THIS IS AMERICA - National Poetry Month

THIS IS AMERICA -April 1, 2002: National Poetry Month

By Jerilyn Watson
VOICE ONE:
April is National Poetry Month. This year, five poets have been chosen to be honored. I’m Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Great poetry is our report today on the VOA Special English program, THIS IS

AMERICA.
((THEME)
)
VOICE ONE:
National Poetry Month begins April first. The American Academy of Poets started this yearly observance in

Nineteen-Ninety-Six. The goal is to show the importance of poetry in American culture. One of the main events
will be a reading by the world’s largest poetry -reading group. On April second, people all over the world will
read the works of poet Langston Hughes.

Other major poets being honored this month are Gertrude Stein, W-H Auden, Marie Ponsot
(pahn-SOH) and Shel Silverstein (SIL-ver-steen).

Many people helped organize National Poetry Month across the country. They include
poets, booksellers, members of reading groups, teachers and librarians. They organized
readings, book shows, special meetings and other events.

VOICE TWO:

This year is the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Langston Hughes. To celebrate
this, the American Academy of Poets has opened a special exhibit on the Internet’s World Wide Web. It tells
about his life and work. This exhibit can be found at w-w-w-dot-poets -dot-o-r-g.

Other groups joined the Academy to organize special events to honor Langston Hughes. During the April Second
event, people around the world will read his poems. They will read his poems in schools, libraries, bookstores,
and community and religious centers. His work also will be honored at a celebration April Thirtieth at Town Hall
in New York City.

VOICE ONE:

People called Langston Hughes “the poet voice of African Americans.
”
He was one of the most important
writers of the Harlem Renaissance¹. This was a period of great artistic² creativity among blacks who lived in the
Harlem area of New York City.

Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri in Nineteen-Oh-Two. His parents separated, and he spent most of
his childhood with his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas. He began to write poetry when he was a child.

As a young man, Langston Hughes studied engineering for a short time at Columbia University in New York.
But soon he began to travel, something he did all his life. In Nineteen-Twenty-Five, Hughes settled in the Harlem
area of New York. During his life he lived many places. But he always returned to Harlem.

VOICE TWO:

Hughes became established as a writer in Nineteen-Twenty-Six. That year, he published a collection of jazz
poems called “The Weary Blues³.
”


Hughes gained fame for his descriptions of black American life. He used his work to praise his people and voice
his concerns about race and social injustice⁴. Besides poetry, he wrote dramas, short stories and novels. He died in
Nineteen-Sixty-Seven.

Listen now to Hughes’
poem, “Minstrel Man.
”
Performers in minstrel shows sang and danced and made

people laugh.

VOICE THREE:

Because my mouth

Is wide with laughter

And my throat

Is deep with song,

You do not think

I suffer after

I have held my pain

So long?

Because my mouth

Is wide with laughter,

You do not hear

My inner cry?

Because my feet

Are gay with dancing,

You do not know

I die?

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE ONE:
Poet Gertrude Stein was born in Eighteen-Seventy-Four in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Three years later her family
moved to Europe. Later they settled in Oakland, California. Gertrude attended college and medical school in the

United States. But she did not become a doctor.
In Nineteen-Oh-Three, she moved to Paris. There she met writers like Sherwood Anderson and Ernest

Hemingway. Some critics say Gertrude Stein was as important for her influence on writers and artists as for her
poetry.
Her first book was published in Nineteen-Oh-Nine. “Three Lives”
told about women who work to support

themselves. Critics praised the book. It established Gertrude Stein as a popular new writer.
Gertrude Stein often repeated words to help express the messages of her work. She believed this repetition helped
explain her meaning. Her line, “Rose is a rose is a rose”
because famous.


Sometimes people found her work hard to understand. Still, critics consider her a major poet. Listen for the

repeated words in these lines from “Stanzas⁵ in Meditation⁶”
by Gertrude Stein.

VOICE FOUR:

Which I wish to say is this

There is no beginning to an end

But there is a beginning and an end

To beginning.

Why yes of course.

Any one can learn that north of course

Is not only north but north as north

Why were they worried

What I wish to say is this.

Yes of course

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE TWO:
The American Academy of Poets also will honor W-H Auden. Many critics consider him the finest English poet
of the Twentieth Century.

Wystan Hugh Auden was born in York, England, in Nineteen-Oh-Seven. He was educated at Christ’s Church
College at Oxford⁷ University in England. Auden published his first book of poetry in Nineteen-Twenty-Eight.
Another collection of his poems was simply called “Poems”. It was published in Nineteen-Thirty. This book
helped his work become widely known.

In Nineteen-Forty-Eight, he wrote “The Age of Anxiety.
”
This long poem was published as a book.

Listen to this beautiful poem by W-H Auden. It is called “Funeral Blues.
”

VOICE THREE:

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled⁸ drum

Bring out the coffin⁹, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling¹⁰ on the sky the message He Is Dead,

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,


Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever; I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle¹¹ the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood,
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
((BRIDGE MUSIC)
)
VOICE ONE:
Poet Marie Ponsot (pahn-SOH) was born in Nineteen-Twenty-One in New York City, where she lives today. In

her long lifetime, she has published only a few books of poems. But many critics say she is one of America’ s

finest poets. Her collection, “The Bird Catcher”
won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Marie Ponsot began publishing poems as a child. She attended universities in the United States. After the end of
World War Two, she went to Paris. There she met French artist Claude Ponsot, whom she married.

Many years later, the marriage ended. She raised seven children, mainly by herself. Marie Ponsot writes about

home life, marriage and friendship. Listen now to Marie Ponsot ’s poem, “Old Mama Saturday.
”

VOICE FOUR:

“I’m moving from Grief Street.

Taxes are high here

though the mortgage’s cheap.

The house is well built.

With stuff to protect, that

mattered to me,

the security.

These things that I mind, you know, aren’t mine.

I mind minding them.

They weigh on my mind.

I don’t mind them well.

I haven¹² ’t got the knack¹³


of kindly¹⁴ minding.
I say Take them back
but you never do.
When I throw them out
it may frighten you
and maybe me too.
Maybe
it will empty me
too emptily
and keep me here
asleep, at sea
under the guilt¹⁵ quilt,
under the you tree.
”
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE TWO:
The Academy of American Poets also is honoring Shel Silverstein (SIL-ver-steen). He was an artist and

songwriter as well as a poet. His poetry and drawings please both children and adults. Sheldon Allan Silverstein

was born in Chicago, Illinois, in Nineteen-Thirty-Two. He began writing poems as a young boy. During the

Nineteen-Fifties, he served in the military in Japan and Korea. In the service, he drew cartoon art for the

newspaper “Stars and Stripes.
”

VOICE TWO:
One of his earliest and most successful books of poetry is called “The Giving Tree.
”
Later he wrote poetry
books including “Falling Up
”
, “A Light in the Attic¹⁶”
and “Where the Sidewalk Ends.
”
He once said he

hoped that people of all ages would find something to identify with in his poems. He died almost three years ago
at age sixty-six. Here is “Examination”, Shel Silverstein’s funny poem about going to the doctor.
VOICE THREE:
I went to the doctor
–
He reached down my throat,
He pulled out a shoe
And a little toy boat,
He pulled out a skate
And a bicycle seat


And said, “Be more careful
About what you eat.
”
((THEME)
)
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced by Caty Weaver¹⁷. Our poetry readers were Shep

O’Neal and Sarah Long. I’m Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another report about life in the United States on the VOA

Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.

 

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1 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

2 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

3 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

4 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

5 stanzas   

节，段( stanza的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poem has six stanzas. 这首诗有六小节。
• Stanzas are different from each other in one poem. 诗中节与节差异颇大。

6 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

7 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

10 scribbling   

n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• Once the money got into the book, all that remained were some scribbling. 折子上的钱只是几个字！ 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• McMug loves scribbling. Mama then sent him to the Kindergarten. 麦唛很喜欢写字，妈妈看在眼里，就替他报读了幼稚园。 来自互联网

11 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

12 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

13 knack   

n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法

参考例句：

• He has a knack of teaching arithmetic.他教算术有诀窍。
• Making omelettes isn't difficult,but there's a knack to it.做煎蛋饼并不难，但有窍门。

14 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

15 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

16 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

17 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。