James Henry Leight Hunt (1784-1859) คือ หนึ่งในบรรดากวีชาวอังกฤษ ร่วมสมัยกับกวีดัง ๆ อย่าง John Keats บทกวีที่สร้างชื่อให้กับท่าน คือ "Jenny Kiss'd Me" และ "Abou Ben Adhem" ผลงานของเขาอ่านเข้าใจง่ายใช้ภาษาง่าย ๆ ใคร ๆ ก็อ่านเข้าใจ
ลองมาอ่านกันดูดีไหมครับ แม้ว่าสมันนี้ คนเรียนภาษาอังกฤษส่วนใหญ่ในไทยน่าจะเลิกให้ความสำคัญและสนใจเรียนรู้วรรณคดีอังกฤษ ไปแล้ว (ส่วนใหญ่ เห็นมุ่งสอบ TOEIC เป็นงานหลัก) แต่ผมยังเชื่อว่าการอ่านบทกวีของ "กวี หรือ Poet" ทำให้เราเข้าใจภาษาในอีกมิติหนึ่ง
."Jenny Kiss'd Me"
Jenny kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief, who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in!
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have missed me,
Say I'm growing old, but add,
Jenny kissed me.
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief, who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in!
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have missed me,
Say I'm growing old, but add,
Jenny kissed me.
-------------
"Abou Ben Adhem"
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:—
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said
"What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still, and said "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men."
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:—
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said
"What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still, and said "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men."
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.
อ้างอิง
English Poetry: from Collins to Fitzgerald (1910) . Edited by Charles W, Elliot. P.F. Collier & Son Corporation: New York.
Photo below taken from http://www.poemhunter.com/james-henry-leigh-hunt/ [ Nov 2013]
Photo below taken from http://www.poemhunter.com/james-henry-leigh-hunt/ [ Nov 2013]
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