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Hugh Selwyn Mauberley: V
作者Author  /  Ezra  Pound  艾滋若.龐德

Hugh Selwyn Mauberley

 
 
 
 
V.
There died a myriad,
And of the beset, among them,  
For an old bitch gone in the teeth, 90
For a botched civilization, (90-91)
   
Charm, smiling at the good mouth,
Quick eyes gone under earth's lid, (92-93)
   
For two gross of broken statures,
For a few thousand battered books. 95 (94-95)
   
   
Gladstone was till respected,
When John Ruskin produced
"Kings Treasuries"; Swinburne
And Rossetti still abused.
   
Foetid Buchanan lifted up his voice 100
When that faun's head of hers
Became a pastime for
Painters and adulterers.  
   
The Burne-Jones cartons  
Have preserved her eyes; 105
Still, at the Tate, they teach  
Cophetua to rhapsodize;
   
Thin like brook-water,
With a vacant gaze.
The English Rubaiyat was stillborn 110
In those days.  
   
The thin, clear gaze, the same
Still darts out faun-like from the half-ruin'd face
Questing and passive . . .
"Ah, poor Jenny's case". . . 115
   
Bewildered that a world
Shows no surprise  
At her last maquero's  
Adulteries. (116-119)
   
   
Among the pickled foetuses and bottled bones, 120
Engaged in perfecting the catalogue, (120-121)
I found the last scion of the
Senatorial families of Strasbourg, Monsieur Verog.
   
For two hours he talked of Gallifet;
Of Dowson; of the Rhymers' Club; 125
Told me how Johnson (Lionel) died
By falling from a high stool in a pub . . . (126-127)
   
But showed no trace of alcohol  
At the autopsy, privately performed-
Tissue preservedthe pure mind 130
Arose toward Newman as the whiskey warmed. (131)
   
Dowson found harlots cheaper than hotels;
Headlam for uplift; Image impartially imbued
With raptures for Bacchus, Terpsichore and the Church. (133-134)
So spoke the author of"The Dorian Mood," 135
   
M. Verog, out of step with the decade,
Detached from his contemporaries,  
Neglected by the young, (136-138)
Because of these reveries.
   
   
The sky-like limpid eyes, 140
The circular infant's face,
The stiffness from spats to collar
Never relaxing into grace; (142-143)
The heavy memories of Horeb, Sinai and the forty years,
Showed only when the daylight fell 145
Level across the face (145-146)
Of Brennbaum"The Impeccable." (145-147)
   
   
In the cream gilded cabin of his steam yacht
Mr. Nixon advised me kindly, to advance with fewer  
Dangers of delay."Consider 150
         "Carefully the reviewer.  
   
"I was as poor as you are;  
"When I began I got, of course,  
"Advance on royalties, fifty at first,"said Mr. Nixon,
"Follow me, and take a column, 155
"Even if you have to work free.
   
"Butter reviewers. From fifty to three hundred
"I rose in eighteen months;  
"The hardest nut I had to crack
"Was Dr. Dundas. 160
   
"I never mentioned a man but with the view

"Of selling my own works.

 
"The tip's a good one as for literature
"It gives no man a sinecure.
   
"And no one knows, at sight, a masterpiece. 165
"And give up verse, my boy,  
"There's nothing in it."
   
Likewise a friend of Bloughram's once advised me:
Don't kick against the pricks,
Accept opinion. The"Nineties" tried your game 170
And died, there's nothing in it.  
 
   
 
 
Line
Annotation
88
a myriad:指因世界大戰而死的人有千千萬萬。[back]
90-91
For an old . . . civilization:old bitch(掉了牙的老母狗)和botched civilization(縫縫補補東拼西湊的文明)都是指二十世紀人類所發展出來的文化。[back]
92-93
Charm . . . earth's lid:指美唇星眸滲入地底。[back]
94-95
For two gross . . . books:指上述在大戰中死去的人,死得不值得,他們的死只換來了幾尊破碎的雕像和幾千本被批評得體無完膚的書。此地雕像和書籍象徵人類的文化遺產。[back]
題解
Yeux glauques:法文,青光眼之意。[back]
96
Gladstone:William Euart Gladstone(1809-1898),他曾四度擔任英國首相(1868-1894),在當時是廣受尊崇的人物。[back]
97
John Ruskin:John Ruskin(1819-1900)是英國作家,藝評家及社會改革者。他認為私有財產不應存在,社會國家應劃分成嚴密的等級,上層指導下層,絕對不許反抗。"King's Treasuries"是他討論社會問題的著作,在Pound時代已不合要求不切實際了。[back]
98
Swinburne:Algernon Charles Swinburne(1837-1909)英國詩人及批評家。其詩以音樂性見長。[back]
99
Rossetti:Dante Gabriel Rossetti(1828-1892)英國詩人,是Pre-Raphaelitism的代表人物。

abused:侮辱、輕視。。此地指GladstoneRuskin等人的舊觀念仍受當時一般人眾的歡迎。而SwinburneRossetti所發展出來的新藝術卻被大眾嘲辱。[back]

100
Foetid Buchanan:指藝評家Robert Williams Buchanan,他對pre-Raphaelite畫家沒有好感,並稱他們的詩為「肉慾詩派」(The Fleshy School of Poetry)且為文發表在18711018日的 Contemporary Review上面。此地lifted up his voice是指Buchanan揚起的批評之聲。[back]
101
Faun's head:faun為牧神是性的象徵。hers是指Rossetti的太太Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal,她是pre-Raphaelite畫家們所喜用的模特兒之一。[back]
102
a pastime:指畫家們玩弄模特兒。Painters and adulterers:E.E. Siddal與其他的畫家有染。[back]
104
Burne-Jones cartons. Burne-Jonespre-Raphaelite畫家之一。Cartons是指他的素描。[back]
105
preserved her eyes:Burne-JonesE.E. Siddal所畫的素描。現在此畫仍保存在倫敦Tate Gallery中。Pound看過,覺得Burne-Jones所畫的眼睛最能傳神。[back]
107
Cophetua:是指Burne-Jones的畫Cophetua and the Beggar Maid,現存Tate Gallery,描畫Cophetua以王者之尊,因迷戀一女丐之美目而娶為皇后的事。rhapsodize意謂狂吟、狂熱的講誦。[back]
108
Thin like brook-water:指畫中的眼睛清澈透薄如溪水。[back]
109
With a vacant gaze:茫然的凝望。[back]
110
Rubaiyat;Rubaiyat為波斯詩人Omar Khayyam的詩集,由英人Edward FitzGerald英譯後在英國大受歡迎。still-born是指Rubaiyat英譯在受Rossetti等人重視之前,是乏人問津的。[back]
112
The thin, clear gaze:指畫中的眼睛。[back]
113
the half-ruin'd face:指該畫只畫出了眼睛部份,並沒有完全畫出整個臉。[back]
114
Questing and passive:指畫中的眼神好像在探尋什麼又好 像隱藏些什麼。[back]
115
poor Jenny's case:"Jenny"Rossetti的一首詩,描述一個青年畫家夜晚的沉思。在他膝旁偎依著一名叫Jenny的妓女。評批家 Buchanan就是因為看了此詩而在Contemporary Review上為文大加攻擊。此地PoundJenny來影射Siddal[back]
116-119
Bewildered . . . Adulteries:Bewildered是指這世界昏亂迷惘對 Siddal那樣淫蕩生活竟絲毫沒有反應。這也就是說對現代人來說性的淫亂已是正常現象了。Maquero法文皮條客之意。指賣淫在現代社會已是常事。[back]
題解
本首題目係引用但丁神曲煉獄篇(Dante, Purgatory, V, 135).譯成英文就是"Siena made me, Maremma undid me."說這句話的是Pia de' Tolomei of Siena的靈魂。她的丈夫為了要與另一女子結婚,把她送到義大利中部多斯加尼地方的Maremma在他的城堡中,Pietra將她殺死。她這句話是說「我成長於Siena,而喪命於Maremma.」本詩中,Pound詼諧地讓這句話出自Monsieur Verog口中來影射移民到英國後,堷況甚佳,根本沒有「喪命」的Monsieur Verog,他原名Victor Gustave Plarr(1863-1929),全家在普法戰爭之後由 Strasbourg移民英國。他曾為Ernest Dowson寫傳,也是詩人俱樂部(The Rhymers' Club)會員。本詩多半是根據Plarr對當時英國詩壇上兩位較特出詩人Ernest DowsonLionel Johnson的回憶而寫成。[back]
120
pickled foetuses:浸漬(於藥水中)的胎兒。bottled bones:盛在瓶中的骨類標本。[back]
120-121
本詩主角曾任倫敦外科醫學會(Royal College of Surgeons)圖書館長,所以說「在瓶裝浸漬的胎兒與骨頭之間,致力於編製更完善的目錄」。[back]
122
scion:(貴族的)子弟,苗裔。[back]
123
Senatorial families of Strasbourg:法國東北部Strasbourg的元老家族。Monsieur Verog:其真正姓名為Victor Gustave Plarr。[back]
124
Gallifet:應作Galliffet侯爵,原名Gaston Alexandre August,(1830-1909),於色當(Sedan)戰役率領騎兵攻擊,惜未受支援。[back]
125
Dowson:Ernest Dowson(1876-1900)為一「頹廢派」詩人("decadent"poet).[back]
125
the Rhymers' Club:此一俱樂部的會員包括甚多名作家。Yeats為最著名者,另有Ernest Dowson, Lionel Johnson, Arthur Symons等人。[back]
126-7
Lionel Johnson:(1867-1902)愛爾蘭詩人及批評家。他與 Ernest Dowson均為天主教徒,均酗酒,亦均崇敬羅馬詩人Propertius.[back]
126-127
事實上Lionel Johnson係在倫敦艦隊街猝斃。並非在酒館(pub=public house)中由高腳凳上跌下致死。[back]
129
autopsy:驗屍。Johnson並非死於酒館,所以驗屍時體內並無酒精。[back]
130
Tissue preserved:遺體組織保存了下來。[back]
130
the pure mind:Lionel Johnson.[back]
131
Newman:(18014-1890)英國作家,後成為天主教徒並被任命為樞機主教。很多知識份子受他影響,亦皈依天主教。[back]
131
本行論及Johnson熱中天主教義,終於追隨Newman成為天主教徒。as the whiskey warmed指其熱情昇高,因他嗜酒。[back]
132
意謂他寧原宿娼而不住旅館,因後者價昂。[back]
133
Headlam for uplift:HeadlamStewart Headlam神父,他是 Dowson的友人,亦為飲食考究家。意謂Dowson found that there was Headlam for uplift.因為the Rev. Stewart Headlam常舉辦教堂及戲劇宴會,是九十年代早期藝術盛事。所以Dowson發現,Headlam可以使他提起精神。[back]
133
Image:Selwyn Image教授,他曾與Herbert Horne共同編輯The Hobby Horse雜誌,並曾開畫室授徒。[back]
133-134
impartially imbued . . . and the Church:他公正不偏心地對飲酒(Bacchus為羅馬神話中之酒神),無蹈(Terpsichore為希臘神話中司歌舞之女神),及教會皆狂熱地喜愛。[back]
135
the author of"The Dorian Mood":Verog,實際上是Plarr,他的詩集全名是In the Dorian Mood(1896).[back]
136
M. Verog:M.Monsieur之縮寫(參見123行)。[back]
136-138
out of step with the decade:與當代步調不一致。Detached from his contemporaries與他同時代的人脫節。此三行皆表示他不受大眾歡迎。[back]
139
these reveries:關於Lionel JohnsonDowson等九十年代人士的沉思。[back]
題解
Brennbaum:由此節開始的五節中,每節描述Mauberley在倫敦的文壇中所接觸的形形色色的人。此節的題目Brennbaum指的是一個猶太人。但Brennbaum為德國姓氏。所以此節的人物是一個文化方面歷經移植的文人。以種族論,為猶太人;以國籍論,從前為德國人,現在為英國人。他為了要在他所移植到的國家為人接受,力求儀容整潔行為正確,以便完全符合其新的寄居社會環境。因而否定了他所繼承的猶太傳統。Brennbaum的原義為burning tree,而根據聖經,上帝向摩西(Moses)顯聖時,係以燃燒中樹叢作為形象。所以 Brennbaum此一名字有一種諷刺意味,謂此一猶太人為求適應環境和生存,竟至忘本。此節也表現了Pound對這種猶太人的反感。[back]
140
sky-like limpid:碧藍清澈的。[back]
141
猶太人大多有圓而紅潤如娃娃的臉孔。[back]
142
spats:(覆蓋於皮鞋上面的)鞋罩。[back]
143
grace:優雅、斯文。此字又指上帝的恩典,諷刺此人過分重視世俗事物,而不能獲得上帝的恩典。[back]
142-143
他由領子至鞋罩都筆挺僵直,不能從容悠閒而獲優雅的風度。[back]
144
Horeb:上帝之山。上帝所派的天使在此向摩西顯聖。Sinai:西奈山。摩西在西奈山由上帝手中接受十誡,並率領以色列人在沙漠中遷徙四十。[back]
145-146
when the daylight fell level across the face:傍晚時分陽光平射照過他的臉。(他巨大的猶太鼻子就特別顯得突出。)[back]
147
The Impeccable:無缺點的,無瑕疵的;無罪過的。[back]
145-147
這個猶太人只在日暮時分,看到自己猶太人的特徵時,纔想起自己的民族歷史和文化。大部分時間,他只求衣飾整潔,毫無缺點。 Impeccable亦有諷刺意味:這個「無罪過的」猶太人否定了自己的文化遺產,以求生存;雖然外表毫無瑕疵,道德上卻非無罪過。[back]
題解
Pound在其註解中(見 FriarBrinnin編輯之Modern Poetry)說明,Nixon為假名,事實上真有其。Mr. Nixon是一個投機文人,以賺錢為目的。據Hugh Kenner之提示,Mr. Nixon係根據當時文人Arnold Bennett而描述的。[back]
148
在他奶油色蒸汽遊艇上漆著金色的艙房中。[back]
150
delay:指發跡方面的延擱。[back]
154
Advance on royalties:預付版稅。fifty:五十英鎊。[back]
155
take a column:寫一個專欄。[back]
156
to work free:免費供稿,不收報酬。[back]
157
Butter reviewers:要巴結評論家。[back]
158
three hundred:三百鎊。[back]
159
比喻說法,謂最難對付(但終於對付了)的評論家。[back]
160
Dr. Dundas:亦為虛構人名。[back]
161
but with the view:而不持有這種目的。[back]
163
tip:勸告。[back]
164
It:literature. sinecure:閒差;工作少而待遇高的職位。[back]
165
at sight:at first sight.[back]
167
nothing:no money.[back]
168
a friend of Bloughram's:根據Pound自註,Bloughram係指 Browning詩中的主教,作比喻用法(見FriarBrinnin編輯之Modern Poetry).Browning"bishop Bloughram's Apology"一詩中的 Blougram(原拼法省略h字母)主教也是個「職時務者」,一位妥協專家。[back]
169
kick against the pricks:作無謂之抵抗而招致損害;螳臂當車。[back]
170
Accept opinion:接受時尚。The Nineties:十九世紀的九十年代是一個優雅生活的時期,「為藝術而藝術」運動正當全盛,詩人俱樂部(The Rhymers' Club)亦在此時享盛名。此亦為歐洲最後一批強有力君主當權時期。your game:your way,你這種作法。[back]
 
   
 
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