| "Daphne with her things in bark | |
| Stretches toward me her leafy hands,"－ | (192-193) |
| Subjectively. In the stuffed-satin drawing-room | |
| I await The Lady Valentine's commands, | 195 |
| Knowing my coat has never been | |
| Of precisely the fashion | |
| To stimulate, in her, | |
| A durable passion; | (196-199) |
| Doubtful, somewhat, of the value | 200 |
| Of well-gowned approbation | |
| Of literary effort, | |
| But never of The Lady Valentine's vocation: | (200-203) |
| Poetry, her border of ideas, | |
| The edge, uncertain, but a means of blending | 205 |
| With other strata | |
| Where the lower and higher have ending; | |
| A hook
to catch the Lady Jane's attention, |
|
| A modulation toward the theatre, | |
| Also, in the case of revolution, | 210 |
| A possible friend and comforter. | (210-211) |
|
. . . . .
.
|
|
| Conduct, on the other hand, the soul | |
| "Which the highest cultures have nourished" | (212-213) |
| To Fleet St. where | |
| Dr. Johnson flourished; | 215 |
| Beside this thoroughfare | |
| The sale of half-hose has | |
| Long since superseded the cultivation | |
| Of Pierian roses. | (216-219); (218-219) |
| 1919 | 1920 |
|
Line
|
Annotation
|
| 本節中，Pound終於了解當代文學社中無他容身之地，因此他對時髦的倫敦文學沙龍加以嚴厲批評。在這些沙龍中，詩和藝術並非因其本身價值而受到重視；人們只是利用詩和藝術作進身之階。詩人Pound不得不自我讚譽，而往昔受人敬仰的文學區艦隊街，如今卻成為服飾商人的地盤。[back] | |
| Daphne：希臘神話中一位半人半神少女，因受Appollo的追逐，祈求獲救，而為眾神之主Jupiter變為月桂樹（laurel tree）.[back] | |
| 此二行詩係直接由法國詩人Theophile Gautier的詩"Le Chateau du souvenir"翻譯而來。Gautier為對Pound早期作品有影響力的詩人之一。在此處，Daphne的故事是194行中的drawing-room的室內裝飾（壁畫成浮彫）的一部份，表示Daphne正被變成月桂樹──大腿成為樹幹，雙手變成樹葉。[back] | |
| Subjectively：主觀地。Daphne這個神話的文化上的意義，對女主人毫無作用。stuffed-satin：（沙發、椅等）內部充填，外飾鍛面的。[back] | |
| 我等待Lady Valentine的接見。Lady Valentine是作家的庇護人 （Patron）之流的貴婦人。[back] | |
| 譬喻說法。意為我的作品風格從未得她長期的激賞。這四行在文法構造上是一個分詞片語，主詞是195行的"I".[back] | |
| 在文法構造上Doubtful的主詞也是195行的"I".Doubtful後面的兩個前置詞片是of the value . . . effort及But never of . . . vocation.[back] | |
| well-gowned approbation：approval of fashionable people.時髦人物的贊同。[back] | |
| vocation：職業，也就是她作為作家庇護人的動機。下面八行中有所解釋。[back] | |
| Poetry, her border of ideas：詩是意識的邊界。換言之，她實際上並不了解詩。[back] | |
| edge: border.[back] | |
| blending: mixing.[back] | |
| Strata：i.e., of society社會的其他階層。[back] | |
| Where the lower and higher classes are met.[back] | |
| hook：means, trick, Lady Jane: a lady of a higher rank.[back] | |
| 模仿舞台式抑揚頓挫的聲音。意思是說，她作為詩人的庇護人，也只是一種戲劇式姿態。[back] | |
| 如果發生革命，在她所常會見的下層階級相識中，她可能得到協助和安慰。[back] | |
| 如果文學庇護人不欣賞我的作品，另一可能選擇就是從商業性著作；然而在艦隊街，一般的商業早已超越了商業著作。[back] | |
| Conduct：導引。[back] | |
| the soul . . . nourished : the writer.[back] | |
| Fleet St.：英國倫敦的艦隊街，在十八世紀時為僱傭作家集居之地。[back] | |
| Dr. Johnson：Dr. Samuel Johnson（1709-1784），英國十八世紀著名作家。flourished：享有盛名。約翰生博士（Dr.Johnson）早年亦為僱傭作家（hack writer）之，但後來卻享盛名。[back] | |
| thoroughfare：通衢，大道。指Fleet St.[back] | |
| half-hose: short stockings.[back] | |
| The sale of half-hose：i.e. commercialization商業化；商業。[back] | |
| The cultivation/Of Pierian roses：詩歌寫作。[back] | |
| Pierian roses：指詩歌。語出希臘女詩人Sappho之未完成的遺稿之一。Sappho詩中所提到的花是rose，而Pieriz地方在傳統上是與對Muses（掌詩及其他藝術之女神）的崇拜視為一體的。[back] |
[top]