Lesson 4 Edgar Allen Poe 美国文学

About Helen--海伦
primitive state of development‖
V. Poe as a literary critic (his aesthetics)
Poe作为文学评论家（他的美学观）
• 1. Aesthetic writings: ―The Philosophy of Composition‖ ―The Poetic Principle‖ • 2. Aesthetic ideas: A. Brevity: the poem should be short, readable at one sitting
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
• • • • • I. Literary Status 埃德加. 爱伦坡的文学地位 Pioneer of American Horror Tales 美国恐怖小说的先驱 Pioneer of American Detective Tales 美 国侦探小说先驱 • Pioneer of American Psycho-Analytic fiction 美国心理分析小说先驱 • Editor, Poet and Professional literary critic 编辑，诗人，文学评论家
• IV. Controversial Comments on Poe
• Probably the most controversial and most misunderstood literary figure in American literary history
• Poe 也许是美国文学历史上最备受争议的人物。
To Helen
• Background 致海伦的背景 • Edgar Allan Poe wrote ―To Helen‖ as a reflection on the beauty of Mrs. Jane Stith Stanard, of Richmond, Va., who died in 1824. She was the mother of one of Poe‘s school classmates, Robert Stanard. When Robert invited Edgar, then 14, to his home (at 19th and East Grace Streets in Richmond) in 1823, Poe was greatly taken with the 27year-old woman, who is said to have urged him to write poetry. He was later to write that she was his first real love. 致海伦这首诗是爱伦坡纪念 Jane Stith Standard 夫人， 1824年过世。 Standard 夫人是爱伦坡同学的妈妈，爱伦坡 第一次见到她是在同学家里，里士满 东格莱士街19号， 1823年，当时爱伦坡只有14岁，惊叹于Standard夫人的美 貌。Standard 夫人待人友善并鼓励爱伦坡写诗，后来爱伦 坡写道 Standard夫人是他的 first love.
死去也是一个最诗意的主题。
• C. Purity: Poe is opposed to the heresy of the didactic and called for pure poetry. What he seems to be saying is that art lies not so much in what is being said as in the way it says it. • 纯正：Poe被认为是主流诗歌之外的一个异类，他认为艺 术并不在于它被说成该是艺术的样子。 • Besides, he stresses rhythm, defines true poetry as ―the rhythmical creation of beauty‖ and declares that ―music is the perfection of the soul, or ideas, of poetry.‖ Poe 强调诗歌的韵 律，他认为诗歌是音律创造的美，并称音乐使得灵魂，思 想，诗歌更完美。 • He cited his own poem ―The Raven‖ of 108 lines to show his aesthetics : a sense of melancholy over the death of a beloved beautiful young woman pervades the whole poem. • 他以自己的108行诗 《乌鸦》为例子，该诗歌整个气氛就 是哀伤– 作者喜欢的美丽姑娘死去，这一悲伤充满了整首 诗歌。
• 7. Poe was also a full rational human being with an intuitive faculty; he was immensely interested in deduction and induction. He wrote half a dozen detective stories. • Poe 同时也是一个直觉超强的理性主义者；他对推 理和归纳很感兴趣，写了不少推理小说
• Born in an actor and actress’ family – his parents died when he was very small –adopted by a Virginia rich businessman John Allan – entered the Virginia University at 17 – West Point where he began to write poetry – then tales – editor of magazines such as The Southern Literary Messenger, Graham’s magazine, etc.
诗歌必须简洁
B. Beauty: the chief aim is beauty, namely to produce a feeling of beauty in the minds of the reader
美，给读者创造一种美。
The melancholy is the most legitimate of all poetic tones; the death of a beautiful woman is the most poetic topic in the world.忧郁是所有诗歌调子里面最真实的一种情感；美丽姑娘的
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• 4. Baudelaire first took note of the psychological content of Poe’s tales and regarded Poe as ―a writer of nerves‖, and Erich Heller saw Poe’s contribution to the ―discovery and colonization of the mind‖; what interests Poe most is the deep abyss of the unconscious and subconscious mental activity of the people. Poe 在精神分析小说做出了贡献，他对非意识 和潜意识的精神活动的分析非常感兴趣。 • 5. Poe’s assumption seems to be that every mind is half mad or capable of slipping into insanity. As a result of this, his fictional characters are mostly neurotics. Poe 认为每个人都有 神经质的一面，所以他的小说主人公大多是神经病患者。 • 6. Poe’s heroes are mostly ―isolatoes‖, with no sense of identity, no names even, alienation from society. 他的小说主 人公大多没有确切的身份，没有名字，远离社会。
VI. Poe’s Writing Features 写作特点
• 1. Poe was a fascinating man of imagination. 富有想象力 • 2. In theme, Poe anticipated 20th century literature in his treatment of the disintegration of the self in a world of nothingness. 主题：虚无 • 3. Poe was sensitive enough to feel the pressure of a world where science and reason reign supreme, where ―there is neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help from pain.‖ • Poe 敏感地感受到 一个被科技和理性统治的世界，没有喜悦，没 有爱，没有光，没有确信，没有和平，没有缓解痛苦的帮助。
II. Life and Career
• Poe 生在一个演员家庭，当Poe很小的时候他的父母就过世 了，由弗吉尼亚的商人 John Allan 收养。Poe 17岁进入弗吉 尼亚大学学习。他在西点军校任职期间开始写诗歌，神话 ，做过杂志的编辑 如《南方文学信使》，《格雷厄姆杂志 》等。
• At 27 he married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia who died very young in 1847. Poe 27岁时和他13岁的表妹结婚，他的表妹 太太很年轻就离开了人世，1847.
III. Edgar Allan Poe’s Works
• Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque 《奇异怪诞故事 集》 • MS. Found in a Bottle 《瓶子里发现的手稿》 • The Murders in the Rue Morgue 《毛格街杀人案》 • The Fall of the House of Usher 《厄舍古屋的倒塌》 • The Masque of the Red Death 《红色死亡的化妆舞会 》 • The Cask of Amontillado 《一桶酒的故事》 • The Raven 《乌鸦》 • Israfel 《伊斯拉菲尔》 • Annabel Lee 《安娜贝尔•李》 • To Helen 《致海伦》 • The Poetic Principle 《诗歌原理》 • The Philosophy of Composition 《创作哲学》
• Reasons: • His criticisms against Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 他曾发
表过对 朗费罗的负面评论。
• Negative comments Emerson– ―jingle man‖ 爱默生评论他是一个叮当诗人—顺口
溜 Mark Twain – Poe’s unreadable 不值得一读 Henry James – ―enthusiasm for Poe is the mark of a decidedly