美国文学赏析之一.doc

The wild honey suckle In this poem the poet expressed a keen awareness of the loveliness and transience of nature.1.He not only meditated on mortality but also celebrated nature.It implies that life and death are inevitable law of nature, “the wild honey suckle”is Philip Freneaus most widely read natureal lyric with the theme of transience.2.The poem express the poets view about the writing material of American writors.In the authors opinion, the origin land in America was fiiled with beauty and myth,which could compete with the rilics of Europ.It revealed on the basis of American beauty, the American writor can produce good works.The central image is a nativewild flower,which makes a drastic difference from elite flower images typical of tradition english poems. The poem showed strong feelings for the natural beauty,which was the characteristic of romantic poets.The poem was written in regular 6-line tetrameter stanzas,rhyming:ababcc .The structure of the poem is regular,so it has the neoclassic quality of proportion and balance. Alliteration ,assonance,masculine rhyme used in the poem also produce musical or melodious and harmonious,which matches the beautyof the flower,the beauty of poem is partly ambodied in the effects created through changes in the rhythm. The poem contains iambics trochaics and spondee. The arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables suggests the transience of the life of the flower and the poets emotional change.the poem is full of sensuous images such as fair flower visual image,comely grow kinasthetic image and honeyed blossoms olfactory image.All the images make us feel pity for the beautiful flower which has only a short life. The line”the sapace is but an hour”contains a hyperbole stressing and transience of life. The tone of the poem is both sentimental and optimistic.This is a lyric poem, written in iambic tetrameter. Its rhyme scheme is ababcc and contains four sextette. The tone in this poem is sentimental and emotional. The arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables suggests the transience of the life of the flower and the poets emotional change.Honey suckle:The name honey suckle comes from the sweet nectar that the flower produces to introxicate the greedy bee. Its powerful fragrance seduces the human senses as it pervades the air. The perfume of this passionate plant may turn a maindens head, hence wild honey suckle is a symbol of inconstancy in love.Content:In this poem the poet expressed a keen awareness of the loveliness and transience of nature.He not only meditated on mortality but also celebrated nature. It implies that life and death are inevitable law of nature. Throughout the whole poem, you may have a strong feeling of pathos. Because the poet use lots of words, tending to build up something seculsion, such as: “hid” “silent” “dull” “retreat” “untouched” “unseen”Besides, the poem is full of sensuous images such as fair flower image,comely grow kinasthetic image and honeyed blossoms olfactory image. All the vivid images make us feel pity for the beautiful flower which has only a short life.At the end, the poet try to tells us something about philosophy, that is: the material things are mortal, but spiritual life is eternal. This also implies his optimistic attitute towards life. Everything makes its start from “morning suns and evening dews”, they come from nothing and lose nothing when they die. Everyone is the same as others, we are equal to each other. Though life is transience, we have to cherish it. The raven Poes poetic theories are remarkable in their clarity（诗歌理论简洁明朗）about even if they lack what Joseph Wood Krutch terms “intellectual detachment” and “catholicity of taste.” （尽管缺乏Krutch所说的“知识分子的超脱”和“大众品味） These are best elucidated（最好的证明）in his “the Philosophy of Composition” （创作原理）and “ The Poetic Principle.”（诗歌原则） The poem, he says, should be short, readable at one sitting（一口气能读完）( or as long as “The Raven”【或与诗歌”乌鸦“的长度相当】). Its chief aim is beauty, namely, to produce a feeling of beauty in the reader. Beauty aims at “an elevating excitement of the soul,” (震撼灵魂) and “beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. (无论何种形式的美，只要达到最高境界，就能令敏感的灵魂落下泪来) Thus melancholy is the most legitimate of all the poetic tones.” （所以悲伤是诗歌最好的基调） And he concludes that “the death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world.” Poe stresses rhythm, defines true poetry as“the rhythmical creation of beauty,” （真正的诗歌是富有美好旋律的作品）and declares that“music is the perfection of the soul,or idea,of poetry.”（音乐是诗歌灵魂和思想的最高境界） Poe was unabashed to offer his own poem“The Raven”as an illustration of his point. “The Raven” is about 108 lines, perfectly readable at one sitting. A sense of melancholy over the death of a beloved beautiful young woman pervades the whole poem: the portrayal of a young man grieving for his lost Lenore, （早逝的美丽女友Lenore ）his grief being turned to madness under the steady one-word repetition of the talking bird introduced right at the beginning of the poem：Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weakry. Over many a quint and curious volume of forgotten lore. While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one rapping, rapping at my chamber door. ”Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door- Only this, and nothing more.” After he sees the bird, its responseor its imagined one一“nevermore”keeps breaking upon the young mans psychic wound ruthlessly and ceaselessly as do the waves on the sea shore until his depression reaches its breaking point: And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o er him streaming throve his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out chat shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted-nevermore!The young man, a neurotic on the brink of a mental collapse, （精神几近崩溃） outpours his sorrow in his semi-sleep（半梦半醒之间）on the appearance of the bird. Poetic imagination externalizes itself（诗歌的想象力表现在 ）in the phantom of a bird 幻象中的小鸟）and intermingles with it to enhance the effect of tbetragedy of the bereavement（失去挚爱的悲剧） It is good to note that Poes poems are heavily tinted in a dreamy, hallucinatory color. （Poe的诗歌中具有一种浓烈的梦境和幻觉的色彩）“The Raven”is a good example as thenarrator is in a state of semi-stupor. （神志几近不清的状态） In addition, Poe insists on an even metrical flow in versification.（主张运用规则的韵律创作） “The Raven”is a marvel of regularity: W. L.Werner records that, of its 719 complete feet, （全诗有719个音步），705 are perfect trochees, （其中705个是完全的抑扬格）ten doubtful trochees, （十个勉强可算是抑扬格）and only four clearly dactyls.（只有四个是强弱格） Poe rarely allows himself twenty-five percent of irregular feet as is found in “Israfel”. （Poe几乎不会让诗中出现四分之一以上的不规则音步，就像在诗歌Israfel里一样）For the sake of regularity in rhythm, Poe disapproves of the use of archaisms, contractions, inversions, and similar devices. （Poe反对使用古体、缩写、倒置等技法）“The Raven”is thus a perfect illustration of his theory on poetry. 人生颂 longfellow朗费罗年青人的心对歌者说的话=Composition and publication history=Longfellow wrote the poem shortly after completing lectures on German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and was heavily inspired by him. He was also inspired to write it by a heartfelt conversation he had with friend and fellow professor at Harvard University Cornelius Conway Felton; the two had spent an evening talking of matters, which lie near ones soul:and how to bear ones self doughtily in Lifes battle: and make the best of things.Thompson, Lawrance. Young Longfellow (18071843). New York: The Macmillan Company,1938: 267. The next day, he wrote A Psalm of Life.ThemesDeathA poem against death would be useless, but not a poem against those who might be called the “living dead,” or people who are alive but seem dead on their feet, because they have given up any but the most necessary struggle or challenge and instead seek comfort as their paramount goal. Who are these people? Probably those hit too hard or too many times by circumstances or events. Longfellow was thirty-one when he wrote “A Psalm of Life,” likely writing it to fight back the inertia of depression overtaking him after the death of his wife from the complications of a miscarriage in the latter part of 1835. Her death, he feared, would lead to his own “death,” which means, at least, his ability to live as a writer. Longfellow wrote “A Psalm of Life,” therefore, partially to gain back his will to be a public writer. The psalmist could either be Longfellows downcast self, or someone else someone making a practice of writing morbid verse, or perhaps a depressed person incapable of getting past suffering, pain, or death. The young man fervently attempts to convince the psalmist who is probably older than him that one must get past sorrow, yet be sober about what the future may or may not bring and exist in the present, since, in terms of time, the past is dead and the future not yet alive. If one acts in the present, the only time that is fully alive, one gains the best chance of being present to others, enlivening them.Courage and Cowardice“A Psalm of Life” is a poem in which a young man entreats a psalmist (and readers) not to be optimistic, but to muster courage in adversity. The crucial element necessary to gain courage is the confidence that one can not only do for oneself, but can also be an example to others. People are not great simply because they do great things, but because they maintained enough courage or confidence to act. In this way, one not only acts for oneself, but for others. Courage to act despite misgivings is, in this poem, considered an egoistic gesture through which community is improved, since if one cannot muster courage to do for oneself, it is hard to do for others. These others are “shipwrecked” on the ocean of life a clich because the metaphor works so well, with the ocean buoying one up, but also letting one sink. If it takes courage to set sail on the sea of life, it might be said that the boat stands for the courage to keep oneself afloat. And when that boat of courage breaks up in stormy seas, one will likely drown in a sea of sorrow or underconfidence. Longfellows young man tries to muster enough courage so that someday he is able to throw a preserver to the stranded, or, according to the poem, allow the shipwrecked to see that others have been stranded before and have survived to leave their footprints in the sand.On poem I heard a fly buzz when I died By Lynn The theme of the poem I heard a fly buzz when I died written by Emily Dickenson is the exploration of death. There was neither strong light nor much noise when I died, only a fly buzzing. The poet thought that death was inevitable, painless and natural and asserted that death meant eternity because people would get another living after they have passed it. At the beginning of the poem, the poet described a situation where “I” lied on bed, waiting for death. “I heard a fly buzz when I died; the stillness round my form; was like the stillness in the air between the heaves of storm.” When “I” died, the room was in deadly stillness just like the calm in the air between the heaves of storm. “I” was very solemn and the still air brought a feeling of tension. The stillness was a sign of more things to occur. It was a moment of expectation and death was the “storm” I was expecting for after the calm. As “I” waited, “The eyes beside had wrung them dry, and breaths were gathering sure, for that last onset, when the king, be witnessed in his power.” People felt sad because of “my” death and they cried till their tears exhausted but “I” didnt feel much sorrow. “I” waited peacefully for the “king” to come to collect “my” soul and lead “me” to another new life as breaths were gathering sure (the “king” here could be the King of Terrors or the God). “I” prepared to die and hoped to experience an amazing event. “I willed my keepsakes, signed away what portion of me I could make assignable,-”. “I” would like every parts of “I” break up, leaving nothing in the world when “I” died because “I” didnt want to leave “my” body to families and friends to cry and mourn for. “I” would like let go not only “my” life and body, but also “my” identity in the world and relationship with other people. “I” wanted to leave thoroughly. “-and then There interposed a fly, with blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz, between the light and me; and then the windows failed, and then I could not see to see.” In the end of “my” life, a fly appeared and its appearance meant death. It was a carrion eater, which might be attracted by the smell of decaying body, coming to cut “my” attachments to the world. Just as what happened I the poem, the blue-the classically symbolic color for death-, uncertained, stumbling buzz fly separated me from light and life. I went to death as the windows closed and everything was in dark. However, after “my” physical decay, “my” spirit would be collect because I could not stop for death 1Emily Dickinson was born into a family of heavy Puritan tradition, which had influenced her way of life as well as the style of creating deeply. She was reasonably social in her youth, but as time went by, the impression of the Puritanism began to appear gradually. So later, she devoted herself entirely to housework and poetry, and rarely stepped out of her own house, with even no connection with her neighbors.To the Puritans, a person by nature was wholly sinful and could achieve good only by severe and unremitting discipline. Hard work was considered as a religious duty and emphasis was laid on constant self-examination and self-discipline. So they believed that the physical phenomenal world is nothing but a symbol of God. And Dickinsons poems just dwelled upon such metaphysical subjects as God, Death, and Immortality, following the claim of Puritanism. This one- Because I Could Not Stop for Death, which brims over with religious theme is just a perfect evidence. As Dickinsons poems usually had no titles, and the first sentence of a poem is taken as its title.The poem begins with a leisurely image. At first, the protagonist feels totally at ease and the usually frightening death is described as if a familiar friend, gentle and polite. Continuingly, the poem is developed upon a basic metaphor that life is a journey. It was truly rather old a comparison, but Dickinson enriched it with her creativity and imagination: School, where Children strove -childhood; Fields of Gazing Grain-maturity; and Setting Sun-old age. Then “the Dews drew quivering and chill-” makes the protagonist feel terribly cold, which may mean that they are getting nearer and nearer to the tomb. But at last, his companions, Immortality and Death, finally desert him and leave him alone to go toward Eternity.So it seems that though death cheats him and at the same time deserts him, the experience of death itself is not painful. Emily Dickinsons poems just explain this kind of essence of life, which then lead you to a world of imagination and thinking.Abstract:Analyzes the poem Because I Could Not Stop for Death, by Emily Dickinson. The use of remembered images of the past to clarify infinite conceptions through the establishment of a dialectical relationship between reality and imagination, the known and the unknown; The viewpoint of eternity; Understanding of the incomprehensible; The stages of existence. DICKINSONS BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH 2In Because I Could Not Stop for Death (J712), Emily Dickinson uses remembered images of the past to clarify infinite conceptions through the establishment of a dialectical relationship between reality and imagination, the known and the unknown. By viewing this relationship holistically and hierarchically ordering the stages of life to include death and eternity, Dickinson suggests the interconnected and mutually determined nature of the finite and infinite. From the viewpoint of eternity, the speaker recalls experiences that happened on earth centuries ago. In her recollection, she attempts to identify the eternal world by its relationship to temporal standards, as she states that Centuries (21) in eternity are shorter than the earthly day (22). Likewise, by anthropomorphizing Death as a kind and civil gentleman, the speaker particularizes Deaths characteristics with favorable connotations. Similarly, the finite and infinite are amalgamated in the fourth stanza: The Dews drew quivering and chill- For only Gossamer, my Gown-My Tippett-only Tulle-(14-16) In these lines the speakers temporal existence, which allows her to quiver as she is chilled by the Dew, merges with the spiritual universe, as the speaker is attired in a Gown and cape or Tippet, made respectively of Gossamer, a cobweb, and Tulle, a kind of thin, open net-temporal coverings that suggest transparent, spiritual qualities. Understanding the incomprehensible often depends on an appreciation of the progression of the stages of existence. By recalling specific stages of life on earth, the speaker not only settles her temporal past but also views these happenings from a higher awareness, both literally and figuratively. In a literal sense, for example, as the carriage gains altitude to make its heavenly approach, a house seems as A Swelling of the Ground (18). Figuratively the poem may symbolize the three stages of life: School, where Children strove (9) may represent childhood; Fields of Gazing Grain (11), maturity; and Setting Su