Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of World Poetry Day

联合国教科文组织总干事伊琳娜·博科娃女士在世界诗歌日的致辞

 

21 March 2015

2015年3月21日

 

The poet John Burnside wrote:

 

诗人约翰·伯恩赛德曾写道：

 

“If what we insist on calling

fate seems inexplicable or cruel

it’s only because

we lack the imagination

to wish for what it brings,

to brighten it

with something more inventive

than dismay.”

 

“倘若我们定要称作命运的东西

看似难以解释或冷酷无情

那只是因为

我们缺乏想象力

去祈愿未来，

用创意替代沮丧

让它散出光芒。”

 

This is the power of poetry. It is the power of imagination to brighten reality, to inspire our thoughts with something more inventive than dismay.

 

这便是诗歌的力量。它是使现实熠熠生辉的想象力，用创意替代沮丧从而为我们的思考带来灵感。

 

Poetry is the universal human song, expressing the aspiration of every woman and man to apprehend the world and share this understanding with others, through the arrangement of words in rhythm and meter. There may be nothing more delicate than a poem and, yet, it expresses all of the power of the human mind, and so there is nothing more resilient.

 

诗歌是全世界的人类之歌，它通过字词组合的节奏与韵律，表达了每一个人对于理解世界并将之与他人分享的渴望。或许精致莫过于诗歌，但它却表达了人类思想的全部力量，因此它也最为坚韧。

 

Poetry is as old as humanity itself, and as diverse – embodied in traditions, oral and written, that are as varied as are the human face, each capturing the depth of emotions, thought and aspiration that guide every woman and men.

 

诗歌和人类自身一样古老和多元——它体现在口头或书面传统之中，和人类的面孔一样丰富多彩，呈现着指引每一个人的深刻情感、思想和希冀。

 

Poetry is intimate expression that open doors to others, enrichening the dialogue that catalyses all human progress, weaving cultures together and reminding all people of the destiny they hold in common. In this way, poetry is a fundamental expression of peace. In the words of Cherif Khaznadar, laureate of the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture, “Knowledge of the other is the gateway to dialogue, and dialogue can only be established in difference and respect for difference.” Poetry is the ultimate expression of difference in dialogue, in the spirit of unity.

 

诗歌是向他人敞开心扉的亲密表达形式，为促进一切人类进步的对话添砖加瓦，将不同文化联结起来，提醒所有民族我们命运与共。因此，诗歌是和平的一种根本表达。用教科文组织—沙迦阿拉伯文化奖获奖者Cherif Khaznadar的话来说：“了解他人是通向对话的大门，只有接受和尊重差异才能开展对话。”诗歌是对话中差异的终极表达，体现着团结的精神。

 

Every poem is unique but each reflects the universal in human experience, the aspiration for creativity that crosses all boundaries and borders, of time as well as space, in the constant affirmation of humanity as a single family.

 

每一首诗都是独一无二的，但它们都坚守人类属于同一个家庭的信念，反映了人类经历的共性，反映了跨越时空边界追索创新的欲望。

 

This is the spirit of World Poetry Day, and this guides all of UNESCO’s work to strengthen humanity as a single community – by safeguarding poetic documentary heritage under the Memory of the World Programme, as well as humanity’s intangible heritage. This is embodied in the recent inscription of Al-Zajal on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This traditional Lebanese poetry expression espouses tolerance and dialogue to resolve conflict and strengthen social cohesion.

 

这便是世界诗歌日的精神，它指引着教科文组织的所有工作，通过“世界记忆”计划保护诗歌文献遗产以及人类非物质遗产，努力建设我们共同的人类社会。这一点体现在最近列入《人类非物质文化遗产代表名录》的Al-Zajal（诗歌朗诵和咏唱）上。这一黎巴嫩传统诗歌表达形式支持用包容和对话来消解冲突，增进社会和谐。

 

In times of uncertainty and turbulence, perhaps never before have we needed the power of poetry to bring women and men together, to craft new forms of dialogue, to nurture the creativity all societies need today. This is UNESCO’s message on World Poetry Day.

 

在充满不确定性的动荡时期，我们可能从未像今天一样需要借助诗歌的力量将所有人凝聚起来，打造新的对话形式，孕育所有社会如今所需的创造力。这便是教科文组织在世界诗歌日要传递的信息。

 

来源：UNESCO

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