評論
打印
I had this encounter recently where I met the extraordinary American poet Ruth Stone,
比方說，我最近見到杰出的美國詩人露絲.斯通，
who's now in her 90s, but she's been a poet her entire life and she told me that when she was growing up in rural Virginia,
露絲已經九十多歲，她一直是一位詩人，她對我說她少年時生活在弗吉尼亞鄉間的事情。
she would be out working in the fields, and she said she would feel and hear a poem coming at her from over the landscape.
她會在田間勞作著，然后突然聽到并感覺到一首詩，從遠處沖她而來。
And she said it was like a thunderous train of air. And it would come barreling down at her over the landscape.
像一股雷鳴般的氣息，朝她傾瀉而下。
And she felt it coming, because it would shake the earth under her feet.
她可以感受到它的來臨，因為這股力量會撼動她腳下的大地。
She knew that she had only one thing to do at that point, and that was to, in her words, "run like hell."
每當此時，她唯一能做的只有一件事，用她的話說，就是“死命地狂奔”。
And she would run like hell to the house and she would be getting chased by this poem,
她會狂奔回家里，這首詩則會一路追逐著她。
and the whole deal was that she had to get to a piece of paper and a pencil fast enough so that when it thundered through her,
她需要飛快地找到紙筆，從而在這股力量穿過她時，
she could collect it and grab it on the page. And other times she wouldn't be fast enough,
捕捉住那首詩，把它記在紙上，有些時候她則不夠快。
so she'd be running and running, and she wouldn't get to the house and the poem would barrel through her
她拼命地跑，還沒到家，那首詩已經奔騰而過，
and she would miss it and she said it would continue on across the landscape, looking, as she put it "for another poet."
于是她便錯過了那首詩，她說那首詩會繼續在田野間穿行，尋找“下一位詩人” 。
And then there were these times -- this is the piece I never forgot --
在另一些時候，這是最叫我難忘的部分：在另一些時候，這是最叫我難忘的部分：
she said that there were moments where she would almost miss it, right?
她說有些時候她幾乎就要錯過一首詩了，
So, she's running to the house and she's looking for the paper and the poem passes through her,
她飛奔回家，尋找紙筆，而那首詩即將穿越她而去，
and she grabs a pencil just as it's going through her, and then she said,
她在它正要穿過之際抓住了筆，而那首詩即將穿越她而去，
it was like she would reach out with her other hand and she would catch it.
然后她會伸出另一只手，抓住那首詩的尾巴。
She would catch the poem by its tail, and she would pull it backwards into her body as she was transcribing on the page.
然后她會伸出另一只手，抓住那首詩的尾巴，把它順勢拉回來，另一只手則一邊將詩句謄寫在紙上，把它順勢拉回來，
And in these instances, the poem would come up on the page perfect and intact but backwards, from the last word to the first.
每當這種時候，詩會完好無缺地呈現在紙上，只不過順序是顛倒的，從最后那個詞開始，由后往前，一直到第一個詞。
So when I heard that I was like -- that's uncanny, that's exactly what my creative process is like.
我聽了她的故事后，心想：太不可思議了，這和我的創作過程一模一樣！
That's not at all what my creative process is -- I'm not the pipeline!
當然這并非我創作過程的全部，我不是管道，
I'm a mule, and the way that I have to work is I have to get up at the same time every day,
我的工作方式更像是一頭騾子。
and sweat and labor and barrel through it really awkwardly.
我必須每天同一時間起床，然后笨拙地，勤懇地工作。
But even I, in my mulishness, even I have brushed up against that thing, at times.
不過即使古板如我，偶爾也會意外地得到不可思議的靈感，
And I would imagine that a lot of you have too.
在坐很多人或許也有類似經歷。
You know, even I have had work or ideas come through me from a source that I honestly cannot identify.
你想，即使像我這樣墨守成規的人，也會遇到不知何處而來的靈感。
And what is that thing? And how are we to relate to it in a way that will not make us lose our minds,
這到底是怎么回事呢？我們要以怎樣的方式看待它，才不會喪失理智呢？
but, in fact, might actually keep us sane?
我們要以怎樣的方式看待它，才不會喪失理智呢？
