高中英语人教版高二下04

[12:20.52]He wrote other poems too,but he is famous for his long poems without rhyme.
[12:27.47]After Milton,
[12:30.34]almost every poet had a hand at this kind of poetry that was free of rhyme
[12:37.19]Wordsworth and Keats wrote some such poems,
[12:42.46]but that is not what they are famous for.
[12:46.62]This style of poetry became known as free verse.
[12:52.07]It was not until the twentieth century that modern poetry was really developed.
[12:58.63]Modern poets wanted to break with all the traditional forms of poetry.
[13:04.38]One of the characteristics of modern poetry
[13:08.95]is that it usually does not have rhyme at the end of a line,
[13:13.99]and it is also often about common topics.
[13:18.85]In China, free verse was known and used much earlier.
[13:24.31]The following poem by Bai Juyi is an example of a poem written in free verse.
[13:32.56]THE UNHAPPY OFFICIAL  By Bai Juyi
[13:38.63]Never tired of study,reading until he could not see;
[13:45.18]holding his pen until his fingers became painful;
[13:50.22]sitting for exams ten times until he passed;
[13:55.58]success has come too late;
[13:59.42]he is now an important official but his hair is already white;
[14:05.30]there is little happiness for him;
[14:08.85]when young,he spent his days being very poor;
[14:14.10]now old and often sick money and fame are of no use to him.
[14:20.66]Living behind the great red gates
[14:24.81]is a youth with the taste of mother's milk still in his mouth;
[14:30.16]not much to look at,with soft skin like a girl's and a gentle face;
[14:36.93]he has never worn a soldier's uniform ;
[14:41.29]at twenty he got his father's title and money;
[14:46.57]with the coming of spring,he is always playing outside,
[14:52.63]wearing soft furs and riding upon a fine horse;
[14:57.78]spending mornings with gamblers and drinkers,
[15:02.61]and in the evenings sleeping with the girls in a singsong house;
[15:08.36]he spends his money paying wine bills,
[15:13.03]using:what is left over on pretty girls;
[15:18.07]besides drinking,singing,and hunting with dogs or horses,he knows little else.
[15:25.94]On the hills,wild grasses grow under a great pine tree;
[15:32.31]two living things,one reaching;high and the other happy to stay low,
[15:38.76]from old times it has been this way,
[15:42.84]you are not alone in knowing this sadness.
[15:47.28]Translation: Rewi Alley