西西河

主题:Andrew Marr:我们英国人——英国诗歌文学简史 -- 万年看客

共:💬134 🌺248 新:
全看分页树展 · 主题 跟帖
家园 十一,不列颠时代1

如果说历史上有任何一个时代可以称作“英国时代”,那么必然就是十九世纪或者说维多利亚时代——人们惯于采用在这一时期统治英国的高寿女王的名字来指代这一时期。在一段短暂的时间里,英国成为了全球第一的强权国家。凭借全世界第一场工业革命的先发优势,英国打造了一个幅员辽阔财富无数的帝国。皇家海军成为了全世界最可畏的军事力量。因此军旅与军事题材诗歌、主流正能量诗歌以及痴迷于物质财富带来的全新社会阶级的诗歌理所当然地在这一时期大行其道。但是另一方面,维多利亚时期的诗人们也在竭力应对着令人不安的全新理念,从基于自然选择的达尔文进化论到不断传播开来的无神论再到新兴的社会主义教条等等。这一时期的大部分诗歌绝非洋洋自得的夸口文字,而是走上了反躬自省自我批评的路线。诗人们热切地复兴了宗教信仰,歌颂了家庭生活,还对更广大的世界产生了越来越浓厚的兴趣。

维多利亚时代的诗歌就像维多利亚时代的建筑一样,好似一座多种文化意象拼贴而成的精灵城市。从丁尼生的《国王之歌》到勃朗宁的威尼斯与佛罗伦萨背景再到爱德华.菲兹杰拉德的波斯风情。此外这也是异域主义与东方主义大行其道的时代。以上这些内容大抵无助于我们试图通过诗歌理解本时代英国人的尝试。但是就像维多利亚时代的建筑一样,这些诗歌当中也充溢着令人着迷的活力与多样性。有些诗歌好比单一色调的宫殿,另一些则好比环绕宫殿的民宅;有些诗歌顶着十四世纪的塔尖,另一些则装饰着从意大利运河区挪用过来的花窗。仔细监视一番就会发现,看似招摇作态的维多利亚诗歌往往英国气质浓厚并且紧跟时代。

首先介绍一位菲利西娅.赫门兹。她的出身家族在很多方面都可以被视为维多利亚时代新英国的缩影。她父亲是兰开夏郡的酒类进口商,她的一位兄弟参军入伍并立下了显赫战功,另一个兄弟当上了爱尔兰警察总局局长,第三个兄弟在加拿大当了高官。她本人嫁给了一位爱尔兰军官,但是这段婚姻并未维持很久。她的第一首诗作献给了威尔士亲王,尽管如此雪莱依然十分仰慕她。她过世之后,华兹华斯为她撰写了悼文。她最出名的作品是《卡萨比安卡》(Casabianca),显然出自一位帝国国运上升时期的爱国女青年之手:

The boy stood on the burning deck

Whence all but he had fled;

The flame that lit the battle's wreck

Shone round him o'er the dead.

少年挺立在燃烧的甲板,

此时其他人都已放弃。

烧毁了战舰的熊熊火焰,

照亮了他和一片尸体。

Yet beautiful and bright he stood,

As born to rule the storm;

A creature of heroic blood,

A proud, though child-like form.

然而他依然挺立,面容清秀俊朗,

似乎生来就要统御风暴;

英雄的鲜血在他体内流淌,

尽管尚未成年,却依然满怀骄傲。

The flames rolled on–he would not go

Without his Father's word;

That father, faint in death below,

His voice no longer heard.

烈焰滚滚,他却不肯抛弃职分,

除非得到父亲的命令。

甲板以下倒卧着他的父亲,

早已牺牲,无法将他的呼唤回应。

He called aloud–'say, Father, say

If yet my task is done?'

He knew not that the chieftain lay

Unconscious of his son.

“下令啊,父亲?”他高声呼喊,

“我的任务是否已经完成?”

他不知道自己的首长已经瘫软,

听不见儿子的阵阵呼声。

'Speak, father!' once again he cried,

'If I may yet be gone!'

And but the booming shots replied,

And fast the flames rolled on.

“说话呀,父亲!”他带着哭腔喊道,

“我现在能不能撤离前线!”

回应他的只有隆隆的殉爆,

以及吞噬一切的熊熊烈焰。

Upon his brow he felt their breath,

And in his waving hair,

And looked from that lone post of death

In still yet brave despair.

他能感到烈火的阵阵呼气,

喷在他的眉毛与头发上;

他孤独地驻守在必死之地

一动不动,满脸勇敢的绝望。

And shouted but once more aloud,

'My father! must I stay?'

While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud,

The wreathing fires made way.

最后一声呼喊,比刚才嗓门更高,

“爸爸!难道我还不能撤走?”

在他背后,沿着船帆向上燃烧,

烈火缓缓张开了血盆大口。

They wrapt the ship in splendour wild,

They caught the flag on high,

And streamed above the gallant child,

Like banners in the sky.

火光灿烂,将整艘战船点亮,

终于攫住了最高处的旗帜,

招摇在英勇少年的头上,

恰似半空中的横幅烈炽。

There came a burst of thunder sound–

The boy–oh! where was he?

Ask of the winds that far around

With fragments strewed the sea!

突然一声雷鸣般的巨响——

那孩子呢?可曾有人看见?

唯有狂风呼啸吹向远方,

破碎的残骸撒满了海面!

With mast, and helm, and pennon fair,

That well had borne their part–

But the noblest thing which perished there

Was that young faithful heart.

桅杆,舵轮,与燕尾旗高高飘荡

它们全都完成了自己的使命——

但要说到何等牺牲最为高尚,

唯有这颗年轻的心最为坚定。

赫门兹的诗歌洋溢着维多利亚时代的高昂爱国主义。不幸的是,这一点也让她的作品在二十世纪沦为了无情恶搞的靶子。她的《堂皇的英格兰之家》(The Stately Homes of England)一诗自从被喜剧演员诺尔.考沃德恶搞之后就再没能恢复元气。先来看看她的原诗:

THE STATELY Homes of England,

How beautiful they stand!

Amidst their tall ancestral trees,

O’er all the pleasant land;

The deer across their greensward bound

Through shade and sunny gleam,

And the swan glides past them with the sound

Of some rejoicing stream.

堂皇的英格兰之家!

他们多么美丽!

有多少参天古树

覆盖这片优美土地!

鹿群啃食着茵茵绿草,

在斑驳树荫下徜徉,

天鹅在水面优美舞蹈,

欢乐的河流源远流长。

The merry Homes of England!

Around their hearths by night,

What gladsome looks of household love

Meet in the ruddy light.

There woman’s voice flows forth in song,

Or childish tale is told;

Or lips move tunefully along

Some glorious page of old.

欢乐的英格兰之家!

夜晚在炉旁围坐,

其乐融融的一家人,

端详着炉火闪烁。

……

The cottage Homes of England!

By thousands on her plains,

They are smiling o’er the silvery brooks,

And round the hamlet-fanes.

Through glowing orchards forth they peep,

Each from its nook of leaves;

And fearless there the lowly sleep,

As the bird beneath their eaves.

英格兰的农舍之家!

成百上千在平原坐落,

面朝粼粼溪流微笑,

组成大大小小的村落。

透过闪亮的果园窥探,

每座小屋都被层层树叶遮蔽;

无惧的人们在树下安眠,

恰似鸟儿在屋檐下休憩。

这几句诗略微肉麻了一点,但是总体而言没毛病是吧?下面是考沃德的恶搞版本:

The Stately Homes of England,

How beautiful they stand,

To prove the upper classes

Have still the upper hand;

Though the fact that they have to be rebuilt

And frequently mortgaged to the hilt

Is inclined to take the gilt

Off the gingerbread,

And certainly damps the fun

Of the eldest son-

But still we won't be beaten,

We'll scrimp and scrape and save,

The playing fields of Eton

Have made us frightfully brave。

堂皇的英格兰之家!

他们多么美丽!

为了证明掌大权的

依然是上层阶级!

他们经常被扒了重建,

还被拿来抵押贷款,

丁点不剩抹净吃干,

姜饼人的糖霜脸。

名门望族的长子,

如今少了乐子。

但我们不肯认输平躺,

哪怕勒紧裤腰活受罪,

伊顿公学的操场,

练就我们的勇猛无畏。

莫非赫门兹就只有这点本事不成?幸运的是并非如此,尽管她的诗才直到最近才刚刚得到人们的进一步认识。赫门兹可算是最早的一批女权主义诗人,或者说她至少是一位反复采用女性受压迫并且难以发声这一题材的诗人。以下是她的长诗《精神的回归》(A Spirit Returns)的开头:

Thy voice prevails - dear friend, my gentle friend!

This long-shut heart for thee shall be unsealed,

And though thy soft eye mournfully will bend

Over the troubled stream, yet once revealed

Shall its freed waters flow; then rocks must close

For evermore, above their dark repose.

这声音胜利了——亲爱的朋友,我温柔的友人!

我将要为你打开这长久关闭的心门,

尽管你那柔和又伤感的视线

将会在激流上弯成一条曲线

一旦揭露,一道道水流就会自由的流淌,

然后巨石将在黑暗水源的头顶永远合上。

自杀一直都是赫门兹作品的隐藏基调。这一倾向与燃烧甲板上与战船共存亡的少年所体现的干脆道德主义完全背道而驰。例如《萨芙的最后之歌》(The Last Song of Sappho)就描写了古希腊女诗人萨芙蹈海自尽之前的场景:

SOUND on, thou dark unslumbering sea!

My dirge is in thy moan;

My spirit finds response in thee,

To its own ceaseless cry–'Alone, alone !'

继续作响吧,你这黑暗的大海不肯宁静!

我的挽歌就是你的啜泣;

你将我的精神回应,

用你那无尽的哭喊——“孤寂,孤寂!”

Yet send me back one other word,

Ye tones that never cease !

Oh ! let your secret caves be stirr'd,

And say, dark waters! will ye give me peace?

你可敢换个字眼将我回复,

你的声调永远不停!

哦!若是搅动了你那神秘的洞府,

黑暗之水啊!你可愿容我安宁?

Away! my weary soul hath sought

In vain one echoing sigh,

One answer to consuming thought

In human hearts–and will the wave reply ?

去吧,我疲惫的灵魂一直在寻觅

应和的叹息声,但总是徒劳枉然,

我想找一个答案用来消耗思绪

在人心当中——海浪可愿与我相谈?

Sound on, thou dark, unslumbering sea!

Sound in thy scorn and pride !

I ask not, alien world, from thee,

What my own kindred earth hath still denied.

继续作响吧,你这黑暗的大海不肯安眠!

这声音是你的骄傲与轻蔑!

陌生的世界,我无意求你垂怜,

毕竟我的地上亲属也不肯将我关切。

And yet I loved that earth so well,

With all its lovely things!

–Was it for this the death-wind fell

On my rich lyre, and quench'd its living strings?

然而我对大地爱得深沉,

它是那么多可爱生灵的家园!

——莫非因此死亡之风才会降临

掀翻我的琴,打湿生命的琴弦?

——Let them lie silent at my feet !

Since broken even as they,

The heart whose music made them sweet,

Hath pour'd on desert-sands its wealth away.

让它们在我脚下安静休憩!

就算像它们这样残破,

也能因为心中的音乐变得甜蜜,

这颗心将它的财富倾倒在沙漠。

Yet glory's light hath touch'd my name,

The laurel-wreath is mine–

–With a lone heart, a weary frame–

O restless deep ! I come to make them thine !

但是荣耀的光明触碰了我的姓名,

桂叶的花冠属于我——

以及孤独的心,憔悴的体型——

哦无尽的深渊!请包容这一切的我!

Give to that crown, that burning crown,

Place in thy darkest hold!

Bury my anguish, my renown,

With hidden wrecks, lost gems, and wasted gold.

我将这一切都向燃烧的皇冠献上,

安置在你最黑暗的坚城里!

将我的痛苦与光荣全部埋葬

与隐秘的船骸、失落的金珠摆在一起

Thou sea-bird on the billow's crest,

Thou hast thy love, thy home;

They wait thee in the quiet nest,

And I, the unsought, unwatch'd-for–I too come!

你们这些海鸟在浪头上栖息,

你们享有大海的爱,分享大海的家;

它们在安稳的鸟巢里等你,

无人寻觅,无人看护的我——我也来啦!

I, with this winged nature fraught,

These visions wildly free,

This boundless love, this fiery thought–

Alone I come–oh ! give me peace, dark sea!

我满目所见都是这些生灵张开双翼,

无拘无束的自由风采,

这无尽的爱,这烈火一般的思绪——

我来了——哦!请给我安宁吧,黑暗的大海!

全看分页树展 · 主题 跟帖


有趣有益,互惠互利;开阔视野,博采众长。
虚拟的网络,真实的人。天南地北客,相逢皆朋友

Copyright © cchere 西西河