書籍介紹
我們在選輯的時候，盡量選擇能夠朗朗上口的詩作，把這些詩當作中國古典詩詞的英文版來朗誦。我們所設計的朗誦課程，並不特別著重在背誦，而是希望孩子們能夠輕鬆地朗讀。
我們相信，及早接觸這些英文詩作，將是孩子們一生受用無窮的心靈寶藏。從語言學習的角度來說，比起照本宣科的傳統語言學習，這是更好的學習方式。
因為孩子同時吸收各層次信息的能力，其實超乎成人的想像。以輕鬆的方式進行團體朗讀，詩的意義會自然涌現。在以這種朗讀的方法指導孩子時，家長和老師不用擔心孩子能否了解詩中字裡行間的意義，因為詩的真意會在孩子的心靈需要時自然浮現。
這種朗讀學習的方式已經經過時代的長久考驗，和其他領域的新教學方法，例如鈴木音樂學習法，本質上並無不同。
世界各地成千上萬的孩子都使用過這樣的學習方式，成果十分令人振奮，我們在此誠摯邀請您，給自己和孩子幾個月或幾年的時間，建構無價的心靈寶庫。
編者 David Young
Editor’s Foreword
The present volume of cherished poems in English was never intended to be just another anthology. Good anthologies are widely available, and there are some excellent ones listed in my own bibliography at the end of this book. Simply said, this anthology is meant for the heart. That is, it is meant to produce an opening of the heart.
Allow me to elaborate on this point.
The better known anthologies that I have come across are comprehensive in coverage, attempting to bring together memorable poems representing various moods, genres, and settings. My choices for this collection, on the other hand, are significantly narrower. I sought to collect a series of immortal poems that could illustrate an understanding that would be best captured by the words “enlightenment” and “illumination.” Hopefully, such poems will not only touch the heart but will embrace the soul as well.
From the outset, this has been a daunting task!
When I started this project, I was short of twelve. At the completion of this collection, I had turned fifteen. I cite my young age (and inexperience) so that I may ask for patience (and forgiveness) from the more critical adult readers for this unusual collection of poems. However, I am confident that the more open-minded readers will not only enjoy reading them but will resonate with the depths of their meaning.
Readers who are looking for poems in the form of “haikus” in the traditional Asian context of a twist of language, an altered view of reality, an expansion of consciousness, an affirmation of emptiness, or even a fleeting burst of imagination or perception, will be disappointed. Such poems and writings are available through the esoteric spiritual literature published elsewhere and will not be exemplified here. At the core of my selection are poems that go beyond just a momentary opening of the mind or some special intuition and that would represent no more than a fleeting state of mind. The poems depicted in this collection do not convey a particular experience of liberation or even some major revelation that could be pinpointed as “enlightenment.”
Am I contradicting myself here?
Not really. For me, enlightenment is not a state of mind. It is not simply a feeling of “letting go” or some earth-shattering revelation. Neither is it a psychological release. Any such extreme experience is still only a temporary twist of consciousness, biased by a particular view or a limited form of understanding. In the words of Arthur Young, “every meaning is [still only] an angle.” Enlightenment is simply the absence of this slighting of reality at an angle, and, in this sense, enlightenment can only be totally inclusive. It excludes nothing. And, it can be represented by nothing whatsoever. Thus, it is practically impossible to have a collection of poems that can portray this so-called “enlightenment.” No catch of words, however eloquent and revealing, can be said to be indicative of a state of enlightenment.
Instead, one can only say that an enlightened mind is a virtuous mind, which seeks to promote the ordinary goodness of heart already in each one of us. An enlightened poem can only speak of virtues and the heart-felt qualities that make a person a real person. An enlightened poem fills the heart with hope and brings light to outshine the despair. Finally, an enlightened poem points the mind in the right direction when all else seems confusing and dark.
Why poems? That is, why use poems as a vehicle for this sort of higher aspiration?
Poetry is, after all, the music of the soul. Only through poetry, by means of its metering cadences and formless contours, can the most profound and subtle meanings be portrayed. To Samuel N. Etheredge, “Poetry is the Music of Literature.” For, poetry is the language of the heart, and it speaks to the heart. Robert Frost once said, “The right reader of a good poem can tell the moment it strikes him that he has taken an immortal wound that he will never get over it.” In this sense also, this anthology is not just about poems heralding virtues. It is about poems that touch the heart and that inflict the immortal wound.
With these thoughts in mind, I have chosen poems on the side of inspirational. They are not the kind of poems that simply capture a mood, however joyful, dark, or romantic it may be. They are poems that point to the heart, that is, beyond the heart really, focusing on lessons meant to last for a lifetime. The poems are not sorted by any category, since they mirror merely different aspects of the same universal mind reflected by the poems. The poems chosen tend to be short and crisp, pointing to a personal preference that I hope more demanding readers will forgive. This collection will also strike the reader for many notable omissions. In my selection, I have given little deference to past reputation. Some of the more beloved English poets, like Shakespeare or Keats, are only mentioned in passing. Numerous volumes elsewhere have been dedicated to these giants (and I, for one, would strongly encourage reading them anytime). I have also selected only a few translations of celebrated poems of foreign origin; this preference has much to do with my conviction that certain contextual nuances get lost through translations, as outstanding as they may be in their original text.
Lastly, some aspirations from the heart: it is my sincere hope that you will treasure this collection of poems; they will certainly survive long after we are all gone. It is also my sincere wish that you will share them with friends, and perhaps, one day, with your children. For children, these same poems will certainly set a moral compass that will be clearly relevant to their everyday life. I am convinced that, when meditated and acted upon, the messages contained in these poems will become companions for life.
David Young