And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said,
"Speak to us of Children." And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Rebecca Lin 2014 Spring In USA
叶子姐，谢你在美语坛分享纪伯伦的《On Children》，他的话说充满了智慧和哲理，颇受启迪。孩子们长大后，总会离开我们，祝福孩子们远走高飞的同时，心中也有几分不舍和牵挂无数。我实在喜欢纪伯伦的作品，就去网上查询了他的相关介绍，才知道他是美籍黎巴嫩阿拉伯诗人、作家、画家，《On Children》来自他的散文诗《The Prophet》（先知），也是他的代表作。随之，我找到了Richard Harris的朗诵版本，配上俄国当代Vladimir Volegov's的油画作品做成了帖子。
在这个作品中，我感受到了作者平静中流露出的淡淡的悲凉。
是啊，孩子长大了，我们做父母的也该放手让他们展翅高飞了。