William Butler Yeats

1、William Butler Yeats13 June 1865 28 January 1939 William Butler Yeats was born at Sandymount in County Dublin, Ireland. He had a brother Jack and two sisters Elizabeth and Susan Mary. In 1867, the family moved to England to aid their father, John, to further his career as an artist. At first,his mot

2、her entertained the children with stories and Irish folk tales. On 26 January 1877, Yeats entered the Godolphin school,which he attended for four years. For financial reasons, the family returned to Dublin in 1880. In October 1881, Yeats resumed his education at Dublins Erasmus Smith High School. Be

3、tween 1884 and 1886, William attended the Metropolitan School of Art, which was now named as the National College of Art and Design.Early Life and Education Maude Gonne In 1889, Yeats met Maude Gonne, then a 23-year-old suffragette(妇女参政权论者) and ardent Nationalist. She had a significant and lasting e

4、ffect on his poetry and his life thereafter . In 1891, he visited Gonne in Ireland and proposed marriage, but was rejected. Yeats proposed to Gonne three more times, separately in 1899, 1900 and 1901. In August 1894 Gonnes daughter Iseult was born. In 1917,23-year-old Iseult was proposed to by then

5、52-year-old William Butler Yeats.Still he was rejected. Maude Gonne refused many marriage proposals from Yeats, not only because she viewed him as insufficiently radical in his nationalism and unwilling to convert to Catholicism but also because she believed his unrequited love for her had been a bo

6、on for his poetry and that the world should thank her for never having accepted his proposals. When Yeats told her he was not happy without her she replied, Oh yes, you are, because you make beautiful poetry out of what you call your unhappiness and are happy in that. Marriage would be such a dull a

7、ffair. Poets should never marry. The world should thank me for not marrying you. Jeffares, A. Norman (1988). W. B. Yeats, a new biography. London and New York: Continuum. p. 102.When You Are OldWhen you are old and grey and full of sleep,and nodding by the fire, take down this book,and slowly read,

8、and dream of the soft lookyour eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;how many loved your moments of glad grace,and loved your beauty with love false or true,but one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,and loved the sorrows of your changing face;and bending down beside the glowing bars,murmur, a lit

9、tle sadly, how love fledand paced upon the mountains overheadand hid his face amid a crowd of stars. 当你老了 冰心译当你老了，头发花白，睡意沉沉，倦坐在炉边，取下这本书来，慢慢读着，追梦当年的眼神那柔美的神采与深幽的晕影。多少人爱过你青春的片影，爱过你的美貌，以虚伪或是真情，惟独一人爱你那朝圣者心，爱你哀戚的脸上岁月的留痕。在炉栅边，你弯下了腰，低语着，带着浅浅的伤感，爱情是怎样逝去，又怎样步上群山，怎样在繁星之间藏住了脸。 当你年老 余光中 译当你年老，头白，睡意正昏昏，在炉火边打盹，请取下

10、此书，慢慢阅读，且梦见你的美目往昔的温婉，眸影有多深；梦见多少人爱你优雅的韶光，爱你的美貌，不论假意或真情，可是有一人爱你朝圣的心灵，爱你脸上青春难驻的哀伤；于是你俯身在熊熊的炉边，有点惘然，低诉爱情已飞扬，而且逡巡在群峰之上，把脸庞隐藏在星座之间。Appreciation of the Poem Speech sound: The whole poem is basically written in iambic pentameter,in some cases are written in trochee.These variants make the poem not monotonou

11、s.For example,the mimetic word murmur vividly descibes the image of an old lonely lady. The poem is rhymed in embraced rhyme(抱韵)：abba cddc effe. Rhetoric Repitition:On the one side, the 11 times “and ” make the poem more coherent and fluent, on the other side it controls the rhythm of the poem and b

12、rings hamorny and unity to the poem.Irony: ManyOne Man Moments of glad gracepilgrim soul BeutySorrows of changing facePersonification When You Are OldWhen you are old and grey and full of sleep,and nodding by the fire, take down this book,and slowly read, and dream of the soft lookyour eyes had once

13、, and of their shadows deep;how many loved your moments of glad grace,and loved your beauty with love false or true,but one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,and loved the sorrows of your changing face;and bending down beside the glowing bars,murmur, a little sadly, how love fledand paced upon the m

14、ountains overheadand hid his face amid a crowd of stars.LOREM IPSUM DOLOR Vocabulary: The poem uses almost simple and common words instead of archaic words, which creates a beauty of simplicity. The poem has totally 100 words,including 18 disyllable words,1 trisyllable word and 81 monosyllable words

15、.The brisk and fluent rhythm creates a tranquil and lonely environment. 19 nouns appear by 21 times and 12 verbs appear by 15 times. When You Are OldWhen you are old and grey and full of sleep,and nodding by the fire, take down this book,and slowly read, and dream of the soft lookyour eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;how many loved your moments of glad grace,and loved your beauty with love false or true,but one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,and loved the sorrows of your changing face;and bending down beside the glowing bars,murmu