美国文学史及选读之弗罗斯特的《牧场》赏析

RobertFrost:APoetofDeceptiveSimplicityII罗伯特▪弗罗斯特：一位简单深邃的诗人(2) Reviewing:TheRoadNotTaken TheRoadNotTakenTworoadsdivergedinayellowwood,AndsorryIcouldnottravelbothAndbeonetraveler,longIstoodAndlookeddownoneasfarasIcouldTowhereitbentintheundergrowth;Thentooktheother,asjustasfair,Andhavingperhapsthebetterclaim,Becauseitwasgrassyandwantedwear;ThoughasforthatthepassingthereHadwornthemreallyaboutthesame,AndboththatmorningequallylayInleavesnostephadtroddenblack.Oh,Ikeptthefirstforanotherday!Yetknowinghowwayleadsontoway,IdoubtedifIshouldevercomeback.IshallbetellingthiswithasighSomewhereagesandageshence:Tworoadsdivergedinawood,andI--Itooktheonelesstraveledby,Andthathasmadeallthedifference. 1.RobertFrost(1874-1963):APoetofDeceptiveSimplicityRobertFrostisoftenconsideredtobeapoetofsimplicity.Peopleenjoyreadinghispoems,becausehispoemslooksimple,directandnatural.Butactually,Frostisalmostneverassimple,directandnaturalasheappearstobe. Frostsaysthathispoeticdictionhas“droppedtoaneverydaylevelthatevenWordsworthkeptabove”. NomatterhowpureandsimpleFrost’spoemsmayappearinforms,theirimplicitmeaningsarealmostalwaysintricate.Frostwasdeceptivelysimple. ThePasture牧场I’mgoingouttocleanthepasturespring;I’llonlystoptoraketheleavesaway(Andwaittowatchthewaterclear,Imay)Ishan’tbegonelong.–Youcometoo.I’mgoingouttofetchthelittlecalfThat’sstandingbythemother.It’ssoyoungIttotterswhenshelicksitwithhertongue.Ishan’tbegonelong.–Youcometoo.我要出去清理牧场的泉眼，只想停下把水中枯叶搂净，(也许，等到泉水潺潺清清)我不会去太久—你也来吧。我要出去牵回那一头牛犊，它那么小，站在母亲身旁，踉踉跄跄地任凭母亲舔着。我不会去太久—你也来吧(黄宗英译) 2.1Absolutelyunliterary（绝对非文学性)Poet’spreferenceforsimplepoeticwords.Outof66wordsinthepoem,thereareonly10wordsoftwosyllables,whiletheothersareallmonosyllabic(单音节词).Allthenounsinthispoemareconcretenouns(具体名词)：pasture,spring,leaves,water,calf,mother,andtongue,referringtopastoralfeaturesofaNewEnglandfarm. 2.1Absolutelyunliterary（绝对非文学性)Thepoemhasonlytwopurelydescriptiveadjectives(纯粹的描写性形容词)：clearandlittle.Almostalltheverbshererefertodefinitephysicalacts(具体动作):clean,stop,rake,wait,watch,fetch,andlick. 2.1AbsolutelyunliteraryIntermsofsentence,orsyntacticallyspeaking,thesentencesaresimple.Theaveragesentencelengthislessthantenwords.Thepoemcontainsonlytwocomplexsentences(lines5-6),buteveninthesetwocomplexsentences,weseenostrikingvarietyofcomplexityfromonetotheother.Theybalancewellandshortandsimple. 2.1AbsolutelyunliteraryThematicallyspeaking,whatisdepictedinthispoemisnothingmorethanasimpleandphysicaldescriptionofaninvitationfromthefarmer-poet.Orwesayagoodpoetfarmer. 2.2StoryinthepoemThefirstlinepresentsthebackgroundofthefarmandthemanwhocaresforit.Thespeakerisgoingforthbyhimselfinearlyspringtoclearaspringofwater.Hesaysthathisworkwillbefairlybrief,butheaskstheaddresseetogowithhim. 2.2StoryinthepoemInthesecondstanza,thesubjectswitchesfromthespringtoalittlecalf,whichissoyoungthatitstandstotteringbesidesitsmother.Againthespeakeraskstheaddresseetogowithhimtofetchit.Wecaneasilyreconstructedthewholesceneinourmind’seye.However,thetwosmallquatrainsshowhowtheleastmaymeanmost,offeringthewriterandthereaderalikethedelightofsayinganordinarythinganddiscoveringthatitisart. 2.3thespeaker“I”asafarmerOnthefirstlevel,ofwetakethespeaker“I”asafarmer,thewholepoemwillprovetobeapictureofvigorousfarmlifeinearlyspring.Atthistimeofyear,farmersaremakingpreparationsforthegrowingseason.Inthiscase,thespring-timeclearingofthedeadleavesleftoverthroughthewintermaysuggesttherhythmicalcontinuityoflifeanddeathinnature. 2.3thespeaker“I”asafarmerBesides,anunhurriedlifeisimpliedbythespeaker’scasualtoneofvoice:IambicPentameterLines(五音步抑扬格):I’mgoingouttocleanthepasturespringI’llonlystoptoraketheleavesawayAlliteration（押头韵）:(Andwaittowatchthewaterclear,Imay) 2.3thespeaker“I”asafarmerFrostisdeftinwritingthefirstthreelinesofneatIambicPentameterandinusingthedeviceofheavyalliterationinthethirdlinetodepictrhythmicallytheincidentalactivitiesofthefarmer.Hecaneitherstoptoclearupthewaterorjustwaittowatchthewaterclearbyitself.Inthesecondstanza,animageofatotteringcalfbesidesitsmothersymbolizesafuturefullofpromises. 2.4thespeaker“I”asapoetOnthesecondlevel,sinceFrosttakesthispoemasanintroductiontohispoetry,thespeaker“I”canberegardedasthepoethimself,inwhichcasethepoemmightseamtobeamanifestationofthepoet’sthoughtabouthispoeticsandpoetry.Thedeadleaveshewantstorakeawayinthefirststanzamaysuggesttheold-fashionversificationofthenineteenthcentury,withwhichhewantstobreak,whilethelittlecalf,strugglingtostandbyitself,symbolizesthekindofnewpoetryhehaswritten. 3.SummaryTheinvitation,therefore,canbeseenasthepoet’sinvitationforthereadertoappreciatehispoetry.Thepoemstandsnotonlyasaninvitationtohispoeticworldbutalsopresentsthefiguresthatarecentraltotheworld:thepoet,thereader,thenaturalsetting,andtheanimal.Inthisway,Frosthasveryartfullydrawnusintocomplexity.SothesimplicityinFrost’spoetryisdeceptive.