英文詩歌是各種英語文體中最富有激情和感情色彩的一種文體。詩歌往往用高度凝練的語言來表達詩人的喜怒哀樂以及詩人對生活和客觀世界的理解和感悟。當我們在欣賞一首詩時，可以透過文字捕捉到詩人的內心情感。一首優秀的詩可以以其特有的方式影響人們的精神世界。
一、詩歌的篇幅一般短小精悍，語言精練，感情強烈；在格式上，英語詩歌同漢語詩歌一樣講究押韻。詩的押韻是指透過重複母音或子音以達到一定的音韻效果。一首詩的押韻具有帶規律性的一致性，尤其是在詩句的末尾，稱尾韻。下面我們來看Thomas Nashe的一首詩：
Spring
Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year’s pleasant king;
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing,
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The palm and may make country houses gay,
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,
And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay,
The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street theses tunes our ears do greet,
Spring! the sweet Spring!
這首詩押韻整齊，讀起來很有節奏感， 表現了春天裡萬物復甦、生機盎然、一派歡樂祥和的生動景象。
二、現代詩歌可以押韻，也可以不押韻，但需注意兩點：
1. 要有節奏感。沒有節奏感的詩歌不能算詩，最多是分行的散文。
2. 要把握句子結構的平衡，也就是詩句長短不要相差太遠，否則讀起來給人不平衡、不舒服之感。
下面我們欣賞一首現代詩：
The Significance of Failure
Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure,
It does mean you haven’t succeeded yet.
Failure doesn’t mean you have accomplished nothing,
It does mean you have learned something.
Failure doesn’t mean you have been a fool,
It does mean you had a lot of faith.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ve been disgraced,
It does mean you were willing to try.
Failure doesn’t mean you don’t have it,
It does mean you have to do something in a different way.
Failure doesn’t mean you are inferior,
It does mean you are not perfect.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ve wasted your life,
It does mean you have a reason to start afresh.
Failure doesn’t mean you should give up,
It does mean you must try harder.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ll never make it,
It does mean it will take a little longer.
Failure doesn’t mean God has abandoned you,
It does mean God has a better idea.
這首詩是Robert Harold Schuller的一篇勵志佳作。這首詩雖然句尾不押韻，但是由於每句詩都以排比的形式重複使用Failure doesn’t mean ... It does mean ...，使得整首詩節奏感很強，讀起來催人奮進，使讀者受到感染。
[佳作賞析]
When You Are Old
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
這首詩的作者是William Butler Yeats（威廉·巴特勒·葉芝）。葉芝是愛爾蘭最偉大的詩人之一 ，對現代詩影響很大。這首詩是葉芝寫給自己心愛之人的情詩。詩中的主人公“你”指的是愛爾蘭革命家Maud Gonne，詩人遇見她並愛上她，曾多次向其求婚，均未成功，但詩人對她愛慕終生，於是就有了這篇經典之作。
全詩共三節，前兩節均是對Maud Gonne的愛意傾訴。第一節中雖然多次用第二人稱“你”，但實際上是描述作者自己心中的所思所想。第二節中詩人採用了對比的手法，講述了對Maud Gonne的愛慕之情，突出自己永恆的愛。最後一節詩人描述了自己內心悲傷的感情。詩中sleep / deep, book / look, grace / face, bars / stars, fled / overhead這幾組韻調使詩歌富於音韻感，有音律美，節奏感強，讀起來琅琅上口。縱觀全詩，沒有華麗的辭藻，也找不到甜蜜的情話，有的只是平淡的文字背後寄予的永恆的愛意和深情，反而能讓讀者久久回味。
英文詩歌是各種英語文體中最富有激情和感情色彩的一種文體。詩歌往往用高度凝練的語言來表達詩人的喜怒哀樂以及詩人對生活和客觀世界的理解和感悟。當我們在欣賞一首詩時，可以透過文字捕捉到詩人的內心情感。一首優秀的詩可以以其特有的方式影響人們的精神世界。
一、詩歌的篇幅一般短小精悍，語言精練，感情強烈；在格式上，英語詩歌同漢語詩歌一樣講究押韻。詩的押韻是指透過重複母音或子音以達到一定的音韻效果。一首詩的押韻具有帶規律性的一致性，尤其是在詩句的末尾，稱尾韻。下面我們來看Thomas Nashe的一首詩：
Spring
Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year’s pleasant king;
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing,
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The palm and may make country houses gay,
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,
And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay,
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street theses tunes our ears do greet,
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
Spring! the sweet Spring!
這首詩押韻整齊，讀起來很有節奏感， 表現了春天裡萬物復甦、生機盎然、一派歡樂祥和的生動景象。
二、現代詩歌可以押韻，也可以不押韻，但需注意兩點：
1. 要有節奏感。沒有節奏感的詩歌不能算詩，最多是分行的散文。
2. 要把握句子結構的平衡，也就是詩句長短不要相差太遠，否則讀起來給人不平衡、不舒服之感。
下面我們欣賞一首現代詩：
The Significance of Failure
Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure,
It does mean you haven’t succeeded yet.
Failure doesn’t mean you have accomplished nothing,
It does mean you have learned something.
Failure doesn’t mean you have been a fool,
It does mean you had a lot of faith.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ve been disgraced,
It does mean you were willing to try.
Failure doesn’t mean you don’t have it,
It does mean you have to do something in a different way.
Failure doesn’t mean you are inferior,
It does mean you are not perfect.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ve wasted your life,
It does mean you have a reason to start afresh.
Failure doesn’t mean you should give up,
It does mean you must try harder.
Failure doesn’t mean you’ll never make it,
It does mean it will take a little longer.
Failure doesn’t mean God has abandoned you,
It does mean God has a better idea.
這首詩是Robert Harold Schuller的一篇勵志佳作。這首詩雖然句尾不押韻，但是由於每句詩都以排比的形式重複使用Failure doesn’t mean ... It does mean ...，使得整首詩節奏感很強，讀起來催人奮進，使讀者受到感染。
[佳作賞析]
When You Are Old
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
這首詩的作者是William Butler Yeats（威廉·巴特勒·葉芝）。葉芝是愛爾蘭最偉大的詩人之一 ，對現代詩影響很大。這首詩是葉芝寫給自己心愛之人的情詩。詩中的主人公“你”指的是愛爾蘭革命家Maud Gonne，詩人遇見她並愛上她，曾多次向其求婚，均未成功，但詩人對她愛慕終生，於是就有了這篇經典之作。
全詩共三節，前兩節均是對Maud Gonne的愛意傾訴。第一節中雖然多次用第二人稱“你”，但實際上是描述作者自己心中的所思所想。第二節中詩人採用了對比的手法，講述了對Maud Gonne的愛慕之情，突出自己永恆的愛。最後一節詩人描述了自己內心悲傷的感情。詩中sleep / deep, book / look, grace / face, bars / stars, fled / overhead這幾組韻調使詩歌富於音韻感，有音律美，節奏感強，讀起來琅琅上口。縱觀全詩，沒有華麗的辭藻，也找不到甜蜜的情話，有的只是平淡的文字背後寄予的永恆的愛意和深情，反而能讓讀者久久回味。