It is not my advice that you have asked as to the direction of your talents, but my opinion of them; and yet the opinion may be worth little, and the advice much. You evidently possess, and in no inconsid enable degree, what Wordsworth calls "the faculty of verse" . I am not depreciating it when I say that in these times it is not rare. Many volumes of poems are now published every year without attracting public attention, any one of which, if it had appeared half a century ago, would have obtained a high reputation for its author. Whoever, therefore, is ambitious of distinction in this way, ought to be prepared for disappointment.
But it is not with a view to distinction that you should cultivate this talent, if you consult your own happiness. I, who have made literature my profession, and devoted my life to it, and have never for a moment repented of the deliberate choice, think myself nevertheless bound in duty to caution every young man who applies as an aspirant to me for encouragement and advice against taking so perilous a course. You will say, that a woman has no need of such a caution: there can be no peril in it for her. In a certain sense this is true; but there is a danger of which I would, with all kindness and all earnestness, warn you. The day dreams in which you habitually indulge are likely to induce a distempered state of mind; and in proportion as all the ordinary uses of the world seem to you flat and unprofitable, you will be unfitted for them without becoming fitted for anything else. Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life, and it ought not to be. The more she is engaged in her proper duties, the less leisure will she have for it even as an accomplishment and a recreation. To those duties you have not yet been called, and, when you are, you will be less eager for celebrity. You will not seek in imagination for excitement, of which the vicissitudes of this life, and the anxieties from which you must not hope to be exempted, be your state what it may, will bring with them but too much.
But do not suppose that I disparage the gift, which you possess; nor that I would discourage you from exercising it. I only exhort you so to think of it, and so to use it, as to render it conducive to your own permanent good. Write poetry for its own sake; not in a spirit of emulation, and not with a view to celebrity: the less you aim at that, the more likely you will be to deserve, and finally to obtain it. So written, it is wholesome both for the heart and soul; it may be made the surest means, next to religion, of soothing the mind, and elevating it. You may embody in it your best thoughts and your wisest feelings, and in so doing discipline and strengthen them.
Farewell, Madam. It is not because I have forgotten that I was once young myself, that I write to you in this strain; but because I remember it. You will neither doubt my sincerity, nor my goodwill; and, however ill what has here been said may accord with your present views and temper, the longer you live the more reasonable it will appear to you. Though I may be but an ungracious adviser, you will allow me, therefore, to subscribe myself, with the best wishes for your happiness here and hereafter.
Your true friend,
ROBERT SOUTHEY
Keswick
March, 1837
女士：
也许你在收到回信之前已经彻底失望，没有想到我会回复你12月29日的来信。当你写那封信时，我正在康沃尔边境，两周后在汉普郡收到这封信。接着，我巡游全国各地，又在伦敦忙了三个星期，因此耽误了，没有时间给你回信。现在回到家中，要料理完这段时间搁置的事情，因此，我只有把成堆的文件处理完毕，才能回复你的来信，不是因为我轻视信中所言，也不是故作冷淡，而是因为（事实如此）回复这封信可不是件容易的事，同时，泼一盆冷水在兴致盎然、胸怀大志的年轻人头上也非悦事。
我只能从你的来信（这封信表现得很诚恳）推测你的来历，尽管我认为你用的是假名。不论怎样，这封信和这几首诗出自一人之手，而且我完全能够理解它们所要陈述的作者的心境。你从手头上的我的那些出版物中或许已经了解我是谁；如果你刚好认识我，对我个人些许的了解也会使你热情骤跌。你只要看一下诗人的晚年生活，目睹岁月对人的希望和志向造成的影响，你的热情也许就有所消减了。然而，我既不是一个失望之人，也不是一个不知足者，而且你绝不会从我这里听到任何说教，诸如“万事皆空”之类，如果是那样，你会感到不寒而栗。
你写信给我，不是要我建议你如何施展才华，而是要我谈谈对你才华的看法。但是，也许我的看法一文不值，但这忠告却很重要。很明显，你在很大程度上已具备了华兹华斯所说的“诗才”。我要说的是，在当代，诗才已不再是稀罕的东西，我这样说不是在贬低它。现在，每年有许多本诗集出版，却不能受到公众的关注，如果它们中间的任何一部早在半个世纪前出版，都会让作者获得很高的声誉。因此，无论谁想在这方面成名，都应当作好失望的准备。
然而，如果你为自身幸福考虑的话，培养自己的诗才就不应该只是为了追名逐利。虽然我已把文学作为自己的事业，而且将为此献出我毕生的精力，绝不会对自己深思熟虑后的选择后悔片刻，然而，我还是感到自己有责任向每一位有抱负的青年求助者和讨教者提出忠告：不要走这条危险的道路。你会说一位女子不需要如此告诫：这对她毫无危险。从某种意义上说，确实如此，但是有一种危险我还是满怀善意和真诚地告诫你。你一味地做白日梦有可能会导致神志不清；接着，你会认为世上所有平凡的职业都索然无味，毫无用处，你也就不适合做这些了，到最后你将一事无成。文学创作不可能也不应当成为女子的毕生事业。她越是忙于自己应尽的职责，在文学上投入的时间也就越少，哪怕只是被当成一种技能或一种娱乐。还没有人要求你尽这些职责，而一旦有人让你这么做，你就会不再那么渴望成名了。你不要凭想象去寻求刺激，人生起伏也好，不可避免的烦恼也好，只要安守本分，你就能得到很多很多。
千万别以为我会瞧不起你拥有的才华，也不要以为我在给你的创作泼冷水。我只是劝你思量一下，如何施展才华以便终身受益。要为诗歌自身而创作，不要一味模仿，也不要只追求名利：你越淡泊名利就会越值得拥有它，从而最终如愿以偿，这样写诗才会令身心受益。诗歌有可能是继宗教之后，用以慰藉灵魂并使之升华的最有效的方式。你可以在诗中表达自己最崇高的思想和最理性的情感，与此同时使之锤炼加强。
再见吧，女士。并不是我忘了自己也曾经年轻，而用这样的笔触给你写信，而是因为我对此刻骨铭心。你不要对我的真诚和好意心存疑虑，此处所言与你的观点和心境无论相去多远，随着时光的推移，你都会越来越感到我的话有道理。虽然，我可能只是一个差强人意的忠告者，但我仍然请你允许我这样署名，并祝你永远幸福。
您真诚的朋友
罗伯特·骚塞
1837年3月于凯西维克
聘请书（聘书、聘约）
聘请书是机关、单位、团体聘请有关人员担任某一职务或承担某工作时所使用的专用书信，一示敬重，二为守约。正文需简要说明聘请原因、职务、期限，有的还写职责、权限、待遇、要求等。印制的聘书常设计一个精美、庄重、大方的封面。
tarriance [t鎟ins] n. 拖延；耽搁
The day was too far advanced to admit of further tarriance.
时刻已经不早了，不容再耽搁。
leisure [le] n. 空闲时间；闲暇；悠闲；安逸
We have been working all week without a moment's leisure.
我们工作了整整一星期，没有片刻空闲。
damp [d鎚p] n. 潮湿；湿气
Air the clothes to get the damp out.
晾晾衣服以驱潮气。
fictitious [fiktis] adj. 假的；虚构的；编造的
These characters are fictitious.
这些人物角色都是虚构的。
你不要凭想象去寻求刺激，人生起伏也好，不可避免的烦恼也好，只要安守本分，你就能得到很多很多。
诗歌有可能是继宗教之后，用以慰藉灵魂并使之升华的最有效的方式。
并不是我忘了自己也曾年轻过，而用这样的笔触给你写信，而是因为我对此刻骨铭心。
...I had no leisure for replying to it .
reply to：回答；回复
And now that I am once more at home ,and am clearing off the arrears of business which had accumulated during a long absence...
clear off：清除
拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生致惠特曼
Ralph Waldo Emerson to Walt Whitman
拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生（1803—1882），19世纪美国著名的思想家、散文家、演说家、诗人。他崇尚自然，强调个人价值，代表作有《论自然》《美国学者》等。
