美国文学诗歌赏析

“The Wild Honey Suckle”
Understand the title: 1. The name honeysuckle comes from the sweet nectar that the flower produces to intoxicate the greedy bee. Its powerful fragrance seduces the human senses as it pervades the air. The perfume of this passionate plant may turn a maiden’s head, hence wild honeysuckle is a symbol of inconstancy in love.2. The word “wild” implies her living place; she lives in wilderness not in paradise or house; so she will not be appreciated by others and feels sorrowful. Also it implies the nature, so we can say the writer is describing the nature.
The Wild Honey Suckle
Philip Freneau
1st stanza:
The honey suckle lives an obscure, unknown, forgotten, serene, and safe life.
2nd stanza: The pure, innocent honey suckle is not contaminated by the vulgar eye of people and protected, embraced, and nurtured by Nature.
3rd stanza: grief upon the flower’s death
4th stanza: nothing gained, nothing lost
The Scarlet Letter
作者：Nathaniel Hawthorne
赏析：
1. A story of rebellion within an emotionally constricted Puritan society.
2. Undisputed masterpiece of Hawthorne. Reveal Hawthorne’s superb craftsmanship
3. Modern psychological insight; secret motivations in human behaviour; guilt & anxiety resulted from sins against humanity, esp. from pride.
4. Setting: Puritan background of New England in 17 C
5. Hawthorne: master of Symbolism.
Pearl= thematic symbol: consequence the sin of adultery has brought to the community and people living in the community.
Letter A= different symbolic meanings (adultery, angel, able, advance, admiration, etc.). The ambiguity is one of the salient features of the work.
6. Hester: committed sin but true to God and herself; not a real sinner; sinful just in the sinful eyes of the conventional Puritans.
7. Chillingworth: physician, cold observer of life, looking on mankind as the subject of experiment; lost in revenge; not true to himself/others/God; real villain of the story, true sinner.
8. Dimmesdale: pa rtner of Hester’s sin; the concealment of the first sin led to the second sin; no longer true to God/others, but kept true to himself; intellectual arrogance & betraying of honesty conflict within him, led to the twisting and distortion of his personality; suffer most in story.
“Song of Myself”
"Song of Myself" is all about the human experience. The human experience, here, means what men of the past, present and future have seen, touched, smelt, and heard. In this poem Whitman is explaining how all of humanity is like one living organism, and no one part is more important than the other. In section 44 of "Song of Myself" Whitman says, "We have thus far exhausted trillions of winters and summers, There are trillions ahead, and trillions ahead of them. Births have brought us richness and variety, And other births will bring us richness and variety. I do not call one greater and one smaller, That which fills its period and place is equal to any." It is clear that Whitman had a perspective of the human race and its history that escaped most writers. More specifically, Whitman speaks of equal contribution to the human
experience in section 42: "Here and there with dimes on the eyes walking, To feed the greed of the belly the brains liberally spooning, Tickets buying, taking, selling, but in to the feast never once going, Many sweating, ploughing, thrashing, and then the chaff for payment receiving, A few idly owning, and they the wheat continually claiming. This is the city and I am one of the citizens, Whatever interests the rest interests me, politics, wars, markets, newspapers, schools, The mayor and councils, banks, tariffs, steamships, factories, stocks, stores, real estate and personal estate.
“Because I Could Not Stop for Death”
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 prota gonist 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 Dickinson’s poems just explain this kind of essence of life, which then lead you to a world of imagination and thinking.
“In a Station of the Metro”.
The poem is essentially a set of images that have unexpected likeness and convey the rare emotion that Pound was experiencing at that time. Arguably the heart of the poem is not the first line, nor the second, but the mental process that links the two together. "In a poem of this sort," as Pound explained, "one is trying to record the precise instant when a thing outward and objective transforms itself, or darts into a thing inward and subjective." This darting takes place between the first and second lines. The pivotal semi-colon has stirred debate as to whether the first line is in fact subordinate to the second or both lines are of equal, independent importance. Pound contrasts the factual, mundane image that he actually witnessed with a metaphor from nature and thus infu ses this “apparition” with visual beauty. There is a quick transition from the statement of the first line to the second line’s vivid metaphor; this ‘super-pository’ technique exemplifies the Japanese haiku style. The word “apparition” is considered crucia l as it evokes a mystical and supernatural sense of imprecision which is then reinforced by the metaphor of the second line. The plosive word ‘Petals’ conjures ideas of delicate, feminine beauty which contrasts with the bleakness of the ‘wet, black bough’. What the poem signifies is questionable; many critics argue that it deliberately transcends traditional form and therefore its meaning is solely found in its technique as opposed to in its content. However when Pound had the inspiration to write this poem few of these considerations came into view. He simply wished to translate his perception of beauty in the midst of ugliness into a single, perfect image in written form.
It is also worth noting that the number of words in the poem (fourteen) is the same as the number of lines in a sonnet. The words are distributed with eight in the first line and six in the second, mirroring the octet-sestet form of the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet.
1. Imagism
2. Petal= beautiful faces in the crowd waiting for the train.
“Stopping by Woods on a Snow Evening”.
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” like many of Frost's poems, explores the theme of the individual caught between nature and civilization. The speaker's location on the border between civilization and wilderness echoes a common theme throughout American literature. The speaker is drawn to the beauty and allure of the woods, which represent nature, but has obligations—“promises to keep”—which draw him away from nature and back to society and the world of men. The speaker is thus faced with a choice of whether to give in to the allure of nature, or remain in the realm of society. Some critics have interpreted the poem as a meditation on death—the woods represent the allure of death, perhaps suicide, which the speaker resists in order to return to the mundane tasks which order daily life.
1. One of his most well-known poems. New Hamshipre.
2. iambic tetrameter
3. Rubaiyat stanza,
4. rhyming shceme: aaba/bbcb/ccdc/dddd
5. chain rhyme
“The Road Not Taken”.
the poem is inspirational, a paean to individualism and non-conformism.
The poem consists of four stanzas. In the first stanza, the speaker describes his position. He has been out walking in the woods and comes to two roads, and he stands looking as far down each one as he can see. He would like to try out both, but doubts he could do that, so therefore he continues to look down the roads for a long time trying to make his decision about which road to take. The ironic interpretation, widely held by critics, is that the poem is instead about regret and personal myth-making, rationalizing our decisions.
In this interpretation, the final two lines:
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
are ironic : the choice made little or no difference at all, the speaker's protestations to the contrary. The speaker admits in the second and third stanzas that both paths may be equally worn and equally leaf-covered, and it is only in his future recollection that he will call one road "less traveled by".
The sigh, widely interpreted as a sigh of regret, might also be interpreted ironically: in a 1925 letter to Cristine Yates of Dickson, Tennessee, asking about the sigh, Frost replied: "It was my rather private jest at the expense of those who might think I would yet live to be sorry for the way I had taken in life."
T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”.
On the surface, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" relays the thoughts of a sexually frustrated middle-aged man
who wants to say something but is afraid to do so, and ultimately does not.The dispute, however, lies in to whom Prufrock is speaking, whether he is actually going anywhere, what he wants to say, and to what the various images refer. The intended audience is not evident. Some believe that Prufrock is talking to another person or directly to the reader, while others believe Prufrock's monologue is internal. Perrine writes "The 'you and I' of the first line are divided parts of Prufrock's own nature", while Mutlu Konuk Blasing suggests that the "you and I" refers to the relationship between the dilemmas of the character and the author. Similarly, critics dispute whether Prufrock is going somewhere during the course of the poem. In the first half of the poem, Prufrock uses various outdoor images (the sky, streets, cheap restaurants and hotels, fog), and talks about how there will be time for various things before "the taking of toast and tea", and "time to turn back and descend the stair." This has led many to believe that Prufrock is on his way to an afternoon tea, in which he is preparing to ask this "overwhelming question". Others, however, believe that Prufrock is not physically going anywhere, but rather, is playing through it in his mind.
Perhaps the most significant dispute lies over the "overwhelming question" that Prufrock is trying to ask. Many believe that Prufrock is trying to tell a woman of his romantic interest in her, pointing to the various images of women's arms and clothing and the final few lines in which Prufrock laments that the mermaids will not sing to him. Others, however, believe that Prufrock is trying to express some deeper philosophical insight or disillusionment with society, but fears rejection, pointing to statements that express a disillusionment with society such as "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons" (line 51). Many believe that the poem is a criticism of Edwardian society and Prufrock's dilemma represents the inability to live a meaningful existence in the modern world. McCoy and Harlan wrote "For many readers in the 1920s, Prufrock seemed to epitomize the frustration and impotence of the modern individual. He seemed to represent thwarted desires and modern disillusionment."
As the poem uses the stream of consciousness technique, it is often difficult to determine what is meant to be interpreted literally or symbolically. In general, Eliot uses imagery which is indicative of Prufrock's character, representing aging and decay. For example, "When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherized upon a table" (lines 2-3), the "sawdust restaurants" and "cheap hotels," the yellow fog, and the afternoon "Asleep...tired... or it malingers" (line 77), are reminiscent of languor and decay, while Prufrock's various concerns about his hair and teeth, as well as the mermaids "Combing the white hair of the waves blown back / When the wind blows the water white and black," show his concern over aging.
Moby Dick Herman Melville
1. Ahab: captain of the whaling ship
2. Pequod: name of the whaling ship
3. Theme: the rebellious struggle of Captain Ahab against the overwhelming, mysterious vastness of the universe and its awesome sometimes merciless forces.
4. Symbols & allegory:
Pequod= microcosm of human society;
The voyage= a search for truth;
Moby Dick= nature (complex, unfathomable, malignant, beautiful), an ultimate mystery of universe.
To Helen Edgar Allan Poe
1. Theme: celebrate the nurturing power of women—Helen’s beauty is soothing and provide safety & security.
2. Create the image & impression of the idealized & unreal woman;
3. Represent beauty, melancholy. Though heart desired, inaccessible.
4. Allusion, assonance, consonance, repetition
5. Ababb/ababa/abbab
6. Naiad= goddess; Psyche= goddess of the soul
Annabel Lee
Rhyme, Rhythm, Repetition: Poe uses three R’s–rhyme, rhythm, and repetition–in “Annabel Lee” to create a harmony of sounds that underscore the exquisite harmony of the narrator’s relationship with his beloved.
Theme Eternal love. The love between the narrator and Annabel Lee is so strong and beautiful and pure that even the seraphs, the highest order of angels in heaven, envy it. They attempt to kill this love by sending a chilling wind that kills Annabel Lee. However, the love remains alive–eternal–because the souls of the lovers remain united. The death of a beautiful woman is a common theme in Poe’s writing.
Poe repeats this rhythmic pattern throughout the poem, perhaps to suggest the rise and fall of the tides. He also repeats key phrases–such as in this kingdom by the sea and my Annabel Lee (or my beautiful Annabel Lee)–to create haunting refrains. In addition, Poe sometimes repeats words or word patterns within a single line, as in (1) many and many a year ago, (2) we loved with a love that was more than love, and (3) my darling–my darling. Poe further enhances the rhythm of the poem with the repetition of consonant sounds (alliteration). Notice, for example, the repetition of the “w” and “l” sounds in this line in Stanza 2: But we loved with a love that was more than love." Poe sometimes couples repetition of consonant sounds with repetition of vowel sounds, as in many and many, love and be loved, and those who were older than we.
Imagery–Darkness and Light: Implied and explicit images of darkness and light occur throughout the poem.
Poe’s Artistic theories
Poems should be short, concise and readable at one sitting;
The aim of poem writing is beauty; the most beautiful thing described by a poem is the death of a beautiful woman; the desirable tone of a poem is melancholy;
He opposed didactic poems;
He stressed the form of poem, especially the beautiful and neat rhyme.
His View and Theme
1) He concludes that “the death of a beautiful
woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical
topic in the world”.
2) Melancholy is the most legitimate of all the
poetic tones.
3) He was interested in imagination and fancy as
well as deduction and induction.
First Stanza
Notice the recurrence of "m" and "n" sounds (alliteration).
Second Stanza
Coveted: envied, resented
Third Stanza
this was the reason: the seraphs' envy
long ago: these words echo many a year ago in Line 1, Stanza 1.
a cloud: Using these words instead of the sky infuses foreboding and gloom while symbolizing the dark envy of the seraphs.
selpulchre: British spelling of sepulcher. Britain, of course, has always had a monarchy, the type of government that would rule in a "kingdom by the sea
Fourth stanza
out of a cloud by night: Use of this phrase emphasizes the dark envy of the angels and their sneaky scheme (which unfolds under the cover of night).
chilling and killing: an example of internal rhyme
Fifth Stanza
The narrator here focuses on three worlds: (1) earth, the realm of humans; (2) heaven, the realm of angels; and (3) hell, the realm of demons. The love between him and Annabel is stronger than any other earthly love and can survive the sinister efforts of the angels and the demons to sabotage蓄意破坏it.
ever, dissever: internal rhyme
Sixth Stanza
Poe stresses imagery of light in this stanza, associating moonbeams with dreams about his beloved and the radiance of stars with her eyes. In the sixth line, he uses a figure of speech called anaphora首语重复法when he writes the word my four times.
"I heard a fly buzz--when I died"
The poems include observations of nature, accounts of a moment’s revel ation, descriptions of sexual stirrings, and meditations on the nature of life and death. Dickinson’s poetry is unique and unconventional in its own way. Her poems have no titles. And her poetic idiom is noted for its laconic brevity, directness and plainness. is told by a narrator who uses past tense to describe the final moments of their life. The poem gives the reader an inside look into the final moments of death from someone who has already died. The fly is the central figure representing the oncoming of death. The poem is full of many metaphors and similes, such as the king mentioned in the poem who represents a belief in religion. The wording of the poem affirms Emily Dickinson's belief in life after death. The poem has a short title but is deep in meaning. Death is inevitable to all who are born, although not all deaths are disturbed by a pesky fly.
“I heard a Fly buzz” employs all of Dickinson’s formal patterns: trimeter and tetrameter iambic lines (four stresses in the first and third lines of each stanza, three in the second and fourth, a pattern Dickinson follows at her most formal); rhythmic insertion of the long dash to interrupt the meter; and an ABCB rhyme scheme. Interestingly, all the rhymes before the final stanza are half-rhymes (Room/Storm, firm/Room, be/Fly), while only the rhyme in the final stanza is a full rhyme (me/see). Dickinson uses this technique to build tension; a sense of true completion comes only with the speaker’s death.。