the world had ever seen,

最偉大的拳擊手

but only moments to create the shortest poem.

但卻僅有少少片刻來完成最簡短的詩

Ali captivated Harvard's graduating class in 1975

在 1975 年哈佛大學畢業典禮上

with his message of unity and friendship.

阿里關於團結與友誼的一番言論擄獲了眾人

When he finished, the audience wanted more.

當他語畢，台下的人央求聽更多

They wanted a poem.

他們想要一首詩

Ali delivered what is considered the shortest poem ever.

阿里於是做了一首被視為最簡短的詩

"Me, we."

「我，我們。」

Or is it "me, weeee"?

還是「我，我們們們」？

No one's really sure.

沒人能肯定

Regardless, if these two words are a poem, then what exactly makes a poem a poem?

總之，既然這兩個字都能算做一首詩，那究竟怎樣才能被稱為是詩？

Poets themselves have struggled with this question,

詩人自己都在糾結這問題

often using metaphors to approximate a definition.

因而運用比喻來盡可能給個定義

Is a poem a little machine?

一首詩是一台小機器？

A firework?

一場煙火秀？

An echo?

一陣迴響？

A dream?

一場夢？

Poetry generally has certain recognizable characteristics.

大致上，詩有一些既定的明顯特徵

One - poems emphasize language's musical qualities.

第一：詩強調語言的音樂特質

This can be achieved through rhyme, rhythm, and meter,

透過押韻、韻律和格律來傳達

from the sonnets of Shakepeare,

從莎士比亞的十四行詩

to the odes of Confucius,

孔子的詩賦

to the Sanskrit Vedas.

到印度吠陀經，皆是如此

Two - poems use condensed language,

第二：詩採用壓縮的語言

like literature with all the water wrung out of it.

好像文學被擰乾了所有水分

Three - poems often feature intense feelings,

第三：詩著重於闡述強烈的情感

from Rumi's spiritual poetry

比如魯米精神層面的詩

to Pablo Neruda's "Ode to an Onion."

和巴勃羅聶魯達的〈洋蔥頌〉

Poetry, like art itself, has a way of challenging simple definitions.

詩，就像藝術，自有一套方法挑戰簡單的定義

While the rhythmic patterns of the earliest poems

最早期的詩有了韻律節奏

were a way to remember stories even before the advent of writing,

才能在沒有文字記載下傳揚故事

a poem doesn't need to be lyrical.

一首詩不一定抒情

Reinhard Döhl's “Apfel”

Reinhard Döhl 的〈蘋果〉

and Eugen Gomringer's "silencio"

和 Eugen Gomringer 的〈沉默〉

toe the line between visual art and poetry.

這兩首作品跨足了視覺藝術和詩

Meanwhile, E.E. Cummings wrote poems whose shapes were as important

不僅如此，E.E. Cummings 同樣寫了一首

as the words themselves,

形狀和內容同等重要的詩

in this case amplifying the sad loneliness of a single leaf falling through space.

這首詩強化了一片落葉劃過空中掉落的孤寂感

If the visual nature of poetry faded into the background,

如果詩的視覺特色不那麼突出

perhaps we'd be left with music,

或許我們會轉而討論音樂

and that's an area that people love to debate.

而人們也很喜歡爭辯這個領域

Are songs poems?

歌曲是詩嗎？

Many don't regard songwriters as poets in a literary sense,

就文字而言，大多數人不認為作詞家是詩人

but lyrics from artists like Paul Simon,

但有些藝術家如 Paul Simon

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

和 Tupac Shakur

和 Tupac Shakur

often hold up even without the music.

他們的歌詞縱使沒有音樂也能昂然獨立

In rap, poet elements like rhyme, rhythm, and imagery

就饒舌歌曲而言，詩的要素如押韻、韻律和意象

are inseparable from the form.

皆是與歌曲本身牢不可分的

Take this lyric from the Notorious B.I.G.

舉以下聲名狼藉先生（Notorious B.I.G）的歌詞為例

"I can hear sweat trickling down your cheek

「我可以聽見汗珠流過你的臉頰」

Your heartbeat sound like Sasquatch feet

「你的心跳聽來像是薩斯科奇人的大腳」

Thundering, shaking the concrete."

「震撼了水泥地面」

So far, all the examples we've seen have had line breaks.

目前為止，所有我們看過的例子都有分行

We can even imagine the two words of Ali's poem organizing in the air -

我們甚至可以想像阿里的二字詩在空中排列─

Me, We.

我，我們

Poetry has a shape that we can usually recognize.

詩有一個通常能用以辨識的形狀

Its line breaks help readers navigate the rhythms of a poem.

它的分行能帶領讀者了解韻律

But what if those line breaks disappeared?

但要是這些分行消失了呢？

Would it lose its essence as a poem?

詩的精隨就沒了嗎？

Maybe not.

也許並非如此

Enter the prose poem.

來看看散文詩

Prose poems use vivid images and wordplay

散文詩運用生動的意象和文字遊戲

but are formatted like paragraphs.

但卻排列得如同散文

When we look at poetry less as a form and more as a concept,

當我們拋開形式，將詩視為一種概念

we can see the poetic all around us:

我們會發現周遭滿是詩意

spiritual hymns,

讚美詩

the speeches of orators like Martin Luther King, Jr.,

演講者馬丁路德金恩的演說

JFK,

甘迺迪

and Winston Churchill,

和溫斯頓邱吉爾

and surprising places like social media.

驚人的，還包括社群媒體

In 2010, journalist Joanna Smith tweeted updates from the earthquake in Haiti.

在 2010 年，記者 Joanna Smith 發布一則有關海地地震最新消息的推特

"Was in b-room getting dressed when heard my name.

「聽到我的名字時正在房裡著裝

Tremor. Ran outside through sliding door.

震動。跑出滑門。

All still now. Safe. Roosters crowing."

現在一切平靜。安全。公雞鳴叫。」

Smith uses language in a way that is powerful, direct,

Smith 運用文字的方式強大、直接

and filled with vivid images.

且富含生動意象

Compare her language to a haiku,

將她的文字和俳句比較

the ancient Japanese poetic form that emphasizes bursts of brief intensity

一種傳統日本詩形式，強調在短短三句，

with just three lines of five, seven, and five syllables.

每句五、七、五個音節中爆發出簡短但強大的訊息

The waters of poetry run wide and deep.

詩的河流越廣越深

Poetry has evolved over time,

詩隨著時間演變

and perhaps now more than ever,

或許現在更是變化多端

the line between poetry, prose, song, and visual art has blurred.

詩、散文、歌曲和視覺藝術之間的界限越趨模糊

However, one thing has not changed.

然而，一件事從未改變

The word poetry actually began in verb form,

詩（poetry）這個字起源於動詞形式

coming from the ancient Greek poiesis, which means to create.

源自古希臘字poiesis，意思是「創造」

Poets, like craftsman, still work with the raw materials of the world

詩人，如同工匠，活用世上的素材

to forge new understandings

凝聚出新思想

and comment on what it is to be human in a way only humans can.

用只有人類才辦得到的方式闡述何為人類

Dartmouth researchers tested this idea by asking robots to pen poetry.

達特茅斯研究人員透過下令機器人做詩來驗證這點子

A panel of judges sorted through stacks of sonnets

評審團在成堆的十四行詩中篩選

to see if they could distinguish those made by man and machine.

看他們能否區分人類和機器人寫的詩

You may be happy to know that while scientists have successfully

令人高興的，雖然科學家能夠

used artificial intelligence in manufacturing,

把人工智慧運用到製造業

medicine,

藥學

and even journalism,

甚至是新聞業

poetry is a different story.

寫詩這個領域就不是如此

The robots were caught red-handed 100% of the time.

百分之百的機率機器人會被揪出來