William Butler Yeats 叶芝文体欣赏

And bending down beside the glowing bars， Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead, And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
2 Vocabulary
• 首先,从词数上看,全诗整好100个词,除开其 中18个双音节词和一个三音节词(overhead) 外,其余全是单音节词。这使得诗歌的节奏 简单轻快,因为在这一节里,诗人主要以一种 叙事的口吻在勾画“你”在年老时依偎在 炉火旁阅读本诗,从而陷入深深回忆的情景, 这样的词汇选择及排列营造出一种孤独宁 静的情景。
How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true; But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face.
Vocabulary
When you are old and gray and full of sleep And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
当你老了
袁可嘉译 当你老了，头白了，睡意昏沉， 炉火旁打盹，请取下这部诗歌， 慢慢读，回想你过去眼神的柔和， 回想它们昔日浓重的阴影；
多少人爱你青春欢畅的时辰， 爱慕你的美丽，假意或真心， 只有一个人爱你那朝圣者的灵魂， 爱你衰老了的脸上痛苦的皱纹； 垂下头来，在红光闪耀的炉子旁， 凄然地轻轻诉说那爱情的消逝， 在头顶的山上它缓缓踱着步子， 在一群星星中间隐藏着脸庞。 ──1893
How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true; But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face.
1 Speech sound
• ,《当你年老时》基本上采用的是抑扬格五音步,但 诗的第三、四、五、六、八、十行中有一、两个 音步或没有重读或没有轻读。然而,这样的节奏安 排不但没有破坏全诗节奏的统一,反而增添一些变 化,使其不那么单调。同时,这样的变化更加突出了 其它的重读音步下词汇的意义,尤其第十行中开头 的Murmur一词采用扬抑格,更是吸引了读者的注 意。因为它是一个非常形象的拟声词,生动地刻画 出了“你”年老时唠唠叨叨、喃喃自语的神态。 这几处的格律变化,一方面营造出凄凉孤寂的情绪 氛围,另一方面也是作者对诗中“你”的含蓄提醒: 真爱稍纵即逝,莫等老时空抱怨。
And bending down beside the glowing bars， Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead, And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
Vocabulary
• 最后,从词的选用上看,全诗几乎全部使用了 简单的日常词汇(amid除外)。这恰好偏离了 诗歌通常偏爱使用的“词汇潜势”,即使用 大量的诗歌独享的古朴词汇、词汇变异等。 但诗人对这些简单日常用词的完美运用,创 造出凄美的诗化意境,反而产生了一种更强 烈的艺术效果———朴素美。
When you are old and gray and full of sleep And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
3 修辞
• 重复，反讽 ，拟人 and一词在全诗共出现11次,它的重复使用,一方面增强 了全诗的衔接和连贯,另一方面控制着全诗的节奏,使全诗 显得和谐统一。尤其在最后两行, and的多次使用,形象地 描绘了“爱神逃走”后的距离感,增加了全诗的凄美氛围。 其次,诗歌的第二节是典型的反讽。Many对one man,moments of glad grace对pilgrim sou,l beauty对sorrows of your changing face,两组对比以单词but连接,反差非常强烈 和直接,是全诗的“诗眼”所在。它强调了诗人对“你”的 爱不同于芸芸大众,他爱的是“你朝圣者的灵魂”———为 爱尔兰解放事业献身———的高尚的爱。最后,在诗的最后 一节,Love的首字母大写,并且和后面的动词fled, paced及 hid一起构成了拟人的修辞手法。这表面上为了创造一种轻 松的语气,实际上和前面的a little sadly形成鲜明的对比,更凸 显了诗歌凄美意境
3 rhetoric
When you are old and gray and full of sleep And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
4 Structure and Cohesive Devices
When you are old and gray and full of sleep And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
And bending down beside the glowing bars， Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead, And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true; But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face.
When You Are Old
When you are old and gray and full of sleep And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true; But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face. And bending down beside the glowing bars， Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead, And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
William Butler Yeats
Stylistic Features of When You Are Old
William Butler Yeats
• William Butler Yeats (pronounced /ˈje ɪts/; 13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939) was an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. • In 1923 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for what theNobel Committee described as "inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.
Speech sound
从押韵上看,全诗的尾韵是最常见的单韵,且单节按抱韵 abba,cddc, effe押韵。这样的押韵十分精致,表现出诗歌正 式和庄重,甚至有点圣歌的韵味。同时,元音/ou/在单词you, old, slowly, shadow, moments, sou,l sorrows, glowing, overhead中的多次出现,几乎贯穿全诗,可以说是辅音韵 （consonance)的典型使用(除shadows和sorrows外),这几 个词除了加强全诗的节奏,让全诗更加连贯、一气呵成以 外,还因其发音的持续时间更长而营造出一种舒缓柔和的 情绪,诗歌的浪漫抒情性由此体现。此外,头韵/gr/在单词 grey, grace和/gl/在单词glad, glowing中的使用,不但有助 于表达作者沉重失落的心绪,还让年轻时和年老时的“你” 形成鲜明的对比,产生强烈的冲突,增添了诗的凄凉性