Edited by Billy Collins; Paintings by David Allen Sibley
Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds
Hardcover $170 (original price: USD 22.95)
ISBN: 9789889914622 Published November 2009 by Columbia University Press

泰戈尔有《飛鳥集》，雪萊有《致雲雀》。在人類發展史上，那些生著翅膀可以翱翔天際的神奇生物一直是我們憧憬的對象。它們生來就被賜予我們沒有的天賦，可以去到我們無法觸及的地方。因此，發明家們觀察它們井嘗試模仿，畫家用多彩筆觸將其描繪，,而詩人則選擇最優美的文字去歌咏。如果只是簡單地將寫過鳥的詩句集結成冊恐怕還談不上新奇，但是，這本《Bright Wings》卻能將描寫鳥類的經典詩句與各品種的小鳥一一對應，分門別類，,又配上精緻的手繪插圖，成了一本最富詩意的「鳥類圖鍳」。翻開書，第一眼便被美麗的畫面和高品質的印刷震懾住。每種鳥都會有一張繪制精美的畫像，用色清雅又栩栩如生，下面配上几句簡短的注釋，讓人可以簡明扼要地了解這些小鳥的基本資料。此後，便是一首或多首這種鳥的優美詩句，讓人徜徉在一個充滿羽翼的空中世界。

編者Billy Collins 本身就是一位知名詩人，著有一系列詩集，包括《Questions about Angels》、《Nine Horses》等，成為這次環遊“詩“詩鳥”世界的最佳導師。他在書中不旦選取了文學史上最著名、經典的詩句，還挑選了一些優秀的當代作家作品。書中插畫則是鳥類學家David Allen Sibley 親手繪制。除了是一位精通鳥類學知識的學者，David 還曾經花多年時間專門學習描繪鳥類，他對每種鳥的精辟簡介成為這本書最可靠的知識背景。因此，這本書不僅是那些詩歌愛好者的必然擺上書架的不二選擇，對所有愛鳥人來說，也是一本值得珍藏的，最特別的圖鍳。我們不得不感謝Billy Collins 在這本書上花費的心思，與其將《Bright Wings》看做一本詩集，不妨說編者也是在為當代詩歌的表達方式尋求一種讓人驚喜的新途徑。如果說唯一有什麼遺憾的話，雖然有個別詩歌是翻譯過的日本詩，但書中收錄的詩句絕大多數是西方作品。中國唐宋詩詞曾出現大量描寫鳥類的經典詩句，卻無法在翻譯後體現出原來的意境，也難以傳通世界，著實可惜！

— MING 明日風尚 2010年3月號

In this beautiful collection of poems and paintings, Billy Collins, former U.S. poet laureate, joins with David Allen Sibley, America’s foremost bird illustrator, to celebrate the winged creatures that have inspired so many poets to sing for centuries. From Catullus and Chaucer to Robert Browning and James Wright, poets have long treated birds as powerful metaphors for beauty, escape, transcendence, and divine expression.

Here, in this substantial anthology, more than one hundred contemporary and classic poems are paired with close to sixty original, ornithologically precise illustrations. Part poetry collection, part field guide, part art book, Bright Wings presents verbal and visual interpretations of the natural world and reminds us of our intimate connection to the “bright wings” around us. Each in their own way, these poems and pictures honor the enchanting creatures that have been, and continue to be, longtime collaborators with the poet’s and painter’s art.

Poet and bird pairings include: Wallace Stevens and the Blackbird; Emily Dickinson and the Robin; Marianne Moore and the Frigate Pelican; Thomas Hardy and the Goldfinch; Sylvia Plath and the Pheasant; John Updike and the Seagull; Walt Whitman and the Eagle; Billy Collins and the Sparrow.

伸延閱讀｜of related interest

by Eugene H. Kaplan
What’s Eating You? People and Parasites
Hardcover $195 (original price: USD 26.95)
ISBN: 9781400832200 Published 2010 by Princeton University Press

In What’s Eating You? Eugene Kaplan recounts the true and harrowing tales of his adventures with parasites, and in the process introduces readers to the intimately interwoven lives of host and parasite.

Kaplan has spent his life traveling the globe exploring oceans and jungles, and incidentally acquiring parasites in his gut. Here, he leads readers on an unforgettable journey into the bizarre yet oddly beautiful world of parasites. In a narrative that is by turns frightening, disgusting, and laugh-out-loud funny, Kaplan describes how drinking contaminated water can cause a three-foot-long worm to burst from your arm; how he “gave birth” to a parasite the size and thickness of a pencil while working in Israel; why you should never wave a dead snake in front of your privates; and why fleas are attracted to his wife. Kaplan tells stories about leeches feasting on soldiers in Vietnam; sea cucumbers with teeth in their anuses that seem to encourage the entry of symbiotic fish; the habits of parasites that cause dysentery, river blindness, and other horrifying diseases–and much, much more. Along the way, he explains the underlying science, including parasite evolution and host-parasite physiology.

Informative, frequently lurid, and hugely entertaining, this beautifully illustrated book is a must-read for health-conscious travelers, and anyone who has ever wondered if they picked up a tapeworm from that last sushi dinner.

Shelley Fisher Fishkin (ed.)
Mark Twain’s Book of Animals
Hardcover $210 (original price: USD 27.50)
ISBN: 9780520248557 Published October 2009 by University of California Press

Longtime admirers of Mark Twain are aware of how integral animals were to his work as a writer, from his first stories through his final years, including many pieces that were left unpublished at his death. This beautiful volume, illustrated with 30 new images by master engraver Barry Moser, gathers writings from the full span of Mark Twain’s career and elucidates his special attachment to and regard for animals. What may surprise even longtime readers and fans is that Twain was an early and ardent animal welfare advocate, the most prominent American of his day to take up that cause. Edited and selected by Shelley Fisher Fishkin, who has also supplied an introduction and afterword, Mark Twain’s Book of Animals includes stories that are familiar along with those that are appearing in print for the first time.