英美詩歌與一生英文閱讀計畫


       去年適逢鵝媽媽─臺大外文系教授趙麗蓮教授逝世二十周年;趙麗蓮教授生前致力於台灣英語教育的發展,為英語教育的推動不惜餘力;因此,財團法人趙麗蓮教授文教基金會除了舉辦紀念會外,更策畫了「提升英文能力的讀書計畫」系列活動,邀請英語界翹楚爭對不同主題演講,目的在提升國人的英語能力、閱讀層次,並進一步打造屬於自己的英語讀書計畫。

       您是否會覺得英美詩歌高深莫測或遙不可及?財團法人語言訓練測驗中心主任暨台灣大學外文系高天恩教授藉著「英美詩歌與一生英文閱讀計畫」演講,減低大家對英美詩歌的恐懼,並告訴大家,英美詩歌並不是嚴肅的文學,而是人人都可以輕易接近的休閒嗜好,「讀英美詩歌為我們打開一扇窗,擴展我們的視野,增加人生的廣度和深度;可以作為我們一生英文的閱讀計畫。」高天恩教授這麼說。

 

什麼是詩?

       高天恩教授從詩的定義開始說起。孔子說,「詩,可以興,可以觀,可以群,可以怨。」西洋名家對詩歌也有不同的定義,義大利詩人但丁(Dante)認為,「詩,就是將真實的事物用美麗的語言表達出來(things that are true expressed in words that are beautiful.)。」英國詩人葉慈則是認為「真理就是美,美就是真理。」愛蜜莉‧狄更生(Emily Dickinson)則是以讀者的反應來看,「當我獨到有種頭蓋都被掀起來了,這就是詩。(If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.)」美國詩人關杜琳‧布魯克(Gwendolyn Brooks)說「詩是人生提煉出來的菁華(Poetry is life distilled)。」而英國詩人明娜‧羅依(Mina Loy)則是對詩這樣定義─「散文著了魔,就是詩(Poetry is prose bewitched)。」各家對詩的定義莫衷一是,然而高教授也特別提醒,「每種定義都有其侷限性。」

 

詩歌賞析

       書林出版社出版的《Sound and Sense-an introduction to poetry》是一本很值得推薦的英詩入門書,書中提及了讀詩時可以提出的二十一個問題;不一定每首詩都可以回答以下問題,但回答以下問題,就可以對詩有更全面性的了解。

 

  1. Who is the speaker? What kind of person is the speaker?
  2. Is there an identifiable audience for the speaker? What can we know about it (her, him, or them)?
  3. What is the occasion?
  4. What is the setting in time (hour, season, century, and so on)?
  5. What is the setting in place (indoors or out, city or country, land or sea, region, nation, hemisphere)?
  6. What is the central purpose of the poem?
  7. State the central idea or theme of the poem in a sentence.
  8. a. Outline the poem to show its structure and development, or

b. Summarize the events of the poem.

  1. Paraphrase the poem.
  2. Discuss the diction of the poem. Point out words that are particularly well chosen and explain why.
  3. Discuss the imagery of the poem. What kinds of imagery are used? Is there a structure of imagery?
  1. Point out examples of metaphor, simile, personification, and metonymy, and explain their appropriateness.
  2. Point out and explain any symbols. If the poem is allegorical, explain the allegory.
  3. Point out and explain examples of paradox, overstatement, understatement, and irony. What is their function?
  4. Point out and explain any allusions. What is their function?
  5. What is the tone of the poem? How is it achieved?
  6. Point out significant examples of sound repetition and explain their function.
  7. a. What is the meter of the poem?

b. Copy the poem and mark its scansion.

  1. Discuss the adaptation of sound to sense.
  2. Describe the form or pattern of the poem.
  3. Criticize and evaluate the poem.

 

       接著,高天恩教授帶聽眾進入英美詩歌的欣賞。

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands,

Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

He watches from his mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

 

       這是十九世紀維多利亞時期桂冠詩人泰納森(Alfred, Lord Tennyson)歌詠一隻蒼鷹的詩。從結構來看,詩的每個段落稱為「Stanza」,前三行為一段;後三行為一段;前段中每一句都是押ands韻,後一段則都是押awl韻,因此,這首詩的”rhyming scheme”就是aaa , bbb;而每一行有固定的音節,有八個音節,並都是先輕後重,這也就是「iambic tetrameter」(抑揚四步格);再透過「alliteration」頭韻(例如詩中的He clasps the crag with crooked hands)的方式加強整首詩的旋律性。

       從內容來看,詩人將蒼鷹擬人化(personification),此詩的兩個Stanza,一靜一動,從蒼鷹兀立在高崖上,到頃刻間看到獵物如閃電般俯衝而下的過程,透過詩的押韻和字辭的運用,營造出整首詩的陽剛之氣。

 

童謠兒歌(Nursery Rhymes and Poems for Children)欣賞

       如果覺得英美詩歌太難,那麼不妨可以從童謠兒歌讀起。童謠兒歌雖然簡單,但是透過朗誦的過程,也可以感受到其中的押韻和旋律性。例如大家耳熟能詳的小星星:

 

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.

 

又或是” Humpty Dumpty”─矮胖蛋人的押韻詩:

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again!

 

       雖然內容簡單,但是也可以看到aa bb的rhyming scheme;並透過簡單的押韻和重複,帶出矮胖蛋人的故事。

 

結論

       高天恩教授在演講中不斷的建議,所謂「英美詩歌與一生英文閱讀計畫」並不是一個明確的閱讀計劃,而是要從自己的興趣出發,將讀英美詩歌作為休閒嗜好,「大家可以從google一些熟悉的詩人、或是琅琅上口的童謠開始,讀到一首詩是一首,再慢慢擴展開來,這就是一生英文閱讀計劃很好的起步。」

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