WaltWhitman(1819~1892)Whitmanwashonoredona

'FamousAmericansSeries'

Postalissue,in1940OneofthegreatestinnovatorsinAmericanliterature.HegaveAmericanitsfirstgenuineepicpoem:LeavesofGrass.2WaltWhitmanWaltWhitman’sLifeMajorWorksSpecialfeaturesofHisWorksWaltWhitman’sContributionIHearAmericanSinging3

WaltWhitman’sLife

BornonMay31,1819,inthevillageofWestHills,SuffolkCounty,LongIslandthesecondsonofahouse-builderLargelyself-taught,acquaintedwiththeworksofHomer(荷馬),Dante(但丁),Shakespeare,andtheBible.In1836,asateacherintheone-roomschoolhousesofLongIsland.Continuingtoteachuntil1841,thenturningtojournalismasafull-timecareer.4Inthefallof1848,hefoundeda“freesoil”newspaper,theBrooklynFreeman.In1855,WhitmantookoutacopyrightonthefirsteditionofLeavesofGrass,whichconsistedoftwelveuntitledpoemsandapreface.Whitmanreleasedasecondeditionofthebookin1856,containingthirty-threepoems,aletterfromRalphWaldoEmersonpraisingthefirstedition,andalongopenletterbyWhitmaninresponse.5Whitmanstruggledtosupporthimselfthroughmostofhislife.InWashingtonhelivedonaclerk’ssalaryandmodestroyalties（稿酬）,andspentanyexcessmoney,includinggiftstofriends,buyingsuppliesforthepatientshenursed.AfterhisdeathonMarch26,1892,WhitmanwasburiedinHarleighCemetery（公墓）.6WALTWHITMAN'SCRYPTINHARLEIGHCEMETERY

Ademocrat民主主義者Anindividualist個人主義者Anationalist民族主義者Apantheist泛神論者AnAmericanfreeversepoet8ThethoughtofdemocracystronglyopposedtothesouthernsideduringtheCivilWar,favoringthedemocraticnorth.slaveryabusedhumanity.Peopleshouldbeequallytreated.SongofMyself----revealingsuchaworldofequality,voidofrankandhierarchy.9Anindividualisttriedtofindawaytoexpresshisuniquefeelingsabouthimself,thenation,andthecosmos.createdastyleandlanguageofhisown.greatlyinfluencedbyEmerson,thetranscendental（先驗論的）master.butnotself-exclusion.Instead,hethinksthatmanypeoplecouldrealizeacommunitywhileremainingindividuals.10ApantheistIntheprefaceofLeavesofGrass----idealpoetmustbeacompleteloveroftheuniverseanddrawhismaterialsfromnature.Whenusingthewordheaven,hemostlydesignatedtheregionofthestarsandplanetsMainlyapplyingtotheanalogyofthelifecyclesofplantsandanimals----thesequenceofseed,germination,growth,death,andrebirthfromanotherseed.HewastaughtthatGod’struerevelationwasinNature.Hesometimesjuxtaposed（并列）

thenotionofhistoricalchangesandnaturalchanges.11AnationalistLeavesofGrassisfirmlyanddeeplyrootedinAmericansoil.Theword“America”and“American”recuragainandagain;theunitedstatesandthesestatesareconstantlyreferredto.respondingenthusiasticallytotheexpansionofAmerica,thenewlyfoundedprogressiverepublic.consciousofhismissionasapoet,consideringthatpoetrycouldplayavitalpartintheprocessofcreatinganewandbetternation.optimisticofthefutureofAmerica,whichheidentifiesasachildwhowentfortheveryday.12ArtisticinnovationThemostimportantfeatureofanyartisticworkissimplicity.Hecarriedonasortofexperimentontheformofpoetrybychoosingfreeverseashismediumofexpression,allowinghimtoexpressfreelyhisideasincolloquialEnglish,regardlessoftheprevailingprinciplesofrhymesormeter.Inhiscaseitprovestobethemosteffectivewaytoconveystrongfeelingsofthecommonpeoplethroughthemouthofthepoet.13MajorWorksLeavesofGrass

草葉集1855Drum-Taps

桴鼓集1865DemocraticVistas

民主遠(yuǎn)景1871SongofMyself

自我之歌ISitandLookOut

坐觀世間OCaptain,MyCaptain!

船長，我的船長WhenLilacsLastintheDooryardBloom’d

最近紫丁香在庭院里開放的時候IhearAmericaSinging

我聽見美國在歌唱

LeavesofGrassAcollectionofWhitman’spoems,hislifelongachievement.Consistingof12poemswhenfirstpublishedin1855.Nineeditionsandlasteditionincludesmorethan400poems.Themostfamouspieces----SongofMyself,ThereWasaChildWentForth,Pioneers!Pioneers!etc.Celebratestheidealsofequality,democracy,thedignity,self-reliantspiritandjoyofcommonpeople16Grass---themostcommonthingwiththegreatestvitality,asasymboloftherisingAmericanWithnewpoeticformoffreeverseandorallanguage,LeavesofGrasshasbecomealandmarkinAmericanliteraryhistory,whichrepresentsthepoet,thepeople,andthenationinthe19thcentury.《草葉集》的地位

《草葉集》從第一版到第九版，經(jīng)歷了坎坷的歷程，其中充滿了激烈的爭論。這種爭論在詩人逝世后100多年的時間里仍然在延續(xù)。19世紀(jì)后葉至20世紀(jì)全世界所有文學(xué)大師幾乎無一例外地都在一生中的某個時刻向惠特曼的《草葉集》行過注目禮。

在惠特曼從事詩歌創(chuàng)作的年代，控制美國詩壇的是所謂“高雅派”詩人，他們一味以模仿英國詩歌為能事，而當(dāng)時的英國詩歌也浪漫主義的末流，這種詩風(fēng)在美國產(chǎn)生的只能是等而下之的仿制品?；萏芈鼇砹?，帶著手腳上的泥土和草葉，帶著汗珠和露水，從碼頭、田野、礦山、街市走來，放開嗓門，大膽高歌，帶著開天辟地的一個嶄新的“人的姿態(tài)”——他一開口就是一個嶄新的文明的聲音----這就是“新興的美國文明”的聲音。

惠特曼主張為了描述宇宙萬物的規(guī)律以及它們的創(chuàng)造力和豐富性，必須避免傳統(tǒng)的詩藝常規(guī)，即押韻、格律等。于是他創(chuàng)造了一種空前自由的詩體。所以“自由”是《草葉集》的一大特點(diǎn)。在惠特曼看來，“最好的詩就是具有最完善的美的東西——對耳朵的美，對大腦的美，對心靈的美，對時間與地點(diǎn)的美。”在美國文學(xué)史上，《草葉集》成了一個源頭，成為20世紀(jì)美國現(xiàn)代主義詩歌運(yùn)動的先驅(qū)。(2)DemocraticVistas《民主遠(yuǎn)景》(1871)Themainthemesaretheidealsofdemocracyandindividualism,whichtheauthorconsiderstobecompatible.WhitmanoutlinesanewcultureorderfortheU.S.Hecondemnsthedegradationofdemocracyandthegrowthofmaterialwealthduringthepost-CivilWarperiod,prophesiesafuturegreatnessandannouncesthattheremustbeadeclarationofculturalindependencetoachieveatrulynationalindigenous（本土）literature.ThemesTranscendentpoweroflove,brotherhood,andcomradeship（同志關(guān)系）Imaginativeprojectionintoothers’livesOptimisticfaithindemocracyandequalityBeliefinregenerativeandillustrativepowersofnatureanditsvalueasateacherEquivalenceofbodyandsoulandtheunabashedexaltationofthebodyandsexualitySpecialFeatures22SexualityHeisboldenoughtobreakthetabooinpoetrywriting.Becausehecelebratestheself,Whitmanconsidersthehumanbodyassacredandinnocent.Heinfusestheabstractionsofdemocracywiththeintensityoferoticpassion,givingliteraturesomeofitsfirstandmostpotentimagesofdemocraticbreakingofbounds.HepresentsoneofthemosttenderandmovingaccountsofhomosexualloveinWesternliterature.SpecialFeatures23(2)FormFreeverse----theversethatdoesnotfollowafixedmetricalpattern,theversewithoutafixedbeatorregularrhymescheme.Parallelism,arhythmofthoughtPhoneticrecurrenceTheuseofacertainpronoun“I”Alooserandmoreopen-endedsyntacticstructureStrongtendencytouseoralEnglishVocabulary---powerful,colorful,rarely-usedwordsofforeignorigins,someevenwrongSentences---cataloguetechniques:longlistofnames,longpoemlinesSpecialFeatures24ThefirstpersonnarratorWhitman’spoetryisdistinctivelynotedfortheuseofthefirstpersonnarrator“I”.makinghispoemsdirectandsympathetictothereader.(4)LanguageoralandpowerfultendstouseeverydayEnglishinhispoemsthatwouldmakeaneasycontactwiththeaverageAmerican.hisuseofpowerfulandsometimesunusualwordsmightgivethereaderasensethathispoemsarenotshallowbutdeep.SpecialFeatures25WaltWhitman’sContributionHebelievestheAmericanpoetswouldcreatebothnewformsandnewsubjectsmatterforpoetry.Intermsofpoeticform,headvocatedacompletelynewandcompletelyAmericanformofexpression----freeverse.Intermsofcontents,mostofhispoemsareaboutmanandnature,especiallycommonpeopleandordinaryAmericans.Hewantedhispoetrytobeforthecommonpeople

HehasbeencomparedtoamountaininAmericanliteraryhistory,influencingthe20thcenturyworldliterature.HisbestworkhasbecomepartofthecommonpropertyofWesternculture.HispoetryalsoinfluencesmodernAmericanpoetssuchasPound,HartCrane,CarlSandburg.27“IHearAmericaSinging”《我聽見美利堅在歌唱》

anoptimisticandpassionatecelebrationandadmirationofthenewAmericawithitspeopleanditsspirit.IHearAmericasinging,thevariedcarolsIhear,differentsongs,hymns我聽見美利堅國在歌唱,聽見各種頌歌在回響;Thoseofmechanics,eachonesinginghisasitshouldbeblitheandstrong,carefree,happy機(jī)械工在唱,每個人都心情愉快、歌聲嘹亮;IHearAmericanSingingThecarpentersinginghisashemeasureshisplankorbeam,board,pieceofwood木匠在唱,邊唱歌邊把木版和大梁來丈量;Themasonsinginghisashemakesreadyforwork,orleavesoffwork,泥瓦工泥瓦匠在唱,上工前后都在唱;Theboatmansingingwhatbelongstohiminhisboat,thedeckhandsingingonthesteamboatdeck,船夫在唱船上的事,水手歌唱在汽艇甲板上;Theshoemakersingingashesitsonhisbench,thehattersingingashestands,鞋匠坐著凳子把歌唱,帽匠站在店鋪里唱;艙板水手Thewood-cutter’ssong,theplowboy’sonhiswayinthemorning,oratnoonintermissionoratsundown,interval,break伐木工、農(nóng)村青年清晨走路、中午時分、黃昏回家都在唱;Thedelicioussingingofthemother,oroftheyoungwifeatwork,orofthegirlsewingorwashing,美妙的母親在甜唱,少婦在邊工作邊唱,少女在邊縫邊洗邊唱;Eachsingingwhatbelongstohimorherandtononeelse,

每個人都在唱自己關(guān)心而不屬于別人的事;Thedaywhatbelongstotheday—atnightthepartyofyoungfellows,robust,friendly