沃尔特惠特曼

WaltWhitman(1819~1892)Whitmanwashonoredona

'FamousAmericansSeries'

Postalissue,in1940OneofthegreatestinnovatorsinAmericanliterature.HegaveAmericanitsfirstgenuineepicpoem:LeavesofGrass.2WaltWhitmanWaltWhitman’sLifeMajorWorksSpecialfeaturesofHisWorksWaltWhitman’sContributionIHearAmericanSinging3

WaltWhitman’sLife

BornonMay31,1819,inthevillageofWestHills,SuffolkCounty,LongIslandthesecondsonofahouse-builderLargelyself-taught,acquaintedwiththeworksofHomer(荷马),Dante(但丁),Shakespeare,andtheBible.In1836,asateacherintheone-roomschoolhousesofLongIsland.Continuingtoteachuntil1841,thenturningtojournalismasafull-timecareer.4Inthefallof1848,hefoundeda“freesoil”newspaper,theBrooklynFreeman.In1855,WhitmantookoutacopyrightonthefirsteditionofLeavesofGrass,whichconsistedoftwelveuntitledpoemsandapreface.Whitmanreleasedasecondeditionofthebookin1856,containingthirty-threepoems,aletterfromRalphWaldoEmersonpraisingthefirstedition,andalongopenletterbyWhitmaninresponse.5Whitmanstruggledtosupporthimselfthroughmostofhislife.InWashingtonhelivedonaclerk’ssalaryandmodestroyalties（稿酬）,andspentanyexcessmoney,includinggiftstofriends,buyingsuppliesforthepatientshenursed.AfterhisdeathonMarch26,1892,WhitmanwasburiedinHarleighCemetery（公墓）.6WALTWHITMAN'SCRYPTINHARLEIGHCEMETERY

Ademocrat民主主义者Anindividualist个人主义者Anationalist民族主义者Apantheist泛神论者AnAmericanfreeversepoet8ThethoughtofdemocracystronglyopposedtothesouthernsideduringtheCivilWar,favoringthedemocraticnorth.slaveryabusedhumanity.Peopleshouldbeequallytreated.SongofMyself----revealingsuchaworldofequality,voidofrankandhierarchy.9Anindividualisttriedtofindawaytoexpresshisuniquefeelingsabouthimself,thenation,andthecosmos.createdastyleandlanguageofhisown.greatlyinfluencedbyEmerson,thetranscendental（先验论的）master.butnotself-exclusion.Instead,hethinksthatmanypeoplecouldrealizeacommunitywhileremainingindividuals.10ApantheistIntheprefaceofLeavesofGrass----idealpoetmustbeacompleteloveroftheuniverseanddrawhismaterialsfromnature.Whenusingthewordheaven,hemostlydesignatedtheregionofthestarsandplanetsMainlyapplyingtotheanalogyofthelifecyclesofplantsandanimals----thesequenceofseed,germination,growth,death,andrebirthfromanotherseed.HewastaughtthatGod’struerevelationwasinNature.Hesometimesjuxtaposed（并列）

thenotionofhistoricalchangesandnaturalchanges.11AnationalistLeavesofGrassisfirmlyanddeeplyrootedinAmericansoil.Theword“America”and“American”recuragainandagain;theunitedstatesandthesestatesareconstantlyreferredto.respondingenthusiasticallytotheexpansionofAmerica,thenewlyfoundedprogressiverepublic.consciousofhismissionasapoet,consideringthatpoetrycouldplayavitalpartintheprocessofcreatinganewandbetternation.optimisticofthefutureofAmerica,whichheidentifiesasachildwhowentfortheveryday.12ArtisticinnovationThemostimportantfeatureofanyartisticworkissimplicity.Hecarriedonasortofexperimentontheformofpoetrybychoosingfreeverseashismediumofexpression,allowinghimtoexpressfreelyhisideasincolloquialEnglish,regardlessoftheprevailingprinciplesofrhymesormeter.Inhiscaseitprovestobethemosteffectivewaytoconveystrongfeelingsofthecommonpeoplethroughthemouthofthepoet.13MajorWorksLeavesofGrass

草叶集1855Drum-Taps

桴鼓集1865DemocraticVistas

民主远景1871SongofMyself

自我之歌ISitandLookOut

坐观世间OCaptain,MyCaptain!

船长，我的船长WhenLilacsLastintheDooryardBloom’d

最近紫丁香在庭院里开放的时候IhearAmericaSinging

我听见美国在歌唱

LeavesofGrassAcollectionofWhitman’spoems,hislifelongachievement.Consistingof12poemswhenfirstpublishedin1855.Nineeditionsandlasteditionincludesmorethan400poems.Themostfamouspieces----SongofMyself,ThereWasaChildWentForth,Pioneers!Pioneers!etc.Celebratestheidealsofequality,democracy,thedignity,self-reliantspiritandjoyofcommonpeople16Grass---themostcommonthingwiththegreatestvitality,asasymboloftherisingAmericanWithnewpoeticformoffreeverseandorallanguage,LeavesofGrasshasbecomealandmarkinAmericanliteraryhistory,whichrepresentsthepoet,thepeople,andthenationinthe19thcentury.《草叶集》的地位

《草叶集》从第一版到第九版，经历了坎坷的历程，其中充满了激烈的争论。这种争论在诗人逝世后100多年的时间里仍然在延续。19世纪后叶至20世纪全世界所有文学大师几乎无一例外地都在一生中的某个时刻向惠特曼的《草叶集》行过注目礼。

在惠特曼从事诗歌创作的年代，控制美国诗坛的是所谓“高雅派”诗人，他们一味以模仿英国诗歌为能事，而当时的英国诗歌也浪漫主义的末流，这种诗风在美国产生的只能是等而下之的仿制品。惠特曼来了，带着手脚上的泥土和草叶，带着汗珠和露水，从码头、田野、矿山、街市走来，放开嗓门，大胆高歌，带着开天辟地的一个崭新的“人的姿态”——他一开口就是一个崭新的文明的声音----这就是“新兴的美国文明”的声音。

惠特曼主张为了描述宇宙万物的规律以及它们的创造力和丰富性，必须避免传统的诗艺常规，即押韵、格律等。于是他创造了一种空前自由的诗体。所以“自由”是《草叶集》的一大特点。在惠特曼看来，“最好的诗就是具有最完善的美的东西——对耳朵的美，对大脑的美，对心灵的美，对时间与地点的美。”在美国文学史上，《草叶集》成了一个源头，成为20世纪美国现代主义诗歌运动的先驱。(2)DemocraticVistas《民主远景》(1871)Themainthemesaretheidealsofdemocracyandindividualism,whichtheauthorconsiderstobecompatible.WhitmanoutlinesanewcultureorderfortheU.S.Hecondemnsthedegradationofdemocracyandthegrowthofmaterialwealthduringthepost-CivilWarperiod,prophesiesafuturegreatnessandannouncesthattheremustbeadeclarationofculturalindependencetoachieveatrulynationalindigenous（本土）literature.ThemesTranscendentpoweroflove,brotherhood,andcomradeship（同志关系）Imaginativeprojectionintoothers’livesOptimisticfaithindemocracyandequalityBeliefinregenerativeandillustrativepowersofnatureanditsvalueasateacherEquivalenceofbodyandsoulandtheunabashedexaltationofthebodyandsexualitySpecialFeatures22SexualityHeisboldenoughtobreakthetabooinpoetrywriting.Becausehecelebratestheself,Whitmanconsidersthehumanbodyassacredandinnocent.Heinfusestheabstractionsofdemocracywiththeintensityoferoticpassion,givingliteraturesomeofitsfirstandmostpotentimagesofdemocraticbreakingofbounds.HepresentsoneofthemosttenderandmovingaccountsofhomosexualloveinWesternliterature.SpecialFeatures23(2)FormFreeverse----theversethatdoesnotfollowafixedmetricalpattern,theversewithoutafixedbeatorregularrhymescheme.Parallelism,arhythmofthoughtPhoneticrecurrenceTheuseofacertainpronoun“I”Alooserandmoreopen-endedsyntacticstructureStrongtendencytouseoralEnglishVocabulary---powerful,colorful,rarely-usedwordsofforeignorigins,someevenwrongSentences---cataloguetechniques:longlistofnames,longpoemlinesSpecialFeatures24ThefirstpersonnarratorWhitman’spoetryisdistinctivelynotedfortheuseofthefirstpersonnarrator“I”.makinghispoemsdirectandsympathetictothereader.(4)LanguageoralandpowerfultendstouseeverydayEnglishinhispoemsthatwouldmakeaneasycontactwiththeaverageAmerican.hisuseofpowerfulandsometimesunusualwordsmightgivethereaderasensethathispoemsarenotshallowbutdeep.SpecialFeatures25WaltWhitman’sContributionHebelievestheAmericanpoetswouldcreatebothnewformsandnewsubjectsmatterforpoetry.Intermsofpoeticform,headvocatedacompletelynewandcompletelyAmericanformofexpression----freeverse.Intermsofcontents,mostofhispoemsareaboutmanandnature,especiallycommonpeopleandordinaryAmericans.Hewantedhispoetrytobeforthecommonpeople

HehasbeencomparedtoamountaininAmericanliteraryhistory,influencingthe20thcenturyworldliterature.HisbestworkhasbecomepartofthecommonpropertyofWesternculture.HispoetryalsoinfluencesmodernAmericanpoetssuchasPound,HartCrane,CarlSandburg.27“IHearAmericaSinging”《我听见美利坚在歌唱》

anoptimisticandpassionatecelebrationandadmirationofthenewAmericawithitspeopleanditsspirit.IHearAmericasinging,thevariedcarolsIhear,differentsongs,hymns我听见美利坚国在歌唱,听见各种颂歌在回响;Thoseofmechanics,eachonesinginghisasitshouldbeblitheandstrong,carefree,happy机械工在唱,每个人都心情愉快、歌声嘹亮;IHearAmericanSingingThecarpentersinginghisashemeasureshisplankorbeam,board,pieceofwood木匠在唱,边唱歌边把木版和大梁来丈量;Themasonsinginghisashemakesreadyforwork,orleavesoffwork,泥瓦工泥瓦匠在唱,上工前后都在唱;Theboatmansingingwhatbelongstohiminhisboat,thedeckhandsingingonthesteamboatdeck,船夫在唱船上的事,水手歌唱在汽艇甲板上;Theshoemakersingingashesitsonhisbench,thehattersingingashestands,鞋匠坐着凳子把歌唱,帽匠站在店铺里唱;舱板水手Thewood-cutter’ssong,theplowboy’sonhiswayinthemorning,oratnoonintermissionoratsundown,interval,break伐木工、农村青年清晨走路、中午时分、黄昏回家都在唱;Thedelicioussingingofthemother,oroftheyoungwifeatwork,orofthegirlsewingorwashing,美妙的母亲在甜唱,少妇在边工作边唱,少女在边缝边洗边唱;Eachsingingwhatbelongstohimorherandtononeelse,

每个人都在唱自己关心而不属于别人的事;Thedaywhatbelongstotheday—atnightthepartyofyoungfellows,robust,friendly