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

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家园 十,浪漫的苦恼1

上一章选取的最后一首诗是约翰.克莱尔的《我在》,这首诗创作于诗人的晚年,具体时间是1845年前后,当时克莱尔已经被关进了精神病院。但是这首诗依然是极具代表性的浪漫主义作品,因为这首诗向英国浪漫主义引入了某些令人不安的因素。浪漫主义运动与威廉.华兹华斯、约翰.济慈、塞缪尔.泰勒.柯勒律治、珀西.雪莱以及拜伦勋爵(在笔者看来将最后这位与浪漫主义运动联系在一起着实有点奇怪)等等文坛巨匠密不可分,这场运动也是英语文学史上的华彩时刻,济慈恐怕算得上是莎士比亚之后最受爱戴的英语诗人。那么问题究竟出在哪里呢?读者们不妨回想一下到目前为止我们讨论过的各位伟大诗人,从乔叟到邓恩,从赫伯特到斯威夫特,从彭斯到克莱尔,所有这些人的作品无不闪耀着强烈的个性与气质,但是他们的创作方向主要都是描绘身边世界的某个侧面,并且将人类普遍处境的问题摆在第一位。他们的主要创作题材并不是他们自身——就算个人特质最鲜明的布莱克与斯玛特也是这样。

随着浪漫主义革命的来临,英国诗坛的创作风气也为之一变。华兹华斯尤其痴迷于创作关于他本人的诗歌。诚然,他的笔下既有山川风景也有往事追忆,既有十八世纪英国的社会风貌也有法国大革命,但是他之所以觉得这些题材值得一写,主要是因为它们对他本人的成长发展造成了这样那样的影响。现在诗人变成了诗歌创作的中心。这是个令人欲罢不能的创作理念。以拜伦为例,尽管他很看不上华兹华斯并且时常拿着后者开涮,但是他的诗歌看上去同样更关注他自己而不是外部世界。柯勒律治的《古舟子咏》与《忽必烈汗》由于文风过于怪异倒是躲过了自我痴迷的指控,尽管我们今天阅读第二首诗主要是为了理解诗人的鸦片瘾。济慈将自己的人生活成了一部动作大片,远比他的诗歌成就更加抓人眼球。从十九世纪到二十世纪,一位又一位英国诗人在选取诗材时将目光投向了内心深处、镜子对面或者诗坛前人们的历史背影。笔者在撰写本书时清楚地注意到,随着我们离开十八世纪,描写英国现实生活的诗歌变得越来越少而不是越来越多了。浪漫主义运动对此难辞其咎(如果说这一点的确是个错误的话),而华兹华斯——尽管他广受爱戴——则是罪魁祸首,正是从他开始,英国诗歌进入了自我痴迷的新时期。身披斗篷、秀发飘逸、下巴挑起、以手抚胸的诗人们开始有些令人生厌地将自己摆在了区区诗歌之前。

之所以会发生这一切,完全是因为华兹华斯的非凡才华,唯此才会有这么多后来者效仿他,就像到了维多利亚时代将会有几十名诗才逊色的诗人创作出大量试图与济慈看齐的诗歌一样。但是就算如此,华兹华斯依然是始作俑者。这一点从他的创作生涯早期就显现了出来。比方说他的名诗之一《她住在杳无人迹的幽径旁》(She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways)其实并非关于住在湖区的某位无名少女——仔细看看最后一句吧:

SHE dwelt among the untrodden ways

Beside the springs of Dove,

A Maid whom there were none to praise

And very few to love:

她住的地方紧挨着鸽子泉,

杳无人迹的幽径环绕四面;

这姑娘既没有人赞美,

也很少有人献上痴情一片。

A violet by a mossy stone

Half hidden from the eye!

--Fair as a star, when only one

Is shining in the sky.

苔藓石旁的一株紫罗兰,

半藏着没有被人看见!

美丽得如同天上星点,

一颗孤星清辉闪闪。

She lived unknown,and few could know

When Lucy ceased to be;

But she is in her grave, and, oh,

The difference to me!

她生前默默无闻,也没人

知道她何时长逝;

如今她已埋进了孤坟,

这对我恍若隔世! 【郭沫若、彭予、陈波等译,有修改】

又或者来看看长诗《丁登寺旁》(Tintern Abbey)的开篇。这首诗在1798年出版的《抒情歌谣集》当中首次与读者见面,乍一看去只是在单纯地描写风景,与约翰.克莱尔的作品相比少了许多细节与生动感性:

FIVE years have past; five summers, with the length

Of five long winters! and again I hear

These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs

With a soft inland murmur. -- Once again

Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,

That on a wild secluded scene impress

Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect

The landscape with the quiet of the sky.

The day is come when I again repose

Here, under this dark sycamore, and view

These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,

Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,

Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves

'Mid groves and copses. Once again I see

These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines

Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,

Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke

Sent up, in silence, from among the trees!

With some uncertain notice, as might seem

Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods,

Or of some Hermit's cave, where by his fire

The Hermit sits alone.

五年过去了,五个夏天,加上

长长的五个冬天!我终于又听见

这水声,这从高山滚流而下的泉水,

带着柔和的内河的潺潺。

——我又一次

看到这些陡峭挺拔的山峰,

这里已经是幽静的野地,

它们却使人感到更加清幽,

把眼前景物一直挂上宁静的高天。

这个日子又来到了,我能再一次站在这里,

傍着这棵苍翠的槭树,俯览脚下,

各处村舍的园地,种满果树的山坡,

由于季节未到,果子未结,

只见果树一片葱绿,

隐没在灌木和树林之中。我又一次

看到了树篱,也许称不上篱,

而是一行行活泼顽皮的小树精;

看到了田园的绿色,一直绿到家门;

一片沉寂的树林里升起了袅袅炊烟,

烟的来处难定,或许是

林中有无家的流浪者在走动,

或许是有隐士住在山洞,现在正

独坐火旁。【王佐良译】

文笔确实很美,尽管或许有些泛泛。但是隐士的意象揭露了这首诗真正的主题——不是风景,而是风景对于威廉.华兹华斯其人的内在灵魂的影响:

These beauteous forms,

Through a long absence, have not been to me

As is a landscape to a blind man's eye:

But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din

Of towns and cities, I have owed to them

In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,

Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;

And passing even into my purer mind,

With tranquil restoration: -- feelings too

Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,

As have no slight or trivial influence

On that best portion of a good man's life,

His little, nameless, unremembered, acts

Of kindness and of love. Nor less, I trust,

To them I may have owed another gift,

Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood,

In which the burthen of the mystery,

In which the heavy and the weary weight

Of all this unintelligible world,

Is lightened: -- that serene and blessed mood,

In which the affections gently lead us on, --

Until, the breath of this corporeal frame

And even the motion of our human blood

Almost suspended, we are laid asleep

In body, and become a living soul:

这些美好的形体

虽已久别,倒从来不曾忘怀,

不是像盲人看不到美景,

而是每当我孤居喧闹的城市,

寂寞而疲惫的时候,

它们带来甜蜜的感觉,

让我从血液里心脏里感到,

甚至还进入我最纯洁的思想,

使我恢复了恬静:-还有许多感觉,

使我回忆起已经忘却的愉快,它们对

一个良善的人最宝贵的岁月

有过绝非细微、琐碎的影响,

一些早已忘记的无名小事,

但饱含着善意和爱。不仅如此,

我还靠它们得到另一种能力,

更高的能力,一种幸福的心情,

忽然间人世的神秘感,

整个无法理解的世界的

沉重感疲惫感的压力

减轻了;一种恬静和幸福的心情,

听从温情引导我们前进,

直到我们这躯壳中止了呼吸,

甚至我们的血液也暂停流动,

我们的身体入睡了,

我们变成一个活的灵魂……【王佐良译】

不好意思,笔者读到这里就读不下去了。华兹华斯最优秀的诗作全都直接应对了他内心里的变化。例如《不朽颂》(Intimations of Immortality)就涉及了某些我们在许多早期诗人那里——例如邓恩与沃恩以及布莱克——遇到过的问题:人的灵魂刚刚降临尘世时还带着一丝天然喜悦与上帝赐予的内在欢乐,但是这份欢乐却会被日复一日的生存缓慢而又无情地活活扼杀。华兹华斯关于这一点的慨叹可谓无出其右。说老实话,自从这首诗之后,其他人再也用不着针对这个话题再说些什么了:

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,

The earth, and every common sight,

To me did seem

Apparell'd in celestial light,

The glory and the freshness of a dream.

It is not now as it hath been of yore; --

Turn wheresoe'er I may,

By night or day,

The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

曾几何时,草地、溪流还有果树,

这大地,以及每一样平常景象,

在我眼里似乎

都披着天光,

这荣耀,梦的开始.

只是现在已非从前;——

我环视四野,

白天黑夜,

再也见不到昔日之所见.

The rainbow comes and goes,

And lovely is the rose;

The moon doth with delight

Look round her when the heavens are bare;

Waters on a starry night

Are beautiful and fair;

The sunshine is a glorious birth;

But yet I know, where'er I go,

That there hath pass'd away a glory from the earth.

彩虹去了又来,

玫瑰依然可爱,

欢快的月亮

环视四周,天宇寥廓无蔽,

星夜的汪洋

散发着动人美丽;

初生的太阳辉煌灿烂;

但无论在哪里,我已明瞭

有一种荣耀已永离了人间.

Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song,

And while the young lambs bound

As to the tabor's sound,

To me alone there came a thought of grief:

A timely utterance gave that thought relief,

And I again am strong.

The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep; --

No more shall grief of mine the season wrong:

I hear the echoes through the mountains throng,

The winds come to me from the fields of sleep,

And all the earth is gay;

Land and sea

Give themselves up to jollity,

And with the heart of May

Doth every beast keep holiday; --

Thou child of joy,

Shout round me; let me hear thy shouts, thou happy Shepherd boy!

如今,鸟雀们的欢唱依旧

羊羔们蹦跳依旧

像叮咚不停的手鼓,

唯独我,萌生一缕哀思:

旋即的言说可以阻挡它的郁积,

于是我再次尝试坚强:

瀑布自悬崖吹起他们的号角;

我的哀思焉能再错失这季节的流光.

我听见回声在群山间流荡,

来自沉睡原野的风朝我呼啸,

大地一派欢欣;

地和海

在沉醉中放浪了形骸,

怀着五月之心,

每一头牲畜都置身节庆:——

你,欢乐之子,

在我身边呼喊吧,让我听你的喊声,你这幸福的牧羊少年.

Ye blessed creatures, I have heard the call

Ye to each other make; I see

The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee;

My heart is at your festival,

My head hath its coronal,

The fullness of your bliss, I feel -- I feel it all.

O evil day! if I were sullen

While Earth herself is adorning

This sweet May morning;

And the children are pulling

On every side,

In a thousand valleys far and wide,

Fresh flowers; while the sun shines warm,

And the babe leaps up on his mother's arm: --

I hear, I hear, with joy I hear!

-- But there's a tree, of many, one,

A single field which I have look'd upon,

Both of them speak of something that is gone:

The pansy at my feet

Doth the same tale repeat:

Whither is fled the visionary gleam?

Where is it now, the glory and the dream?

你们有福的造物,我听见

你们彼此的呼唤;我看到

在你们的庆典上诸天也一同欢笑;

我的心融进你们的欢宴,

我的头顶自有它的花冠.

你们的幸福满盈,我有——我有全然的体验.

哦不幸的日子!倘若我愁苦

而大地正忙于装点,

这甜美的五月晨间,

孩子们正在摘选

鲜花;在四面八方,

在宽阔辽远的一千个山谷中;

阳光温暖,

婴儿欢腾在母亲的臂弯:——

我听见,我听见,我笑着听见!

——但是,众树中却有一树,

还有我曾打量过的孤独旷野,

他们一起诉说着,某些事物的殄灭:

三色堇在脚边

重复同样的流言:

那如幻的光辉逃到哪里去了?

那荣耀和梦境,现在哪里去了?

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting

And cometh from afar;

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home:

Heaven lies about us in our infancy!

Shades of the prison-house begin to close

Upon the growing Boy,

But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,

He sees it in his joy;

The Youth, who daily farther from the east

Must travel, still is Nature's priest,

And by the vision splendid

Is on his way attended;

At length the Man perceives it die away,

And fade into the light of common day.

我们的出生,只是沉睡和遗忘:

共我们升起的灵,生命的大星,

本已坠往另一个地方,

又自远处莅临;

不是完全的失忆,

又非绝对的白纸,

曳着荣耀之云,我们是

从上帝那边来的孩子:

天堂迤逦在我们的幼年!

而那监牢的阴影会慢慢

把少年人围拢,

但他看到那光,和它的源泉,

他见了就兴意冲冲;

青年人渐离了东方,

他必得漫游,尚能将自然颂扬.

他的旅途依然

为瑰丽的想象所陪伴。

最终,这灵光黯淡于成年人的视野,

并在寻常的日光中消灭。【杨德豫译】

华兹华斯让我们看到,在这个政治动荡的时代,越发自信的个人主义正在植根于英国人的想象。爱说怪话的人们或许会声称英国人变得不爱社交了,英国文明变得更加内向了。对于法国大革命的热血支持者、青年时期的华兹华斯来说,这个念头想必十分吓人。

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