勃朗寧的Home Thoughts from Abroad

1、Home Thoughts from Abroad 異域鄉(xiāng)思Oh, to be in England now that April's there, 哦，英格蘭此時正值四月And whoever wakesin England sees,some morningunaware, 那里，清晨醒來，無論誰，都會在不經(jīng)意間看到That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf 那低垂的樹枝和濃密的灌木叢Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, 環(huán)繞在榆樹周圍，郁郁蔥蔥While the chaffinch s

2、ings on the orchard bough 燕雀在果園的枝頭歌唱In England-now! 英格蘭-就在此刻And after April, when May follows 四月過去，五月來臨And the white-throat builds, and all the swallows! 白喉雀，還有那些燕子為筑巢忙碌Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge 籬笆旁我那繁華綻放的梨樹Leans to the field and scatterss on the clover 依傍著田野，梨花帶露Blossoms and d

3、ewdrops-at the bent spray's edge- 在苜蓿草上飄飄灑灑-在彎曲的枝頭That's the wise thrush :he sings each song twice over 聽，那是聰慧的畫眉鳥，正把每一支歌都唱上兩遍Lest you should think he never could recapture 唯恐你誤認為，他再也不能The first fine careless rapture! 捕獲到第一次那異常美妙、無憂無慮的欣喜And, tho'the fields look rough with hoary dew, 原野覆著

4、白露，凄清而蒼涼All will be gay when noontide wakes anew 當(dāng)正午的太陽重新喚醒金鳳花-那孩子們的嫁妝The buttercups, the little children's dower 一切又重現(xiàn)歡樂的景象-Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower! -遠比這絢麗的天國花更明亮詩歌賞析 本詩是布朗寧最負盛名的一首抒情短詩，以其濃郁的鄉(xiāng)思情調(diào)著稱。詩人此時身在意大利，但故鄉(xiāng)英格蘭卻是他魂牽夢縈的地方。詩人巧妙的借助了視覺和聽覺意象，多方位的展現(xiàn)出英國和意大利不同的鄉(xiāng)土風(fēng)情。憑著對故鄉(xiāng)一草一木的清晰記憶，他

5、如數(shù)家珍般的向讀者描繪著他的故土家園，令我們仿佛看到清晨醒來的詩人，如癡如醉地沉浸在充滿自然氣息的英格蘭鄉(xiāng)村景色中。詩人簡介編輯本段回目錄Robert Browning 羅伯特·勃朗寧（1812-1889年） 英國19世紀著名詩人。出生在倫敦的坎伯威爾。父親是銀行職員，一直鼓勵他并分享他對文學(xué)藝術(shù)及犯罪故事和計謀故事的熱愛，他的母親則培養(yǎng)了他對音樂的興趣。16歲時，羅伯特在倫敦大學(xué)聽過幾次課，不過他所受的教育大都來自父親教授他的希臘語和拉丁語，來自對家藏圖書的大量閱讀。 12歲時，羅伯特就完成了一卷詩歌，不過并沒有發(fā)表。21歲時在雪萊濃郁的浪漫主義風(fēng)格的影響下發(fā)表了第一首長詩波林（1

6、833年），被當(dāng)時的評論家認為過分坦率地暴露了自己的心跡，顯露出一種強烈的“病態(tài)的自我意識”。此后勃朗特決意與浪漫派詩歌風(fēng)格分道揚鑣，他不在以抒情手法在詩歌中打開自己的心扉，而是改以戲劇性的手法去展現(xiàn)別人的靈魂。 1835年發(fā)表巴拉塞爾士，得到華茲華斯和卡萊爾的肯定。1837年發(fā)表的斯特福拉德是一部悲劇，只上演了五次，與其他為數(shù)不多的劇作一樣，這部劇作也因為人物塑造而忽略了故事情節(jié)。1838年，勃朗寧來到意大利，為撰寫長詩索爾德羅（1840年）尋找創(chuàng)作背景。這是一部以十三世紀為背景的哲理性詩作，幾乎讓人無法讀懂，只是讓勃朗寧朦朧的主題風(fēng)格更加聲名遠揚。鈴鐺與石榴（1841-46年）分為八個小冊

7、子，收入了勃朗寧最優(yōu)秀的詩作，其中包括西班牙修道院里的獨白、圣普拉西德教堂的主教吩咐后事、皮帕走過、漢默爾恩的彩衣吹笛人。 1846年，勃朗寧與伊麗莎白巴雷特結(jié)婚，當(dāng)時妻子有更高的文學(xué)聲望。在接下來的15年中，勃朗寧全身心地陪伴體弱多病的妻子，比較重要的作品只有男人和女人（1855年），其中收入一些為人們熟知的詩作。1861年妻子死后，勃朗寧帶著年輕的兒子回到英格蘭。他的詩歌創(chuàng)作也隨之進入了一個新時期。 1864年的發(fā)表的劇中人物為勃朗寧贏得一些民眾和評論家的贊譽。指環(huán)與書（186869年）發(fā)表后，他的名聲僅次于丁尼生。在生命的最后幾年，勃朗寧創(chuàng)作頗豐，并四處游歷。他在威尼斯過世，被埋在威斯敏

8、斯特教堂。 他的其他作品包括：圣誕前夜與復(fù)活節(jié)（1850年）；集市上的菲法恩（1872年）；客棧的像冊（The Inn Album）（1875年）；戲劇田園詩（187980年）。阿索蘭多（Asolando）（1890年）是在詩人去世后幾個月發(fā)表的。 勃朗寧和丁尼生是維多利亞女王時代最重要的詩人，不過兩人有很多不同。丁尼生的詩憂郁，勃朗寧的詩熱情洋溢。丁尼生遵循浪漫詩人的寫作傳統(tǒng)，勃朗寧探究人類現(xiàn)實的情感和行為。丁尼生的風(fēng)格精練、簡潔、清晰；勃朗寧的風(fēng)格經(jīng)常是豪放、復(fù)雜、晦澀。 勃朗寧重新使用通俗用語，使人物和場景更為生動鮮活，這是他對英國詩歌其中一個最為重要的貢獻。另一個貢獻是，他發(fā)展了戲劇獨

9、白，使其更具諷刺效果。在勃朗寧的戲劇獨白中，說話人處在一個戲劇情景中，通常無意間就能透露自己和其他人的性格特點。例如，在我最后的公爵夫人中，一位文藝復(fù)興時期的貴族夸耀自己的一絲不茍，貶低自己死去的妻子，與此同時，他也是在暴露自己的兇殘無情，彰顯妻子的道德高度。 勃朗寧的指環(huán)與書（1868-69年）經(jīng)常被視為他的經(jīng)典之作。這部作品基于十七世紀一樁謀殺案的記錄，共有12處戲劇獨白，不同的人物刻畫了紛繁復(fù)雜的案件作者簡介：羅伯特·白朗寧（Robert Browning，18121889），英國十九世紀中葉詩人，出身富裕家庭，終生不事生產(chǎn)，寫詩過日。在英國文學(xué)史上他與丁尼生（Alfred T

10、ennyson）齊名，在政治上傾向于資產(chǎn)階級自由黨中的激進派，在同他妻子伊麗莎白·白朗寧（也是著名詩人）長期寄居意大利期間，曾同情當(dāng)?shù)厝嗣穹纯箠W地利占領(lǐng)者的革命斗爭。白朗寧寫了許多長詩，頗有特色；他嘗試過詩劇的創(chuàng)作，則無多建樹；他的短詩之中，有兩類頗值一讀。一類是抒情詩。他的詩筆一般晦澀，但在一些抒情短詩里他卻做到以白描見長。另一類是戲劇性的獨白詩，用活躍的口語詞語和節(jié)奏，模擬人物口吻，一時獨步詩壇，無人能及。在題材上，詩人所歌詠的，除了愛情之外，多是處在奇幻處境里的人物的心理狀態(tài)，但也有反對教會與貴族專制的作品。Summary“Home-Thoughts, From Abroad”

11、 celebrates the everyday and the domestic, taking the form of a short lyric. The poet casts himself in the role of the homesick traveler, longing for every detail of his beloved home. At this point in his career, Browning had spent quite a bit of time in Italy, so perhaps the longing for England has

12、 a bit of biographical urgency attached to it. The poem describes a typical springtime scene in the English countryside, with birds singing and flowers blooming. Browning tries to make the ordinary magical, as he describes the thrushs ability to recreate his transcendental song over and over againFo

13、rmExcept for the poems rhyme scheme and number of lines, it resembles an inverted sonnet: it divides into two sections, each of which is characterized by its own tone. The first, shorter stanza establishes the emotional tenor of the poemthe speaker longs for his home. This section contains two trime

14、ter lines, followed by two tetrameter lines, three pentameter lines, and a final trimeter line; it rhymes ABABCCDD. The metrical pattern and the rhyme scheme give it a sort of rising and falling sense that mirrors the emotional rise and fall of the poems central theme: the burst of joy at thinking o

15、f home, then the resignation that home lies so far away.The second section is longer, and consists almost entirely of pentameter lines, save the eighth line, which is tetrameter. It rhymes AABCBCDDEEFF. The more even metrical pattern and more drawn-out rhyme plan allow for a more contemplative feel;

16、 it is here that the poet settles back and thinks on the progress of the seasons that cycle outside of him. In its metrical irregularity and surprising last line, as well as its overall tone, the poem suggests the work of Emily Dickinson.CommentaryThis seemingly simple little poem reacts in quite co

17、mplex ways to both Romanticism and the development of the British Empire. The domestic bliss and rapturous exchange with nature that characterize many Romantic poems emerge here as the constructions of people who do not live the life about which they write. But these constructions were integral to a

18、n illusion of “Rural England” that served as a crucial background for many philosophical ideas, and as a powerful unifying principle for many Britons: as the British Empire grew, and more British citizens began to live outside the home islands, maintaining a mythical conception of “England” became i

19、mportant as a way to differentiate oneself from the colonies native population. As works like Forsters A Passage to India show, the British abroad in the colonies (such as India) worked much harder at being British than their compatriots in London. Thus in this period, sentimental thoughts of the En

20、glish countryside, such as the ones in this poem, hardly ever present a pure nostalgia; rather, they carry a great deal of ideological weight.Nevertheless this poem contains much sincerity. Browning had left Britain, although he lived in Italy and not in a British colony. And as is evident from the

21、poem, his relationship with “home” was a troubled one: although the speaker here longs for home, he doesnt miss it enough to live there. Perhaps some things are best appreciated from abroad; perhaps some emotions are felt more acutely away from home. And perhaps, as this light little poem implies, i

22、t is only away from “home” that one can create serious dramatic poetry.SummaryIn this highly Romantic, picturesque poem, the speaker yearns to be in England as springtime arrives. He imagines how those living there are lucky enough to see the trees begin to sprout as the birds begin to sing.He grows

23、 more specific as he imagines April turning to May, and how the "wise thrush" will sing its gorgeous song twice so nobody can think the first time was an accident of beauty. He notes that though the fields seem overrun with dew, noontime will return them to their full beauty. In the last l

24、ine, he laments that all of England is "far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower" that he apparently faces wherever he currently is.AnalysisThis poem is unique in Browning's oeuvre, as one of the few where his concerns are primarily natural and descriptive. Certainly, much of Browning

25、's poetry employs descriptive passages, but his primary concern is almost always men and their psychologies, with the natural passages working to compliment those themes; examples are "Love Among the Ruins" and "ChildeRoland to the Dark Tower Came."It was written in 1845 and

26、published in Dramatic Romances and Lyrics, during a long period in which Browning and his family lived abroad in Italy. On its surface, the poem's message is quite simple: he misses home and is melancholy as he imagines the beauty that is overtaking his native country as spring approaches. Sprin

27、g, as an image of flowering, carries poetically the sense of the world awakening. In its celebration of this natural phenomenon, the poem owes a lot to the Romantic tradition of poetry, which sought to transcend human limitations through contemplation of natural beauty.However, the poem does employ

28、a few unique elements. First is the perspective that the poet employs. In the third line, he reveals that much of what guides his reflection is the thought of being somebody else there. In other words, he is not reveling in his own memories but rather imagining what "whoever wakes in England&qu

29、ot; might see. This gives the whole descriptive poem an idealized air, a sense that what he sees in his mind is an imagining rather than an objective fact.The second stanza, which is longer than the first and uses longer lines, raises the intensity of his longing as this idealized portrait takes him

30、 over. The image of the thrush, who sings his song twice "lest you think he never could recapture" his initial beauty, reinforces the exaggerated beauty Browning imagines. His native England does not offer priceless, once-in-a-lifetime moments; on the contrary, it is overflowing with momen

31、ts of beauty. When his mind moves to a less picturesque setting "fields that look rough with hoary dew" he is quick to force his imaginings so that they are redeemed by the "noontide." All in all, what we glimpse is that this reflection is not a mindless wandering through the pas

32、t, but rather a willful attempt to escape the "gaudy melon-flower" that apparently fails to capture the same depth of feeling as he believes his England might.So in the end, the poem does employ a psychological nature in that the speaker is deliberately calling to mind these images in orde

33、r to distract himself from something. The placement of perspective in someone else's mind falls in line with Browning's usual poetic aesthetic (in which he speaks through characters) and thereby compromises the objective reality of what he imagines. Finally, one is led to wonder why, conside

34、ring the poet is so mournfully desperate for the English springtime, he does not think of moving back. The fact that such a thought does not enter the poem suggests that it can be understood as a momentary idyll rather than as a deep, permanent expression of the speaker's soul. As the months of

35、springtime pass, so will this daydream, but its transience does not mean it is insignificant.Robert "The Obscure" Browning1 (1812 - 1889)Public domain photo of Robert Browning, by Julia Margaret CameronRobert Browning was born 7 May 1812, first child and only son of Robert Browning and Sar

36、ah Wiedemann Browning. Robert was an impulsive, fearless little boy who was also rather a prodigy, writing poems and reading Homer at a very young age. He learned many languages and devoured his father's history books2. He also liked to read books that were considered rather shocking and not qui

37、te suitable for children. Robert also had quite a habit of falling for older women, as his father had done. This first happened when Robert was barely in his teens and he apparently developed a crush on a woman named Eliza Flower3, then in her early twenties.At 16, Robert began attending the newly-f

38、ormed London University, established for those Nonconformists4 like Robert who were barred from Oxford and Cambridge. Robert attended for only just over a year, though thanks to his reading, he was really quite an educated man. He also was quite arrogant at times. By the time he was 20, he was convi

39、nced that he would be a great poet, if not THE great poet. His family had enough money to support him in these poetical endeavours, a good thing as he got off to a very rocky start. His first published work, Pauline, was considered not very good, but promising; his second, Paracelsus, was well-recei

40、ved and Robert was always proud of it. He even wrote several stage plays (between 1836 and 1843) which were also well-received, though quite forgotten today. It was in 1840 that he really had some problems.In March of that year, Robert published Sordello, a Poem in Six Books, at his father's exp

41、ense. Sordello was an obscure Mantuan poet/warrior of the early 13th century5, and though the poem has many beautifully descriptive passages, no one really understood it6. To make matters even worse, three years earlier, a woman named Mrs. Busk had published her own poem on Sordello7, done in a lilt

42、ing, nearly doggerel sort of style. But these problems aside, Robert was beginning to really hit his poetical stride. Between 1841 and 1846, he published four books, mainly collections of his shorter poems that would become among his most famous works.It was about this time that Robert's corresp

43、ondence with Elizabeth Barrett began, when he wrote to thank her for a flattering mention of his work in one of her poems. Even in this very first letter, he told her that he loved her, which alarmed Elizabeth immensely. Still, he managed to meet her face to face in May of 1845 and marry her in Sept

44、ember of that year. The happy couple went to Florence and were enchanted by it, finally settling in the famous Casa Guidi8.They lived like hermits, the normally gregarious Robert content to stay at home with the usually ill Elizabeth. On 9 March 1849, Robert Wiedemann Barrett Browning9 was born, tho

45、ugh when Robert's mother Sarah died later that month, never knowing she had a grandson, Robert was devastated. It was Elizabeth and her poems that finally pulled him through.In 1855, Robert's collection of short poems, Men and Women, was published, an excellent book that received good but no

46、t great reviews. But he was mostly neglecting his poetry in order to be with Elizabeth. Her death on 28 June 1861 was more a relief than a shock, as she had been fading badly for some time. Robert re-dedicated himself to his poetry and to his son.By now, Robert was truly famous, finally one of THE g

47、reat poets, as he had always wanted. He received two honorary degrees and was much admired, though generally from a distance, as many considered him to be rather ill-tempered. It may surprise you to learn (I know it surprised me) that he actually proposed to another woman ten years after Elizabeth&#

48、39;s death, one Lady Louisa Ashburton, but she turned him down. Robert really disliked her after that, even though he told everyone that the proposal was for Pen's sake10.Robert wrote a great deal right up to the end of his life, though he was plagued by colds and bronchitis; his last book, Asolando, was published the day of his death, 12 December 18