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发表于 2011-12-16 16:21:59
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VOX POPULI: In memory of Dag Hammarskjold, a giant on the world stage
I wonder how many readers remember the name Dag Hammarskjold. As a distinguished secretary-general of the United Nations, Hammarskjold (1905-1961) also played a prominent role in having the world body embrace Japan, a defeated nation, as a member. He died in a plane crash en route to negotiate a cease-fire in Africa and was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He is still much admired and respected by U.N. officials and others involved in U.N. affairs.
The award ceremony for the Nobel Prizes held over the weekend made me think of Hammarskjold. The Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. I remembered Hammarskjold, also a Swede, because he also often composed short poems comprising three lines called haiku poetry for which Transtromer is well known.
Transtromer's poems tug at the heartstrings of readers. His lyrics are hard and soft. One of his compositions reads: "The high-tension lines/ Taut in cold's brittle kingdom/ North of all music." (From "Sorrow Gondola," translated by Patty Crane.) Since he suffered the aftereffects of aphasia, or an impairment of language ability, due to a stroke, I heard he came to devote himself to haiku poetry as a way to describe matters with the fewest possible words.
Hammarskjold, meanwhile, left many haiku poems which he composed in between his busy schedule. "Swollen streams 'neath Easter skies/ Evening/ On the table sweet violets." (From "Waymarks," translated by Bernhard Erling.) Reading his book, I understand his profound attachment to haiku-style poems.
"The winter moon/ Is caught in the branches/ The promise heavily demanded my blood." He is said to have composed this haiku when the U.N. General Assembly was facing difficulties. Hammarskjold also described his inner thoughts in short poems when he entered conflict areas in Africa and elsewhere.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Hammarskjold's death. It would be a shame for Japanese to forget that there once was a U.N. secretary-general who wrote: "Seventeen syllables/ Opened the door/ To memory, its meaning."
--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 13 |
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