英美文学中英文讲义(4)

华中师范大学英语专业英美文学课中英文课堂讲义

诗的语气和结构富有典型的邓恩式戏剧性：第一段中，诗人看见了那只先后叮过两人的跳蚤，便指着它向情人证明两人的鲜血已通过一只先后叮咬了双方的跳蚤融为一体，而血的交融则意味着生命的交融，诗人因此推断，两人的生命已经在事实上结合在一起了；第二段，诗人发现情人正抬手欲向跳蚤打去，便急忙劝阻，说这样一来，被害的就是三条性命（你、我、跳蚤）；第三段时，对方显然已经下手，掐死了跳蚤，所以诗人戏谑地称对方为“残忍”、“用无辜者的鲜血把自己的指甲染得红紫”。这时，对方回答说，虽然“我”的血也在它（跳蚤）体内，可我并没有因为它的死而有半分虚弱，诗人话锋一转，直接切入主题：既然如此，你答应我的求爱对你的名誉也不会有分毫的损失。更有意思的是，这样的结尾，恰好使读者恍然大悟，在诗篇开始之前，诗人正绞尽脑汁想说服情人接受他的求爱呢。

1.一般识记 Donne & the Metaphysical Poetry

John Donne: English poet & Clergyman, born in London, England, 1572, and died in London, Mar. 31 1631. Donne is the leading figure of the 17th-century "metaphysical school." His poems give a more inherently theatrical impression by exhibiting a seemingly unfocused diversity of experiences & attitudes, & a free range of feelings & attitudes, & a free range of feelings & moods. The mode is dynamic rather than static, with ingenuity of speech, vividness of imagery & vitality of rhythms, which show a notable contrast to the other Elizabethan lyric poems, which are pure, serene, tuneful, & smooth running. The most striking feature of Donne's poetry is precisely its tang of reality, in the sense that it seems to reflect life in a real rather than a poetical world.

"Metaphysical Poetry" is commonly used to name the work of the 17th-century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. With a rebellions spirit, the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan Love poetry. The diction is simple as compared with echoes the words & cadences of common speech. The imagery is drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet's beloved, with God, or with himself.

The finest works of the metaphysical poets combine intellectual subtlety with great emotional power. The poems reflect a broad knowledge of science, art, & other branches of learning. At the same time, metaphysical poems express an intense awareness of common human feelings & experiences, such as jealousy, the loss of religious faith, the complexities of love & the fear of death. Although the imagery of metaphysical poetry is frequently strained, the language is often as natural & direct as ordinary speech.

2识记His major works

In his life, Donne wrote a large number of poems & prose works, His poems are especially admired for their unique combination of passionate feeling & intellectual wit. Many of his poems rank with the finest in the English language. Among his most famous works are the poems Death Be Not Proud, "Go & Catch a Falling Star," The Ecstacy, & A Valediction Forbidding Mourning.

Most of The Elegies & Satires & a good many of The Songs & Sonnets were written in the early period. He wrote prose works mainly in the later period. His sermons, which are very famous, reveal his spiritual devotion to God as a passionate preacher.

His works are classified as songs & sonnets, epistles, elegies, & satires. When read in chronological order, the poems reveal his development from "Gay Jack Donne," a reckless & cynical youth, to Dean John Donne, a man devoted to God.

Donne's great prose works are his sermons, which are both rich & imaginative, exhibiting

华中师范大学英语专业英美文学课中英文课堂讲义

the same kind of physical vigor & scholastic complexity as his poetry. For example, the well-known Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions (1623-1624). Written when he was seriously ill, they contain the famous passage: "No Man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main… Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, & therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

3. 领会 Characteristics of His Poems

Donne's poetry is subtle, complex, & often startling. He made expert use of such poetic techniques as the paradox, a statement that seems contradictory but actually contains truth, & the conceit, a pertinent comparison between 2 apparently dissimilar things.

His early Lyrics most exist in The Songs & Sonnets. Love is the basic theme. Donne holds that the nature of love is the union of soul & body. The operations of the soul depend on the body. Idealism & cynicism about love coexist in Donne's love poetry.

As a religious poet, his chief power is shown in the Holy Sonnets & the last hymns.

In his poems, Donne frequently applies conceits, i.e. extended metaphors involving dramatic contrasts. His poetry involves a certain kind of argument, sometimes in rigid syllogistic form. With the brief, simple language, the argument is continuous throughout the poem.

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