来自诺奖得主的英文诗歌

据诺贝尔奖官方网站消息，诺贝尔文学奖于北京时间10月8日19时正式揭晓，来自美国的诗人Louise Glück获奖，获奖理由是“因为她那无可辩驳的诗意般的声音，用朴素的美使个人的存在变得普遍”。

据诺贝尔奖官方网站介绍，美国诗人Louise Glück于1943年出生于纽约，现居马萨诸塞州剑桥市。除了写作，她还是耶鲁大学的英语教授。

今天我们来欣赏几首来自她的诗篇。

诗歌是超越语言的艺术，阅读诗歌也是英语启蒙的最佳方式。例如我们的教材hats on top中，有许多歌谣也是一首首动人的小诗，为孩子们勾勒精彩的世界。诗歌是一种语言的存在，但有时它可以超越语言，千百年来各民族都创作出优秀的诗篇，值得我们传颂和学习。

诗歌的核心是创造力，而在创造中充满了神秘与未知，优秀的诗人总能用文字勾画出令人向往的世界，生活是创作的源泉，而诗歌是生活的凝练，有所飞跃，将平淡的生活升华为隽永的印象，持续地打动读者。Glück的诗歌总是抒写一些人类所共有的情感和体验，并将源自生活的事件编织成精美篇章，所以动人，

诗歌一边牵连生活，另一边牵连着哲学，不过诗歌和哲学的思维方式全然不同，它不属于所谓的理性——科学理性、技术理性，也不属于通用的理性范畴。准确来定义，它是超理性。这就是兰波所言的“我也是他者。(I is someone else)” 写诗和读诗都是一种心灵的对话，我们在阅读Glück诗歌时，也会被作者引诱，思考内在的问题。

A Myth of Devotion

Louise Glück - 2006

When Hades decided he loved this girlhe built for her a duplicate of earth,everything the same, down to the meadow,but with a bed added.Everything the same, including sunlight,because it would be hard on a young girlto go so quickly from bright light to utter darknessGradually, he thought, he"d introduce the night,first as the shadows of fluttering leaves.Then moon, then stars. Then no moon, no stars.Let Persephone get used to it slowly.In the end, he thought, she"d find it comforting.A replica of earthexcept there was love here.Doesn"t everyone want love?He waited many years,building a world, watchingPersephone in the meadow.Persephone, a smeller, a taster.If you have one appetite, he thought,you have them all.Doesn"t everyone want to feel in the nightthe beloved body, compass, polestar,to hear the quiet breathing that saysI am alive, that means alsoyou are alive, because you hear me,you are here with me. And when one turns,the other turns—That"s what he felt, the lord of darkness,looking at the world he hadconstructed for Persephone. It never crossed his mindthat there"d be no more smelling here,certainly no more eating.Guilt? Terror? The fear of love?These things he couldn"t imagine;no lover ever imagines them.He dreams, he wonders what to call this place.First he thinks: The New Hell. Then: The Garden.In the end, he decides to name itPersephone"s Girlhood.A soft light rising above the level meadow,behind the bed. He takes her in his arms.He wants to say I love you, nothing can hurt youbut he thinksthis is a lie, so he says in the endyou"re dead, nothing can hurt youwhich seems to hima more promising beginning, more true.

Persephone the Wanderer

Louise Glück - 2006

In the first version, Persephoneis taken from her motherand the goddess of the earthpunishes the earth—this isconsistent with what we know of human behavior,that human beings take profound satisfactionin doing harm, particularlyunconscious harm:we may call thisnegative creation.Persephone"s initialsojourn in hell continues to bepawed over by scholars who disputethe sensations of the virgin:did she cooperate in her rape,or was she drugged, violated against her will,as happens so often now to modern girls.As is well known, the return of the beloveddoes not correctthe loss of the beloved: Persephonereturns homestained with red juice likea character in Hawthorne—I am not certain I willkeep this word: is earth"home" to Persephone? Is she at home, conceivably,in the bed of the god? Is sheat home nowhere? Is shea born wanderer, in other wordsan existentialreplica of her own mother, lesshamstrung by ideas of causality?You are allowed to likeno one, you know. The charactersare not people.They are aspects of a dilemma or conflict.Three parts: just as the soul is divided,ego, superego, id. Likewisethe three levels of the known world,a kind of diagram that separatesheaven from earth from hell.You must ask yourself:where is it snowing?White of forgetfulness,of desecration—It is snowing on earth; the cold wind saysPersephone is having sex in hell.Unlike the rest of us, she doesn"t knowwhat winter is, only thatshe is what causes it.She is lying in the bed of Hades.What is in her mind?Is she afraid? Has somethingblotted out the ideaof mind?She does know the earthis run by mothers, this muchis certain. She also knowsshe is not what is calleda girl any longer. Regardingincarceration, she believesshe has been a prisoner since she has been a daughter.The terrible reunions in store for herwill take up the rest of her life.When the passion for expiationis chronic, fierce, you do not choosethe way you live. You do not live;you are not allowed to die.You drift between earth and deathwhich seem, finally,strangely alike. Scholars tell usthat there is no point in knowing what you wantwhen the forces contending over youcould kill you.White of forgetfulness,white of safety—They saythere is a rift in the human soulwhich was not constructed to belongentirely to life. Earthasks us to deny this rift, a threatdisguised as suggestion—as we have seenin the tale of Persephonewhich should be readas an argument between the mother and the lover—the daughter is just meat.When death confronts her, she has never seenthe meadow without the daisies.Suddenly she is no longersinging her maidenly songsabout her mother"sbeauty and fecundity. Wherethe rift is, the break is.Song of the earth,song of the mythic vision of eternal life—My soulshattered with the strainof trying to belong to earth—What will you do,when it is your turn in the field with the god?

Vespers

Louise Glück - 1992

In your extended absence, you permit meuse of earth, anticipatingsome return on investment. I must reportfailure in my assignment, principallyregarding the tomato plants.I think I should not be encouraged to growtomatoes. Or, if I am, you should withholdthe heavy rains, the cold nights that comeso often here, while other regions gettwelve weeks of summer. All thisbelongs to you: on the other hand,I planted the seeds, I watched the first shootslike wings tearing the soil, and it was my heartbroken by the blight, the black spot so quicklymultiplying in the rows. I doubtyou have a heart, in our understanding ofthat term. You who do not discriminatebetween the dead and the living, who are, in consequence,immune to foreshadowing, you may not knowhow much terror we bear, the spotted leaf,the red leaves of the maple fallingeven in August, in early darkness: I am responsiblefor these vines.

The Red Poppy

Louise Glück - 1992

The great thingis not havinga mind. Feelings:oh, I have those; theygovern me. I havea lord in heavencalled the sun, and openfor him, showing himthe fire of my own heart, firelike his presence.What could such glory beif not a heart? Oh my brothers and sisters,were you like me once, long ago,before you were human? Did youpermit yourselvesto open once, who would neveropen again? Because in truthI am speaking nowthe way you do. I speakbecause I am shattered.

The Past

Louise Glück - 2014

Small light in the sky appearingsuddenly betweentwo pine boughs, their fine needlesnow etched onto the radiant surfaceand above thishigh, feathery heaven—Smell the air. That is the smell of the white pine,most intense when the wind blows through itand the sound it makes equally strange,like the sound of the wind in a movie—Shadows moving. The ropesmaking the sound they make. What you hear nowwill be the sound of the nightingale, Chordata,the male bird courting the female—The ropes shift. The hammocksways in the wind, tiedfirmly between two pine trees.Smell the air. That is the smell of the white pine.It is my mother’s voice you hearor is it only the sound the trees makewhen the air passes through thembecause what sound would it make,passing through nothing?

October (section I)

Louise Glück - 2004

Is it winter again, is it cold again,didn"t Frank just slip on the ice,didn"t he heal, weren"t the spring seeds planteddidn"t the night end,didn"t the melting iceflood the narrow gutterswasn"t my bodyrescued, wasn"t it safedidn"t the scar form, invisibleabove the injuryterror and cold,didn"t they just end, wasn"t the back gardenharrowed and planted—I remember how the earth felt, red and dense,in stiff rows, weren"t the seeds planted,didn"t vines climb the south wallI can"t hear your voicefor the wind"s cries, whistling over the bare groundI no longer carewhat sound it makeswhen was I silenced, when did it first seempointless to describe that soundwhat it sounds like can"t change what it is—didn"t the night end, wasn"t the earthsafe when it was planteddidn"t we plant the seeds,weren"t we necessary to the earth,the vines, were they harvested?

作者简介

路易丝·格吕克（Louise Glück）于1943年出生于纽约，在长岛（Long Island）长大，曾就读莎拉·劳伦斯学院（Sarah Lawrence College）和哥伦比亚大学（Columbia University），被许多人认为是美国最有才华的当代诗人之一，她的诗歌以其精湛的技术，敏锐的洞察力以及对孤独、家庭关系、离婚和死亡的洞察力而闻名。诗人罗伯特·哈斯（Robert Hass）称她为“现在写作的最纯正，最有成就的抒情诗人之一”。 2020年，她以“朴实的美感使个人存在普世化的鲜明诗意之声”（ "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."）获得了诺贝尔文学奖。

格吕克创作了12本诗歌集，其中包括近期的《忠实与贤惠之夜》（Faithful and Virtuous Night，2014，荣获美国国家图书奖），以及《1962-2012年诗选》（2012，曾获得洛杉矶时报图书奖）以及论文集《美国独创性》（2017年）。

格吕克（Glück）的早期作品中，人物角色经历了失恋、家庭变故或身处绝望的余波中，而她的后来作品继续探索自我的痛苦。她的第一本诗集《第一胎》（Firstborn，1968年）因其纯熟的技艺以及对孤独的叙述而受到认可。海伦·范德勒（Helen Vendler）在《新共和国》（New Republic）对《沼泽地上的房子》（The House on Marshland，1975）的评论中论述了格吕克对故事的运用。 “格吕克的神秘叙事邀请我们参与：我们必须填充故事创造情境，用虚构人物代替自己，让讲述者可以说出自己的台词，解读其含义，揭示这个寓言，” 海伦·范德勒补充说：“后来，我想……我们读这首诗，而是将其作为一个用自己的术语完成的真理，反映出经验所包含的无数种构型。”诗人批评家罗莎娜·沃伦（Rosanna Warren）认为，格吕克诗歌的力量“使抒情诗人“我”成为关注的主体和对象”。

格吕克的诗集包括《第一胎》，《沼泽地上的房子》，《花园》（The Garden，1976年），《降落的人物》（Descending Figure ，1980年），《阿喀琉斯的胜利》（The Triumph of Achilles ，1985年），《阿拉拉特》（Ararat ，1990年）以及普利策奖获奖的《野生鸢尾》（The Wild Iris ，1992年），通过探索他们最深刻，最亲密的感受，引导读者进入内心旅程。

格吕克（Glück）创造诗歌的能力是很多人可以理解，相关，甚至是完全地经历过的，这源于她直截了当的语言和诗意的声音。温迪·莱瑟（Wendy Lesser）在对格吕克（Glück）的《阿喀琉斯的胜利》（Triumph of Achilles）的评论中指出，“直接”是这里的常用词：格吕克的语言非常直截了当，非常接近普通语言的用法。然而，她对节奏和重复的精心选择，甚至是惯用的模糊短语的特殊性，都使她的诗歌具有非口语化的意义。这种声音的力量很大一部分来自于以自我为中心，因为从字面上看，格吕克诗歌中的词语似乎直接来自于自身的中心。”

因为格吕克（Glück）如此有效地撰写了有关失望，拒绝，失落和孤立的文章，所以评论者经常将她的诗歌称为“荒凉”或“黑暗”。评论家唐·博根（Don Bogen）感到格吕克（Glück）的“基本关切”是“背叛，死亡，爱和伴随的失落感……她是堕落世界的诗人。”斯蒂芬·伯特（Stephen Burt）回顾了自己的作品集《阿韦诺（Averno）》（2006），并指出：“除西尔维亚·普拉斯（Sylvia）Plath）之外，很少有诗人听起来如此疏远，如此沮丧，并从美学上使这种疏离变得有趣。”

读者和评论家也为格吕克的创造力而赞叹不已，这些诗歌创造出具有梦幻般品质的诗歌，同时又处理了充满激情和情感主题的现实。霍莉·普拉多（Holly Prado）在《洛杉矶时报》关于《阿奇里斯的胜利》（1985年）的书评中宣称，格吕克的诗歌之所以行之有效，是因为她的声音无可挑剔，在我们的当代世界中引起了共鸣，使诗歌和有远见的人交织在一起。

格吕克（Glück）的普利策奖获奖作品《荒野鸢尾》（The Wild Iris，1992）清楚地展示了她富有远见的诗意。这本书分三部分写在一个花园里，想象着三种声音：花朵对园丁诗人，园丁诗人和无所不知的神像说话。海伦·文德勒（Helen Vendler）描述了“格吕克的语言如何复兴了深度断言的可能性，就像德尔菲三脚架一样断言。”断言的话通常是谦虚，平淡，平常的。正是他们的层级和超凡脱俗的语气使他们与众不同。这不是社会预言的声音，而是精神预言的声音，这种声音没有多少女性敢于主张。

草地丛（Meadowlands）（1996）是格吕克（Glück）继《荒野鸢尾》之后的第一部新作品，其灵感来自希腊和罗马神话。根据《纽约时报》书评中的黛博拉·加里森（Deborah Garrison）的说法，这本书利用奥德修斯和佩内洛普的声音来创建“一种在婚姻中的高低修辞实验”。

维塔·诺瓦（Vita Nova，1999年）在耶鲁大学授予格吕克（Glück）著名的波林根奖。格吕克在接受哈佛大学倡导者布莱恩·菲利普斯（Brian Phillips）的采访时说：“这本书写得非常快……一开始，我想这是一卷书，开始写了就停不下来。”尽管该系列的表面主题是对婚姻破裂后遗症的考察，但Vita Nova充满了从个人梦想和经典神话原型中汲取的象征。

格吕克（Glück）的下一个作品集《七世纪》（Seven Ages（2001））同样用四十四首诗讲述了神话和个人，这首诗的主题涉及作者一生，从她最早的回忆到对死亡的沉思。格吕克（Glück）的下一本书《阿弗诺（Averno）（2006）》将波斯的神话作为试金石。这本书的诗歌围绕着母女之间的纽带，诗人自己对衰老的恐惧以及关于现代Persephone的叙述。在《纽约时报》上，尼古拉斯·克里斯托弗（Nicholas Christopher）指出格吕克（Glück）的独特兴趣在于：“挖掘集体和个人神话的源泉，以激发她的想象力，并以来之不易的清晰感知和微妙的音乐探求我们最古老、最难以克服的恐惧——孤独和遗忘、爱的消散、记忆的衰退、身体的崩溃和精神的溃败。”

威廉·洛根（William Logan）称格吕克（Glück）的《乡村生活》（A Village Life）（2009年）是“对一位诗人的颠覆性离去，该诗人过去的含义超出了她的能力范围。”这本书是格吕克（Glück）的标志性正式启程，采用长排句来取得新颖如短篇小说的效果。洛根（Logan）将乡村生活看作是后来的《勺子河选集》，因为它使用了“乡村作为考察内部生活的便利镜头，这抵消了她[格吕克]没有生活的记忆”。丹娜·古德伊尔（Dana Goodyear）在为《洛杉矶时报》（Los Angeles Times）审阅这本书时发现，“乡村生活”令人“着迷”，尽管它被认为是讲述“一个垂死的农业社区的故事”，这可能是在意大利，也许是在1950年代到今天之间。 ”固特异补充说：“平凡是这些诗词冒险的一部分；在他们身上，格吕克（Glück）闪避，感伤。差点错过让我们颤抖。”

格吕克（Glück）选取的《 1962-2012年诗歌》（2012年）广受好评。用《纽约时报》评论员德怀特·加纳（Dwight Garner）的话，在强调她的作品的凶猛和“不断提高的道德强度”的同时，该系列还使读者能够看到格吕克形式和主题发展的弧度。亚当·普伦凯特（Adam Plunkett）在回顾新共和国收集的诗歌时说：“很少有作家分享她将水变成血液的才华。但是，从这个崭新的，全面的作品集（涵盖了她的整个职业生涯）中得出的是一幅诗人的肖像，他发出了很多毒液，但现在却以柔和的语气出色地写作。

2003年，格吕克（Glück）被评为美国第十二届诗人桂冠。同年，她被任命为耶鲁大学青年诗人系列的法官，此职位一直任职至2010年。她的论文《论证与理论》（1994年）获得了PEN / Martha Albrand非小说类奖。除了获得普利策奖和波林根奖之外，她的作品还获得了许多奖项和荣誉，包括兰南诗歌奖、萨拉·泰兹代尔纪念奖、麻省理工学院周年奖、华莱士·史蒂文斯奖、国家人文奖以及获得美国艺术与文学学院的诗歌金奖。她获得了古根海姆基金会和洛克菲勒基金会以及国家艺术基金会的研究金。 2020年，她被授予诺贝尔文学奖。

格吕克目前是耶鲁大学的作家，居住在马萨诸塞州的剑桥。