英詩(shī)浩瀚,篇幅長(zhǎng)短不一,長(zhǎng)至成集,短至幾句。本文從實(shí)用角度講解英詩(shī)的賞析:詩(shī)的格律、詩(shī)的押韻、詩(shī)的體式、詩(shī)的評(píng)判。

詩(shī)以高度凝結(jié)的語(yǔ)言表達(dá)著大家的喜怒哀樂,用其特有些步伐與方法影響著大家的精神世界。詩(shī)講究聯(lián)想,運(yùn)用象征、比喻、擬人等各種修辭手法,形成了獨(dú)特的語(yǔ)言藝術(shù)。

1、 詩(shī)的格律

格律是指可以用腳打拍子的步伐,是每一個(gè)音步輕重音節(jié)排列的格式,也是朗讀時(shí)輕重音的依據(jù)。而音步是由重讀音節(jié)和非重讀音節(jié)構(gòu)成的詩(shī)的剖析單位。重讀音節(jié)為揚(yáng)(重),在音節(jié)上用-或ˊ標(biāo)示,非重讀音節(jié)為抑(輕),在音節(jié)上用︶標(biāo)示,音步之間可用/隔開。以下是五種容易見到格式:

1. 抑揚(yáng)格(輕重格)Iambus:是最容易見到的一種格式,每一個(gè)音步由一個(gè)非重讀音節(jié)加一個(gè)重讀音節(jié)構(gòu)成。

As fair / art thou / my bon/nie lass,

So deep / in luve / am I :

And I / will luve / thee still,/ my dear,

Till a` / the seas / gang dry:

Robert Burns(1759-1796): My Luve Is like a Red, Red Rose

注;art=are luve=love bonnie=beautiful a`=all gang=go

上例中為四音步與三音步交叉,可標(biāo)示為:︶-/︶-/︶-/(︶-)

2.揚(yáng)抑格(重輕格)Trochee:每一個(gè)音步由一個(gè)重讀音節(jié)加一個(gè)非重讀音節(jié)構(gòu)成。

下例中為四音步揚(yáng)抑格(少一個(gè)輕音節(jié)),可標(biāo)示為:-︶/-︶/-︶/-

Tyger!/ Tyger!/ burning / bright

In the / forests / of the / night

William Blake: The Tyger

3. 抑抑揚(yáng)格(輕輕重格)Anapaestic foot: 每一個(gè)音步由兩個(gè)非重讀音節(jié)加一個(gè)重讀音節(jié)構(gòu)成。如:三音步抑抑揚(yáng)格︶︶-/︶︶-/︶︶-

Like a child / from the womb,

Like a ghost / from the tomb,

I arise / and unbuild / it again.

4. 揚(yáng)抑抑格(重輕輕格)Dactylic foot: 每一個(gè)音步由一個(gè)重讀音節(jié)加兩個(gè)非重讀音節(jié)構(gòu)成。如:兩音步揚(yáng)抑抑格-︶︶/-︶︶

ˊTouch her not / ˊscornfully,

ˊThink of her / ˊmournfully.

- Thomas Hood1

5. 抑揚(yáng)抑格(輕重輕格)Amphibrach:每一個(gè)音步由一個(gè)非重讀音節(jié)加一個(gè)重讀音節(jié)再加一個(gè)非重讀音節(jié)構(gòu)成。如:三音步抑揚(yáng)抑格︶-︶/︶-︶/︶-︶下例中最后一個(gè)音步為抑揚(yáng)格。

O ˊhush thee / my ˊbabie / thy ˊsire was / a knight2.

在同一首詩(shī)中常會(huì)出現(xiàn)不一樣的格律,格律分析對(duì)朗讀詩(shī)歌有肯定參考價(jià)值。現(xiàn)代詩(shī)中常不遵守規(guī)范的格律。

2、 詩(shī)的押韻

押韻是指通過重復(fù)元音或輔音以達(dá)到肯定音韻成效的詩(shī)歌寫作手法。

1. 尾韻:最容易見到,非常重要的押韻方法。

1) 聯(lián)韻:aabb型。

I shot an arrow into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For, so swiftly it flew, the sight

Could not follow it in its flight.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: The Arrow and the Song

2) 交叉韻:abab型。

Sunset and evening star,

And one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar,

When I put out to sea,

Alfred Tennyson(1809-1892): Crossing the Bar

3) 同韻:有些詩(shī)押韻,一韻到底,大多是在同一節(jié)詩(shī)中共用一個(gè)韻腳。

如下例就共用/i:p/為韻腳。

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost (1874-1963): STOPping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

2. 頭韻:是指一行(節(jié))詩(shī)中幾個(gè)詞開頭的輔音相同,形成押韻。下例中運(yùn)用/f/、/b/與/s/頭韻生動(dòng)寫出了船在海上輕快航行的景象。

The fair breeze blew, the white foam3 flew,

The furrow4 followed free,

We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea.

T.S. Coleridge: Rime5 of the Acient Mariner6

3.內(nèi)韻(同元音):指詞與詞之間緣由的重復(fù)形成的內(nèi)部押韻。

下面一節(jié)詩(shī)中/i/及/i/重復(fù)照應(yīng),呈現(xiàn)出一派歡樂祥和的氛圍。

Spring, the sweet spring, is the years pleasant king;

Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,

Cold dath not sting, the pretty birds do sing:

Cuckoo,jug-jug,pu-we,to-witta-woo!

Thomas Nashe(1567-1601): Spring, the Sweet Spring

3、 詩(shī)的體式

有些詩(shī)分成幾節(jié)(stanza),每節(jié)由若干詩(shī)行組成(每行詩(shī)均以大寫字母開頭);有些詩(shī)則不分節(jié)。現(xiàn)在大家容易見到的詩(shī)體有:

1. 十四行詩(shī) (Sonnet),來自于中世紀(jì)民間抒情短詩(shī),十3、十四世紀(jì)時(shí)尚于意大利,意大利彼特拉克(Petrarch)為代表人物,每行十一個(gè)音節(jié),全詩(shī)一節(jié)八行,加一節(jié)六行,韻腳用abba, abba, cdcdcd (cdecde)。前八行提問,后六行回答。

后來,懷亞特(Thomas Wyatt,1503-1542)將十四行詩(shī)引人英國(guó),五音步抑揚(yáng)格,全詩(shī)三個(gè)四行一個(gè)二行,前三節(jié)提問,后二句結(jié)論。斯賓塞(Edmund Spenser,1552-1599)用韻腳 abab, bcbc,cdcd,ee.莎士比亞(William Shakespeare,1564-1616)用韻腳abab,cdcd,dfdf,gg,稱英國(guó)式或莎士比亞式。舉例見本文第四部分。

2. 打油詩(shī)(Limericks):一般是小笑話甚至是胡謅,一般沒標(biāo)題也無作者名字,含有幽默諷刺性,常運(yùn)用雙關(guān),內(nèi)韻等手法。每首詩(shī)五個(gè)詩(shī)行,押韻為aabba,格律以抑揚(yáng)格和抑抑揚(yáng)格為主。

1) There was a young lady of Nigger

Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;

They returned from the ride

With the lady inside,

And the smile on the face of the tiger.

2) A tutor who taught on the flute7

Tried to teach two tooters to toot,

Is it harder to toot, or

Said the two to the tutor,

To tutor two tooters to toot?

3. 無韻體(Blank Verse):五音步抑揚(yáng)格,不押韻詩(shī)體。

Across the watery8 bale , and shout again,

Responsive to his call, - with quivering peals9,

And long halloos, and screams, and echoes loud.

Redoubled and redoubled:concourse wild

Of jocund10 din11!

William Wordsworth: There Was a Boy

4. 自由詩(shī)(Free Verse):現(xiàn)代詩(shī)中容易見到的體式,長(zhǎng)短不一樣的詩(shī)行存在于同一首詩(shī)中,不講究押韻與格律,只重視詩(shī)歌所表達(dá)的意象和傳遞的情感。美國(guó)詩(shī)人Walt Whitman的(Leaves of Grass)中,就使用此格式。例子見第四部分。

4、 詩(shī)的評(píng)判

對(duì)一首詩(shī),個(gè)人的感受會(huì)有不同。步伐流暢,語(yǔ)言精煉,聯(lián)想新穎的詩(shī)可算是好詩(shī)。堆砌詞藻,一味抒發(fā)感情而無實(shí)質(zhì)內(nèi)容的詩(shī),只能是下乘的詩(shī)。

二十世紀(jì)英美詩(shī)歌很多使用自由詩(shī)體,接近口語(yǔ),可謂大膽革新,大概也是詩(shī)歌進(jìn)步的大勢(shì)所趨吧。以下通過三首詩(shī)的剖析看詩(shī)的評(píng)判。

1. That Time of Year

That time of year thou mayst in me behold12

When yellow leaves,or none,or few, do hang

Upon those boughs13 which shake against the cold,

Bare ruined choirs14 where late the sweet birds sang,

In me thou seest the twilight15 of such day

As after sunset fadeth in the west,

When by and by black night doth take away,

Deaths second self, that seals up all in rest.

In me thou seest the glowing of such fire,

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie.

As the deathbed whereon it must expire,

Consumed with that which it was nourished by.

This you perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,

To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

Notes:mayst:may behold:see late:no long ago thou:you see'st:see

fadeth:fades doth:does seals up all at rest:徹底埋葬

thy:your perceivest: perceive ere long: before long

此詩(shī)是莎士比亞(William Shakespeare, 1564-1616)的一首十四行詩(shī)。作為英國(guó)文學(xué)巨匠,他以37部劇作和154首十四行詩(shī)屹立于世界文壇。

此詩(shī)為五音步抑揚(yáng)格,每一個(gè)詩(shī)行格律為:︶-/︶-/︶-/︶-/︶-/。

全詩(shī)涉及衰老、死亡及愛情問題。前十二行:通過描寫深秋的樹枝黃葉凋零,曾是百鳥爭(zhēng)鳴的歌壇,聯(lián)想到自己青春會(huì)如夕陽(yáng)消逝在遠(yuǎn)方,被黑夜吞沒;自己的青春會(huì)如將盡的柴火奄奄一息,被曾滋養(yǎng)過它的火焰焚化。其中choirs(歌壇),deathbed(靈床)用暗喻手法,同時(shí)又用夕陽(yáng)和柴火象征人的衰老死亡。最后兩行:點(diǎn)題,大家對(duì)馬上訣別的東西會(huì)更珍惜。本文動(dòng)詞變化具備明顯的伊利沙白年代的特征。

2. The Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high oer vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky16 Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin17 of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly18 dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed - and gazed - but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive19 mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss20 of solitude21;

Ans then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

Notes: a crowd, a host of: many sprightly:happy glee:joy

jocund:happy bliss:complete happiness pensive:sadly thoughtful

華茲華斯(William Wordsworth,1770-1850),十九世紀(jì)初英格蘭北部湖區(qū)三大湖畔派詩(shī)人(浪漫主義)之一。此詩(shī)向大家描繪了一幅美好的自然景象,同時(shí)抒發(fā)作者對(duì)自然美景的喜歡。黃水仙據(jù)了解是威爾士國(guó)花(1282年,威爾士歸順英格蘭,被封公國(guó)),在英國(guó)廣泛栽種,春天開花,花期不長(zhǎng)。有很多關(guān)于黃水仙的詩(shī)歌,這首詩(shī)無疑是嶄露頭角的。

全詩(shī)語(yǔ)言精煉,通俗易懂,四音步抑揚(yáng)格,分四節(jié)(stanza),每節(jié)6行,每節(jié)押韻均為ababcc.第一節(jié)寫詩(shī)人孤寂時(shí)外出散步,偶遇水仙;第二節(jié)寫水仙爭(zhēng)相開放,千姿百態(tài);第三節(jié),詩(shī)人看到這景象感到欣喜異常;第四節(jié)寫詩(shī)人在日后憂郁時(shí),回想當(dāng)時(shí)情景,又讓他心中充滿了歡樂,伴隨水仙跳起舞來。

3. Song of Myself

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I loafe and invite my soul,

I learn and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

My tongue, every atom of my blood, formd from this soil, this air,

Born ere of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same,

I, now thirty seven years old in perfect health begin,

Hoping to cease not till death.

Creeds22 and schools in abeyance23,

Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten.

I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard.

Nature without check with original energy.

Notes: a spear of: a piece of school:學(xué)說,流派 hazard:chance

abeyance: the condition of not being in use for a certain time

惠特曼(Walt Whitman,1819-1892),美國(guó)詩(shī)人。此詩(shī)選自其巨著。本文是Song of Myself 一詩(shī)的第一部分,使用自由詩(shī)體,語(yǔ)言接近當(dāng)時(shí)的美國(guó)口語(yǔ)。

文中I指作者,you指讀者,這種寫法使讀者身臨其境,進(jìn)入作者描寫的世界。作者在文中表明人的價(jià)值是平等的,同時(shí)他把自己融入到自然帶給他的啟發(fā)考慮中。

從上看出,詩(shī)歌的賞析評(píng)判并不是可望而不可及,重點(diǎn)要抓住詩(shī)中的意象,知道其語(yǔ)義,以便把握詩(shī)的大意。即使每一個(gè)人的讀后感會(huì)有不同,但每一個(gè)人都會(huì)在閱讀過程中感覺到詩(shī)歌帶來的美和精神上的共鳴。