去年適逢鵝媽媽─臺大外文系教授趙麗蓮教授逝世二十周年；趙麗蓮教授生前致力於台灣英語教育的發展，為英語教育的推動不惜餘力；因此，財團法人趙麗蓮教授文教基金會除了舉辦紀念會外，更策畫了「提升英文能力的讀書計畫」系列活動，邀請英語界翹楚爭對不同主題演講，目的在提升國人的英語能力、閱讀層次，並進一步打造屬於自己的英語讀書計畫。
您是否會覺得英美詩歌高深莫測或遙不可及？財團法人語言訓練測驗中心主任暨台灣大學外文系高天恩教授藉著「英美詩歌與一生英文閱讀計畫」演講，減低大家對英美詩歌的恐懼，並告訴大家，英美詩歌並不是嚴肅的文學，而是人人都可以輕易接近的休閒嗜好，「讀英美詩歌為我們打開一扇窗，擴展我們的視野，增加人生的廣度和深度；可以作為我們一生英文的閱讀計畫。」高天恩教授這麼說。
什麼是詩？
高天恩教授從詩的定義開始說起。孔子說，「詩，可以興，可以觀，可以群，可以怨。」西洋名家對詩歌也有不同的定義，義大利詩人但丁（Dante）認為，「詩，就是將真實的事物用美麗的語言表達出來（things that are true expressed in words that are beautiful.）。」英國詩人葉慈則是認為「真理就是美，美就是真理。」愛蜜莉‧狄更生(Emily Dickinson)則是以讀者的反應來看，「當我獨到有種頭蓋都被掀起來了，這就是詩。（If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.）」美國詩人關杜琳‧布魯克（Gwendolyn Brooks）說「詩是人生提煉出來的菁華（Poetry is life distilled）。」而英國詩人明娜‧羅依（Mina Loy）則是對詩這樣定義─「散文著了魔，就是詩（Poetry is prose bewitched）。」各家對詩的定義莫衷一是，然而高教授也特別提醒，「每種定義都有其侷限性。」
詩歌賞析
書林出版社出版的《Sound and Sense-an introduction to poetry》是一本很值得推薦的英詩入門書，書中提及了讀詩時可以提出的二十一個問題；不一定每首詩都可以回答以下問題，但回答以下問題，就可以對詩有更全面性的了解。
- Who is the speaker? What kind of person is the speaker?
- Is there an identifiable audience for the speaker? What can we know about it (her, him, or them)?
- What is the occasion?
- What is the setting in time (hour, season, century, and so on)?
- What is the setting in place (indoors or out, city or country, land or sea, region, nation, hemisphere)?
- What is the central purpose of the poem?
- State the central idea or theme of the poem in a sentence.
- a. Outline the poem to show its structure and development, or
b. Summarize the events of the poem.
- Paraphrase the poem.
- Discuss the diction of the poem. Point out words that are particularly well chosen and explain why.
- Discuss the imagery of the poem. What kinds of imagery are used? Is there a structure of imagery?
- Point out examples of metaphor, simile, personification, and metonymy, and explain their appropriateness.
- Point out and explain any symbols. If the poem is allegorical, explain the allegory.
- Point out and explain examples of paradox, overstatement, understatement, and irony. What is their function?
- Point out and explain any allusions. What is their function?
- What is the tone of the poem? How is it achieved?
- Point out significant examples of sound repetition and explain their function.
- a. What is the meter of the poem?
b. Copy the poem and mark its scansion.
- Discuss the adaptation of sound to sense.
- Describe the form or pattern of the poem.
- Criticize and evaluate the poem.
接著，高天恩教授帶聽眾進入英美詩歌的欣賞。
The Eagle
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
這是十九世紀維多利亞時期桂冠詩人泰納森（Alfred, Lord Tennyson）歌詠一隻蒼鷹的詩。從結構來看，詩的每個段落稱為「Stanza」，前三行為一段；後三行為一段；前段中每一句都是押ands韻，後一段則都是押awl韻，因此，這首詩的”rhyming scheme”就是aaa , bbb；而每一行有固定的音節，有八個音節，並都是先輕後重，這也就是「iambic tetrameter」（抑揚四步格）；再透過「alliteration」頭韻（例如詩中的He clasps the crag with crooked hands）的方式加強整首詩的旋律性。
從內容來看，詩人將蒼鷹擬人化（personification），此詩的兩個Stanza，一靜一動，從蒼鷹兀立在高崖上，到頃刻間看到獵物如閃電般俯衝而下的過程，透過詩的押韻和字辭的運用，營造出整首詩的陽剛之氣。
童謠兒歌（Nursery Rhymes and Poems for Children）欣賞
如果覺得英美詩歌太難，那麼不妨可以從童謠兒歌讀起。童謠兒歌雖然簡單，但是透過朗誦的過程，也可以感受到其中的押韻和旋律性。例如大家耳熟能詳的小星星：
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
又或是” Humpty Dumpty”─矮胖蛋人的押韻詩：
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again!
雖然內容簡單，但是也可以看到aa bb的rhyming scheme；並透過簡單的押韻和重複，帶出矮胖蛋人的故事。
結論
高天恩教授在演講中不斷的建議，所謂「英美詩歌與一生英文閱讀計畫」並不是一個明確的閱讀計劃，而是要從自己的興趣出發，將讀英美詩歌作為休閒嗜好，「大家可以從google一些熟悉的詩人、或是琅琅上口的童謠開始，讀到一首詩是一首，再慢慢擴展開來，這就是一生英文閱讀計劃很好的起步。」