Grandpa's great writer

Chapter 636 The First English Poem
The half-hour-long speech was coming to an end. Under the scorching sun, the people sitting at the entrance of the Roche Memorial Library at Columbia University were silent, and Zhang Zhong’s voice jumped into their ears word by word from the speakers.

"There are many people who walk this road of life. Everyone walks out in a different way. But no matter what the result is, as long as you walk in the direction of your heart, set foot on the land you want to reach, and the scenery you pass through is Dryness is prosperity, and it is worth looking back. Life is like water, flowing silently. May all your wishes be fulfilled."

Zhang Zhong stopped here, and the audience thought that Zhang Zhong had finished speaking, so they applauded unconsciously.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhong continued to speak, "Finally, I will send you a poem."

A poem?

People stopped applauding for an instant and listened carefully.

Many people know that pz is also a poet, and some of them have read some of pz's poems. "Lotus Leaf Collection" was not published in the United States, but it does not prevent people from translating modern Chinese poems into English for people to appreciate.

But compared to pz's novels, his poems have been read by far fewer people.

And now?

He's going to give a poem to everyone on the podium at Columbia University.

In what language would he read his poem?
Huaxia?English?

If it is Chinese, not many people present can understand it.

And if it's in English, then this will be pz's first English poem - except for those translated by others.

Lüdinger, who was standing on the stage, also raised his eyebrows. He was educated in law, but this did not prevent him from having a profound literary connotation.

He has read a lot of pz's books, some of which he read before, and some of the homework he did because there was pz in the delegation.

Undoubtedly, pz is a very good writer, and people have every reason to be crazy about his works.

And what made Lüdinger raise his eyebrows is that if pz read an English poem on the spot, and it happens that this poem can be widely circulated in the future, then today's Columbia University may be left behind in the history of literature and poetry with this poem. A bold stroke.

"Two roads diverged in ayellow wood." (In the yellow woods, the road diverged into two)
pz spoke.

It's English!
This is a natural result. After all, few people sitting in the audience can speak Chinese, but when they heard the beautiful English verses from Zhang Chong's mouth, the scene was still boiling.

They know what it means.

It means that they will be the witnesses of pz's first English poem.

Maybe many years later, when they are old and gray at the temples, leaning against the warm fireplace, they can still tell their grandchildren what happened today.

[On that afternoon many years ago, the sun was shining brightly, the cicadas were singing gradually, and the birds were singing.The great writer pz stood on the stage, with a rare smile on his face, and read out his English poem to the people...]

"The road diverged in two in a yellow wood."

"It's a pity I can't dabble in both."

"I stood at the intersection for a long time."

"Look as far as one of the roads."

"Until it disappears in the depths of the jungle."

……

"Though the ground was covered with fallen leaves that morning,
Both roads are untouched by footprints.

Ah, leave a way to see you another day!
But I know the path is endless,
I am afraid it will be difficult for me to return.

Maybe years from now somewhere,

I shall look back with a sigh,
There are two roads in a wood,
And I chose the less traveled one,
So out of this very different journey. "(emmm, for your convenience, I have translated this poem into Chinese...)
Zhang Zhong read the song "The Road Not Taken" without haste.

It is a modern English poem he is very fond of and one of the most famous poems of the poet Robert Frost.

Robert is a new age poet who follows the traditional rhythmic form and likes to use the old form to express the new content.

His poems always use some easy-to-understand colloquial language, calm and serene.

His poems always followed the traditional meter forms, rhyming couplets, triplets, quadrulines, sonnets, and he wrote them quite well.

In Chinese poetry, there are flat and zigzag rhymes, while in English poetry, the rhythm is often reflected in four main steps-iambic, iambic, iambic, iambic, and iambic is by far the most common lines of poetry.Robert is preferring the iambic, because the iambic rhythm is clear, continuous and soothing, and has the beauty of tranquility.

Precisely because the words in this poem are not obscure, most of the people present understood it.

But this poem sounds simple, but it makes people feel like listening to music, with a strong sense of rhythm and rhythm.

At first glance, it sounds like an ordinary narrative poem, but after careful consideration, it can reveal many deeper things.

Of course, when most people hear a poem, the first thing they get is the first feeling.

The first feeling is good.

This is the first feeling of most people.

However, there were also people who were frowning.

Not far from the audience, Jose, an associate professor of the Huaxia Department who was in charge of the simultaneous interpretation, felt that his brain cells were almost used up at the moment.

pz's previous speech was not bad, although it was a bit difficult to translate, as long as the meaning was expressed.

But when it comes to this poem...

Although no obscure vocabulary was used, it was very difficult to translate.

The refinement of poetry is different from ordinary literary works. It is very difficult to translate the charm of the original work.

After much deliberation, Jose simply gave up. He was unwilling to forcefully translate the poem, because he felt that such behavior would tarnish the poem.

Anyway, he only needs to translate it for the Writers Association delegation. If this poem is missing, let pz tell them in person later, or they can read the translation by themselves later.

Just like that, Jose's voice sounded in the earphones of all the members of the Writers Association delegation: "I'm really sorry, I can't translate this poem for you."

The Writers Association is an expert, so they naturally understand Jose's difficulties, and they didn't say anything when they heard that they couldn't translate.

However, the members of the group themselves communicated, because many of the people who came with the group were proficient in English.

"Lin Xiang, can you translate for us?"

The people around Lin Xiang poked his arm and said with a smile.

In the group, apart from Zhang Zhong, Lin Xiang had the best English, but not many people knew about it, because this guy was very low-key, and only a few people who were usually close to him knew about it.

Lin Xiang didn't shirk, and began to explain to the person next to him, "I don't remember much, so I can only give you a general introduction..."

Besides Jose, Parker was also frowning.

Because many of the people who watched his live broadcast were Chinese, and they were begging him to translate.

(End of this chapter)