第三部分　十七世纪资产阶级革命和王朝复辟时期

第7章　约翰•多恩

7.1　复习笔记

I. Background Knowledge (背景知识)

(1) The absolute monarchy impeded the future development of capitalism in England and the bourgeoisie could no longer bear the sway of landed nobility. The contradictions between the feudalism and the bourgeoisie had reached its peak and resulted in a revolutionary outburst.

(2) The despotism and religious tyranny oppressed the Puritans, who advocated the divine right of the individual conscience and fought against the king’s cavaliers.

(3) In 1649 Charles Ⅰwas beheaded, and England became a commonwealth under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell. In 1653 Cromwell imposed a military dictatorship on the country; after his death the monarchy was again restored (1660).

(4) The Revolution of 1688 marked the supremacy of Parliament, the beginning of modern England, and the final triumph of the principle of political liberty.

（1）君主专制已在英国阻碍了资本主义发展，而且新兴的资产阶级再也不能容忍地主贵族势力的支配。封建制度和资产阶级之间的矛盾已达到顶峰，阶级革命最终爆发了。

（2）专制统治和宗教暴政压迫着清教徒，他们宣扬个人良知的神圣权利，与国王的骑士斗争。

（3）1649年查理一世被送上断头台，英格兰在克伦威尔的领导下建立共和国。1653年克伦威尔在全国实行军事独裁，他死后君主制于1660年死灰复燃。

（4）1688年光荣革命标志着议会权力的至高无上，揭开了现代英国的序幕，政治自由原则最终取得胜利。

II. Literary Features (文学特征)

(1) In literature the Puritan Age was one of confusion, due to the breaking up of old ideas and accepted standards in government and religion. Medieval standards of chivalry, the impossible loves and romances perished.

(2) The literature of the Restoration Age was often witty, clever, but immoral and cynical. Many exiled and returned literary men renounced old ideas and the restraints of Puritanism, and were greatly influenced by the French style.

(3) Poetry occupied a prominent place of this period. The most excellent poet is John Milton, who created Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes. There were also two poetic schools: Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets.

（1）清教徒时代的英国文学较混乱，这是因为清教徒们放弃了旧观念及政府、宗教的成规。中世纪标准的骑士精神和虚无缥缈的爱情传奇消失殆尽。

（2）王政复辟时期的文学常常是机智风趣，但也较不道德和玩世不恭。许多流亡又回国的文人摒弃旧观念和清教思想的束缚，深受当时法国文学风格的影响。

（3）这一时期，诗歌在文学领域中占主导地位。最著名的诗人是约翰·弥尔顿，他创作了史诗《失乐园》、《复乐园》和诗歌戏剧《力士参孙》。另外还有两个诗歌流派，即玄学派和骑士派。

III. John Donne (1572-1631) (约翰·多恩)

1．Life (生平)

John Donne is the founder of the Metaphysical school of poetry. Born of a family with a strong Roman Catholic tradition, he was sent very young to Trinity College, Cambridge. He lived and wrote during the succeeding reigns of Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I. His early life was passed in dissipation and roguery, much occupied with secret love, elopement and imprisonment, but he turned a saintly divine in 1615, where he rose rapidly to be the Dean of Saint Paul’s, and the most famous preacher of his time.

约翰·多恩是玄学派的创始人。他出生在一个罗马天主教氛围浓厚的家庭，很小时就被送到剑桥大学三一学院。他经历了伊丽莎白女王，詹姆斯一世和查理一世的统治。早期生活较放荡，但在1615年成为神职人员，很快升为圣保罗教堂的教长和当时最著名的传教士。

2．Categories of Donne’s Poems (诗歌分类)

His poems can be divided into two categories: the youthful love lyrics, published after his death as Songs and Sonnets in 1633, and the later sacred verses, published in 1624 as Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.

他的诗歌可分为两大类：青年爱情诗，代表作为1633年发表的《歌与十四行诗》和后期的宗教诗歌《突发事件的祷告》，于1624年发表。

3．Features of Donne’s Poems (诗歌特点)

Donne is a poet of peculiar conceits and hyperboles. In his poetry, sensuality is blended with philosophy, passion with intellect. But Donne is not only an analytical sensualist. His later poems are also touched with profound religious thoughts. His prose style, involuted and ornate, cumulative and ciceronian, is one of the more glorious monuments to the spirit of the early 17th century.

多恩的作品中充满奇思妙喻和夸张。他的诗歌将感官享受和哲理，激情和智慧混合在一起。但他不仅是一位感官分析者，他后期的诗歌也触及到深刻的宗教思想。他的散文风格复杂而绚丽、堆积又雄辩，是17世纪早期精神更加璀璨的丰碑。

4．Selected Works (选读作品)

◆Song《歌》

“Song” is a love lyric written by Donne which mainly concerns the lack of constancy in women. In this poem, Donne tells the impossibility of finding a true and fair woman. The tone of the poem is of gentle cynicism and mocking, for example, to meeting the true and fair woman is described as a pilgrimage.

《歌》是多恩写的一首爱情诗，主要是讽刺女性的水性杨花。诗中，多恩认为不可能找到一个忠诚且美丽的女人。本诗使用调侃嘲弄的语气，例如将拜会一位忠诚且美丽的女子比作朝圣。

◆A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning《离别辞：节哀》

“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” is about the parting of two lovers. In the poem, Donne convinces his lover or wife that their physical separation should not bring tears because their love is refined compared with the common people’s love. This poem is Donne’s most direct statement of his ideal of spiritual love. At the end, the poem uses the conceits of gold and a compass to describe the strength of their spiritual love.

《离别辞：节哀》是一首关于爱人离别的诗。诗中多恩说服爱人不要因为离别而哭泣伤心，因为和普通人相比，他们的爱情已经升华。多恩在这首诗中直接表达了他对于精神上的爱情的理想，在诗的最后，多恩使用了“黄金”和“圆规”这两个奇喻来比喻精神上的爱情。

◆Death Be Not Proud《致死神》

“Death Be Not Proud” is a sonnet, though rhymed abba abba cddc ee. Donne treats the personified figure of Death as someone not worthy of awe or terror but of contempt. He compares death simply to rest and sleep, from which people can get happiness. Death is not to be feared and it should be welcomed as a relaxing escape from life. At last, the poet claims that death also shall die.

《致死神》是一首十四行诗，其韵式为abba abba cddc ee。多恩在诗中表达了对死神的嘲笑和蔑视。他把死亡看作休息和睡眠，从中可以获得许多快乐。人们不应该恐惧死亡，而应接受死亡，因为它能让我们轻松地逃离现实生活。最后诗人宣告，死亡自己也必将死去。