Unit-6-How-to-Write-a-Rotten-Poem-with-Almost-No-Effort课文翻译综合教程三

1、Unit 6How to Write a Rotten Poem with Almost No EffortRichard Howey 1 So you want to write a poem. Youve had a rotten day or an astounding thought or a car accident or a squalid love affair and you want to record it for all time. You want to organize those emotions that are pounding through your vei

2、ns. You have something to communicate via a poem but you dont know where to start.2 This, of course, is the problem with poetry. Most people find it difficult to write a poem so they dont even try. Whats worse, they dont bother reading any poems either. Poetry has become an almost totally foreign ar

3、t form to many of us. As a result, serious poets either starve or work as account executives. There is no middle ground. Good poets and poems are lost forever simply because there is no market for them, no people who write their own verse and seek out further inspiration from other bards.3 Fortunate

4、ly, there is a solution for this problem, as there are for all imponderables. The answer is to make it easy for everyone to write at least one poem in his life. Once a person has written a poem, of whatever quality, he will feel comradeship with fellow poets and, hopefully, read their works. Ideally

5、, there would evolve a veritable society of poet-citizens, which would elevate the quality of life worldwide. Not only that, good poets could make a living for a change.4 So, to begin, have your paper ready. You must first understand that the poem you write here will not be brilliant. It wont even b

6、e mediocre. But it will be better than 50% of all song lyrics and at least equal to one of Rod McKuens best efforts. You will be instructed how to write a four-line poem but the basic structure can be repeated at will to create works of epic length.5 The first line of your poem should start and end

7、with these words: “In the of my mind.” The middle word of this line is optional. Any word will do. It would be best not to use a word that has been overdone, such as “windmills” or “gardens” or “playground.” Just think of as many nouns as you can and see what fits best. The rule of thumb is to pick

8、a noun that seems totally out of context, such as “filing cabinet” or “radiator” or “parking lot.” Just remember, the more unusual the noun, the more profound the image.6 The second line should use two or more of the human senses in a conflicting manner, as per the famous, “listen to the warm.” This

9、 is a sure way to conjure up “poetic” feeling and atmosphere. Since there are five different senses, the possibilities are endless. A couple that come to mind are “see the noise” and “touch the sound.” If more complexity is desired other senses can be added, as in “taste the color of my hearing,” or

10、 “I cuddled your sight in the aroma of the night.” Rhyming, of course, is optional.7 The third line should be just a simple statement. This is used to break up the insightful images that have been presented in the first two lines. This line should be as prosaic as possible to give a “down-to-earth”

11、mood to the poem. An example would be “she gave me juice and toast that morning,” or perhaps “I left for work next day on the 8:30 bus.” The content of this line may or may not relate to what has gone before.8 The last line of your poem should deal with the future in some way. This gives the poem a

12、forward thrust that is always helpful. A possibility might be, “tomorrow will be a better day,” or “Ill find someone sometime,” or “maybe well meet again in July.” This future-oriented ending lends an aura of hope and yet need not be grossly optimistic.9 By following the above structure, anyone can

13、write a poem. For example, if I select one each of my sample lines, I come up with: In the parking lot of my mind,I cuddled your sight in the aroma of the night.I left for work next day on the 8:30 bus. Maybe well meet again in July.10 Now that poem (like yours, when youre finished) is rotten. But a

14、t least its a poem and youve written it, which is an accomplishment that relatively few people can claim.11 Now that youre a poet, feel free to read poetry by some of your more accomplished brothers and sisters in verse. Chances are, youll find their offerings stimulating and refreshing. You might e

15、ven try writing some more of your own poems, now that youve broken the ice. Observe others emotions and experience your own thats what poetry is all about.12 Incidentally, if you find it impossible to sell the poem you write to Bobby Goldsboro or John Denver, burn it. It will look terrible as the fi

16、rst page of your anthology when its published. 轻轻松松写烂诗理查德豪伊1.这一天你过得很糟糕，或是有了个绝妙的想法，又或者遭遇车祸，再或情场失意，你想把它永久记录下来。你于是想写一首诗。你想把在你血管里澎湃着的这些情感组织一下。你有些东西需要用诗的形式来传达，但不知道从哪里下手。2.写诗当然有这个问题。大多数人觉得写诗很难，所以根本连试都不去试一下。更糟糕的是，大家现在也不再费心去读什么诗了。对多数人来说诗已经成为一种几乎完全陌生的艺术形式。结果是，严肃诗人要么饿死要么改行去做客户项目经理了。连折衷的余地都没有。优秀诗人和诗歌永远消失了，就是因为

17、没有市场没人写诗，也没人想从别的诗人那里汲取灵感。3.幸运的是，像其他难以精确估量的东西一样，这个问题有一个解决办法。答案是让每个人一生中至少可以轻轻松松写一首诗。一旦某个人写了一首诗，不论质量如何，他会跟其他诗人产生亲近感，那样就很有可能会去阅读他们的作品。理想的状态是，名副其实的诗人公民社会发展起来了，全世界范围内的生活质量得以提升。不仅如此，优秀的诗人也可以换种方式谋生了。4.好了，先要把纸准备好。你首先得明白，你在这张纸上写出的诗不可能会太出色，甚至可能连平庸之作都算不上。但它至少会比50%的歌词要好，也至少能与罗德麦丘恩的某篇得意之作不相上下。我会指导你写一首四行的诗，但这只是基本结

18、构，可以随意重复，就算要用它来写一部鸿篇巨制也没问题。5.你的诗作第一行的首尾字词应该是这样的：“在我脑子的_里。”这一行中间的词是可选的。什么词都可以。最好别用那些已经被人用滥了的词，比如“风车”或“花园”或“游乐场”。尽量多想名词，越多越好，看哪一个最合适。经验法则是选一个看起来完全不合上下文的词，比如“档案柜”或“散热器”或“停车场”。只要记住，这名词越不同寻常，意象就会越深刻。6.第二行应该以自相矛盾的方式提到两种或两种以上的人类感觉，比如那句著名的“倾听温暖”。用这个办法来营造“诗意”情感和气氛真是十拿九稳。因为人类共有五种感官，所以能有无穷无尽的组合。现在闯入我脑海的两个就是“看见噪音”和“触摸声音”。如果希望更复杂些，还可以加上其他感官，比如，“品尝我听觉的颜色”，或“我在夜的香气中依偎你的视线”。押