Poetry has a thousand faces and always springs from the depths of the culture of peoples. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has long supported the work of poets, publishers and teachers worldwide. This year, once again, on the occasion of World Poetry Day, UNESCO
wishes to highlight the artistic importance and the power of poetry in encouraging people to read and in creating one of humanity’s most authentic and dynamic art forms.

詩歌的形式千姿百態(tài)，詩歌的內(nèi)容無時無刻不激揚(yáng)著各民族文化最深遠(yuǎn)的心聲。聯(lián)合國教科文組織長期以來一直致力于支持世界各地詩人、學(xué)者和出版家的工作。今年，值此“世界詩歌日”，教科文組織依然愿意重申詩歌藝術(shù)的價值和力量，鼓勵人們?nèi)ラ喿x、去創(chuàng)造詩歌，它是人類最發(fā)自內(nèi)心、最具活力的一種藝術(shù)形式。

Poets convey a timeless message. They are often key witness to history’s great political and social changes. Their writings inspire us to build lasting peace in our minds, to rethink relations between man and nature and to establish humanism founded on the uniqueness and diversity of peoples. This is a difficult task, requiring the participation of all, whether in schools, libraries or cultural institutions. To quote the poet Tagore, the 150th anniversary of whose birth will be celebrated this year, “I have spent my days in stringing and unstringing my instrument”.

詩人們的創(chuàng)作傳遞著永不消逝的訊息，見證著歷史長河中政治的動蕩和社會的變遷。他們的詩篇召喚著我們在世人的心中樹立起持久和平的信念，激勵著我們?nèi)ブ匦聵?gòu)想人與自然的關(guān)系，去建立一種以各民族特性及文化多樣性為靈感源泉的人本主義理念。這是一項(xiàng)艱難的事業(yè)，不論是在學(xué)校、圖書館還是文化機(jī)構(gòu)，這項(xiàng)事業(yè)都需要所有人的參與和支持。我們今年慶祝了他誕辰150周年的大詩人泰戈?duì)栒f的好：“我日復(fù)一日調(diào)撥著我的琴弦”。

It is important to understand the strong ties between poetry and all of the arts and techniques on which people draw to make sense of the world. Mallarmé used to say that poetry was the “expression, in human language restored to its essential rhythm, of the mysterious meaning of the aspects of existence”. Poetry is not
merely a means of communicating or transmitting information, for, as poets work constantly on the language, poetry also enlivens human discourse and always reveals the original brilliance of culture. UNESCO therefore sees the defence of freedom of expression and information, on one hand, and the promotion of poetry,
on the other, as two indissociable components of its mandate for peace. As poetry reaches deeply into the innermost efforts of men and women to create and reflect, it has the capacity to sustain dialogue amid the diversity of human expression.

此外，認(rèn)識到詩歌與人類用來認(rèn)識世界的所有其他藝術(shù)和技術(shù)之間具有深刻的關(guān)聯(lián)，這一點(diǎn)也至關(guān)重要。法國詩人馬拉美說過，詩歌是“人類語言本真節(jié)奏之復(fù)歸，是存在情態(tài)神秘意蘊(yùn)之表達(dá)”。詩歌并不僅僅在于交流并傳遞信息。通過對語言的千錘百煉，詩歌傾心于人類言語之承傳，始終如一地展現(xiàn)本真原生的文化光彩。正是出于這個原因，教科文組織才一方面主張捍衛(wèi)表達(dá)自由和信息自由，另一方面弘揚(yáng)詩歌創(chuàng)作，并且將這兩方面工作視為不可分割整體，同屬于本組織為和平服務(wù)之使命。也正是因?yàn)樵姼枭钊氲饺祟悇?chuàng)造和思考的核心所在，不同文化表達(dá)形式之間的對話才成為可能。

UNESCO undertakes to ensure, under its various programmes, that poetry is more widely published, translated and disseminated. In the same way as Jason entrusted Orpheus with the task of surmounting obstacles that could not be overcome through physical strength or warfare, so too shall we need poetry for a long time in order to build peace in the minds of men and women.

教科文組織的諸多計(jì)劃活動都致力于更多地出版、翻譯、發(fā)行詩歌作品。在希臘神話中，伊阿宋曾囑托奧爾菲斯用詩歌來應(yīng)對體力和武器所不能克服之障礙，我們也一樣，我們也將長期并永遠(yuǎn)地需要詩歌，用詩歌“在人之思想中建立和平之屏障”。