Edgar_Allan_Poe_爱伦坡_美国文学选读.ppt

Edgar Allan Edgar Allan Poe Poe (1809-1849)  Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)•I. Literary Status•Pioneer of American Horror Tales, American Detective Tales, American Southern writings, American Psycho-Analytic fiction•Editor, Poet and Professional literary critic•II. Life and Career•Born in an actor and actress’s family – his parents died when he was very young –adopted by a Virginia rich businessman John Allan – entered the Virginia University at 17 – West Point where he began to write poetry – then tales – editor of magazines. •At 27 he married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia who died very young in 1947•Emerson dismissed him in three words “the jingle man” （招摇的人），Mark Twain declared his prose to be unreadable. And Whitman was the only famous literary figure present at the Poe Memorial Ceremony in 1875•Ironically, it was in Europe that Poe enjoyed respect and welcome. •Bernard Shaw said: “Poe was ‘the greatest journalistic critic of his time; his poetry is exquisitely refined; and his tales are complete works of art”.•Poe’s reputation was first made in France. Charles Baudelaire said that “Edgar Poe, who isn’t much in America, must become a great man in France.”•Today, Poe’s particular power has ensured his position among the greatest writers of the world. The majority of critics today, in America as well as in the world, have recognized the real, unique importance of Poe as a great writer of fiction, a poet of the first rank, and a critic of great insight. His works are read the world over. His influence is world-wide in modern literature.  III. Poe’s Major Works•Tales•The Black Cat《黑猫》•The Cask of Amontillado 《阿芒提拉多的酒》•The Gold-Bug 《金甲虫》•Ligeia 《莉姬亚》• Purloined Letter 《失窃的信》•The Murders in the Rue Morgue 《《莫格街谋杀案》》•Other works•The Poetic Principle《诗歌原理》•The Philosophy of Composition《创作哲学》•Poetry•The Raven 《乌鸦》 •Annabel Lee《安娜贝尔·李》•To Helen 《致海伦》 •The Bells《钟声》•Tamerlane 《帖木尔》 •A Dream Within A Dream 《梦中之梦》 •The Haunted Palace《闹鬼的宫殿》Science’s crime of destroying these beautiful myths is made all the worse by the poem’s harsh language. The vulture has not just nudged the mythical figures out of the picture, but has “dragged Diana from her car” and “torn the Naiad from her flood.” Theme•Poe was a fascinating man of imagination. Poe was sensitive enough to feel the pressure of a world where science and reason reign supreme(至高无上的）, where “there is neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help from pain.”•IV. Poe’s aesthetics•1. Aesthetic writings: •The Philosophy of Composition（写作的哲学） The Poetic Principle（诗歌原理）•2. Aesthetic ideas:•A. Brevity: the poem should be short, readable at one sitting•B. Beauty: the chief aim is beauty, namely to produce a feeling • of beauty in the minds of the reader• The melancholy is the most legitimate of all poetic tones; the death • of a beautiful woman is the most poetic topic in the world.•C. Purity: Poe is opposed to the heresy of the didactic and called for • pure poetry. •Besides, he stresses rhythm, defines true poetry as “the rhythmical creation of beauty” and declares that “music is the perfection of the soul, or ideas, of poetry.” Helen•An allusion to Helen of Troy（特洛伊的海伦） in Greek mythology. Helen, the wife of King Menelaus of Greece, was the most beautiful woman in the world. After a Trojan prince named Paris abducted her, the Greeks declared war on the Trojans, fighting a 10-year battle that ended in victory and the restoration of Greek honor. Helen returned to Greece with Menelaus. Stanza 1•The poet first mentioned Helen, the most famous beauty in Greek mythology. Then Poe compared himself to Odysseus, who wandered for ten years over the sea to get home. As Odysseus, Poe was persistent in his chasing after fine arts with the sincere belief that art, or beauty and truth, was the ultimate aim, the home, for the wandering poet; while Helen, the embodiment of ancient beauty, was the guider to that dreamland.Helen, thy beauty is to meLike those Nicean barks of yore,That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,The weary, way-worn wanderer boreTo his own native shore正如尼安色建造的古船，在芬芳馥郁的大海徐徐扬帆，海伦，你的美丽与此相仿，承载我这游子的疲乏厌倦，送我重返故土的彼岸。

Stanza 2•All the art and literature originated from one thing---beauty. Having taken Helen as the embodiment of beauty, the poet was confident that once he saw Helen, he was sure to be led by Helen to the home of beauty---fine and pure literature. Poe insisted that Greece and Rome were the homes of beauty, the treasure houses of fine art and literature.On desperate seas long wont to roam,Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,The Naiad airs have brought me homeTo the glory that was Greece,And the grandeur that was Rome.险象环生的漂泊久已习惯，你仙女的风姿伴我回到家园，还有你紫蓝的秀发，典雅的容颜，驶向昔日希腊的荣光美满，奔赴古代罗马的辉煌灿烂。

Stanza 3•The speaker saw Helen standing in the bright niche and holding in her hand an agate lamp. She was quite similar to goddess Psyche from Greek Myth. Through his description of his passion to Helen, Poe expressed his pursuit and sincere devotion to beauty.Lo! In yon brilliant window-nicheHow statue-like I see thee stand,The agate lamp within thy hand!Ah, Psyche, from the regions whichAre Holy-Land!看哪，那壁龛里金光闪闪，你犹如婷婷玉立的塑像一般，手中擎着玛瑙明灯一盏！啊，你是浦赛克女神下凡，在圣地降生人间！To Helen•Helen, thy beauty is to me•Like those Nicean barks of yore,•That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,•The weary, way-worn wanderer bore•To his own native shore•On desperate seas long wont to roam,•Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,•The Naiad airs have brought me home•To the glory that was Greece,•And the grandeur that was Rome.•Lo! In yon brilliant window-niche•How statue-like I see thee stand,•The agate lamp within thy hand!•Ah, Psyche, from the regions which•Are Holy-Land!正如尼安色建造的古船，在芬芳馥郁的大海徐徐扬帆，海伦，你的美丽与此相仿，承载我这游子的疲乏厌倦，送我重返故土的彼岸。

险象环生的漂泊久已习惯，你仙女的风姿伴我回到家园，还有你紫蓝的秀发，典雅的容颜，驶向昔日希腊的荣光美满，奔赴古代罗马的辉煌灿烂看哪，那壁龛里金光闪闪，你犹如婷婷玉立的塑像一般，手中擎着玛瑙明灯一盏！啊，你是浦赛克女神下凡，在圣地降生人间！“To Helen”--Theme•The theme of this short poem is the beauty (of a woman with whom Poe became acquainted when he was 14. Apparently she treated him kindly and may have urged him–or perhaps inspired him–to write poetry). •Beauty, as Poe uses the word in the poem, appears to refer to the woman‘s soul as well as her body. On the one hand, he represents her as Helen of Troy–the quintessence of physical beauty–at the beginning of the poem. On the other, he represents her as Psyche–the quintessence（精华） of soulful beauty–at the end of the poem. •V. Poe’s Influence•Enjoying a world-wide reputation now•French Symbolism•Dostoyevsky in Russia•British Aestheticism “Art for Art’s Sake”•Psychoanalytic criticism•T. S. Eliot and Faulkner in AmericaTHANK YOU!THANK YOU!。