《巴特姆父子失落的山茶花》中的历史复原与植物政治

A Replica of Historical Reality and Politics of Plants in “The Lost Camelia of the Bartrams”

美国当代著名诗人默温在《巴特姆父子失落的山茶花》中描写的同名花树就是在美国尽人皆知的富兰克林树。从内容、措辞、结构和叙事视角等方面来看,该诗几乎是对巴特姆父子发现并见证富兰克林树从其原始生存环境消亡的一种历史复原。从富兰克林树的命名和本土失落来看,这种貌似简单的历史复原却是诗人为本土植物辩护的一种策略,表征着诗人对美国植物政治的深刻理解和诗意阐释。

What W. S. Merwin, the renowned contemporary American poet, depicts in his poem ＂The Lost Camelia of the Bartrams＂ is a flowering tree called Franklin tree well-known across the United States. By analyzing its content, diction, structure, and narrative point of view, this essay argues that the poem seems to be a replica of the historical reality concerning the Bartrams＇ discovery of this flowering tree and their witnessing of its disappearance from its original habitat. In the light of the naming and disappearance of this flowering tree, this seemingly simple replica, nevertheless, not only serves as a strategic defense of the native plants, but also represents a deep understanding of and poetical explanation about American politics of plants.