英美诗歌鉴赏——To Helen,致海伦

英美诗歌鉴赏To Helen，致海伦To HelenHelen, thy beauty is to meLike those Nicean barks 平底船 of yore, 很久以前That gently, oer a perfumed 芳香的 sea,The weary 疲倦的, wayworn 旅行累了的 wanderer 漫游者，旅行者 boreTo his own native shore.On desperate seas long wont to roam 漫步，漫游,Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,Thy Naiad airs have brought me homeTo the glory that was GreeceAnd the grandeur 壮丽，宏伟that was Rome.Lo! in yon brilliant window-niche 壁龛How statue-like 向雕像一样 I see thee stand,The agate 玛瑙的 lamp within thy hand!Ah, Psyche, from the regions whichAre Holy Land!The writer Edgar Allen Poe was born in 1809. His father deserted the family, and his mother died when Poe was three. Poe was taken into the home of his uncle. In 1826, he entered the University of Virginia, only to drop out later . He was sent to West Point and dismissed, too. Then he turned to fiction writing to support himself. He worked as an editor throughout his life. His wifes death in 1847, drove Poe to heavy drinking occasionally. One day in 1849, he was found unconscious on a Baltimore street and then died.Poe established himself as a successful short story writer and literary critic. He succeeded in formulating influential literary theories and in demonstrating mastery of the forms he favored_hinghly musical poems and short prose narratives. His theory of short fiction is best exemplified in Ligeia and The Fall of The House of Usher, which was to become one of his most famous stories. Poe wrote To Helen as a reflection on the beauty of Mrs.Standard who died in 1824. She encouraged Poe to write poems when he was 14. Poe regarded her as his first , pure love. First, let us see the clever rhymes in this great poem. Alliteration: the /w/ in “The weary, wayworn wanderer bore” and the /s/ in “How statue-like I see thee stand” .assonance: both “like” and “Nicean” have the vowel /ai/; both “wont” and “roam” have the vowel / / ; “agate”,“lamp” and“hand”all have the vowel / /. Rhyme: “me” and “sea”; ”yore”, ”bore” and “shore”; “roam”, “home” and “Rome”. The rhymes makes the poem contain musical charm and more attractive to read.The title expressed how beautiful Mrs.Standard was by just one wordHelen，who， in Greek story, was the most beautiful woman in the world and also lighted the flames of the Trojan warBut that is not enough, we see the poet used similes to continue his praise. He compared her to “Nicean barks of yore”which brought tired “wanderers” home. The /w/ in “The weary, wayworn wanderer bore” bring out the tired faces vividly. The lady are not doll, she could brought peace and relief. Maybe that is how the writer thought about Mrs.Standard.In the second part, the poet described just two body parts, “Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,” short but vivid, just let the reader imagine the picture of a beauty who is classic just like the goddess in the Greek story. The word “Greece” and “Rome” were mentioned in this part, we know Greece and Rome are two ideal places in the heart of western people. I think that addes to the womans classic beauty again.In the third part, there is another simile, “How statue-like I see thee stand,” the woman is just like a statue which will never become old or ugly and will remain forever. “Psyche”means soul in Greek, so in this part, the image of the woman is totally different, she has not only physical beauty but also spiritual beauty. Although this poem was made to memorize a lady who had already passed by, there is no sadness in the lines. The poet expressed his admiration and love as much as p