American Literature

American Literature 美国文学史及选读

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807—1872)亨利.华兹沃斯.朗费罗 • His Life • His Works

His Life • 1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was the most widely read American poet in the nineteenth century. The Song of Hiawatha sold 3o,ooo copies within six month and one million copies in his life. • 2.So great was his fame in England that he was the first American to have his bust preserved in Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey after his death in 1882.

3.With James Russel Lowell, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the approved “Fireside Poets”. • 4. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in 1807 in Portland Maine, into a long established family that could trace his ancestry back to Mayflower. He attended Bowdoin College, where he was a classmate of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

5. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a deeply traditional writer who used his talents to explore American history, legends ,such as Hiawatha. His optimism characterized much of his poetry. Literary critics have often praised his creation of American legend and naturalization of the foreign themes.

His Works • Works • A Psalm of Life (1838) • The Song of Hiawatha(1855) <海华莎之歌> -- his celebrated “Indian Edda” Evangeline (1847) <伊凡吉林> -- his narrative poem on the Acadians • The Courtship of Miles Standish(1858) -- great popularity <麦尔思.斯丹狄士的求婚> Tales of a Wayside Inn(1863)

Repetition in Poetry • Repetition is the most basic device of poetry ---the one that give poetry most of its musical quality, including the repetition of sounds and the rhythms, but the repetition of words and lines.Often individual words are repeated in a poem for emphasis; suggesting the importance of these words to the meaning of the poem.

A whole line may be also repeated in a poem. A repeated line or goupe of lines is called Refrain.Like musical refrain ---the chorus of a song--- a poetic refrain occurs at regular intervals. • What did the repetition and refrain contribute to the meaning of this poem?

Questions on A Psalm of Life • 1.What demand does the speaker make in the 1st stanza? • 2.What is the speaker’s opinion of life? • 3.What is our destined end or way? • 4.When shall we act?(stanza 6) • 5.What do we learn from the lives of the great? • 6.To what might the image in line 28 refer?

7.How can we help the future generations? • 8.In your own words,summarize the speaker’s advice for living. • (The idealization of the past has provided confidence in the future and in the possible realization of the American Dream.)

A Psalm of Life---What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist • I • Tell me not, in mournful numbers, • Life is but an empty dream! • For the soul is dead that slumbers, • And things are not what they seem. • II • Life is real---life is earnest---- • And the grave is not its goal: • Dust thou art, to dust returnest, • Was not spoken of the soul

A Psalm of Life 人生颂 • 别用悲伤诗句对我吟唱； • 人生不过是场空虚的梦！ • 因为灵魂沉睡等于死亡， • 事物本质与其表象不同。 • 人生皆真实人生非虚无！ • 最终的归宿决不是地坟 • “你本是尘土必归尘土，” • 这话所说的并不是灵魂。

A Psalm of Life---What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist • III • Not enjoyment,and not sorrow, • Is our destin’d end or way; • But to act,that each to-morrow • Find us father than to-day • IV • Art is long, and time is fleeting, • And our hearts, though stout and brave, • Still, like muffled drums, are beating • Funeral marches to the grave.

我们命定的道路和终点， • 既不是享乐也不是受苦； • 而是行动，让每个明天 • 都觉超越今天在迈新步。 • 艺海无涯时光却眨眼逝， • 任我们的心勇敢又坚强， • 却仍像蒙住的鼓击。 • 哀乐送我们步步向坟场。

A Psalm of Life---What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist • V • In the world’s broad field of battle, • In the bivouac of life, • Be not like dumb,driven cattle! • Be a hero in the strife! • VI • Trust no Future,howe’er pleasant! • Let the dead Past bury its dead! • Act---act in the glorious Present! • Heart within, and God o’er head!

在世界角逐的广阔战场， • 在人生征途的露宿营地， • 别像被驱赶的哑口牛羊！ • 要做个英雄去奋斗搏击！ • 别指望未来不管多可爱！ • 让死的过去把死的埋葬！ • 快行动在活生生的现在！ • 胸怀一颗心头顶有上苍！

A Psalm of Life---What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist • VII • Life of great men all remind us • We can make our lives sublime, • And,departing,leave behind us • Footstep on the sands of time. • VIII • Footsteps,that,perhaps another, • Sailor o’er life’s solemn main, • A Forlorn and shipwreck’d brother, • Seeing,shall take heart again.

伟人的生平向我们昭示； • 我们能使一生变得辉煌， • 而我们一朝告别，都是 • 将脚印留在时间沙滩上； • 脚印！也许有别的弟兄， • 航行在人生严峻的海上， • 当沉船遇难而惨遭不幸， • 看到这脚印信心又增长。

A Psalm of Life---What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist • IX • Let us then be up and doing, • With a heart for any fate; • Still achieving,still pursuing, • Learn to labor and to wait.

就让我们奋发精神抖擞， • 敞开胸怀迎接任何命运； • 不断地获得不断地追求， • 学会苦干还要待机而进。

Summary • 1.The application of scientific principles would bring one to the conclusion that death brings an end to life; • However, in this opening stanza, Longfellow immediately declares himself to be a believer in life hereafter. Human life, he declares, would not be life without the belief (the dream) of life hereafter. • 2. Longfellow then asserts that life is real (a proposition that is not much in dispute) and, Q.E.D., or so Longfellow thinks: there is an everlasting soul.] • 3. [Eschewing Epicureanism, Longfellow asserts that we proceed along a path, through a transition (death), to an everlasting life hereafter.]

4. "Art is long, and Time is fleeting." Art is endless, immortal; and, man's life in his mortal frame, is measured by a discreet marker, time. The poet then repeats his established theme that our life proceeds to the grave and beyond. • 5. Not much on topic, but an interesting shift in pace: life's a struggle. Well, no doubt; and, no matter one's belief, a heroic life is the only one worth living. • 6. With these lines, Longfellow throws aside the ideas of The Enlightenment and subscribes to the notion that the Good Lord will take care of us, just as he takes care of wild birds. Have faith, make no plans, do not act rationally: a very disastrous way to conduct one's affairs, it seems to me.

7. Not sure which "great men" Longfellow has in mind. I suppose, throughout the pages of history we will find those who have left their marks; some rational, some irrational. • 8. Ah! Good point. We are guided by those who succeed and we emulate their acts Those who don't succeed, indeed who get themselves into trouble, we eschew (that is not to say we would not necessarily help them out of their trouble). • 9. Well, generally good advice. But, one should not labour long if expected results are not forthcoming during one's life; and, it would be a complete waste of a life to wait for an award in the hereafter on account of some unfounded belief in such.

American Literature