泰德休斯詩歌中的人性化自然

摘 要：英國桂冠詩人泰德·休斯的詩歌生動描繪了大自然的各種力量，并賦予其人的特性，本文詳細分析其詩歌是如何結合自然與人的特性的，并把這些特性歸類，從而展現其詩歌豐富的人文內涵，及詩人敏銳的藝術天才。

關鍵詞：泰德休斯；人性化自然

作者簡介：陳婧（1988.3-），女，籍貫：廣東廣州，華南師范大學外國語言文化學院研究生，專業為英語語言文學。

[中圖分類號]：I106 [文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2012)-16-0-01

1. Ted Hughes: Charm of the Darkness

There is this conspicuous dark vigor in Hughes’ poetry that shots through one’s spine with thrill. The charm lies in its creative power that enlivens the dead， and freshens the living. His poetry proves him a man who boasts an acute sensitivity， to the various animal qualities very often unperceived by a less genius mind. It is ferocity itself， but the kind of ferocity that inflicts on the mind the sacred sentiment of awe， rather than contempt. It reveals a hidden world of passion， raging in iron-hot anger， and pulsing in vivid rancor. Hughes is one of those few gifted poets who are capable of conveying， with no lack of originality and almost no degree of dissatifaction in artistic representation， the essential spirit of what they observe. In attracting readers’ attention to some of Hughes’ poems， this essay aims at dissecting the poet’s view of a pervasively violent humanized nature， with all its vigor， vitality and vivacity.

2. Destruction and Cruelty

Hughes’ passion for violence is mixed with his love for animals. Throughout his early works， there are electrifying descriptions of jaguars， thrushes， and pike that generate metaphors relating such creatures to forces underlying all animal and human experience1. The huamn will to bring destruction， to inflict cruelty is reflected vividly in ‘Wind’. In this poem， the wind seems to be a natural embodiment of the human disposition to level out any contradictions. It crashes the woods， rumbles the hills， stampedes the fields， splits up the darkness of the night， and ruffles to a mess the water’s peace. And it spits on God’s residence， the sky， by twsiting it to a grimace， and threathens to smash it in a bang. Such bloody cruelty is shown again in ‘Pike’， climaxed in the scene where one of the two pikes heartlessly kills the other， a member of its own race， and terribly ends up being stuffed up too much and dies. This scene invariably evokes scenarios of wars， in which human slaughters hundreds of thousands of members of his own race， and meanwhile is at every minute subject to the possible threat of being killed himself.

3. Pretension and Peevishness

In addition to the will to bring destruction， Hughes’ poetry still portrays other qualities shared by nature and man， such as pretension， and peevishness. In ‘Hawk Roosting’， the poet imagines himself to be a hawk， sitting high up on trees， and ‘the air’s buoyancy and the sun’s ray’ are of advantage to him， and ‘the earth’s face upward for his inspection’， like a king. Human peevishness is no where better exemplified than in ‘Macaw and Little Miss’. The intensity of a parrot’s fiery temper， and its extreme irritability， are conveyed with perfect genuineness. And the creature is fundementally connected to a pretentious emperor， a supercilious tyrant， or a self-conceited aristocrat， who has long accustomed to his priviledge given by some mythological system of hierarchy， but now has to face the shameful reality of being caged and treated rudely， as he has stupidly fallen prey to some degrading snare of a crust and a bent pin， which is set originally for some vulgar common kind of birds， a song-thrush， for example.

4. Spiritual Tenacity and the Capacity of Being Visionary

Besides underlying some dark affinities between human and nature， Hughes’ poetry also demonstrates some more desirable common qualities， such as firmness， spiritual tenacity， and the capacity of being visionary. In ‘The Jaguar’， the poet reproduces his trip to the zoo and awes at the uncagable valor in a stalking jaguar. The imagination of the poet is kindled， let loose， and transforms the caged animal to some prophetic visionary， whose spirit radiates to blind the horizon， and whose wisdom is so broad that it encompasses the universe. The poem ‘The horse’ imparts to us the invaluable spirit of firmness. In the beginning， the sun changes from a glimmering orange to a radiant red， splitting up the sky and flinging clouds， erupting into grandeur， and pouring down to immerse all being. The poet on the one hand gasps at such splendid majesty， on the other fixes his eyes on the inspiring stillness of some horses， veiled in sacred holliness with their unflinching firmness. The horse’s spirit endures in the poet’s bosom， sustaining him through the din of years， and subliming his faith in mankind. Hughes’ poetry continues to inspire with its unique vividness， and enlighten our mind to a new level of insight.

1 Terry Gifford.Ted Hughes[M].Routledge 2 Park Square， Milton Park， Abingdon， OX14 4RN. 2009

Bibliography

1、Terry Gifford.Ted Hughes[M].Routledge 2 Park Square， Milton Park， Abingdon， OX14 4RN. 2009

2、李增，劉國清.癡迷的自然情結—論泰德·休斯的自然觀與自然詩[J].東北師大學報. 2(2004).