王桃花：Lecture 1 Alfred Tennyson

LectureOneVictorianPoet：AlfredTennysonTeachingProcedureI.TheVictorianAgeII.AlfredTennysonHisLife“InMemoriam”“TheEagle”“Break,Break,Break”III.RobertBrowningHisLifeHisMainAchievementinPoetry“MyLastDuchess”I.TheVictorianAgeIt’stheperiodofQueenVictoria'srulefrom1837to1901.Inthisperiod,Englandhadreacheditshighpointofdevelopmentasaworldpower.Itisoftencharacterizedasalongeraofpeaceandprosperity.ItisthemostgloriousageintheEnglishhistory.II.AlfredTennyson(1809-1892)LifeBornasthefourthsoninaclergyman’sfamily.EducatedinCambridge.SucceededWordsworthasPoetLaureateandgotmarriedin1850.Wasmadeapeer（英国可出席上议院的贵族）in1884.Diedin1892andwasburiedintheWestminsterAbbey.BirthplaceThemostprolificandimportantpoetoftheVictorianAgeTennyson’sFont(洗礼盘)TennysonChurch“InMemoriam”ItwaswrittenbyTennysoninmemoryofA.H.Hallam,hisclosefriendandthefianceofhissister.Foritsexquisiteformandmelody,itisregardedasthesummitofTennyson’spoeticachievement.(1833-1850)Makealistofadjectiveswhichcandescribeyourimpressionoftheeagle.braveagile(敏捷的)powerfulmajestic……“TheEagle”ferocious(残忍的)violentTheEagleHeclaspsthecragwithcrookedhands;他用铁钩般的爪子抓住峭壁，Closetothesuninlonelylands,紧靠太阳却独居孤寂之地，Ringedwiththeazureworld,hestands.他屹立在蔚蓝世界的怀抱里。statichyperboleThewrinkledseabeneathhimcrawls;起皱的大海在他身下蠕动，Hewatchesfromhismountainwalls,峭壁上他双目炯炯，Andlikeathunderbolthefalls.如雷鸣闪电向下冲。dynamicsudden,momentaryVersion2钢爪握崖岩,独立太阳边；岩高万籁寂,四外尽蓝天。身下海涛翻,只见微皱面；绝壁傲视久,忽坠如雷电。AnalysisofthepoemItiswrittenintwostanzasofthreelineseachandutilizestheiambic-tetrameterformofmeter.Inthefirststanzatheeaglesitspercheduponsomehighmountaincraginsomedesertedarea,andinthesecondstanzahesuddenlyswoopsdowninflight.ThesignificanceofthepoemistheinterestingwayTennysoncommunicatesthatexperienceoftheeaglethroughthepoeticdevices:crookedhands,ringedwiththeazureworld,wrinkledsea,likeathunderbolt,etc.Noticetheinterestingcontrastbetweenthetwostanzas:inthefirsttheeagleissittingstill,andinthesecondoneheisinflight.Thepoem,consistingofonlytwostanzas,isoneofpureimagery.Thefirstdescriptionisofaneaglesittingofthesideofamountain,whilediggingitstalonsintotherock.Theeagle,abirdofprey,ofstrength,size,gracefulness,keenvisionandpowerofflight,ispicturedaslonely.Thebird,alsoknownforhispowerandstrengthseemsrathersmallagainstitssurroundings.Althoughtheeagleisaloneandsmallagainstnature,itsmajesticstereotypeismaintainedbytheplacementofthebirdatgreatheightorasthepoemstates,Closetothesun.Theseconddepictionisacomparisonoftheeagletoathunderboltfallingfromthemountain.Theeagle,atitsgreatheight,isarepresentationofamanatthepeakofhislife,clingingondesperately.Themountainrepresentstheuniverse.Similartotheeagle'ssmallnessascomparedtothemountain,isman'sascomparedtotheuniverse.Themanislonelyinthathemustenterandleavetheworldalone.Justastheeagleisapartorfragmentofthemountain,themanisapartoftheuniverseandtheybothleavewhentheyfalloff.Bothareencircledbytheirworldsandmuststandorendure.Theseadelineateslifeandthereturntoitafterdeath.Manwassupposedlybornwater,andreturnstohisoriginsafterdeath.Thusthewaterbelowthecliffmaintainsthatideaastheeaglepresumablyfallsin.Thethunderboltcharacterizesdeathinthatbotharesudden,effective,andmomentary.Athunderboltisloudanditdisappearsjustasquicklyasitappears.Inaddition,thelastwordsofeachstanza,standsandfalls,areoppositetoeachotherindefinition.Fallsisoftenusedtoconveydeath,whilestandsisusedtoconveyendurance.Thus,fallsandthesuddennessofthethunderbolt,togetherconveydeath.Break,Break,Break拍岸曲（孙梁译）碎了，碎了，碎了，拍碎在你灰冷的礁石上，啊大海！我多想能从我嘴里吐出那涌上我心头的思绪满怀。啊，那渔夫的孩子多美，他叫呀，喊呀，和他妹妹在玩！啊，那年轻的水手有多美，他驾一叶小舟唱遍了海湾！向着山下的避风港，庄严的船只在纷纷前进；可我多想碰一碰那消失了的手，噢，听一听那静寂了的嗓音！碎了，碎了，碎了，拍碎在你悬崖峭壁的脚下，啊大海！可是那逝去的温柔而光彩的日子将永远再不会回来。Break,Break,BreakThenarratorgrievesthelossofhisfriend,ArthurHenryHallam,apromisingpoetandessayistwhohadbeenengagedtoTennyson'ssister,Emily.Hallamdiedofastrokein1833whenhewasonly22.Nature,ofcourse,doesnotstoptomournthelossofanyone.Coldandindifferent,itcarrieson,thewavesoftheoceanbreakingagainstrocksalongtheseashorewithoutpausingevenforamoment.Therestoftheworldcarriesonaswell:thefisherman'sboyhappilyplayingwithhissister,thesailormerrilysinging,theshipbusilyplyingthewatersofcommerce.Thepoet’sownfeelingsofsadnessarecontrastedwiththecarefree,innocentjoysofthechildrenandtheunfeelingmovementoftheshipandtheseawaves.Downcast,isolatedbyhisgrief,thenarratoryearnstotouchthehandofhisfriendoncemore,tohearthesoundofhisvoice.But,no,Hallamisgoneforever;histendergracewillneveragainreturn.FiguresofspeechApostrophe(Lines1and2):Thenarratoraddressesthesea.顿呼法PersonificationandmetaphoralsooccurinLines1and2,forthepoetregardstheseaasahumanbeing.Alliteration(Line8):boatonthebayAlliteration(Line15):daythatisdeadRepetition:Line13repeatsLine1;Line7repeatsthefirsttwowordsofLine5.Oxymoron:Touchofavanishedhand(Line11),soundofavoicethatisstill(Line12)Themes1)GriefThemainthemeisbereavement,heartache,emptiness.Inthenarrator'sdarkhourofgrief,thesunrises,childrenlaugh,businessgoesonasusual.Howcouldtheworldbesocruelandunfeeling?