不能期待世界會在詩人手中突然變成一首詩

哈維爾(Václav Havel)是捷克斯洛伐克的最後一位總統, 也是捷克的首任總統。 他也是位著名詩人、劇作家。

在共產執政的年代成長的哈維爾, 因為出生背景的關係, 求學路特別崎嶇, 曾多番被學校拒諸門外。 他一邊替劇團打工, 一邊修讀戲劇學院的校外課程, 在短短幾年間以劇作和文字打響名堂。 但他評擊政府的言論和鼓吹民主的聲音令當時的政府非常不滿, 他的作品更在國內被禁。他被定性為異見分子, 曾被禁出境、軟禁, 後來更成為階下囚。 出獄後, 他領導天鵝絨革命, 以自由選舉的方式選為總統。

哈維爾在獄中最少寫了一百四十四封信給妻子奧爾嘉。 仍記得數年前讀他的獄中書, 他談他「試著適應白天缺少光亮和夜裡缺少黑暗」的牢獄生活, 記憶猶新。

詩詞和政治, 彷彿是虛幻和現實的兩極。　詩人政客, 是個奇特而隱隱帶點矛盾的組合。 哈維爾說話溫柔而有力； 喜歡他的一句：

不能期待世界會在詩人手中突然變成一首詩
We cannot expect that the world — in the hands of poets — will suddenly be transformed into a poem. 　

以下幾句，在絕望的日子我會拿來讀。　希望你們都能看懂。

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.

Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

Isn't it the moment of most profound doubt that gives birth to new certainties? Perhaps hopelessness is the very soil that nourishes human hope; perhaps one could never find sense in life without first experiencing its absurdity.