考例句：

• belief in the immortality of the soul 灵魂不灭的信念
• It was like having immortality while you were still alive. 仿佛是当你仍然活着的时候就得到了永生。

8 impractical   

adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的

参考例句：

• He was hopelessly impractical when it came to planning new projects.一到规划新项目，他就完全没有了实际操作的能力。
• An entirely rigid system is impractical.一套完全死板的体制是不实际的。

9 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

10 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

11 creed   

n.信条；信念，纲领

参考例句：

• They offended against every article of his creed.他们触犯了他的每一条戒律。
• Our creed has always been that business is business.我们的信条一直是公私分明。

12 expressiveness   

n.富有表现力

参考例句：

• His painting rose to a fresh expressiveness and revealed a shrewder insight. 他的画富有一种新的表达力，显示出更敏锐的洞察力。
• The audiences are impressed by the expressiveness of the actors. 演员们的丰富表情给观众留下了深刻的印象。

13 exalt   

v.赞扬，歌颂，晋升，提升

参考例句：

• She thanked the President to exalt her.她感谢总统提拔她。
• His work exalts all those virtues that we,as Americans,are taught to hold dear.他的作品颂扬了所有那些身为美国人应该珍视的美德。

14 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

15 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

16 experimentation   

n.实验，试验，实验法

参考例句：

• Many people object to experimentation on animals.许多人反对用动物做实验。
• Study and analysis are likely to be far cheaper than experimentation.研究和分析的费用可能要比实验少得多。