To a Waterfowl by William Cullen Bryant (威廉柯倫布萊恩特《致水鳥》的)幻燈片.ppt

1、To a Waterfowl,by William Cullen Bryant,1,To a Waterfowl By William Cullen Bryant,Whither, midst falling dew, While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue Thy solitary way? Vainly the fowlers eye Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong, A

2、s, darkly painted on the crimson sky, Thy figure floats along. Seekst thou the plashy brink Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide, Or where the rocking billows rise and sink On the chafed ocean side? There is a Power whose care Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,- The desert and illimitable a

3、ir,- Lone wandering, but not lost.,All day thy wings have fannd At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere: Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land, Though the dark night is near. And soon that toil shall end, Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest, And scream among thy fellows; reeds shal

4、l bend Soon oer thy sheltered nest. Thourt gone, the abyss of heaven Hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, And shall not soon depart. He, who, from zone to zone, Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way that I must tread

5、 alone, Will lead my steps aright.,2,譯作賞析致水鳥呂志魯譯,披著滴落的露珠， 天空燦爛，白日的行程就要結(jié)束； 穿過玫瑰色的遙遠(yuǎn)空際， 你往何方把孤單的前程追逐？ 看你遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)飛翔而無計(jì)可施， 捕鳥人的眼光徒勞眷顧； 滿天紅霞把你映襯， 暗黑的身影飄飄飛舞。 你是在尋找開闊的大河之濱， 還是波浪拍岸的水草之湖？ 或者潮水沖刷的海灘， 那里的巨浪奔騰起伏？ 有上蒼把你關(guān)照， 在無路的海岸為你指路 在荒漠和無邊的空際， 你孤單的飄蕩不致迷途。,你成天翕動翅膀， 任空氣稀薄暴寒冷，飛在高處， 疲乏中你不肯降落舒適的大地， 即使黑夜即將緊閉它的帷幕。 你很快就會結(jié)束這樣

6、的勞苦， 你即將找到你夏天的住處； 休息中呼喚自己的伙伴， 蘆葦也會躬身把你的窩巢遮護(hù)。 你的身軀全被吞沒， 天堂深淵里，你蹤影全無； 然而你的啟迪深深留在我的心底， 我將久久地久久地把它記住磚 從一地又到一地， 天空無垠，你的飛翔從無遲誤； 愿引領(lǐng)你的向?qū)О盐乙I(lǐng)， 孤單的長路中邁開永不偏離的腳步。,3,2.1 Youth and Education,Bryant was born on November 3, 1794,He was the second son of Peter Bryant, a doctor and later a state legislator, and Sara

7、h Snell. His maternal ancestry traces back to passengers on the Mayflower; his fathers, to colonists who arrived about a dozen years later. Bryant and his family moved to a new home when he was two years old. The William Cullen Bryant Homestead, his boyhood home, is now a museum. After just two year

8、s at Williams College, he studied law in Worthington and Bridgewater in Massachusetts, and he was admitted to the bar in 1815. He then began practicing law in nearby Plainfield, walking the seven miles from Cummington every day. On one of these walks, in December 1815, he noticed a single bird flyin

9、g on the horizon; the sight moved him enough to write To a Waterfowl.,4,2.1 Youth and Education,Bryant developed an interest in poetry early in life. Under his fathers tutelage（監(jiān)護(hù)）, he emulated（努力趕上） Alexander Pope and other Neo-Classic British poets. The Embargo, a savage attack on President Thomas

10、 Jefferson published in 1808, reflected Dr. Bryants Federalist political views. The first edition quickly sold outpartly because of the publicity earned by the poets young ageand a second, expanded edition, which included Bryants translation of Classical verse, was printed. The youth wrote little po

11、etry while preparing to enter Williams College as a sophomore, but upon leaving Williams after a single year and then beginning to read law, he regenerated his passion for poetry through encounter with the English pre-Romantics and, particul,5,2.2 Composition and publication history,The inspiration

12、for the poem occurred in December 1815 when Bryant, then 21, was walking from Cummington to Plainfield to look for a place to settle as a lawyer. The duck, flying across the sunset, seemed to Bryant as solitary a soul as himself, inspiring him to write the poem that evening. To a Waterfowl was first

13、 published in the North American Review in Volume 6, Issue 18, March 1818. It was later published in the collection Poems in 1821.,6,2.3 Critical response,Matthew Arnold praised it as the best short poem in the language, and the poet and critic Richard Wilbur has described it as Americas first flawl

14、ess poem.,7,2.4 Main works,Discourse on the Life, Character and Writings of Gulian Crommelin Verplanck (English) (as Author) Letters of a TravellerNotes of Things Seen in Europe and America (English) (as Author) The Little People of the Snow (English) (as Author) Poems (English) (as Author) Poetical

15、 Works of William Cullen BryantHousehold Edition (English) (as Author),8,3.1 Summary,The narrator questions where the waterfowl is going. He questions his motives for flying. He warns the waterfowl that he could possibly find danger, traveling alone. But, this waterfowl is not alone. He knows that t

16、he waterfowl is being led by some Power（神秘主義mysticism）. As the waterfowl reaches out of the narrators sight, the narrator reflects on Gods guidance in his own life. The narrator is sure that God has led this waterfowl, and that the waterfowl had faith in the narrator. Now, the narrators faith is str

17、engthened. He knows that God is guiding him as well. As the narrator sees God directing the waterfowl, the narrator is reminded of Gods guidance in his own life. Through his observance in nature, the narrator is reconnected with his faith in God.,9,3.2 Analysis,“To a Waterfowl” is written in iambic

18、trimeter（抑揚(yáng)三部格） and iambic pentameter（抑揚(yáng)格五音部）, consisting of eight stanzas of four lines. The poem represents early stages of American Romanticism through celebration of Nature and Gods presence within Nature. Bryant is acknowledged as skillful at depicting American scenery but his natural details a

19、re often combined with a universal moral, as in To a Waterfowl.,10,Stanza 1 Whither 1, midst falling dew, While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue Thy solitary way? 2 Summary As the dew falls and the sun sets in the rosy depths of the heaven

20、s, I wonder where you (waterfowl) are going? Notes 1. Whither: Where. 2. The speaker addresses the waterfowl as if it were present. Doing so constitutes a figure of speech known as apostrophe. 本詩第一節(jié)就以整節(jié)的篇幅描繪一只水鳥孤獨(dú)地飛在天空中的畫面背景；,11,Stanza 2 Vainly the fowlers 3 eye Might mark thy distant flight to do t

21、hee wrong, As, darkly seen against the crimson sky, Thy figure floats along. Summary Without success, a hunter (fowler) might try to bring you down as you float in silhouette against the crimson evening sky. Notes 3. fowlers: Hunters. 詩人把水鳥塑造成一個(gè)堅(jiān)定的形象。,12,Stanza 3 Seekst thou the plashy 4 brink Of we

22、edy lake, or marge of river wide, 10 Or where the rocking billows rise and sink On the chafed 5 ocean-side? Summary Are you looking for the marshy edge of a lake, the bank of a river, or the shore of the ocean? Notes 4. .plashy: Marshy, wet, having many puddles. 5. chafed: Worn away by the sea.,13,S

23、tanza 4 There is a Power 6 whose care Teaches thy way along that pathless coast The desert and illimitable air 15 Lone wandering, but not lost. Summary There is a Power that leads you on your way across deserts and through unlimited expanses of air. You may be wandering and alone, but you are not lo

24、st. Notes 6. .Power: God. 水鳥如何到達(dá)自己的目的地。一切都渾然天成，不論是在無形海岸還是無盡的天空，都有一種神秘的力作為它的向?qū)А?14,Stanza 5 All day thy wings have fanned, At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere, Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land, Though the dark night is near. 20 Summary You have been flapping your wings all day high

25、 in the sky, yet you continue on even though night is near and land beckons beneath you. 此節(jié)開始，全詩的象征意味顯明起來。涼夜將降，水鳥飛行終日，疲憊不堪，詩人卻不希望它降臨福地。,15,Stanza 6 And soon that toil shall end; Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest, And scream among thy fellows; reeds 7 shall bend, Soon, oer thy sheltered ne

26、st. Summary Soon your journey will end. Soon you will descend to your summer home. There, you will scream among others of your kind and find secure shelter among the tall grasses. Notes 7. .reeds: Tall grasses in marshland 這種象征意味更加明顯。雖然描寫得非常具象：水鳥熬過暗夜，結(jié)束旅程，遷徙至溫暖的家。但此時(shí)它的同伴卻“尖叫”起來，而蘆葦也長過它曾憩息的地方。如此一聯(lián)系，原

27、詩中的rest也許不是單指休息，而是水鳥長途跋涉之后西去了。,16,Stanza 7 Thou rt gone, the abyss of heaven 25 Hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, And shall not soon depart. Summary I can no longer see you, but I will never forget the lesson you taught me. Lesson?,17,Stanza 8

28、He 8 who, from zone to zone, Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 30 In the long way that I must tread alone, Will lead my steps aright. Summary God, who guides you from one place to another, will also guide me through life, leading me on the right path. Notes 8. .He: God？,18,3.2.2 T

29、heme,Just as God guides the waterfowl to its summer home, so too He guides the speaker of the poem through life to his ultimate destination, heaven. In the end, one will be able to say about the speaker what the speaker says about the waterfowl: the abyss of heaven / Hath swallowed up thy form (line

30、s 25-26). The poem is, in essence, a profession of faith in God.,19,3.2.3 Meter,In each stanza, the poet uses iambic trimiter in lines 1 and 4 but iambic pentameter in lines 2 and 3. The second stanza illustrates this format:,20,3.2.4 Structure and Rhyme,Bryant neatly divides the poem into eight sta

31、nzas, each with the same metrical structure and each with the same rhyme pattern: the last syllable of the first line always rhymes with the last syllable of the third, and the last syllable of the second line always rhymes with the last syllable of the fourth. (Lines 14 and 16 have different vowel

32、sounds at the end; consequently, the syllables containing them become a pararhyme.) The use of iambs (metrical feet each consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable) throughout the poem could be a way to suggest the flapping of wings.,21,3.2.5 Examples of Figures of Speech,a

33、lliteration: While, Whither (lines 1-2); depths, dost (line 3); their, thou, thy (lines 3-4); distant, do, darkly (lines 6-7) metaphor: last steps of day (comparison of the day to a creature that walks). Anaphora（首語重復(fù)法）: repetition of soon (lines 21, 22, 24). Anaphora is the repetition of a word, phrase, or cla