章节正文
Tolerant plains, that suffer the sea and the rains and the sun,
Ye spread and span like the catholic man who hath mightily won
God out of knowledge and good out of infinite pain
And sight out of blindness and purity out of a stain.
As the marsh-hen secretly builds on the watery sod, [71]
Behold I will build me a nest on the greatness of God:
I will fly in the greatness of God as the marsh-hen flies
In the freedom that fills all the space 'twixt the marsh and the skies:
By so many roots as the marsh-grass sends in the sod
I will heartily lay me a-hold on the greatness of God:
Oh, like to the greatness of God is the greatness within
The range of the marshes, the liberal marshes of Glynn.
And the sea lends large, as the marsh: lo, out of his plenty the sea
Pours fast: full soon the time of the flood-tide must be:
Look how the grace of the sea doth go [81]
About and about through the intricate channels that flow
Here and there,
Everywhere,
Till his waters have flooded the uttermost creeks and the low-lying lanes,
And the marsh is meshed with a million veins,
That like as with rosy and silvery essences flow
In the rose-and-silver evening glow.
Farewell, my lord Sun!
The creeks overflow: a thousand rivulets run
'Twixt the roots of the sod; the blades of the marsh-grass stir; [91]
Passeth a hurrying sound of wings that westward whirr;
Passeth, and all is still; and the currents cease to run;
And the sea and the marsh are one.
How still the plains of the waters be!
The tide is in his ecstasy.
The tide is at his highest height:
And it is night.
And now from the Vast of the Lord will the waters of sleep
Roll in on the souls of men,
But who will reveal to our waking ken [101]
The forms that swim and the shapes that creep
Under the waters of sleep?
And I would I could know what swimmeth below when the tide comes in
On the length and the breadth of the marvellous marshes of Glynn.
____
Baltimore, 1878.
Notes: The Marshes of Glynn
Although Dr. Callaway noted in his preface the importance of this poem,
he did not include it for lack of space. This would seem to indicate
that when he published these "Selected Poems" in 1895,
"The Marshes of Glynn" had not yet achieved its later prominence
as the greatest of Sidney Lanier's poems -- as now seems to be the opinion.
The setting of the poem is the salt marshes surrounding
the coastal city of Brunswick, Georgia, which is in Glynn County -- an area
well deserving of the fame Lanier has given it -- and it was intended
as one installment in a series of "Hymns of the Marshes", of which four poems
were completed.
The text is taken from the 1916 edition of "Poems of Sidney Lanier".
William Hayes Ward wrote of this poem: "How naturally his large faith in God
finds expression in his `Marshes of Glynn'."
Edwin Mims, in his biography of Sidney Lanier, concludes by quoting this poem.
He writes:
"His best poems move to the cadence of a tune. . . . Sometimes, as in
the `Marshes of Glynn' and in the best parts of `Sunrise', there is
a cosmic rhythm that is like unto the rhythmic beating of the heart of God,
of which Poe and Lanier have written eloquently."
And later continues:
"Indeed, if one had to rely upon one poem to keep alive the fame of Lanier,
he could single out `The Marshes of Glynn' with assurance
that there is something so individual and original about it,
and that, at the same time, there is such a roll and range of verse in it,
that it will surely live not only in American poetry but in English.
Here the imagination has taken the place of fancy, the effort
to do great things ends in victory, and the melody of the poem corresponds
to the exalted thought. It has all the strong points of `Sunrise',
with but few of its limitations. There is something of
Whitman's virile imagination and Emerson's high spirituality
combined with the haunting melody of Poe's best work. Written in 1878,
when Lanier was in the full exercise of all his powers,
it is the best expression of his genius and one of the few
great American poems.
"The background of the poem -- as of `Sunrise' -- is the forest,
the coast and the marshes near Brunswick, Georgia. Early in life
Lanier had been thrilled by this wonderful natural scenery,
and later visits had the more powerfully impressed his imagination.
He is the poet of the marshes as surely as Bryant is of the forests,
or Wordsworth of the mountains.
"The poet represents himself as having spent the day in the forest
and coming at sunset into full view of the length and the breadth
and the sweep of the marshes. The glooms of the live-oaks
and the emerald twilights of the `dim sweet woods, of the dear dark woods,'
have been as a refuge from the riotous noon-day sun. More than that,
in the wildwood privacies and closets of lone desire he has known
the passionate pleasure of prayer and the joy of elevated thought.
His spirit is grown to a lordly great compass within, -- he is ready
for what Wordsworth calls a `god-like hour'."
Mr. Callaway also treats the poem in Part III of the `Introduction'.
Remonstrance
Opinion, let me alone: I am not thine. [1]
Prim Creed, with categoric point, forbear
To feature me my Lord by rule and line.
Thou canst not measure Mistress Nature's hair,
Not one sweet inch: nay, if thy sight is sharp,
Would'st count the strings upon an angel's harp?
Forbear, forbear.
Oh let me love my Lord more fathom deep
Than there is line to sound with: let me love
My fellow not as men that mandates keep:
Yea, all that's lovable, below, above, [11]
That let me love by heart, by heart, because
(Free from the penal pressure of the laws)
I find it fair.
The tears I weep by day and bitter night,
Opinion! for thy sole salt vintage fall.
-- As morn by morn I rise with fresh delight,
Time through my casementcheerily doth call,
"Nature is new, 'tis birthday every day,
Come feast with me, let no man say me nay,
Whate'er befall." [21]
So fare I forth to feast: I sit beside
Some brother bright: but, ere good-morrow's passed,
Burly Opinion wedging in hath cried,
"Thou shalt not sit by us, to break thy fast,
Save to our Rubric thou subscribe and swear --
`Religion hath blue eyes and yellow hair':
She's Saxon, all."
Then, hard a-hungered for my brother's grace
Till well-nigh fain to swear his folly's true,
In sad dissent I turn my longing face [31]
To him that sits on the left: "Brother, -- with you?"
-- "Nay, not with me, save thou subscribe and swear
`Religion hath black eyes and raven hair':
Nought else is true."
Debarred of banquets that my heart could make
With every man on every day of life,
I homeward turn, my fires of pain to slake
In deep endearments of a worshiped wife.
"I love thee well, dear Love," quoth she, "and yet
Would that thy creed with mine completely met, [41]
As one, not two."
Assassin! Thief! Opinion, 'tis thy work.
By Church, by throne, by hearth, by every good
That's in the Town of Time, I see thee lurk,
And e'er some shadow stays where thou hast stood.
Thou hand'st sweet Socrates his hemlock sour;
Thou sav'st Barabbas in that hideous hour,
And stabb'st the good
Deliverer Christ; thou rack'st the souls of men;
Thou tossest girls to lions and boys to flames; [51]
Thou hew'st Crusader down by Saracen;
Thou buildest closets full of secret shames;
Indifferent cruel, thou dost blow the blaze
Round Ridley or Servetus; all thy days
Smell scorched; I would
-- Thou base-born Accident of time and place --
Bigot Pretender unto Judgment's throne --
Bastard, that claimest with a cunning face
Those rights the true, true Son of Man doth own
By Love's authority -- thou Rebel cold [61]
At head of civil wars and quarrels old --
Thou Knife on a throne --
I would thou left'st me free, to live with love,
And faith, that through the love of love doth find
My Lord's dear presence in the stars above,
The clods below, the flesh without, the mind
Within, the bread, the tear, the smile.
Opinion, damned Intriguer, gray with guile,
Let me alone.
____
Baltimore, 1878-9.
Notes: Remonstrance
This is the first and the greatest of the `Street-cries':
see the introductory note to `Life and Song'.
For an interpretation of the poem see `Introduction', pp. xxix [Part III],
xlv, xlvii [Part IV].
26, 33. Amusing illustrations of such intolerance may be found
in `Jack-knife and Brambles' (Nashville, 1893), by Bishop Atticus G. Haygood,
of the Methodist Church, South. One brother, we are told (p. 278),
objected to hearing Bishop Haygood in 1859 because of his wearing a beard;
while another (p. 281), along in the thirties, voted against licensing
Bishop George F. Pierce because his hair was "combed back from his forehead"!
46. For an account of Socrates, the Greek philosopher, poisoned in 399 B.C.,
see Xenophon's `Memorabilia' and Plato's dialogues.
47. See St. Matthew 27:20.
54. For the burning of Nicholas Ridley, an English Bishop,
on October 16, 1555, see Green's `Shorter History of England'.
Michael Servetus, a Spanish scientific and theological writer,
was burned as a heretic at Geneva, October 27, 1553.
Opposition
Of fret, of dark, of thorn, of chill, [1]
Complain no more; for these, O heart,
Direct the random of the will
As rhymes direct the rage of art.
The lute's fixt fret, that runs athwart
The strain and purpose of the string,
For governance and nice consort
Doth bar his willful wavering.
The dark hath many dear avails;
The dark distils divinest dews;
The dark is rich with nightingales, [11]
With dreams, and with the heavenly Muse.
Bleeding with thorns of petty strife,
I'll ease (as lovers do) my smart
With sonnets to my lady Life
Writ red in issues from the heart.
What grace may lie within the chill
Ye spread and span like the catholic man who hath mightily won
God out of knowledge and good out of infinite pain
And sight out of blindness and purity out of a stain.
As the marsh-hen secretly builds on the watery sod, [71]
Behold I will build me a nest on the greatness of God:
I will fly in the greatness of God as the marsh-hen flies
In the freedom that fills all the space 'twixt the marsh and the skies:
By so many roots as the marsh-grass sends in the sod
I will heartily lay me a-hold on the greatness of God:
Oh, like to the greatness of God is the greatness within
The range of the marshes, the liberal marshes of Glynn.
And the sea lends large, as the marsh: lo, out of his plenty the sea
Pours fast: full soon the time of the flood-tide must be:
Look how the grace of the sea doth go [81]
About and about through the intricate channels that flow
Here and there,
Everywhere,
Till his waters have flooded the uttermost creeks and the low-lying lanes,
And the marsh is meshed with a million veins,
That like as with rosy and silvery essences flow
In the rose-and-silver evening glow.
Farewell, my lord Sun!
The creeks overflow: a thousand rivulets run
'Twixt the roots of the sod; the blades of the marsh-grass stir; [91]
Passeth a hurrying sound of wings that westward whirr;
Passeth, and all is still; and the currents cease to run;
And the sea and the marsh are one.
How still the plains of the waters be!
The tide is in his ecstasy.
The tide is at his highest height:
And it is night.
And now from the Vast of the Lord will the waters of sleep
Roll in on the souls of men,
But who will reveal to our waking ken [101]
The forms that swim and the shapes that creep
Under the waters of sleep?
And I would I could know what swimmeth below when the tide comes in
On the length and the breadth of the marvellous marshes of Glynn.
____
Baltimore, 1878.
Notes: The Marshes of Glynn
Although Dr. Callaway noted in his preface the importance of this poem,
he did not include it for lack of space. This would seem to indicate
that when he published these "Selected Poems" in 1895,
"The Marshes of Glynn" had not yet achieved its later prominence
as the greatest of Sidney Lanier's poems -- as now seems to be the opinion.
The setting of the poem is the salt marshes surrounding
the coastal city of Brunswick, Georgia, which is in Glynn County -- an area
well deserving of the fame Lanier has given it -- and it was intended
as one installment in a series of "Hymns of the Marshes", of which four poems
were completed.
The text is taken from the 1916 edition of "Poems of Sidney Lanier".
William Hayes Ward wrote of this poem: "How naturally his large faith in God
finds expression in his `Marshes of Glynn'."
Edwin Mims, in his biography of Sidney Lanier, concludes by quoting this poem.
He writes:
"His best poems move to the cadence of a tune. . . . Sometimes, as in
the `Marshes of Glynn' and in the best parts of `Sunrise', there is
a cosmic rhythm that is like unto the rhythmic beating of the heart of God,
of which Poe and Lanier have written eloquently."
And later continues:
"Indeed, if one had to rely upon one poem to keep alive the fame of Lanier,
he could single out `The Marshes of Glynn' with assurance
that there is something so individual and original about it,
and that, at the same time, there is such a roll and range of verse in it,
that it will surely live not only in American poetry but in English.
Here the imagination has taken the place of fancy, the effort
to do great things ends in victory, and the melody of the poem corresponds
to the exalted thought. It has all the strong points of `Sunrise',
with but few of its limitations. There is something of
Whitman's virile imagination and Emerson's high spirituality
combined with the haunting melody of Poe's best work. Written in 1878,
when Lanier was in the full exercise of all his powers,
it is the best expression of his genius and one of the few
great American poems.
"The background of the poem -- as of `Sunrise' -- is the forest,
the coast and the marshes near Brunswick, Georgia. Early in life
Lanier had been thrilled by this wonderful natural scenery,
and later visits had the more powerfully impressed his imagination.
He is the poet of the marshes as surely as Bryant is of the forests,
or Wordsworth of the mountains.
"The poet represents himself as having spent the day in the forest
and coming at sunset into full view of the length and the breadth
and the sweep of the marshes. The glooms of the live-oaks
and the emerald twilights of the `dim sweet woods, of the dear dark woods,'
have been as a refuge from the riotous noon-day sun. More than that,
in the wildwood privacies and closets of lone desire he has known
the passionate pleasure of prayer and the joy of elevated thought.
His spirit is grown to a lordly great compass within, -- he is ready
for what Wordsworth calls a `god-like hour'."
Mr. Callaway also treats the poem in Part III of the `Introduction'.
Remonstrance
Opinion, let me alone: I am not thine. [1]
Prim Creed, with categoric point, forbear
To feature me my Lord by rule and line.
Thou canst not measure Mistress Nature's hair,
Not one sweet inch: nay, if thy sight is sharp,
Would'st count the strings upon an angel's harp?
Forbear, forbear.
Oh let me love my Lord more fathom deep
Than there is line to sound with: let me love
My fellow not as men that mandates keep:
Yea, all that's lovable, below, above, [11]
That let me love by heart, by heart, because
(Free from the penal pressure of the laws)
I find it fair.
The tears I weep by day and bitter night,
Opinion! for thy sole salt vintage fall.
-- As morn by morn I rise with fresh delight,
Time through my casementcheerily doth call,
"Nature is new, 'tis birthday every day,
Come feast with me, let no man say me nay,
Whate'er befall." [21]
So fare I forth to feast: I sit beside
Some brother bright: but, ere good-morrow's passed,
Burly Opinion wedging in hath cried,
"Thou shalt not sit by us, to break thy fast,
Save to our Rubric thou subscribe and swear --
`Religion hath blue eyes and yellow hair':
She's Saxon, all."
Then, hard a-hungered for my brother's grace
Till well-nigh fain to swear his folly's true,
In sad dissent I turn my longing face [31]
To him that sits on the left: "Brother, -- with you?"
-- "Nay, not with me, save thou subscribe and swear
`Religion hath black eyes and raven hair':
Nought else is true."
Debarred of banquets that my heart could make
With every man on every day of life,
I homeward turn, my fires of pain to slake
In deep endearments of a worshiped wife.
"I love thee well, dear Love," quoth she, "and yet
Would that thy creed with mine completely met, [41]
As one, not two."
Assassin! Thief! Opinion, 'tis thy work.
By Church, by throne, by hearth, by every good
That's in the Town of Time, I see thee lurk,
And e'er some shadow stays where thou hast stood.
Thou hand'st sweet Socrates his hemlock sour;
Thou sav'st Barabbas in that hideous hour,
And stabb'st the good
Deliverer Christ; thou rack'st the souls of men;
Thou tossest girls to lions and boys to flames; [51]
Thou hew'st Crusader down by Saracen;
Thou buildest closets full of secret shames;
Indifferent cruel, thou dost blow the blaze
Round Ridley or Servetus; all thy days
Smell scorched; I would
-- Thou base-born Accident of time and place --
Bigot Pretender unto Judgment's throne --
Bastard, that claimest with a cunning face
Those rights the true, true Son of Man doth own
By Love's authority -- thou Rebel cold [61]
At head of civil wars and quarrels old --
Thou Knife on a throne --
I would thou left'st me free, to live with love,
And faith, that through the love of love doth find
My Lord's dear presence in the stars above,
The clods below, the flesh without, the mind
Within, the bread, the tear, the smile.
Opinion, damned Intriguer, gray with guile,
Let me alone.
____
Baltimore, 1878-9.
Notes: Remonstrance
This is the first and the greatest of the `Street-cries':
see the introductory note to `Life and Song'.
For an interpretation of the poem see `Introduction', pp. xxix [Part III],
xlv, xlvii [Part IV].
26, 33. Amusing illustrations of such intolerance may be found
in `Jack-knife and Brambles' (Nashville, 1893), by Bishop Atticus G. Haygood,
of the Methodist Church, South. One brother, we are told (p. 278),
objected to hearing Bishop Haygood in 1859 because of his wearing a beard;
while another (p. 281), along in the thirties, voted against licensing
Bishop George F. Pierce because his hair was "combed back from his forehead"!
46. For an account of Socrates, the Greek philosopher, poisoned in 399 B.C.,
see Xenophon's `Memorabilia' and Plato's dialogues.
47. See St. Matthew 27:20.
54. For the burning of Nicholas Ridley, an English Bishop,
on October 16, 1555, see Green's `Shorter History of England'.
Michael Servetus, a Spanish scientific and theological writer,
was burned as a heretic at Geneva, October 27, 1553.
Opposition
Of fret, of dark, of thorn, of chill, [1]
Complain no more; for these, O heart,
Direct the random of the will
As rhymes direct the rage of art.
The lute's fixt fret, that runs athwart
The strain and purpose of the string,
For governance and nice consort
Doth bar his willful wavering.
The dark hath many dear avails;
The dark distils divinest dews;
The dark is rich with nightingales, [11]
With dreams, and with the heavenly Muse.
Bleeding with thorns of petty strife,
I'll ease (as lovers do) my smart
With sonnets to my lady Life
Writ red in issues from the heart.
What grace may lie within the chill
- catholic [´kæθəlik]
a.天主教 n.天主教徒 (初中英语单词) - purity [´pjuəriti] n.纯净；贞洁 (初中英语单词)
- liberal [´libərəl] a.大方的 n.开明的人 (初中英语单词)
- series [´siəri:z] n.连续；系列；丛书 (初中英语单词)
- poetry [´pəuitri] n.诗；诗意 (初中英语单词)
- imagination [i,mædʒi´neiʃən] n.想象(力) (初中英语单词)
- victory [´viktəri] n.胜利，战胜 (初中英语单词)
- genius [´dʒi:niəs] n.天才(人物)；天赋 (初中英语单词)
- background [´bækgraund] n.背景；经历；幕后 (初中英语单词)
- sunset [´sʌnset] n.日落；晚霞 (初中英语单词)
- refuge [´refju:dʒ] v.&n.避难(所)；庇护 (初中英语单词)
- compass [´kʌmpəs] n.指南针；圆规 (初中英语单词)
- measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)
- mistress [´mistris] n.女主人；情妇；女能手 (初中英语单词)
- pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对...施压力 (初中英语单词)
- christ [kraist] n.基督 int.天啊! (初中英语单词)
- cunning [´kʌniŋ] a.&n.狡猾(诡诈)的 (初中英语单词)
- bishop [´biʃəp] n.主教 (初中英语单词)
- pierce [piəs] v.刺穿；突破；洞察 (初中英语单词)
- account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)
- scientific [,saiən´tifik] a.科学(上)的 (初中英语单词)
- infinite [´infinit] a.无限的，无穷的 (高中英语单词)
- secretly [´si:kritli] ad.秘密地；隐蔽地 (高中英语单词)
- greatness [´greitnis] n.巨大；高尚；卓越 (高中英语单词)
- heartily [´hɑ:tili] ad.衷心地；亲切地 (高中英语单词)
- overflow [´əuvəfləu] v.(使)泛滥 n.泛滥 (高中英语单词)
- westward [´westwəd] a.向西的 n.西方；西部 (高中英语单词)
- breadth [bredθ] n.宽度，幅面，广度 (高中英语单词)
- preface [´prefis] n.序 v.开始；导致 (高中英语单词)
- georgia [´dʒɔ:dʒjə] n.乔治亚 (高中英语单词)
- installment [in´stɔ:lmənt] n.分期付款 (高中英语单词)
- edition [i´diʃən] n.版本；很相似的 (高中英语单词)
- melody [´melədi] n.悦耳的音调；乐曲 (高中英语单词)
- passionate [´pæʃənit] a.易动情的；易怒的 (高中英语单词)
- longing [´lɔŋiŋ] n.&a.渴望(的) (高中英语单词)
- homeward [´həumwəd] ad.&a.回家(的) (高中英语单词)
- throne [θrəun] n.宝座；王位 (高中英语单词)
- hearth [hɑ:θ] n.炉边；家庭(生活) (高中英语单词)
- hideous [´hidiəs] a.丑陋的，可怕的 (高中英语单词)
- damned [dæmd] a.该死的 ad.非常，极 (高中英语单词)
- interpretation [in,tə:pri´teiʃən] n.解释；翻译；表演 (高中英语单词)
- amusing [ə´mju:ziŋ] a.有趣的 (高中英语单词)
- hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)
- philosopher [fi´lɔsəfə] n.哲学家；思想家；哲人 (高中英语单词)
- geneva [dʒi´ni:və] n.日内瓦 (高中英语单词)
- random [´rændəm] n.偶然的行动 (高中英语单词)
- strain [strein] vt.拉紧 vi.拖 n.张力 (高中英语单词)
- heavenly [´hevənli] a.天的，天空的 (高中英语单词)
- blindness [´blaindnis] n.失明；愚味，文盲 (英语四级单词)
- intricate [´intrikit] a.错综复杂的；难懂的 (英语四级单词)
- silvery [´silvəri] a.银一般的 (英语四级单词)
- setting [´setiŋ] n.安装；排字；布景 (英语四级单词)
- biography [bai´ɔgrəfi] n.传记(文学) (英语四级单词)
- cadence [´keidəns] n.抑扬；节奏；韵律 (英语四级单词)
- rhythm [´riðəm] n.(诗的)韵律；格律 (英语四级单词)
- emerald [´emərəld] n.纯绿宝石；翠绿色 (英语四级单词)
- fathom [´fæðəm] n.英寻 vt.推测，揣摩 (英语四级单词)
- casement [,keismənt] n.窗扉 (英语四级单词)
- cheerily [´tʃiərili] ad. 高兴地；愉快地 (英语四级单词)
- subscribe [səb´skraib] vi.捐助；预订；签名 (英语四级单词)
- hemlock [´hemlɔk] n.铁杉；毒胡萝卜 (英语四级单词)
- theological [θiə´lɔdʒikəl] a.神学(上)的 (英语四级单词)
- heretic [´heritik] n.异教徒 (英语四级单词)
- tolerant [´tɔlərənt] a.宽容的，宽大的 (英语六级单词)
- watery [´wɔ:təri] a.水的；像水的 (英语六级单词)
- uttermost [´ʌtəməust] a.&n.=utmost (英语六级单词)
- beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (英语六级单词)
- lordly [´lɔ:dli] a.高贵的；高傲的 (英语六级单词)
- lovable [´lʌvəbəl] a.可爱的 (英语六级单词)
- dissent [di´sent] vi.不同意；表异议 (英语六级单词)
- socrates [´sɔkrəti:z] n.苏格拉底 (英语六级单词)
- crusader [kru:´seidə] n.十字军参加者 (英语六级单词)
- willful [´wilfəl] a.任性的，固执的 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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