PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Ralph Waldo Emerson

PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Ralph Waldo Emerson
By Richard Thorman

Broadcast: Sunday, September 26, 2004

25 Sep 2004, 20:22 UTC

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today we tell about the life of Nineteenth Century philosopher¹ and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson.

VOICE ONE:

The United States had won its independence from Britain just twenty-two years before Ralph Waldo Emerson was born. But it had yet to win its cultural independence. It still took its traditions from other countries, mostly from western Europe.

What the American Revolution did for the nation's politics, Emerson did for its culture.

 
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When he began writing and speaking in the eighteen thirties, conservatives³ saw him as radical⁴ -- wild and dangerous. But to the young, he spoke⁵ words of self-dependence -- a new language of freedom. He was the first to bring them a truly American spirit.

He told America to demand its own laws and churches and works⁶. It is through his own works that we shall look at Ralph Waldo Emerson.

VOICE TWO:

Ralph Waldo Emerson's life was not as exciting as the lives of some other American writers -- Herman Melville, Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway. Emerson traveled to Europe several times. And he made speeches at a number of places in the United States. But, except for those trips, he lived all his life in the small town of Concord⁷, Massachusetts.

He once said that the shortest books are those about the lives of people with great minds. Emerson was not speaking about himself. Yet his own life proves the thought.

VOICE ONE:

Emerson was born in the northeastern city of Boston, Massachusetts, in eighteen oh three. Boston was then the capital of learning⁸ in the United States.

Emerson's father, like many of the men in his family, was a minister of a Christian⁹ church. When Emerson was eleven years old, his father died. Missus Emerson was left with very little money to raise her five sons.

After several more years in Boston, the family moved to the nearby town of Concord. There they joined Emerson's aunt, Mary Moody¹⁰ Emerson.

VOICE TWO:

Emerson seemed to accept the life his mother and aunt wanted for him. As a boy, he attended Boston Latin¹¹ School. Then he studied at Harvard University.

For a few years, he taught in a girls' school started by one of his brothers. But he did not enjoy this kind of teaching¹². For a time, he wondered what he should do with his life. Finally, like his father, he became a religious minister. But he had questions about his beliefs and the purpose of his life.

VOICE ONE:

In eighteen thirty-one, Ralph Waldo Emerson resigned as the minister of his church because of a minor¹³ religious issue. What really troubled him was something else.

It was his growing belief that a person could find God without the help of an organized church. He believed that God is not found in systems and words, but in the minds of people. He said that God in us worships¹⁴ God.

Emerson traveled to Europe the following year. He talked about his ideas with the best-known European writers and thinkers of his time. When he returned to the United States, he married and settled in Concord. Then he began his life as a writer and speaker.

VOICE TWO:

Ralph Waldo Emerson published his first book, Nature, in Eighteen thirty-six. It made conservatives see him as a revolutionary. But students at Harvard University liked the book and invited him to speak to them.

His speech, "The American Scholar," created great excitement among the students. They heard his words as a new declaration¹⁵ of independence -- a declaration of the independence of the mind.

VOICE ONE:

"Give me an understanding of today's world," he told them, "and you may have the worlds of the past and the future. Show me where God is hidden...as always...in nature. What is near explains what is far. A drop of water is a small ocean. Each of us is a part of all of nature."

Emerson said a sign of the times was the new importance given to each person. "The world," he said, "is nothing. The person is all. In yourself is the law of all nature."

Emerson urged students to learn directly from life. He told them, "Life is our dictionary."

 
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VOICE TWO:

The following year, Emerson was invited to speak to students and teachers at the Harvard religious school. In his speech, he called for moral¹⁶ and spiritual rebirth. But his words shocked members of Harvard's traditional Christian church. He said churches treated religion as if God were dead.

"Let mankind stand forevermore," he said, "as a temple returned to greatness by new love, new faith, new sight."

Church members who heard him speak called him a man who did not believe in God. Almost thirty years passed before Harvard invited Emerson to speak there again.

VOICE ONE:

Away from Harvard, Emerson's speeches became more and more popular. He was able to make his living by writing and speaking. "Do you understand Mister¹⁷ Emerson?" a Boston woman asked her servant. "Not a word," the servant answered. "But I like to go and see him speak. He stands up there and looks as if he thought everyone was as good as he was."

Many people, especially the young, did understand Emerson. His ideas seemed right for a new country just beginning to enjoy its independence -- a country expanding in all directions.

Young people agreed with Emerson that a person had the power within himself to succeed at whatever he tried. The important truth seemed to be not what had been done, but what might be done.

VOICE TWO:

In a speech called "Self-Reliance" Ralph Waldo Emerson told his listeners, "Believe your own thoughts, believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men."

Emerson said society urges us to act carefully. This, he said, restricts¹⁸ our freedom of action. "It is always easy to agree," he said. "Yet nothing is more holy than the independence of your own mind. Let a person know his own value. Have no regrets. Nothing can bring you peace but yourselves."

VOICE ONE:

The eighteen fifties were not a peaceful time for America. The nation was divided by a bitter argument about slavery.

Most people in the South defended slavery. They believed the agricultural economy of the South depended on Negro¹⁹ slaves. Most people in the North condemned²⁰ slavery. They believed it was wrong for one man to own another.

Emerson was not interested in debates or disputes²². But he was prepared to defend truth, as he saw it.

Emerson believed that the slaves should be freed. But he did not take an active part in the anti-slavery movement. All his beliefs about the individual opposed the idea of group action -- even group action against slavery.

As the dispute²¹ became more intense²³, however, Emerson finally, quietly, added his voice to the anti-slavery campaign. When one of his children wrote a school report about building a house, he said no one should build a house without a place to hide runaway²⁴ slaves.

VOICE TWO:

Emerson's health began to fail in the early eighteen seventies. His house was partly destroyed by fire. He and his wife escaped. But the shock was great. Friends gave him money to travel to Egypt with his daughter. While he was gone, they rebuilt his house.

Emerson returned to Concord. But his health did not improve. He could no longer work. In April, eighteen eighty-two, he became sick with pneumonia²⁵. He died on April twenty-seventh. He was seventy-nine years old.

VOICE ONE:

Ralph Waldo Emerson's death was national news. In Concord and other places, people hung black cloth on houses and public buildings as a sign of mourning. His friends in Concord walked to the church for his funeral service. They carried branches of the pine trees that Emerson loved.

After the funeral, Ralph Waldo Emerson was buried in Concord near the graves²⁶ of two other important early American writers -- Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

(THEME)

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Richard Thorman. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another People in America program on the Voice of America.

1 philosopher   

n.哲学家，哲人

参考例句：

• The philosopher has his ideas built on the rock of reason.那位哲学家把思想稳固地建立于理性之上。
• What a philosopher seeks after is truth.一个哲学家所追求的是真理。

2 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

3 conservatives   

保守的人( conservative的名词复数 )； （英国）保守党党员，保守党支持者

参考例句：

• The Conservatives were then the governing party . 那时是保守党当政。
• The Conservatives were once more in power. 保守党再次执政。

4 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

7 concord   

n.和谐；协调

参考例句：

• These states had lived in concord for centuries.这些国家几个世纪以来一直和睦相处。
• His speech did nothing for racial concord.他的讲话对种族和谐没有作用。

8 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

11 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

12 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

13 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

14 worships   

n.（对治安官或市长的尊称）阁下( worship的名词复数 )v.崇拜，尊崇( worship的第三人称单数 )；做礼拜；热爱；爱慕

参考例句：

• Anyway, I am just a Guardian that no one worships. 说白了，我只是个没人供奉的守护灵而已。” 来自互联网
• Jim worships Mary; he would go throughand water for her. 吉姆崇拜玛丽，愿为她赴汤蹈火。 来自互联网

15 declaration   

n.宣布，宣告，宣言，声明（书），申报

参考例句：

• We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
• At the recent convention a declaration was adopted.在最近举行的大会上通过了一项宣言。

16 moral   

adj.道德(上)的，有道德的；n.品行，寓意，道德

参考例句：

• Moral beauty ought to be ranked above all other beauty.品德之美应列于其他美之上。
• He deceived us into believing that he could give us moral support.他骗得我们相信他能给我们道义上的支持。

17 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

18 restricts   

v.（以法规）限制( restrict的第三人称单数 )；约束；束缚

参考例句：

• Her diet restricts her to 1500 calories a day. 她的规定饮食限制她每天摄入1500大卡热量。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The removal of infected materials also restricts the spread of Armillaria in established orchards. 把所有受感染的东西消除掉，也是在已建立的种子园中限制密环菌传播的办法。 来自辞典例句

19 Negro   

n./adj.黑人；黑人的

参考例句：

• It's impolite to call the black people Negro.称呼黑人为Negro是不礼貌的。
• He was the first Negro ever to enroll there.他是学院招收的第一个黑人学生。

20 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

21 dispute   

n.争端，分歧；v.争论，争吵，辩论，辩驳

参考例句：

• They are trying to find a way of settling the dispute.他们正设法寻找解决争端的办法。
• The parties to the dispute should be more polite to each other.争执双方应相互礼貌些。

22 disputes   

n.辩论( dispute的名词复数 )；争端；（劳资）纠纷；罢工v.辩论，争论( dispute的第三人称单数 )；争夺；阻止；就…进行辩论

参考例句：

• a legalistic approach to family disputes 死抠法律条文解决家庭纠纷的方法
• a party riven by internal disputes 由于内部分歧而四分五裂的政党

23 intense   

adj.认真的，专注的；强烈的；紧张的；热情的

参考例句：

• Susan was an intense young lady.苏珊是一个热情的年轻姑娘。
• The quarrel caused her intense unhappiness.争吵令她极其不快。

24 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

25 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

26 graves   

n.（法国）格拉芙葡萄酒；坟墓( grave的名词复数 )；死亡；钝重音符；沉音符v.坟墓( grave的第三人称单数 )；死亡；钝重音符；沉音符

参考例句：

• He went to visit the graves of his forefathers. 他去拜谒他祖先的墓地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were eating themselves into their graves. 他们吃喝过度，在自找死路。 来自《简明英汉词典》