说起诗，人类通常有两种反应：一种是，觉得诗这个文体，相当厉害相当高雅，不敢轻易读诗，更不敢轻易说自己读懂了某首诗；另一种是，发出灵魂质问：“这就是诗啊，我闭着眼都能写一沓”“这算诗吗”。诗，一度成为装逼矫情的代名词，也一度有人跳出来指责大众不读诗。但正如诗人莎朗·奥兹所说，“诗一定是有它的价值和意义的，它为人们的生活不停带来挑战和激励，这才是我真正重视的东西”。诗具有让我们感受世间万物的能力，它让我们主动付出自己的信任，让我们受到鼓舞，让我们爱，让我们笑，让我们哭。诗人和他们的诗歌有能力把读者带到从未去过，甚至从未想象过的地方。诗人往往是被折磨的灵魂或伟大的思想家，他们让读者对世界产生新的看法。他们的文字技巧高超，即使他们笔下的诗只有几行长，也能吸引读者。
下面这些诗是由国外网友选出的最值得背诵的英文短诗，他们虽然简短，但却充满了丰富的意象和隐含的意义。背诵诗会让你更接近诗，并培养你与文学的终身联系。仅仅阅读这些诗是无法达到这一点的。
I Stood Upon a High PlaceI stood upon a high place,And saw, below, many devilsAnd said, "Comrade! Brother!"
Some say the world will end in fire,From what I’ve tasted of desireI hold with those who favor fire.But if it had to perish twice,I think I know enough of hateTo say that for destruction iceNature’s first green is gold,Her early leaf’s a flower;Then leaf subsides to leaf.So dawn goes down to day.前几年的电视《那年花开月正圆》的英文名就是 Nothing Gold Can Stay。现在，电视剧包装得越来越洋气，可质量如何，有时还真不好说。My candle burns at both ends;It will not last the night;But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—本诗的第一句太经典，以至于成为英语中的一个成语。英国作家托马斯·哈代曾说：“美国有两大吸引人的点：摩天大楼和米莱的诗”。Then there's a pair of us - don't tell!They'd banish us, you know.How dreary to be somebody!To tell your name the livelong dayI never saw a Purple Cow,But I can tell you, anyhow,I'd rather see than be one!I think that I shall never seeA tree whose hungry mouth is prestAgainst the earth’s sweet flowing breast;A tree that looks at God all day,And lifts her leafy arms to pray;A tree that may in Summer wearA nest of robins in her hair;Upon whose bosom snow has lain;Who intimately lives with rain.Poems are made by fools like me,But only God can make a tree.
又是罗伯特·弗罗斯特。他曾四次获得普利策奖，被称为“美国文学中的桂冠诗人”。在下半生他才赢得这些荣誉。成名后，弗罗斯特受聘于多所大学，还要外出演讲、参加读诗会，他常常拖着病体疲惫不堪地回家。他的诗大部分都与绝望、孤独、死亡有关。过着 996 生活的现代人特别适合读他的诗。Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThe day is cold, and dark, and dreary;It rains, and the wind is never weary;The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,But at every gust the dead leaves fall,And the day is dark and dreary.My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;It rains, and the wind is never weary;My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,And the days are dark and dreary.Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;Thy fate is the common fate of all,Into each life some rain must fall,Some days must be dark and dreary.朗费罗的诗一度因太通俗而受到评论家的攻击。他们说：“朗费罗的诗不过是，与同时代美国任何一部诗集相比更容易满足人们的心理需求。”而到了 20 世纪末，当诗坛被荒诞、无理性、高度浓缩的省略句式、让人猜不透的多重象征霸占时，他们又念起了朗费罗的好。但不管评论家怎么摇摆，朗费罗都是美国最受欢迎的诗人。还是王尔德说得好，“朗费罗本人就是一首诗，是他所创作诗歌中最美的一首。”Nor dread nor hope attendConfronting murderous menHe knows death to the bone -
今年是叶芝逝世 80 周年，我们也该背一首除《当你老了》之外的叶芝的诗了。Take this kiss upon the brow!And, in parting from you now,You are not wrong, who deemThat my days have been a dream;Yet if hope has flown awayIs it therefore the less gone?Is but a dream within a dream.Of a surf-tormented shore,And I hold within my handGrains of the golden sand--How few! yet how they creepThrough my fingers to the deep,While I weep--while I weep!Them with a tighter clasp?One from the pitiless wave?Is all that we see or seemBut a dream within a dream?What happens to a dream deferred?like a raisin in the sun?Does it stink like rotten meat?My Life Has Been the PoemMy life has been the poem I would have writBut I could not both live and utter it.
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