“但这喜悦的根基是真实的”——马修·阿诺德论“喜悦”

“But Joy Whose Grounds Are True”:Matthew Arnold on Joy

阿诺德创作于不同时期的《1853年诗集序言》、《奥伯曼重现》以及《华兹华斯》三篇作品体现出对“喜悦”之含义的建构。19世纪50年代的《1853年诗集序言》强调崇高的行动是诗之悦的源泉,60年代的《奥伯曼重现》将基督教情感视为喜悦与崇高的根基,70年代末的《华兹华斯》借由诗之悦探讨诗歌的宗教性功能。在不断深入与修正的过程中,阿诺德始终强调“喜悦”的伦理基础:它是评判杰出作品的试金石,是宗教情感的本质,也是实现社会理想的必要条件。

“Preface to Poems”(1853),Obermann Once More and“Wordsworth”represent how Matthew Arnold constructed the meaning of joy in different periods of time.In“Preface to Poems”(1853),Arnold emphasized the importance of great actions as the source of the joy of poetry.Obermann Once More written in the 1860s considered Christian feeling as the basis of joy and solemnity.However,by the end of the 1870s,by discussing the source of poetic joy in“Wordsworth”,Arnold demonstrated the religious function of ideal poetry.In the process of deepening and amending his discourse on joy,Arnold never changed his emphasis on the ethical basis of joy,and thus joy became the touchstone of excellent literature,the nature of Christian feeling and the necessary condition for the realization of social ideals.