这是“现代诗歌”最后一讲，细解“Over 2,000 Illustrations and a Complete Concordance”。似乎没人翻译过，其中似乎有双关语的意思，我来“意思”一下：

《2000插图和完全索引》                      苏三        意思

Thus should have been our travels:                         这就是我们的旅程：
serious, engravable.                                                严肃，深刻。
The Seven Wonders of the World are tired             世界七大奇迹也烦了
and a touch familiar, but the other scenes,              有点太熟悉了，但其他的景色，
innumerable, though equally sad and still,               无数的，尽管一样的悲哀与寂静，
are foreign. Often the squatting Arab,                     都是异国的。常常那个蹲坐的阿拉伯人，
or group of Arabs, plotting, probably,                      或一群阿拉伯人，正在密谋，或许，
against our Christian empire,                                   对着我们的基督帝国，
while one apart, with outstretched arm and hand     当一方分离，伸展着胳膊与手
points to the Tomb, the Pit, the Sepulcher.              指向坟墓，那个深渊，那个圣所。
The branches of the date-palms look like files.       海枣的枝子看起来象锉刀。
The cobbled courtyard, where the Well is dry,         鹅卵石的庭院里，井已枯了，
is like a diagram, the brickwork conduits                 象个图解，砖砌的管道
are vast and obvious, the human figure                  大量而明显，人形
far gone in history or theology,                                 隐于历史或神学，
gone with its camel or its faithful horse.                    随着骆驼或忠诚的马。
Always the silence, the gesture, the specks of birds一片沉寂，手势，鸟的斑点
suspended on invisible threads above the Site,       在古代遗迹上只有悬浮的无形线索
or the smoke rising solemnly, pulled by threads.      孤烟升起，象被线拉起。       
Granted a page alone or a page made up               假如有一页是真的，或是虚构
of several scenes arranged in cattycornered rectangles整体就会坍塌
or circles set on stippled gray,                                  或点刻的灰色为圈，
granted a grim lunette,                                              准许严酷的弦月窗，
caught in the toils of an initial letter,                          被大写字母网住，
when dwelt upon, they all resolve themselves.         仔细琢磨，他们都自己解决掉。
The eye drops, weighted, through the lines             眼药水，有用，通过一行行
the burin made, the lines that move apart               冰凿释之，一行行地
like ripples above sand,                                           就象沙上的波纹一样，
dispersing storms, God's spreading fingerprint,      平息了暴风雪，传播上帝的指纹
and painfully, finally, that ignite                               痛苦地，最终，点燃，
in watery prismatic white-and-blue.　                        水淋淋的棱镜又白又蓝。

Entering the Narrows at St. Johns                                         进入纽约湾海峡的圣约翰之家
the touching bleat of goats reached to the ship.                   动人的山羊诉说传达到大船上。
We glimpsed them, reddish, leaping up the cliffs                  我们看到一瞥，红，跃上悬崖
among the fog-soaked weeds and butter-and-eggs.             在被雾打湿的海草和蛋黄草中。
And at St. Peter's the wind blew and the sun shone madly.  在圣皮特那里风吹起，太阳狂照。
Rapidly, purposefully, the Collegians marched in lines,        很快，自觉地，大学生列队进入，
crisscrossing the great square with black, like ants.             在大广场以黑十字交叉，象蚂蚁一样。
In Mexico the dead man lay                                                 　在墨西哥死人躺卧
in a blue arcade; the dead volcanoes                                  　在兰色的拱廊；死火山们
glistened like Easter lilies.                                                    　象复活节百合一样闪光。
The jukebox went on playing "Ay, Jalisco!"                          　自动唱片机一直在唱《呜呼，哈利斯科！》
And at Volubilis there were beautiful poppies                      　在佛路比利斯有美丽的罂粟
splitting the mosaics; the fat old guide made eyes.             　撕裂了拼图；那个又胖又老的向导挤眉弄眼。
In Dingle harbor a golden length of evening                       　在顶歌海湾一个金色的狭长黄昏
the rotting hulks held up their dripping plush.                     　那腐蚀的旧船垂滴着长毛绒。
The Englishwoman poured tea, informing us                      　英国妇女一面倒茶，告知我们
that the Duchess was going to have a baby.                      　公爵夫人就要生了。
And in the brothels of Marrakesh                                       　在马拉克什的妓院里
the littel pockmarked prostitutes                                         　长着小痘痘的妓女们
balanced their tea-trays on their heads                              　平衡着他们头顶上的茶托
and did their belly-dances; flung themselves                      　并一面跳着肚皮舞；自嘲着
naked and giggling against our knees,                               　裸露而冲我们的腿上傻笑，
asking for cigarettes. It was somewhere near there           　要烟。就在那附近
I saw what frightened me most of all:                                  　我看见最吓人的：
A holy grave, not looking particularly holy,                         　一个圣洁的坟墓，看起来并不特别圣洁，
one of a group under a keyhole-arched stone baldaquin 　一群人在锁眼拱形石盖下
open to every wind from the pink desert.                          　在粉红色的沙漠那里暴露于风下。
An open, gritty, marble trough, carved solid                      　一个敞开的，沙砾的，大理石水槽，雕刻着
with exhortation, yellowed                                                　装饰的讲道词，发黄了
as scattered cattle-teeth;                                                  　就象是牛咬的痕迹；
half-filled with dust, not even the dust                              　一半埋了尘土，甚至不是尘土
of the poor prophet paynim who once lay there.             　而是穆斯林拉在那里的大便。
In a smart burnoose Khadour looked on amused.          　在一个漂亮的阿拉伯斗篷里卡德尔愉快地地看着。

Everything only connected by "and" and "and."              每件事情只被“和”和“和”联系。
Open the book. (The gilt rubs off the edges                   打开书。（镀金早被擦掉了
of the pages and pollinates the fingertips.)                     指尖干的好事）。
Open the heavy book. Why couldn't we have seen        打开这厚重的书。为什么我们不能早看见
this old Nativity while we were at it?                               　这古老的（基督）降生当我们做着的时候？
--the dark ajar, the rocks breaking with light,                 　黑夜蔓延，岩石放光，
an undisturbed, unbreathing flame,                              　安静的微风下的火焰，
colorless, sparkless, freely fed on straw,                      　无色，无光，不停地送草，
and, lulled within, a family with pets,                             　和，哄骗着，有宠物的家庭，
--and looked and looked our infant sight away.            　看看吧看看我们的孤儿远远地看着。

1955

 

假如说这是指一本书，则应是指《圣经》，因为 a Complete Concordance，或许吧。但实际上，这首诗歌也象是一本旅行日记，其中从地名看几乎一句一个国家与地区。

 

西方就诗歌或现代诗歌有一个显著的奇特之处，将诗歌这一中国人看来感性而偏于疯狂的艺术行为作为哲学乃至可以替代宗教或基督教的替代品，这首诗歌多少就有这方面的影子。在宗教退出西方社会之后，诗人们普遍认为诗歌将替代宗教的神圣，起码他们有这样的责任感。而且诗人，著名的几乎都以理性著称。而且他们中很明显的另外一个特征竟然是内敛与克制！老天，诗人不是世界上最抒情的吗？哦，原来在西方那是１８＼１９世纪早期浪漫主义的时，“现代诗歌”已经与其分道扬镳了，或者简直就是分野。

 

毕有非常个人和朴素的一面，这方面她与Frost有相似之处。现代诗是以城市生活为标志的，但似乎这两个人又故意有一些逃避。以F的“Directive”为例，原诗很长 。假如说还没有将诗歌作为圣经的话，起码F与auden都是希望通过诗歌来认识世界的。有关这方面的还有Stevens's "Notes Towards a Supreme Fiction等。  Ｉn Stevens the shift from religion to poetry is also a shift from totalization, from system to contingency and incompletion, to parts rather than a whole. For Stevens, the disappearance of the Christian God as the center of emotional, spiritual, cultural life is essentially, however, a cause for celebration. In Eliot it's a cause for mourning--mourning and anxiety, distress. In Yeats it's a cause of fascination and horror; in Crane, for the making of new myths, new metaphors. Hughes's secular poems are Christ-haunted. Christ and all of the iconography associated with him is a source of hope and also irony for black culture and a reproach to the white world.

 

能够看出来早期的那几位对宗教这一神圣价值的缺失极度惊慌与恐怖焦虑，但是到后来就相对淡漠了。中国也会经历同样的现代信仰与价值转换，也一样感受类似的情绪。"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold," Yeats says in "The Second Coming." 这句话很经典，可以直接拿到今天的中国来用。世界没有一个核心，核心失去了。

那么毕肖普则是坐在家里感到一种无家可归，而且她以不停地旅行来阐明了世界的不稳定，世界之中心的消亡，圣墓上甚至被拉了大粪。

 

２０世纪西方20-40年代诗人们都在问，诗歌能做点什么？诗歌如此来写？

 

语言语法等是现代诗歌与传统诗歌的又一分水岭。

 

从HART CRANE 与庞德的英雄史诗似乎最终解答了“诗歌能干什么”的问题，这就是“一切”，everything。他们俩本身就那么不同，就说明了是一切。

毕有一首著名的诗歌是写羁押在疯人院的庞德的。我今天才发现这首诗歌的一个好玩之处是，在形式上她故意采用了英语中的一个语言游戏：“The House That Jack Built” 《杰克造的房子》，搜来放这里：

This is the house that Jack built.
This is the malt--
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat--
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the cat--
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the dog--
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the cow with the crumpled horn--
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the maiden all forlorn--
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the man all tattered and torn--
That kissed the maided all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the priest all shaven and shorn--
That married the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the cock that crowed in the morn--
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn,
That married the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the farmer sowing the corn--
That kept the cock that crowed in the morn,
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn,
That married the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt,
That lay in the house that Jack built.

--------------------------------------------

     Visits to St. Elizabeths  《拜访圣.伊丽莎白之家》

     Elizabeth Bishop （伊丽莎白·毕肖普） 1950  /    苏三意思

This is the house of Bedlam.           这就是那家疯人院。

 

This is the man                              这就是那个人
that lies in the house of Bedlam.            那个躺在疯人院里的人。

 

 

This is the time                             这就是那个时间 
of the tragic man                            那个悲剧性人物的
that lies in the house of Bedlam.            他躺在这家疯人院。

 

 

This is a wristwatch                         这是一只腕表
telling the time                             诉说着时间
of the talkative man                         那个滔滔不绝的男人
that lies in the house of Bedlam.            他躺在这家疯人院。

 

 

This is a sailor                             这是一个水手 
wearing the watch                            戴着那只表
that tells the time                          诉说着时间  
of the honored man                           给那个可敬的人
that lies in the house of Bedlam.            他躺在这家疯人院。

 

This is the roadstead all of board           这是登船的碇泊处
reached by the sailor                        那水手从那里上下
wearing the watch                            他戴着那手表  
that tells the time                          报时
of the old, brave man                        给那个又老又勇敢的人
that lies in the house of Bedlam.            他现在躺在这家疯人院。   

 

 

These are the years and the walls of the ward,这些就是现在的岁月和高墙内的监牢，
the winds and clouds of the sea of board      甲板上大海的风风雨雨
sailed by the sailor                          那水手都经历过
wearing the watch                             他戴着那手表
that tells the time                           报时 
of the cranky man                             给那暴躁的人
that lies in the house of Bedlam.             他躺在这家疯人院。

 

 

This is a Jew in a newspaper hat              这是一个犹太人带了一个纸帽
that dances weeping down the ward             他在监牢里跳着哭着
over the creaking sea of board                曾经穿过海上吱吱作响的甲板
beyond the sailor                             远离那水手
winding his watch                             水手在上表的发条
that tells the time                           那表报时
of the cruel man                              给那个可恶的人
that lies in the house of Bedlam.             那个人他现在躺在这家疯人院里。

 

 

This is a world of books gone flat.           这是一个连书也乏味的世界
This is a Jew in a newspaper hat              这是一个戴着纸帽的犹太人
that dances weeping down the ward             他在号子里又跳又哭闹
over the creaking sea of board                在吱吱作响的海上甲板
of the batty sailor                           远处是古怪的那个水手
that winds his watch                          他在给他的表上发条
that tells the time                           那手表告诉时间
of the busy man                               给这个忙碌的人
that lies in the house of Bedlam.             他现在就躺在这家疯人院里。

 

 

This is a boy that pats the floor             这是一个男孩他拍着地板
to see if the world is there, is flat,        看是否这世界还存在，还是平的，
for the widowed Jew in the newspaper hat      因为那寡居的犹太人戴着纸帽
that dances weeping down the ward             他在号子里跳着闹着
waltzing the length of a weaving board        以华尔兹迂回地穿过整个甲板
by the silent sailor                          那个沉默的水手
that hears his watch                          他还听着手表
that ticks the time                           手表滴答报时  
of the tedious man                            给那沉闷的人
that lies in the house of Bedlam.             他现在躺在这疯人院里。

 

 

These are the years and the walls and the door这些就是经过的岁月和监牢的门
that shut on a boy that pats the floor        关了一个拍地板的男孩
to feel if the world is there and flat.       为感知一下这世界是不是还在那里并是平的。
This is a Jew in a newspaper hat              这是一个戴纸帽的犹太人
that dances joyfully down the ward            他快乐地在号子里舞蹈
into the parting seas of board                在甲板的风浪之间
past the staring sailor                       经过那目不转睛的水手
that shakes his watch                         他正摇晃着手表
that tells the time                           手表能报时
of the poet, the man                          给那个诗人，就是这个人
that lies in the house of Bedlam.             他现在躺在这疯人院里。 

 

 

This is the soldier home from the war.        这就是退役士兵之家。   
These are the years and the walls and the door这就是走过来的岁月和高墙以及大门
that shut on a boy that pats the floor        关了一个拍地板的男孩他
to see if the world is round or flat.         想看看这世界是圆的还是扁的。

This is a Jew in a newspaper hat              这是一个戴纸帽的犹太人
that dances carefully down the ward,          他认真地跳着进入号子，
walking the plank of a coffin board           行走在厚厚的棺材板上         
with the crazy sailor                         和那疯狂的水手
that shows his watch                          显摆他的手表
that tells the time                           会报时
of the wretched man                           给这可怜的人
that lies in the house of Bedlam.             他现在躺在这家疯人院里。

 

这首诗歌最初觉得从形式上看很调皮，因为是对“Jack”的模仿，但后来越读就会发现，实际上在不断的重复中，主题变得沉重而残酷了。不过，诗人没有象中国人一样爱憎分明地说谁是好人谁是坏人，看看中国人批文革，似乎一切都黑白分明，你看毕氏，还在哀叹一个纳粹，所以才深，所以不浅薄，她用自己的眼光在看问题，而不是用政府给的腔调。这首诗几乎是她最著名的。不过我不同意人们把其中的犹太人当作庞德，因为庞德是反犹太人的，绝对不可能是同一人；另外，从语法上看也是诗里总共有3人，那个老人才是庞德，犹太人是个对比而已。他们似乎在一起，在疯人院里，说明这个世界都疯了。

 

Roosters 是毕的另外一首诗歌，也很有趣，表现了一种内在的冲突。

 

这句AUDEN诗歌中的“For poetry makes nothing happen”原来是叶兹的话。诗歌，还是会永远继续下去。真不敢相信我以前是那么看待诗歌的，看来确实隔行如隔山呵。

 

“现代诗歌”到此全部结束。日积月累，收获多多。

（学习笔记）