《四季随笔》是吉辛的散文代表作。其中对隐士赖克罗夫特醉心于书籍、自然景色与回忆过去生活的描述，其实是吉辛的自述，作者以此来抒发自己的情感，因而本书是一部富有自传色彩的小品文集。

吉辛穷困的一生，对文学名著的爱好与追求，以及对大自然恬静生活的向往，在书中均有充分的反映。本书分为春、夏、秋、冬四个部分，文笔优美，行文流畅，是英国文学中小品文的珍品之一。

以下是由网友分享的《四季随笔》节选 - 春 11的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

Would I live it over again, that life of the garret and the cellar? Not with the assurance of fifty years' contentment such as I now enjoy to follow upon it! With man's infinitely pathetic power of resignation, one sees the thing on its better side, forgets all the worst of it, makes out a case for the resolute optimist. Oh, but the waste of energy, of zeal, of youth! In another mood, I could shed tears over that spectacle of rare vitality condemned to sordid strife. The pity of it! And—if our conscience mean anything at all—the bitter wrong!

阁楼和地下室的生活，我还愿意重新来过吗？不，即使给我五十年现在这样优裕生活的保证，我也不干！凭借着极为可悲的逆来顺受的忍耐力，人们总能够在困境中看到光明的一面，忘记所有糟糕的，最后成为一个坚定的乐观主义者。但这是对精力、热情和青春多大的浪费！在另一种心境下，看到人们在贫穷中挣扎却一派生机勃勃的情景，我也许会流下眼泪。多可怜的景象！良心会告诉我们这是让人心痛的错事！

Without seeking for Utopia, think what a man's youth might be. I suppose not one in every thousand uses half the possibilities of natural joy and delightful effort which lie in those years between seventeen and seven-and-twenty. All but all men have to look back upon beginnings of life deformed and discoloured by necessity, accident, wantonness. If a young man avoid the grosser pitfalls, if he keep his eye fixed steadily on what is called the main chance, if, without flagrant selfishness, he prudently subdue every interest to his own (by "interest" understanding only material good), he is putting his youth to profit, he is an exemplar and a subject of pride. I doubt whether, in our civilization, any other ideal is easy of pursuit by the youngster face to face with life. It is the only course altogether safe. Yet compare it with what might be, if men respected manhood, if human reason were at the service of human happiness. Some few there are who can look back upon a boyhood of natural delights, followed by a decade or so of fine energies honourably put to use, blended therewith, perhaps, a memory of joy so exquisite that it tunes all life unto the end; they are almost as rare as poets. The vast majority think not of their youth at all, or, glancing backward, are unconscious of lost opportunity, unaware of degradation suffered. Only by contrast with this thick-witted multitude can I pride myself upon my youth of endurance and of combat. I had a goal before me, and not the goal of the average man. Even when pinched with hunger, I did not abandon my purposes, which were of the mind. But contrast that starved lad in his slum lodging with any fair conception of intelligent and zealous youth, and one feels that a dose of swift poison would have been the right remedy for such squalid ills.

如果不考虑对乌托邦理想的追求，想想青春可能会是什么模样。我想，在十七到二十七岁之间，一千个人中也许都挑不出一个人能够享用一半生就的快乐和劳动的愉悦。回首过去，所有人看到的都是早年生活因为窘迫、不幸或是放荡而变形和褪色。如果一个年轻人能避免犯下愚蠢的错误，如果他把目光始终盯住所谓的重大机会，如果他能审慎地将所有物质利益都置于自己的兴趣之下而不让别人觉得他极端自私（“利益”这里指物质利益），他就是在最有效益地享用青春，他就是一个榜样，值得骄傲。我怀疑，在我们的文明中，对于面对生活的年轻人，还有其他更容易追寻的人生理想，这也是唯一安全的道路。但是如果人们尊重人性，如果人们的理智是为幸福服务的，那么请将这样的青春与它可能的模样比一比。有很少的人，在他们的回忆中，少年时光是天真愉快的，接下来的十来年，有一份体面的工作可以发挥青春活力，还伴着一段欢乐的回忆，就这样享受美好人生直到终点，这样的人几乎和诗人一样稀有。大多数人从不回忆青春时代，或者即使回忆起来，也意识不到那些失去的机会和惨遭挥霍的青春。只有在与这些愚钝之众相比时，我才对自己年轻时的忍耐和奋斗感到骄傲。当时的我面前有一个目标，不同于普通人的目标。即使在饥肠辘辘时，我也没有放弃过它，这目标是思想层面上的。但是，将破旧寓所中忍饥挨饿的青年与正常观念中那种聪颖和热情的青春相比，你便会觉得一剂见效快的毒药可能会是对这种卑贱生活的合理救赎。