荒野、先知与十字路口——艾略特《情歌》的新英格兰叙事图景

Wilderness,Prophet and Crossroad:The Mapping of New England Narrative in T.S.Eliot's The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock

艾略特晚年声明自己是一位新英格兰诗人,对诗人的身份问题给出了一个答案。《普鲁弗罗克的情歌》是艾略特早期诗歌的经典之作,也是诗人移居英国之前的得意之作,无疑是诗人新英格兰经验的总结。国内外现存的《情歌》评论很少涉及该诗所蕴含的新英格兰主题意义。事实上,《情歌》里面的荒野、城市、先知等意象,传递出新英格兰人早期历史的丰富信息,但诗歌本身却以反讽叙述手法呈现了新英格兰先民理想遭遇到消解的现实境况。探讨新英格兰叙事成分能明晰《情歌》所隐含的艾略特的宗教观念、传统意识、艺术观的雏形,及其所包含的探索的困惑感和矛盾性。

In his late years T.S.Eliot declared himself to be a New England poet.The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock,completed before Eliot＇s migrating to England,is likely to be a summary of his New England experiences.The Eliot scholarship seldom touches upon the topic of New England in the poem.Such images as the wilderness,the city,and the prophet among others recall the early history of New Englanders,and the poem ironically presents as the reality the denial of New England ideals at a new age.The mapping of New England narrative can uncover Eliot＇s attitudes toward religion,tradition,and art,as uneasily formed in his early years.