美国国家公共电台 NPR Book Review: 'Garden Time,' W.S. Merwin

Book Review: 'Garden Time,' W.S. Merwin

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0001:56repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: 

Poet W.S. Merwin is nearly 90. His eyesight is failing, and he can't see well enough to write. He dictated² many of the poems for his new collection "Garden Time" to his wife, and our poetry reviewer Tess Taylor says the result is spectacular.

TESS TAYLOR, BYLINE³: Even writing one good book of poems is tricky⁴, let alone sustaining a career that lasts over six decades, all of which is to say I'd be delighted with "Garden Time" anyway. But having such a fine book of poetry come to us now from such a voice as Merwin's is a rare and particular gift.

Gardens or time are hardly new to lyric⁵ poetry. In fact, they might be its most familiar ingredients. Merwin puts these classics to fresh use. Suspending a morning, holding up its facets⁶, Merwin asks how time inhabits us and we inhabit time. The poems give the effect of watching a great beam of light move over a stained glass window. They are often written as unpunctuated sentences that seem still glinting, just lifted out of the stream.

I'm especially drawn⁷ to Merwin's gentle discourse⁸ with his own mortality, as in the poem called "Not Early Or Late," where he asks, (reading) is it I that have come to this age, or is it the age that has come to me? Which one has brought along all these silent images on their shadowy river?

I also admire the poem called "The Morning," where Merwin addresses the day itself, asking, (reading) would I love it this way if I were somewhere else or if I were younger for the first time or if these very birds were not singing? Merwin, as if speaking to his own end, continues on. (Reading) Red torment⁹ of body or gray void of grief, would I love it this way if I knew that I would remember anything that is here now, anything, anything?

MCEVERS: The poetry collection is "Garden Time" by W.S. Merwin. Tess Taylor had our review. Her most recent book is "Work And Days."

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

5 lyric   

n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的

参考例句：

• This is a good example of Shelley's lyric poetry.这首诗是雪莱抒情诗的范例。
• His earlier work announced a lyric talent of the first order.他的早期作品显露了一流的抒情才华。

6 facets   

n.（宝石或首饰的）小平面( facet的名词复数 )；（事物的）面；方面

参考例句：

• The question had many facets. 这个问题是多方面的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fully cut brilliant diamond has 68 facets. 经过充分切刻的光彩夺目的钻石有68个小平面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

9 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。