美国文学EmilyDickinson迪金森课件

Emily Dickinson(1830 1886)TheBelle/NunofAmherst1Dickinson quotes“Hope is the thing with feathers,that perches in the soul,and sings the tune without words,and never stops at all.”“If I can stop one heart from breaking,I shall not live in vain.”“Dogs are better than human beings,because they know but do not tell.”“Forever is composed of nows.”“Success is counted sweetest,by those who neer succeed.”“We meet no Stranger,but Ourself”2This is my letter to the world,That never wrote to me,-The simple news that Nature told,With tender majesty.Her message is committed To hands I cannot see;For love of her,sweet countrymen,Judge tenderly of me!这是我写给世界的信因为它从来不曾写给我自然带来简单的讯息既温柔又崇高的存在她的讯息是写给那双我看不见的手为了对她的爱,亲爱的同胞请温柔地把我评判3“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire ever can warm me I know that is poetry.If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off,I know that is poetry.”-Emily Dickinson4Life storyBorn into a Calvinist family December 10,1830 in Amherst,MA.Educated at Amherst Academy for 7 years.At 17,began college at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary;she became ill the spring of her first year and did not return.She would leave home only for short trips for the remainder of her life,leading scholars to speculate she may have been agoraphobic(旷野恐惧症).5Until 1855,Dickinson had not strayed far from Amherst.That spring,accompanied by her mother and sister,she took one of her longest and farthest trips away from home.First,they spent three weeks in Washington,where her father was representing Massachusetts in Congress.Then they went to Philadelphia for two weeks to visit family.6Between 1858 and 1862,it was later discovered,she wrote like a person possessed,often producing a poem a day.It was also during this period that her life was transformed into the myth of Amherst.Withdrawing more and more,keeping to her room,sometimes even refusing to see visitors who called,she began to dress only in whitea habit that added to her reputation as an eccentric.7Weird Recluse?She would sometimes send her poems to people as gifts for valentines or birthdays,along with a pie or cookies.She often lowered snacks and treats in baskets to neighborhood children from her window,careful never to let them see her face.Dickinson wanted to live simply as a complete independent being,and as a spinster.8Dickinsons poetry writing began in the early 1850s.Altogether she wrote 1,775 poems,of which only seven had appeared during her lifetime.Most of her poems were published after her death.Her fame kept rising.She is now recognized not only as a great poetess on her own right but as a poetess of considerable influence upon American poetry of the 20th century.9Dickinsons LegacyDickinson died May 15,1886 of nephritis(kidney disease).Along with Walt Whitman,Dickinson is one of the two giants of American poetry of the 19th century.EmilyDickinsonstombstoneinthefamilyplot10She is,in a sense,a link between her era and the literary sensitivities of the turn of the century.She never married,and she led an unconventional life that was outwardly uneventful but was full of inner intensity.She loved nature and found deep inspiration in the birds,animals,plants,and changing seasons of the New England countryside.We find no mention of the war or any other great national event in her poetry.Of all the great writers of the 19th century,she had the least influence on her times.Yet,because she was cut off from the outside world,she was able to create a very personal and pure kind of poetry.Since her death,her reputation has grown enormously and her poetry is now seen as very modern for its time.11Dickinsons Publishing CareerSent poems to Thomas Wentworth Higginson,a literary critic and family friend.Although Higginson was astounded by Dickinsons originality and encouraged her literary aspirations,he advised her not to publish.Dickinsons decided to follow the advise.If fame belonged to me,she told Higginson,I could not escape her;if she did not,the longest day would pass me on the chase.My barefoot rank is better.The twentieth century lifted her without doubt to the first rank among poets.At the time of her death,only seven of her poems had been published.12Before her death,she asked her sister to burn all her poems.After her death,her poems were heavily edited and published by Higginson and friend Mabel Loomis Todd.In 1955,Thomas H.Johnson finally published a collection of her poems that had not been“corrected.”These are the versions we read today.13Whats the Difference?BECAUSE I could not stop for Death,He kindly stopped for me;The carriage held but just ourselvesAnd Immortality.We slowly drove,he knew no haste,And I had put awayMy labor,and my leisure too,For his civility.We passed the school where children played,Their lessons scarcely done;We passed the fields of gazing grain,We passed the setting sun.Because I could not stop for DeathHe kindly stopped for meThe carriage held but just ourselvesAnd Immortality.We slowly droveHe knew no haste,And I had put awayMy labor and my leisure too,For his civilityWe passed the school,where children stroveAt recessin the ringWe passed the fields of gazing grainWe passed the setting sunAn excerpt of poem 712,or“Because I could not stop for Death”,called“The Chariot”by Higginson and Todd.On the left is the edited version;on the right,the original.Note the major changes in lines 9 and 10.14Dickinsons religious poemsShe wrote about her doubt and belief about religious subjects.While she desired salvation and immortality,she denied the orthodox(正统的)view of paradise.Although she believed in God,she sometimes doubted His benevolence.15248Whydo they shut Me out of Heaven?Did I singtoo loud?ButI can say a little Minor Timid as a Bird!Wouldnt the Angels try me Justoncemore Justseeif I troubled them But dontshut the door!Oh,if Iwere the Gentleman In the White Robe And theywere the little Handthat knocked CouldIforbid?16Her poems concerningdeath and immortalityThese poems are closely related to her religious poetry,ranging over the physical as well as the psychological and emotional aspects of death.She showed her ambiguous attitude towards death and immortality.She looked at death from the point of view of both the living and the dying.She even imagined her own death,the loss of her own body,and the journey of her soul to the unknown.17Her love poemsLove is another subject Dickinson dwelt on.One group of her love poems treats the suffering and frustration love can cause.These poems are clearly the reflection of her own unhappy experience,closely related to her deepest and most private feelings.Many of them are striking and original depictions of the longing for shared moments,the pain of separation,and the futility of finding happiness.18Her Love PoemsThe other group of love poems focuses on the physical aspect of desire,in which Dickinson dealt with,allegorically,the influence of the male authorities over the female,emphasizing the power of physical attraction and expressing a mixture of fear and fascination for the mysterious magnetism between sexes.However,it is those poems dealing with marriage that have aroused critical attention first and showed Dickinsons confusion and doubt about the role of women in the 19th century America.19I HIDE myself within my flowerI HIDE myself within my flower,That wearing on your breast,You,unsuspecting,wear me tooAnd angels know the rest.I hide myself within my flower,That,fading from your vase,You,unsuspecting,feel for meAlmost a lonelinessA love poem20249Wild NightsWild Nights!Were I with theeWild Nights should beOur luxury!Futilethe WindsTo a Heart in portDone with the CompassDone with the Chart!Rowing in EdenAh,the Sea!Might I but moorTonightIn Thee!21Her nature poemsMore than 500 of her poems are about nature,in which her general skepticism about the relationship between man and nature is well-expressed.On the one hand,she shared with her romantic and transcendental predecessors who believed that a mythical bond between man and nature existed,that nature revealed to man things about mankind and universe.On the other hand,she felt strongly about natures inscrutability(神秘莫测)and indifference to the life and interests of human beings.22Her nature poems Dickinson managed to write about nature in the affirmation of the sheer joy and the appreciation,unaffected by philosophical speculations.Her acute observations,her concern for precise details and her interest in nature are pervasive,from sketches of flowers,insects,birds,to the sunset,the fully detailed summer storms,the change of seasons;from keen perception to witty analysis.23TWO butterflies went out at noonAnd waltzed above a stream,Then stepped straight through the firmamentAnd rested on a beam;And then together bore awayUpon a shining sea,Though never yet,in any port,Their coming mentioned be.If spoken by the distant bird,If met in ether seaBy frigate or by merchantman,Report was not to me.24A Bird came down the WalkHe did not know I saw He bit an Angleworm in halvesAnd ate the fellow,raw.And then he drank a DewFrom a convenient Grass And then hopped sidewise to the WallTo let a Beetle pass He glanced with rapid eyesThat hurried all around They looked like frightened Beads,I thought He stirred his Velvet HeadLike one in danger,Cautious,I offered him a CrumbAnd he unrolled his feathersAnd rowed him softer home Than Oars divide the Ocean,Too silver for a seam Or Butterflies,off Banks of NoonLeap,plashless as they swim.25ThemesDickinsons poems are usually based on her own experiences,her sorrows and joys.But within her little lyrics Dickinson addresses those issues that concern the whole human beings,which include religion,death,immortality,love,and nature.26Artistic featuresHer poetry is unique and unconventional in its own way.Her poems have no titles,hence are always quoted by their first lines.In her poetry there is a particular stress pattern,in which dashes are used as a musical device to create cadence(韵律)and capital letters as a means of emphasis.Most of her poems borrow the repeated four-line,rhymed stanzas of traditional Christian hymns（圣歌）,with two lines of four-beat meter alternating with two lines of three-beat meter.A master of imagery that makes the spiritual materialize in surprising ways.27Artistic featuresSimple form:She used imperfect rhymes,subtle breaks of rhythm,and idiosyncratic（特殊癖好的）syntax and punctuation to create fascinating word puzzles,which have produced greatly divergent interpretations over the years.Dickinsons irregular or sometimes inverted sentence structure confuses readers.Her poetic idiom is noted for its laconic（用字简洁的）brevity,directness and plainness.Her poems are usually short,rarely more than twenty lines,and many of them are centered on a single image or symbol and focused on one subject matter.Remarkable for its variety,subtlety and richness.28Im Nobody29Im Nobody!ImNobody!Whoareyou?Areyou-Nobody-too?Thentheresapairofus!Donttell!theydbanishus-youknow!我是无名之辈，你是谁？你,也是,无名之辈？这就有了我们一对！可是别声张！你知道，他们会大肆张扬！30Im Nobody!Howdreary-tobe-Somebody!Howpublic-likeaFrog-Totellyourname-thelivelongJuneToanadmiringBog!做个，显要人物，好不无聊！像个青蛙，向仰慕的泥沼在整个六月，把个人的姓名聒噪何等招摇！（江枫译）311.Who are the“they”in line 4?The“admiring bog”in line 8?2.Do you prefer solitude to public life?Give your reasons.Questions32Metaphor/SimileMetaphor:Metaphor:A comparison.Example:Example:“A frog is a celebrity.”Simile:Simile:A comparison using like or as.Example:Example:“How publiclike a frog”33 我是无名之我是无名之辈，我是无名之辈，你是谁？你也是无名之辈？那么，咱俩是一对且莫声张！你懂嘛，他们容不得咱俩。做个名人多无聊！象青蛙到处招摇向一洼仰慕的泥塘把自己的大名整天宣扬！）（汪义群译 孙梁校；英美名诗一百首，北京：中国对外翻译出版公司，1987）Translation 34Theres a Certain Slant of Light35Theres a certain slant of light,On winter afternoons,That oppresses,like the weightOf cathedral tunes.某个阳光斜射的时刻在冬日的下午让人抑郁，像沉重的教堂的旋律 36In the first stanza,the speaker claims that on winter afternoons,the light that shines through her window has a“certain Slant”to it that“oppresses,like the Heft/Of Cathedral Tunes.”Something as weightless as“light”feels heavy to the speaker.The weight of“Catheral Tunes”would be quite profound,sound being heavier than light,but to the speaker that“certain Slant”causes the light to be as heavy as that heavy sound coming from the gigantic organs that deliver church music.Because church music is meant to be uplifting,the speakers words become paradoxical:how can an inspirationally uplifting hymn be oppressive?37Heavenly hurt it gives us;We can find no scar,But internal differenceWhere the meanings are.玄妙地伤害我们没有任何伤口和血迹却在意义隐居的深处留下记忆 38Second Stanza:“Heavenly Hurt,it gives us”The profundity of the“Cathedral Tunes”causes the speaker to experience a“Heavenly Hurt.”She confirms,however,that the“hurt”leaves no scar,because it is inside;it is the soul that is affected by the oppression or“Heavenly Hurt.”The speaker says that the pain is on the inside“Where the meanings are.”“Meaning”is very important to all human beings,whether they are yet aware of that fact or not.The speaker is keenly aware of the souls sensitivities to the“meanings”of physical things and events,and she is aware that they are internal not external.39None may teach it anything,Tis the seal,despair,-An imperial afflictionSent us of the air.没有人能够传达任何人它是绝望的印章不可抗拒的折磨来自虚空 40Third Stanza:“None may teach itAny”The speaker declares that no one can teach another how to become aware of the mystical attributes of the yearning for meaning.While“Despair”leads one in that direction,and the desire is universal,it comes to each one as simply as breathing.Ones spiritual development has to be right before one can entertain such divine cravings.41When it comes,the landscape listens,Shadows hold their breath;When it goes,t is like the distanceOn the look of death.当它来时，一切都侧耳倾听影子屏住了呼吸当它去时，就像死神脸上遥远的谜 42Fourth Stanza:“When it comes,the Landscape listens”When the strong spiritual desire for understanding the nature of reality comes,everything seems to stop and listen.She speaker dramatizes that utter stillness by claiming,“Shadowshold their breath.”The quietness implied by“shadows holding their breath”is astounding;it is a miracle of striking awareness,undetectable to most and unceasingly secure to but a few.Then the speaker avows that when the sense of melancholy goes,when the“heavenly hurt”lightens into understanding,it is“like the Distance/On the look of Death.”Of course,it is not death itself,but merely like the blank stare that none can fathom,save those who can distinguish that profound melancholy in the“certain Slant of light”on“Winter Afternoons.”43Another Poet Writes about Dickinson:We think of her hidden in a white dress among the folded linens and sachets香囊 of well-kept cupboards,or just out of sight sending jellies and notes with no address to all the wondering Amherst neighbors.Eccentric as New England weatherthe stiff wind of her mind,stinging or gentle,blew two half-imagined lovers off.Yet legend wont explain the sheer sanityof vision,the serious mischiefof language,the economy of pain.-Linda Pastan(Elements of Literature 371)44