The First Snow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
The first snow came. How beautiful it was, falling so silently all day long, all night long, on the mountains, on the meadows, on the roofs of the living, on the tombs of the dead! All was white except the river, which made its way by a winding black line across the landscape; and the leafless trees, which against the grey sky now showed more fully the wonderful beauty and intricacies of their branches. What silence, too, came with the snow, and what seclusion! Every sound was muffled, every noise changed to something soft and musical. No more tramping hoofs, no more rattling wheels! Only the chiming of the sleigh-bells, beating as swift and merrily as the hearts of children.
【賞析】 《初雪》是美國十九世紀詩人朗費羅所寫的一篇抒情散文。這是一篇文字和意境都極為優美的散文，初雪降臨，多麽美麗！它給人們帶來的是異常的驚喜。給大地換上的是新裝----山嶺、草地、屋頂、墳墓，到處銀裝素裹！在這一片廣袤的銀色世界裏，隻有河流在這美麗的畫麵上蜿蜒曲折，構成清晰可辨的線條；還有那葉兒落淨的樹木，映襯著灰色的天空，此刻更顯得枝丫交錯，姿態萬千。翹首初雪降臨的人們仿佛遠離塵囂，往日的喧鬧不再有了，有的隻是靜謐，還有那雪橇的鈴鐺所奏出的和諧樂聲，那歡快的節拍猶如孩子們心房的搏動。
全文一共七句，其中有三個感歎句，從含義上看逐漸深入：第一個感歎句感歎初雪降臨時大地的美麗，這一句較長，附在分詞falling之後有六個短語，這六個短語仿佛使人覺得是片片雪花再漫天飛舞。第二個感歎句感歎初雪給人們帶來的靜謐，作者先使用silence一詞，後似乎覺得該詞不夠表達此情此景的“寂靜”，於是又更上一層地選用了seclusion一詞。第三個感歎句是文中的第六句，嚴格的說，這不是一個句子，因為它是由兩個動名詞短語構成的，但作者這一句以及下一句中采用這種簡短句式，目的是為了強調初雪的降臨立即幫助人們趕走了喧鬧，給人們帶來了和諧的樂聲。
Text Source: http://bbs.joyen.net/thread-2097-1-3.html
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Title: Softly Falls The Snow
Artist: Richard Clayderman