美国文学-Emily-Dickinson

1、2021/8/61vThe Belle of AmherstThe Belle of AmherstEmily Dickinson(1830-1886)2021/8/62This is my letter to the world,This is my letter to the world,That never wrote to me,- That never wrote to me,- The simple news that Nature told, The simple news that Nature told, With tender majesty. With tender ma

2、jesty. Her message is committed Her message is committed To hands I cannot see; To hands I cannot see; For love of her, sweet countrymen,For love of her, sweet countrymen,Judge tenderly of me!Judge tenderly of me! 2021/8/63vAmong the ranks of other such acclaimed poets as Walt Whitman, Emily Dickins

3、on is considered one of the most original 19th Century American poets. 2021/8/642021/8/652021/8/66bornvon 10 December, 1830vone of most prominent families in Amherst, Ma.2021/8/67vthe second child of Edward Dickinson, who wasa Yale graduatea successful lawyerTreasurer for Amherst Collegea United Sta

4、tes Congressman2021/8/68vHer grandfather, Samuel Dickinson: a Dartmouth graduatean accomplished lawyerone of the founders of Amherst College2021/8/69vHe also built one of the first brick homes in Amherst on Main Street, which is nowa National Historic Landmark The Homesteadone of the now preserved D

5、ickinson homes in the Emily Dickinson Historic District.2021/8/610veducated at Amherst Academy.vAt 17, began college at Mount Holyoke Female SeminaryvBecame ill the spring of her first year and did not return.Seminary seminri n. 学校学校,学院学院Emily Dickinson Museum, Amherst2021/8/611The Dickinson Homeste

6、ad in AmherstThe Dickinson Homestead in Amherst2021/8/612The Dickinson Homestead in Amherst (garden)The Dickinson Homestead in Amherst (garden)2021/8/613The Dickinson Homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts The Dickinson Homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts (bedroom)(bedroom)2021/8/614The Dickinson The D

7、ickinson Homestead in Homestead in AmherstAmherst(Dress)(Dress)2021/8/6152021/8/616vReligion played an important role in her life. vDickinson was terrorized by old-fashioned sermons about damnation(诅咒、下诅咒、下地狱地狱)the frequency of death in that age of high infant and childhood mortality(死亡率死亡率)2021/8/6

8、17vAs her friends moved away and got married, she gradually became estranged(疏离疏离) from the religious beliefs of her community.2021/8/618vknown for being a reclusevShe didnt leave her familys homestead for any reason after the late 1860s.2021/8/6192021/8/620valways wore whitevoften lowered snacks an

9、d treats(点心点心) in baskets to neighborhood children from her window, careful never to let them see her face.2021/8/621va few friends and acquaintances from day to day vBest friend: Thomas Wentworth Higginson, an editor2021/8/622vVery few people knew Emily was secretly writing poetry.vOnly a few peopl

10、e with whom she corresponded ever saw any of her poems.2021/8/623vEveryone expected her to marry and raise a family like most women of her class.vThis all suddenly changed when she was 24.2021/8/624Cast members of the ballet “Emily of Amherst” pose in the living room2021/8/625Return to Amherstvretre

11、ated from all social life in Amherst within a few yearsvalways wore white, like the bride she would never be.vremained in her parents house 2021/8/6262021/8/627vrestricted herself to household work and writing poetryvsometimes sent her poems to people as gifts for valentines or birthdays, along with

12、 a pie or cookiesvOnly a few of her poems were published in her lifetime. 2021/8/628vDickinson died May 15, 1886 of nephritis (kidney disease).2021/8/629vAfter her death, friends and relatives found bundles of her poemswhich they edited and “corrected” and had published in installments (分期分期).Posthu

13、mous Publication2021/8/630vIn 1955, Thomas H. Johnson finally published a collection of her poems： that had not been “corrected.”the versions we read today. 2021/8/631v1. The Biblev2. British writers:Her knowledge of Shakespeare was minute (微小微小的的) and extremely personal.2021/8/632vadmired the works

14、 of John Keats and Elizabeth Barrett Browningvbut avoided the florid (华丽的华丽的) and romantic style of her time2021/8/633va deeply sensitive woman vsoulfully explored her own spirituality, often in poignant, deeply personal poetry- poignant lpinnt adj. 1 伤心至极的伤心至极的; 辛酸的辛酸的 2 令令人心碎的人心碎的, 深深打动人的深深打动人的; 强

15、烈的强烈的, 深刻的深刻的2021/8/634v3. the poetry of Longfellow, Holmes, and Lowell.vShe identified with Hawthornes isolated, gnarled, idiosyncratic characters.-gnarled n:l a.饱经风霜的idiosyncratic lidisilkrtik a. 不同寻常的 2021/8/635vat times characterized as a semi-invalid (病人，残疾者病人，残疾者)a hermita heartbroken introver

16、t (性格内向者性格内向者)a neurotic agoraphobic (焦虑不安的广场或陌生环境恐焦虑不安的广场或陌生环境恐怖症患者怖症患者)2021/8/636vEmily Dickinsons poetry comes out in bursts. vThe poems are short, many of them being based on a single image or symbol.2021/8/637vWithin her little lyrics Dickinson addresses those issues that concerned the whole hu

17、man beings, which include religiondeathimmortalitylovenature2021/8/6382021/8/639v1800 poems, the definitive edition(选定版选定版) of her poetry were published in 1955: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson.2021/8/640vHer modernity is her articulation(表述) of psychological experience skeptical desire for faith2021/

18、8/641vA few universal themes occupied the poet: love, nature, doubt and faith, suffering, death, immortality.these John Donne has called the great granite(坚坚韧的韧的) obsessions(困扰、迷念困扰、迷念) of humankind. 2021/8/642vLife & Death - the largest portion vLove - some are rather bold, even erotic (情欲的情欲的)

19、vNature - about 300 poemsvTime & Eternity2021/8/643In DetailsBased on her own experiences / joys / sorrows v(1) religion doubt and belief about religious subjects 2021/8/644(2) death and immortalityvShe often adopts the pose of having already died before she writes her lyric.2021/8/645(3) lovevS

20、uffering and frustration caused by love vThough she was lonely and isolated, Emily appears to have loved deeply; perhaps only those who have “loved and lost” can love.2021/8/646(4) naturevA fascination(魅力魅力) with nature consumed Emily.vShe summed all her lyrics as “the simple news that nature told”2

21、021/8/647vshe loved “natures creatures” no matter how insignificantthe robin (知更鸟知更鸟) the sparrow (麻雀麻雀)the beethe butterflythe rat vOnly the serpent gave her a chill2021/8/6482021/8/649(5) Pain And Suffering vHer last stanzas become a catalog of grief and its causes: deathwantcolddespairexile2021/8

22、/6502021/8/651(1) poems without titles(2) directness, brevity, compact, severe economy of expression; highly compressed2021/8/652v(3) elliptical, Ambiguity of meaning and syntaxshy of (缺少缺少) being exposedshe will say no more than she mustvsuggesting either a quality of uncertainty or one of finality

23、. 2021/8/653(4) capital letters and the use of dashes emphasis (5) short poems, mainly two stanzas 2021/8/654vher poetry is sometimes brooding(沉思的沉思的) sometimes joyous and celebratory (快乐的快乐的)2021/8/655Nobody knows this little Rose -It might a pilgrim beDid I not take it from the waysAnd lift it up

24、to thee.Only a Bee will miss it -Only a Butterfly,Hastening from far journey -On its breast to lie -Only a Bird will wonder -Only a Breeze will sigh -Ah Little Rose - how easyFor such as thee to die!2021/8/656v(6) rhetoric techniques: personification make some of abstract ideas vivid2021/8/657v(7) l

25、yricvhighly subjectiveOne-fifth of them begin with I - she knows no other consciousness.2021/8/658(8) influence of Christian tradition: vBiblical language and allusions(暗暗示示)vmeter of hymns4 beats+3 beats+4 beats+3 beatsvstanza of 4 linesvmusical device to create cadence2021/8/659 three labels：vRegu

26、lar meter Regular meter vCommon meter Common meter vShort meterShort meter ()Dickinson found poetic freedom within the confines of this meter.2021/8/660vRegular meter hymn meter and ballad meter, also known as Common meterQuatrainsAlternating tetrameter (四音步句四音步句) and trimeter (三音步句三音步句) 2021

27、/8/661(9) new England perspectives: Puritan introspection; brevity and intensity(10) innovation in rhyme2021/8/6622021/8/6632021/8/664vPoetry should be powerful and touching. vThe inspiration(灵感灵感) of the poet came from his inner world or intensity of his emotionsthe past literary traditionsthe nobl

28、e heroes2021/8/665vLike Emerson, she thought that only the real poet could understand the world.vTruth, virtue and beauty are all the one thing. vThe most dignified beauty was embodied by the active, affirmative dignity. (-Emerson) 2021/8/666vPoetry should express ideas through concrete images. vIt

29、was the poets duty to express abstract ideas through vivid and fresh imagery.2021/8/667vShe was against the restriction of the traditional doctrines and argued for the depiction of ones inner world.2021/8/6682. on naturevDickinson observed nature closely and described it vividly but never with the f

30、eeling of being lost in it. 2021/8/669vShe thought that nature was both kind and cruel, which was similar to Tennyson.2021/8/6703. on deathvShe wrote about nearly 600 poems on death.vHer attitude toward immortality was contradictory.2021/8/671v(1) My Life Closed Twice before Its Close v(2) Because I

31、 Cant Stop for Death v(3) I Heard a Fly Buzz When I died v(4) Wild Nights Wild Nights 2021/8/6722021/8/673v1. Critics Viewv2. Stanza Format v3. Meterv4. Charactersv5. Analysis and Commentary2021/8/6741. Critics ViewvAllen Tate said, it deserves to be regarded as “one of the greatest in the English l

32、anguage; it is flawless to the last detail”.- Allen Tate, 1899-1979a distinguished American poet, teacher, and critic2021/8/6752. Stanza Format vEach of the six stanzas has four lines. vA four-line stanza is called a quatrain.2021/8/676Metervthe 1st & 3rd lines: iambic tetrametervthe 2nd & 4

33、th lines: iambic trimeter2021/8/677 1 2 3 4Be CAUSE | I COULD | not STOP | for DEATH, 1 2 3He KIND | ly STOPPED | for ME; 2021/8/678CharactersNarrator: vShe is a woman who calmly accepts death.vIn fact, she seems to welcome death as a suitor who she plans “marry”.2021/8/679Death: vThe suitor who com

34、es calling for the narrator to escort her to . 2021/8/680Immortality: vA passenger in the carriage. Children: vBoys and girls at play in a schoolyard. They symbolize early life. 2021/8/6815. Analysis and CommentaryvIt reveals Emily Dickinsons calm acceptance of death. vIt is surprising that she pres

35、ents the experience as being no more frightening vthan receiving a gentleman callerin this case, her fianc.2021/8/682Stanza 1vThe journey to the grave begins when Death comes calling in a carriage in which Immortality is also a passenger.2021/8/683Stanza 2vAs the trip continues, the carriage trundle

36、s along at an easy, unhurried pace, perhaps suggesting that death has arrived in the form of a disease or debility that takes its time to kill. 2021/8/684Stanza 3vA review of the stages of the life of the author: Childhoodvthe recess sceneMaturityvthe ripe, hence, “gazing” grainthe descent into deat

37、hvthe setting sunas she passes to the other side2021/8/685vThere, she experiences a chill because she is not warmly dressed. vIn fact, her garments are more appropriate for a wedding:vrepresenting a new beginningvthan for a funeral:vrepresenting an end. 2021/8/686vHer description of the grave as her

38、 “house” indicates how comfortable she feels about death. vThere after centuries pass, so pleasant is her new life that time seems to stand still, feeling “shorter than a Day.”2021/8/687vThe overall theme of the poem seems to be that death is not to be feared since it is a natural part of the endles

39、s cycle of nature. vHer view of death may also reflect her personalityreligious beliefs2021/8/688As a Christian and a Bible reader, vshe was optimistic about her ultimate fate.vshe appeared to see death as a friend.2021/8/689Dickinsons LegacyvAlong with Walt Whitman, Dickinson is one of the two gian

40、ts of American poetry of the 19th century.2021/8/690v1.Similaritiesv2.differences2021/8/691厦门大学厦门大学-2004年年阅读及英美文学、语言学阅读及英美文学、语言学v4. Answer ONE of the following questions on American Literature (in no less than 100 words) (8 points):vA. Discuss the differences in themes between Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. 2021/8/692