Langston Hughes'

Mother to Son

Well,son,I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

It's had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor --

Bare.

But all the time

I'se been a-climbin' on,

And reachin' landin's,

And turnin' corners,

And sometimes goin' in the dark

Where there ain't been no light.

So boy,don't you turn back.

Don't you set down on the steps

'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.

Don't you fall now --

For I'se still goin',honey,

I'se still climbin',

And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

本篇作者是美國詩人蘭斯頓·休斯Langston Hughes，一位杰出的黑人詩人、小說家和劇作家。這是詩人寫詩的風格—從黑人的音樂和民歌中汲取營養，把爵士樂的節奏融入于自由詩中，因而他的詩開闊，舒展，節奏熱情得像爵士樂那樣強烈。

詩歌閱讀的開頭就是要看懂一些古英語的寫法。跟我們現在用的是有差別的。本篇中的ain't, I'se, climbin', reachin' , landin's,turnin', goin'

比如文中使用的ain’t, 表示否定的意思，有時用于代替 am not，aren't，isn't，haven't 和 hasn't。ain’t在一些習語當中也經常出現：

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.未損勿修，能用莫換。

另外，像I'se就是 I shall的縮寫。

還有，像climbin', reachin' , landin's,turnin', goin'都是用’代替了我們常用的climbing, reaching , landing's, turning, going 的形式。像這樣的情況還有很多，比如

thy = your

yon = over their

thee = you（古英語thou的賓格）等等。

這篇寫的是媽媽給孩子的忠告。下面做個簡單的導讀：

先表個態，

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

你看，生活對我來說都不是水晶梯（意思我的生活也很難的。）

這句話蠻有意思的，按照現代英語來說，雙重否定表示肯定。但是這里是否定。（黑人英語……）

之后開始說怎么怎么難，

It's had tacks釘子in it,

And splinters,碎石

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet地毯 on the floor --

Bare.貧瘠

然后開始轉折，雖然難，但是還是要往前走，

But all the time

I'se been a-climbin' on,

And reachin' landin's,

And turnin' corners,

接著從自己的角度切換到孩子身上，開始進行教育（大部分爸媽都用過這一招。我記得小時候，我媽經常跟我說：“我在你這個年紀已經怎么怎么樣了。你看看你！”( ˇ?ˇ )此處略去一萬字。。。）：

So boy,don't you turn back.

Don't you set down on the steps停下腳步

'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.

以下出題感受一下：

Don't you fall now –

For I'se still goin',honey,

I'se still climbin',

And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

According to the passage, the son must continue climbing because

A. he made bad choices

B. there is light just ahead

C. everyone faces challenges

D. his mother is still fighting

E. eventually things will improve

解析：

詩歌結尾處說了

Don't you fall now –

For I'se still goin',honey,

這里的for表示的就是因為的意思。因為我還在往前走，所以你不能跌倒。所以答案選D。這題充分體現了應試類閱讀理解的特點，就是文章會告訴你答案，你只需要找到它。另外，因果關系也是閱讀考試十分常見的考點。

這首教育孩子的詩就是套路滿滿，卻都在情理之中。

Dirge in Woods

BY GEORGE MEREDITH

A wind sways the pines, 

And below 

Not a breath of wild air; 

Still as the mosses that glow 

On the flooring and over the lines 

Of the roots here and there. 

The pine-tree drops its dead; 

They are quiet, as under the sea. 

Overhead, overhead 

Rushes life in a race, 

As the clouds the clouds chase; 

And we go, And we drop like the fruits of the tree, 

Even we, Even so. 

這是一首感情基調很低的詩歌，主要想表達：Death is an inevitable part of life.