Friday, May 16, 2008

Carl Sandburg

我不知道今生前世的关系到底如何,可Carl Sandburg是一个我永远无法摆脱的老朋友,任何地方,时不时就撞到他, 就如人们所说的“撞到了鬼”,不过,这个鬼不可怕,只是蹊跷 :-)

最早知道他,是14,5岁时读了他的诗---芝加哥, 是认识芝加哥的开始。

到了芝加哥后,不小心买了他的诗集《芝加哥》, 麻烦从此开始。

有一天,遇到了一场大交通事故,在高速上位于市中心地带堵了5个小时,正好他的诗集在车里,就读完了,突然发现,我可以把这本诗当成芝加哥的地图,他写过芝加哥所有我喜爱的地方:

恩典墓地
林肯公园
狐狸河

。。。

我最爱的作家是伍尔夫,心心念念去北卡寻找他《天使,望故乡》里的天使,终于到了那里,发现了一张照片,Sandburg站在那里,是60年照的,我还不存在于这个世界。

那天,去爱荷华,走到伊利诺斯边界时迷路了,在一个小镇左转右拐,停在一幢小房子前,原来是他出生的房子,院子里埋着他的骨灰,我对他说:伙计,这里又碰见你了,哈哈。

昨天,中午在街上走,路过老法院,已经经过无数次了,却突发奇想,进去参观,一进门,他老人家的照片又挂在那里,原来,上个世纪20年代,他是论坛报的记者,总是出入法院。

今天,回家经过一座老房子,知道是一位作家的故居,走进一看,原来Sandburg曾是那座房子的座上客。。。

哈哈,这叫不叫soul mate? 相隔生死,不远万里,我来会他?

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Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, historian, novelist, balladeer, and folklorist. He was born in Galesburg, Illinois of Swedish parents. He lived in the midwest, primarily Chicago, and in 1945 moved to a large estate named Connemara, in Flat Rock, North Carolina. He and his wife and daughters resided at Connemara until his death in 1967. He is famous for his quote, "I am my own god and therefore every day is MY day." H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat." He was a successful journalist, poet, historian, biographer, and autobiographer. During the course of his career, Sandburg won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln: The War Years) and one for his collection The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg.

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