FromMichaelto The ExcursionWordsworths Rewriting of Pastoral.docx

1、FromMichaelto The ExcursionWordsworths Rewriting of PastoralFrom“Michael”to The ExcursionWordsworths Rewriting of Pastoral Abstract: In the aftermath of the French Revolution, William Wordsworth seeks to reform society and alleviate human suffering through writing poetry.This paper gives a reading o

2、f two of his ?poems,? “Michael” and ?The Excursion,? from the perspective of pastoral.Adopting Paul Alperss definition of pastoral and pastoral conventions, the author argues that in these two poems Wordsworth is modifying traditional pastoral, providing contemporary readers with modern versions of

3、“representative anecdotes” to change peoples idea of rural people, as well as with solutions to improving the post-Revolutionary British society.In addition, in ?The Excursion? Wordsworth substitutes bucolic songs with story-telling as a means for establishing community, through which he attempts to

4、 correct his solipsist penchant and combine the solitary and the social man in himself. Key words: Wordsworth pastoral “Michael” ?The Excursion? Author: YU Yu-san holds an M.A. from University of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Manchester, England. She

5、 is currently an associate professor in the Foreign Languages and Literature Department at Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan. She specializes in English Romantic poetry, with a focus on William Wordsworth.Her publications include various studies on William Wordsworth and ?Xi Pan Tian Wen?, a Chinese tr

6、anslation of Pilgrim at ?Tinker Creek? by Annie Dillard. E-mail: ysyumail.nsysu.edu.tw 标题：从“迈可”到远足论华兹华斯的田园诗 内容提要：法国大革命之后，华兹华斯理想幻灭，遂弃政治而就诗歌，企图透过写诗改革社会。本论文采用保罗•阿尔培斯对田园诗以及田园挽歌之成规的定义，从田园诗的角度阅读华氏的“迈可”和远足这两首诗。作者认为华兹华斯在这两首诗中重写传统的田园诗，其目的一方面是要改变世人对“乡下人”的谬误印象，另一方面则是要提出解救后革命时期英国社会的方法。此外，在远足这首诗中华兹华斯用说故事代替

7、传统田园诗中的牧歌，并藉此建立社群，修正其自身的个人主义倾向。 关键词：华兹华斯 田园诗 “迈可” 远足 作者简介：余幼珊，美国加州大学伯克利分校英美文学硕士、英国曼彻斯特大学英国文学博士，目前为台湾中山大学外文系副教授，主要研究领域为威廉•华兹华斯以及英国浪漫时期诗歌，著作包含多篇有关华兹华斯的研究论文以及译著溪畔天问。 Any reader of Wordsworths poem “Michael” would notice that the subtitle of the poem is “A Pastoral Poem.” Yet the poem seems nowher

8、e near this ancient genre except that the hero of the poem is, like the traditional figures in pastoral, a shepherd.So in what sense is the poem “a pastoral”? The answer to this question will lead us to a significant understanding of Wordsworths ?idea? of, as well as his relationship with, the genre

9、 of pastoral. In this paper I intend to explore this question by examining, first, “Michael,” and then ?The Excursion?, and I argue that in these poems Wordsworth is rewriting traditional pastoral for contemporary English society. Examining the pastoral from the perspective of historical continuity

10、in literature, Paul Alpers is of the opinion that, in addition to the many features of pastoral, historical development and the changes incurred are of great significance (“What Is Pastoral” 441). He therefore claims that in order to define the genre we must first find the “representative anecdote”?

11、 of the pastoral (“What Is Pastoral” 441).Here the word “representative” has double meaning: “It means both that the informing anecdote is a means of representing, that is, depicting a certain phenomenon and also that the anecdote stands as the representative, the summary or characteristic example o

12、f the phenomenon” (“What Is Pastoral” 449). Alpers further argues that the “representative anecdote” of pastoral is “the lives of shepherds” (“What Is Pastoral” 449).Drawing on a comparison between the opening passage in ?Theocrituss? first idyll which is a “representative anecdote,” and that in Vir

13、gils first eclogue, he points out that both passages show a discussion between two herdsmen on the theme of pastoral song, but Virgils verse is a reinterpretation of that of his predecessor (“What Is Pastoral” 450).Since the conditions under which Theocritus wrote his idyll had been changed, Virgils

14、 reinterpretation seeks to reveal the new and contemporary political and social environments within which the opening passage of Theocrituss ?Idyll 1? “can be representative of human singing and a way of life” (“What Is Pastoral” 451).This reinterpretation leads to a modification of pastoral. The id

15、ea of representative anecdote suggests that pastoral poems are representations of shepherds who are seen to stand for man in general, and in different ages the characters in the pastoral can include other kinds of rural figures or those of inferior social status as long as they are regarded as “the

16、equivalent of shepherds in a given society or world, or that they more truly have the representative status that traditional pastoral ascribes to its herdsmen” (“What Is Pastoral” 456).In conclusion, Alpers maintains that at different times in literary history, pastoral, with all of its conventions,

17、 has always been adopted critically to express and represent the reality of and truth ?about? “love, social relations, and experience” (“What Is Pastoral” 460). Alperss theory provides an approach to a reading of “Michael” as pastoral.As we pointed out earlier, Wordsworth has developed a strong love

18、 for shepherds since childhood.In Book VIII of The Prelude, he clearly tells us that among all the rustic people, “shepherds were the men who pleased me first,” and they left a vivid image in his mind.However, in the same book of this ?autobiographical? poem, we find Wordsworth repeatedly making an

19、effort to clarify the idea that the shepherd that he represents is nothing like those illustrated in traditional pastorals: Not such as, in Arcadian fastnesses Sequestered, handed down among themselves, So ancient poets sing, the Golden age; Nor sucha second race, allied to these As Shakespeare in t

20、he wood of Arden placed, Where Phoebe sighed for the false Ganymede, Or there where Florizel and Perdita Together danced, Queen of the feast and King; Nor such as Spenser fabled. (?Prelude?VIII:184-91)? Wordsworth further adds that he has heard of the old customs of May Day festivities and all the o

21、ther joyful activities associated with rural people.Also, in the ancient times and in other lands, the shepherds did lead an easy life.This way of life, however, is not to be found in contemporary Britain, and neither do the old customs exist anymore. Read in the context of the pastoral tradition, w

22、hat Wordsworth does in Book VIII of ?The ?Prelude? is offering a critique on traditional pastoral, that is, the life of the shepherd as depicted in such kind of pastorals can no longer be considered “representative anecdotes” in late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain.What is also worth noticing i

23、s that the passage on the May Day rites alludes to an episode in Spensers May Eclogue of ?The Shepherdes Calender?, in which two shepherds contend about the relationship between the shepherd and his flock, a contention that carries symbolic meanings.Alpers argues that Wordsworths passage on May Day

24、festivities is a “rewriting” of Spensers lines in the May Eclogue, which suggests that he is well aware of the pastoral contention represented by his predecessors (“What Is Pastoral” 445).The editors of ?The ?Prelude?, however, point out that Wordsworth in this passage is commenting on Spensers “ide

25、alization of pastoral life” (?Prelude? 276). I think both Alpers and the editors are correct, for the passage may contain both meanings.In the lines that follow the May Day passage, Wordsworth gives an account of a shepherd boy who gets caught in a storm whilst looking for a stray sheep.A. J. Sambro

26、ok has pointed out that most eighteenth-century poets who wrote on rural life shared similar knowledge of the works of Theocritus, Virgil and Horace, and readers also followed a “norm” when reading such eighteenth-century poetry.Hence they were sensitive enough to any suggestion of challenge to the

27、genre (Sambrook 21).Placed after the discussion on traditional pastorals and the disappearance of May Day rituals, the story of the stray sheep suggests that Wordsworth is providing a “modern” version of the pastoral.What is interesting is that this tale, first told by Ann Tyson to Wordsworth as a c

28、hild, was originally written for “Michael.”This indicates that “Michael” serves the same function of modifying the pastoral to suit contemporary needs.It is in this sense that the poem can be read as pastoral.The life of Michael reflects what Wordsworth believes to be a true version of a ?shepherds?

29、 life at the turn of the century. Richard Feingold has argued that the shepherd Wordsworth delineates in ?The Prelude? “does not inhabit the bucolic landscape where nature and art are blended in mans virtuous and mundane work,” and therefore is “not an embodiment of them” (Feingold 200).This may be

30、true of the shepherd figure in ?The Prelude?, but in Michael we would find the old shepherd just such an embodiment who combines rural virtues and hard labour.It is worth pointing out that at the very beginning of “Michael,” echoing the theme of Book VIII in ?The Prelude?, Wordsworth tells us how lo

31、ve of nature leads him to love of man: It was the first Of those domestic tales that spake to me Of Shepherds, dwellers in the valleys, men Whom I already loved;not verily For their own sakes, but for the fields and hills Where was their occupation and abode. And hence this Tale, while I was yet a B

32、oy Careless of books, yet having felt the power Of Nature, by the gentle agency Of natural objects, led me on to feel For passions that were not my own, and think (At random and imperfectly indeed) On man, the heart of man, and human life. Therefore, although it be a history Homely and rude, I will relate the same For the delight of a few natural hearts; And, with yet fonde