章节正文
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If business is battle, name it so.'"**
--
* `The Symphony', ll. 1-2.
** `The Symphony', ll. 31-61.
--
Of even wider sweep than mercantilism is the spirit of intolerance;
for, while the diffusion of knowledge and of grace has in a measure
repressed this spirit, it lacks much of being subdued. I do not wonder
that Lanier "fled in tears from men's ungodly quarrel about God,"
and that, in his poem entitled `Remonstrance', he denounces intolerance
with all the vehemence of a prophet of old.
But Lanier had an eye for life's beauties as well as its ills.
To him music was one of earth's chief blessings. Of his early passion
for the violin and his substitution of the flute therefor,
we have already learned. According to competent critics he was possibly
the greatest flute-player*1* in the world, a fact all the more interesting
when we remember that, as he himself tells us,*2* he never had a teacher.
With such a talent for music the poet has naturally strewn his pages
with fine tributes thereto. In `Tiger-lilies', for instance,
he tells us that, while explorers say that they have found
some nations that had no god, he knows of none that had no music,
and then sums up the matter in this sentence: "Music means harmony;
harmony means love; and love means -- God!"*3* Even more explicit
is this declaration in a letter of May, 1873, to Hayne: "I don't know
that I've told you that whatever turn I may have for art is purely MUSICAL;
poetry being with me A MERE TANGENT INTO WHICH I SHOOT SOMETIMES.
I could play passably on several instruments before I could write legibly,
and SINCE then the very deepest of my life has been filled with music,
which I have studied and cultivated far more than poetry."*4*
We have already seen incidentally that in his `Symphony'
the speakers are musical instruments; and it is in this poem that occurs
his felicitous definition,
"Music is love in search of a word."*5*
In `To Beethoven' he describes the effect of music upon himself:
"I know not how, I care not why,
Thy music brings this broil at ease,
And melts my passion's mortal cry
In satisfying symphonies.
"Yea, it forgives me all my sins,
Fits life to love like rhyme to rhyme,
And tunes the task each day begins
By the last trumpet-note of Time."*6*
It was this profound knowledge of music, of course, that enabled Lanier
to write his work on `The Science of English Verse', and gave him
a technical skill in versification akin to that of Tennyson.
--
*1* See Ward's `Memorial', pp. xx, xxxi.
*2* Hayne's (P. H.) `A Poet's Letters to a Friend'.
*3* `Tiger-lilies', p. 32.
*4* Hayne's `A Poet's Letters to a Friend'. After settling in Baltimore
Lanier devoted more time to poetry than to music, as we may see
from this sentence to Judge Bleckley, in his letter of March 20, 1876:
"As for me, life has resolved simply into a time during which
I must get upon paper as many as possible of the poems
with which my heart is stuffed like a schoolboy's pocket."
*5* `The Symphony', l. 368.
*6* `To Beethoven', ll. 61-68.
--
Like most great poets of modern times, Lanier was a sincere lover of nature.
And it seems to me that with him this love was as all-embracing as
with Wordsworth. Lanier found beauty in the waving corn*1* and the clover;*2*
in the mocking-bird,*3* the robin,*4* and the dove;*5*
in the hickory,*6* the dogwood,*6* and the live-oak;*7*
in the murmuring leaves*8* and the chattering streams;*9*
in the old red hills*10* and the sea;*11* in the clouds,*12*
sunrise,*13* and sunset;*14* and even in the marshes,*15*
which "burst into bloom" for this worshiper. Again, Lanier's love of nature
was no less insistent than Wordsworth's. We all remember the latter's
oft-quoted lines:
"To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears;"*16*
and beside them one may put this line of Lanier's,
"The little green leaves would not let me alone in my sleep,"*17*
because, as the context shows, he was
--
* `The Symphony', ll. 1-2.
** `The Symphony', ll. 31-61.
--
Of even wider sweep than mercantilism is the spirit of intolerance;
for, while the diffusion of knowledge and of grace has in a measure
repressed this spirit, it lacks much of being subdued. I do not wonder
that Lanier "fled in tears from men's ungodly quarrel about God,"
and that, in his poem entitled `Remonstrance', he denounces intolerance
with all the vehemence of a prophet of old.
But Lanier had an eye for life's beauties as well as its ills.
To him music was one of earth's chief blessings. Of his early passion
for the violin and his substitution of the flute therefor,
we have already learned. According to competent critics he was possibly
the greatest flute-player*1* in the world, a fact all the more interesting
when we remember that, as he himself tells us,*2* he never had a teacher.
With such a talent for music the poet has naturally strewn his pages
with fine tributes thereto. In `Tiger-lilies', for instance,
he tells us that, while explorers say that they have found
some nations that had no god, he knows of none that had no music,
and then sums up the matter in this sentence: "Music means harmony;
harmony means love; and love means -- God!"*3* Even more explicit
is this declaration in a letter of May, 1873, to Hayne: "I don't know
that I've told you that whatever turn I may have for art is purely MUSICAL;
poetry being with me A MERE TANGENT INTO WHICH I SHOOT SOMETIMES.
I could play passably on several instruments before I could write legibly,
and SINCE then the very deepest of my life has been filled with music,
which I have studied and cultivated far more than poetry."*4*
We have already seen incidentally that in his `Symphony'
the speakers are musical instruments; and it is in this poem that occurs
his felicitous definition,
"Music is love in search of a word."*5*
In `To Beethoven' he describes the effect of music upon himself:
"I know not how, I care not why,
Thy music brings this broil at ease,
And melts my passion's mortal cry
In satisfying symphonies.
"Yea, it forgives me all my sins,
Fits life to love like rhyme to rhyme,
And tunes the task each day begins
By the last trumpet-note of Time."*6*
It was this profound knowledge of music, of course, that enabled Lanier
to write his work on `The Science of English Verse', and gave him
a technical skill in versification akin to that of Tennyson.
--
*1* See Ward's `Memorial', pp. xx, xxxi.
*2* Hayne's (P. H.) `A Poet's Letters to a Friend'.
*3* `Tiger-lilies', p. 32.
*4* Hayne's `A Poet's Letters to a Friend'. After settling in Baltimore
Lanier devoted more time to poetry than to music, as we may see
from this sentence to Judge Bleckley, in his letter of March 20, 1876:
"As for me, life has resolved simply into a time during which
I must get upon paper as many as possible of the poems
with which my heart is stuffed like a schoolboy's pocket."
*5* `The Symphony', l. 368.
*6* `To Beethoven', ll. 61-68.
--
Like most great poets of modern times, Lanier was a sincere lover of nature.
And it seems to me that with him this love was as all-embracing as
with Wordsworth. Lanier found beauty in the waving corn*1* and the clover;*2*
in the mocking-bird,*3* the robin,*4* and the dove;*5*
in the hickory,*6* the dogwood,*6* and the live-oak;*7*
in the murmuring leaves*8* and the chattering streams;*9*
in the old red hills*10* and the sea;*11* in the clouds,*12*
sunrise,*13* and sunset;*14* and even in the marshes,*15*
which "burst into bloom" for this worshiper. Again, Lanier's love of nature
was no less insistent than Wordsworth's. We all remember the latter's
oft-quoted lines:
"To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears;"*16*
and beside them one may put this line of Lanier's,
"The little green leaves would not let me alone in my sleep,"*17*
because, as the context shows, he was
- virtue [´və:tʃu:]
n.美德；贞操；长处 (初中英语单词) - literary [´litərəri] a.文学(上)的 (初中英语单词)
- illustrate [´iləstreit] vt.加插图；举例说明 (初中英语单词)
- inquiry [in´kwaiəri] n.询问；质询；调查 (初中英语单词)
- personality [,pə:sə´næliti] n.人；个性；人品；人物 (初中英语单词)
- physical [´fizikəl] a.物质的；有形的 (初中英语单词)
- origin [´ɔridʒin] n.起源；由来；出身 (初中英语单词)
- novelist [´nɔvəlist] n.小说家 (初中英语单词)
- worthy [´wə:ði] a.有价值的；值得的 (初中英语单词)
- venture [´ventʃə] n.投机 v.冒险；敢于 (初中英语单词)
- safely [´seifli] ad.安全地；平安地 (初中英语单词)
- account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)
- deserve [di´zə:v] v.应受；值得 (初中英语单词)
- instructive [in´strʌktiv] a.有益的 (初中英语单词)
- poetry [´pəuitri] n.诗；诗意 (初中英语单词)
- chiefly [´tʃi:fli] ad.主要地；尤其 (初中英语单词)
- investigation [in,vesti´geiʃən] n.调查(研究) (初中英语单词)
- instance [´instəns] n.例子，实例，例证 (初中英语单词)
- illustration [,ilə´streiʃən] n.插图，图解，例证 (初中英语单词)
- independence [,indi´pendəns] n.独立，自主，自立 (初中英语单词)
- likewise [´laikwaiz] ad.同样地；也，又 (初中英语单词)
- temple [´tempəl] n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词)
- christ [kraist] n.基督 int.天啊! (初中英语单词)
- keenly [´ki:nli] ad.敏锐地；强烈地 (初中英语单词)
- reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)
- musical [´mju:zikəl] a.音乐的；悦耳的 (初中英语单词)
- relieve [ri´li:v] v.救济，援救；减轻 (初中英语单词)
- hunger [´hʌŋgə] n.饥饿；渴望 (初中英语单词)
- hasten [´heisən] vt.催促；促进 vi.赶紧 (初中英语单词)
- prophet [´prɔfit] n.预言家；先知；提倡者 (初中英语单词)
- talent [´tælənt] n.天才；才干；天资 (初中英语单词)
- sentence [´sentəns] n.判决 vt.宣判；处刑 (初中英语单词)
- whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)
- purely [´pjuəli] ad.仅仅；简单地 (初中英语单词)
- sincere [sin´siə] a.真挚的；直率的 (初中英语单词)
- concrete [´kɔŋkri:t] a.具体的 n.混凝土 (高中英语单词)
- elastic [i´læstik] a.灵活的 n.橡皮带 (高中英语单词)
- successor [sək´sesə] n.继承人，接班人 (高中英语单词)
- edition [i´diʃən] n.版本；很相似的 (高中英语单词)
- studied [´stʌdid] a.故意的；有计划的 (高中英语单词)
- characteristic [,kæriktə´ristik] a.特有的 n.特性 (高中英语单词)
- pilgrim [´pilgrim] n.旅行者；香客 (高中英语单词)
- declaration [,deklə´reiʃən] n.宣布；宣言；申报 (高中英语单词)
- intellectual [,inti´lektʃuəl] n.知识分子 (高中英语单词)
- rebuke [ri´bju:k] vt.&n.指责；训斥 (高中英语单词)
- passionate [´pæʃənit] a.易动情的；易怒的 (高中英语单词)
- learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)
- competent [´kɔmpitənt] a.能干的，有资格的 (高中英语单词)
- strewn [stru:n] strew的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)
- profound [prə´faund] a.深奥的；渊博的 (高中英语单词)
- technical [´teknikəl] a.技术的；专门性的 (高中英语单词)
- rational [´ræʃənəl] a.(有)理性的；合理的 (英语四级单词)
- abstract [´æbstrækt] a.抽象的 n.提要 (英语四级单词)
- wonderfully [´wʌndəfuli] ad.令人惊讶地；奇妙地 (英语四级单词)
- transition [træn´ziʃən, -´si-] n.转变；过渡 (英语四级单词)
- seeming [´si:miŋ] a.表面上的 n.外观 (英语四级单词)
- gotten [´gɔtn] get的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
- plymouth [´pliməθ] n.普利茅斯 (英语四级单词)
- intolerable [in´tɔlərəb(ə)l] a.无法忍受的 (英语四级单词)
- violin [,vaiə´lin] n.(小)提琴 (英语四级单词)
- incidentally [,insi´dentəli] ad.顺便一提；偶然地 (英语四级单词)
- devoted [di´vəutid] a.献身…的，忠实的 (英语四级单词)
- resolved [ri´zɔlvd] a.决心的；坚定的 (英语四级单词)
- paramount [´pærəmaunt] a.最高的 n.元首 (英语六级单词)
- secondly [´sekəndli] a.第二(点)；其次 (英语六级单词)
- fulfilment [ful´filmənt] n.完成，成就 (英语六级单词)
- inquisitive [in´kwizitiv] a.好奇的，好问的 (英语六级单词)
- forcibly [´fɔ:səbli] ad.强行地，强烈地 (英语六级单词)
- lordly [´lɔ:dli] a.高贵的；高傲的 (英语六级单词)
- vehemence [´vi:iməns] n.激烈，猛烈；热烈 (英语六级单词)
- thereto [ðeə´tu:] ad.到那里；另外 (英语六级单词)
- cultivated [´kʌltiveitid] a.在耕作的；有教养的 (英语六级单词)
- worshiper [´wə:ʃipə] n.崇拜者；礼拜者 (英语六级单词)
- insistent [in´sistənt] a.坚持的；逼人注意的 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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