NPR 09-03:The Holy Life of the Intellect生活的艺术

Canadian poet George Bowering¹ says we experience the mind of another person when we enjoy poetry, jazz or love. He believes this vision of human intellect is the closest thing we have to the divine.

Welcome to This I Believe, an NPR series presenting the personal philosophies of remarkable² men and women from all walks of life.

From NPR News, this is weekend edition. I m Rean Hanson.

I believe in mystery. I believe in family. I believe in being who I am. I believe in the power of failure. And I believe normal life is extraordinary.

This I Believe.

Our revival³ of Edwood R. Murrow's series This I Believe has recently been adopted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. From time to time we exchange essays with the CBC, and today's comes from that collaboration⁴. Here is series curator, independent producer Jay Alison.

In the 1950s Edwood R. Murrow and his team turned to poets like Carl Sandburg and many others for inspiration. George Bowering, Canada's first poet laureate and the author of over 80 books finds his inspiration too in the art and poetry of others. Here is George Bowering with his essay for This I Believe.

I believe that the human intellect is the closest thing we have to the divine. It is the way we can join one and other in spirit. Sometimes when you are listening to a great jazz musician performing a long solo, you are experiencing his mind, moment by moment, as it shifts and decides, as it adds and reminds. This happens whether the player is a saxophone player or a bass⁵ player or a pianist. You are in there where that other mind is. His mind is coming through your ears and inside your mind.

The first time I heard Charlie Parker playing Ornithology⁶, I was delighted. I was about 11 years old. You are so much alone with your mind as a kid. So when you hear someone else s mind improvising⁷, you feel an excitement you will never get from some music that just wants to keep a steady beat. I got that delight again when I first heard great improvisatory⁸ poetry. When I read the desert music by William Carlos Williams, the book fell out of my hands and made a loud splat on the library's concrete floor. Later I would hear the poet Philip Ryland called this kind of poetry a graph of the mind moving. Yes, it is. It can happen with prose too. Sentences you hear in your head and know how they felt inside anothers'. I believe that if there is a God, this is what he wanted us to do. It is the holy life of the intellect. If we can experience another's mind in our own we know that love is possible.

We understand why the great poet Shelley wrote a poem to what he called Intellectual Beauty and called it an invisible power that moves among the things and people of this earth. It descended⁹ on him when he was a youth looking for wisdom from the words of the dead.

Intelligence literally¹⁰ means choosing among. Shelly called it the spirit of delight. It is the gift of wit which literally means the kind of seeing that makes she smile and clap her hands together. I believe that this provokes what the Greeks called '“ΑΓΑΠΗ” (AGAPI), the Romans called 'kaditas' and what we settle for as love. It s greater than hope and faith according to St. Paul of Tarsus in an otherwise questionable¹¹ letter to the Corinthians.

If you want to hear it happen rather than suffer any more of my apostolic prose, listen to the improvisation¹² by John Coltrane in his immortal¹³ album called A Love Supreme¹⁴. There we are, a fine intellect, a tender saxophone and a reach for a perfect prayer.

Canadian poet George Bowering with his essay for This I Believe. To read essays from other poets and writers from the 1950s and from our contemporary series, visit our website at npr. org, or you will also find information on submitting your own essay. For This I Believe, I m Jay Alison.

Next Monday on NPR s All Things Considered, listener Lora Shipla Chico contributes to This I Believe essay. She will tell us three qualities she wants her unborn child to have. This I Believe is independently produced by Jay Alison, Dan Gediman, John Gregory, and Vfiki Merric.

Support for This I Believe comes from Potential Retirement¹⁵.

This I Believe is produced for NPR by This I Believe Incorporated at Atlantic Public Media. For more essays in the series, please visit NPR. org/thisibelieve.

1 bowering   

vt.荫蔽（bower的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

2 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

3 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

4 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

5 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

6 ornithology   

n.鸟类学

参考例句：

• He found his vocation in ornithology.他发现自己适于专攻鸟类学。
• His main interests are botany and ornithology.他主要对植物学和鸟类学感兴趣。

7 improvising   

即兴创作（improvise的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• I knew he was improvising, an old habit of his. 我知道他是在即兴发挥，这是他的老习惯。
• A few lecturers have been improvising to catch up. 部分讲师被临时抽调以救急。

8 improvisatory   

即席的

参考例句：

• This piece is much improvisatory in its content. 作者写这首作品时，只是随心而写，比较即兴。
• In Omaha Nebraska, Randy's house evolved, by design, as an improvisatory collaboration with the architect's students. 内布拉斯加州的奥马哈，蓝迪布朗家的进化，由设计，作为一个乐队合作与设计师的学生。

9 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

12 improvisation   

n.即席演奏(或演唱)；即兴创作

参考例句：

• a free-form jazz improvisation 自由创作的爵士乐即兴演出
• Most of their music was spontaneous improvisation. 他们的大部分音乐作品都是即兴创作的。

13 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。