20th-century american poetry. robert frost (1874-1963)
TRANSCRIPT
20th-Century American Poetry
Robert Frost (1874-1963)
Robert Frost’s public fame
He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of the rural life and his command of American colloquial speech.
As a popular and often-quoted poet, Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime, receiving four Pulitzer Prizes.
Honors
• The United States Senate extended its felicitations to him on his birthday in 1950;
• A mountain in Vermont was named after him in 1955;
• The State Department sent him to South America, England, and Russia on good-will missions in 1954, 1957, and 1962;
• In 1961 he was invited to read a poem at John F. Kennedy’s inaugural ceremonies.
Robert Frost – the modern poet
Beloved poet of simple nature lyrics
Ambiguity and dread hidden underneath
A flawed man with personal tragedy
A poet with more than his share of fear
Form & Subject
Form: regular iambic meter irregular speech rhythm vernacular language
Subject: nature confusion fear uncertainty
Poetry: “a momentary stay against confusion”
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" was Frost's favorite of his own poems
The poem is written in iambic tetrameter 四音步抑扬格 . Each stanza follows an a-a-b-a rhyming scheme, with the following stanza's a's rhyming with that stanza's b, which is a chain rhyme except the last two lines.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
simple vernacular language
Deceptively simple: ambiguous
Joy vs. Responsibility
Rejection of fascination with the dark trees
Strong lure of death
Speaker’s hesitation (Death vs. Life)
雪夜林畔小驻 雪夜林边 余光中 译 韦婷婷 译
想来我认识这座森林，林主的庄宅就在邻村，却不会见我在此驻马，看它林中积雪的美景。
我的小马一定颇惊讶：四望不见有什么农家，偏是一年最暗的黄昏，寒林和冰湖之间停下。
此林似相识，他宅若比邻；悄然此驻马，赏其雪中林。
周遭不见人，马驹恍似惊；最是黄昏时，寒林冰湖间。
雪夜林畔小驻 雪夜林边
它摇一摇身上的串铃，问我这地方该不该停。此外只有轻风拂雪片，再也听不见其他声音。
森林又暗又深真可羡，但我还要守一些诺言，还要赶多少路才安眠，还要赶多少路才安眠。
摒念而惘思，铃声扰绪觉；四下静无声，微风拂片雪。
深黯林可羡，我尚守诺言；漫路方长眠，漫路方长眠。
The Road Not Taken
simple vernacular languageiambic tetrameter 四音步抑扬格 with the rime sheme of abaabsimilarities and differences of the two roadsWhich road does the speaker take?Proud of his choosing the less traveled roadFeeling sorry and sentimental
Ezra Pound (1885-1972)
American expatriate poet, critic and intellectual a major figure of the Modernist movement in early-to-mid 20th century poetry.the driving force behind several Modernist movements, notably Imagism （意象主义） and Vorticism （漩涡主义） .
Life and career (1885-1972)born in Hailey, Idaho, and raised in PennsylvaniaM.A. in Romance Language （罗曼语） from the University of Pennsylvania 1906In 1908, Pound arrived in Venice and lived mostly an expatriate life since thenIn 1945 arrested for treason by American forces in Italy for his support of Mussolini and fascism during WWII, imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital for 15 years and released in 1958Returned to Italy after his release died in Venice, where he is buried
His major worksPoetry writings:
Personae (1909), Exultations (1909)Cantos 《诗章》 (1925-70)
Translations:Cathay 《神州集 》 (1915), translations of Chinese poems based on Fenollosa’s notesConfucian Analects 《孔子 》 (1951) （《大学》、《中庸》、《论语》）The Classic Anthology 《诗经》（ A Classic Anthology Defined by Confucius, 《孔子删定古诗选》） (1954),
Influence on modern poetry
As critic, editor and promoter, Pound helped shape the careers of some of the 20th century's most influential writers, including W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, H.D., Marianne Moore, Ernest Hemingway, D. H. Lawrence, and Charles Olson.Pound edited his friend T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land, the poem that was to force the new poetic sensibility into public attention.
Contribution to Imagism
responsible for the appearance and flourishing of Imagism which was meant to be a new way of writing emphasizing the objective presentation（ 客 观 呈 现 ） rather than subjective representation （主观再现）In “A Few Dont’s by an Imagiste,” which appeared in Poetry in 1913, Pound announced the modernist poetics of precision, concision, and metrical freedom.
Imagism
Presenting a hard （坚实） , clear（明晰） , concentrated （凝练） image or picture
No discussion or comment on the meaning of the image
Economy of words
Language of common speech
Rhythm from musical phrases rather than for rigid metrical forms
Imagism (1909-1917)
U.S.: Ezra Pound, H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), John Gould Fletcher, Amy Lowell, William Carlos WilliamsEngland: F.S. Flint, Richard Aldington, D.H. Lawrence
Japanese Haiku
Matsuo Bashō 松尾芭蕉（ 1644—1694 ）“ 闲寂古池旁，青蛙跳进水中央，扑通一声响。”（《古池》）古池や 蛙飛込む 水の音This separates into on as:
fu-ru-i-ke ya (5) ka-wa-zu to-bi-ko-mu (7) mi-zu no o-to (5)
Translated:old pond . . . a frog leaps in water’s sound
“ 树下肉丝、菜汤上，飘落樱花瓣。”《赏樱》
Juxtaposition 并置
the placing of two or more distinct things side by side in order to compare or contrast them
Superposition 叠加 / 迭加 - a hidden metaphorical relationship
between the juxtaposed images, e.g.
雨中黄叶树，灯下白头人（司空曙） 照影溪梅，怅绝代佳人独立（辛弃疾）
In a Station of the Metro (1)
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Or
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet black bough.
In a Station of the Metro (2)What two images does Pound juxtapose in “In a Station of the Metro”?
- faces in the crowd - petals on a wet, black bough
In a Station of the Metro (3)
One of the purposes of juxtaposition is to evoke an emotional response.
What emotion does the juxtaposition in this poem evoke in you?
Response 1
a surprised rejoice at the unexpected appearance of the faces’ colorful and lovely freshness
A glimpse of something beautiful and fresh in the most unlikely place
- apparition: appearance which is generally startling, strange or unexpected
- petals & wet: blossoming flowers glowing with the rain water
Response 2
A mournful regret at the vivid fresh-looking individuals overwhelmed by society
Setting: the station is damp and dark with countless anonymous people crowded together
Apparition: suggests the fragility and transience of individuals who, though fresh and lively like the petals on the wet bough, will be obscured by the surrounding environment.
Response 3
a mysterious feeling about the sudden appearance of immaterial beauty
Wet, dark setting suggests the unknown mysterious or even frightening nature of the beautiful faces
Response 4, 5, …
车站 余光中 译
人群中，这些面孔的鬼影，潮湿的黑树枝上的花瓣。
The Red Wheelbarrow
William Carlos Williams
(1883-1963)
The Red Wheelbarrow (1)
What depends on the wheelbarrow?
- daily chores / daily life
What do the first two lines suggest about the speaker’s response to the scene?
- heavy loads and great responsibility
- important role as a tool
The Red Wheelbarrow (2)
What item is mentioned in stanza 2? What might be the significance of its color?
- wheelbarrow
- red
passion
energy, vitality
The Red Wheelbarrow (3)
What two items does the poet describe in stanza 3 and 4? What do you think Williams is saying in this poem?
- rainwater and chickens
- harmonious picture of farm life
The Red Wheelbarrow (4)
What images are juxtaposed in this poem?
- red, wheelbarrow glazed with rain water, white, chicken
To what sense do the images in the poem directly appeal?
- sense of sight
What emotion does the juxtaposition evoke in you?
- peace, joy of farm life
The Red Wheelbarrow (5)
Williams carefully arranges his words, including breaking up the words rainwater and wheelbarrow. How, in your opinion, does the arrangement of the words and stanzas affect the look, feel, sound, and pace of the poem?
anyone lived in a pretty how town
E.E. Cummings
E.E. Cummings (1894-1962)
"to be nobody-but-myself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make me everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." - Cummings
Uniqueness of Cummings's poems
lack of punctuation
use of lowercase letters
unusual arrangement of words
- breaking words apart
- changing their parts of speech
- a single word representing an entire idea
anyone lived in a pretty how town
orignally no titleWhat is the name of the main character? What is the name of his wife? What do these names suggest?What do "women and men" do?What is the difference between children and adults?What happens to the two main characters at the end of the poem?
anyone lived in a pretty how town
How do townspeople seem to react to this event?
What three series of words are repeated?
What lesson about life does the poem convey?
Assignments
Read "The Declaration of Independence" and find
- the most essential reasons for which the declaratoin of independence is made.
Read Faulkner's speech and find:
- What does Faulkner think is the writer's duty?