从《失乐园》到《序曲》:“影响焦虑”下的继承和超越

From Paradise Lost to The Prelude:Inheriting and Surpassing under“Anxiety of Influence”

本文运用哈罗德•布鲁姆“影响的焦虑”诗歌理论通过对代表诗作《失乐园》和《序曲》的分析,比较了英国诗坛两位巨匠弥尔顿和华兹华斯的诗歌理念和创作风格。弥尔顿的《失乐园》是对圣经题材和史诗形式的模仿,然而又不乏创新之处,他塑造的撒旦形象成为经典,具有道德寓意,形成了英国诗歌的传统。华兹华斯认为自己是时代选择的“预言诗人”,向弥尔顿提出挑战,他将《失乐园》情节中的“堕落——救赎”宗教范式世俗化,同时将感性与理性相结合,认为诗是“强烈感情的自然流露”,以普通人的语言入诗,创作出记录诗人心灵成长的长诗《序曲》。本文通过聚焦弥尔顿和华兹华斯“影响焦虑”下在题材选择和表现手法上的继承和创新,揭示了弥尔顿作为强者诗人对传统的继承和超越以及华兹华斯作为现代诗人对弥尔顿的继承和超越及其深刻的社会文化和文学意义。

Based on Harold Bloom’s theory of“The Anxiety of Influence”,this paper compares the poetic ideas and writing styles of two British major poets John Milton and William Wordsworth through analyzing their masterpieces Paradise Lost and The Prelude.Milton imitates the biblical plots and epic form in Paradise Lost,yet he is innovative in creating a complex image of Satan,which becomes classic and has moral implications.Wordsworth claims himself to be a chosen“prophet poet”in his age and challenges Milton openly.He secularizes the Apocalyptic“falling down-saving-redemption”paradigm in Paradise Lost,considers poetry as“a spontaneous overflow of emotions”by combining sensibility with rationality,and creates a long poem The Prelude to record the growth of a poet’s mind.By focusing on Milton and Wordsworth’s inheritance and innovation in subject matters and techniques of expression under“Anxiety of Influence”,this paper reveals Milton’s inheriting and surpassing tradition as a powerful poet and Wordsworth’s inheriting and surpassing Milton as a modern poet as well as its profound social,cultural and literary significance.