英美诗歌选读第八讲.docVIP

英美诗歌选读 第八讲 叙事诗 　　第一节史诗 　　史诗可分为三种，即史诗（epic），戏拟史诗（epic satire）和英雄叙事诗（heroic narrative）。 　　一、史诗 　　史诗指一种宏篇巨制且自成一卷的叙事诗，用高雅的语言叙述英雄的事迹，风格庄严华美，多用精巧的修辞手法，如史诗明喻等。早期诗史多为民族传奇，往往被看成是一个民族的伟大文化财富之一，如英国民族史诗《贝奥武甫》（Beowulf）即是如此。其他史诗有斯宾塞的《仙后》（The Faerie Queen， 1590~1596），贾尔斯?弗莱彻（Giles Fletcher， 1586-1623）的《基督的胜利》（Christs Victorie， and Triumph in Heaven， and Earth， over， and after Death， 1610），弥尔顿的《失乐园》（Paradise Lost， 1667）、《复乐园》（Paradise Regained， 1671）。布莱克的《弥尔顿》也可以看作是一部史诗。 　　《贝奥武甫》现代译文第735行~第766行描述了贝奥武甫在鹿厅与巨怪葛婪代的激战： 　　Mighty and canny， 　　Hegylac’s kinsman was keenly watching 　　for the first move the monster would make. 　　Nor did the creature keep him waiting 　　but struck suddenly and started in； 　　he grabbed and mauled a man on his bench， 　　bit into his bone-lappings， bolted down his blood 　　and gorged on him in lumps， leaving the body 　　utterly lifeless， eaten up 　　hand and foot. Venturing closer， 　　his talon was raised to attack Beowulf 　　where he lay on the bed， he was bearing in 　　with open claw when the alert hero’s 　　comeback and armlock forestalled him utterly. 　　The captain of evil discovered himself 　　in a handgrip harder than anything 　　He had ever encountered in any man 　　on the face of the earth. Every bone in his body 　　quailed and recoiled， but he could not escape. 　　He was desperate to flee to his den and hide 　　with the devil’s litter， for in all his days 　　he had never been clamped or cornered like this. 　　Then Hygelac’s trusty retainer recalled 　　his bedtime speech， sprang to his feet 　　and got a firm hold. Fingers were bursting， 　　the monster back-tracking， the man overpowering. 　　The dread of the land was desperate to escape， 　　to take a roundabout and flee 　　to his lair in the fens. The latching power 　　in his fingers weakened； it was the worst trip 　　the terror-monger had taken to Heorot. [1] 　　（Beowulf， a verse translation by Seamus Heaney） 　　斯宾塞《仙后》的内容如诗人在卷首序诗所言，“激烈的战斗和