田园诗人弗罗斯特的政治讽刺诗——纪念弗罗斯特逝世五十周年

On the Political Pasquinades by Robert Frost,Pastoral Poet of New England—In Comme~ moration of the 50th Anniversary of His Death

为纪念美国诗人弗罗斯特逝世五十周年,本文追述了中国学人和读者认识这位诗人的过程和现状,指出我们过去对这位诗人的认识有失偏颇。弗罗斯特不仅写抒情诗、叙事诗,也写了不少针砭时弊的政治讽刺诗。诗人的政治倾向衍生于他对人性中善与恶的见解,他认为善性和恶性与生俱来,互为依存,无论是大自然逞威还是作为个体的人行恶,都是人类必须承受的打击,因为人类需受点打击才能保持心智健全。他写政治讽刺诗是想提醒人们:要是人类不当心,人类个体中天生的恶性就有可能衍变成社会、经济和政治领域系统化的恶性。面对当今频发的全球政治经济危机,重读弗罗斯特的政治讽刺诗具有重要的现实意义。

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of the American poet Robert Frost(1874– 1963),this essay takes a look at the history and current status of Chinese reception of his poetry.It points out that our understanding of Frost and his poetry has been or at least had been partial.Frost wrote not only lyrics and narrative poems,but also political pasquinades.His political inclination derived from his attitude towards the good and evil in humanity.He believed that evil showed off to good and good showed off to evil,and that shocks,whether from nature′s malevolence or from man′s evil,were needed to keep human beings sane.He wrote political pasquinades to remind his compatriots that if men were not careful,evil,though existing on a personal level,could become systematized in social,economic,and political terms.In the middle of global political and economic crises,our rereading his political pasquinades has practical significance.