广阔领地储满了黄金

不用在意雨水的泼溅

无须顾虑森林的坍塌

哦 无忧无虑的人真是幸福

不知饥荒年月的劳苦

母亲整日里哭守空房

父亲因不幸和眼泪而两鬓染霜

但那样的人更加幸福  双脚踏遍

人间倾轧的坎坷路

却用一生的悲伤

建造一座云梯去靠近上帝

济慈墓

摆脱了尘世的不公和自身的痛苦
他最终安息在上帝的蓝色帏幕下
在生命与爱初绽的时刻被夺走生命
殉难的烈士中最年轻者被安放此地
俊美如塞巴斯蒂安 也如他一般早夭
没有柏树 也没有紫杉荫蔽墓茔
却有温良的紫罗兰噙着清露悲咽
在他的遗骸上编织盛开不谢的花环
哦 最高傲的心脏为苦难所击碎
哦 米蒂利尼之后最甜蜜的嘴唇
哦 我们英语国家里的诗人-画家
你的名字写在水上——将屹立不倒
我辈的泪水将使你的遗芳长绿
恰似伊莎贝拉浇灌心爱的罗勒树

The Living Present

     Of all things in the world, I think, the present is the most precious, and also the most apt to slip through our fingers. We, therefore, treasure it all the more because of its transience.

      Why is the present so precious? The following quotation from the philosopher Emerson best serves for an answer: "Make use of time if you love eternity; yesterday cannot be recalled; tomorrow cannot be assured; only today is yours. One today is worth two tomorrows."

      Why is the present so easily lost? Because the universe as well as human life is changing non-stop all the time. Time never tarries with us a bit longer because we treasure and love it. It is hard to tell which moment in the ups and downs of life is our present or now. What we call our present or now at one moment will at the next be quickly gone and become the past. Isn't it a pity to unthinkingly idle away the present?

       Some philosophers say that we have the past and the future, but no present. Others say that the present is inclusive of the past and the future. I, however, incline towards the latter view because the present is where all the past empties itself or, in other words, where lies hidden the entire legacy of the past. The prevailing thought of any age does not come into being all by itself. It is the synthesis of the popular thoughts of numerous previous ages or probably of all the past. The rippling sound stirred up by a pebble thrown into the current of the times will keep spreading forever. Li Sao, authored by Qu Yuan, will continue to touch a deep chord in the heart of every reader through all ages. The lethal shot that hit Abraham Lincoln's head will keep echoing through all lands and all eternity. The changes of each age, instead of becoming extinct, will pass on to the next. The process will go on endlessly to form an eternal link in the world. The events of yesterday and today will combine to form several complicated events which will in turn combine with those of tomorrow to form several new complicated events. Thus one influence combines with another; one problem gives rise to another. The infinite past results in the present, and the infinite future results from the present. It is the present that serves as a connecting link between the past and the future to bring about continuity, eternity and a boundless big whole. Ring the bell of the present, and you will hear the distant echoes of the infinite past and future. That accounts for the fact that the present is inclusive of the past and the future and that the living present is the most precious.

     Nowadays two kinds of people don't know how to care for the present. One kind are sick of the present; the other are crazy about it.

      Among those who are sick of the present, some are so dissatisfied with everything of today that they become nostalgic about yesterday. To them, things nowadays, including politics, law, morality and social customs, are all inferior to those in the past. They place their only hope on turning the clock back to days of old. They throw themselves heart and soul into the back-to-the-ancients campaign. Some, though also dissatisfied with everything of today like those mentioned above, long for the future instead of the past, so much so that they abandon themselves to dreams and fantasies and even give up many things that can be achieved right now through their own efforts. People of these two categories hinder social progress instead of furthering it.

      People who are crazy about the present are generally apathetic and lack high aspirations. They see nothing wrong in the present. Complacent about their present circumstances, they feel no need for progress or creation. Such people abuse the present and stem the tide of progress. There is no difference at all between them and those who are sick of the present.

      It is common among human beings to be discontented with the present. They usually dream of something that has not yet come into being with fantasies about its being extremely agreeable and beneficial. But, once that something has become a reality, they call it just so-so and then fall into despair and grow weary of the present. Or they may feel a new environment rather unimpressive, but once things have changed, they begin to think well of it and recall it with tenderness. The former case has to do with future expectations, and the latter with past memories. However, given a combination of the two cases, dissatisfaction with the present will become a great moving force of social development. Being content with things as they are is a kind of inertia. We need to understand that the present is precious not because it can allow us to idle about in the midst of comfort and pleasure, but because it offers us an opportunity to strive to create the future.

    Those keen on returning to the past keep telling us how dark and vile the status quo is and what serious wickedness and heavy misfortune it brings. They should understand, however, that what they speak of, if true, is a long-standing inheritance from the past, definitely not a product of today. It is utterly wrong to attribute it all to the present. The only way to change the status quo is to strive to create the future, not to attempt to revive the past.

     Now let me sum up briefly as follows:

     We should not let the present slip away idly, being displeased with it and lost in past memories and future dreams. Nor should we rest content with the present and thus make absolutely no efforts to achieve future development. Let's make the best of today so as to create tomorrow. Our deeds of today, good or bad, will have an everlasting impact on the future. It is therefore our duty to keep up with the trend of the times and strive for the well-being of future generations.、

 well for him who lives at ease

With garnered gold in wide domain

Nor heeds the splashing of the rain

The crashing down of forest trees

O well for him who ne'er hath known

The travail of the hungry years

A father grey with grief and tears

A mother weeping all alone

But well for him whose feet have trod

The weary road of earthly strife

Yet from the sorrows of his life

Builds ladders to be nearer God

The Grave of Keats

Rid of the world's injustice  and his pain
He rests at last beneath God's veil of blue
Taken from life when life and love were new
The youngest of the martyrs here is lain
Fair as Sebastian  and as early slain
No cypress shades his grave  no funeral yew
But gentle violets weeping with the dew
Weave on his bones an ever-blossoming chain
O proudest heart that broke for misery
O sweetest lips since those of Mitylene
O poet-painter of our English Land
Thy name was writ in water—it shall stand
And tears like mine shall keep thy memory green
As Isabella did her Basil-tree