Annie Dillard: We Still and Always Want...Waking

Annie Dillard is a U.S. author whose works often ask readers to awaken to the natural world around them

[Scroll down for the English]

KISWAHILI

"Kwa sababu ipi tunasoma, ikiwa sio kwa matumaini ya uzuri uwekwe wazi, ya maisha yainuliwe na fumbo lake ya ndani zaidi lichunguzwe?… Kwa maana ipi tunasoma ikiwa sio kwa matumaini kwamba mwandishi yule akuze na aiigize siku zetu, atumulikie na atutie moyo kwa hekima, ujasiri, na uwezekano wa maana ya kina, na atusisitizwe akili zetu mafumbo hayo ya ndani kabisa, ili tuweze kuhisi tena makuu yao na nguvu?… Bado na daima tunataka kuamkwa.”

- Annie Dillard ni mwandishi wa U.S. wa mashairi na nathari (maandishi ya kawaida) ambayo huwauliza wasomaji kuamka kwa ulimwengu wa asili unaowazunguka; yeye ni profesa mstaafu; na alitunukiwa Tuzo la Kitaifa la Binadamu mnamo 2014.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

“Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed?… Why are we reading if not in hope that the writer will magnify and dramatize our days, will illuminate and inspire us with wisdom, courage, and the possibility of meaningfulness, and will press upon our minds the deepest mysteries, so we may feel again their majesty and power?… We still and always want waking.”

- Annie Dillard is a U.S. writer of poetry and prose that asks readers to awaken to the natural world; she is a retired professor; and was awarded the National Humanities Award in 2014.

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Chanzo (source): Dillard, Annie. The Writing Life. New York: HarperCollins, originally published in 1989, ebook published 2007 by same publisher, pages 72-73. Kindle Edition.