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 左派与右派5

还有一位比起贝洛克与切斯特顿都更加温和的诗人,他也是最后一位在战争间期开始发表诗作的非左派主要诗人。今天有许多诗人都不承认约翰.贝杰曼算得上诗人。在他们看来,此人只是一个迎合公众口味、卖弄传统感伤情绪的押韵家而已。这话说的不算完全公道,可也不算完全不公道。贝杰曼于1909年出生在伦敦北部一户荷兰裔家庭,他是路易斯.马克尼斯的同代人。就像贝洛克与切斯特顿一样,贝杰曼也是一位虔诚的基督徒,不过他信得是高派圣公会。他曾就读于牛津大学,但是成绩一塌糊涂。年轻时他结识了奥登与斯彭德,后来为了糊口担任过中学老师与记者等工作。正是因为他所具备的记者特质,他在二十世纪三十年代创作的诗歌才会直到今天依然值得一读。他是中产阶级势力作风与时髦风气的敏锐观察家,风格类似马克尼斯但更加轻松愉快。他的诗文当中充满了同时代的商品品牌与各种日常用品——如果你想了解二十世纪三十年代英国中产阶级的生活方式,那就不该低估贝杰曼的价值。另一方面,他描写破败凋零的本事也不在奥登之下。请看《利明顿的死亡》(Death In Leamington):

She died in the upstairs bedroom

By the light of the ev'ning star

That shone through the plate glass window

From over Leamington Spa

她在楼上的卧室死去

当时夜晚明星高悬

光亮穿透了玻璃窗

明星俯瞰利明顿温泉。

Beside her the lonely crochet

Lay patiently and unstirred,

But the fingers that would have work'd it

Were dead as the spoken word.

孤独的钩针摆在她身侧

耐心地一动不动,不见有异,

她的十指本应运作繁忙

如今却像她的言语那样沉寂。

And Nurse came in with the tea-things

Breast high 'mid the stands and chairs-

But Nurse was alone with her own little soul,

And the things were alone with theirs.

护士走进屋里,端着茶具

胸脯高挺,身边是一排排桌椅——

护士有她自己的小小灵魂,

万物也都各有魂灵一缕。

She bolted the big round window,

She let the blinds unroll,

She set a match to the mantle,

She covered the fire with coal.

她插上了圆窗的粗大插销,

她将窗帘全都拉上,

她在壁炉旁划亮一根火柴,

又添了些煤,好让炉火烧旺。

And "Tea!" she said in a tiny voice

"Wake up! It's nearly five"

Oh! Chintzy, chintzy cheeriness,

Half dead and half alive.

“茶来了!”她轻声说道,

“醒醒!已经快五点了。”

哦!多么俗气的快活,

一半已死,另一半还活着。

Do you know that the stucco is peeling?

Do you know that the heart will stop?

From those yellow Italianate arches

Do you hear the plaster drop?

你可知墙皮正在脱落?

你可知心脏终将停跳?

你可听见石膏正在逐渐剥离,

从黄色的意式拱门往下掉?

Nurse looked at the silent bedstead,

At the gray, decaying face,

As the calm of a Leamington ev'ning

Drifted into the place.

护士看着寂静的床头,

灰白的面孔正在朽坏,

利明顿夜晚的安宁

正在将这里悄然覆盖。

She moved the table of bottles

Away from the bed to the wall;

And tiptoeing gently over the stairs

Turned down the gas in the hall.

她将摆满药瓶的桌子

从床边推到靠近墙壁;

然后踮着脚走下台阶

关上了大厅里的煤气。

这首感伤的诗歌其实并不能反映贝特曼的创作特色,至少反映不了他在创作早期的特色。在他的所有早期诗歌当中,《一名中尉的情歌》(A Subaltern’s Love Song)流传得最久也最受欢迎。这首诗创作于一战开始后不久,完美呈现了理想当中的英格兰郊区生活:

Miss J. Hunter Dunn, Miss J. Hunter Dunn,

Furnish’d and burnish’d by Aldershot sun,

What strenuous singles we played after tea,

We in the tournament – you against me!

J.杭特尔.邓恩女士,J.杭特尔.邓恩女士,

多么神采飞扬,奥尔德肖特的艳阳将你整饬,

喝完茶之后我们玩了一局网球游戏,

我们都想取胜——你与我较量技艺!

Love-thirty, love-forty, oh! weakness of joy,

The speed of a swallow, the grace of a boy,

With carefullest carelessness, gaily you won,

I am weak from your loveliness, Joan Hunter Dunn.

零比三十,零比四十,啊!欢乐正是我的软弱之处,

你身轻如燕飞速穿梭,还具有男生的潇洒风度。

你用最周详的洒脱风格赢得了欢乐的胜利,

J.杭特尔.邓恩,你的可爱让我浑身乏力。

Miss Joan Hunter Dunn, Miss Joan Hunter Dunn,

How mad I am, sad I am, glad that you won,

The warm-handled racket is back in its press,

But my shock-headed victor, she loves me no less.

乔安.杭特尔.邓恩,乔安.杭特尔.邓恩,

你的胜利让我多么生气,多么难过,多么开心,

攥热了的球拍早已被送回球拍架上去,

但是满头波浪卷的赢家却丝毫不减对我的爱意。

Her father’s euonymus shines as we walk,

And swing past the summer-house, buried in talk,

And cool the verandah that welcomes us in

To the six-o’clock news and a lime-juice and gin.

我们漫步在她父亲的黄杨树下,灿灿泛光的叶片,

我们交谈热烈,不慎错过了避暑宅邸的门面,

阴凉的露台欢迎我们掉头进门,

备下了琴酒、柠檬汁与六点新闻。

The scent of the conifers, sound of the bath,

The view from my bedroom of moss-dappled path,

As I struggle with double-end evening tie,

For we dance at the Golf Club, my victor and I.

室内有松木的香气,浴室里水声潺潺,

覆盖青苔的小径在我的卧室窗外蜿蜒,

我七手八脚想要将晚宴领带在胸前扎住,

我的胜利者与我要共舞一曲在高尔夫俱乐部。

On the floor of her bedroom lie blazer and shorts,

And the cream-coloured walls are be-trophied with sports,

And westering, questioning settles the sun,

On your low-leaded window, Miss Joan Hunter Dunn.

运动衣与运动短裤在她的卧室乱扔在地,

各种赛事的奖杯布满了奶油色的墙壁,

西沉的太阳一边下落一边满脸问号,

乔安.杭特尔.邓恩,落日将你的低铅玻璃窗照耀。

The Hillman is waiting, the light’s in the hall,

The pictures of Egypt are bright on the wall,

My sweet, I am standing beside the oak stair

And there on the landing’s the light on your hair.

希尔曼正在等待,大厅里灯光明亮,*1

埃及的风景照片醒目地挂在墙上,

我的爱,我在橡木楼梯旁边将你牵挂,

你站在楼梯口,灯光照映着你的秀发。

*1【希尔曼为汽车品牌。】

By roads “not adopted”, by woodlanded ways,

She drove to the club in the late summer haze,

Into nine-o’clock Camberley, heavy with bells

And mushroomy, pine-woody, evergreen smells.

她驶上了“少有人走”的道路,她穿过了林地,

在夏末微风当中她朝着俱乐部疾驰而去。

九点钟我们经过坎伯雷,镇上钟声响亮,

蘑菇、松树与常青树的气息在车厢里飘荡。

Miss Joan Hunter Dunn, Miss Joan Hunter Dunn,

I can hear from the car park the dance has begun,

Oh! Surrey twilight! importunate band!

Oh! strongly adorable tennis-girl’s hand!

乔安.杭特尔.邓恩,乔安.杭特尔.邓恩,

在停车场里我就听见了舞会开始的声音。

啊!萨里的暮光!乐队只会添乱!

啊!网球少女的纤手多么强健!

Around us are Rovers and Austins afar,

Above us the intimate roof of the car,

And here on my right is the girl of my choice,

With the tilt of her nose and the chime of her voice.

我们周围远远停着罗孚与奥斯汀,*2

我们头上是私密的车厢厢顶,

坐在我身边是我选择的姑娘,

鼻子略翘,声音在我心中回荡。

*2【均为汽车品牌。】

And the scent of her wrap, and the words never said,

And the ominous, ominous dancing ahead.

We sat in the car park till twenty to one

And now I’m engaged to Miss Joan Hunter Dunn.

她披肩上的香气若有若无,有些话语从未离唇,

即将参加的舞会多么烦人,多么烦人。

于是我们在停车场里并肩坐到午夜零点四十分,

如今乔安.杭特尔.邓恩已经与我约定了终身。

这首诗虽然文辞可爱,但也表明归根结底贝特曼算不得第一流的诗人。他过于卿卿我我,以至于有些矫揉造作。日后他将会赢得桂冠诗人的殊荣,并且投身文物保护工作,保住了一大批精美的维多利亚时代建筑,为英国文化事业做出了重大贡献。话说回来,1939年英国为之而战的许多价值观当中大概也包括卿卿我我与矫揉造作的权利,而且更加险恶的弊病正在海峡对岸变得越发醒目。

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