Stylistic analysis of When You Are Old 當(dāng)你年老時(shí)文體學(xué)分析

WhenYouAreOld(1893)WilliamButlerYeatsWhenyouareoldandgrayandfullofsleep

Andnoddingbythefire,takedownthisbook,

Andslowlyread,anddreamofthesoftlook

Youreyeshadonce,andoftheirshadowsdeep;

Howmanylovedyourmomentsofgladgrace,

Andlovedyourbeautywithlovefalseortrue;

Butonemanlovedthepilgrimsoulinyou,

Andlovedthesorrowsofyourchangingface.

Andbendingdownbesidetheglowingbars,

Murmur,alittlesadly,howLovefled

Andpaceduponthemountainsoverhead,

Andhidhisfaceamidacrowdofstars.

當(dāng)你老了，白發(fā)蒼蒼，睡意沉沉，

倦坐在爐邊，取下這本書(shū)來(lái)，

慢慢讀著，追夢(mèng)當(dāng)年的眼神

那柔美的神采與深幽的暈影。

多少人愛(ài)過(guò)你青春的片影，

愛(ài)過(guò)你的美貌，出于虛偽或真情，

唯獨(dú)一人愛(ài)你那朝圣者的靈魂，

愛(ài)你哀戚的臉上歲月的留痕。

在爐柵邊，你彎下了腰，

低語(yǔ)著，帶著淺淺的傷感，

愛(ài)情是怎樣逝去，又怎樣步上群山，

將面龐藏在了繁星之間。StylisticAnalysisI.ThefirstlevelPhonologicalfeaturesA.SoundrepetitionalliterationSlowly,soft(line3)glad,grace(line5)assonanceDown,glowing,how,mountainsrhymingscheme:a-b-b-aB.Stressandrhythm:iambicpentametreC.Tempo:slowGraphologicalfeaturesCapitalizationof“Love”Function:Throughtheuseofthecapital“L”in“l(fā)ove”Yeatshasonceagaininjectedhimselfinthepoemwithouttheuseoftheword“I”.II.ThesecondlevelGrammaticalfeaturesTheuseofenjambmentLexicalfeaturesA.LexicalreiterationRepetitionof“And”inStanza1forsixtimesFunction:slowdownthetempo,asthespeakerimagineshisloveisanoldwoman.glidingRepetitionof“l(fā)oved”inStanza2forfivetimes.Function:Thefive“l(fā)oved”brightenthetoneofthesecondstanza,andrevealsthespeaker’srelationshipwiththesubject.B.GeneralwordinginclinationInthewholepoem,thepoemalwaysuseswordswithsoftsound,tocreateapictureofanoldperson,suchaswordsbeginwith“s”,andwordscontainingvowels,whicharealwayssoft.III.ThethirdlevelSemanticfeaturesCohesivedevices:theuseof“And”inStanza1forsixtimes(polysyndeton)Rhetoricdevices※contrast(howmanylovedyourmomentsofgladgraceandlovedyourbeautywithlove-falseortrue,butonemanlovedthepilgrimsoulinyou)※reference(pilgrimsoul,line7)※allusion(changingface,line8)※personification(howLovefledAndpaceduponthemountainsoverhead,Andhidhisfaceamidacrowdofstars.)※paradox(Andhidhisfaceamidacrowdofstars)(ThenightskyisusuallyaveryromanticthingbuthislovetriestohideinitawayandoutofthereachofMaudGonne.)

《WhenYouAreOld》這首愛(ài)情詩(shī)寫(xiě)于1893年，葉芝當(dāng)時(shí)29歲。五年前，詩(shī)人和愛(ài)爾蘭民族自治運(yùn)動(dòng)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人之一、著名的女演員毛特·崗相識(shí)，一見(jiàn)傾心，但一再遭到拒絕，毛特·崗嫁給了與她并肩戰(zhàn)斗的麥克布萊德少校。二十三年后，1916年麥克布萊德少校在斗爭(zhēng)中獻(xiàn)身，葉芝再次向毛特·崗求婚，仍舊遭到拒絕。這種遭受巨大打擊后的愛(ài)的痛苦和悲傷，是難以想象的。正如歌德詩(shī)中所說(shuō)：“永恒的女性，引導(dǎo)我們上升”，在葉芝心靈深處，毛特·崗是“永恒的女性”，成為真善美的化身、愛(ài)情的信仰和理想的象征，成為詩(shī)人創(chuàng)作靈感和激情的源泉。BackgroundInformation:ThisispoemtoMaudeGonnewhoYeatsloveddesperately.Hehadjustproposedtoherandshesaidno.Thispoemisalmostawarningthatshewillgrowoldwithoutlovewhichshecouldhavehad.Hesaysthatlotsofpeoplelovedherforherlooks(shewasanactress)buthelovedherforwhoshereallywas(thepilgrimsoul).Pilgrimischosentorepresentthejourneythroughagethathewouldhavelovedherthrough.Thelastlineisanoxymoron.ThenightskyisusuallyaveryromanticthingbuthislovetriestohideinitawayandoutofthereachofMaudGonne.Thepoem,“WhenYouAreOld”appearstobeasimplelovepoemonfirstreading.Aftercarefulanalysis,however,werealizethatYeatshascreatedasmallautobiographywithouteverusingthefirstpersonsingular.Throughwordchoiceandstrategicpunctuationandalliterationhehassloweddownthetempooftheiambicpentametertoimpartanauraofmelancholyanddesiretodescribehisloveofaoncebeautifulwomanforwhom,despiteheradvancingage,hestillyearns.thefirststanza

whenyouareoldandgrayandfullofsleep,

andnoddingbythefire,takedownthisbook,

andslowlyread,anddreamofthesoftlookYoureyeshadonce,andoftheirshadowsdeep;(polysyndetonalliteration)Thefirstquatrainintroducesthereadertothesubjectandthefirstlinesetsthetempofortherestofthepoem.Inadditiontohisuseofcommas,Yeatsutilizestheword“And”sixtimesinthissection,whichslowsthepace:

Mainidea:Yeatstalkshereonagirlofapresentdaythatwhenshebecomesoldsheshouldrecognizeherflashbacksandmemories.

2ndstanza

howmanylovedyourmomentsofgladgrace(alliteration)

andlovedyourbeautywithlove-falseortrue

butonemanlovedthepilgrimsoulinyou(contrast,reference)

andlovedthesorrowsofyourchangingface;(allusion)

--meaningmanypeopleareadmiringherbeautybutthereisamanwhotrulyloveandeagertolovehereventheybecameold"togethereternally"astheysay.“pilgrimsoul”thisreferencealsoconveysafeelingofotherworldlinessasweassociatetheword“pilgrim”withsomeonewhojourneysafar,anon-conformistorfree-spiritwhoisperhapsseekingasacredplaceofdevotion.Thelastlineisanoxymoron.ThenightskyisusuallyaveryromanticthingbuthislovetriestohideinitawayandoutofthereachofMaudGonne.HereYeatsusesaformoftheword“l(fā)ove”fivetimestobrightenthetone,especiallyinthefirsttwolines.Thetempoisstillslow,butthetensyllablesoftheiambicpentameterseemmoreupliftingandalmostreverentialashefocusesonthe“gladgrace”and“beauty”ofthesubject.Itisthelasttwolines,however,thatthereaderdiscoverstherelationshiptheauthorhaswiththesubject.

Withatoneofyearning,thenarratorannouncesthatheistheonemanwhonotonlyrecognizedthephysicalcharmsofthiswoman,butalsolovedherintrinsicnature,her“pilgrimsoul”thisreferencealsoconveysafeelingofotherworldlinessasweassociatetheword“pilgrim”withsomeonewhojourneysafar,anon-conformistorfree-spiritwhoisperhapsseekingasacredplaceofdevotion.Theselinesalsoconveythefeelingofreverencethepoethasforthiswoman.Sheishisideal.Yeatsneverusesthefirstpersonsingularhere.Heavoidssaying“l(fā)ovedyourPilgrimsoulandsorrowsofyourchangingface.”Hecreatesadistancebetweenhimselfandhismuseandretainsananonymityamongherotherworshippers,whichheconfirmsinthefinalquatrain.

Havinginterjectedthisbrightertone,Yeatsreturnsthereadertothemelancholy,butthistimewithaspark:

3rdstanza

andbendingdownbesidetheglowingbars

murmur,alittlesadly,howLovefled(Capitalizationof“l(fā)ove”,personification)

andpaceduponthemountainsoverhead

andhidhisfaceamidacrowdofstars.

--theselinessaythatthegirlseparatedfromtheboy,andthegirldidn’tbringherloveback,sotheboy'slovefadedortheboydiedbeforethewoman.YeatsispleadingwithGonneinthispoemtotakehimashertruelove.Adesperatepleabeforeitistoolateandhehidesamongthestarsandsheistooold.

Inthisquatrain,thewomanisearth-boundasweseeherbendingdownbythewarmthofthefire;sheisnolongertheetherealimageofthesecondquatrain.Here,thepoetdoesnotunleashaflurryofbitterrecriminationsatherbecauseofhisunrequitedlove,but,instead,offersaself-effacingdeclarationofhisdevotion.

Awistfultoneisimpliedasthereaderpicturesthewomansadlyacknowledgingthelossofheradoringpoet,possiblyheronetruelove.Throughtheuseofthecapital“L”in“l(fā)ove”Yeatshasonceagaininjectedhimselfinthepoemwithouttheuseoftheword“I”.Heisspeakingdirectlytoherashepacesover