Jorge Luis Borges: This Craft of Verse Lectures - thepostarchive

豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯：《诗艺》讲座 - thepostarchive 在完全凭记忆发表的六场内容广泛的讲座中，博尔赫斯探究了诗歌难以捉摸的本质，将其定义为书籍与读者之间直接、鲜活的相遇，而非学术训练或呆板文本。他分析了隐喻历久弥新的原型模式，叹息现代文学弃绝史诗英雄主义而转向心理堕落，并主张翻译是一门往往能通过节奏和想象性陌生感丰富原作的艺术形式。博尔赫斯摒弃刻板的美学论著和过度的自我意识，认为诗歌的感染力依赖于真挚的情感迫切性，而非字面真实或智力复杂性。在以个人文学信条作结时，他回顾了自己从年轻时的巴洛克式自负走向谦逊的典故美学的演化，同时坚称阅读带来的纯粹快乐远胜于创作所伴随的焦虑。 由于近乎完全失明，豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯完全凭记忆发表了哈佛大学1967至1968年的诺顿讲座，通过关于隐喻、史诗叙事、翻译和美学的六场演讲呈现了全面的诗学理论。 (0:00) 博尔赫斯认为，实体书籍在被读者唤醒之前只是呆板的物件，他将诗歌定义为在每次阅读时重新发生的美学事件，而非文字的静态排列。 (6:43) 世界文学依赖于有限的核心隐喻模式——如时间与河流、生命与梦境、死亡与睡眠，以及眼睛与繁星——这些模式容纳无限的变化，同时抗拒迂腐的简化。 (71:15) 诗歌翻译被视为一种创造性艺术，直译往往会带来意外的诗意之美，而且尽管读者抱有偏见，翻译在语言技艺上有时甚至能超越原作。 (120:46) 在反思个人技艺时，博尔赫斯推崇典故暗示而非详尽表达，告诫过度自我意识和刻意求新会阻碍文学，并将被动阅读的乐趣置于写作之上。 (244:03)

In his Charles Eliot Norton Lectures delivered at Harvard University, Jorge Luis Borges argues that literature is an immediate passion rather than an abstract intellectual puzzle, shaped by emotional resonance, living metaphors, and an imaginative engagement between reader and text that evolves across time. Poetry as Immediate Emotion Over Academic Aesthetics (4:30) Borges rejects formal treatises on aesthetics, comparing academic system-builders to astronomers who have never looked at the stars. Analyzing Benedetto Croce's definition of poetry as 'expression,' Borges contends that abstract formulations reduce art to a dry mechanical duty and collapse into empty distinctions of form versus matter. Drawing on his childhood memory of hearing his father read John Keats's sonnet on Chapman's Homer, Borges asserts that poetry operates as an immediate physical and emotional event where language transcends utilitarian communication. Archetypal Metaphor and Concrete Linguistic Origins (44:24) While combinatorial algebra suggests that linking 'the ten thousand things' of the world could produce endless combinations, Borges observes that literature relies almost entirely on a small cluster of archetypal patterns: time and rivers, life and dreams, death and sleep, eyes and stars, fire and battles, and women and flowers. Poetic power lies not in inventing bizarre pairings, but in discovering fresh, emotionally authentic variations on these archetypes, such as Walther von der Vogelweide framing life as a hesitant dream rather than a rigid declaration. This aesthetic vitality is rooted in the history of language itself. Disputing the idea that words originated as abstract counters, Borges notes that early speech consisted of concrete, visceral images: Old English terms like 'dreary' originally meant 'blood-stained,' 'glad' meant 'smooth,' and 'threat' signified a physical, hostile crowd. He argues that poetic conviction requires neither literal belief nor ornamentation; it succeeds whenever the reader senses that the author's metaphor stems from deeply felt emotion. Epic Memory and the Decline of Victorious Quests (91:04) Borges laments the modern division of poetry into purely fragile, birdlike lyric verse, recalling that ancient poets were 'makers' who told grand epics uniting courage, duty, and tragic defeat. He identifies three enduring narrative frameworks in Western culture: the siege of Troy, the wanderings of Ulysses, and the passion of Jesus Christ. Each holds enduring resonance regardless of literal belief, capturing human vulnerability and tragic nobility. Modern narrative, by contrast, suffers from an inability to believe in happy outcomes. In works by Franz Kafka and Henry James, readers instinctively anticipate failure, expecting the castle to remain unentered and the papers lost. Borges contends that humanity's enduring hunger for epic mythos has migrated into popular forms like the Hollywood Western, which revives elemental narratives of lone riders and moral justice. Translation, Modern Historicism, and Creative Misconceptions (140:42) Borges criticizes the prejudice that reflexively treats translations as inferior to originals, noting that readers often judge texts by their status rather than their verbal merits. While literal translations gained prominence through the treatment of sacred scriptures where every divine word was fixed, word-for-word adherence often introduces unnatural, unintended emphasis, as seen in Richard Francis Burton's 'Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night.' Conversely, creative re-creations like Edward FitzGerald's 'Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám' succeed by generating genuine poetic wonder. Modern readers, Borges argues, are overly burdened by an excessive historical sense, obsessing over biographical facts and literal circumstances. In his own writing life, he came to realize that early errors—such as overworking style with 'purple patches' in 'The Immortal' or assuming free verse was simpler than classic meters—stemmed from intellectual insecurity and excessive self-consciousness. He advises authors to tamper as little as possible with their work once an initial cadence emerges, trusting imagination over accidental factual truth. Borges concludes his lectures by asserting that creative writing owes little to rational analysis or ideological posturing, cautioning that modern self-consciousness threatens the imaginative life of art. Ultimately, he maintains that intellectual meaning remains subordinate to the acoustic texture, cadence, and shared human feeling of verse.

阿根廷作家 Jorge Luis Borges 在 1967 至 1968 年哈佛大学诺顿讲座中提出，诗歌与文学的本质并非抽象的理性体系或技巧设计，而是一种直接触发的情感震颤、活生生的语言体验与对想象真实的忠诚归返。 超越美学体系与活泼的诗意体验 (4:30) Borges 批评学院派的美学专著，将其比作从未仰望星空的学者所写的著作。他认为理论家常将诗歌视作机械式的刻板任务，而忽略其本质是当下的激情与喜悦。以哲学家 Benedetto Croce 将语言与诗歌界定为“表达”为例，Borges 指出该抽象概念若指表达某物，则陷入形式与质料的陈旧二分；若指不表达特定事物，则流于空洞。读者最终都会舍弃这些定义，回归生活与诗歌本身。他强调诗歌并非教科书中的人工造物，而是编织于日常现实，随时可能降临在人们身侧。 在探讨语言的情感力量时，Borges 借 John Keats 的十四行诗《初读查普曼翻译的荷马》来说明。他回忆童年在布宜诺斯艾利斯父亲的书房中首次听到该诗时，尽管年幼无法理解字面智识含义，其声调韵律却在身体上引发了震撼。这让他意识到语言不仅是传递陈述事实或抱怨的功利工具，更能跨越交流实用性成为纯粹的情感载体。 隐喻的原型收敛与变奏生命力 (44:24) Borges 援引中国古代对世界为“万物”的表述计算指出，如果隐喻仅是两两事物的联结，代数组合将产生数以千万计的对比组合；然而古往今来的诗人却始终反复使用少数核心模式。他归纳出数种基础隐喻原型：眼睛与星辰、女人与鲜花、时间与河流、生命与梦境、死亡与睡眠，以及火焰与战争。他认为世界文学中的绝大部分隐喻皆可归入这些极为有限的范畴中，但文学的神奇之处恰恰在于这寥寥数种模式蕴含着无尽的变奏可能。 Borges 以时间与河流的隐喻深入剖析，指出赫拉克利特的名言“人不能两次踏入同一条河流”之所以带来存在主义的惊惧，是因为人们最初只意识到外在水流的逝去，随后便领悟到自身同样如流水般易逝，如 Jorge Manrique 所写生命之河最终流向名为死亡的大海。论及“人生如梦”时，他对比了莎士比亚在《暴风雨》中“我们即是梦境的质料”的断言与德语诗人 Walther von der Vogelweide 的疑问式写法，认为后者表达的不确定性更能契合脆弱的人类真实感受。 史诗脉络的断裂与叙事信念的变迁 (91:04) Borges 遗憾于现代将“诗人”的定义狭隘化为仅创作孤寂脆弱抒情短句的人，而古人将诗人视作“创作者”，能兼纳哀愁、勇气、职责与希望，也是宏大叙事的讲述者。西方文化长期由三大叙事支柱维系：《荷马史诗》中明知不可避免失败仍坚守阵地的英雄群像、尤利西斯的漫游，以及福音书所记录的耶稣受难。Borges 认为不论是从神化身为人体验苦难的信仰视角，还是从发现神离弃自己的天才悲剧视角来看，福音书在叙事上均达到了难以超越的纯度。 与古代读者自始相信历险终会成功、宝藏必能找到不同，Borges 指出现代叙事陷入了无法相信幸福与成功的贫困状态，如 Henry James 的《阿斯彭手稿》与 Franz Kafka 的《城堡》，读者在开篇就预知主人公注定失败。然而人类内心始终渴望史诗，现代好莱坞西部片中关于荒漠、孤胆骑士与正义的母题在无意中填补了这一精神空缺。他预测随着过度实验和分裂视角的现代心理小说逐渐式微，诗意韵律与故事讲述终将再度融合。 翻译偏见与活的语言生命 Borges 指出读者在面对翻译文本时往往带有心理偏见，即使译文在语言层面上与原作同样优秀，读者仍倾向于主观认定原作更胜一筹。他驳斥了所谓“逐字直译”的迷思，将其称为一种狂野的隐喻；因为日常俗语如果在跨语言转换中强行字面对应，往往会造成原作者从未预设的突兀强调，正如 Burton 翻译《一千零一夜》时对书名的特殊处理给英语读者带来了额外的惊讶感。真正的诗意往往源于语境的升华，例如 Chaucer 将古罗马简短的格言转化为具有哀婉音乐感的诗句。 此外，从语言历史演变来看，Borges 强调诗歌在历史上早于抽象散文而存在，古英语中的诸多词汇最初都是浓烈而具体的物质意象而非逻辑符号。现代辞典虽然极具参考价值，却容易让人误以为定义即可穷尽词汇。他坚持诗歌语言的关键不在于形式是朴素还是繁复，而在于其究竟是活的还是死的；一首诗的真理并不依赖于字面的科学事实，只要读者能感受到作者内在深沉而真实的情感共鸣，即使是看似离奇的隐喻也能成立。 创作实践的反思与过度自觉的陷阱 (227:06) 回顾自身的创作生涯，Borges 坦承早年常误以为自由诗比传统古典格律更容易掌握，直到后来才发现严格的韵律和音节模式能收窄选择范围，使写作更加受控。他反思了青年时期的心理不安全感，指出自己曾在早期小说《不朽者》中堆砌华丽辞藻、奇异形容词与隐喻，反而掩盖了关于人在无限时间内将做尽并写尽一切事情的深刻内核。他认为成熟作家的使命在于忠实于想象的真实，而非偶然纠缠的客观历史事实。 针对当时的当代文学，Borges 警告过度自我意识与政治、哲学立场的预设立场正在削弱艺术生命力。他指出许多作家在故事构思之前便忙于定义自身的政治身份或历史责任，背负了不必要的智识包袱。他主张理性在真正的创造过程中所起的作用微乎其微，建议写作者在自然的声音与节奏成型后，应当尽可能少地对其进行人为干预和过度修饰，让作品顺应自身本然的梦境逻辑展开。 Borges 最终表明自己并无一套系统的文学信条，文学的价值不在于理智的训诫或确凿的思想内容，而在于某种独特的声调、节奏与听觉质感。他将诗歌的生命托付给读者与聆听者的敏锐感受与共同重构。

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=0s) 讲座背景与博尔赫斯的谦卑开场 1967年秋与1968年春，阿根廷作家豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯在哈佛大学发表了著名的诺顿讲座（Charles Eliot Norton Lectures）。博尔赫斯生于1899年，发表演讲时双目已近乎全盲，完全不借助任何讲稿或书面笔记便登台开讲。他的流利英语源自其来自英格兰斯塔福德郡（Staffordshire）的祖母，而身为翻译家的母亲与担任心理学及现代语言学教授的父亲同样通晓英语。这些在哈佛大学档案馆中沉睡多年后重见天日的录音，充分展现了他对语言的热爱、机智、渊博学识与敏锐的文学感知力。博尔赫斯于1986年逝世，本场演讲为六讲中的第一讲：“诗的谜题”（The Riddle of Poetry）。 讲座伊始，博尔赫斯对介绍人威廉·莫里森·查尔德（William Morrison Child）的溢美之词报以幽默与自谦，称自己被这种“极其慷慨的冤屈”（very generous injustice）弄得不知所措。他随即郑重告诫听众切莫抱有不切实际的期望：“我发现我在第一讲的标题上就犯了一个疏忽。”这个标题是“诗的谜题”，重音落在了第一个词“谜”（riddle）上面。博尔赫斯担心听众会误以为这个谜本身无比关键，更糟的是，听众可能会以为他自欺欺人地认为自己已经找到了解开这个谜题的真正答案。 博尔赫斯诚恳地表明自己绝无任何“启示”能够传授给大众。他的一生都在阅读、分析、尝试写作，以及最重要的一点——全身心沉醉于诗歌之中。面对一张白纸，他总是感觉自己必须重新为自己去发现文学，过去的积累在此刻毫无用处。他总结道： > “所以我只能向你们奉上我的困惑。我快七十岁了，我把我生命的大部分献给了文学，而我只能向你们奉上疑问。” - 博尔赫斯引用英国作家兼梦想家托马斯·德·昆西（Thomas De Quincey）在14卷著作中的论述：发现一个新问题，与发现一个旧问题的答案同样重要。 - 然而博尔赫斯自嘲自己连新问题都无法提供，只能带来历经岁月沉淀的古老困惑。 - 他释然指出，哲学史本质上就是人类困惑的历史——印度人、中国人、希腊人、经院哲学家、乔治·贝克莱主教（George Berkeley）、大卫·休谟（David Hume）、阿图尔·叔本华（Arthur Schopenhauer）皆是在不断探索那些未解之谜。 --- ### [04:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=270s) 诗歌不是天文学家的公式，而是生活与偶然的降临 博尔赫斯回顾自己阅读美学理论著作的体验，坦言常常会产生一种莫名的不适感。他形容那种感觉就像在读“从未仰望过星空的天文学家”写出的著作。那些美学家探讨诗歌时，仿佛诗歌是一项枯燥的苦差事，而忽视了其本质是一场激情与纯粹的喜悦。以贝内德托·克罗齐（Benedetto Croce）的美学著作为例，克罗齐将诗歌与语言定义为“一种表现”（an expression）。博尔赫斯分析道，如果将这理解为对“某种特定事物”的表现，人们便立刻跌回了形式与质料（form and matter）的古老哲学泥潭；如果理解为“非特定事物”的表现，那么这句话实际上什么也没有说明。人们礼貌地接受这种定义后，终究还是要转向真正的诗歌与生活。 在博尔赫斯眼中，生活是由诗歌构成的。诗歌并非遥不可及的外在之物，而是潜伏在街角，随时可能向我们突袭而来。人们经常陷入一种误区，以为研读荷马史诗、《神曲》、朗缪尔（F. J. F. Lon / Langland）的作品或《麦克白》就是在研读诗歌本身，但书籍仅仅是唤醒诗歌的契机。拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生（Ralph Waldo Emerson）曾写道，图书馆就像一个魔法橱柜，里面满是死者，但只要你翻开书页，那些死者便能复活并重新获得生命。 ```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: 文本与读者的交互体验 accDescr: 展现贝克莱的苹果隐喻如何映射到书籍与读者产生诗意体验的过程 subgraph Berkeley["贝克莱的感知论"] Apple["物理客体：苹果"] --> Inter["相互接触：食用"] Taste["味道：既不在苹果亦不在口中"] --> Inter end subgraph Reading["诗意的复活"] Book["物理客体：书本/死符号"] --> Contact["相遇：恰当的读者"] Contact --> Poetry["诗意诞生：复活的生命与激情"] end ``` 贝克莱主教曾指出，苹果的滋味既不在苹果自身之中（苹果无法品尝自己），也不在吃苹果者的嘴里，而是需要两者之间的实际接触。书籍也是如此： > “一本书本身是什么？书是物理世界中的一个物理客体，是一组死去的符号；然后恰当的读者走来，文字——或者更确切地说是文字背后的诗意，因为文字本身仅仅是符号——便跃入了生命，于是我们迎来了词语的复活。” --- ### [08:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=518s) 济慈的十四行诗与诗意体验的本质 为了阐述诗意的唤醒，博尔赫斯引入了约翰·济慈（John Keats）一百多年前在伦敦汉普斯特德（Hampstead）写下的著名十四行诗《初读查普曼译荷马史诗》（On First Looking into Chapman's Homer）。博尔赫斯指出，诗歌中完美的事物往往不会让人感到奇异，它们反而显得不可避免、理所当然，以至于读者常常忽视了创作者背后的艰辛付出。直到准备此次演讲的三四天前，博尔赫斯才重新审视这首诗非同寻常的本质：它是一首专门描绘“诗意体验本身”的诗。 博尔赫斯在现场朗诵了这首诗气势磅礴的结语部分： > “于是我觉得像某位仰望苍穹的观星者，当一颗新行星游入了他的视野；或者像英勇的科尔特斯，用锐利的双眼凝视着太平洋，而他的部下全都在惊诧中面面相觑，沉默地伫立在达连的高峰之上。”（Then felt I like some watcher of the skies / When a new planet swims into his ken; / Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes / He star'd at the Pacific—and all his men / Look'd at each other with a wild surmise— / Silent, upon a peak in Darien.） 博尔赫斯分析，乔治·查普曼（George Chapman）作为莎士比亚同时代的朋友与竞争对手早已逝去，然而当年轻的济慈翻开他的译本时，查普曼瞬间跨越生死复活了。博尔赫斯甚至联想到莎士比亚在十四行诗中的句子：“难道是他那鼓足了扬扬风帆的伟大诗句，开往这无上珍贵的你？”（Was it the proud full sail of his great verse, bound for the prize of all-too-precious you?） 在这首诗的标题中，博尔赫斯尤为看重“初读”（On First Looking into）这几个词： - 诗歌的每一次真正触动都带有“初次”的纯粹感。当他背诵这些诗句时，他怀疑自己只是在忠于记忆中的感动。 - 他清晰地回忆起童年在布宜诺斯艾利斯，父亲第一次大声朗读这些诗句的情景。那时幼小的他根本无法完全听懂词句的含义，但他确信语言绝非仅仅是交流的媒介，它是一场激情与喜悦，直接冲击着他的整个肉躯与灵魂。 - 济慈在读完整部《伊利亚特》或《奥德赛》后是否还能保持这种战栗？博尔赫斯认为，一首诗的“初读”才是唯一真正的阅读，之后的阅读往往只是记忆的技巧，是我们在自欺欺人地试图复制曾经感受过的激情。 博尔赫斯借用美国画家詹姆斯·惠斯勒（James McNeill Whistler）在巴黎咖啡馆面对艺术由遗传、环境或时代决定等高谈阔论时的名言——“艺术是偶发的”（Art happens）。博尔赫斯进一步引申：“艺术发生在我们每一次阅读一首诗的时刻。” --- ### [15:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=915s) 希腊人的口头传统与柏拉图的戏剧化对话 基于艺术发生于读者交互的观点，博尔赫斯反思了“经典”（classics）这一永恒不变的概念。从书籍的演变史来看，古希腊人最初对书籍并无太高的重视，人类许多伟大的导师都不是著书立说的写作者，而是雄辩的讲述者——毕达哥拉斯（Pythagoras）、耶稣基督（Jesus Christ）、苏格拉底（Socrates）以及释迦牟尼佛陀（Buddha）皆是如此。 博尔赫斯引用伯纳德·肖（Bernard Shaw）的犀利观点：柏拉图其实是一位剧作家，是他“发明”了苏格拉底，正如四位福音书作者发明了耶稣一样。虽然这可能言过其实，但也道出了某种深刻的真相。在柏拉图的某篇对话录中，他对书本的评价相当严苛且略带贬抑： > “他说，一本书是什么？一本书就像一幅画，表面上看起来像个活物，然而一旦我们向它发问，它却毫无回应；于是我们发现它其实是死的。” 为了让冰冷死寂的书籍变成活物，柏拉图开创了“柏拉图式对话录”（Platonic dialogue）。这种形式能够预先洞察读者的疑虑并设法提出反问。但在博尔赫斯看来，柏拉图之所以执着于对话体，深层原因在于对恩师苏格拉底无尽的思念： - 苏格拉底饮下鸩毒离世后，柏拉图在遇到新的思想困惑时，总会自问：“对于我的这个疑问，苏格拉底会怎么说呢？” - 为了再次听到这位敬爱导师的声音，柏拉图写下了对话录。 - 在这些篇章中，苏格拉底有时代表着真理本身，有时则是柏拉图自身多重思绪与心境的投射。 - 这也解释了为什么许多柏拉图对话录根本没有得出任何确定的结论：柏拉图在下笔之时并未预设结局，他任由思绪漫游，将心智分化为多个戏剧角色，其最核心的目的，无非是沉浸在一种幻象之中——即便苏格拉底已经饮下毒鸩，恩师却依然鲜活地陪伴在自己身旁。博尔赫斯动情地坦言，自己一生也有过许多导师，因此对柏拉图这种作为弟子的眷恋与自豪感同身受。 ### [18:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=1124s) 先贤的声音与古代人对书籍的警惕 博尔赫斯深情地追忆起那些塑造了他心灵的长者。他谈到自己的父亲、杰出的犹太裔西班牙作家拉斐尔·坎西诺斯·阿森斯（Rafael Cansinos Assens），以及阿根廷哲学家兼作家马塞多尼奥·费尔南德斯（Macedonio Fernández）。他坦言自己总想再次聆听他们的声音，甚至时常训练自己的嗓音去模仿他们的语调，借此让自己能像他们那样去思考，因为“他们始终围绕在我身边”。 随后，博尔赫斯话锋一转，探讨起古代人对书面文字的深刻怀疑。一位早期教父曾告诫：“把书交到无知者手里，就像把剑交到孩童手里一样危险。”在古人眼中，书籍充其量只是活生生对话的权宜替代品。塞内卡在书信中直言反对坐拥大型图书馆；叔本华后来也尖锐地指出，许多人误以为买下一本书就等于买下了书中的内容。博尔赫斯幽默地自嘲道，自己看着家里的满架藏书，常感叹自己恐怕至死也读不完，却依然抵挡不住买书的诱惑；有时走进图书馆，看到自己热爱的古英语或古诺斯语诗歌书籍，他心里还会冒出一个荒唐的念头：“真可惜，我不能买这本，因为家里已经有一本了。” - 塞内卡在书信中反对囤积过量的藏书，视大型图书馆为虚荣与负担。 - 叔本华指出大众常将“拥有物理书籍”与“掌握书中智识”混为一谈。 - 古代思想家将书籍视为对话缺席时的权宜之计（makeshifts），而非神圣之物。 --- ### [20:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=1246s) 东方圣书概念与作为“神圣灵感”的文学 古代西方对待书本的实用态度，随着来自东方的“圣书”（Holy Writ）观念而彻底改变。博尔赫斯援引斯宾格勒在《西方的没落》（*Der Untergang des Abendlandes*）中的观察，以《古兰经》为例进行剖析：在穆斯林神学家的构想中，《古兰经》的存在先于世界的创世，甚至先于阿拉伯语本身的诞生；它不是上帝受造的产物，而是与上帝的公义、慈悲和全知并列的神圣属性。正是这种来自东方的传统，将“圣灵所著之书”的观念带入了欧洲文明。 博尔赫斯认为这种圣书观并非全盘皆错。他提到了自己常爱引用的伯纳德·肖（Bernard Shaw）。曾有人问肖是否真信《圣经》是圣灵所写，肖答道：“我认为圣灵不仅写了《圣经》，还写了所有的书。”博尔赫斯打趣说这未免让圣灵负担太重，但“至少写了所有值得重读的书”。他将这一脉络与古希腊人呼唤缪斯、希伯来人以及弥尔顿祈求圣灵相勾连——弥尔顿曾写道圣灵的真正圣殿即是“人正直纯洁的心灵”。转至现代，人们换用粗鄙的心理学术语称之为“潜意识”（subliminal self / subconscious），但博尔赫斯指出：“虽然比起缪斯或圣灵，这些词显得相当粗俗，但我们不得不忍受我们时代的这套神话，因为它们本质上指的是同一样东西。” ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: 文学灵感概念的演变 accDescr: 展示从古希腊缪斯到东方圣灵、再到现代心理学潜意识的同源概念流变。 subgraph Classical["古典与东方神圣传统"] A["古希腊：缪斯女神（Muse）"] B["东方/伊斯兰：《古兰经》作为神的恒常属性"] C["希伯来/基督教：圣灵注入作者之心（Milton）"] end subgraph Modern["现代世俗化表述"] D["现代心理学：潜意识 / 下意识自相"] end A -->|"同一种超验灵感源泉"| E["文学创作本质：非个人智力的独占产物"] B -->|"同一种超验灵感源泉"| E C -->|"同一种超验灵感源泉"| E D -->|"同一内涵的粗俗化时代外壳"| E ``` --- ### [23:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=1427s) 语言的流动与词义的升华：《堂吉诃德》与《哈姆雷特》 经典著作绝非放在架上受人顶礼膜拜的僵死石碑，而是触发美感的契机。语言处在永不停歇的流变之中。博尔赫斯以词源学为例：现代英语中的“tease”（逗弄、戏弄）在古英语中原指用剑刺伤（类似法语的 *navrer*）；而《贝奥武夫》开篇出现的“threat”（威胁），古义其实是指引发威胁的“愤怒的人群”。 在特定语境中，语言会完成奇妙的自我升华。莎士比亚在《哈姆雷特》中写下的短语“quietus”（结算/平息）与“bodkin”（匕首），单拆出来毫无美感甚至相当刺耳，但置于“when he himself might his quietus make / With a bare bodkin”（当他自己只要用一把光溜溜的匕首就能做个了断）的独白中，整个上下文便赋予了这些词无上的诗意。 更典型的例子莫过于塞万提斯与《堂吉诃德》（*El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha*）。如今“Hidalgo”（贵族/绅士）带有一种肃穆尊贵的气质，但在塞万提斯笔下它无非指一个落魄的乡绅；“Quijote”（吉诃德）本是个滑稽可笑的怪名，犹如狄更斯小说里的匹克威克（Pickwick）、斯威维勒（Swiveller）或雀舌（Chuzzlewit）；至于“拉曼恰”（La Mancha），现代读者听来觉得高贵且充满卡斯蒂利亚古风，然而博尔赫斯调侃道：“当塞万提斯写下它时，他的本意——如果现场有来自那个城市的公民，我先向你们致歉——恐怕就像是写了‘堪萨斯城的唐吉诃德’一样。”可正是因为老兵塞万提斯对拉曼恰的一句善意揶揄，拉曼恰如今却化作了世界文学中最永恒的词汇之一。 - 词义的流变揭示了语言的动态本质，读者所感受到的诗意往往是历史沉淀的结果。 - 塞万提斯笔下带有讽刺和乡土色彩的日常称谓，历经数百年已彻底被神圣化与崇高化。 --- ### [28:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=1726s) 电影蒙太奇式的十四行诗与传统的互文 博尔赫斯列举了但丁·加百利·罗塞蒂（Dante Gabriel Rossetti）的一首十四行诗，尽管其标题《包容性》（*Inclusiveness*）算不上悦耳，但开篇却美得惊心动魄：“哪个人曾俯身凝视沉睡的爱子，思忖这面容日后将如何注视自己冰冷的遗容？或者，当母亲亲吻他的双眼，他可曾想过，父亲当年向她求爱时，她的吻又是何等模样？”博尔赫斯指出，现代读者之所以觉得这几句诗比八十年前发表时更加生动，是因为电影艺术教会了我们领会蒙太奇镜头快速切换的视觉节奏：第一个镜头是父亲俯视熟睡的儿子，第二个镜头如优秀电影的镜像反转，换成了儿子俯视死去的父亲。同时，现代心理学也让读者对后两句关于母子与父母情爱的暗示更加敏感；而从纯粹的声韵而言，英语弱元音“brood”与“wooed”的押韵，尤其是“wooed”独立作结带来的余音绕梁，皆是语言音乐性的极高展现。 接着，博尔赫斯分析了荷马史诗中常被译为“酒色之海”（wine-dark sea，希腊语 *oinopa ponton*）的经典意象。荷马或当年被称为荷马的希腊行吟诗人们写下此句时，或许只是朴素地指代大海本身；但千百年后的现代诗人若在诗中写下“酒色之海”，绝非单纯的模仿或赘述，而是与横跨三十个世纪的文学传统接轨。古希腊哲人所说的“人不能两次踏入同一条河流”在此显现了它的全部真理：读者在变，语言在变，那条奔流不息的河流即是时间与我们自身。博尔赫斯感叹，此处潜藏着一种形而上的敬畏：“最初我们容易觉得河流奔腾而过，变幻的只是流水；但随后带着一丝敬畏的开端，我们体会到我们自己同样在改变，我们自己就像这河水一样，流动无常，转瞬即逝。” --- ### [34:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=2040s) 无处不在的美与匿名的诗人 既然语言与读者皆如江河般变幻，我们便无需为经典的命运忧心忡忡，因为美始终存在。博尔赫斯引用了罗伯特·勃朗宁（Robert Browning）的诗句：“就在你以为最安全的时候，天际掠过一抹落日余晖，欧里庇得斯的歌队唱出终曲……”美潜伏在我们四周的每一个角落，它可能隐藏在一部电影的名字中，出现在一首流行抒情歌里，或是在伟大作家的残篇中与我们不期而遇。 博尔赫斯再次提到了他那位如今少有人知的导师拉斐尔·坎西诺斯·阿森斯。坎西诺斯曾写过一首绝妙的散文诗，在诗中他祈求上帝拯救他、让他免遭美的侵袭，因为“世间的美实在太多了”，多到令人无法承受。博尔赫斯谦逊地谈及自己：“尽管我不知道自己算不算一个特别幸福的人，但我希望在六十七岁这个成熟的年纪能够幸福，我依然坚信美就环绕在我们周围。” 在博尔赫斯看来，一首伟大的诗究竟出自谁手，只是文学史家关心的琐事。他提出了一个生动的假设：“假设为了论证的需要，我写下了一句美丽的诗行——让我们把这当成一个工作假说——一旦我把它写下来，这诗行便不再属于我，对我毫无益处，因为正如我之前所言，那行诗是圣灵借由我写出的，来自潜意识，或者往往正如我事后发现的那样，我只不过是在转述很久以前读过的某句话。”诗歌的本质是永恒的重新发现，因而博尔赫斯认为，诗人最好是匿名的。 - 罗伯特·勃朗宁的诗句揭示了美具有不可预知、突如其来的突袭性。 - 西班牙作家坎西诺斯·阿森斯视美为一种压倒性的、近乎需要神明庇佑以求躲避的庞大存在。 - 诗歌的真正归属权属于整座文学语言的河流，创作者不过是唤醒古老记忆的媒介。 ### [37:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=2223s) 古英语的质朴与时间赋予诗歌的力量 博尔赫斯向听众打趣道，如果大家有足够的勇气或耐心继续来听接下来的讲座，可能还会被他“强加”更多的古英语诗句。他回忆起几句自认为极美的诗行，先用现代英语念出，随后又用公元 9 世纪苍劲冷峻的古英语原声朗诵了一遍： > “从北方下起了雪，霜冻封锁了大荒，冰雹落向大地，最寒冷的种子。” > （*It snowed from the north, rime bound the fields, hail fell on earth, the coldest of seeds.*） 博尔赫斯回顾了他在上一讲中关于荷马的论述。他指出，在 9 世纪那个人们习惯于神话思维与寓言意象的年代，这位无名诗人写下这些句子，不过是在客观记录眼前发生的最寻常不过的自然现象。然而在今天，当我们重读这些句子时，诗意却倍增了。那是一种属于历史厚重感的诗意：一位不知名的撒克逊人（博尔赫斯推测可能是在诺森伯兰）伫立在北海之滨写下了诗句，而这些字句历经千百年岁月的淘洗，依然如此直白、质朴、动人心魄地传递到我们面前。博尔赫斯由此总结道，时间并不总是贬损诗歌：“确实存在时间贬损一首诗、使词语丧失美感的情况；但也同样存在时间丰盈了一首诗，而非贬低它的情况。” - 古英语诗句展现了 9 世纪北海海岸极端严酷的冬日景象，将冰雹喻为“最寒冷的种子”（the coldest of seeds）。 - 博尔赫斯在此强调了审美接受的时间维度：诗歌不仅取决于创作者当下的意图，更随着世纪更迭而在读者的历史想象中累积更深沉的情感力量。 --- ### [39:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=2372s) 无法定义的诗意与奥古斯丁之问 博尔赫斯回扣讲座最初关于“定义”的讨论。他指出，人们常犯一个普遍的错误，即认为自己如果无法定义某件事物，就是对它一无所知。博尔赫斯幽默地援引切斯特顿（G. K. Chesterton）式的反论调侃道：如果我们处在切斯特顿式的思维状态中——在他看来这是最妙的状态之一——那么我们甚至可以说，“只有当我们对某件事物一无所知时，我们才能够去定义它”。如果有人非要逼迫他定义诗歌，而他又心虚不自信时，他大概会搬出教科书般的套话：“诗歌是通过巧妙交织的语言媒介对美的表达。”但他直言，这类词典式的定义虽然无可挑剔，但所有人都觉得它软弱无力。 真正能鼓励人们不仅去尝试写诗、更能享受诗歌的，恰恰在于我们内心深处对诗歌的了然：“我们对诗歌是如此熟悉，以至于根本无法用言辞去定义它。”博尔赫斯将这种感知与人类最原初的生命体验相提并论：正如我们无法向别人定义咖啡的滋味、红或黄的色彩，无法定义愤怒、爱、恨、日出、落日以及对祖国的眷恋一样。这些事物扎根在人性的深处，只能借助所有人共有的象征去意会，根本无需多余的辞藻来解释。读者完全不必强求自己去喜欢荷马、盎格鲁-撒克逊诗人或罗塞蒂（Rossetti），因为每个人都清楚在哪里能找到属于自己的诗歌，并且一旦相遇，“就能感受到诗歌的触碰，体会到那种特有的战栗”。 在结束第一讲时，博尔赫斯引用了圣奥古斯丁（St. Augustine）关于时间的经典感悟，并将其作为自己诗学观的最佳注脚。圣奥古斯丁曾说：“如果没人问我什么是时间，我知道它是什么；但如果有人问我什么是时间，我便一无所知了。”博尔赫斯感慨自己对诗歌亦作如是观。因为自认不擅长抽象思辨，他在第一讲中讲得有些空泛，但在接下来的讲座中将提供更多具象的实例，探讨隐喻、词语的音乐性、诗歌翻译的可能与不可能，以及讲述故事的艺术（即史诗——最古老也最勇敢的诗歌形式）。全系列讲座将以一场名为《诗人的信条》（*A Poet's Creed*）的演讲作结，以此为自己的一生作辩护，并不辜负听众对他这一场“笨拙摸索的开场白”所给予的宽容与信任。 ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: 博尔赫斯论诗歌与知识的认知路径 accDescr: 比较词典式的抽象定义与人类深层直觉体验在认识诗歌上的根本差异 subgraph 抽象智力层面 ["抽象思辨（教科书与词典）"] A["试图用逻辑下定义<br/>（如：巧妙交织的语言表达美）"] --> B["概念苍白无力<br/>切斯特顿悖论：一无所知方能定义"] end subgraph 原初经验层面 ["深层感知（生命经验与诗意）"] C["不可定义的直觉体验<br/>（咖啡之味 / 颜色 / 喜怒哀乐 / 诗歌）"] --> D["共有象征与身体共鸣<br/>奥古斯丁之问：不问自明，一问反惑"] D --> E["诗歌特有的触碰与战栗"] end ``` --- ### [44:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=2664s) 第二讲：隐喻的数学组合与词源中的“死隐喻” 第二讲正式开启，主题为《隐喻》（*The Metaphor*）。博尔赫斯开篇便践行主题，用一个来自远东中国的古老隐喻作为引子：中国人将世间万物称为“万物”（the ten thousand things 或 the ten thousand beings）。博尔赫斯打趣道，这个数字显然非常保守，因为世上的蚂蚁、人群、希望、恐惧或梦魇远不止一万种；但若以此为基准，且假定所有隐喻本质上都是将两种截然不同的事物联结在一起，那么在数学上便可推导出极其惊人的隐喻组合总数。即便他自称已经遗忘了代数知识，但简单的排列组合（$10,000 \times 9,999 \dots$）也足以得出一个令人咋舌的天文数字。面对如此庞大的可能性，博尔赫斯提出了一个核心疑问：为什么古往今来全世界的诗人，却总在翻来覆去使用那几套固定的老套隐喻？ 博尔赫斯回忆起阿根廷诗人莱奥波尔多·卢贡内斯（Leopoldo Lugones）。卢贡内斯早在 1909 年出版的诗集《感伤的月历》（*Lunario sentimental*）序言中就指出，诗人们总在重复相同的隐喻，因此他决心亲自尝试为“月亮”发明数百个全新的隐喻。卢贡内斯同时在书中留下了一句名言：“每一个词都是一个死去的隐喻。”博尔赫斯指出，这句话本身就是一个隐喻。然而，普通人在日常语言中其实能清晰分辨出什么是“活隐喻”，什么是“死隐喻”。翻开任何一本优秀的词源词典（例如他那位素未谋面的老朋友斯基特博士［Dr. Skeat］编纂的词典），任何看似平淡的词语深处都潜藏着隐喻： - 现代英语中的“威胁”（threat），在古英语史诗《贝奥武夫》（*Beowulf*）开篇指的是“愤怒的暴民”，后来词义由“起因”转移到了“后果”； - 英语中的“国王”（king），其词源原本是 *cyning*，意指代表氏族、族人（kin）的人，因此在词源上，“king”（国王）、“kinsman”（亲属）与“gentleman”（绅士）同出一源； - 英语中的“考量/思考”（consider），其词根中深藏着占星术的痕迹（*sidus/sideris*，星辰），原本意味着观测星象排定星盘。 博尔赫斯指出，当我们说“国王坐在账房里数钱”时，没人会意识到“国王”是个隐喻；在进行抽象思维时，人类甚至必须遗忘词汇原本的隐喻意义。因此，本次演讲所探讨的隐喻，必须限定在“能够被读者或听者在当下切实感知为隐喻”的范畴之内，而非这类早已化石化的语言学标本。 --- ### [49:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=2999s) 同一隐喻原型的三重面貌：眼睛与星辰 博尔赫斯提出了本讲的第一个核心观点：存在着若干古老的“固定隐喻模式”（stock patterns / equations）。这些模式在逻辑学家眼中几乎完全对等，但在诗人的想象力与读者的感受中，却能演化出截然不同、甚至彼此对立的审美境界。他选取的第一个原型模式是“眼睛与星辰”的相互比喻。 博尔赫斯列举了该模式下的三个经典实例： 1. **古希腊抒情诗（相传出自柏拉图之手）**：在《希腊文集》（*Greek Anthology*）中，诗人写道：“我愿我是那夜空，好让我用一千只眼睛注视你的安睡。”博尔赫斯剖析道，这里展现的是恋人无微不至的温柔与渴望，他期盼能从四面八方同时凝视爱人的睡颜。 2. **现代常见表述（如 A. J. 克罗宁的小说名）**：“群星俯瞰”（*The stars look down*）。虽然在逻辑等式上依然是星辰化作眼睛，但在读者的想象中，它唤起的绝非脉脉温情，而是世代人类在地表苦苦挣扎劳作，而悬于高空的星辰则以一种居高临下的冷漠与超然注视着凡尘。 3. **G. K. 切斯特顿的诗作《第二次童年》（*A Second Childhood*）**：切斯特顿在诗中写道，自己即便年老，亦能看见“巨大的黑夜升起，那是比世界还要庞大的云团，是一头由眼睛构成的怪物”（*a monster made of eyes*）。博尔赫斯敏锐地指出，这比《启示录》里描述的那些“长满眼睛的怪物”（a monster *full of* eyes）可怖得多——整头巨兽的肌理与血肉本身就是由眼睛构成的。 博尔赫斯强调，这三首诗均植根于完全相同的逻辑等式，但其唤起的情感截然不同：“第一首希腊诗让我们感受到的是诗人的温柔与焦虑；第二首让我们感到神圣力量对人间沧桑的冷漠；而在第三首里，我们所熟悉的寻常黑夜，则彻底沦为了一场噩梦。” 随后，博尔赫斯引出了第二个经典原型模式：**将时间的流逝比作奔腾的河流**。他援引了阿尔弗雷德·丁尼生（Alfred Tennyson）十三四岁少年时写下的一句诗。丁尼生后来虽焚毁了整首早期习作，但这唯一的诗行因被安德鲁·朗格（Andrew Lang）收录在丁尼生传记中而幸存下来： > “时间在深夜中奔流。” > （*Time flowing in the middle of the night.*） 博尔赫斯称赞年轻的丁尼生极具洞察力地挑选了深夜这一时刻：彼时万物沉寂，万民酣睡，时间的奔涌因而变得前所未有地真切与惊心动魄。 ### [55:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=3354s) 时间与河流的隐喻及恐惧的诞生 博尔赫斯继续探讨诗歌中关于“时间与河流”的基本隐喻。他指出，仅仅将“时间”和“河流”并置（如托马斯·沃尔夫的小说《时间与河流》），词语本身的联结就已经暗示了隐喻的存在——两者皆在无声地奔流不息。随后，他引述了古希腊哲学家赫拉克利特的传世名言：“人不能两次踏进同一条河流。”博尔赫斯特别强调，恐惧感正是从这句话中油然而生：我们起初以为河流只是流水变换、水滴各异；然而随后，我们猛然意识到自己就是那条河流，我们自身就如同奔流的河水一样转瞬即逝、难以捕捉。 紧接着，博尔赫斯提到了西班牙中世纪诗人豪尔赫·曼里克（Jorge Manrique）在《悼父哀歌》（Coplas por la muerte de su padre）中的名句：“我们的生命是河流，汇入那名为死亡的大海。”虽然直译成英语显得平淡无奇，但博尔赫斯表示，在这类老套隐喻的背后，实际上回荡着词语本身庄严肃穆的音乐感（“Nuestras vidas son los ríos / que van a dar en la mar, / que es el morir...”）。尽管形式千变万化，其深层承载的核心隐喻却完全相同。 - 哲理恐惧：认识到“我们自身即是河流”并同样如流水般稍纵即逝。 - 诗歌音乐性：豪尔赫·曼里克原诗中的庄重音律赋予了陈词滥调强大的生命力。 ### [58:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=3490s) 女性与鲜花的同构：斯蒂文森的克制表达 转向另一个可能让人忍俊不禁的陈腐母题——将女性比作花朵，或将花朵比作女性。博尔赫斯认为，这个模式在各个时代、各种语言与文学中比比皆是，但他特意挑出一个或许并不为人熟知的绝妙范例：罗伯特·路易斯·斯蒂文森（Robert Louis Stevenson）未完成的杰作《赫米斯顿的韦尔》（Weir of Hermiston）。 在小说中，主人公走进苏格兰的一座教堂，遇见了一位美丽的少女并瞬间坠入爱河。少年凝视着她，心中产生了一种近乎残酷的思索：在那具美丽的皮囊之下，究竟是否栖息着一颗不朽的灵魂，抑或她仅仅是一只“鲜花颜色的动物”（a mere animal the color of flowers）。博尔赫斯点评道，“动物”一词的冷酷残忍，被“鲜花的颜色”瞬间消解并升华。这一例证展现了顶级作家如何用极简笔触将陈词滥调化为惊艳的文学瞬间。 ### [01:00:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=3606s) 人生如梦：从莎士比亚到瓦尔特与庄周 谈及“人生如梦”（life being a dream）这一隐喻模式时，博尔赫斯首先举出莎士比亚《暴风雨》中的名句：“我们就是梦的材料构成的。”然而，出于对莎士比亚由衷的热爱，博尔赫斯提出了一点细微的质疑。他指出，如果我们的生命本质上具有如梦般的虚幻感，或者我们仅仅是做梦的人，那么做出如此宏大而断然的断言本身就是自相矛盾的。博尔赫斯强调：“我指的是莎士比亚的这句话与其说属于诗歌，不如说属于哲学或形而上学，尽管它在具体的语境中被升华为了诗。” ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: 人生如梦隐喻的三种表达方式对比 accDescr: 展示莎士比亚的断言、瓦尔特的疑问以及庄周梦蝶的极致意象之间的递进关系 subgraph Affirmation["形而上断言"] A["莎士比亚：断言我们由梦境构成"] -->|"宏大论断削弱了梦的虚幻本质"| B["偏向哲学/形而上学"] end subgraph Hesitation["怀疑与探问"] C["瓦尔特·冯·德·福格尔魏德：疑问句"] -->|"我虚度了生命还是真实活过？"| D["传达梦境的犹豫与飘忽感"] end subgraph PurePoetry["纯粹诗意意象"] E["庄子：庄周梦蝶"] -->|"醒来难辨蝴蝶与庄周"| F["轻盈脆弱的蝴蝶 vs 庞大厚重的猛兽"] end ``` 为了寻找更贴近诗意本质的表达，博尔赫斯引用了德意志中古高地德语诗人瓦尔特·冯·德·福格尔魏德（Walther von der Vogelweide）的挽歌：“我梦见了自己的一生，还是它曾经真实存在过？”他指出，诗人没有采取断言，而是以疑惑和犹豫发问，这种动摇恰恰抓住了生命如梦的飘忽本质。 最后，博尔赫斯重温了自己终生热爱的庄周梦蝶典故。庄子梦见自己化为蝴蝶，醒来后不知是庄周梦蝶，还是蝴蝶梦见自己变成了庄周。博尔赫斯认为这是该模式最完美的表达，其神妙之处在于两点： 1. 庄子以梦境为起点，使得醒来后的现实生活依然笼罩着梦幻的余韵。 2. 选用了“蝴蝶”这一脆弱而易逝的绝妙意象——若是换成老虎、打字机或鲸鱼，诗意便荡然无存。 ### [01:05:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=3923s) 睡眠与死亡：弗罗斯特的重复与暗示的力量 博尔赫斯随后转向“睡眠与死亡”的古老关联。荷马曾写过死亡的“铁铸般的睡眠”（iron sleep），将睡眠的宁静与冰冷无情的钢铁结合，形容一种无法打破的长眠。而博尔赫斯指出，在波士顿以北的这片土地上，最动人的例证莫过于罗伯特·弗罗斯特（Robert Frost）的名篇《雪夜林畔小驻》（Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening）。 全诗结尾两句重复了完全相同的词句：“还要赶多少路才能安睡，还要赶多少路才能安睡”（And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep）。博尔赫斯深情分析道，虽然文学充满了技巧，但弗罗斯特的手法隐秘得让人不忍称之为“技巧”：第一遍读来，路程只是新英格兰地理空间上的英里，睡觉只是普通的歇息；而当一模一样的诗句紧接着再次响起时，读者立刻领悟到，那些路程化作了生命的漫漫岁月，而沉睡则隐喻着死亡与终极的安息。 借由此诗，博尔赫斯阐发了诗学核心——暗示远比直陈有力。他引用拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生（Ralph Waldo Emerson）的名言强调：“论据无法说服任何人，它们说服不了任何人，因为它们是以论据的形式被呈现出来的。”一旦被当作论点，人类的心智便会去权衡、审视并倾向于反驳；但若事物仅仅被暗示出来，想象力便会欣然接纳。博尔赫斯回忆起自己三十年前阅读马丁·布伯（Martin Buber）的著作时，纯粹将其当作美妙的诗歌全盘接受；直到后来阅读朋友的著作，才惊讶地得知布伯其实是一位哲学家。正因为那是通过诗意和暗示传达的，理性才没有设置防线。 - 荷马的“铁铸睡眠”：将睡眠与坚硬残酷的金属并置，展现不可逆的死亡之眠。 - 弗罗斯特的复沓法：词句分毫不差，第一句指向现实空间，第二句跃入时间与死亡的隐喻。 - 惠特曼的印证：博尔赫斯提到沃尔特·惠特曼也曾表达过相似意向，即夜间的空气与漫天繁星远比雄辩的说理更具说服力。 ### [01:11:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=4269s) 战斗与烈火：隐喻有限模式下的无限变奏 除了上述几大主流模式，博尔赫斯还补充了一个相对少见但极具力量的隐喻模式：战斗与烈火。荷马在《伊利亚特》中将战阵的厮杀比作熊熊燃烧的烈火；而在古英语英雄诗歌残篇《芬斯堡之战》（The Fight at Finnsburg）中，丹麦人与弗里斯兰人格斗，武器与盾牌在夜色中闪烁，作者描写道，宛如整座芬斯堡城堡都在烈火中燃烧。 博尔赫斯总结了迄今为止讨论的基本隐喻母题： - 眼睛与星辰 - 女性与花朵 - 时间与河流 - 生命与梦境 - 死亡与睡眠 - 烈火与战斗 博尔赫斯提出，世间最核心的隐喻模式或许总共只有十几种，只要有足够的时间和学识，人类就能梳理出文学中绝大多数的隐喻来源。但真正重要的并不是隐喻模式的有限，而是这些固定的模式具有近乎无限的变奏可能。对于一位真正热爱诗歌而非沉迷诗学理论的读者而言，在千变万化的变奏中感受古老模式重生的震颤，才是文学最深邃的魅力所在。 ### [01:13:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=4411s) 隐喻的基本模式与肯明斯的生命之梦 博尔赫斯继续探讨隐喻的本质，思考是否世上所有看似繁复的隐喻都能归结为极少数的基础模式。他自谦并非大胆的思想家，而是一个“摸索前行的极其胆怯的思想家”。如果他足够大胆，大可声称世间仅存在十几种核心模式，其余的隐喻不过是任意妄为的文字游戏。这就像中国古代所言的“万物”之间，实际上或许只能找出大约十二种本质上的契合与亲缘关系；至于其他令人咋舌的新奇关联，那种震惊往往不过转瞬即逝。随后他补叙了一个关于“人生如梦”方程式的绝佳范例，出自美国诗人 E. E. 肯明斯（E. E. Cummings）。在引述这首诗前，博尔赫斯带着自嘲的幽默道歉，称这显然是一个年轻人写给年轻人的诗句，而自己垂垂老矣，早已不属于能玩这种文字游戏的年纪。 肯明斯写道：“上帝可怕的面孔比勺子还要明亮”（God's terrible face brighter than a spoon）。博尔赫斯坦承自己最初对“勺子”（spoon）这个词颇感遗憾，因为读者能隐约感到诗人最初想到的也许是宝剑、蜡烛、太阳或盾牌等传统上闪闪发光之物，但随即对自己说“不，我是个现代人，我得把一把勺子硬塞进去”。然而博尔赫斯的朋友指出，勺子恰恰能像凹凸镜一样汇聚无数扭曲的倒影，博尔赫斯承认自己此前因对“勺子”的心生抵触而忽视了这一层。全诗继续展开：“上帝可怕的面孔比勺子还要明亮，汇聚起那个致命字眼的形象，直到我的生命——那太阳和月亮的光芒——宛如某种从未发生过的事物”（until my life that light the sun and moon resembles something that has not occurred）。博尔赫斯赞叹“宛如某种从未发生过的事物”具有一种不可思议的简素之美，直言它对生命如梦本质的捕捉，“比莎士比亚和瓦尔特·德拉马尔（Walter de la Mare）那些更著名的诗篇还要好”。 - 博尔赫斯自我剖析：“如果我是个大胆的思想家——但我不是，我是个非常胆怯的思想家，我正摸索着前行——我当然可以说世上只存在十来种模式，其余的隐喻都只是任意的游戏。” - 他预料讲座结束后听众会私下抱怨他遗漏了许多绝妙隐喻，对此他只能提前认错道歉。 --- ### [01:17:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=4675s) 突破已知模式的隐喻：时间的明镜与诗意的精确 博尔赫斯转而讨论那些看似跳脱出已知固定模式的隐喻，并引入了波斯诗歌的例子。他在爱德华·格兰维尔·布朗（Edward G. Browne）的《波斯文学史》中读到一个隐喻——可能出自法里德·丁·阿塔尔（Farid ud-Din Attar）、欧玛尔·海亚姆（Omar Khayyam）或哈菲兹（Hafez）等波斯大诗人——将月亮称为“时间的明镜”（the mirror of time）。从天文学的角度来看，月亮是反射阳光的镜子固然属实，但这在诗歌层面上毫无意义，因为诗歌诉诸的是想象力。博尔赫斯分析称，镜子传达了月亮的明亮与脆弱澄澈，而“时间”则骤然提醒人们，头顶那轮明月古老无比，浸透了千百年的诗意与神话，它本身就与时间同龄。 由此，博尔赫斯联想到吉卜林在《从海到海》（*From Sea to Sea*）中引用的约翰·威廉·伯根（John William Burgon）名句：“玫瑰红的城市，年龄有时间的一半长”（A rose-red city, 'half as old as Time'）。博尔赫斯敏锐地指出，如果诗人仅仅写它“和时间一样古老”，那就毫无诗意可言；恰恰是“年龄有时间的一半长”赋予了它一种“奇妙的精确感”（magic precision）。这种艺术手法与英语日常习语“永远加一天”（forever and a day）如出一辙，因为抽象的“永远”无法打动想象力，而多加的“一天”却让永恒落地生根。同样，《一千零一夜》（*The Thousand and One Nights*）也是利用这个机制：若只说“一千夜”，它像莎士比亚时代常用“四十”（如“四十个冬天包围你的额头”）一样仅虚指“许多”，但加上“又一夜”，便产生了充满奇趣的具象张力。 - 波斯诗歌中将月亮喻为“时间的明镜”，同时熔铸了光洁易碎的质感与横跨万古的苍凉。 - “玫瑰红的城市，年龄有时间的一半长”通过反常的数字划分，构筑出比绝对永恒更辽阔、更震撼想象力的魔力。 --- ### [01:21:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=4902s) 古英语与北欧诗歌中的战争与万物隐喻 博尔赫斯回到他挚爱的盎格鲁-撒克逊肯宁（Kenning，代称隐喻）。他提到古英语中将大海称作“鲸鱼之路”（whale-road），赞叹那位不知名的古代撒克逊人或许并未意识到这句隐喻有多美——鲸鱼的庞然躯体无形中映衬并强化了海洋的无边无际。在古北欧诗歌中，鲜血被称作“毒蛇之水”（water of the serpent），其中“毒蛇”代指利剑，将冰冷的剑刃具象化为一种邪恶的活物，贪婪地将人类的鲜血当作清水般舔舐吮饮。 谈及战争时，古诗中的隐喻层层递进：有质朴的“人群的相遇”（meeting of men），仿佛在那个时代人与人之间除了互相残杀就无法以别的方式碰面；也有《布鲁南堡之战》（*Battle of Brunanburh*）中出现的“刀剑之舞”（dance of swords）、“旗帜与盾牌的撞击”，以及古英语诗篇中充满张力的“愤怒的相聚”（meeting of anger）。然而在博尔赫斯看来，所有这些比喻在北欧与爱尔兰史诗描述战场的终极隐喻面前都相形见绌——他们将战场称为“人织的网”或“人之罗网”（the web of men）。 ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: 战场隐喻的意象递进 accDescr: 展示博尔赫斯分析古诗中从常规相遇到活体之网的战争隐喻演变 subgraph Conventional ["常规与冲突意象"] A["人群的相遇<br/>(Meeting of men)"] B["愤怒的相聚<br/>(Meeting of anger)"] C["刀剑之舞 / 旗盾撞击<br/>(Dance of swords)"] end subgraph Visceral ["终极具象：活体交织"] D["人之罗网<br/>(Web of men)"] E["噩梦般的质感：<br/>由正在杀戮与死去的活人编织而成"] end Conventional --> D D --> E ``` 博尔赫斯动情地剖析，“罗网”不仅还原了中世纪战场上刀剑纵横、盾牌交错的几何图景，更带有一种噩梦般的恐怖感：这张网不是丝线织成的，而是由活生生的血肉之躯、由正在互相杀戮与濒死的战士编织而成的网络。他随即联想到西班牙诗人贡戈拉（Luis de Góngora）写异乡人步入蛮荒村落时的一句诗：“村庄编织了一道恶犬的绳索将他围拢”。尽管贡戈拉同样运用了“活物织成绳网”的修辞，但博尔赫斯评点道：“犬之绳索”带有巴洛克式的怪诞与滑稽，而“人之罗网”却蕴含着惊心动魄的崇高与可怖。 --- ### [01:26:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=5185s) 拜伦的双重隐喻与讲座核心结论的引出 博尔赫斯在讲座尾声将目光投向了拜伦（Lord Byron）的名作《她走在美中》（*She Walks in Beauty*）。他回忆自己年少时读到该诗，却在几天前突然领悟到那句家喻户晓的诗行其实蕴含着极其幽微复杂的双重机制：“她走在美中，宛如夜晚”（She walks in beauty, like the night）。博尔赫斯指出，这句诗由于过于完美流畅，读者往往习以为常，甚至产生一种“只要我们愿意，我们也能写出来”的错觉，但世上只有拜伦真正把它写了出来。 博尔赫斯揭示了其中的秘密所在：表面上看，诗人是将一位美丽非凡的女子比作璀璨的夜色；然而，夜晚本身并没有脚，夜晚并不会行走。为了让“走在美中，宛如夜晚”这一句式成立，读者在下意识的想象中必须同时将“夜晚”具象化为一位漫步的佳人。“因此，在这些看似极其简单的词句之中，包含着一个双重隐喻：女人被比作夜晚，而夜晚也被比作女人。”博尔赫斯并不在乎拜伦创作时是否清醒地意识到了这一点，甚至断言如果拜伦当时就深思熟虑地算计这一结构，诗句反而不会如此自然天成。随后，博尔赫斯借由这些案例，引出了本场演讲的首要核心结论：尽管世间存在成百上千乃至成千上万种纷繁的隐喻，它们最终都可以追溯并归纳为极少数永恒的核心原型。 - 拜伦的经典诗行构成了互为镜像的“双重隐喻”：既以夜色摹写女子的幽美仪态，又赋予夜色以仕女徐行的生命韵律。 - 博尔赫斯论拜伦的无心之作：“我不知道也不在乎拜伦是否知晓这一点；我认为如果他当时就知道，这行诗恐怕绝不会写得像现在这般出色。” ### [01:29:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=5364s) 隐喻的前景：既定模式的变奏与未知的创造 博尔赫斯在第二讲的尾声总结了隐喻的命运。尽管许多隐喻都可以追溯到少数几个古老而简朴的核心模式，但这丝毫不应当令写作者沮丧，因为每一次使用该模式，所产生的变奏都是独一无二的。此外，文学中还存在着如“人类之网”或古英语诗歌中的“鲸鱼之路”（whale-road）这类无法归入任何既定模式的奇特隐喻。 在他看来，隐喻的前景依然极其广阔。诗人们大可以继续尝试在主流母题上推陈出新，那些精妙的变奏仍然能深深触动人们的想象力，只有少数像他这样的批评家才会去煞风景地指出：“看啊，这里又是眼睛与星辰，这里又是时间与河流。”与此同时，博尔赫斯也满怀期许地指出，创作者们永远拥有一种希望，那就是创造出完全脱离或尚未被纳入既定范式的全新隐喻。 > “because if we like we may try our hands at new variations of the major trends and the variations will be very beautiful and only a few critics like myself will take the trouble to say well there we have eyes and stars there we have time on the river over and over again the metaphors will strike the imagination but it is also given to us and why not hope for that also it may also be given to us to invent metaphors that do not belong or that do not yet belong to accepted patterns” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 --- ### [01:31:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=5464s) 第三讲“故事的讲述”：诗歌的分裂与史诗的传统 博尔赫斯开启了第三讲“故事的讲述”（The Telling of the Tale）。他首先探讨了语言概念的演变，认为词汇区分本质上代表着心智与理智的辨析，但他感到十分惋惜的是，“诗人”（poet）一词在现代遭到了严重的割裂与窄化。在今天，人们谈起诗人，脑海中往往只浮现出那些吟唱轻盈、如鸟鸣般纯粹抒情段落的作者，例如华兹华斯笔下“宛如群星洒满苍穹，繁舟远近点缀汪洋”的诗句，或是莎士比亚十四行诗第八首中“你既是音乐，何以听乐神伤？甜蜜不与甜蜜为敌，喜乐专为喜乐欢畅”的低语。 然而，古代人理解的“诗人”——如威廉·邓巴（William Dunbar）所称的“制造者”（maker）——不仅是高蹈抒情之音的作者，更是一个“故事的讲述者”（teller of a tale）。在古人的叙事诗篇中，回荡着人类的所有声音：不仅有抒情、渴望与忧伤，更有勇气与希望的呐喊。博尔赫斯指出，这指的正是诗歌最古老的形式——史诗（Epic）。 > “while the Ancients when they spoke of a poet a maker as Dunbar has it thought of him not only as the author of those high lyric notes but also as the teller of a tale A tale wherein all the voices of mankind might be found not only the lyric the wistful the melancholy but also the voices of courage and of and of hope” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 - 华兹华斯抒情诗引句：“With ships the sea was sprinkled far and nigh, like stars in heaven” - 莎士比亚十四行诗引句：“Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly? Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy” - 古苏格兰诗人威廉·邓巴将诗人定义为“制造者”（maker），兼具创制与叙事之意 --- ### [01:33:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=5595s) 荷马史诗《伊利亚特》：注定毁灭者的尊严 博尔赫斯进而剖析西方文学的第一部史诗——安德鲁·朗（Andrew Lang）所翻译的《伊利亚特》（特洛伊的故事）。史诗开篇第一句通常被译为“缪斯啊，请歌唱阿喀琉斯的愤怒”，或者如W·H·D·劳斯（W. H. D. Rouse）教授所译的“一个愤怒的人，这就是我的主题”。拉丁人将愤怒视为“短暂的癫狂”（furor brevis），从表面情节来看，《伊利亚特》的故事并不算格外崇高：一位大英雄因为觉得国王处事不公而躲在营帐里赌气，后来因为挚友被杀才将战斗当成私人复仇重新参战，战后甚至把敌人的尸首变卖给对方的父亲。 但博尔赫斯强调，诗人的最初意图往往并不重要，荷马在无意间讲述了一个伟大得多的故事：一位明知自己不可能征服特洛伊、明知自己必将死于城破之前的英雄阿喀琉斯；以及更具震撼力的——那些明知大限已至、守护着一座已在烈火与毁灭中的城邦的特洛伊战士。千百年来，人类在情感上始终更倾向于将战败的特洛伊人视为真正的英雄。维吉尔自不必说，就连冰岛学者斯诺里·斯图鲁松（Snorri Sturluson）在《幼年埃达》中也把撒克逊人的守护神奥丁附会为普里阿摩斯的儿子、赫克托耳的兄弟。博尔赫斯指出，人类之所以执着于与失败者建立血脉关联，是因为战败中蕴含着一种胜利所罕有的庄严与尊严。 > “and the still more stirring tale of men defending a city whose doom is already known to them a city that is already in flames so I think that this is real subject of the Iliad and it is a fact that men have always felt that the Trojans were the real heroes” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 > “so that men have sought kinship with the defeated Trojans and not with the victorious Greeks perhaps because there is a dignity in defeat that hardly belongs to victory” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 --- ### [01:37:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=5860s) 《奥德赛》与《福音书》：人类赖以生存的三大母题 博尔赫斯随后探讨了第二部史诗《奥德赛》。他认为无论作者是荷马还是塞缪尔·巴特勒（Samuel Butler）所揣测的女性作者，这部史诗都可以从两个维度来阅读：第一层是奥德修斯历尽艰辛的“归家”（homecoming），它暗合了人类永恒的放逐感——感到真正的家园在过去、在天堂或在别处，我们在尘世从未真正属于何方；第二层则是航海中的种种奇迹与惊险冒险。阿拉伯文学在改编这一故事时，诞生了《一千零一夜》里的《辛巴达航海记》，此时归家的母题已退隐，纯粹变成了对未知的冒险。正如古英语诗歌《远航者》（The Seafarer）中所描绘的那样，水手心中既无竖琴，亦无赠金，不恋妇人之爱，不慕尘世荣华，眼中只有滚滚咸涩的波涛。 接着，博尔赫斯引入了第三部在精神上高高耸立的宏大史诗——四福音书。信徒在其中读到的是上帝为人类赎罪而降卑、甘愿承受苦难并死于十字架上的奇异救赎；博尔赫斯还提及威廉·朗兰（William Langland）在《农夫皮尔斯》中给出的更为深刻的洞见：上帝仅仅以神明的方式在知性上了解人类痛苦是不够的，祂必须亲自作为受局限的人去切身体会痛苦。而对于不信者而言，这也是一个天才的故事——一个自以为是神的人，在生命的终点发现自己不过是凡人，连祂的神也离弃了祂。 博尔赫斯指出，特洛伊之战、奥德修斯的流浪与基督受难这三个故事，千百年来足以哺育整个人类的精神世界，后人无数次谱曲、作画、复述它们而未见枯竭。但福音书的故事极为特殊，博尔赫斯认为《新约》对基督受撒旦诱惑的简短几句叙述，其震撼力就远胜于约翰·弥尔顿长达四卷的《复乐园》；弥尔顿虽然博学，却未曾真正领悟基督究竟是怎样的一个人。 > “Langland the idea that God wanted to know all about human suffering and that it was not enough for him to know it intellectually as a god might but he wanted to suffer as a man and with the limitations of a man” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 > “and it might be said that for many centuries those three stories the tale of Troy the tale of Ulysses the tale of Jesus have been sufficient for mankind people have been telling and retelling them over and over again” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 - 乔叟等人之所以极少凭空发明故事，是因为当时的受众熟悉既有框架，诗人在细微差异处的精妙铺陈（shadings）反而更能被敏锐捕捉。 --- ### [01:44:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=6263s) 从史诗到小说：英雄楷模的坍塌与现代性的退化 博尔赫斯随后指出了文学史上的重大分裂：昔日包罗万象的史诗传统分崩离析，一极演变为了精短的抒情诗与挽歌，另一极则转变为散文体的叙事——小说（novel）。他坦言，尽管有约瑟夫·康拉德与赫尔曼·麦尔维尔等大师曾一度将小说拉回到史诗般的崇高尊严，但人们依然很难不把现代小说视作史诗的一种“退化”（degeneration）。 很多人以为史诗与小说的根本区别在于韵文与散文的形式之差，即歌唱与陈述的区别。但在博尔赫斯看来，其深层内核完全不同：史诗的核心在于塑造一个“英雄”（hero）——一个堪为全人类典范的楷模；而正如许多论者所指出的，绝大多数现代小说的本质，恰恰在于一个人的瓦解（breaking down）与人格的堕落退化（degeneration of character）。这种转向也改变了人们对胜败与幸福的认知：在古代，人们不仅能体会战败的尊严，也真诚地信仰胜利与幸福的可能（例如追寻金羊毛的远航）；而在现代人眼中，所谓“大团圆结局”（happy ending）往往被贬低为迎合大众的庸俗商业伎俩。 ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Epic Dissolution Flowchart accDescr: Diagram illustrating the splitting of the ancient epic into lyrical poetry and the modern novel, highlighting the character shift from hero to breakdown. subgraph Ancient["古老传统：包罗万象的史诗 (Epic)"] E["史诗 / 崇高叙事\n（如《伊利亚特》《奥德赛》《福音书》）"] E_Char["精神核心：英雄 (Hero)\n全人类的道德与行动楷模"] E --- E_Char end subgraph Modern["现代文学的分裂与演变"] direction TB L["纯抒情诗与挽歌 (Lyric & Elegy)\n仅保留鸟鸣般的高音与感伤"] N["现代小说 (Novel)\n被视为史诗精神的退化与降格"] N_Char["叙事核心：人物的瓦解 (Breaking down)\n性格退化与大团圆信念的丧失"] N --- N_Char end E -->|"形式与精神解体"| L E -->|"叙事散文化与祛魅"| N ``` > “I think the difference lies in the fact that the important thing about the Epic is a hero a man who is a pattern for all men while as men pointed out the the essence of most novels lies in the in the breaking down of a man in the degeneration of character” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 - 史诗构建能够作为全人类楷模与行动典范的英雄，肯定崇高与胜利的尊严 - 现代小说往往聚焦于个体的崩解、精神困局与品格沉沦，对幸福结局抱有犬儒与怀疑态度 ### [01:47:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=6441s) 现代文学的失败预感与卡夫卡的困境 博尔赫斯首先指出，在古代文学中，读者与听众从一开始就能确信：在冒险的终点，宝藏必定会被找到。然而在当代文学中，只要有人展开一次冒险，读者预先就知道它必将以失败告终。博尔赫斯列举了自己极度钦佩的作品作为例证：读亨利·詹姆斯（Henry James）的《阿斯彭译稿》（*The Aspern Papers*）时，我们心里清楚那些文稿永远不会被找到；读弗朗茨·卡夫卡（Franz Kafka）的《城堡》（*The Castle*）时，我们也知道主人公永远不可能进入城堡。博尔赫斯感叹道：“That is to say we cannot really believe in happiness and in success and this may be one of the poverties of our time.”（这就是说，我们无法真正相信幸福与成功，而这或许正是我们时代的贫乏之一。） 他推测卡夫卡本人也深陷于同样的矛盾之中。卡夫卡生前之所以希望将自己的全部手稿销毁，是因为他内心深处极其渴望写出一本幸福而胜利的书，但他深知自己无能为力。博尔赫斯评论道，即便卡夫卡勉强写出了那样一部胜利之作，读者也会感到他并未讲真话——那不是事实真相的违背，而是违背了他自身梦境的真实。 - 现代叙事的宿命：冒险必定以失败告终。 - 经典例证：亨利·詹姆斯《阿斯彭译稿》（文稿不可得）、卡夫卡《城堡》（城堡无法进入）。 - 卡夫卡焚稿的深层心理：渴望写出胜利与幸福，却受困于自身阴郁梦境的真诚性。 --- ### [01:48:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=6524s) 情节的发明与“机关故事”的局限 博尔赫斯随后转向叙事史的发展脉络。在18世纪末或19世纪初，作家们开始刻意“发明情节”。这种尝试或许始于纳撒尼尔·霍桑（Nathaniel Hawthorne）与埃德加·爱伦·坡（Edgar Allan Poe）。博尔赫斯援引诗人鲁文·达里奥（Rubén Darío）的名言指出，文学史上没有任何人是凭空而立的“文学亚当”（literary Adam），先驱者始终存在。然而，正是爱伦·坡明确提出：一篇短篇小说的创作应当全为了最后一句话，而一首诗的创作应当全为了最后一行诗。 博尔赫斯批评这一主张后来退化成了纯粹耍弄花招的“机关故事”（trick story）。到了19世纪以及20世纪，人们绞尽脑汁构思出各种极其巧妙的情节。如果单论构思的机巧，这些现代情节甚至超越了古典史诗；然而人们却总能感到一种人工雕琢的造作感与微不足道的琐碎感。博尔赫斯对比了两部作品：一部是罗伯特·路易斯·史蒂文森（Robert Louis Stevenson）的《化身博士》（*Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde*），另一部是阿尔弗雷德·希区柯克（Alfred Hitchcock）的心理惊悚电影《惊魂记》（*Psycho*）。《惊魂记》的情节在技巧上或许更为精巧，但在史蒂文森的构思背后，读者能感受到更为深厚广袤的象征意蕴。 ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Plot Evolution from Classic to Modern Trick Story accDescr: 展现从古典神话史诗情节到爱伦坡末句理论，再到现代机关故事的演变与局限 subgraph Classical ["古典与原型叙事"] A["本质原型情节<br/>（如恶宝、远征）"] --> B["深入人心的象征力量<br/>（如《化身博士》）"] end subgraph ModernShift ["近代情节发明"] C["爱伦·坡理论：<br/>小说为了最后一句而写"] --> D["机关故事 (Trick Story)<br/>与过度技巧化"] D --> E["巧妙却琐碎人工<br/>（如《惊魂记》式悬疑）"] end B -.->|"超越精巧结构"| E ``` - “文学亚当”：引用鲁文·达里奥的典故，说明文学无绝对的始作俑者。 - 爱伦·坡的创作论：短篇小说为了尾句而写，诗歌为了末行而写。 - 对比案例：《化身博士》（更深厚的原型内涵）与《惊魂记》（技巧更胜却显得琐碎）。 --- ### [01:50:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=6654s) 核心原型的永恒与歌唱叙事的割裂 博尔赫斯回到他在系列演讲之初提出的核心假说：世上根本没有无穷无尽的故事，只有少数几种基本情节原型。有些经典作品的迷人之处不在于单一情节的推进，而在于无数情节的流转变化，例如《一千零一夜》（*The Arabian Nights*）以及阿里奥斯托（Ludovico Ariosto）的《疯狂的罗兰》（*Orlando Furioso*）。此外还有“带来厄运的宝藏”这一古老母题，普遍见于《沃尔松格萨迦》（*Völsunga saga*）以及古英语史诗《贝奥武甫》（*Beowulf*）的末尾。博尔赫斯推测，正如他在关于隐喻的演讲中所论述的那样，当代人看似眼花缭乱的情节发明狂潮终将熄灭，届时人们会发现所有复杂的现代故事，不过是少数几个本质情节原型的变形。 更深层的危机在于形式的割裂。博尔赫斯指出，现代诗人似乎完全遗忘了：讲故事曾经是诗歌最核心的灵魂。“A man told the tale, he sang it, and his readers did not think of him as a man attempting two tasks, but rather attempting one task that had two sides to it or perhaps they did not feel there were two sides to it, they thought of the whole thing as one essential thing.”（一个人讲述一个故事，他把它唱了出来；他的读者并不认为他在尝试完成两件截然不同的任务，而是将它看作一件具有两个侧面的单一任务，甚至根本不觉得它有两个侧面，而是视整体为一个不可分割的本质存在。）现代文学却将讲述故事（散文/小说）与诗歌吟唱彻底割裂开来。 - 情节流转之作：《一千零一夜》、阿里奥斯托作品。 - 恶宝原型：《沃尔松格萨迦》、《贝奥武甫》。 - 史诗传统：叙事与歌唱浑然一体，本为同一种文学行为。 --- ### [01:53:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=6810s) 20世纪的史诗饥渴与好莱坞西部片 进入20世纪，人类经历了两次世界大战，然而令人错愕的是，这两场空前的大战竟然没有催生出真正的史诗。博尔赫斯逐一盘点了具有史诗潜力的现当代作品： 1. **T·E·劳伦斯（T. E. Lawrence）的《智慧七柱》（*Seven Pillars of Wisdom*）**：书中具备大量卓越的史诗品质，但受困于作者同时是故事的主人公与叙述者。为了显得真实可信，劳伦斯不得不不断贬低自己、展现平庸的人性，从而落入了现代小说家的刻画圈套。 2. **昂利·巴比塞（Henri Barbusse）的《火线》（*Le Feu*）**：博尔赫斯在1915年左右读过这本如今几乎被遗忘的反战和平主义小说。尽管意在反战，但书中描写的刺刀冲锋却不可遏制地喷涌出强烈的史诗力量。 3. **拉迪亚德·吉卜林（Rudyard Kipling）**：如短篇名作《主人之战》（*A Sahibs' War*）极具史诗感。但正如吉卜林因担心疏远读者而从不写十四行诗一样，他也始终未曾真正尝试写一部史诗。 4. **G·K·切斯特顿（G. K. Chesterton）的《白马民谣》（*The Ballad of the White Horse*）**：描写阿尔弗雷德大帝对抗丹麦人的长诗。博尔赫斯由衷赞叹其中奇崛的隐喻——大理石被比作“凝固的月光”（solid moonlight），黄金被比作“冰冻之火”（frozen fire），用更纯粹的基本元素重新赋予物质以魔力。 博尔赫斯进而指出，全人类的内心其实都在渴望史诗，因为史诗是人类生存的刚需。令人感到讽刺甚至反高潮的是，为现代世界提供史诗体验的，竟然是好莱坞： > “For all over the world men, when they see a western, when they are beholding the mythology of the rider and the desert and justice and the sheriff and the shooting and so on, get the epic feeling from it whether they know it or not.”（因为全世界的人们，当他们看到一部西部片，当他们注视着关于骑士、荒漠、正义、警长和枪战的神话时，无论他们自己是否意识到，他们都从中获得了史诗般的感受。） --- ### [01:57:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=7055s) 小说的衰退与史诗在未来的复兴 博尔赫斯预测，如果有一天讲故事的艺术与诗歌的吟唱能重新融为一体，文学史将迎来重大的转机。他认为这一变革极有可能发生在美洲（美国），因为美洲拥有一种对“是非善恶”极其鲜明的道德感（ethical sense），这种道德感在其他国家或许存在，但绝没有像在这里那样醒目纯粹。遗憾的是，切斯特顿的《白马民谣》虽然广受好评，读者却未真正接纳它；世人记住切斯特顿仅仅是因为“布朗神父”系列侦探小说。博尔赫斯自谦表示，自己年事已高，虽然作品中偶尔夹杂过两三行具有史诗感的句子，但复兴史诗的大任只能交给青年一代去完成。 博尔赫斯直言现代小说正在走向崩溃与解体。以詹姆斯·乔伊斯（James Joyce）的《尤利西斯》（*Ulysses*）为例，作者巨细靡遗地告诉了读者关于主人公的数千种生活细节，但读者依然无法真正认识他们；反观但丁（Dante）或莎士比亚（Shakespeare），笔下的人物往往只用寥寥数语便经历生死，读者却对其了如指掌、心意相通。现代小说中各种前卫大胆的实验——时间视角的颠倒错置、多视角的复调叙事，恰恰是小说正在消亡的征兆。博尔赫斯以19世纪老人自居，却满怀乐观地总结道：“I do not think men will tire of telling or of hearing stories. And if to the pleasure of being told a story we get the additional pleasure and the dignity of verse, then something great will have happened.”（我不认为人类会厌倦讲述或倾听故事。如果在倾听故事的愉悦之外，我们还能重新获得诗歌的尊严与享受，那么一件伟大的奇迹就将降临。）诗人必将再次成为古希腊意义上的“创作者”（maker），如同荷马（Homer）与维吉尔（Virgil）那样，把讲故事与歌唱融为一体。 - 现代小说的困局：乔伊斯《尤利西斯》堆砌海量细节却失去对人物的心灵认知；但丁与莎士比亚寥寥数语直抵灵魂。 - 形式解体预兆：叙事时间重组、多重视角转换等先锋实验预示着小说形式的终结。 - 史诗诗人的本质回归：重新成为将宏大叙事与诗意歌唱融为一炉的“创造者”（Maker）。 --- ### [02:02:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=7366s) 第四讲引言：词语音乐与诗歌翻译的迷思 在结束了关于史诗叙事的讲座后，录音切入了第四讲《词语音乐与翻译》（Word-Music and Translation）。博尔赫斯开篇便界定了本场讲座的讨论范畴：为了条理清晰，他今晚将专注于诗歌翻译（verse translation）这一具体课题。这看似是一个相对次要的技术问题，实则极其关键，并且它将为随后的另一场讲座——关于诗歌中的词语音乐、词语魔力以及意义与声音的交织——铺平道路。 博尔赫斯指出，文学界广泛流传着一种迷信，认为所有的翻译都注定会背叛其无与伦比的原作。这最为著名地体现在那句甚至显得无可辩驳的意大利双关语谚语之中：“Traduttore, traditore”（翻译即背叛）。博尔赫斯认为，既然这个文字游戏流传得如此广泛，其中必然包裹着某种核心的真理性。他宣布将按照自己的习惯，不从抽象概念出发，而是通过具体的诗歌文本范例，深入探讨诗歌翻译的各种可能性及其成败。 - 第四讲主题：诗歌翻译中的声音、意义与音乐感。 - 经典格言讨论：“Traduttore, traditore”（翻译者即背叛者）。 - 演讲方法论：拒绝空洞理论，坚持从具体作品的翻译实例展开剖析。 ### [02:04:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=7464s) 丁尼生对古英语史诗《布鲁南堡之战》的重构与实验 博尔赫斯开篇幽默地向听众坦白，文学探讨绝不能脱离具体范例，而由于自己的记忆力“有时与遗忘极为相似”，加上讲座时间和自身精力的限制，他将挑选简短的诗句而非长篇诗节展开分析。他首先引入的范例是作于10世纪初的古英语英雄诗《布鲁南堡之战》（The Battle of Brunanburh）以及阿尔弗雷德·丁尼生（Alfred, Lord Tennyson）对其所作的现代英语译本。这首古诗是为了歌颂威塞克斯军队抵御都柏林维京人、苏格兰人与威尔士人联军入侵的大捷。在原始文本中，诗人将晨曦中的太阳描述为“著名的星辰”（mære tungol），并进一步唤作“上帝明亮的烛火”（godes condel beorht）。 丁尼生之所以涉足这一题材，是因为其子哈勒姆·丁尼生（Hallam Tennyson）先在杂志上发表了该诗的散文译本，并向父亲讲解了古英语诗歌的核心特征——即依靠全头韵和节奏重音而非尾韵构诗。毕生热衷诗歌形式实验的丁尼生决定尝试用现代英语再现古英语格律。博尔赫斯特别强调，丁尼生将晨曦中的太阳译为“sun-star of morningtide”（晨潮之日星），这种复合词的运用甚至“比撒克逊原诗还要撒克逊化”。“Morningtide”不仅保留了“早晨”之意，更唤起了破晓黎明如潮水般漫过天际的恢弘意象；而将“上帝的明灯”化用为“lamp of the Lord”，同样展现了极高的重构水准。 博尔赫斯对丁尼生的艺术探索作出了精准的评价：“值得注意的是，尽管这次实验相当成功，但他此后再也没有回到这种形式上。”（“It is noteworthy to remark that though the experiment was quite successful, he never came back to it again.”） - **历史背景**：诗作庆祝公元937年威塞克斯国王埃塞尔斯坦与艾德蒙王子击退都柏林诺斯人与苏格兰联军的布鲁南堡战役。 - **词源与意象对照**：古英语的“mære tungol”（著名星辰）与“godes condel beorht”（上帝明烛），在丁尼生笔下分别被重塑为复合词“great sun-star of morningtide”与头韵分明的“lamp of the Lord”。 - **诗学孤例**：丁尼生一生创作丰硕，但运用古英语全头韵长行格律的现代英语诗篇，仅留下了这一首孤例。 --- ### [02:09:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=7747s) 圣十字若望《心灵的黑夜》与罗伊·坎贝尔的英译 博尔赫斯转向第二个诗歌翻译的成功典范——16世纪西班牙神秘主义诗歌巅峰、圣十字若望（San Juan de la Cruz）的名作《心灵的黑夜》（Noche oscura del alma）。博尔赫斯毫不吝惜赞美之词，直言圣十字若望是所有使用西班牙语写作诗歌的人中最伟大的一位。然而，博尔赫斯随即提出了一个反直觉的细读视角：若将首节诗的末句“estando ya mi casa sosegada”（此时我的房屋已然沉寂）脱离语境单独审视，其在纯粹的文学技巧上其实并不出彩；连绵的“s”音带来了嘶嘶的杂音，而“sosegada”（安宁/平息）一词本身也显得平淡无奇。 19世纪末阿瑟·西蒙斯（Arthur Symons）曾将其译入英语，收录在叶芝编选的《牛津现代诗选》中，但博尔赫斯认为该译本并不出色。真正打动他的是南非裔苏格兰诗人罗伊·坎贝尔（Roy Campbell）的现代英译。坎贝尔将这一句翻译为“When all my house was hushed”。博尔赫斯敏锐地指出，在英文译文中，“all”一词的加入赋予了整个诗行宽广的空间感与空旷的辽远感，而“hushed”（肃静）这个优美的英文词汇，更是神乎其技地捕捉到了静默本身的内部音乐。 博尔赫斯针对坎贝尔的翻译技巧总结道：“‘hush’这个词似乎以某种方式向我们呈现了寂静本身的音乐。”（“Hush seems to give us somehow the very music of silence.”） - **原诗与译文细节**： - 西班牙语原文：*estando ya mi casa sosegada*（字面意：我的房屋已然安静下来）。 - 罗伊·坎贝尔译文：*When all my house was hushed*。 - **听觉美学差异**：西班牙语原句含有密集的三重齿龈擦音（s音），在脱离整体神学语境时略显滞涩；坎贝尔则利用“all”拓展空间维度，以轻柔舒缓的辅音群“hushed”构建深邃宁静的氛围。 --- ### [02:12:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=7937s) 从格言到诗歌：乔叟对“生命短暂，艺术长存”的升华 在对比了两种严谨的诗歌互译后，博尔赫斯举出了第三个例子。这个例子并非诗行到诗行的移译，而是古老冷硬的哲理散文格言如何被伟大的诗才点化并升华为真正的纯诗。这句格言源自希波克拉底的希腊箴言，后在拉丁语世界演化为众所周知的格言“Ars longa, vita brevis”（艺术长存，生命短暂）。博尔赫斯打趣道，这句格言干瘪平直，不过是对客观现实的陈述，没有触动任何幽深的心弦，甚至像是后来机械印刷与批量文学的某种枯燥预兆。 直到14世纪，英国文学巨匠杰弗里·乔叟（Geoffrey Chaucer）在《众鸟之会》（*The Parliament of Fowls*）中化用了这一典故。乔叟当时或许并非着眼于医学或造型艺术，而是在思考诗歌甚至爱情的艰难磨砺。乔叟写下了千古名句：“The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne”（生命如此短暂，技艺如此难精）。博尔赫斯提示听众注意乔叟所处时代中古英语的发音质感，并指出原本干瘪的格言正是因为加入了看似无足轻重的连接副词“so”，而获得了不可思议的情感深度。 博尔赫斯高度赞赏乔叟所赋予诗行的情感质感：“在那里，我们不仅得到了事实的陈述，更汲取到了惆怅与向往本身的音乐。”（“And there we get not only the statement, but we also get the very music of wistfulness.”） ```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: 从古典格言到乔叟抒情诗的升华过程 accDescr: 展示拉丁格言通过乔叟加入情感副词蜕变为诗歌音乐的演变脉络 subgraph 哲学格言 ["古典散文格言"] A["Ars longa, vita brevis<br/>（艺术长存，人生短促）"] -->|"事实陈述 / 平铺直叙"| B["缺乏情感波澜的理智判断"] end subgraph 诗意转化 ["乔叟的诗性重铸"] B -->|"注入副词 'so' 与音乐韵律"| C["The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne"] C -->|"唤醒内在心弦"| D["充满惆怅与渴望的动人诗乐"] end ``` - **关键诗眼**：微小而看似隐形的词汇“so”（如此），打破了机械对照，将纯粹的客观度量转化为诗人直面生命有限与艺术无限时的叹惋。 - **语境置换**：原本指代医术与身体寿命的古典医学箴言，被乔叟借用并置换至诗艺探索与爱情追寻的抒情意境之中。 --- ### [02:15:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=8102s) 语词技巧与真实情感：原作不可替代的语境力量 在深入剖析了上述翻译范例后，博尔赫斯提出了本讲核心的辨证命题：如果从纯文学构词和字面技巧来看，丁尼生与坎贝尔的译作不仅不逊色于原作，在某些单句上甚至在文学性上超越了原作。然而，读者在阅读时依然能清晰地感知到原作与译作之间不可逾越的鸿沟。博尔赫斯指出，这种差距并非译者的技巧问题，而是取决于读者与文本语境之间的共鸣方式——原作背后承载着无可替代的真实历史热血与极致的心灵经验。 博尔赫斯回溯了《布鲁南堡之战》的创作现场：当时的撒克逊人曾屡遭丹麦人残酷蹂躏，整首原诗充斥着饱经压迫后血战反扑的野蛮狂喜。那位无名作者（或许是一位修道士）在庆祝胜利时，并未依照正统基督教习俗感谢上帝恩赐，而是露骨地歌颂国王与王子的利刃切开敌人的盾牌，字里行间洋溢着嘲弄溃敌的残酷欢欣，甚至具备当时罕见的历史自觉，回溯了早期亨吉斯特与霍萨渡海南征的蛮荒记忆。丁尼生的译作虽然技巧炉火纯青，但归根结底只是维多利亚时代大师在书斋中完成的一场形式实验。 同样的情形也出现在圣十字若望与坎贝尔之间。坎贝尔的诗句“When all my house was hushed”在文学技巧上极其优美，但圣十字若望的原作是在记录人类心灵所能达到的极致体验——狂喜（ecstasy），即有限灵魂与神圣神性的彻底融合。为了传达这种无法言喻的神秘交融，若望借用了《雅歌》中男女俗世之爱的意象。博尔赫斯动情地总结道，当读者阅读原诗时，听到的乃是作者心灵最深处的本真低语，这种带着生命颤栗的原始语境是任何后世完美译笔都无法凭空复刻的。 博尔赫斯对此作出了透彻的论断：“它们在字面上我认为不逊于原作，然而我们依然感到存在差异，这差异超越了译者的能力极限，它取决于我们阅读诗歌的方式。”（“If we consider the two translations I have quoted verbally, then they are I should say not inferior to the original; and yet we feel that there is a difference, and the difference is beyond what the translator can do: it depends rather on the way we read poetry.”） | 维度 | 原作力量（布鲁南堡 / 圣十字若望） | 优秀译作（丁尼生 / 坎贝尔） | |:--- |:--- |:--- | | **创作动机** | 真实的复仇狂喜；与神性合一的神秘狂喜体验 | 对古代格律的形式实验；对文学意境的高超重构 | | **情感质地** | 残酷、原始、饱含历史痛感与形而上震颤 | 精致、纯熟、书斋式的完美文字音乐 | | **读者体验** | 倾听历史与灵魂现场的真实呼喊 | 欣赏卓越语言大师所呈现的高超技艺 | ### [02:20:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=8442s) 译作与原作的心理偏见及“直译”的迷思 博尔赫斯首先谈及读者在面对原作与译作时的心理定势。当我们阅读罗伊·坎贝尔（Roy Campbell）的译作时，哪怕觉得它非常出色，也总会忍不住心想：“当然了，这个苏格兰人归根结底干得相当漂亮，但这毕竟只是翻译。”博尔赫斯敏锐地指出，翻译与原作的差距其实不在于文本本身，如果我们事先不知道哪篇是原作、哪篇是译作，或许就能做出公正的评判。但遗憾的是人们做不到这一点。博尔赫斯一针见血地指出这种偏见：“And so the translator's work is always supposed to be inferior, or, what is worse, is felt to be inferior, even though verbally the rendering may be as good as the text.”（因此，译者的工作总被假定为低人一等，或者更糟的是，被人在心理上觉得低人一等，哪怕在字句表现上，译文可能与原文同样优秀。） 随后博尔赫斯将话题转向“直译”（literal translation）的问题。他指出，谈论“字面直译”本身就是一种狂放的隐喻：如果一门翻译连“逐词对应”（word to word）都无法做到，又怎么可能做到“逐字母对应”（letter to letter）呢？ - 读者对翻译作品天然抱有贬低心态，这种心理滤镜掩盖了文本本身的文学品质。 - 语言系统之间的差异使得完全绝对的“字面直译”在技术上本就是一种虚构与隐喻。 ### [02:22:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=8524s) 纽曼与阿诺德之争：荷马史诗的翻译理论碰撞 在19世纪，如今已被大多数人遗忘的希腊语学者弗朗西斯·威廉·纽曼（Francis William Newman）尝试用六音步诗行直译荷马史诗，其目的主要是为了对抗亚历山大·蒲柏（Alexander Pope）高度风格化的荷马译本。纽曼在译文中使用了大量字面复刻词，例如“潮湿的波浪”（wet waves）、“酒色之海”（wine-dark sea）等。文学批评家马修·阿诺德（Matthew Arnold）读后撰文批评，纽曼反驳，阿诺德再度撰文回应，这场针锋相对、极具智慧的论争被完整记录在阿诺德的随笔集《论翻译荷马》（On Translating Homer）中。 纽曼坚持认为，字面直译才是最忠实的翻译；而阿诺德则提出了一套关于荷马本质的理论。阿诺德认为荷马诗歌具备明晰（Clarity）、高贵（Nobility）和纯朴（Simplicity）等特质。博尔赫斯概括阿诺德的立场时说道：“He thought that the translator should always convey the impression of those qualities, even when the text did not bear him out.”（他认为译者应当始终传达出这些特质所带来的印象，即便原文的字面细节并没有直接支持这些特质。） - 纽曼代表的是严谨、逐词复原古风的学术直译流派。 - 马修·阿诺德则坚持“总体印象与美学神韵优先”，主张译文应重现荷马的高贵与清晰，而非泥足于字句。 ### [02:23:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=8624s) 直译带来的怪诞与虚假重音：伯顿与《一千零一夜》 马修·阿诺德曾指出，字面直译往往会导致表达怪诞（oddity）与粗俗不自然（uncouthness）。博尔赫斯举了日常语言的例子说明：在罗曼语族诸语言中，人们不说“天气很冷”（it is cold），而说“它制造寒冷”（it makes cold；如法语 il fait froid，西班牙语 hace frío），但若把“天气冷”直译成英语的“it makes cold”，就显得荒谬无比；又如英语中的道别或问候“good morning”，西语里是复数形式“buenas días”，若把英语直译为西语单数形式“buena mañana”，虽是字面直译，却完全谈不上真实地传达了语意。 直译还会制造错误的侧重点与虚假的重音。阿诺德指出直译往往会赋予某些词汇不应有的突出感。博尔赫斯援引理查德·弗朗西斯·伯顿爵士（Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton）翻译的《一千零一夜》作为绝佳案例：伯顿将书名直译为“千夜与一夜之书”（Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night），而不是通常所用的“一千零一夜之书”（Book of the Thousand and One Nights）。这一译法从阿拉伯语原文来看确是逐字对应的直译，但它在英语中却产生了偏差——在阿拉伯语中这不过是司空见惯的普通句式，而在英语读者读来，却会引发一丝突兀的惊异（a slight shock of surprise），而这种惊异感在原文中根本不存在。 ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: 直译对原文效果的扭曲机制 accDescr: 展示源语言的常规表达在经过字面直译后，如何在目标语言中产生虚假重音和陌生感。 subgraph Source["源语言环境 (阿拉伯语)"] A["常规套式表达<br/>('千夜与一夜')"] -->|母语直觉| B["平实自然的叙述效果"] end subgraph Target["目标语言环境 (英语)"] A -->|"字面直译 (伯顿译本)"| C["异常句式结构<br/>('Thousand Nights and a Night')"] C -->|目标语读者心理| D["突兀的惊异感<br/>(产生假重音/与原文意图违背)"] end ``` ### [02:25:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=8756s) 圣经直译与“陌生之美”：从路德到《雅歌》 马修·阿诺德曾建议荷马的译者应当把《圣经》放在手边，将钦定版圣经英语作为荷马翻译的标准语言范式。然而博尔赫斯指出，如果阿诺德仔细研究过英译圣经，就会发现英译圣经本身充满了希伯来语的字面直译，而英文圣经绝大部分的非凡美感，恰恰来自这些字面直译。 博尔赫斯以具体的词句为例：英译本中的“力量之塔”（a tower of strength），马丁·路德在德译本中将其平实地译为“坚固的堡垒”（ein feste Burg）；更典型的例子是《雅歌》（The Song of Songs）。博尔赫斯提到自己从弗莱·路易斯·德·莱昂（Fray Luis de León）的论述中得知，古代希伯来语缺乏最高级形容词，无法直接表达“最高妙的歌”或“最好的歌”，因此他们采用“歌中之歌”（the Song of Songs）来指代极品，同理还有“万王之王”（King of Kings，意指至高之王而非帝国统治者）、“月之月”（moon of moons）、“夜之夜”（night of nights，意指至圣之夜）。路德为了让德国平民彻底读懂，不讲究文饰，将其译作“Das Hohelied”（高尚的歌谣、崇高的诗）。英译本的字面保留反而创造出了惊心动魄的诗意美。博尔赫斯由此得出颠覆阿诺德观点的结论：“In fact, it might be said that literal translations make not only, as Matthew Arnold pointed out, for uncouthness and oddity, but also for strangeness and beauty.”（事实上，人们可以说，字面直译不仅像马修·阿诺德指出的那样会导致粗俗与怪诞，更会催生陌生与大美。）当代读者若阅读一篇充满异域色彩的外国诗歌直译，心里恰恰期待着某种奇异感，倘若找不到，反倒会感到若有所失。 - 阿诺德推崇圣经体作为翻译典范，却忽略了圣经语言的美恰恰植根于字面直译。 - 希伯来语因缺乏最高级语法结构而借由重叠名词（“名词 + of + 名词复数”）表达极致，这种直译在英语中注入了全新的美学经验。 - 字面直译虽然伴随着粗糙与奇异，但常常成为引入文学陌生感（strangeness）的源泉。 ### [02:28:37](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=8917s) 菲茨杰拉德的《鲁拜集》与虚构的“东方特质” 谈及英语文学中最著名的翻译成就之一，博尔赫斯提到了爱德华·菲茨杰拉德（Edward FitzGerald）翻译的《鲁拜集》（The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám）。这本小书最初在书摊被斯温伯恩（Algernon Charles Swinburne）和罗塞蒂（Dante Gabriel Rossetti）偶然发掘，并彻底震撼了他们。当时菲茨杰拉德还是个默默无闻的文人，曾翻译过卡尔德隆（Calderón）的戏剧和法里德·乌丁·阿塔尔（Farid ud-Din Attar）的《百鸟会议》（Parliament of Birds），但都不甚成功。博尔赫斯提出质问：如果菲茨杰拉德当年是将这些诗篇作为自己原创的英文诗发表，而不是假借波斯诗歌翻译之名，罗塞蒂和斯温伯恩还会感受到如此强烈的魅力吗？ 博尔赫斯分析了诗中名句。比如第一首开篇：“Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night / Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight”（醒来吧！晨光已把投石掷入夜之碗 / 驱散了满天繁星）。若这是英文原创，读者会觉得莫名其妙，而作为翻译，它附带了一个注释：向碗中投石是沙漠驼队拔营启程的信号；又如“晨光的套索俘获了苏丹的宫塔”。博尔赫斯随后聚焦于另一首绝妙的诗行：“Dreaming when Dawn's left hand was in the sky / I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry, / 'Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup / Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry.'” 博尔赫斯极度赞赏第一句：“Dreaming when Dawn's left hand was in the sky”（梦正酣，当黎明的左手横亘天际）。他分析道，整句诗的灵魂就在于“左手”（left hand）这个词。如果替换成任何其他形容词，这行诗将索然无味。“右手”通常象征正义、笔直与正道（right, righteousness, direct）；而在罗曼语中，左（left / 西班牙语中的 siniestro）则暗示着灾厄、不祥与阴险（sinister）。“黎明的左手”隐喻着一种微妙的不祥预感，意味着做梦者的梦境随时可能堕入梦魇。博尔赫斯强调：“We accept ‘Dreaming when Dawn's left hand was in the sky’ because we suppose that there is a Persian original behind it; as far as I am aware, Omar did not bear FitzGerald out.”（我们之所以全盘接纳‘梦正酣，当黎明的左手横亘天际’，是因为我们假定它背后有一个波斯语原作作为依据；但据我所知，欧玛尔·海亚姆的原作根本没有写过这个意象。）这种纯粹的美，正是凭借读者对“异域直译”的宽容与期待而被凭空创造出来的。 - 读者的翻译心理机制：当被冠以“异域翻译”之名时，读者会主动包容并赋予奇异意象以深刻的诗意，若是原创则往往被批为晦涩。 - 菲茨杰拉德的“左手”意象在波斯原文中并无对应，是译者假托古波斯之名在英语中实现的文学奇迹。 ### [02:32:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=9159s) 翻译观念的历史演进与直译的神学起源 博尔赫斯由此深入探究“直译”观念的渊源。在现代，人们崇尚直译，甚至只认同直译，认为这样才算“给每个人应有的公道”。然而在古代和中世纪，这种态度会被文人视为浅薄偷懒的课业作弊（a crib）。古代的文人有着更为宏大的志向：他们之所以翻译，是为了证明自己的白话（vernacular）完全有能力创造出与古典原文分庭抗礼的伟大诗篇。例如哈恩·德·梅纳（Juan de Mena）将卢坎（Lucan）的史诗译成西班牙语时，抱有的正是这种雄心。蒲柏翻译荷马时，当时的读者关心的不是蒲柏与荷马词句如何严丝合缝，他们关注的是《伊利亚特》和《奥德赛》作品本身的大气魄，根本不屑于字句上的琐碎细节（verbal trifles）。在整个中世纪，翻译意味着“重塑与再创造”（something being recreated）——诗人阅读作品，然后凭借自身的气魄以及对本民族语言潜能的挖掘，重新孕育这部作品。 那么，严苛死板的“直译”究竟源于何处？博尔赫斯提出了他的核心论点：直译绝非源于世俗的学术考证（scholarship），也非出于道德良心（scruples），而是起源于神学（theology）。 人们即便把荷马奉为最伟大的诗人，也深知荷马终究是凡人，正如古罗马格言所言“高尚的荷马有时也会打瞌睡”（quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus），因此凡人可以修改、重组荷马的文字。然而当面对《圣经》时，情况则截然不同。博尔赫斯深刻地剖析道：“Because the Bible was supposed to have been written by the Holy Ghost; and if we think of the Holy Ghost, if we think of the infinite intelligence of God undertaking a literary task, then we're not allowed to think of any chance elements, of any haphazard elements in His work.”（因为《圣经》被认定是由圣灵写就的；如果我们设想由圣灵、设想由上帝那无限的智慧来承担一项文学工作，我们就绝不能认为祂的作品中存在任何偶然的成分，或是任何随意拼凑的要素。）如果上帝亲自屈尊从事文学创作，正如卡巴拉学者所坚信的那样，经文中的每一个词、每一个字母都具有不可变动的绝对神圣性，直译观念正是由此诞生。 - 古典时代与中世纪将翻译视为竞争性重创，旨在以俗语再现乃至超越古典文本的荣光。 - 现代直译法则深深根植于圣经翻译传统：神圣文本的每一字句均出自神启，杜绝任何偶发性，从而使译者丧失了重塑文本的自由，最终确立了绝对字面对应的法则。 ### [02:35:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=9349s) 直译的起源、陌生之美与鲍德莱尔的德译本 博尔赫斯推测，直译的概念最初源自对《圣经》的翻译，因为人们认为篡改由永恒智慧写就的文本无异于亵渎神明。他在讲台上谦逊地表示，现场或许有许多学者能纠正他的猜想，但正是由于这些精妙的圣经译本，人们才开始发掘并体会到异质表达方式中所蕴含的独特美感。如今，读者普遍偏爱直译，因为直译总能带来预期中的惊喜震颤。博尔赫斯甚至提出一个大胆的假说：或许根本不需要原作，有朝一日翻译本身会被视为一种自足的存在，就像伊丽莎白·巴雷特·勃朗宁的《葡萄牙人十四行诗集》（*Sonnets from the Portuguese*）那样。 谈到这里，博尔赫斯幽默地分享了一个切身体验：有时他构想出一个极为大胆的隐喻，却自知作为一个当代无名之辈，若以自己的名义发表绝不会有人买账；于是他便声称这是某位偏僻的波斯诗人或北欧诺斯人的杰作，朋友们听后便赞不绝口。博尔赫斯从未澄清这是自己的发明，因为他深爱那个隐喻，而且“波斯人和诺斯人也许早就发明过它，或者发明过更好的隐喻”。 随后，他重新回到开篇的观点：人们评价译作往往脱离了纯粹的文字本身。他以四十年前年轻时的阅读经历为例，对比了夏尔·鲍德莱尔的《恶之花》（*Les Fleurs du mal*）与斯特凡·格奥尔格（Stefan George）的德译本。博尔赫斯指出，鲍德莱尔无疑是更伟大的诗人，但格奥尔格在技巧上是更为精湛的工匠。如果逐行对照，格奥尔格的德语“重铸/衍作”（*Umdichtung*，围绕原作编织的新诗）甚至优于鲍德莱尔的原著。然而，这并未给格奥尔格带来同等的盛名，因为热爱鲍德莱尔的人是将词句置于其整个人生际遇与传奇背景下来审视的，而在格奥尔格那里，人们只看到了一位技艺高超、甚至略显拘谨刻板的20世纪诗人将鲍德莱尔的词句转换为异质的德语。 > “I think that Baudelaire was of course a greater poet than Stefan George, but Stefan George was a far more skillful craftsman.” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 --- ### [02:39:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=9575s) 摆脱“历史感”的重负：纯粹之美与第四讲结语 博尔赫斯感叹现代人被过度沉重的“历史感”所压垮，无法像中世纪、文艺复兴乃至18世纪的人们那样纯粹地直面古代文本。现代人时刻为背景和环境所困扰，甚至非要考证出荷马笔下的“酒色海面”（wine-dark sea）究竟何意。但他推测并期盼着，未来的人类或许不再如此执着于历史，他们将不再关注美的偶然机缘与外在环境，而是全心关照“美”本身，甚至遗忘诗人的姓名与生平。 为了印证这种可能性，博尔赫斯举了印度的例子：在印度文化中，人们几乎缺乏欧洲意义上的历史感。对于撰写印度哲学史的欧洲学者而言，最棘手的难题莫过于印度人将所有哲学体系都当作当代的学说来探讨。印度学者关心的是哲学问题与宇宙之谜本身，而不是谁是谁的导师、先后承袭关系或受了何种影响等编年史与传记层面的琐事。博尔赫斯寄望于这种超越历史环境的纯粹审美时代早日到来，届时世人终将迎来不仅在文学水准上媲美、而且在名望上也堪比查普曼译荷马、爱德华·菲茨杰拉德译《鲁拜集》或蒲柏译《奥德赛》的伟大译作。他以莎士比亚的名句总结道，这确实是一个“虔诚企盼的圆满结局”（a consummation devoutly to be wished for），第四讲在热烈的掌声中落下帷幕。 > “A time will come when men shall care very little about the accidents and circumstances of beauty; they shall care for beauty itself.” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: 文本审视范式的流变 accDescr: 展示从现代过度的历史主义关注向博尔赫斯期待的纯粹审美与问题导向审视的转变路径。 subgraph Historical["现代审视模式：历史沉重感"] H1["关注传记与背景"] H2["考证具体语境（如'酒色海面'）"] H3["追索师承与编年影响"] end subgraph PureBeauty["理想审视模式：纯粹审美体验"] B1["关注语言与美本身"] B2["哲学与诗歌皆具当代性（印度思维）"] B3["摆脱原作者声名束缚的经典译作"] end Historical -->|"期待未来的转变"| PureBeauty ``` - **查普曼的荷马译本（Chapman's Homer）**、**蒲柏的奥德赛（Pope's Odyssey）**与**菲茨杰拉德的《鲁拜集》（FitzGerald's Rubáiyát）**：均被博尔赫斯视为不仅在文学上自成一格、而且足以与原作声誉并驾齐驱的翻译典范。 - **德语中的翻译层级**：从纯粹直译（*Übersetzung*）到后作诗（*Nachdichtung*），再到围绕原作重新结网编织的“重创诗”（*Umdichtung*）。 --- ### [02:42:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=9744s) 第五讲《思想与诗》开篇：音乐的完满与诗歌的“杂交”特质 第五讲题为《思想与诗》（*Thought and Poetry*）。博尔赫斯以瓦尔特·佩特（Walter Pater）的名言开篇：“所有艺术都渴望达到音乐的状态”（All arts aspire to the condition of music）。作为一名音乐门外汉，博尔赫斯认为原因显而易见：在音乐中，形式与实体是不可分割的。旋律是在时间流淌中展开的声音与休止符的图样，它无法被转述，旋律本身既是形式图样，也是其源起与唤醒的情感。奥地利音乐评论家爱德华·汉斯利克（Eduard Hanslick）曾精辟地写道：音乐是一种我们能够使用、能够理解，却无法翻译的语言。 反观文学，尤其是诗歌，情形则大相径庭。我们可以向未读过《红字》（*The Scarlet Letter*）的朋友讲述其情节梗概，甚至也能转述一首十四行诗的基本框架与脉络。由于内容可以脱离原有的语言外壳被复述，人们往往容易将诗歌视为一种不够纯粹的“杂交艺术”或“混血儿”（something of a mongrel）。 > “Music is a language that we can use, that we can understand, but that we are unable to translate.” —— 爱德华·汉斯利克（博尔赫斯引述） --- ### [02:44:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=9869s) 斯蒂文森的语言假说与古英语词汇的诗性本源 博尔赫斯提到罗伯特·路易斯·斯蒂文森（Robert Louis Stevenson）对诗歌双重特性的探讨。斯蒂文森认为，诗歌在某种意义上比其他艺术更贴近市井平民，因为诗歌的材料就是词语，而词语正是“生活的日常方言”。声音是音乐家的原材料，而词语则是日常琐碎事务的通用工具；词语像冰冷刚硬的方木块，诗人却不可思议地将这些日常和抽象用途的符号编织成了一张充满魔力的“网”（the web）。斯蒂文森由此认为，文学的作用就是迫使日常词语承载超出其原本设计意图的使命。 博尔赫斯敬重斯蒂文森，但他认为这一理论在根本上是错误的： 1. **诗歌先于抽象散文**：撰写古英语挽歌的盎格鲁-撒克逊先民，以极其动人的笔触传达了孤独、勇气、忠诚以及对荒凉海域与旷野的感受；但如果让他们用散文来梳理逻辑论述，他们将寸步难行。即便到了阿尔弗雷德大王（King Alfred）时代，其散文虽平实得体，却平淡无奇，无法触及灵魂；而与其同时代人创作的诗歌，至今读来依然震颤人心、充满生命力。 2. **语源学揭示抽象词源于具体具象**：语言并非始于抽象符号，而是始于具体事物，而“具体”在古老语境中正是“诗性”的同义词。例如古英语中： - *dreary*（阴郁）原本意为“沾满鲜血的”（bloodstained）； - *glad*（高兴）最初意为“被打磨光亮的”（polished）； - *threat*（威胁）原本指“聚拢逼近的人群或军队”（a threatening crowd）。 3. **词语原本兼具意象与神话魔力**：以雷霆一词（*Thunder*）为例，撒克逊人的雷神神明为 *Thunor*（对应北欧的索尔 Thor）。当当年随亨吉斯特（Hengist）登陆不列颠的武士听到或说出这个词时，他们绝不会去辨析这究竟是指天空中的轰鸣还是发怒的神明；在他们的心目中，闪电后的低沉雷鸣与神灵的威严是合而为一的。词语天然携带着魔力，绝非干瘪固定的逻辑符号。 4. **怀特海的批判**：博尔赫斯援引哲学家阿尔弗雷德·诺斯·怀特海（Alfred North Whitehead）提出的“完美词典谬误”（fallacy of the perfect dictionary）——即误以为人类的每一种感官知觉、每一个陈述与抽象概念，都能在词典中找到分毫不差的符号对应。语言的多样性恰恰证明了这种假设的荒谬，例如在苏格兰语中，像 *eerie*（神秘怪诞）与 *unchancy*（不祥晦气）这样的词汇，其精微幽邃的韵味是任何标准字典或外语对应词都无法彻底穷尽的。 > “Poetry is not trying to take a set of logical coins and work them into magic; rather, poetry is bringing language back to its original source.” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 - **核心论点对比**：斯蒂文森视诗歌为“将枯燥的日常硬币铸造成魔法网络”；博尔赫斯则强调，诗歌不是强行点石成金，而是“让语言重返其充满具象与神话魔力的本源”。 ### [02:51:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=10279s) 语言的民间起源与词语的原始魔力 博尔赫斯探讨了不同语言中独特词汇的生成逻辑，例如德语中的“unheimlich”（诡异的/令人不安的）。之所以其他语言可能缺少对应的单个词汇，是因为说其他语言的民族或许并无此种表达需求——一个民族自然会演化出它所必需的词汇。博尔赫斯援引了 G. K. 切斯特顿（G. K. Chesterton）在论述画家乔治·弗雷德里克·沃茨（George Frederic Watts）的著作中的独到观察：语言绝非像词典所诱导人们相信的那样，是由学院院士或语言学家凭空发明的；恰恰相反，语言是漫长岁月中由农夫、渔民、猎人和骑手共同演化而来的。语言并不诞生自图书馆，而是来自田野、海洋、河流、黑夜与破晓。 因此在博尔赫斯看来，词语在最初意义上本质就是一种巫术或魔法。或许曾经存在过这样一个时刻，当人们念出“光”（light）这个词时，它仿佛在闪烁发光；而“夜”（night）这个词本身就是黑暗的。以“夜”为例，它起初指涉的正是否定的实体本身——它的漆黑、它的威胁以及夜空中闪烁的群星；直到历经极为漫长的岁月之后，人们才发展出“夜”的抽象概念，即犹太人所说的“乌鸦的黄昏”（Twilight of the Raven）与“鸽子的黄昏”（Twilight of the Dove，黎明之始）之间的那段时光。 谈及犹太传统，博尔赫斯进一步指出，犹太神秘主义（卡巴拉，Kabbalah）提供了一个绝佳佐证。在犹太人眼中，词语蕴含着真实的力量，这一观念同样构成了《一千零一夜》中各种护身符与咒语故事的基石。在《妥拉》（Torah）开篇的第一章第一页便记载着神说“要有光，就有了光”，古人坚信在“光”这个词语之中，本身就蕴藏着足以让光辉普照寰宇的伟力，一种足以繁衍、孕育出光芒的力量。 博尔赫斯引述切斯特顿关于语言起源的核心洞见时说道： > “language is not the invention of academicians or philologists but rather language has been evolved through time through a long time by peasants by fishermen by Hunters by Riders it did not come from the libraries it came from the fields from the sea from rivers from night from the dawn” --- ### [02:54:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=10478s) 诗歌中的思想与形式：叶芝与梅雷迪斯 博尔赫斯转而探讨一个他自认无法彻底解决的难题：思想与意义在诗歌中的本质。此前曾讨论过，在音乐艺术中，形式（form）与实体（substance）、声音与内容是浑然一体、不可剥离的；而在某种程度上，诗歌亦是如此。为了验证这一点，博尔赫斯对比了两位伟大诗人的诗句片段。第一段出自爱尔兰伟大诗人威廉·巴特勒·叶芝（William Butler Yeats）的一首短诗： “Bodily decrepitude is wisdom; young / We loved each other and were ignorant.”（肉体的衰竭即是智慧；年轻时 / 我们彼此相爱却愚昧无知。）博尔赫斯指出，开头的陈述“肉体的衰竭即是智慧”必须带着反讽去读，因为叶芝深知人完全可能肉体衰颓却并未获得丝毫智慧；在诗的下半句中，智慧显然被置于比爱情更重要的高位，而爱情又重于平庸的幸福。 紧接着，博尔赫斯引用了乔治·梅雷迪斯（George Meredith）的诗句：“Not till the fire is dying in the grate / Look we for any kingship with the stars.”（唯有当炉火在壁炉中渐熄，我们才去寻觅与群星的亲缘。）博尔赫斯分析道，单从字面事实来看，梅雷迪斯的断言其实是站不住脚的——认为人类只有在肉欲退去或被肉欲抛弃之后才会对哲学产生兴趣，这显然不符合历史事实，历史上不乏像贝克莱（Berkeley）、斯宾诺莎（Spinoza）和叔本华（Schopenhauer）这样充满激情的年轻哲学家。然而，逻辑上的真伪在诗歌中无足轻重；真正关键的是，这两段诗句在抽象意义上表达的内容几乎完全一致，但它们所拨动的心弦却截然不同。 博尔赫斯坦言，当有人试图指出这两首诗表达的是同一种思想时，听众在直觉上都会正确地感到这种概括是无关紧要的，因为这两组诗句在审美本质上截然不同。 博尔赫斯由此对诗歌与意义的关系作出了深刻论断： > “I have suspected many a time that the meaning is really something added to the verse and I know it for a fact that we feel that we feel the beauty of a poem before we before we even begin to think of the meaning” --- ### [02:58:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=10682s) 超越理性的诠释：莎士比亚与莫里斯 为了进一步说明人们在理解意义之前就已先感知到诗意之美，博尔赫斯列举了莎士比亚第 107 首十四行诗中的名句：“The mortal moon hath her eclipse endured / And the sad augurs mock their own presage; / Incertainties now crown themselves assured / And peace proclaims olives of endless age.”（凡俗之月已度过她的月蚀，忧伤的预言家自嘲其预言；不测如今加冕成为确凿，和平宣告了无尽岁月的橄榄枝。）若翻阅学者的注释，会发现诗中的“凡俗之月”普遍被解读为对伊丽莎白一世女王（即被宫廷诗人比作贞洁狩猎女神狄安娜的“童贞女王”）的暗指。 博尔赫斯认为，莎士比亚在下笔之时，心中很可能同时兼顾了两者——既想到了象征女王的比喻之月，也不可避免地浮现出夜空中的明月。然而作为读者，人们根本无需将自己强行绑定在某一种特定解释上。在采纳历史考据或象征猜想之前，这两句诗所散发出的独特美感，早已远远超越了后世对它的任何技术性阐释。 诗歌中甚至存在着完全“无意义”却极度优美的句子，它们不对理性说话，而直接诉诸想象力。博尔赫斯举出了威廉·莫里斯（William Morris）的短语“Two red roses across the moon”（穿过月亮的两朵红玫瑰）以及《七塔之曲》（The Tune of Seven Towers）中的名句：“Therefore said Fair Yoland of the flowers: / Fair Yoland is a witch.”。这些诗句被剥离了原本的上下文脉络，其意象在理性层面上甚至无法形成确凿清晰的画面，然而单凭词语自身在发音上的韵律与音乐感，便足以独立挺立，长久散发着纯粹的审美愉悦。 博尔赫斯强调诗歌感知往往先于意义确认： > “The point I would like to make is that we do not have to commit ourselves to a meaning to any one of the meanings we feel the verses before we adopt one the other or both those hypothesis” --- ### [03:01:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=10888s) 西班牙语的回响与“无意义之美” 在沉浸于英语诗歌的讨论之后，博尔赫斯动情地提到，母语西班牙语正在心底向他呼唤。他想为听众朗诵几句西班牙语诗，并幽默地安慰在场听众：如果大家听不懂，大可宽心，因为他自己同样理解不了这些诗句的理性含义。这些诗句以一种极其美妙的方式呈现为“无意义”，它们在创作之初就未曾打算传达任何概念性的所指。 这几行诗出自一位在博尔赫斯看来被严重遗忘、甚至被过分低估的玻利维亚诗人里卡多·哈梅斯·弗雷（Ricardo Jaimes Freyre，1868—1933）。他是鲁文·达里奥（Rubén Darío）与莱奥波尔多·卢戈内斯（Leopoldo Lugones）的挚友，活跃于 19 世纪最后十年。博尔赫斯深情地朗诵了这首十四行诗中的片段，展示了其令人沉醉的声音质感与音韵力量。博尔赫斯赞叹道，尽管它们不代表任何具体思想，却作为一种纯粹的美之造物而傲然挺立，至少对他个人而言，这种美感是取之不尽、历久弥新的。 博尔赫斯在朗诵后如此评价这些看似空灵无解的诗句： > “They do not mean anything they're not meant to mean anything and yet they stand they stand as a think of beauty they are at least to me inexhaustible” --- ### [03:03:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=10988s) 难以翻译的诗意体验与“三夜之狮”的谜题 随后，博尔赫斯回到了梅雷迪斯的另一组诗句。与前述纯粹依赖音乐性的无意义诗句不同，梅雷迪斯的这组四行诗深刻地承载着意义，让读者确信其背后对应着诗人极其真切的生命体验： “Love that had robbed us of immortal things / This little moment mercifully gave, / For I have seen across the twilight wave / The swan sail with her young beneath her wings.”（那夺走我们永恒之物的爱情，仁慈地赐予了这一短暂瞬间；因我已望见暮色波涛间，天鹅振翅庇护幼雏破浪向前。） 博尔赫斯细细品味诗中的奇异之处：诗人在首句写的是“夺走”我们永恒之物的爱情，而非人们通常理所当然认为的“赐予”永恒之物的爱情。读者能真切感到诗人正在讲述自己与爱人的经历。这首诗蕴含着三重维度的美感，读者完全无需考究诗人当年究竟是在哪条河流偶遇了这只天鹅，天鹅优雅游入诗句、并进而永久游入博尔赫斯记忆的这一过程本身即已完满。借用音乐美学家爱德华·汉斯立克（Eduard Hanslick）评述音乐的名言，博尔赫斯感慨自己并非通过狭隘的理性、而是凭借深层的想象力去感知和铭记这些诗句，它们无需、也根本无法被转译。 由此联想到“三重”这一意象，博尔赫斯提到亚历山大里亚的一位希腊古诗人曾写过一个比喻，称某人为“三夜之狮”（The Lion of the threefold night）。这本是一个气势磅礴、充满崇高谜题色彩的意象。然而，当博尔赫斯翻看学者注释时，注解却索然无味地解释道：“狮子”是指赫拉克勒斯（Hercules），而主神朱庇特（宙斯）在孕育他时特意将黑夜延长至三夜之久，好让神明的欢愉更为漫长宏大。博尔赫斯认为，这种所谓的背景阐释不仅毫无意义，反而严重破坏了诗句本身的魅力——学者塞给读者一段琐碎的轶事，却残忍地剥夺了那个原本神妙莫测的谜题。“三夜之狮”本身就已经是一道完美自足的谜，人类根本不需要去粗暴地“拆解”它。 博尔赫斯总结过度阐释对诗歌意象的损耗时指出： > “He provides us with a small anecdote and I think he takes away something from the from that riddle from that wonderful riddle the threefold the night the The Lion of a three-fold night that should be enough riddle with we have no need to read it to read it the riddle is there” ### [03:07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=11221s) 词语的魔力与繁复的文风：乔伊斯笔下的夜晚与象牙 博尔赫斯回顾了早期人类对语言的感知——词语“雷霆”（thunder）不仅指涉声音，它本身就是神明。接着他谈到“夜”（night）这个词，并自然引出詹姆斯·乔伊斯在《芬尼根的守灵夜》（Finnegans Wake）第一章末尾的句子：“wherein Joyce speaks of the rivering waters of, the hither and thithering waters of night”（乔伊斯言及夜之奔流、此起彼落的流水）。博尔赫斯指出，这是一个极致繁复文风的例子。读者能感觉到这种诗句只有在经历数个世纪的文学积淀后才可能诞生；它是一项发明，正如罗伯特·路易斯·史蒂文森（Robert Louis Stevenson）所言，是一张极其复杂的织网。然而博尔赫斯怀疑，在历史最初的某一刻，单纯的词语“夜”在人们心中所引发的惊奇、陌生与敬畏感，其实并不亚于乔伊斯这句蜿蜒瑰丽的现代长句。 诗歌创作通常有两种相对立的方式：一种是使用最寻常的词汇，却能赋予其魔力；另一种则是创造性地重组语言。博尔赫斯引用了爱德华·兰登（Edward Lowbury）极具英国节制风格的诗句：“I have been young, and now am not too old; / and I have seen the righteous forsaken, / His health, his honour, and his quality taken. / This is not what we were formerly told.” 在这里，词句质朴，传达的是清晰的意义与情感，词语本身并不刻意突显。作为繁复用词的对比，博尔赫斯再次借用乔伊斯的三个词：“glitter gates of elfinbone”（精灵之骨的闪耀之门）。乔伊斯在此借鉴了德语中表示象牙的词汇“Elfenbein”，而“Elfenbein”本身是“elephant bone”（象骨）的形变。乔伊斯敏锐地捕捉到了其内在的美感，并将其转化到英语中创造出“elfinbone”（精灵之骨）。博尔赫斯感叹，比起被听滥了的德语“Elfenbein”，乔伊斯这个全新而精致的词汇带给读者一种极具震慑力的惊奇。 - 乔伊斯在《芬尼根的守灵夜》第一章结尾将夜色描摹为流动的河水（“the rivering waters of, the hither and thithering waters of night”）。 - 词语在起源时曾带有神圣魔力，繁复现代小说的精雕细琢在某种意义上是在重构这种远古的陌生敬畏感。 - 爱德华·兰登的诗作展示了英国文学擅长的“低调陈述”（understatement）与平白语言的感染力。 - 德语“Elfenbein”（象牙）源于大象（elephant）与骨（bone），乔伊斯将其诗意重构成“elfinbone”。 ### [03:11:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=11464s) 质朴与繁复之辨：鲜活的诗意与字典的局限 博尔赫斯批评了人们常将文风粗暴归类为“质朴风格”（plain style）与“繁复风格”（elaborate style）的做法。他认为风格的繁简因人而异，根本的标准在于诗歌是“活着的还是死去的”：“Now I think this is wrong, because what is important, what is all-meaning, is the fact that poetry should be living or dead, not that the style should be plain or be elaborate.” 质朴的文字同样能写出震撼人心的伟大诗篇，甚至有时比繁复之作更令人赞叹。例如史蒂文森的名篇《安魂曲》（Requiem）：“Under the wide and starry sky, / Dig the grave and let me lie. / Glad did I live and gladly die, / And I laid me down with a will. / Here he lies where he longed to be; / Home is the sailor, home from sea, / And the hunter home from the hill.” 博尔赫斯指出，这些句子看似是平实的语言，但绝非唾手可得；诗人必定付出了极大的心血，像“Glad did I live and gladly die”这样的诗句，只有在缪斯极度慷慨的罕见时刻才会降临。 博尔赫斯进一步反思了人们将词语视作“代数符号”（algebra of symbols）的偏见。他承认自己非常喜欢字典——约翰逊博士（Dr. Samuel Johnson）的词典、斯基特（Walter William Skeat）的语源字典以及《简编牛津英语词典》（Shorter Oxford English Dictionary）都是他的心头好——但字典的长篇罗列与释义容易让人误以为词义已经被穷尽，误以为词语可以随意互相替换。真正的诗人应当感受到“每一个词都是独立存在的，每一个词都是独一无二的”。例如“sedulous”（勤勉的、孜孜不倦的）原本是一个有些生僻且略显造作的书卷词，但当史蒂文森写下自己为了学习写作而“甘做哈兹里特的勤勉盲从者”（played the sedulous ape to Hazlitt）时，这个词瞬间获得了鲜活的生命。博尔赫斯强调，词语源于巫术与魔力，而诗歌的使命就是将词语重新带回魔力之中。 ```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: 词语与诗歌活力的转化机制 accDescr: 展现词语从远古魔力到字典工具，再经由诗人重获新生的演进路径。 subgraph Origin["语言源头"] A["远古词语：神话与巫术魔力"] end subgraph Stagnation["日常工具化"] B["字典分类与代数符号化（机械可替换）"] end subgraph Revival["诗歌复活"] C["质朴风格（如史蒂文森《安魂曲》）"] D["繁复风格（如柯勒律治、乔伊斯）"] E["鲜活诗意（Living Poetry）"] end A --> B B --> C B --> D C --> E D --> E ``` ### [03:14:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=11693s) 文学中的信念：堂吉诃德的真实性与虚构人物的生命 博尔赫斯将话题转向诗学与美学中一个至关重要的问题——“信念”（conviction），即读者在阅读散文或诗歌时，能否达成柯勒律治（Samuel Taylor Coleridge）所说的“自愿暂停怀疑”（willing suspension of disbelief）。在提及词句突显的繁复诗风时，博尔赫斯顺道背诵了柯勒律治《忽必烈汗》（Kubla Khan）中的名句：“Weave a circle round him thrice, / And close your eyes with holy dread, / For he on honey-dew hath fed, / And drank the milk of Paradise.” 谈到小说时，博尔赫斯认为，读者的信念根本上来自于对核心人物的信服。博尔赫斯幽默而坦诚地表示，自己对《堂吉诃德》中描写的具体冒险历险心存怀疑，甚至觉得某些情节被夸大了，他也确信那位骑士在与桑丘交谈时绝不会一口气背出那么长的讲辞；然而这丝毫不影响作品的伟大，因为他坚信堂吉诃德这个人物本身的存在：“What is really important is the fact that I believe in Don Quixote himself.” 正因如此，阿索林（Azorín）的《堂吉诃德的小径》（La ruta de Don Quijote）或乌纳穆诺（Miguel de Unamuno）的《堂吉诃德与桑丘的生平》（Vida de Don Quijote y Sancho）等过于较真追寻历险细节的书籍，在他看来略显偏题。博尔赫斯直言，就算有人证明那些冒险从未发生过，他依然会像相信现实中的老友一样相信堂吉诃德。他更调侃道，自己有幸拥有许多挚友，坊间流传着关于他们的轶事，其中一些轶事甚至是他自己编造出来的；正如德·昆西（Thomas De Quincey）所说一切轶事皆伪造，但博尔赫斯认为德·昆西应当补充一句：轶事在历史上或许是伪造的，但在本质上却是真实的（historically apocryphal, but essentially true）。对博尔赫斯而言，皮克威克先生、福尔摩斯、华生医生、哈克贝利·费恩、培尔·金特都是他的亲密朋友；记录他们故事的作者即便夸大其词，那些冒险也都是这些伟大灵魂的镜子与属性投影——只要读者相信福尔摩斯的存在，那么巴斯克维尔的猎犬便无需令人畏惧。 - 柯勒律治的“自愿暂停怀疑”是散文与韵文审美成立的基石。 - 博尔赫斯视堂吉诃德、福尔摩斯、哈克贝利·费恩等人为与现实朋友无异的真实存在。 - 德·昆西认为轶事皆为杜撰，博尔赫斯将其深化为“历史意义上的伪作，本质意义上的真实”。 ### [03:19:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=11978s) 诗歌中的确信：情感的真实与隐喻的成立 转到诗歌领域，情况似乎有所不同：诗人在创作中使用大量隐喻，读者并不需要把隐喻当成客观事实来信以为真，真正重要的是让读者确信该隐喻准确呼应了诗人的真实情感。博尔赫斯举例说明，当阿根廷诗人卢戈内斯（Leopoldo Lugones）将落日比作一只“绿色孔雀”（green peacock）时，读者无需纠结落日与孔雀在物理上到底相不相似，关键在于诗句是否让我们感受到卢戈内斯当时确实被落日深深震撼，以至于必须调用如此奇特的隐喻来传递心中的震颤。 博尔赫斯总结道，诗歌中的这种确信与文字是平白还是繁复毫无瓜葛。他举了弥尔顿（John Milton）的例子：在《复乐园》（Paradise Regained）的结尾，弥尔顿写道“Unobserved, he to his mother's house private returned”，语言极为朴素，但整句诗缺乏生机，是死气沉沉的；相反，在弥尔顿的名篇《论失明》（On His Blindness）中写下“When I consider how my light is spent / Ere half my days in this dark world and wide...”时，语言虽然繁复精严，却充满跃动的生命力。因此，像贡戈拉（Luis de Góngora）、约翰·多恩（John Donne）、威廉·巴特勒·叶芝（W. B. Yeats）以及詹姆斯·乔伊斯这样的作家，无论用词多么险僻、诗节多么离奇，他们的创作都是完全成立的，因为他们成功让读者感受到词语背后真实炽热的情感。博尔赫斯坚定地下结论：“We are made to feel that the emotion behind those words is a true one, and this should be sufficient; this should be sufficient for us to tender them our admiration.” - 隐喻的评价标准不在于客体间的客观相似度，而在于它是否忠实承载了创作者那一刻的情感浓度。 - 弥尔顿《复乐园》尾句展示了质朴语言沦于死板的弊病，而其十四行诗《论失明》则证明了典雅繁复文风可以葆有强韧的生命力。 - 贡戈拉、约翰·多恩、叶芝与乔伊斯等偏好艰深造语的诗人之所以名垂青史，归根结底在于其词句背后蕴含的情感确凿无疑。 ### [03:22:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=12143s) 尾声的预告与第六讲开场：诗人的信条 博尔赫斯在第五讲行将结束时，向听众做了一个充满温情的过渡。他打趣道，经历了前几场演讲，大家如今都已成为朋友，而在这最后一场讲座中，气氛必将带上鲜明的个人色彩。他幽默地自嘲，接下来他不得不谈论一位“次要的诗人”——一个自己从未读过其作品、却不得不亲笔写下其作品的人，即他自己。他恳请听众原谅这种亲切却带有反高潮意味的自叙。 第六讲正式开篇，题为“诗人的信条”（A Poet's Creed）。博尔赫斯坦言，原本的计划是系统阐述诗学信条，可审视内心之后，他发现自己所持有的只是一种含混动摇的信念；这种信念或许对自己写作有用，对他人却几乎毫无助益。在他看来，一切诗学理论不过是创作诗歌的工具，天底下有多少位诗人，就应当有多少种信条与宗教。因此，尽管他会在讲座结尾谈谈个人在诗歌写作上的偏好与厌恶，但他决定先从私人的回忆切入——不仅作为一名作家，更作为一名读者的回忆。他真诚地表示，自己骨子里首先是一名读者，阅读的意义远胜于写作，因为人可以随心所欲阅读自己喜欢的作品，却只能写出自己有能力写出的文字。 > “For one reads what one likes and one writes not what one would like to write, but what what one is able to write.” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 - 博尔赫斯自认其诗学信条是不成熟且摇摆的，理论仅是诗歌创作的工具而非绝对真理。 - 确立了“读者身份高于作者身份”的核心观念：阅读由纯粹的喜好驱动，写作则受限于个人能力。 --- ### [03:24:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=12285s) 父亲的书房与济慈的诗：诗歌的觉醒时刻 博尔赫斯的回忆倒流回大约六十年前布宜诺斯艾利斯的一个夜晚。在父亲的书房里，煤气灯发出柔和的光芒，尽管那间书房早已不复存在，但他依然能清晰指出每本书的位置——理查德·伯顿（Richard Francis Burton）翻译的《一千零一夜》和普雷斯科特（William H. Prescott）的《秘鲁征服史》（History of the Conquest of Peru）。在那遥远的南美之夜，父亲用博尔赫斯当时听不懂但能够感知的声音朗诵诗句。那些诗行出自济慈（John Keats）的《夜莺颂》（Ode to a Nightingale）： “你不会死去，不朽的飞禽！/ 饥饿的世代未曾将你践踏；/ 我在行将逝去的今夜所闻之声，/ 曾被昔日的帝王与小丑聆听；/ 或许这同一支歌也曾叩开露丝的心扉，/ 当她思念故土，泪洒异乡的麦浪之间。” 童年时的博尔赫斯自以为通晓语言的奥秘，但这些诗句如同一场神启。他当时无法理解诗中深奥的哲学——鸟兽因活在当下而超脱生死、永恒不灭，人类则因活在过去与未来、预知自己的死亡而必有一死。然而，诗句通过本身的“音乐”穿透了他。在此之前，他以为语言不过是传情达意、抒发悲喜或抱怨的工具；正是那一刻，他领悟到语言本身可以成为一种音乐与激情，诗歌由此向他揭示了自身。 博尔赫斯由此引申出一个哲思：一个人的一生虽由成千上万个日子与瞬间组成，但这漫长的一生往往可以浓缩为唯独的某一个瞬间——那就是一个人认清自我、与真正的自己面面相对的刹那。就像犹大亲吻耶稣时意识到自己注定是背叛者，又如克兰（Stephen Crane）在《红色英勇勋章》（The Red Badge of Courage）中描写的主人公在关键时刻看清自己究竟是懦夫还是勇士。而对于博尔赫斯而言，听到济慈诗歌的那一刻，正是他生命的核心瞬间。他体会过游泳、骑马、看日出日落、坠入爱河等种种人世快乐，但贯穿他生命的最核心事实，始终是词语的存在，以及将词语编织为诗歌的可能。 > “Then when I heard those lines... I knew that language could also be a music and a passion, and thus was poetry revealed to me.” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: 语言认知与自我觉醒的过程 accDescr: 描绘博尔赫斯从将语言视为表达工具，到经由济慈诗句体会到音乐性，最终认清文学宿命的演进过程。 subgraph Perception["语言认知的蜕变"] A["工具阶段：语言仅用于表达悲喜、发出诉求"] -->|"聆听济慈《夜莺颂》的韵律"| B["美学阶段：语言升华为纯粹的音乐与激情"] end subgraph Revelation["宿命的顿悟"] B --> C["生命的浓缩：万千瞬间归结于认清自我的那一刻"] C --> D["文学的宿命：词语的存在与编织诗歌成为生命的核心"] end ``` - 幼年博尔赫斯在布宜诺斯艾利斯的父亲书房中初次接触文学启蒙。 - 济慈《夜莺颂》关于时间与永恒的意象，通过纯粹的韵律音乐打动了尚不解其意的孩童。 - 借由犹大的吻与《红色英勇勋章》的例子，论证人的整个人生都可以凝结在认清宿命的那一瞬间。 --- ### [03:30:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=12603s) 读者的幸福与文学漫游：《一千零一夜》、哈克与堂吉诃德 在谈论自己的创作之前，博尔赫斯重申了“读者的幸福远在作者之上”——作者面临焦虑与劳作，而读者毫无负担，纯粹奔着快乐而去，且这种快乐极易获得。博尔赫斯开列了一份深刻影响他的私人书单，虽然任何书单都注定充满遗珠。他首先谈到《一千零一夜》，坦言自己真正喜爱的并非理查德·伯顿那些卷帙浩繁、学究气十足的厚重译本，而是安托万·加朗（Antoine Galland）乃至爱德华·威廉·莱恩（Edward William Lane）所呈现的真正具有奇幻色彩的译本。博尔赫斯的绝大部分阅读都通过英语进行，他为此深感庆幸。谈及《一千零一夜》，他感受到的是一种广阔的自由感；虽然书中人物大多扁平单一（或许除了那位多话的沉默理发师），结构由数字“三”、善恶报应、魔戒法器等套路构成，但正是这庞大无垠的篇幅赋予了全书一种野性魅力——读者深知自己可能永远读不完，但那些奇迹、术士与美丽的姐妹永远在深处静候。 随后博尔赫斯谈到了马克·吐温的《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》，以及《苦行记》（Roughing It）和《密西西比河上的生活》（Life on the Mississippi）。他指出，一部伟大的杰作往往只需要一个极为简单却足以取悦想象力的核心事实：在《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》中，黑奴、男孩、木筏、密西西比河以及漫漫长夜，这一基本框架本身就天然地与人类的想象力契合。 至于塞万提斯的《堂吉诃德》，博尔赫斯早年以为自己享受的是那古旧的文风以及骑士与侍从的冒险，如今却意识到，真正的魅力完全来自堂吉诃德这一人物本身。他甚至怀疑自己是否真正相信那些荒诞的历险或主仆间的谈话，但他深信堂吉诃德的人格，所有的历险不过是塞万提斯用来展现英雄性格的工具。柯南·道尔笔下的福尔摩斯与华生亦是如此——博尔赫斯并不信服《巴斯克维尔的猎犬》中涂着发光涂料的恶犬能吓倒人，但他完全坚信福尔摩斯的存在及其与华生之间奇异的友谊。他甚至预言，未来的某一天，即便堂吉诃德或福尔摩斯的所有具体冒险故事都被历史抹去，后人仍会用不同的语言不断创作出新的故事，作为映照这些永恒人物性格的镜子。 最后，博尔赫斯将记忆的时针拨向他在日内瓦度过的青年时代。1916年前后，他正是一个习惯于自寻烦恼、沉溺于苦闷的典型年轻人。直到他遇见了沃尔特·惠特曼（Walt Whitman）的作品——面对这位充满活力、无比幸福的诗人，博尔赫斯为自己此前通过阅读故意放大不幸的矫情举动感到了深深的羞愧。 > “The happiness of a reader is beyond that of a writer, for a reader need feel no trouble, he need feel no anxiety; he's merely out for happiness, and happiness, when you're a reader, is frequent.” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 - **《一千零一夜》**：偏爱加朗与莱恩的译本胜过伯顿的繁复注本；庞大的篇幅本身构成了奇幻漫游的美学基底。 - **《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》**：伟大作品只需一个极简且契合想象力的核心母题（黑人、少年、木筏、长河与黑夜）。 - **经典人物独立于情节**：读者对《堂吉诃德》和《福尔摩斯探案集》的信任根植于人物性格（如福尔摩斯与华生的友谊），而非具体的情节机关；即使故事遗失，人物仍会长存。 - **惠特曼的震撼（约1916年于日内瓦）**：惠特曼作品中洋溢的健康与幸福，驱散了博尔赫斯青年时期刻意维持的颓废与忧伤。 ### [03:37:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=13058s) 惠特曼的投射、卡莱尔与对“日耳曼精神”的追寻 博尔赫斯回顾了自己对沃尔特·惠特曼（Walt Whitman）的阅读与理解。他读完惠特曼的传记后推测，当惠特曼重读自己的《草叶集》（*Leaves of Grass*）时，心里或许会暗自感叹：“要是我真能像诗里那样，成为那个曼哈顿的宇宙、太阳之子该有多好。”博尔赫斯指出，现实中的惠特曼无疑是截然不同的人，他实际上是从自我之中创造并投射出了一个异想天开的“惠特曼”形象。与此同时，年轻的博尔赫斯还迷上了风格完全相反的托马斯·卡莱尔（Thomas Carlyle），并被深深震撼。他熟读卡莱尔的《衣裳哲学》（*Sartor Resartus*），许多篇章甚至能倒背如流。 正是卡莱尔促使博尔赫斯自学德语。他买来海涅（Heinrich Heine）的《抒情插曲》（*Lyrisches Intermezzo*）和一本德英词典，不久便发现自己可以抛开词典，自如地阅读海涅笔下的夜莺、明月、松树与爱情。然而，博尔赫斯当时真正渴望寻找的并非这些，而是一种“日耳曼精神”（Germanism）。这种精神最早或许并非由日耳曼人自己提出，而是罗马历史学家塔西佗（Tacitus）所构想出来的。卡莱尔让他误以为能在德语文学中找到这种气质。尽管他十分感激卡莱尔引荐他结识了叔本华（Schopenhauer）、荷尔德林（Hölderlin）和莱辛（Lessing），但他心目中那种不具知识分子习气、完全献身于忠诚、勇敢并沉着顺服于命运的刚毅精神，在《尼伯龙根之歌》（*Nibelungenlied*）中却难寻踪迹——那部作品对他而言过于浪漫主义了。 最终，博尔赫斯在多年后的北欧萨迦（Norse sagas）与古英语诗歌（Old English poetry）中找到了年少时追寻的这种精神。他评价道：“我在古英语中发现了一种粗粝的语言，但这种语言的粗粝孕育了一种独特的美，以及极为深沉的情感。”对于诗歌而言，哪怕缺乏精深的思想，这种直击人心的充沛情感也已经完全足够。 - 惠特曼诗歌中的英雄形象与现实人格存在断裂，诗中的自我是诗人的幻想投射。 - 博尔赫斯借助海涅作品与词典自学德语，虽未如愿找到心中的日耳曼原型，却接触了德国哲学与古典文学。 - 塔西佗笔下的蛮族忠诚与英勇，博尔赫斯最终在北欧萨迦和古英语诗歌中得以领略。 --- ### [03:40:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=13246s) 隐喻的本义与“专为少年而写”的作家 博尔赫斯转向古英语诗歌的契机，源于他对隐喻的痴迷。他曾读到莱奥波尔多·卢贡内斯（Leopoldo Lugones）的论述，称隐喻是文学最本质的要素，且所有词汇在最初都是隐喻。博尔赫斯赞同这一观点，但他补充指出一个语言学悖论：人们为了理解词义，往往必须遗忘词汇本身的隐喻根源。例如，当人们说“风格应当朴实平易”（style should be plain）时，绝不能时刻记着“style”源于拉丁语铁笔（stilus），而“plain”本义是平坦开阔的土地，否则日常表意将寸步难行。 谈及少年时期的阅读，博尔赫斯提出一个大胆的观点：埃德加·爱伦·坡（Edgar Allan Poe）与奥斯卡·王尔德（Oscar Wilde）实质上是“少年读物作家”（writers for boys）。坡的故事在他年少时曾带来极大震动，但如今重读，却常因其文风而感到尴尬不适。他十分理解拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生（Ralph Waldo Emerson）为何轻蔑地把坡称为“打油诗人/叮当响的人”（the jingle man）。博尔赫斯解释道：“如果一个人到了白发苍苍、岁月垂暮的年纪才初次接触这些作家，那阅读恐怕很难谈得上愉悦了。”他认为将坡与波德莱尔（Baudelaire）归为这类作家或许听上去大逆不道，但成年人阅读他们时，确实需要容忍太多东西，并借助历史眼光去体谅；相比之下，史蒂文森（Robert Louis Stevenson）和吉卜林（Rudyard Kipling）虽然也写少年读物，其文字却同样经得起成年人的审视。 - 隐喻构成了语言的基础，但过度追溯词源隐喻会阻碍日常语义的顺畅理解。 - 某些作家的魅力严重依赖读者的年龄段，若错过年轻时期便很难产生共鸣。 - 史蒂文森与吉卜林兼具少年冒险趣味与成人文学深度，有别于纯粹迎合青春期心性的作家。 --- ### [03:43:27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=13407s) 弗罗斯特的潜隐隐喻与虚构信任的倒错 博尔赫斯反思了自己对隐喻的狭隘理解：隐喻绝非简单的“将明月比作某物”这般直白，而是具有深邃幽微的层次。他以罗伯特·弗罗斯特（Robert Frost）的名篇《雪夜林畔小驻》（*Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening*）末尾的重复诗句为例： > “And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep.” 博尔赫斯分析指出，第一句陈述的是赶路的实际里程与生理睡眠，而当这行诗再次重复时，它便化作了隐喻——“里程”化为了日夜兼程的漫长余生，而“睡眠”则暗指死亡。不过他也自嘲，将里程翻译为岁月、把睡眠翻译为死亡或许破坏了诗意，真正的美感正存在于这种心领神会的潜隐暗示中。弗罗斯特的另一首诗《夜行相熟》（*Acquainted with the Night*）亦是如此，结尾处的黑夜超越了自然时段，演变为一种涵盖性与罪恶的沉重意象。 随后，博尔赫斯探讨了小说叙事中“人物”与“情节”的信服力倒错。他此前提到堂吉诃德与福尔摩斯是读者对其人物坚信不疑、却很难相信其荒诞冒险和对白的典型；那么是否存在相反的情形——读者完全不相信书中的人物，却坚决相信故事本身？博尔赫斯以赫尔曼·麦尔维尔（Herman Melville）的《白鲸》（*Moby-Dick*）为例，他坦言自己很难真正相信亚哈船长（Captain Ahab）及其对白鲸的偏执复仇，全书其他配角也面目模糊，但他却全心相信这个故事，将其视作人类抗击邪恶或以错误方式对抗邪恶的宏大寓言。而在约翰·班扬（John Bunyan）的《天路历程》（*The Pilgrim's Progress*）中，人物与寓言象征则达到了罕见的同时让人信服的平衡。 ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: 文学作品中人物与情节的可信度关系 accDescr: 对比堂吉诃德、白鲸与天路历程中读者对角色与故事设定的信任程度 subgraph SG1["信人物，不信情节/对白"] A["《堂吉诃德》 / 《福尔摩斯探案集》"] A1["人物真实鲜活，无可置疑"] A2["冒险情节与口头台词失真荒诞"] A --> A1 A --> A2 end subgraph SG2["信故事寓言，不信人物"] B["《白鲸》"] B1["亚哈船长及船员形象模糊不可信"] B2["抗击邪恶的象征寓言令人深信不疑"] B --> B1 B --> B2 end subgraph SG3["两者皆信"] C["《天路历程》"] C1["生动的人物与深刻的寓意浑然一体"] C --> C1 end ``` --- ### [03:47:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=13626s) 形式的束缚、自由诗与早期的文学伪装 谈及漫长的写作生涯，博尔赫斯引述诺斯替教派（Gnostics）的异端信条打趣道：“诺斯替派曾说，摆脱罪恶的唯一方法就是去犯下这桩罪，因为事后你才会悔改。”博尔赫斯认为文学创作也是如此：自己在写出十五卷平庸之作后，才侥幸换得四五页差强人意的篇章，这一微薄成就全凭多年试错摸索而来。年轻作者常误以为自由诗（free verse）比讲求格律的传统诗歌容易，但随着年岁渐长，博尔赫斯确信自由诗要困难得多。 他论证道，人类文学始于诗歌而非散文，正因为诗歌一旦确立了韵脚、谐音、头韵或抑扬顿挫的程式，诗人只需依循复沓即可。正如史蒂文森所言，散文的节奏远比诗歌微妙复杂，读者在阅读散文时耳朵会产生某种声律期待，而散文必须既打破这种期待又给予读者出人意料的满足。因此，博尔赫斯戏称：“除非你能预先做好让自己成为沃尔特·惠特曼或卡尔·桑德堡（Carl Sandburg）的准备，否则自由诗注定更为艰险。”古典诗体反而具有便利性：当你写下一行诗并敲定特定韵脚时，由于押韵的选择并非无限，接下来的创作路径反而被收拢简化了。 最后，博尔赫斯自述年轻时深陷自我伪装的迷障。当时他盲目崇信卡莱尔的散文和惠特曼的自由诗各自代表了至高范式，却从未想过调和这两种截然相反的风格。由于总担心自己思想浅薄、害怕被读者看穿而招致鄙视，他竭力在文字中伪装自己——先是试图模仿一位通晓拉丁语的十七世纪西班牙古典作家，又妄图在西班牙语中扮演托马斯·布朗爵士（Sir Thomas Browne），最终以惨败告终。他沉迷于雕琢词句中的“华丽段落”（purple patches），但现在他清醒地意识到华丽辞藻只是虚荣的象征，不仅无法掩饰空洞，反而会招致读者的反感。 - 自由诗缺乏固定格律的辅助，对其内在音乐性与张力的要求远高于经典格律诗。 - 经典诗歌形式虽然看似充满限制，但在韵律选择上反而能为写作者提供清晰的推进框架。 - 年轻作者常因自卑而热衷于炫技、复古和辞藻堆砌，唯有放弃“华丽辞藻”的虚荣才能获得真诚的文风。 ### [03:52:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=13922s) “现代性”的谬误与自我消解 博尔赫斯回顾了自己早年写作时陷入的一个极其普遍的误区：竭尽全力想要变得“现代”。他引用了歌德的小说《威廉·迈斯特的学习时代》（*Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre*）中的一个角色，那人曾宣称：“你们尽可以随意评价我，但没人能否认我是个当代人。”博尔赫斯幽默地指出，努力追求现代性与歌德笔下那个荒唐角色的心态毫无二致。因为生活在当下的人天然就是现代的，现代性从来不是靠刻意选择题材或雕琢风格得来的。 无论作者如何试图将故事置于远古，作品都会无可避免地烙上时代的印记。正如阅读沃尔特·司各特（Sir Walter Scott）的《艾凡赫》（*Ivanhoe*），或者福楼拜（Gustave Flaubert）写迦太基的《萨朗波》（*Salammbô*）——哪怕福楼拜自称《萨朗波》是一部“迦太基小说”，任何有水准的读者在读完第一页后，都能一眼看出它绝非写于迦太基，而是出自一位极聪慧的19世纪法国人之手；《艾凡赫》里的城堡、骑士与撒克逊猪倌也无法掩盖其18或19世纪作者的笔触。博尔赫斯总结道，人类迄今为止既未发现“生活在过去”的艺术，即便是未来主义者也未能掌握“生活在未来”的秘密。正如博尔赫斯所说：“We are modern whether we want it or not and perhaps the very fact of my attacking modernity now is in way I suppose a way of being modern also.” ### [03:54:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=14059s) 风格的堆砌与《不朽者》的教训 当博尔赫斯最初开始写小说时，他极力修饰和装点文本，在文风上狠下苦功，导致故事真正的内核往往被繁复的辞藻层层掩盖。他以自己的代表作《不朽者》（*El inmortal*）为例：那篇故事构思了一个绝妙的情节，其核心假设是一个人如果获得了不朽，由于时间的永无止境，他终有一天会经历所有事情、说过所有话、写过所有书。博尔赫斯在构思中以荷马（Homer）为例——荷马写下了《伊利亚特》（*Iliad*），但他继续活下去，随着世代变迁而改变，终将忘掉自己的希腊语，忘掉自己曾是荷马；甚至在未来的某一刻，读到亚历山大·蒲伯（Alexander Pope）的英译本时，会觉得那不仅是一件杰出的艺术品，而且完全忠于原著。 然而，荷马遗忘自己是荷马这一绝佳构想，却被博尔赫斯在小说表面编织的重重繁琐结构所遮蔽。几年后他重读《不朽者》，深感通篇充斥着“肉体的疲惫”，以至于不得不回溯最初的大纲，才发现如果当初能以质朴的笔调写下它，不堆砌那么多华丽辞藻（purple patches）、怪异的形容词和隐喻，小说原本会非常出色。经历过这些之后，他认为自己虽未获得什么高深智慧，但至少懂得了一些常理：写作不过是对自己的想象力保持诚实，而不是去执着于事实的表象，因为所谓事实不过是机缘与偶然交织而成的网络。写作者相信故事，就像相信一个梦境或一个理想那样。 ### [03:57:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=14251s) 超越历史的永恒之美 博尔赫斯探讨了他最为珍视的学科之一——文学史，并提出了一个近乎“亵渎”的质疑：人们是否对历史意识过于敏感了？在博尔赫斯看来，过度沉溺于文学或艺术的历史脉络，本质上是一种怀疑主义与不信任。如果一个人认定华兹华斯（William Wordsworth）或魏尔伦（Paul Verlaine）只是“优秀的19世纪诗人”，就会陷入危险的误区，以为时间的流逝已经磨灭了他们的光彩，使他们不再如昔日那般动人。相比之下，古代那种不考虑年代而承认艺术具备完美性的观念，反而更为勇敢。 博尔赫斯提到自己读过多部印度哲学史，西方学者（英国人、德国人、法国人、美国人）总是惊异于印度人缺乏历史感，将所有古代思想家都视作同代人，甚至把古老哲学词汇直接翻译为现代术语。博尔赫斯认为这种做法背后代表着一种坚定的信念——坚信哲学与诗歌的价值，坚信曾经美好的事物能够跨越时间永葆其美。尽管词义与语境在随时代流变，但维吉尔（Virgil）的诗句、古英语诗歌，或是莎士比亚十四行诗中的名句（“Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly? / Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy”），都能将读者带入超脱时间的境地。诚如济慈（John Keats）所写，“A thing of beauty is a joy forever”，这不仅仅是一句被习惯性引用的格言，更是博尔赫斯抱持的希望：哪怕凡人身陷时间的偶然、局限与败局之中，依然有可能创造出永恒之美。 ### [04:01:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=14475s) 忠于虚构与历史学家的想象力 回到创作本身，博尔赫斯重申，写作应当忠于梦境而非外部环境。他的故事中虽然包含真实生活的痕迹，但他始终认为这些现实素材必须经过一定程度的“虚构化”加工。如果只是原原本本地照搬发生过的事，写作便毫无乐趣可言；不改变细节，人就不能称其为艺术家，而成了纯粹的记者或编年史家。 博尔赫斯随即将话题转向严肃历史学家，指出优秀的历史学家与小说家一样富有想象力。例如阅读爱德华·吉本（Edward Gibbon）的《罗马帝国衰亡史》（*The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire*），读者获得的愉悦感与阅读伟大长篇小说别无二致。吉本对自己笔下那些历史人物的真实细节所知甚少，必须凭借想象去补足情境。在某种意义上，是吉本自己“创造”了罗马帝国的衰亡，且创造得如此精彩绝伦，以至于人们不再愿意接受其他平庸的解释。 ```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: 现实到艺术转化的创作路径 accDescr: 对比机械记录现实事实与艺术加工想象的过程 subgraph Reality["外部现实与事件"] Facts["客观事实与偶然细节<br/>（网络般交织的偶然境况）"] end subgraph Transformation["艺术加工方式"] Journalist["机械复制<br/>（新闻报道 / 编年史记录）"] Artist["注入虚构与想象<br/>（忠于梦境与内心意象）"] end subgraph Result["最终产物与审美价值"] FlatText["索然无味的平铺直叙"] ArtWork["永恒的艺术杰作<br/>（如吉本的历史书写、文学虚构）"] end Facts -->|"一成不变地照搬"| Journalist --> FlatText Facts -->|"改变细节、保留虚构空间"| Artist --> ArtWork ``` ### [04:02:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=14578s) 写作建议：从“表达”退守到“暗示” 如果必须向写作者提供建议——尽管博尔赫斯认为每个人都必须独自摸索，并不真正需要外界的指点——他唯一的建议就是：尽量不要去胡乱改动自己的作品（tamper as little as they can with their own work）。修修补补（tinkering）毫无益处，当一个作者找到了自己天生的声音与节奏，微小的改动往往只会弄巧成拙。博尔赫斯写作时从不考虑读者（读者只是虚构人物），也不考虑自己（自己或许同样是个虚构人物），而只专注于传达当下的意象，并尽力不去破坏它。 博尔赫斯总结了自己文学观的核心转变：年轻时他读了克罗齐（Benedetto Croce），沉迷于“完全表达”（expression），试图用最精确的词汇或最惊人的隐喻去描摹每一场落日；但随着年岁渐长，他得出了一个略显悲伤却无可奈何的结论： > “The conclusion is that I no longer believe in expression, I only believe in allusion.” 语言在本质上只是共同记忆的符号，如果读者缺乏对某个词背后事物的亲身体验，那个词便毫无意义。因此，文学所能做的唯有“暗示”（allusion），启发读者自己去想象。这种只做暗示的节制不仅极具表达效率，同时也契合博尔赫斯自认的“懒惰”。这也是他为何从不尝试写长篇小说的原因之一：读长篇小说总让他感到厌倦，其中往往塞满了不可避免的垫话（padding）；相反，在亨利·詹姆斯（Henry James）或拉迪亚德·吉卜林（Rudyard Kipling）的短篇小说中，读者能以更愉悦、集中的方式获得完全不亚于长篇巨著的复杂性与深度。最后，博尔赫斯谈及这次系列讲座的最后一讲“诗人的信条”，坦言自己早先曾轻信地以为，只要讲完前五讲，自己就能顺理成章地构建出一套完整的信条体系。 - **不修改原则**：作家找到属于自己的自然声调和节奏后，无休止的技术性修补往往弊大于利。 - **语言的本质**：语言是人类共享记忆的代码符号；写作者无法创造绝对的经验，只能激发读者脑海中已有的意象。 - **文体偏好**：相比于长篇小说中充斥的冗长垫话（padding），短篇小说能以极高的密度和效率传达同等深度的文学复杂性。 ### [04:06:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=14796s) 诗人的信条与现代文学“过于自觉”的罪过 博尔赫斯在诺顿讲座的尾声谈到了所谓的“诗人信条”。他坦诚地向听众承认，除了自己在系列演讲中提到的那些防范手段与疑虑之外，他根本没有任何特别的信条。他坦白自己在写作时甚至尽量不去“理解”它，因为他深信智力在作家的创作中扮演的角色微乎其微。博尔赫斯尖锐地指出，现代文学最大的罪过之一就是陷于“过于自觉”（too self-conscious）。他以法国文学为例：法国文学无疑是世界上最伟大的文学之一，但他总觉得法国作家过于自觉；他们往往在动笔之前，甚至在弄清楚自己要写什么之前，就已经开始自我定义与归类，比如他们会思索“一个出生在某某省份、稍微带有一点社会主义倾向的天主教徒应当写些什么”，或者“我们在二战之后究竟该如何写作”。博尔赫斯认为，全世界有许多作家都困在这些虚妄的问题之中。 博尔赫斯以自我调侃的口吻表示，自己或许根本算不上一个恰当的典范，而仅仅是一个“可怕的警示”。在写作时，他会尽全力忘掉自己，忘掉自己所有的个人处境。他不再像年轻时那样刻意尝试成为一个“南美作家”，而仅仅是努力去传达那个“梦境”。如果那个梦境模糊不清（而在他看来，他的梦境通常都很模糊），他既不会试图去粉饰它，也不会试图去理解它。博尔赫斯调侃道，或许他这样做反而走对了路，因为每当他读到评论界写关于他的文章时——似乎现在有相当多的人在做这件事——他总会感到惊讶，并且由衷地感激评论家们从他那些随手写就的零星随笔中读出了如此深刻的微言大义。 > “I think that one of the sins of modern literature is a fact that it is too self-conscious.” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 ### [04:09:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=14948s) 写作与讲座作为合作：从“隐形人”到可见的作家 博尔赫斯指出，写作在本质上是一种读者与作者之间的“合作”（collaboration）。读者在阅读的过程中完成了属于他们自己的那部分工作，从而丰富了整本书的内涵。这种现象在开办系列讲座时也完全一致。博尔赫斯对台下的听众说，如果听众们认为他在这些讲座中偶尔奉献了精彩的演讲，那么他必须向听众表示祝贺，因为正是听众在与他通力合作；若没有现场听众的共鸣与协作，这些讲座绝不会显得特别精彩，甚至连差强人意都算不上。 随后，博尔赫斯的语调变得深情而动容。他感慨今晚与以往不同，因此想谈谈自己的个人感受。六个月前他来到美国；而在自己的祖国阿根廷，用赫伯特·乔治·威尔斯（H. G. Wells）一本著名小说的书名来说，他几乎就是个“隐形人”（The Invisible Man）。但在美国，他却奇迹般地变得“可见”了。这里的读者读了他的作品，甚至读得如此仔细深入，以至于会在交流中盘问他那些连他自己早就忘得一干二净的故事细节。博尔赫斯笑着回忆，读者会严肃地向他考证：“为什么某个角色在回答之前要先保持沉默？”这让他哑然失笑，在心底犯嘀咕：那个角色到底是谁？他为什么要沉默？他又回答了什么？面对这些刨根问底的拷问，博尔赫斯打趣道自己往往犹豫要不要说出大实话，最后只得一本正经地回答说：“那个人在回答前之所以沉默，是因为人通常在回答前都会先沉默一下。”这番幽默的自我解嘲引得全场爆发出热烈的掌声与笑声。 > “I think of writing as being a kind of the collaboration that is to say the reader does his part of the word of the the work he's enriching the book and the same thing happens as oppose when one is lecturing.” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 - **隐形人意象**：博尔赫斯援引威尔斯小说《隐形人》（The Invisible Man），对比自己在阿根廷的默默无闻与在美国备受关注的强烈反差。 - **读者的严苛考证**：美国读者对作品细节的过度解读，博尔赫斯以“回答前的沉默”幽默化解，展现了其对文本过度阐释的温和调侃。 ### [04:11:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8&t=15069s) 告别与献声：斯宾诺莎十四行诗的终章 在笑声平息后，博尔赫斯动情地表示，这一切经历都让他感到无比幸福。他谦虚地对听众说，如果大家真的钦佩他的作品，这也许是一个“非常慷慨的错误”，但他深信人应当去相信美好的事物，哪怕它们事后会让人失望。博尔赫斯承认，自己今晚之所以频频开玩笑，是因为内心被巨大的情感所充盈。他知道在未来的岁月里回望今晚时，一定会责怪自己为什么没有把该说的话倾诉出来，为什么没有说尽这六个月在美国的时光对他意味着什么、台下这些原本素昧平生的朋友对他意味着什么；但他相信，这份深沉的情感已经穿透言语传达给了在场的每一个人。 在讲座的最后，博尔赫斯应邀朗诵自己的诗作。他选择朗诵自己献给哲学家巴鲁赫·斯宾诺莎（Baruch Spinoza）的十四行诗（*Spinoza*）。他幽默地向观众说道，现场许多听众不懂西班牙语，但这恰恰会让这首十四行诗显得更加优美動人；因为正如他一直强调的那样，诗歌的字面意义并不重要，真正重要的是内在的音乐性与特定的言说方式。即便诗歌本身的音乐性有所欠缺，台下善良的听众也一定会用心感受到，或者甚至大度地为他凭空“创造”出那份旋律。博尔赫斯在掌声中朗诵完这首西班牙语十四行诗，为他在哈佛大学的诺顿讲座画上了圆满的句号，现场随即爆发出经久不息的热烈掌声与欢呼。 > “The fact that many of you may have no Spanish will make it a finer sonnet of course and as I have said that meaning is not important that what is important is a certain music a certain way of saying things.” —— 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯 ## Video description Jorge Luis Borges giving his 6 Norton Lectures in fall 1967 and spring 1968. 1. The Riddle of Poetry 2. The Metaphor 3. The Telling of the Tale 4. Word-Music and Translation 5. Thought and Poetry 6. A Poet's Creed Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish-language literature. His best-known books, Ficciones (Fictions) and El Aleph (The Aleph), published in the 1940s, are compilations of short stories interconnected by common themes, including dreams, labyrinths, libraries, mirrors, fictional writers, philosophy, and religion. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. [Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLV7t9DvN8)

[77:13] Jorge Luis Borges: The fact of the moon being or not being a mirror has no importance whatever, since poetry talks to the imagination. [93:15] Jorge Luis Borges: So that men have sought kinship with the defeated Trojans and not with the victorious Greeks, perhaps because there is a dignity in defeat that hardly belongs to victory. [103:31] Jorge Luis Borges: One is almost tempted to think of the novel as a degeneration of the epic, in spite of such writers as Joseph Conrad, for example, or Herman Melville, where the novel goes back to the dignity of the epic. [202:23] Jorge Luis Borges: I think that what I have read is of course far more important than what I have written, for one reads what one likes, and one writes not what one would like to write, but what one is able to write. [210:32] Jorge Luis Borges: I think that the happiness of a reader is beyond that of a writer, for a reader need feel no trouble, he need feel no anxiety: he's merely out for happiness, and happiness, when you're a reader, is frequent. [232:02] Jorge Luis Borges: We are modern whether we want it or not, and perhaps the very fact of my attacking modernity now is in a way, I suppose, a way of being modern. [246:36] Jorge Luis Borges: I think that one of the sins of modern literature is a fact that it is too self-conscious. [237:31] Jorge Luis Borges: I think that somehow we are beyond time; I think that there is an eternity in beauty, and this, of course, is what Keats had in mind when he wrote, ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

[0:00] this craft of verse by Jorge Luis [0:03] bores following are the six lectures [0:05] that Jorge Luis bores delivered at [0:08] Harvard University in the fall of 1967 [0:11] and the spring of [0:12] 1968 born in 1899 he was by this time [0:16] almost completely blind and thus [0:18] addressed his audience without the aid [0:20] of written notes he learned his fluent [0:22] English from his paternal grandmother [0:24] who had come to Buenos iris from [0:27] Staffordshire his mother a translator [0:30] and his father a professor of psychology [0:32] and modern languages also knew [0:34] English these recordings only lately [0:37] rediscovered in the Harvard University [0:39] archives testify to his love of the [0:41] language as well as his wit AR addition [0:44] and remarkable literary [0:46] sensibility bores died in [0:52] 1986 lecture one the riddle of [0:57] poetry ladies and gentlemen [1:01] I feel quite [1:03] overwhelmed by the very generous [1:08] Injustice of one Mar [1:11] child [1:13] but at the outset I would like to give [1:16] you a fair warning of what to expect or [1:21] rather of What Not to expect for me I [1:26] find that I have made a slip in the very [1:31] title of my first lecture the title is [1:35] if I not mistaken the riddle of poetry [1:40] and the stress of course is on the first [1:45] word the word riddle so that you may [1:50] think that the riddle is all important [1:53] or what might still be worse you may [1:56] think that I have deluded myself into [2:00] believing that I have somehow discovered [2:04] the true reading of the [2:09] riddle the truth is that I have no [2:13] Revelations to offer I have spent my [2:17] life reading [2:23] analyzing writing or trying my my hand [2:28] at writing and and [2:31] enjoying this is the most important [2:33] thing of all drinking in poetry and I [2:37] have come to no final conclusion about [2:41] it indeed every time I am faced with a [2:46] blank page I feel that I have to [2:50] ReDiscover literature for myself that [2:54] the past is of no avail whatever [3:01] to [3:03] me so as I have said I have only my [3:09] perplexities to offer you I am nearing [3:14] 70 I have given the major part of my [3:18] life to [3:21] literature and I can only offer you [3:26] doubts the great English writer and [3:30] dreamer Thomas Quincy wrote in some of [3:36] the thousand of pages of his 14 volumes [3:40] that to discover a new problem was quite [3:45] as important as to discovering the [3:49] solution of an old one but I cannot even [3:53] offer you that I can only offer you time [3:57] honor perplexities and yet [4:00] why need I worry about that what is a [4:03] history of philosophy but a history of [4:08] the perplexities of the Hindus of the [4:13] Chinese of the Greeks of the [4:16] schoolmen of Bishop Barkley of Hume of [4:21] schopenhauer and so [4:25] on I merely wish to share those [4:30] perplexities with you I have dipped into [4:33] books of [4:35] Aesthetics but I had an uncomfortable [4:39] feeling that I was reading the works of [4:44] astronomers who had never looked at the [4:48] stars I mean that they were writing [4:53] about poetry as if [4:56] poetry were a task and not a it really [5:00] is a passion and a joy for example I [5:06] have read with great respect Benedito [5:09] cr's book on Aesthetics and I have been [5:13] handed the [5:15] definition that poetry and language are [5:21] an [5:22] expression now if we think of an [5:25] expression of something then we are [5:29] landed back [5:30] into the old problem of form and matter [5:35] and if we think about the expression of [5:39] nothing in particular that gives us [5:43] really nothing so that we receive [5:46] respectfully that definition and then we [5:50] go on to something else we go on to [5:53] poetry we go on to life and life is I am [5:58] sure made of poetry poetry is not alien [6:04] poetry is as we shall see lurking around [6:08] the corner it may spring on us a [6:14] anying at any at the [6:18] moment now we are apt to fall into a [6:22] common [6:24] confusion we think for example that if [6:28] we study [6:30] Homer or The Divine Comedy or F Lon or [6:36] MC Beth we are studying poetry but books [6:43] are only [6:45] occasions for it [6:50] poetry I think [6:53] Emerson wrote [6:55] Somewhere that a library is a kind of [6:59] magic [7:00] cabage it is full of dead men but those [7:05] dead men can be [7:08] brought can be reborn can be brought [7:11] into life when you open their [7:15] pages I spoke a few minutes ago of [7:20] Bishop Barkley Barkley who may remind [7:25] you was a prophet of the greatness of [7:29] America [7:30] and Barkley [7:32] wrote that the taste of the [7:36] apple is neither in the Apple itself the [7:42] Apple cannot taste itself nor in the [7:45] mouth of the eer it requires a contact [7:51] between them the same thing happens to a [7:55] book or to a collection of books to a [8:00] library what is a book in itself a book [8:05] is a physical object in a word of [8:09] physical objects it is a set of dead [8:15] symbols and then the reader the right [8:20] reader comes [8:22] along and the [8:24] words or rather the Poetry behind the [8:28] words for the words themselves are mere [8:31] symbols spring into life and we have a [8:36] resurrection of the [8:38] word and I am reminded now of a poem [8:43] that you all know by [8:45] heart and perhaps you may never have [8:49] noticed how strange it is for perfect [8:54] things in poetry do not seem strange [8:58] they seem inevitable able and so we [9:01] hardly thank the writer for his [9:05] pains I am thinking of a Sonet [9:10] written more than 100 Years Ago by a [9:14] young man in London in Hamstead I [9:19] think a young man who died of lung [9:22] disease of John Kats and of his famous [9:28] and perhaps [9:30] hacked soned on first looking into [9:34] Chapman's homor now what is strange [9:39] about that poem and I only thought about [9:44] it three or 4 days ago when I was [9:48] pondering over my lecture is the fact [9:52] that it is a poem written on the poetic [9:57] experience itself [10:00] you know it by heart and yet I would [10:04] like you to hear once more The Surge and [10:10] thunder of its lines of its final [10:13] lines then FTI like some Watcher of the [10:17] Skies when a new planet swims into his [10:20] SK or like Stout cores when with eager [10:24] eyes he stared at the Pacific and all [10:27] his men looked at the each other with a [10:30] wild surise silent upon a peak in [10:34] Daren so here we have the poetic [10:40] experience [10:42] itself we have [10:45] Chapman George Chapman the friend and [10:49] rival of [10:50] Shakespeare being [10:52] dead and suddenly coming into [10:56] life suddenly coming back into life when [11:01] John Kats read his OTS or his [11:06] odys I think it was of George Chapman [11:11] but I am not a Shakespearean scholar [11:13] that Shakespeare was thinking when he [11:16] wrote was it the proud full sale of his [11:20] great verse Bound for the prize of all [11:23] two precious [11:27] you and the is word that seems to me [11:31] very important and the word [11:34] is on first looking into Chapman's [11:41] Homer because this first may I think [11:46] prove most helpful to us at the very [11:51] moment when I was going over those [11:55] Mighty lines of [11:57] Chapman I was thinking that perhaps I [12:02] was only being loyal to my memory [12:06] perhaps the real thrill I got out of the [12:11] verses of Kit lay in that distant moment [12:17] of my childhood in [12:19] buenosaires when I first heard my father [12:23] reading them up aloud and when the fact [12:27] that poetry that language was not only a [12:30] medium for communication but could also [12:33] be a passion and a joy was revealed to [12:37] me I do not think I understood the words [12:42] but I felt that something was happening [12:46] to me was happening not to my mere [12:50] intelligence but to my whole being to my [12:53] flesh and blood and now let's go back to [12:57] the words on first looking into [13:01] Chapman's Homer I wonder if John Kats [13:05] felt that thrill when he had gone [13:09] through the many books of the ilads and [13:12] the OES I think the first reading of a [13:17] poem is a true one and after that we [13:21] delude ourselves into the belief that [13:25] the Sensation that the impression is [13:29] repeated but as I say it it may be a [13:33] mere loyalty a mere trick of the memory [13:37] a mere confusion between our passion and [13:43] the [13:43] passion we once [13:46] felt thus it might be said that [13:51] poetry is a new experience every time [13:56] every time I read a poem [14:00] The Experience occurs or happens to [14:03] occur and that is [14:06] poetry I read once that the American [14:09] painter [14:11] Whistler was in a cafe in Paris and [14:15] people were discussing the influence of [14:19] heredity of the [14:21] environment of the political state of [14:24] the times and so on on the artist and [14:28] then wh [14:30] said art [14:32] happens that is to say there is [14:34] something mysterious about art and I [14:37] would like to take his words but to take [14:40] them in a new sense I should say art [14:44] happens every time we read a poem and [14:49] this may help us to clear away I hope I [14:54] am mistaken here the time honored notion [14:59] of the classics the idea of everlasting [15:04] books of books for one may always find [15:10] beauty perhaps I may give a brief survey [15:16] of the history of [15:18] books as far as I remember the [15:22] Greeks had no use for books or no great [15:27] use for [15:30] it is a fact indeed that most of the [15:34] great teachers of [15:36] mankind have been not writers but [15:41] speakers let us think of pagas of Christ [15:47] of Socrates of the Buddha and so [15:52] on and since I have spoken of Mr [15:58] Socrates [16:00] I would like to say something about [16:03] Plato I remember bno cha said that Plato [16:10] was the dramatist who invented Socrates [16:14] even as the four evangelists were the [16:17] dramatists who invented Jesus this may [16:21] be going too far but there is a certain [16:24] truth in it in one of the dialogues of [16:27] Plato he speaks about books in a rather [16:32] disparaging way and he says what is a [16:36] book A book seems like a picture to be a [16:41] living being and yet if we ask it's [16:46] something it does not answer and then we [16:49] see it is dead and in order to make the [16:54] book into a living thing he invented [16:58] Happ for us the platonic dialogue the [17:03] dialogue that for stols the readers [17:07] doubts [17:09] and it [17:12] questions but we might say also that [17:17] Plato was wistful about Socrates that [17:21] after Socrates [17:24] death he would say to himself now what [17:29] would Socrates have said about this [17:32] particular doubt of mind and then in [17:36] order to hear once again the voice of [17:39] the master he loved he wrote the [17:43] dialogues in some of these dialogues [17:46] Socrates stands for the truth in others [17:51] Plato has dramatized his many [17:54] moods and some of those dialogues come [17:58] to no conclusion [18:00] whatever because Plato was thinking as [18:05] he wrote them he did not know the last [18:08] page when he wrote the first he was [18:11] letting his mind wonder and he was [18:15] dramatizing that mind into many people [18:19] but I suppose his chief aim was the [18:24] illusion that despite the fact that [18:27] Socrates had drunk the Hemlock Socrates [18:31] was still with him I feel that to be [18:36] true because I have had many Masters in [18:40] my life I am proud of being a disciple a [18:44] good disciple I hope and when I think of [18:48] my father when I think of the great [18:52] Jewish spanish author Rafael Ginos [18:57] asense when I think of Macedonia [19:02] Fernandez I would also like to hear [19:06] their voices and sometimes I train my [19:09] voice into a trick of imitating their [19:13] voices in order that I may think as I [19:17] would have thought they are always about [19:22] me there is another sentence one of the [19:26] fathers of the church he said said that [19:29] it was as dangerous to put a book into [19:34] the hands of an ignorant man as to put a [19:37] sword into the hands of [19:41] children so that books to the Ancients [19:45] were mere [19:46] makeshifts in one of his many letters [19:50] Sena wrote against large libraries and [19:56] schopenhauer wrote long afterwards [19:59] that many people mistook the buying of a [20:02] book for the buying of the contents of [20:05] the book sometimes looking at the many [20:09] books I home I feel I shall die before I [20:13] have come to the end of them and yet I [20:15] cannot resist the temptation of buying [20:17] new [20:19] books when I go when I walk inside the [20:23] Library I find a book on one of my [20:27] hobbies for example Old English or Old [20:30] Norse poetry and then I say to myself [20:33] what a Pity I can't buy that that book [20:36] because I already have a copy at [20:43] home and [20:46] then after the Ancients there came from [20:49] the East a different idea of a book [20:54] there came the idea of holy R of books [20:59] written by the Holy Ghost there came [21:04] qurans Bibles and so on and following [21:09] the example of Spangler in his un gang [21:13] the S Landes in his decline of the West [21:18] I shall take the Quan as an example for [21:23] if I not [21:25] mistaken the Muslim theologians [21:29] think of the Quran as being prior to the [21:33] creation of the world the Quan is [21:37] written in Arabic but the Muslims think [21:41] of it as being prior to the language [21:45] indeed I have [21:47] read that they think of the [21:51] Quran not as a work of God but as an [21:55] attribute of God even as his Justice or [22:01] his Mercy or his whole wisdom are and [22:06] thus there came into Europe the idea of [22:10] holy rich and this idea is I think a not [22:14] holy mistaken one [22:18] berota and I am always going back to [22:22] berota was asked once whether he really [22:26] thought that the Bible was the work of [22:29] the Holy Ghost and he said I think the [22:33] Holy Ghost has written not only the [22:37] Bible [22:38] but all books this is rather hard on the [22:42] Holy Ghost of course but all books worth [22:46] rereading I suppose and this I think is [22:51] what Homer meant [22:54] when he spoke to the muse [23:02] and this is what the Hebrews and what [23:06] Milton meant when they talk of the Holy [23:10] Ghost whose Temple [23:12] is uh the upright and Pure Heart of men [23:17] and in our less beautiful mythology we [23:21] speak of the subliminal self of the [23:25] subconscious of course those words are [23:27] rather UNC if we compare them with the [23:30] muses or with the Holy Ghost but still [23:33] we have to put up with a mythology of [23:36] our time for the word mean [23:41] essentially the same [23:44] thing [23:47] now we come to the notion of the [23:51] classics but I think that a book is [23:56] really not an immortal object to be [24:01] picked [24:02] up and [24:06] duy [24:07] worshiped but rather an occasion for [24:11] beauty and it has to be so for language [24:16] is [24:17] Shifting all the [24:19] time I am very fond of [24:22] ethologist and I may give you I may [24:25] recall to you rather for I'm sure know [24:29] much more about these things than I do [24:32] some rather curious [24:35] etimology for example we have in English [24:38] the verb to [24:40] tease that word is a mischievous word it [24:44] means kind of joke and yet in Old [24:47] English tan meant to wound with a sword [24:53] even as in French na me [24:58] thrust a sword through somebody or let [25:02] us take a different word the word [25:05] threat well in Old English as you may [25:08] find out from the very first verses of [25:11] be wolf a threat a threat meant an Angry [25:18] Crowd that is to say the cause of the [25:22] threat and thus we might go on [25:26] endlessly but now let us consider some [25:31] particular verses and I take my examples [25:36] from the English since I have a [25:40] particular love for the English [25:44] literature though my knowledge is of [25:47] course [25:48] limited there are cases where poetry [25:52] creates itself for example I don't think [25:56] that the words could waos and Bin are [26:01] specially beautiful indeed I should say [26:04] they were rather [26:10] onc but if we think of when he [26:16] himself might his creators make with a [26:19] bear Bodkin we're reminded of the great [26:23] speech of Hamlet and thus the context [26:27] creates poetry for those words those [26:31] words that no one would ever dare to use [26:34] nowadays because they would be mere [26:37] quotations and then there are other [26:40] examples and perhaps simpler [26:44] ones let us take the title of one of the [26:48] most famous books in the world [26:55] Historia or as I suppose cantes was [26:59] pronounced it de la Mana now the [27:04] wordgo has today A peculiar dignity all [27:08] its own and yet when Cervantes wrote it [27:12] the word idalgo meant I suppose a [27:15] country gentlemen as to the name kot it [27:20] was meant to be a rather ridiculous word [27:24] at the names of many of the characters [27:26] in dickons name such as pwi and swiv and [27:31] chle wit and [27:33] twist and it is so and squ and quilp and [27:38] so on and then you have D La Mana now [27:42] this sounds Noble and Castilian to us [27:46] but when cantes wrote it down he [27:50] intended the word to sound perhaps I ask [27:56] the apology of any citizen of that City [27:58] who may be here as if he wrote donot of [28:02] Kansas [28:04] City and yet [28:07] nowadays I'm not speaking against [28:12] cancers let us say p [28:17] Oris and yet you see how those words [28:22] have changed how they have been ennobled [28:25] you see the strange fact that [28:29] because the old Soldier Miguel de cantes [28:33] poked mild fun at L Mana now L Mana is [28:38] one of the Everlasting words of [28:41] literature and let us take another [28:46] example of verses that have changed I am [28:52] thinking of a Sonage of Rosetti a Sonage [28:59] that that labors under the not too [29:04] beautiful name [29:06] inclusiveness but the sun it begins [29:09] us what man has bent or his son sleep to [29:14] brood how that face shall watch his when [29:18] cold it lies or thought as his own [29:21] mother kissed his eyes of what her kiss [29:24] was when his father would now I think [29:29] that those verses are more Vivid perhaps [29:33] than when they were written some 80 [29:36] years ago because the cinema has taught [29:40] us to [29:42] follow quick sequences of visual images [29:47] and th we have in the first line what [29:51] man has bent or his son sleep to brood [29:55] there we have the father bending over [29:59] the face of the sleeping son and then in [30:03] the second image as in a good film we [30:07] have the same images reversed we [30:12] see that the sun bending over the face [30:18] of that dead man his father and perhaps [30:23] our recent study of [30:26] psychology has made us more sensitive to [30:30] those verses or thought as his own [30:34] mother kissed his eyes of what her case [30:37] was when his father W there is of course [30:41] the beauty of the soft English vowels [30:46] brood wood and the additional beauty of [30:52] wood being by itself not wood her but [30:56] simply wood by self the world goes on [31:02] ringing here we have one example and [31:07] there is also a different kind of beauty [31:12] let us take an adjective that once was [31:15] common place I have no [31:19] Greek but I think that the Greek is oopa [31:25] pontos and the common English rendering [31:28] is the wine dark sea I suppose the word [31:33] dark is slipp to make things easier for [31:38] the reader perhaps it would be the wine [31:40] you see or something of the kind but I [31:44] am sure that when Homer or when the many [31:47] Greeks we call Homer wrote it they were [31:51] simply thinking of the sea I mean the [31:55] adjective was straight for forward but [31:59] nowadays after [32:01] trying many fancy adjectives if I or if [32:06] any of you write in a poem the wi dark [32:10] sea this is not a mere repetition of [32:14] what the Greeks wrote it is rather a [32:17] going back to [32:20] tradition it means rather that when we [32:24] speak of the wine dark sea we're [32:27] thinking of Homer and of the many [32:31] centuries perhaps the 30 centuries [32:35] between us and Homer so that though the [32:40] words may me much the same when we write [32:45] the wine dark sea we're really writing [32:48] something quite different from what H [32:52] was [32:54] writing so that [32:56] thus the language is Shifting the Latins [33:01] knew all about that and the reader is [33:03] Shifting also and this brings us back to [33:08] the old metaphor of the Greek the [33:11] metaphor were rather the truth about no [33:17] man going down twice to the same river [33:21] and there is I think an element of fear [33:25] here because at first we are apt to [33:29] think of the river as flowing we think [33:32] well of course the river goes on but the [33:35] water is changing and then with a [33:40] beginning sense of a we feel that we [33:45] also are changing that we are a shifting [33:50] and [33:51] aescent [33:53] as the [33:55] river is [34:00] but we need not worry too much about the [34:04] fate of the classics because beauty is [34:08] always with us and here I would like to [34:13] quote another verse perhaps by now [34:17] forgotten poet Browning he says just [34:23] when you safest there's a sunset touch a [34:27] A Chorus ending from Ides somebody's [34:31] death but the first verse is enough just [34:35] when we safest that is to say beauty is [34:40] lurking All About Us it may come to us [34:44] in the name of a film it may it may come [34:48] to us in some Popular lyric we may even [34:52] find it in the pages of a great and [34:54] famous writer [35:01] and since I have spoken of a dead master [35:05] of [35:06] mine rapael caninos [35:09] sense maybe this is the second time you [35:12] hear his name I don't I don't quite know [35:15] why he's forgotten remember that [35:20] caninos wrote a very fine Pros poem [35:24] wherein he asked God [35:28] to defend him to save him from beauty [35:33] because he says there is too much Beauty [35:36] in the [35:37] world and he thought that beauty was [35:41] overwhelming it [35:44] and though I do not know if I've been a [35:48] particularly happy man but I hope I'm [35:52] going to be happy at the right age at [35:54] the ripe age of 67 I still think that [35:58] beauty is all around [36:02] us and as to the fact of a poem being [36:06] written by a great poet or not this is [36:09] only important to historians of [36:12] literature let us oppose for the sake of [36:16] argument that I have written a beautiful [36:20] L let us take this as a working [36:23] hypothesis once I have written it that [36:26] line does me no good because as I [36:30] already said that line came to me from [36:35] the holy ghost from the subliminal self [36:38] or perhaps as I often find out I'm [36:41] merely quoting something I read some [36:43] time [36:44] ago and [36:46] then it's a [36:49] rediscovering so that perhaps it is [36:52] better that a poet should be nameless I [36:55] spoke about the wine dark see and now as [36:59] my hobby is hold English and I'm afraid [37:03] if you have the courage or the patience [37:06] to come back to some of my lectures you [37:09] may have more Old English inflicted on [37:12] you I would like to recall some lines [37:17] that I think beautiful I would say them [37:20] firstly in English and then in the Stark [37:26] and vowed Old English of the 9th [37:31] century it [37:33] snowed from the north Ryme bound the [37:39] fields hail fell on Earth the coldest of [37:45] seeds [37:49] noran Bond [37:52] hail [37:54] cor now going back to what I said about [38:00] Homer [38:03] when the poet wrote that he was merely [38:08] recording things that had happened this [38:12] was of course very strange in the 9th [38:15] century when people thought in terms of [38:18] Mythology of allegorical images and so [38:21] on he was merely telling very [38:26] commonplace things [38:28] but nowadays when we read it snowed from [38:32] the north rhyme bound the fields [38:37] hail fell on Earth the coldest of seeds [38:42] there is an added poetry there is the [38:46] Poetry of an of an namess section having [38:52] written those verses by the shores of [38:56] the North Sea [38:58] in Northumberland I think and of those [39:01] verses coming to us so straightforward [39:05] so plain and so pathetic throughout the [39:10] centuries so that we have both cases [39:14] there is the case and it hardly dwell [39:16] upon it when time debases a poem when [39:21] the words lose their beauty but there is [39:24] also the case when time [39:27] in riches and does not debase a poem I [39:32] have talked at the beginning about [39:36] definitions [39:38] and to end up I would like to say that [39:43] we make a very common mistake when we [39:46] think that we are ignorant of something [39:50] because we are unable to Define it but [39:55] if we are in a chestertonian mood that [39:58] is one of the best moods to be in I [40:01] think then we might say that you can [40:04] only Define something when we know [40:07] nothing whatever about [40:09] it for example if I have to Define [40:13] poetry then if I'm not if I feel rather [40:16] shaky about it if I'm not too sure about [40:19] it then I say something like poetry is [40:25] the expression of the beautiful through [40:30] the medium of words artfully woven [40:34] together and that definition may be good [40:37] enough for a dictionary or for a text [40:39] book but we all feel that is rather [40:42] feeble at the same time there is [40:45] something far more [40:47] important [40:49] something that may encourage us to go on [40:53] not only trying our hand at writing [40:56] poetry but enjoying it and feeling that [40:59] we know all about it and that [41:02] is that we know what poetry is we know [41:07] it so well that we cannot Define it in [41:10] other words even as we cannot Define the [41:15] taste of [41:16] coffee the color of red or of yellow or [41:20] the meaning of Anger of Love of hatred [41:25] of the sunrise of the Sun [41:27] conet [41:29] of our love for our country those things [41:34] are so deep in us that they can only be [41:38] expressed by those common symbols that [41:41] we share so why should we need other [41:46] words you may not agree with examples I [41:51] have chosen perhaps tomorrow I may think [41:55] of better examples I me think I might [41:58] have quoted other lines but as you can [42:01] pick and choose your own examples it is [42:04] not needful that you care greatly about [42:08] Homer or about the Anglo-Saxon poets or [42:12] about Rosetti because everyone knows [42:16] where to find poetry and when it comes [42:21] he feels the touch of poetry he feels [42:25] that particular tingling of [42:29] poetry and to end with I have a [42:34] quotation from St [42:36] Augustine and this comes in very fitly I [42:39] think St Augustine [42:42] said what is [42:44] time if people do not ask me what time [42:49] is I know if they ask me what it is then [42:55] I do not know and I feel in the same way [42:59] about poetry when need hardly trouble [43:02] about definitions this time I have been [43:05] rather see because I am no good at all [43:10] at abstract thinking but in our next [43:14] lectures if you're good enough to put up [43:17] with me then we will take more conrete [43:22] examples I will speak about the metaphor [43:26] about World music about the possibility [43:31] or impossibility of verse translation [43:34] about the telling of a tale that is to [43:37] say about epic poetry the oldest and [43:41] perhaps the bravest kind of poetry and [43:44] then I will [43:46] end with something that I can hardly [43:50] Divine now I will end with a lecture [43:53] called a poet's Creed wherein I will try [43:58] to justify my own life and the [44:02] confidence some of you may have on me [44:06] despite this rather awkward and fumbling [44:10] first lecture of [44:19] [Applause] [44:24] mine lecture two the metaphor [44:30] ladies and [44:32] gentlemen as the subject of today's talk [44:37] is a metaphor I shall Begin by a [44:43] metaphor and this first of the many [44:47] metaphors I shall try to recall comes [44:51] from the Far East from [44:54] China if I not mistaken [44:57] the Chinese call the world the 10,000 [45:03] things or this depends on the taste and [45:06] fancy of the translator the 10,000 [45:10] beings [45:13] now we may accept I suppose this very [45:17] conservative estimate [45:20] 10,000 for of course there are more than [45:24] 10,000 ants than 10,000 men than 10,000 [45:30] hopes fears or nightmares in the world [45:34] but if we [45:36] accept this number 10,000 and if we [45:41] think that all metaphors are made by [45:46] linking two different things together [45:51] then had [45:53] we time enough we might work [45:58] out an almost unbelievable sum of [46:02] possible [46:04] metaphors I have [46:06] forgotten [46:09] my algebra but I think that the sum [46:14] should [46:16] be [46:18] 10,000 multiplied by [46:23] 99,999 and so on of course [46:28] the the sum of possible combinations is [46:32] not endless but it staggers the [46:36] imagination and so we might be led to [46:39] think why on Earth should poets all over [46:44] the world and all over time be using the [46:48] same stock metaphors when there are so [46:52] many possible combinations [46:57] the Argentine poet lones wrote way back [47:02] in the year [47:04] 199 that he thought that poets were [47:08] always using the same metaphors and that [47:11] he would try his hand at discovering new [47:16] metaphors for the moon and in fact he [47:21] concocted some many hundreds of them he [47:26] also said this is in the for word to a [47:30] book called lunario [47:32] sentimental that every word is a dead [47:36] metaphor this statement is of course a [47:40] metaphor and yet I [47:43] think and yet I think that we all [47:47] feel the difference between dead and [47:50] living metaphors if we take any good [47:55] eological dictionary [47:57] I am thinking of my old unknown friend [48:01] Dr SK and if we look up any word we are [48:05] sure to find a metaphor it tucked away [48:09] somewhere for example the word threat [48:14] meant you can find this in the very [48:17] first lines of bolf threat meant an [48:21] angry mob but now the word is given to [48:25] the effect and not to the cause then we [48:29] have the word King King was originally [48:33] King and this meant a man who stood for [48:37] the king for the people so [48:41] theologically King Kinsman and gentleman [48:45] are the same word and yet if I say the [48:50] king sat in his Counting house counting [48:53] out his money we don't think of the word [48:56] King as being a metaphor in fact if we [49:00] go in for abstract thinking we have to [49:04] forget that words were metaphors we have [49:08] to forget for example that in the word [49:12] consider there is a suggestion of [49:17] astrology because in consider we're [49:19] thinking of making uh it's a [49:22] horoscope so what is important about the [49:25] metaphor I should say is a fact of it [49:29] being felt by the reader or the hearer [49:35] as a metaphor and I will confine this [49:39] talk to metaphors that are felt as [49:43] metaphors by the reader not to such [49:46] words as king or threat and we might go [49:51] on perhaps if forever [49:59] in the first case I would like to take [50:02] some stock patterns of metaphor I use [50:06] the word pattern because the metaphors I [50:10] will quote will be will be to the [50:14] imagination quite different and yet to [50:18] The Logical [50:20] thinker [50:22] they would be almost the same [50:27] so that we might speak of them as [50:29] equations and let us take the first that [50:33] comes to my mind let us take the stock [50:38] comparison the time honored [50:42] comparison of eyes and stars or [50:47] inversely of stars and eyes and the [50:52] first example I remember comes from from [50:56] the Greek [50:58] Anthology and I [51:00] think Plato is opposed to have written [51:05] it the verses like of no Greek [51:11] run more or less as [51:14] follows I wish I were the [51:19] night and so so that I might [51:22] watch your [51:25] sleep with a th [51:28] eyes now here of course what we feel is [51:32] the tenderness of the [51:34] lover what we feel is his wish to be [51:38] able to see his [51:41] beloved from many points at [51:47] once but we feel the [51:52] tenderness behind those verses [51:56] now let us take another a less [51:59] illustrious example the stars look down [52:05] now here of course we have if we take [52:10] theological thinking seriously here of [52:13] course we have the same metaphor and yet [52:17] the effect on our imagination is quite [52:20] different because the stars look down do [52:24] not make us think of of tenderness they [52:28] rather give the idea of generations and [52:31] of generations of men toiling on and the [52:36] stars look down with a kind of lofty [52:41] indifference and we'll take another a [52:45] different example this is one of the [52:49] verses one of the [52:51] stanas that of most [52:57] struck [52:58] me they come from a poem of [53:02] Chesterton called a second childhood and [53:07] therein we [53:09] read but I shall not be too old to see [53:13] enormous night arise a cloud that is [53:17] larger than the world and a monster made [53:22] of eyes not a monster full of eyes [53:27] we [53:28] know those monsters from the the [53:33] revelation of St John but this is far [53:37] more awful a monster made of [53:42] eyes as if his eyes were the living the [53:46] tissue of [53:50] him well now we have seen those three [53:55] images [53:57] and they can all of course be traced [54:00] back to the same pattern but the point I [54:04] would like to emphasize and this is [54:06] really one of the two important points [54:10] in my talk is that though the pattern is [54:14] essentially the same yet in the first [54:18] case in the Greek [54:21] example I wish I were the [54:24] night for the poet makes us feel is his [54:28] tenderness his anxiety in the second we [54:33] feel a kind of divine indifference to [54:36] things human and in the third the night [54:42] The Familiar night becomes a well [54:47] a [54:49] nightmare and now let us take another [54:54] pattern a different one let us take the [54:58] idea of time [55:00] flowing [55:02] flowing even as a river does and the [55:07] first example comes out of a poem the [55:12] tennis and wrot when he was I think 13 [55:16] or [55:16] 14 then he destroyed it but happily for [55:22] us a line survives a single line I think [55:27] you can find it in tennison's biography [55:30] written [55:32] by Andrew L and the line is this time [55:38] flowing in the middle of the night I [55:42] think that Tennison has [55:45] chosen his time very wisely because all [55:50] things are silent men are sleeping and [55:54] yet time is Flowing noiselessly on this [56:00] is one [56:01] example there is also a novel I'm sure [56:05] you're thinking of it called simply time [56:09] and the river and the [56:12] mirror the putting together of the two [56:16] words suggests the metaphor time and the [56:20] river they both flow [56:24] on and then you have of course [56:27] that famous sentence of a Greek [56:30] philosopher about no [56:32] man [56:34] steps down twice to the same river and [56:39] here we have a beginning of Terror [56:44] because at first we think of the river [56:48] as flowing on the drops of water are [56:51] different and then we are made to feel [56:55] that we are the river that we are as [56:58] fugitive as the [57:01] river and we have of course those [57:05] ver [57:13] byar our lives are the rivers that flow [57:19] into that sea death this statement is [57:25] not too impressive in English I wish I [57:28] could remember how long fellow [57:30] translated it in his copas the manrique [57:34] but of course and we shall go into this [57:37] question in another lecture of course [57:41] behind the stock metaphor we have the [57:45] grave music of the words [57:57] cons and so on but the metaphor of [58:01] course is exactly the same in these [58:05] cases and now we will go on to something [58:10] very TR something that may cause you to [58:14] smile the comparison of women to [58:20] flowers and flowers to women also here [58:25] of of course there are far too many easy [58:30] examples but there is one I would like [58:33] to recall perhaps it may not be familiar [58:37] to you from that unfinished [58:41] Masterwork Robert LS Stevenson's we of [58:46] Herston Stevenson tells of his hero [58:51] going into a church in Scotland and then [58:55] he sees a [58:57] girl a lovely girl we're made to feel [59:01] and one feels that he's already [59:05] beginning to fall in love with her that [59:07] he's about to fall in love with her [59:10] because he looks at [59:12] her [59:14] she and then he [59:20] thinks he thinks whether there is an [59:26] mortal [59:27] Soul within that beautiful [59:30] frame or whether she is a mere [59:36] animal the color of [59:39] flowers and the word the the brutality [59:42] of the world animal is of course [59:45] destroyed by the color of flowers I [59:50] don't think we need any other examples [59:53] of this pattern of course it can be [59:56] found in all ages in all tongues in all [60:02] literatures now we will go on to another [60:06] of of the essential patterns of [60:10] metaphor [60:12] the pattern of life being a [60:17] dream the feeling that comes over [60:20] us of life being a dream and the evident [60:27] example that comes to us [60:29] is we are such stuff as dreams are made [60:35] on now it may sound like a blasphemy but [60:40] I love Shakespeare too much to care [60:42] about that but I think that here if we [60:48] care to look at it and I don't think we [60:50] should look at it too closely we should [60:52] rather be grateful to Shakespeare for [60:56] this and his many other gifts if we care [60:59] to look to look at it I think there is a [61:05] slight a very slight contradiction [61:08] between the fact of Our [61:12] Lives being dreamlike or having a [61:16] dreamlike Essence in them and the rather [61:22] sweeping statement we are such stuff as [61:27] dreams are made on because if we are [61:31] really dreams or if we are merely [61:34] dreamers of Dreams then I wonder if we [61:37] can make such sweeping [61:40] statements I mean this sentence of [61:44] Shakespeare belongs rather to philosophy [61:47] or to metaphysics than to poetry though [61:50] of course it is heightened it is lifted [61:52] up into poetry by the cont text now I [61:58] will take another example of the same [62:00] pattern by a great German poet a minor [62:06] poet besides Shakespeare but I suppose [62:09] all poets are minor besides two or three [62:13] of [62:14] them I [62:16] remember reading that very famous piece [62:20] by valter F fogal [62:23] VI and I suppose [62:26] I should say it [62:28] thus I wonder how my middle German goes [62:31] but you'll excuse [62:33] me [62:38] is have I dreamed my life or was it a [62:43] true one and I think that this comes [62:47] nearer to what the poet is trying to say [62:51] because instead of a sweeping [62:53] affirmation we have a question question [62:56] the poet is wondering this has happened [62:59] to all of us who have not wored it as [63:02] valter from the fog did he's asking [63:06] himself [63:09] is or [63:12] is and this [63:15] hesitation gives us that dreamlike [63:20] essence of life I think [63:28] I don't remember whether in my last [63:32] lecture because this is a sentence I'm [63:35] all quoting over and over again have [63:38] quoted all through my life I wonder if I [63:41] gave you a quotation from the Chinese [63:45] philosopher the [63:47] changu changu DT that he was a butterfly [63:51] and on waking up he did not know where [63:54] he was a man who had a dream of being a [63:56] butterfly or a butterfly was now [63:59] dreaming he was a [64:01] man and this I think is a finest of [64:05] all firstly because he begins by a dream [64:09] so afterwards when he when he wakes up [64:13] when he awakens his life has still [64:17] something dreamlike about it and [64:20] secondly because with a kind of almost [64:24] miraculous happiness [64:26] he has chosen the right animal had he [64:31] said chanu had a dream that he was a [64:35] tiger then there will be nothing in it [64:39] because while while a [64:43] butterfly has something delicate and [64:46] evanescent about it that is to say if we [64:49] are [64:51] dreams the true way to suggest a dream [64:55] dream is a butterfly and not a tiger or [65:00] for example chanu had a dream that he [65:03] was a Ty writer that would be no good at [65:05] all [65:06] no or that he was a whale that would do [65:08] him no good I think has chosen just the [65:12] right word for what he's trying to [65:17] say and we will try and follow another [65:23] pattern this is a very common one the [65:27] idea the linking up of the ideas [65:33] of [65:35] life no [65:39] of sleeping and [65:43] dying this is quite common in common [65:47] speech also and yet if we look for [65:51] examples we shall find that they are [65:54] very different [65:56] I think that somewhere in [65:58] Homer he speaks of the iron sleep the [66:03] iron sleep of death and here he gives us [66:08] the two opposite ideas death is a kind [66:13] of sleep and yet sleeping and yet that [66:17] kind of sleep is made of a hard and [66:21] ruthless and cruel metal of iron it is a [66:27] kind of sleep that is unbroken and [66:32] unbreakable of course we have here [66:39] also and since we [66:43] are north of Boston I think we might [66:47] speak also we might [66:50] remember those [66:53] verses those perhaps [66:56] two well-known [66:57] verses of Robert [67:01] Frost the woods are lovely dark and deep [67:06] but I have promises to [67:08] keep and miles to go before I sleep and [67:12] miles to go before I sleep those verses [67:17] are so perfect that we hardly think of a [67:22] trick and yet [67:24] unhappily all literature is made of [67:27] tricks and those tricks get in the long [67:30] run found out and then the read tires of [67:34] them but in this case the trick is so [67:38] unobtrusive that I feel rather ashamed [67:41] of myself for calling it a trick it is [67:44] merely for want of a better word because [67:49] Frost has attempted something very [67:54] daring here [67:56] we have the same verses repeated word by [68:00] word twice over and yet the sense is [68:05] different and miles to go before I sleep [68:10] this is merely physical the miles are [68:13] miles in space in New England and sleep [68:18] means well it [68:19] means going to sleep and then and miles [68:24] to go before before I sleep then we are [68:28] made to feel that the miles are not only [68:32] in space but in time and that sleeping [68:38] means dying or resting now had the poet [68:43] said so in so many words then he would [68:46] have been far less [68:49] effective because as I understand it [68:52] everything anything suggested [68:56] is far more effective than anything laid [69:01] down [69:03] perhaps the the human mind has a [69:06] tendency to deny a statement I remember [69:11] what Emerson said arguments convince [69:15] nobody they convince nobody because they [69:18] are presented as arguments and then we [69:23] look at them we weigh them with turn [69:25] them over and we may decide against them [69:29] but when something is merely said or [69:32] better still hinted that then there's a [69:35] kind of hospitality in our imagination [69:39] we are ready to accept it I remember [69:43] having read some 30 years ago the works [69:48] of Martin bber and I thought of them as [69:52] being wonderful poems and then when I [69:56] went to wois I read a book by a friend [70:00] of mine Lov and I found in its Pages [70:04] much to my astonishment that Martin bber [70:08] was a philosopher and that all his [70:11] philosophy lay in those books I could [70:14] read as [70:17] poetry and perhaps I had accepted those [70:22] books because they came to me through [70:26] poetry through suggestion through the [70:29] music of poetry and not as [70:32] arguments and I think that somewhere in [70:35] Walt Whitman maybe found the same idea [70:40] the [70:40] idea of reasons [70:45] being [70:47] unconvincing I think he says somewhere [70:50] that he finds the night air the large f [70:55] are far more convincing than than mere [71:01] if the [71:05] arguments and I suppose we may think of [71:09] other of other trends of other patterns [71:14] of [71:15] metaphor for example this is not as [71:18] common as the other ones we have the [71:22] idea of a battle and of a fire and we [71:27] find this in The Iliad the idea of a [71:31] battle blazing like a fire and also we [71:36] have the same idea in the heroic [71:39] fragment of [71:40] finnsburg in that fragment we are told [71:44] of the danes fighting the [71:47] Frans of the glitter of the weapons the [71:51] Shields and swords and so on and then [71:55] the writer says that it seemed as if All [71:59] Fins b as if the whole castle of [72:03] Finn were on fire this of course is not [72:08] as common as the other ones now we may [72:12] suppose that I have left out some quite [72:16] common [72:18] patterns we have taken so far eyes and [72:23] stars women and flowers time and [72:28] rivers [72:30] life and a dream death and sleeping fire [72:36] and battles and perhaps had we time and [72:41] learning enough we might find half a [72:44] dozen other patterns and perhaps those [72:48] might give us most of the metaphors in [72:52] literature now what is really [72:56] important is the [72:59] fact not of there being a few patterns [73:02] but of those patterns being capable of [73:06] almost endless [73:08] variations so that perhaps a reader a [73:12] reader who care for poetry and not for [73:16] the theory of poetry might read for [73:21] example I wish that I were the night and [73:24] then after [73:25] afterwards a monster made of eyes or the [73:31] stars look down and never stop to think [73:36] that those can be traced back to a [73:40] single [73:42] pattern now if I were a daring thinker [73:46] but I am not I'm a very timid thinker [73:48] I'm grouping my way along I could of [73:51] course say that only a dozen or so [73:57] patterns exist and that the rest of [74:02] metaphors are mere arbitrary games this [74:06] of course this of course would amount to [74:09] a statement that between the 10,000 [74:14] things of the Chinese [74:18] definition [74:19] we only some 12 essential affinities [74:24] might be found [74:25] because of course you can find other [74:28] affinities that are merely astonishing [74:33] and astonishment hardly lasts for more [74:36] than a [74:37] moment I remember now that I have [74:41] forgotten quite a good example of the [74:45] dream and life [74:48] equation but I think that I can recall [74:52] it now by the American poet [74:57] Robert by the American poet [75:01] Cummings these are four verses I think I [75:05] must apologize for the first evidently [75:08] it was written by a young man writing [75:12] for young men and I can no longer claim [75:15] that privilege I think I'm far too old [75:18] for that kind of game but the Stan [75:21] should be quoted in [75:23] full God's terrible face brighter than a [75:29] spoon I'm rather sorry about a [75:32] spoon because of course one feels that [75:36] he thought at first of a sword or of a [75:39] candle or of the Sun or of a shield or [75:42] of something traditionally shining and [75:45] then he said no after all I'm modern so [75:48] I'll work in a [75:50] spoon and so he got his spoon [75:55] but we may forgive him that for what [75:57] comes [75:58] afterwards God's terrible face brighter [76:01] than a spoon collects the image of one [76:05] fatal [76:07] word this second line is better I [76:12] think and as my friend meres and said to [76:16] me in a spoon we also have many images [76:19] collected I had never thought of that [76:22] because I had been taken back by the [76:23] spoon and so I could not I did not want [76:25] to think much about it so God's terrible [76:29] face brighter than a spoon collects the [76:33] image of one fatal word until my life [76:37] that light the Sun and Moon here there [76:40] is a kind of strange Simplicity [76:44] resembles [76:46] something that has not [76:50] occurred resemble something that has not [76:53] occurred and this I think gives us the [76:57] dreamlike essence of life better than [77:01] those more famous poets Shakespeare and [77:05] wter F fog [77:09] VI but of course I have chosen a few [77:13] examples and I am sure that your [77:16] memories are full of metaphors that you [77:20] have treasured up of [77:22] metaphors that you may be hoping I a [77:26] quote because I know that after this [77:29] lecture I shall feel an amount of [77:32] remorse coming over me thinking of the [77:35] many beautiful metaphors I have missed [77:37] and of course you [77:40] will you will say to me in an aside but [77:44] why did you meit that wonderful metaphor [77:46] by so and so and so and then I have to [77:49] fumble and to [77:51] apologize but now I think that we might [77:55] go on to metaphors that seem to stand [78:00] outside in known patter and since I have [78:05] spoken of the Moon I will take a persan [78:09] metaphor I read it somewhere in Brown's [78:13] history of Persian literature let us say [78:16] came from Farid dinar or [78:19] omaran or H or one of the great Persian [78:23] poets he speaks of the Moon and he says [78:27] and he calls the moon the mirror of time [78:33] of course I suppose that from the point [78:35] of view of astronomy the idea of the [78:39] Moon being a mirror is as it should be [78:43] but this is quite irrelevant from the [78:46] poetical point of view the fact of the [78:50] Moon being or not being a mirror has no [78:53] importance whatever [78:55] since poetry talks to the [78:59] imagination now let us look at the Moon [79:03] as a mirror of time I think it a very [79:07] fine [79:09] metaphor in the first instance because [79:13] the idea of a mirror gives us the [79:16] brightness and the fragility of the Moon [79:20] and secondly the idea of time makes us [79:25] suddenly remember that that very clear [79:29] Moon we're looking at is very ancient is [79:33] full of poetry and [79:36] mythology is as old as time and since I [79:42] spoke of as old as time I must quote [79:45] another verse a verse that perhaps is [79:48] bubbling up in their memory I don't I [79:52] can't recall the name of the author I [79:54] found it quoted by Kipling in a not too [80:00] rememberable book of his called from sea [80:03] to Sea a rose red City half as old as [80:09] time had the poet written a rose red [80:13] city as old as time it written nothing [80:16] at all but half as old as time gives it [80:20] a kind of magic Precision the same kind [80:24] of magic [80:25] Precision that is achieved by that [80:29] strange un common English phrase I will [80:33] love you forever and a day [80:37] forever means a very long time but what [80:43] is to the abstract to appeal to the [80:47] imagination we have the same kind of [80:50] trick I apologize for the use of that [80:52] word in the name of of that famous book [80:56] the Thousand and One Nights for the [80:59] Thousand Nights mean to the imagination [81:03] the many nights even as 40 used to mean [81:07] many in the 17th century when 40 Winters [81:12] shall besiege thy Brown writes [81:15] Shakespeare and I think of the common [81:17] English expression 40 wins for a nap for [81:21] 40 means I suppose many and here we have [81:25] the Thousand Nights and a night even as [81:29] a rose red City and then the fanciful [81:33] Precision half as old as time which [81:37] makes it of course longer and now let us [81:42] consider different different the [81:46] metaphors and I will go back inevitably [81:50] you will say to my favorite Anglo Saxons [81:56] remember that very common canning [82:00] calling the sea the wh [82:03] road now I wonder whether the unknown [82:07] Saxon who first coined that caning knew [82:12] how fine it was I wonder whether he felt [82:16] for this need hardly concern us that the [82:19] hugeness of the wh [82:22] emphasized or suggested [82:25] the hugeness of the [82:27] sea there is another metaphor this is an [82:30] earth [82:31] one about blood and the common canning [82:36] for blood is the water of The [82:42] Serpent and in that metaphor we have the [82:48] suggestion to be found also among the [82:50] Saxons of a sword as being an an [82:54] essentially evil being a being that [82:58] lapped up the blood of man as if it were [83:03] water and now we have the metaphors for [83:07] battle some of them are quite TR for [83:11] example meeting of men here perhaps [83:15] there is something fine in the idea of [83:17] men meeting to kill each other it is as [83:20] if no other meetings were possible but [83:23] we also have [83:25] the meeting of Swords the dance of [83:27] Swords The Clash of banners The Clash of [83:30] shields all of them may be found in the [83:33] O of brunborg and there's another I [83:37] think a fine one Tor yot a meeting of [83:43] anger here [83:45] perhaps the metaphor is impressive [83:48] because when we think of meeting we [83:51] think of fellowship and the friendship [83:53] and then there comes the contrast the [83:55] meeting of anger but these metaphors are [83:59] nothing I should say compared to a very [84:04] fine North and strangely enough Irish [84:10] metaphor about the battle the battle is [84:14] called the web of men the word [84:20] web is really wonderful here for in the [84:25] idea of a web we get the pattern of a [84:30] medieval battle we have for [84:33] example the the swords the shields the [84:38] crossing of the weapons and then also [84:42] there is the nightmare Touch of a web [84:46] being made of living beings a web of [84:51] men a web of men who are dying and [84:54] killing each [84:56] other and there suddenly comes to my [85:01] mind a metaphor from gong that is rather [85:06] like the web of men I will quote it [85:09] first in English and then in Spanish [85:13] he's speaking of a traveler a traveler [85:17] who comes to a [85:20] barbaraa to barbaras Village [85:24] and [85:25] then that [85:30] Village weaves a rope of [85:34] dogs around [85:39] him pronounce in that [85:46] way so that we have strangely enough we [85:50] have the same image the idea of a rope [85:55] or a web made of living beings and yet [85:59] even in those cases that may seem to be [86:03] synonyms there is a difference there is [86:06] quite a difference because a rope of [86:10] dogs is somehow Barack and grotesque [86:15] while web of men has something a [86:19] terrible something awful about it and [86:25] to end up I will take a metaphor or a [86:30] comparison but after all I am not a [86:33] professor and those differences need [86:35] hardly worry [86:36] me from [86:38] Byron [86:39] from the now forgotten byon because I [86:44] read the poem when I was a boy suppose [86:48] you read at a very tender age and two or [86:53] 3 days ago I suddenly discovered that [86:57] that image was a very complex one I had [87:00] never thought of byon as being specially [87:05] complex and you all know the words she [87:08] works in Beauty like the [87:11] night now the verse is so perfect that [87:16] you take it for [87:18] granted we we think well we could have [87:22] written that had we cared to but [87:25] only Byron cared to write it and I will [87:30] come now to the [87:31] complexity to the hidden and secret [87:34] complexity of the verse She Walks in [87:38] Beauty like the [87:40] night I suppose you already found out [87:44] what I'm now going to reveal to you [87:46] because this always happens with [87:48] surprises no it happens to us when we're [87:50] reading a detective [87:52] novel she walks in Beauty like the night [87:56] we have at the beginning we have a [87:59] lovely woman then you told that she [88:03] Walks in Beauty this somehow suggests [88:07] the French language something like [88:10] V and so on but she Walks in Beauty like [88:16] the night so that we have in the first [88:20] instance a lovely woman a lovely lady [88:26] likened to the N but in order to [88:30] understand the verse we have to think of [88:33] the night as a woman also because if not [88:37] the verse is meaningless So within those [88:41] very simple words we have a double [88:44] metaphor a woman is likened to the night [88:48] but the night is likened to a woman I do [88:52] not know and do not care whether Byron [88:56] knew this I think if he had known it the [88:58] verse would hardly have been as good as [89:00] it is perhaps before he died he found it [89:03] out or somebody pointed it out to him [89:06] and now we are led to the two obvious [89:11] and major conclusions of this [89:14] lecture the first is of course that [89:18] though there are hundreds and indeed [89:20] thousands of metaphors to be found they [89:24] may all be traced back to a few simple [89:28] patterns but this need not trouble us [89:31] since every metaphor is different every [89:34] time that the pattern is used the [89:36] variations are different and the second [89:39] is that there are metaphors for [89:44] example the web of men or the hoil road [89:50] that may not be traced back to [89:55] definite [89:56] patterns so that I think that the [90:00] Outlook even after my lecture is quite [90:03] good for the [90:05] metaphor because if we like we may try [90:09] our hands at new variations of the major [90:13] Trends and the variations will be very [90:16] beautiful and only a few critics like [90:20] myself will take the trouble to say well [90:24] there we have eyes and stars there we [90:26] have time on the river over and over [90:27] again the metaphors will strike the [90:30] imagination but it is also given to us [90:33] and why not hope for that also it may [90:36] also be given to us to invent [90:41] metaphors that do not belong or that do [90:45] not yet belong to accepted patterns [90:49] [Applause] [90:50] [Music] [90:53] [Applause] [91:04] lecture three the telling of the [91:09] tale ladies and [91:13] gentlemen verbal [91:16] distinctions should be valued since they [91:20] stand for [91:22] mental for intellect leure [91:25] distinctions and yet one feels that it [91:29] is somehow a Pity that the word poet [91:35] should have been split [91:37] a for it [91:40] nowaday when we speak of a poet we think [91:46] we only [91:47] think of the [91:50] Auer of such [91:55] lyc birdlike notes [91:58] as with ships the sea was sprinkled far [92:04] nigh like stars in Heaven from [92:08] Wordsworth or music to hear why hear is [92:12] so music sadly sweets with sweets War [92:15] not Joy Delights en [92:19] Joy while the Ancients when they spoke [92:24] of a poet a maker as bombar has it [92:29] thought of him not only as the author of [92:34] those High lyric notes but also as the [92:39] teller of a tale A Tale wherein all the [92:44] voices of mankind might be found not [92:48] only the lyric the wistful the [92:52] melancholy but also the voices of [92:57] courage and of and of [92:59] hope this means that I am speaking of [93:04] the oldest form of poetry as oppose the [93:11] Epic and since we are speaking of the [93:15] Epic let us consider a few of [93:20] them I suppose that the first one that [93:24] comes to our mind is what Andrew Lang [93:29] who so finely translated it called the [93:34] tale of Troy and we will look into it [93:39] for that very ancient telling of a [93:44] tale in the very first verse we have [93:49] something like tell me Muse I have no [93:55] Greek tell me [93:57] Muse of the anger of ailles or as [94:03] Professor Rous I think has translated it [94:07] an angry man that is my [94:09] subject now [94:15] perhaps now perhaps Homer or the man we [94:20] call Homer for that is a mood question [94:23] of course thought that he was writing [94:28] his poem about an angry [94:32] man and this somehow disconcerts us for [94:37] we think of anger as Latins [94:41] did fur brav anger is a brief Madness or [94:47] a brief or a fit of Madness [94:50] and the [94:53] the the plot of the [94:57] ilad is [94:59] really in [95:01] itself [95:04] not it's a Charming one I mean the idea [95:08] of the hero sulking in his tense feeling [95:14] that that the King has dealt unjustly [95:17] with him and then taking up the war as a [95:21] private Feud because his friend had been [95:24] killed and afterwards selling the dead [95:28] man he had killed to his father but [95:33] perhaps I may have said this before I'm [95:36] sure I have perhaps the intentions of a [95:39] poet are not very important what is [95:42] important nowadays is that though Homer [95:46] may have thought he was telling that [95:49] story he was telling something far finer [95:53] than [95:54] that the story of a man the hero who is [96:00] attacking a city he [96:03] knows he will never conquer he knows [96:07] that he will die before the fall of Troy [96:11] and the still more stirring tail of men [96:17] defending a [96:19] city whose Doom is already known to them [96:23] as city that is already [96:27] in [96:29] Flames so I think that this is real [96:34] subject of the [96:36] ilot and it is a [96:40] fact that men have always felt that the [96:45] Trojans were the real [96:49] heroes we think of virgent but we may [96:53] also [96:54] think of snor [96:57] stasson who in his younger [97:01] a wrote that [97:04] Odin the warden of the [97:08] Saxons the God was the son of pram and [97:14] the brother of Hector so that men have [97:18] sought kinship with the defeated Trojans [97:22] and not with the Victorious Greeks [97:26] perhaps because there is a dignity in [97:29] defeat that hardly belongs to [97:38] Victory [97:40] and we have now the second epic The [97:46] Odyssey and the Odyssey may be read in [97:50] two ways but I suppose that the man or [97:54] the woman Samuel Butler tho who had [97:57] written it felt that there were really [98:01] two [98:03] stories that is to say the [98:07] homecoming of the of [98:10] Ulisses and the Marvels and The Perils [98:16] of the [98:19] sea if we take the the AUD [98:24] in the first [98:25] sense then we have that idea of [98:29] homecoming the idea that we are in [98:33] banishment that our true home is in the [98:37] past or in heaven or somewhere else that [98:41] we are never at [98:43] home but of [98:45] course the the seaf [98:49] fairing or the homecoming had to be made [98:54] interesting and so the many Marvels were [98:58] worked in and [99:00] already when we come to the Arabian [99:03] Nights we find that the Arabian version [99:06] of The Odyssey the seven Voyages of [99:10] simbad the Sailor are not a story of [99:14] homecoming but a story of Adventure and [99:17] I think that we read it th I think that [99:21] when we read The Odyssey [99:24] what we feel is the Glamour the magic of [99:29] the sea what we feel is what we find in [99:34] the seaer for [99:36] example he has no heart for the harp nor [99:41] for the giving of rings nor for the [99:44] Delight of a woman nor for the greatness [99:47] of the world he thinks only of the long [99:51] sea salt stream [99:54] so that we have both stories into one we [99:58] can read it as a homecoming and we can [100:01] read it as a tale of Adventure perhaps [100:05] the finest that has ever been written or [100:09] sung and we come now to a [100:15] third we might call it [100:18] poem that looms I should say far above [100:22] them and I am thinking of the four [100:25] gospels and the gospels may also be read [100:29] in two ways by the believer they read [100:35] the strange story of a man of a God who [100:39] atones for the sins of [100:42] mankind a God who [100:46] condescends to suffering to death on the [100:52] bitter cross [100:54] Shakespeare has it there is a still [100:57] stranger [100:59] interpretation I found that in [101:02] langland the idea that God wanted to [101:07] know all about human [101:09] suffering and that it was not enough for [101:12] him to know it [101:15] intellectually as a god might but he [101:18] wanted to suffer as a man and with the [101:22] limitations of a man [101:24] and if you are an unbeliever many of us [101:29] are then you can read the story in a [101:32] different way you can think of a man of [101:36] Genius of a man who thought that he was [101:40] God and who at the end found out that he [101:44] was merely a man and that God his God [101:48] himself had forsaken him and [101:53] it might be said that for many [101:58] centuries those three stories the tale [102:02] of Troy the tale of Ulisses the tale of [102:07] Jesus have been sufficient for mankind [102:12] people have been telling and retelling [102:14] them over and over again they have been [102:17] set to music they have [102:22] been they have been [102:24] painted people have told them many times [102:28] over and yet the stories are still there [102:33] illimitable we might think of somebody [102:36] within a thousand years or 10,000 years [102:40] writing them over again but in the case [102:44] of the gospels there is a [102:47] difference the story of Christ I think [102:52] cannot be told better it has been told [102:56] many times over and yet I think that the [103:01] few [103:03] verses where we read for example of [103:07] Christ being tempted by the by Satan are [103:13] stronger than the four books of paradise [103:18] reg perhaps one feels that Milton had no [103:22] Inkling of what kind of a man Christ [103:27] was well we have these stories and we [103:31] have the fact that men did not need many [103:37] stories I don't suppose [103:40] choser ever thought of inventing a [103:44] story I don't think people were less [103:47] inventive in those days than they are [103:50] today I think that they felt [103:54] that the new shadings brought into a [103:58] story that the fine shadings brought [104:01] into it were enough besides it made [104:05] things easier for the [104:09] poet his hearers or his readers knew [104:13] what he was going to say and so they [104:15] could take in all the [104:19] differences now in the Epic as I [104:23] say and we might think of the gospels as [104:27] a kind of divine epic all things could [104:31] be found but then poetry as I say has [104:36] fallen as under or rather we have on the [104:41] one hand we have the lyrical poem and [104:45] the elery and then we have the telling [104:48] of a tale we have the novel [104:55] one is almost tempted to think of the [104:58] novel as a degeneration of the [105:02] Epic in spite of such writers as Joseph [105:06] conr for example or Herman Melville [105:10] where the novel goes back to the Dignity [105:13] of the [105:14] Epic if we think of the novel and the [105:18] Epic we are tempted to fall into [105:23] thinking that the chief difference lies [105:28] in the difference between verse and Pros [105:32] in the difference between singing [105:35] something and stating something but I [105:39] think that there is a greater difference [105:43] I think the difference lies in the fact [105:47] that the important thing about the Epic [105:52] is a he [105:54] a man who is a pattern for all men while [106:00] as men pointed [106:03] out [106:05] the the essence of most novels lies in [106:11] the in the breaking down of a man in the [106:15] the [106:16] generation of of [106:21] character now [106:23] this brings us to another [106:31] question this brings us to what we think [106:36] of Happiness what we think of defeat and [106:39] the victory for [106:41] nowadays when people talk of a happy [106:44] ending they think of it as a mere [106:48] pondering to the public or think it is a [106:51] commercial device they think of it as [106:54] artificial and yet during centuries men [106:58] could very sincerely believe in [107:01] happiness and in Victory though they [107:04] felt as I have said the dignity the [107:07] essential Dignity of defeat for example [107:12] when people wrote about the Golden [107:17] Fleece that is one of the ancient [107:19] stories of [107:21] mankind read ERS and hearers were made [107:25] to feel from the beginning that the [107:29] treasure would be found at the end for [107:33] nowadays if an adventure is [107:36] attempted we know that it will end in [107:41] Failure we know for example when we [107:45] read I'm taking an example I admire the [107:49] aspor papers we know that the papers [107:53] will never be found when we read France [107:58] cfas the castle we know that the man [108:01] will never get inside the castle that is [108:05] to say we cannot really believe in [108:08] happiness and in success and this may be [108:12] one of the poverties of our [108:15] time I suppose that Kafka felt much the [108:19] same when he [108:21] wanted his book s to be destroyed [108:25] because he really wanted to write a [108:27] happy and a Victorious book and he felt [108:32] that he could not do it he might have [108:34] written it of course but people would [108:37] have felt that he was not telling the [108:39] truth not the truth of facts but the [108:42] truth of his [108:44] dreams and we come to another [108:49] fact the fact that let's say at the end [108:54] of the 18th or the beginning of the 19th [108:57] century when it hardly go into [109:00] discussion of [109:02] dates men began to invent [109:06] stories perhaps one might say that the [109:11] attempt began with [109:13] hawthor and with Edgar po but of course [109:17] there are always four runners nobody is [109:21] as Dario point pointed out the literary [109:25] Adam the fact remains however that Paul [109:30] wrote that a story should be written for [109:34] the sake of the last sentence and a poem [109:39] for the sake of the last verse this [109:43] degenerated into the trick story and in [109:48] the 19th and in our own [109:51] centuries people [109:53] invent all kinds of plots those plots [109:57] are sometimes very [109:59] clever those plots if merely told are [110:04] cleverer than the plots of the Epic and [110:08] yet somehow we feel there is something [110:12] artificial about them or rather [110:15] something is a trivial it's about them [110:25] if we take two well if we take two cases [110:31] let us [110:32] oppose the story of Dr Jael and Mr Hyde [110:37] and then if we take such a novel or a [110:39] film a psycho perhaps the plot of the [110:44] second is cleverer but we feel that [110:47] there is more behind [110:50] Stevenson's plot [110:54] and this [110:56] idea that I spoke about in the beginning [110:59] the idea about there [111:01] being a few plots perhaps we should add [111:06] to those [111:07] plots we should add those books where [111:11] the interest lies not in the plot but in [111:14] the [111:15] shifting in the changing of many plots I [111:19] thinking of the Arabian kns of the foso [111:22] and and so on we might add also the idea [111:27] of of an evil [111:29] treasure we get that in the volsunga [111:32] Saga perhaps at the end of bolf the idea [111:37] of a treasure bringing evil to the [111:40] people who find [111:41] it then we might come to that [111:47] idea to same idea I tried to work out in [111:52] my my last lecture on the metaphor the [111:55] idea that [111:57] perhaps all plots belong to some to a [112:02] few [112:03] patterns of course nowadays people are [112:07] inventing so many plots that we are [112:10] blinded by them but [112:13] perhaps this fit of [112:17] inventiveness May Flicker and then you [112:20] may find that those many plots are but [112:24] appearances of a few essential [112:28] plots this however is not for me to [112:33] discuss now there is another fact to be [112:38] noticed and it is that poets seem to [112:44] forget that once the telling of a tale [112:47] was essential and that the telling of a [112:51] tale and the uttering of verse were not [112:55] thought of as different things a man [113:00] told the tale he sang it and his readers [113:06] did not think of him as a man attempting [113:09] two tasks but rather [113:11] attempting one [113:14] task that had two sides to it or perhaps [113:18] they did not feel there were two sides [113:20] to it they thought of the whole thing as [113:23] one essential thing we come now to our [113:30] time and we [113:32] find this very strange [113:35] circumstance we have had two world [113:41] wars and [113:43] somehow no epic has come from them [113:48] except [113:49] perhaps the Seven Pillars of [113:53] wisdom but in the Seven Pillars of [113:56] wisdom and I find many epic qualities [113:59] there in the Seven Pillars the book is [114:05] hampered by the fact that the hero is [114:09] the teller and so sometimes he has to [114:12] belittle himself he has to make himself [114:16] human he has to make himself far too [114:19] believable in fact he has to for into [114:23] the tricks of the of the novelist and [114:27] there is another book this must be a [114:30] quite forgotten book now but I'm [114:32] speaking of it I read it I think [114:36] 1915 a novel called [114:39] Le by AR barus now le was written by a [114:45] pacifist it was a book written against [114:48] war and yet somehow Epic [114:55] epic it thrust itself through the book [115:00] remember a very fine bayonet charge and [115:03] there is another [115:05] writer who had the Epic sense I'm [115:09] thinking of [115:11] Kipling we get this in such a wonderful [115:14] story as a sahib's war but in the same [115:18] way that Kipling never attempted the son [115:22] it because he thought that might [115:25] estrange him from his [115:27] readers he never attempted the Epic [115:31] though he might have done it and I am [115:34] reminded now of Chesterton Chesterton [115:38] wrote The Ballad of the White Horse poem [115:43] about King Alfred's Wars with the DS and [115:47] there in we find very strange metaphors [115:52] I wonder how I forgot to quote them last [115:56] time for example marble like solid [116:00] Moonlight gold like a Frozen fire and [116:05] then we have marble and gold and marble [116:08] and gold are compared to two things that [116:12] are even more Elementary they're [116:15] compared to Moonlight and to Fire and [116:19] then not to fire itself but to a magic [116:25] Frozen it [116:29] fire [116:31] but the people in a way are hungering [116:35] and thirsting for [116:39] epic because I feel the Epic is one of [116:43] the things that men [116:46] need and of all [116:50] places Epic has been furnished to the [116:54] world and this may come as a kind of [116:57] anticlimax but the fact is there by a [117:02] Hollywood for all over the world men [117:06] when they see a [117:08] western when they are beholding the [117:13] mythology of the Rider and the desert [117:17] and Justice and the sheriff and the [117:19] shooting and so on get [117:22] the Epic feeling from it whether they [117:25] know it or not but after all knowing a [117:28] thing is not [117:30] important now I do not want to prophesy [117:35] because those things are dangerous [117:37] though they make them through in the [117:39] long run but I [117:42] think that if the telling of a tale and [117:47] if a singing of [117:50] verse could come together again then a [117:54] very important thing might happen and [117:58] perhaps this will come I think from [118:02] America because as you all [118:06] know America has an ethical sense a [118:11] sense of a thing being right or wrong [118:16] that may be felt in other countries but [118:20] I do not think it can be [118:24] found in such an obvious way as I find [118:28] it [118:31] here and thus if this could be [118:36] achieved if we could go back to the [118:40] Epic then I think something very great [118:44] would have been accomplished chesteron [118:47] wrote The Ballad of the White [118:50] Horse it [118:52] got good reviews and so on but the [118:56] readers did not take kindly to it in [119:00] fact when we think of Chesterton we [119:03] think of the Father Brown Saga and not [119:06] of that [119:08] poem I have been thinking about this [119:12] subject well rather late in life and [119:16] besides I do not think I could attempt [119:18] the [119:19] Epic though I may have worked in two or [119:23] three lines of Epic this is [119:28] for younger men to do and I [119:35] hope and I hope they will do [119:39] it because of course I think that we all [119:42] feel that the novel is somehow breaking [119:47] down for example if we think of the [119:50] chief novels of our time [119:52] let us take Joes [119:56] Ulisses we [119:58] think or we know that we are [120:02] told thousands of things about the two [120:06] characters and yet we do not know them I [120:09] think we have a better knowledge of [120:12] characters in Dante or [120:17] Shakespeare who come to us who live and [120:21] die in a few sentences we do not know [120:25] thousands of circumstances about them [120:28] but we know them intimately and that of [120:32] course is far more [120:38] important I think that the novel is [120:43] breaking [120:45] down I think that all these both very [120:50] daring and very interesting experiments [120:53] with a novel for example the idea of the [120:57] shifting of time the idea of a story [121:02] being told by different characters all [121:06] those are leading to the moment when we [121:10] shall feel that the novel is no longer [121:14] with us but there is something about a [121:18] tale a [121:20] story that would will always be going on [121:24] I do not think men will tired of telling [121:27] or of hearing stories and if to the [121:30] pleasure of being told a story we get [121:35] the additional pleasure and the Dignity [121:38] of Earth then something great will have [121:43] happened [121:45] and maybe I [121:48] am an old-fashioned man from the 19th [121:51] century [121:52] but I have optimism I have hope and as [121:56] the future holds many things as the [122:00] future perhaps holds all things I think [122:06] that the Epic will come back to us I [122:09] think that a poet shall once again be a [122:15] maker I mean he will tell a story and he [122:20] will also [122:22] sing sing it and we will not think of [122:26] those two things as different even as we [122:29] do not think we are different in Homer [122:32] or in [122:46] virgin lecture four word music and [122:49] translation [122:53] ladies and [122:54] gentlemen for the sake of clarity I [122:58] shall confine myself tonight to the [123:02] problem of ver translation a minor [123:06] problem but also a very relevant one and [123:13] this lecture should PVE us away to the [123:17] topic of my forthcoming lecture word [123:21] music [123:22] perhaps word [123:25] magic sense and sound in [123:30] poetry according to a widely held [123:34] Superstition all translations betray [123:37] their matchless Originals this is Eed [123:40] out by the well-known the two wellknown [123:47] Italian TR and is supposed to be [123:51] unanswerable [123:52] now since his pun is very popular I [123:55] suppose there must be a kernel of Truth [123:59] a core of Truth hidden somewhere in it [124:03] and we will go into the discussion of [124:07] the possibilities or otherwise the [124:10] success or otherwise of Earth it's a [124:14] translation and according to my habit [124:18] I'll will Begin by a few examples I [124:21] don't think any discussion can be [124:24] carried on without examples and as my [124:28] memory is sometimes quite akin to [124:31] Oblivion [124:34] I I I shall choose brief examples since [124:38] it would be beyond our time and my [124:42] capacity to analyze stanas or [124:47] poems now [124:54] we will Begin by by the O of renor and [125:00] stannis's translation this H if but my [125:04] dates are always rather shaky was [125:06] composed at the beginning of the 10th [125:09] Century it was written or composed to [125:13] celebrate the victory of the [125:16] WX men against [125:20] the Dublin Vikings the Scotsman and the [125:24] Welsh and we will go into the [125:29] examination of a verse or so in the [125:34] original we find something that runs [125:38] more or less like [125:44] this that is to say the Sun at morning [125:48] tide or at morning time and then that [125:52] famous star or that Mighty star but [125:56] famous is of course a better translation [125:59] Mary Tong and then the poet goes on to [126:02] speak of the son as godess [126:05] Condor the bright candle of God now this [126:11] o [126:13] was it had done into English Pros by [126:17] tennison's son he was published in the [126:20] magazine and you may suppose [126:24] that Tennison had some Essentials of Old [126:28] English verse explained to him by his [126:30] son his son may have explained about the [126:33] beat of the Old English verse about the [126:36] alliterations inste of the Rhymes and so [126:38] on and then Tennison who was very fond [126:41] of experiments tried his hand at writing [126:45] Old English verse in Modern English and [126:49] it is [126:50] noteworthy to remark that though the [126:54] experiment was quite successful he never [126:58] came back to it again so that if we had [127:01] to look for Old English verse in R [127:06] Alfred's tennison's works we should have [127:08] to be content with that one outstanding [127:11] example of the old of runborg [127:14] well we have already seen those two [127:18] fragments the Sun that famous time [127:22] or the famous star and later [127:26] on the Sun the bright candle of God [127:31] godess cond be and when Tennison [127:35] came to that part line he translated it [127:41] thus when [127:43] first the great sun star of morning TDE [127:48] now sun star of Morning Tide he is I [127:52] think a very striking translation it is [127:56] even more sax than the sax since we have [127:59] those two compound Germanic words sun [128:03] star of morning tide and of course [128:06] though the word Morning [128:08] Tide can be easily explained as morning [128:12] time we are also we may also think that [128:18] thanis wanted to suggest to us [128:22] the image of the Dawn as overflowing the [128:26] sky so that we have this very strange [128:30] verse for when first the great sun star [128:34] of morning tide and then a verse or so [128:37] later when Tennison comes to the bright [128:41] candle of God he translates it [128:46] as as [128:49] where the lamp of the the Lord and we [128:53] will now take another example of a for [128:58] not only for blameless but of a fine [129:01] translation and this time we shall [129:04] consider a translation from the [129:07] Spanish it [129:09] is the wonderful poem no the LMA Dark [129:16] Night of the Soul written in the 16th [129:21] century [129:22] by one of the greatest we may safely say [129:26] the greatest of Spanish Poets of all men [129:29] who were used the Spanish language for [129:32] the purposes of poetry I speaking of [129:34] course of San [129:37] Juan and the first answer runs thus [129:55] now this St is of course a wonderful [129:59] stanza but if we consider the last verse [130:04] it is taken by itself torn from his [130:08] context and of course we are not allowed [130:10] to do that it is an undistinguished [130:13] verse we have [130:21] my house was quiet and then we have the [130:25] rather hissing sound of the three 's [130:29] masika and then soada is hardly a [130:33] striking word I not trying to disparage [130:37] the text I'm merely pointing out and in [130:41] a short time you would see why I doing [130:43] this I'm trying to point out that the [130:47] verse taken by itself torn from the [130:50] context as I said is un remarkable and [130:53] now this poem was translated into [130:56] English by arthor Simons I think at the [130:59] end of the last century the translation [131:01] is not a good one but if you care to [131:04] look at it you may find it in yat Oxford [131:08] book of modern verse [131:14] and some years ago a great Scottish poet [131:20] who also a South African Roy [131:23] Campbell attempted a translation of The [131:26] Dark Night of the Soul now I wish I had [131:30] the book by me but we [131:33] will confine ourselves to the verse I [131:37] have just [131:39] quoted [131:42] mik and we'll see what Roy Campbell made [131:46] of it he translated it thus when all my [131:50] house was hushed and then you have the [131:54] word all that gives a sense of space a [131:59] sense of vastness to the lines and then [132:02] the Beautiful the lovely English word [132:06] hushed hush seems to give us somehow the [132:11] very music of [132:13] Silence now I have taken those two very [132:17] favorable examples of the art of [132:19] translation and [132:21] I will add to them third [132:25] one this I will not discuss since it is [132:29] not a case of verse rendered into verse [132:33] but rather of Pros being lifted up into [132:37] verse into poetry we have that common [132:42] Latin tag done from the Greek of course [132:46] ars longa V bravis or as I suppose you [132:50] are to pron prounce it V [132:53] breis now this is of course very ugly [132:57] and let us go back to Vita breis and let [133:00] us go back to Virgin and not to vilus [133:05] no well here we have a plain statement a [133:11] statement of an opinion this is quite [133:14] plain sailing this is straightforward it [133:16] strikes no deep cord in fact it is a [133:19] kind of Prophecy of the T [133:21] and of the literature evolved by it so [133:25] we have art is long life is [133:29] short [133:30] and this tag was repeated over ever so [133:36] many times and then we come to 14th [133:38] century and then an Grand translator a [133:43] great translator Master Jeffrey choser [133:46] needed that verse of course he wasn't [133:49] thinking about medicine he was thinking [133:52] perhaps I would poetry or [133:55] perhaps the text is not by me so we can [133:58] choose perhaps you're thinking of love [134:01] and he wanted to work in those that line [134:07] and then he wrote the life so short the [134:11] craft so long to learn or as you may [134:15] suppose he pronounced it the leaf so [134:18] short the craft so long to learning and [134:22] there we get not only the statement but [134:26] we also get the very music of [134:29] wistfulness we can see that the poet is [134:33] not merely thinking of the Ard was Art [134:37] and of the barity of life but is also [134:40] feeling it and of course this is given [134:45] by the apparently invisible inaudible [134:49] key word the words so the leaf so short [134:54] the craft so long to [134:57] learn and now let us go back to two [135:02] examples the example of the famous o of [135:07] runan and Tennison and the example of [135:11] the no of Kur Alma and sanan De La [135:15] Cruz now if we consider the two [135:19] translations I have quoted [135:21] verbally then they [135:24] are I should say not inferior to the [135:28] original and yet we feel that there is a [135:31] difference and the [135:34] difference is beyond what the translator [135:37] can do it depends rather on the way we [135:41] read poetry for if we look back on the o [135:47] of [135:48] runen then we know that the [135:52] old that the old came from Deep emotion [135:58] we know that the Saxons had been beaten [136:01] many times over by the Danes that they [136:05] hated this and we must have thought we [136:09] must think of the joy the Saxons the [136:12] West Saxons felt when after a long days [136:16] of struggle the B of brunenberg was one [136:19] of the greatest [136:21] in the medieval history of England when [136:24] after a day struggle they defeated Olaf [136:28] the king of the Dublin [136:31] Vikings and the hated Scotsman and the [136:36] Welshman we may think of what they felt [136:40] we may think of the man who wrote the OD [136:44] perhaps he was a monk the fact remains [136:48] that instead of thanking God in the [136:51] Orthodox fashion he thanked the sword of [136:55] his king and the sword of Prince Edmund [136:58] for the victory he does not say that God [137:02] vou Saed the victory to them he says [137:05] that they wanted SW Ed by the edge of [137:09] their swords and the whole poem is [137:12] filled with a fierce ruthless Joy he [137:17] mocks at those who have been defeated [137:21] he is very happy that that they have [137:26] been defeated he talks of the king and [137:29] his brother going back to their own [137:32] westex their own West Saxon land as [137:35] Tennison has it and he says they [137:38] returned to West Saxon land glad of the [137:42] war and then after that he goes back to [137:47] the past of English History he thinks of [137:49] the man who came over from Jutland under [137:53] hangis and horsa and this is very [137:55] strange because I do not suppose many [137:58] men had that historical sense in the [138:01] Middle Ages so that we have to think of [138:06] the of the poem as coming [138:10] out of a deep emotion we have to think [138:14] of it as a kind of on Rush of great [138:19] verse and then when we come to tennis of [138:24] verion much as we may admire it and I [138:28] knew it before I knew the Saxon original [138:31] we think of it as a successful [138:36] experiment in Old English verse wrote by [138:41] a master of Modern English verse that is [138:44] to say the context is different and of [138:48] course the translator is not to be [138:51] blamed for this and the same thing [138:53] happens in the case of San Juan De La [138:56] Cruz and Roy Campbell we may [138:59] think I suppos we allowed to think that [139:03] when all my house was hushed is verbally [139:07] from the point of view of literature [139:10] from the point of of view of mere [139:12] literature Superior [139:17] TOA but that is of no avail as regards [139:21] our Judgment of the two pieces of the [139:26] Spanish original and of the English [139:29] rendering because in the first case we [139:33] think of San Juan De La Cruz we think [139:36] that he reached [139:38] somehow the highest [139:40] experience of [139:43] which the soul of a man is capable the [139:47] experience of ecstasis the blending [139:50] together [139:51] of a human soul to the soul of divinity [139:57] to Soul of the godhead of God and then [140:01] after he had had that an notable [140:04] experience he had to communicated [140:07] somehow in metaphors and then he found [140:10] ready to his hand the song of songs and [140:15] he took many Mystics have done this he [140:18] took the image of sexual love as an [140:22] image [140:23] for the Mystic Union between man and his [140:29] God and he wrote the poem and thus we [140:34] are [140:35] hearing we are over hearing we may say [140:38] as in the case of Saxon the very words [140:42] that that he uttered and then we come to [140:46] Roy Campbell's translation we find it [140:48] good but we adapt to say or to think [140:52] perhaps that well of course the Scotsman [140:55] made after all quite a good job of it [140:58] but this of course is is different that [141:01] you say the difference between a [141:04] translation and the original is not a [141:08] difference in the text themselves I [141:11] suppose if we did not know whether one [141:14] was original and the only translation we [141:16] could just unfairly but unhappily we [141:19] cannot do this and so the translator's [141:23] work is always supposed to inferior or [141:27] what is worse is felt to be inferior [141:30] even though verbally one may be the the [141:34] the rendering may be as good as a text [141:37] now leaving this for the moment will [141:41] come to another problem the problem of a [141:47] literal translation of course when I [141:50] speak of literal translations I am using [141:53] a wild metaphor since if a translation [141:57] cannot be true word to word to it can [142:01] still less be true letter to letter now [142:04] in the 19th [142:06] century uh quite forgotten Greek scholar [142:11] Newman attempted a hexameter literal [142:14] translation of Homer it was his purpose [142:19] to publish a translation let us say [142:23] against Pop's Homer and so he [142:29] used he used words such as wet waves [142:34] wine dark sea and so on now Matthew [142:38] Arnold had his own theories on [142:41] translating Homer and when Mr Newman's [142:45] book came out he reviewed it Newman [142:48] answered him Matthew AR answered back [142:52] and in the essays of Matthew Arnold you [142:54] can read that very Lively and very [142:57] intelligent discussion since both men [143:00] had much to say on the two sides of the [143:03] question Newman supposed that literal [143:08] translation [143:10] was the most faithful one and Matthew [143:14] Arnold began by a theory about homor he [143:18] said [143:20] that in Homer several qualities were to [143:23] be found those qualities were Clarity [143:27] nobility Simplicity and so on and he [143:31] thought that the [143:33] translator should always convey the [143:36] impression of those qualities even when [143:39] the text did not bear him out [143:44] now Tim Matthew Arnold pointed out that [143:49] a literal translation [143:51] made for odity and for [143:57] uness for example in in the romance [144:02] languages we do not say it is cold but [144:06] it makes [144:10] gold and so on yet I don't think anybody [144:14] should [144:15] translate it's C by [144:21] if you should translate in F for it [144:25] makes cold or for example in English one [144:30] should say good morning in Spanish one [144:33] should say buas good days and yet if [144:37] good morning should be translated as bu [144:41] Manana then we should feel that this is [144:45] a literal translation but hardly a true [144:48] one now [144:51] Matthew Arnold pointed out that if a [144:54] text be translated literally then false [144:58] emphases are [145:03] created I do not know whether he came [145:07] across perhaps rather it was too late he [145:10] came across Captain Burton's translation [145:13] of Arabian Knights for beron [145:15] translates [145:17] Vala as book of the thousand nights and [145:21] a night instead of book of the Thousand [145:24] and One Nights now this translation is a [145:26] literal one it is true word by word to [145:30] the Arabic but yet it is false in the [145:34] sense that the words book of the [145:37] Thousand Nights and the night are common [145:40] form in Arabic while in English [145:47] they while in English we have [145:50] a [145:51] slight a slight shock of surprise and [145:55] this of course has not been intended by [145:56] the original now Timothy Arnold advised [146:01] a translator of Homer to have the Bible [146:04] at his elbow he said that Bible English [146:08] might be a kind of standard to [146:11] translation of homor and yet if Matthew [146:15] Arnold had looked closely into his Bible [146:18] he might have seen that the English [146:20] Bible is full of literal translations [146:24] and that part of the beauty of the great [146:27] beauty of the English Bible lies in [146:30] those literal translations for example [146:33] in English Bible we have a tower of [146:36] strength now this is a sentence [146:40] translated as suppos by Luther as a [146:44] infest B A [146:47] Mighty or a firm strong hold and then we [146:51] have the song of [146:54] songs now I read in F Leon that the [147:00] Hebrews had no superlative so that they [147:02] could not say the highest song or the [147:05] best song so they said the song of songs [147:09] even as they might have said the King of [147:12] Kings not the emperor but the highest [147:14] king or the moon of moons the highest [147:18] moon or the night of nights the most [147:22] hallowed of [147:24] nights [147:26] now if we compare the English rendering [147:30] Song of Songs to a German by Luther we [147:34] see that Luther who had no care for [147:37] beauty Lu Luther who merely wanted his [147:40] Germans to understand the text [147:42] translated it as the ho lead the high [147:46] lay and so we find that these two [147:51] literal translations make for beauty in [147:55] fact it might be said that literal [147:59] translations make not only as Matthew [148:03] Arnold pointed out for uncouthness and [148:06] odity but also for strangeness and [148:11] beauty and this I think is felt by all [148:15] of us for if we look into [148:20] a literal version of some outlandish [148:25] poem then we expect something strange if [148:29] we do not find it we feel somehow [148:33] disappointed and now we come to one of [148:37] the finest one of the most famous [148:40] English translations I'm speaking of [148:42] course of fish Geralds rubat [148:47] of now the first time answer runs [148:51] thus awake for mourning in the bowl of [148:55] night has flung the stone that puts the [148:58] Stars to flight and L the hunter of East [149:01] has caught the Sultan stet in a nose of [149:05] light now as we [149:08] know the book was discovered in a book [149:12] store by swiber and Rosetti and they [149:15] were overwhelmed by his Beauty they knew [149:18] nothing whatever of OS Gerald he was [149:21] quite Unknown man of letters he tried [149:24] his hand translating Calderon and Farin [149:28] satar's Parliament boards these books [149:32] were not too good and then there came [149:36] this famous book now a [149:40] classic now I said that Rosetti and swim [149:45] felt the beautyful translation and yet [149:48] we wonder if they would have felt this [149:50] beauty kfish Gerald presented the [149:55] rubayat as an original partly it was [149:59] original and not as a translation would [150:02] I think F Gerald have been allowed to [150:05] say awake for morning in the bowl of [150:08] night has flung the stone that puts the [150:11] Stars to flight this second verse sens [150:15] us to a footnote and there it is [150:17] explained [150:18] that that to fling a stone into a bowl [150:21] is a sign for The Parting of the Caravan [150:24] and then I wonder who fish Gerald would [150:27] have been allowed the news of light and [150:29] The Sultans tet in a poem of his own but [150:35] I think that we can safely dwell on a [150:38] single line the [150:42] line it is to be found one of the other [150:45] stanas and it runs thus dreaming when [150:50] Dawn's left hand was in the sky I Heard [150:53] a Voice Within the tavern cry awake my [150:56] little ones and fill the cup before [150:59] life's liquor in his cup be dry we may [151:02] dwell I suppose on the first line [151:05] dreaming when Dawn's left hand was in [151:08] the [151:09] sky of course the key word in that line [151:13] is a word left had any other adjective [151:16] been used the line would be meaningless [151:20] but left hand makes us think of [151:24] something strange of something sinister [151:27] we know that the right hand is [151:28] associated with right with other word [151:31] righteousness direct and so on while we [151:35] have the omous word left let me remember [151:39] in Spanish [151:45] L the idea of something sinister [151:48] something and we feel that there is [151:51] something subtly wrong about Dawn's left [151:54] hand if the person was dreaming when [151:57] Dawn's left hand was in the sky then his [152:01] dream may become a nightmare at any [152:04] moment and of this we're slightly aware [152:08] we don't have to dwell on the word left [152:11] for the word left makes all the [152:13] difference so delicate and so mysterious [152:16] is the AR of Earth now we accept kept [152:20] dreaming when Dawn's left hand was in [152:22] the sky because we suppose that there is [152:26] a Persian original behind it as far as [152:29] I'm [152:30] aware Omar do not bear fishal [152:34] out and this brings us to an interesting [152:39] problem the problem [152:43] that a literal translation has created a [152:47] beauty all of its own [152:50] and I have always wondered about the [152:53] origin of literal translations nowadays [152:58] we are fond of literal translations in [153:00] fact many of us only accept literal [153:03] translations because we want to give [153:06] every man his [153:11] due that would have seemed a crib to [153:15] them they were thinking of something far [153:19] worthier [153:20] they wanted to prove that the vernacular [153:24] was as capable of a great poem as they [153:28] original and I suppose that Don Dei when [153:32] he rendered Lucan into Spanish thought [153:35] of that [153:37] also and I don't think any [153:40] contemporary of [153:43] Pope thought about Homer and Pope I [153:47] suppose that the readers the best [153:50] readers anyhow thought of the poem in [153:53] itself they were interested in the ilad [153:57] in the odyy and they had no care for [154:02] verbal if the [154:04] Trifles [154:06] now all throughout the Middle Ages [154:10] people thought of translation not in [154:13] terms of a literal rendering but in [154:15] terms of something being [154:18] recreated of a [154:20] poet having read a work and then somehow [154:24] evolving that work from himself from his [154:27] own might from the possibilities he or [154:30] un known of his language and how [154:36] did the literal translations begin I do [154:39] not think they came out of scholarship I [154:42] do not think they came out of Scruples I [154:45] think they had a theological origin for [154:49] those [154:50] people would think of Homer as the [154:53] greatest of poets still they knew that [154:57] Homer was human quand dorat bonus hus [155:03] and so on and so they could reshape his [155:06] words but when it came to translating [155:10] the Bible that was something quite [155:13] different because the Bible was supposed [155:16] to have been written by the Holy Ghost [155:19] and if we think of the Holy Ghost if we [155:21] think of the infinite intelligence of [155:26] God undertaking a literary task then [155:31] we're not allowed to think of any chance [155:34] elements of any halfhazard elements in [155:37] his work no if God writes a book if God [155:42] condescends to literature then every [155:45] word every letter of the cabalist said [155:49] most have been thought out and it might [155:52] be blasphemy to tamper with a text [155:55] written by an endless by an eternal [155:59] intelligence and thus I think the idea [156:03] of a literal translation came from the [156:07] translations of the Bible this is merely [156:10] my guess I suppose there are many [156:12] scholars here who can who may correct me [156:16] if I make a mistake but I think that [156:19] this is PR and then [156:22] when very fine translation of the Bible [156:25] were undertaken men began to discover [156:29] began to feel that there was a beauty in [156:33] Alien ways of expression and now [156:37] everybody likes everybody's fond of [156:40] literal translations because a literal [156:43] translation always gives us those small [156:46] jolts of surprise that we expect and in [156:50] fact it might be said that perhaps no [156:54] original is needed perhaps a time will [156:57] come when a translation will be [157:01] considered as something in [157:03] itself we may think of Elizabeth Barett [157:06] Browning's sonets from the [157:09] Portuguese sometimes I [157:12] have [157:14] attempted a rather bold metaphor then I [157:18] have seen that nobody accept it if it [157:20] came from me I am a mere contemporary [157:23] and then I have attributed it to some [157:26] out of the way Persian or [157:29] Northman and then my friends have said [157:31] it's quite fine and of course I have [157:34] never told that I had invented because I [157:36] was fond of the metaphor and after all [157:38] the Persians and the Northman may have [157:40] invented that metaphor or far better [157:44] ones thus we go back to what I said at [157:48] the beginning [157:50] that the fact that a translation is [157:53] never judged verbally it should be [157:56] judged verbally but it never is for [157:58] example and I hope you won't think that [158:01] I'm uttering a blasphemy I have looked [158:05] very carefully but this was some 40 [158:07] years ago and now I Canad the mistakes [158:10] of [158:10] Youth I have looked into B [158:14] flal and into stepan gorus blo this B [158:19] and I think that b was of course a [158:23] greater poet than stepan gor but stepan [158:26] gor was a far more skillful Craftsman [158:29] and so I think that if we compare them [158:32] line by line we should find [158:37] Stefan this a fine German word it means [158:41] not a poem translated from another but a [158:45] poem let's say woven around another and [158:48] we also have n [158:50] an after poem a translation and then the [158:53] mere [158:54] translation I think that stepan gor [158:57] translation is perhaps better than B's [159:02] book but of course this will do stepan [159:05] gor no good since people who are [159:08] interested in B and I have been very [159:10] much interested in B think of his words [159:13] as coming from him that you say the [159:16] think of the context of his whole life [159:18] while in the case of stepan gor we have [159:21] an efficient but a rather prish 20th [159:25] century poet turning B very words into [159:29] an alien language into [159:32] German now I have spoken of the present [159:35] I say that we are burdened overburdened [159:39] by historical sense we cannot look in [159:44] nation [159:45] text as the men of the Middle Ages or [159:49] the Renaissance or even of the 18th [159:51] century did no we're worried by [159:56] circumstances we want to know exactly [159:59] what Homer meant when he wrote about the [160:02] wine dark sea if wine dark sea be the [160:05] right translation I do not [160:07] know but if we are historically minded I [160:13] think we may perhaps suppose that a time [160:17] will come when many men will no longer [160:21] be as aware of history as we are a time [160:24] will come when men shall care very [160:28] little about the accidents and [160:31] circumstances of beauty they shall care [160:34] for beauty [160:36] itself perhaps they shall not even care [160:39] about the names or the biographies or [160:40] the [160:42] poets that is all to the good we may [160:45] think that there are whole Nations who [160:47] think in this way for example I do not [160:50] think in India people have a historical [160:54] sense one of the great one of the thorns [160:57] in the flesh for Europeans who write who [161:01] written histories of Indian philosophy [161:04] is that all philosophy is treated as [161:06] contemporary by the Indians that you say [161:10] they are interested in the problems [161:13] themselves not in the mere biographical [161:17] fact or histo Chron logical fact that so [161:20] and so was what's his name's master that [161:23] he came before that he wrote Under that [161:25] influence all the things are nothing to [161:27] them they care about the riddle of the [161:29] universe and I suppose in a time to come [161:34] and I hope this time is around the door [161:37] in a time to come men will care for [161:40] beauty not from the circumstances of [161:42] beauty and then we'll have translations [161:46] not only as good because maybe we have [161:49] them already but as famous as Chapman's [161:54] Homer as ard's r as [161:59] poop's Odyssey and I think that this is [162:06] a consumation devoutly to be wish for [162:09] [Applause] [162:17] [Applause] [162:24] lecture five thought and [162:30] poetry ladies and [162:33] gentlemen Walter P wrote that all Arts [162:38] aspired to the condition of Music the [162:42] reason the obvious reason I speak as a [162:45] Layman of course would be that in music [162:50] form and substance cannot be torn [162:55] aund a Melody any piece of music it say [163:00] oppose is a pattern of sounds and [163:05] poses unwinding itself in time I do not [163:10] suppose it can be told the melody is [163:14] merely the pattern and of course [163:19] the emotions it sprang from and emotions [163:22] it [163:25] awakens [163:28] the Austrian critic hanslick wrote that [163:32] music is a language that we can use that [163:37] we can understand but that we are unable [163:40] to [163:41] translate now in the case of literature [163:45] and especially of poetry the case is [163:49] supposed to be [163:52] far the [163:54] otherwise for we might tell the plot of [163:58] The Scarlet Letter to a friend of ours [164:01] who are not read it and I suppose that [164:04] you could even [164:06] tell the the pattern the framework the [164:10] plot of Y son Le and so on so that we [164:18] fall to thinking of poetry as being a [164:21] bastard art as being [164:24] something of a [164:26] mongr [164:29] and Robert leis Stevenson has also [164:33] spoken of this he has also spoken of [164:37] this supposed dual nature of poetry he [164:42] says that in a sense poetry is nearer to [164:47] the common man to the man in the street [164:49] Prat for the materials of poetry are [164:52] words and those words are he says the [164:55] very dialect of Life words are used for [164:59] everyday hrum purposes and words are the [165:05] material of the poet even the sounds are [165:09] the material of the the [165:12] musician and he speaks of words as being [165:16] mere blocks as being mere [165:19] conveniences and then he wonders at the [165:22] poet who is able to weave those rigid [165:29] symbols meant for everyday purposes or [165:32] for abstract purposes into a pattern he [165:36] calls it the [165:39] web thus if we accept what Stenson says [165:44] we have a theory of poetry the theory of [165:49] words being made by literature to serve [165:54] for something beyond what they have been [165:57] intended for words say Stevenson are [166:01] meant for the common everyday Commerce [166:05] of life and the poet takes them and [166:09] somehow he makes of them [166:13] something it a magic now I suppose dis [166:18] agree who [166:20] Stevenson and yet I think that he may [166:24] perhaps be proved [166:26] wrong wrote the elies we know that those [166:31] lonely and admirable men were able to [166:35] convey to us their [166:37] loneliness their courage their [166:40] loyalty their feeling for The Bleak seas [166:45] and The Bleak Moors and yet I suppose [166:49] that those men who wrote those poems [166:52] that still that seem so near to us and [166:57] come through centuries we know that [167:00] those men would have been hard put to it [167:03] had they been made to reason out [167:05] something in Pros even in the case of [167:09] King Alfred his Pros is straightforward [167:13] it is sufficient for his purposes but it [167:16] rings no deep not [167:19] he tells us a story the story may or may [167:22] not be interesting but that is all while [167:26] there were contemporaries who wrote [167:29] poetry that still [167:32] Rings poetry that is still very much [167:36] living then if from the historical [167:39] argument and of course I have taken this [167:43] example at random it might be paralleled [167:46] all over the world we to the case of [167:49] philology then we find that words began [167:54] not by being [167:57] abstract but rather they began by being [168:02] concrete and concrete as suppose would [168:06] be much the same thing as poetic in this [168:09] case for example let us considered such [168:13] a word as Dr the wordi meant blood stain [168:19] the word glad meant [168:23] polished the word threat meant a [168:26] threatening crowd that is to say those [168:29] words that now are abstract once had had [168:34] a a strong [168:37] meaning and we might go on to other [168:44] examples let us take the word Thunder [168:49] let us think let us look back on the god [168:53] thunor the Saxon counterpart of the [168:55] north Thor now the word thunor stood for [169:01] Thunder and for the God but had we asked [169:06] the men who came to England with hangist [169:10] had we asked them whether the word stood [169:14] for the rumbling in the sky or for the [169:16] Angry God I do not think he would have [169:19] been subtle enough to understand the [169:23] difference I suppose that the word [169:27] carried both meanings without committing [169:30] itself very closely to any one of them I [169:35] suppose that when they uttered or they [169:39] heard the word Thunder they felt at the [169:43] same [169:44] time the low rumbling in the sky [169:50] that and then that comes after lightning [169:54] and then the thought of the god so that [169:57] the words were packed with magic they [170:01] did not have a hard and and fast [170:07] meaning and therefore if we speak of [170:10] poetry we may say that poetry is not [170:14] doing what Stevenson thought poetry is [170:17] not trying [170:19] to take a set of logical coins and work [170:23] them into magic rather poetry is [170:28] bringing language back to its original [170:31] Source remember that Alfred North whitee [170:35] head wrote that among the many fallacies [170:39] there is one the fallacy of the perfect [170:43] dictionary the fallacy of thinking that [170:46] for every perception of the sense [170:49] for every statement for [170:52] every abstract idea there may be found a [170:57] counterpart a very exact symbol in the [171:02] dictionary and the Very fact that [171:04] languages are different make suspect [171:07] that this does not exist for example in [171:10] English or rather in the Scots we have [171:14] such words ASI [171:16] andan those words [171:19] cannot be found in other languages well [171:22] we have the German unim of course why [171:26] because men in who spoke other languages [171:30] had no need for those words I suppose a [171:33] nation evolves the words it [171:36] needs and there is also uh an [171:40] observation of Chesterton I think in his [171:44] book on wats and he says that language [171:48] is not as we are led to suppose by the [171:52] dictionary language is not the invention [171:55] of [171:56] academicians or philologists but rather [172:00] language has been evolved through time [172:04] through a long time by peasants by [172:09] fishermen by Hunters by Riders it did [172:13] not come from the libraries it came from [172:16] the fields from the sea from rivers from [172:19] night from the [172:25] dawn thus we have in language the fact I [172:32] suppose it seems obvious to me that [172:36] words began in a sense as [172:40] magic [172:42] perhaps there was a moment when the word [172:47] light seemed to be flashing when the [172:50] word night was a dark word and in the [172:54] case of night we may surmise that Knight [172:57] at first stood for the night itself for [173:02] his Blackness for its threats for the [173:06] shining stars and then after much time [173:12] after ever so long a time then we come [173:15] to the abstract sense of the word night [173:19] meant the period between [173:23] the between the the Twilight of the [173:28] Raven as the Hebrews had it and the [173:30] Twilight of the dove the beginning of [173:33] day and since I've spoken of the [173:36] Hebrews we might find an additional [173:39] example in Jewish mysticism in the [173:42] cabala for to the [173:45] Jews it seemed obvious that there lay a [173:49] power in words this is the idea of [173:51] course behind all our stories of [173:54] talismans of arabas the stories to be [173:57] found in the Arabian nights and as I [174:01] read in the first page of the first [174:05] chapter of the Torah that God said let [174:08] there be light and there was light so it [174:12] seemed obvious to them that in the word [174:16] light there lay a strength a strength [174:20] sufficient to cause light to shine all [174:25] over the world uh a strength sufficient [174:29] to engender to beet [174:33] light I have done some thinking over [174:38] this problem a problem that I will not [174:43] solve of course [174:45] of thought and meaning [174:49] we spoke some time ago about the fact [174:53] that in music you had that that in music [174:58] the sound the the form and the substance [175:04] could not be Tor a that they were in [175:07] fact the same thing and it may be [175:11] suspected that to a certain degree the [175:15] same thing happens in poetry [175:18] let us consider now two fragments by two [175:24] great poets the first fragment would [175:28] come from a short piece by the great [175:32] Irish poet William Butler Yates and it [175:37] runs thus bodily the cude is wisdom [175:41] young we loved each other and were [175:45] ignorant now here we find that the [175:48] beginning a statement bodily decrepitude [175:52] is wisdom this of course should be read [175:55] ironically Yates knew quite well that we [175:59] may attain bodily gravitude without [176:01] attaining [176:04] wisdom I I I suppose that wisdom is more [176:09] important than love love than meere [176:12] happiness there is something trivial [176:14] about happiness we get the statement [176:16] about happiness in in the other part of [176:20] the stanza bodily the cude is wisdom [176:25] young we loved each other and were [176:29] ignorant now I will take a [176:32] verse by George [176:37] tth and it runs thus not till the fire [176:42] is dying in the great look we for any [176:46] kingship with the Stars now this [176:49] statement taken at his face value is [176:52] false the idea that we are only [176:55] interested in philosophy when we are [176:58] through with bodily lusts or when the [177:02] lust of the body are through with us [177:04] this is I think false we know of many [177:08] passionate young philosophers let us [177:10] think of Barkley of Spinosa and of [177:12] schopenhauer well this is quite [177:14] irrelevant what is really important is [177:17] the fact that both fragments bodily the [177:22] cpit toe is wisdom young we love the [177:24] children or ignorant and [177:28] merth not till the fire is dying in the [177:32] great look we for any kingship with the [177:34] Stars mean taken in in an abstract way [177:39] much the same thing and yet they strike [177:43] quite different [177:44] cords when we are told or or now when I [177:49] tell you that they mean the same thing [177:52] you all feel you all instinctively and [177:55] rightly feel that this is irrelevant [177:58] that the verses are really [178:02] different I have suspected many a time [178:06] that the [178:08] meaning is really something added to the [178:13] verse and I know it for a fact that we [178:17] feel [178:18] uh that we feel the beauty of a poem [178:23] before we before we even begin to think [178:27] of the meaning I do not know but I [178:30] already quoted an example [178:35] from it is Shakespeare it runs from one [178:39] of the sons of Shakespeare it runs [178:42] thus the Mortal Moon had her Eclipse [178:45] endured and the sad ogor their own prage [178:50] uncertainties now Crown themselves [178:52] assured and peace proclaims olives of [178:56] endless age now if we look at the [178:59] footnotes we find that the first two [179:03] verses the Mortal moon eclipse endured [179:08] and the sad ogers Mar their own prage is [179:11] supposed to be an illusion to Queen [179:14] Elizabeth the Virgin Queen the famous [179:17] Queen [179:18] compared by the court poets to Diana the [179:23] chaste the [179:25] maiden now I suppose that when [179:28] Shakespeare wrote These verses he had [179:32] both moons in mind he [179:34] had the the that metaphor of the Moon [179:38] the Virgin Queen and I do not think he [179:42] could help thinking of the moon in the [179:46] sky [179:49] but the point I would like to make is [179:52] that we do not have to commit ourselves [179:56] to a meaning to any one of the meanings [180:00] we feel the verses before we adopt one [180:06] the other or both those hypothesis the [180:10] Mortal moon eclipse endured and the sad [180:13] ogers mock their own prage has at least [180:17] to me a beauty far beyond the mere fact [180:22] of how we it [180:25] interpreted [180:27] and there are of course verses that are [180:32] beautiful and [180:34] meaningless and yet they have a meaning [180:37] not for the not to the reason but to the [180:42] imagination let me take a very simple [180:46] example two red R es across the [180:49] moon here it might be said that the [180:52] meaning is image given by the word but [180:56] to me at least there is no definite [180:59] image there is a pleasure in the words [181:03] and of course in the L of the words in [181:06] the music of the words or to take [181:08] another example from William Morris [181:11] there for said Fair yoland of the [181:14] flowers fair yoland is a witch this is [181:17] the T of seven Towers those hses have [181:20] been torn from their context and yet I [181:23] think they [181:25] stand somehow do I love English when I [181:30] am recalling English verse I find that [181:34] my [181:35] language Spanish is calling to me and I [181:40] would like to quote a few verses if you [181:44] do not understand them you may conso it [181:47] ourselves by thinking that I do not [181:50] understand them either and that they are [181:53] meaningless they are [181:55] beautifully they're in a quite lovely [181:57] way meaningless they were not meant to [181:59] mean anything they come [182:02] from that rather forgotten the two [182:06] forgotten Bolivian poet Ricardo KES fre [182:12] a friend of Ario and of lugones and he [182:15] wrote them in the last decade of the [182:18] 19th century I wish I could remember the [182:22] whole Sonet I think that something of [182:25] its sonorous quality would come through [182:27] to you but there is no need I think that [182:32] these verses should be sufficient all it [182:36] is [182:37] sufficient they run thus [182:53] they do not mean anything they're not [182:55] meant to mean anything and yet they [182:59] stand they stand as a think of beauty [183:02] they are at least to me inexhaustible [183:06] and now since I have quoted Meredith I [183:09] will take another example and this [183:12] example is different from the others [183:15] since it it Bears a meaning [183:18] we feel a conviction that it corresponds [183:21] to an experience of the poet and yet had [183:25] we to put our finger on that experience [183:27] or had the poet to tells us how he came [183:31] to those verses how he attained them I [183:34] think we should be at a loss the verses [183:38] are the four lines [183:40] are love that are robbed us of immortal [183:44] things this little moment mercifully [183:47] gave [183:48] for I have seen across the Twilight wave [183:51] the swan sail with her young beneath her [183:54] wings we find in the first verse [183:58] something that on reflection May strike [184:02] us a strange love that had robbed us of [184:06] immortal things not love that had as we [184:10] might fairly suppose made us a gift of [184:14] immortal things no love that had robbed [184:17] us of immortal things this little moment [184:20] mercifully gave we are made to feel that [184:23] he's speaking of himself and of his [184:25] beloved where I have seen across the [184:28] Twilight wave the swan sail with her [184:32] young beneath her wings we have the [184:35] three-fold bit of the verse we do not [184:40] need any anecdotes about the swan about [184:43] how she sailed into a river and then to [184:47] Merit this verse and then forever into [184:51] my memory we know or at least I know [184:55] that I have heard something [184:57] Unforgettable and I may say of this what [185:01] hanslick said of music I cannot I can [185:05] recall it I can understand it not with a [185:09] mere reason but with a deeper [185:12] imagination but I cannot translate it [185:15] and I do not think it needs any [185:18] translation and since I have used the [185:22] word three-fold I am reminded of a [185:25] metaphor a metaphor by a Greek poet of [185:30] Alexandria he [185:37] wrote he wrote about the lion of the [185:42] threefold [185:44] night and this strikes me as being a [185:48] mighty lion when I looked into the notes [185:53] I found that the lion was Hercules and [185:58] that Hercules had been begotten by [186:01] Jupiter in a night that had the length [186:05] of three nights so that the pleasure of [186:08] the god might [186:10] be might be vast now this explanation I [186:17] think is quite Irrelevant in fact [186:21] perhaps it rather does damage to the [186:24] verse he provides us with a small [186:29] anecdote and I think he takes away [186:32] something from the from that riddle from [186:36] that wonderful riddle the [186:38] threefold the night the The Lion of a [186:42] three-fold night that should be enough [186:46] riddle with we have no need to read it [186:49] to read it the riddle is there I have [186:53] spoken of words I spoken of words [186:57] standing out in the beginning when men [187:01] invented them I have thought that the [187:04] word Thunder might be not only the sound [187:08] but the god and I have spoken of the [187:11] word night and when I speak of night I [187:15] am inevitably and happily for us I think [187:20] reminded of the last sentence the first [187:25] chapter in finigan week wherein Joy [187:31] speaks of the rivering Waters of the [187:36] hither and thering Waters of [187:44] night now this is and this is an extreme [187:48] example of an elaborate style we feel [187:52] that such a line could only have been [187:55] written after centuries of [187:58] literature we feel that that line is an [188:03] invention it's a poem it's a very [188:06] complex web as Stevenson would have had [188:09] it and yet I suspect that there was a [188:14] moment when the word night was quite as [188:19] impressive was quite as strange was [188:23] quite as all striking as this beautiful [188:29] winding [188:31] sentence the rivering Waters of the [188:34] heathering and the hither and withering [188:37] Waters [188:38] of [188:40] nature of course there are two ways of [188:44] using poetry at least two opposite ways [188:47] ways there are many others of course and [188:51] one of the ways of the poet is to use [188:55] common words and somehow to make them [188:58] UNC commmon somehow to [189:02] use to evolve Magic from them and I [189:07] suppose quite a good example would be [189:11] that very English poem made of [189:14] understatement of [189:16] Edward [189:17] London I have been young and now I'm not [189:20] too old and I have seen the righteous [189:23] forsaken his health his honor and his [189:27] quality taken this is not what we were [189:30] formerly told here we have plain [189:35] words we have I do a plain meaning or at [189:40] least a plain feeling and this is more [189:42] important but the words do not stand out [189:46] as they did and that's last the example [189:48] of joice and in this one this will be a [189:52] mere quotation it will be three words [189:58] and they run thus glitter Gates of Elf [190:02] in bone now glitter Gates is Joy's gift [190:07] to us and then you have Elfin bone of [190:11] course when Jo wrote this he was [190:14] thinking of the German for ivory elf and [190:18] Bine elf and Bine is of course a [190:21] distortion of elephant and Bine elephant [190:24] bone [190:26] but joy saw the possibilities of that [190:30] word and he translated it into English [190:34] and then you have Elfin Bor and I think [190:36] that Elin is more beautiful than Elfin [190:40] and besides as we have heard elant times [190:44] elant Vine so many times over they do [190:47] not come to us with that shock of [190:49] surprise with a shock of Amazement that [190:52] we find in that new and delicate word [190:57] Elin [190:59] bone so that we have two ways of writing [191:04] poetry people speak generally of a plain [191:08] style and of an elaborate style now I [191:12] think this is wrong because what is [191:15] important what is all meaning is the [191:18] fact that [191:21] poetry should be living or dead not that [191:26] the style should be plain or be [191:29] elaborate that depends on the poet we [191:32] may have for example very [191:36] striking poetry written plainly and that [191:40] poetry is to me no less admirable in [191:44] fact I sometimes think it is more [191:46] admirable than the other for [191:49] example when Stevenson and as I have [191:53] disagreed with Stevenson I want to [191:54] worship him now when Stevenson wrote his [192:00] Rec under the white and star Sky dig the [192:04] grave and Let Me Lie glad did I live and [192:07] gladly die and I laid me down with a [192:09] will here lies here he lies where he [192:12] long to [192:14] be no let this world be gra written for [192:18] me here he lies where he long to be home [192:21] is a sailor home from the sea and the [192:24] hunter home from the hill this verse is [192:28] plain language but of course it is not [192:31] it is plain and living but also I [192:36] suppose the poet must have worked very [192:39] hard to get it I do not think that such [192:42] lines as glad did I live and gladly die [192:46] come [192:47] except in those moments those very rare [192:50] moments when the Muse is [192:53] generous I think that our idea of words [192:58] being a mere algebra of words being an [193:01] algebra of symbols comes from the [193:05] dictionaries I do not want to be [193:07] ungrateful to dictionaries my favorite [193:09] reading would be Dr Johnson Dr SK the [193:15] and that comp opposite author the short [193:22] roord and yet I think that the fact of [193:26] having long cataloges of words and [193:28] explanations make us think that [193:31] explanations exhaust the words that any [193:35] one of those kinds the words can be [193:38] changed for another but I think we know [193:42] and the poet should feel that every word [193:49] that every word stands by [193:53] itself that every word is unique and we [193:58] get that feeling when a writer uses a [194:01] little known word for example we think [194:06] of the word sedulous as being a rather [194:11] faret but in a sense an interesting word [194:15] And yet when Stevenson I greet Robert Lu [194:18] Stevenson again when Stevenson wrote [194:22] that he played the sedulous ape to [194:25] hassle it then suddenly the word comes [194:28] into life so in this Theory the theory [194:32] is not mine of course I [194:35] suppose it may be I'm sure it is to be [194:38] found in other [194:41] authors so this idea of words beginning [194:45] as magic and being brought back to Magic [194:48] by poetry is I think a true one and now [194:53] we will come to another question and [194:56] this is quite important the question of [195:01] conviction when we read an author and we [195:06] may be thinking of verse we may thinking [195:08] of Pros it is all one I think it is [195:13] essential that we should believe in him [195:15] or rather that we should attain that [195:19] willing suspension of disbelief of which [195:23] kerage spoke when I spoke of elaborate [195:28] verses of words standing out I should [195:31] have remembered of course weave a circle [195:35] around him Thrice and close your eyes [195:37] with holy dread for he un honeyed you ha [195:39] fed and drunk the milk of paradise but [195:43] let us go and this will be the last [195:46] subject I should speak of today let us [195:49] speak about this conviction that is [195:55] needed it is a need of Aesthetics of [195:58] poetry both of poetry in Pros or in [196:03] verse I think that in the case of a [196:08] novel for example and why should we not [196:11] speak of novels when we're speaking of [196:13] poetry I think that in the case of a [196:15] novel [196:18] the our conviction lies in the fact that [196:22] we believe in the central character if [196:25] we believe in him all is well I am and I [196:30] hope this will not come as a heresy to [196:32] you I am not quite sure about the [196:38] adventures of [196:40] donot I may disbel in some of [196:44] them I think that some some of them [196:47] maybe exaggerated [196:51] I I feel quite sure that when the night [196:55] spoke to [196:57] Squire he [197:04] was he was [197:06] not weaving those long set speeches and [197:11] yet those things are not important what [197:14] is really important set speeches and yet [197:17] those things are not important what is [197:19] really important is the fact that I [197:22] believe in donot [197:24] himself that is why books such as Amin [197:29] such as aorin [197:31] lot or even unamuno vot Sano strike me [197:37] as somehow relevant for they take the [197:40] adventures too much in Earnest while I [197:44] really believe in the night himself [197:47] even if somebody told me that those [197:49] things had never happened I would still [197:51] go on believing in [197:53] donot as I believe in the character of a [197:56] friend I have had the luck to possess [198:01] many admirable friends and there are [198:04] many anecdotes told of them some of [198:07] those anecdotes have I am sorry to say I [198:10] am proud to say been coined by [198:13] myself but they are not false they're [198:16] essential [198:20] true the dequin he said that all [198:23] anecdotes are apocryphal I think that [198:26] had he cared to go deeper into the [198:28] matter he would have said that they are [198:30] historically apocryphal but essentially [198:34] true if a story is told of a man then [198:38] that story resembles him that story is a [198:41] symbol and when I think of such dear [198:45] friends of mine as [198:48] donot Mr pck Mr Sherlock Holmes Dr [198:52] Watson Huckleberry Finn perint and so on [198:57] I'm not sure I have many more friends I [199:00] feel that the men who wrote their [199:03] histories were drawing the long bow but [199:06] that the adventures the evolved were [199:10] mirrors mirrors or adjectives of [199:13] attributes of those men that is to say [199:16] if if to go back to one of the examples [199:20] we believe in Mr Sherlock Holmes then we [199:24] may look with duration on the Hound of [199:27] the basker vs we need not fear him so I [199:31] should say that what is important is our [199:35] believing in a character now in the case [199:38] of poetry there might seem to be [199:41] difference for a writer works with [199:45] metaphors now the metaphors need not be [199:48] believed in what is really important is [199:51] the fact that we should think that they [199:57] correspond to the writer's emotion that [200:01] is I should say quite it is [200:06] efficient for example [200:10] when well for example when lues wrote [200:15] about a sunset being [200:21] there is no need to worry about the [200:24] likeness or rather the UN likeness of [200:26] the sunset to a green peacock what is [200:31] important is that we should be made to [200:32] feel that he [200:35] felt that that he was stirred by the [200:38] sunset that he needed that [200:42] metaphor to convey his feelings to us [200:46] this is what I mean by conviction in [200:49] poetry this has of course little to do [200:53] with plain or what is called elaborate [200:57] language when Milton writes for example [201:00] and I'm sorry to say perhaps to reveal [201:03] to you that these are the last verses of [201:05] paradise regained when Milton wrote [201:10] unobserved he to his mother's house [201:13] private return the language is plain [201:15] enough but the same time it is dead well [201:19] when he wrote when I consider how my [201:22] light is spent year half my days in this [201:25] dark world and wide and so on the [201:28] language may be elaborate but it is a [201:31] living language and in that sense I [201:35] think that writers let us say writers [201:39] like [201:40] gong writers like John dun like William [201:44] Butler Yates like like James Joyce those [201:48] writers are [201:49] Justified [201:51] their their words their stances may be [201:56] far-fetched we may find strange things [202:00] in them but we are made to feel that the [202:04] emotion behind those words is a true one [202:08] and this should be sufficient this [202:11] should be sufficient for us to Tender [202:14] them our admiration I have spoken of [202:18] several poets today and I'm sorry to say [202:23] that in the last lecture but of course [202:26] this last lecture we have a personal [202:29] character I suppose we are all friends [202:32] now in my in the last lecture I shall [202:36] have to speak of a lesser poet a poet [202:40] whose words I never I never read but a [202:43] poet whose works I have to write [202:48] I shall speak of myself and I hope that [202:50] you will forgive me this quite [202:53] affectionate [202:55] [Music] [203:02] [Applause] [203:07] anticlimax lecture six a poet's [203:13] Creed ladies and gentlemen my purpose [203:17] was to speak about a poet's Creed but [203:24] looking into myself I have found that I [203:28] have some faltering kind of creed [203:30] perhaps it may be useful to me but [203:33] hardly to others in fact I think of all [203:37] poetical theories as being mere tools [203:40] for the writing of a poem and I suppose [203:43] there should be as many Creeds as many [203:47] religions as The Poets so though at the [203:52] end I would say something about my likes [203:57] and dislikes as writing of poetry I [204:01] think I will Begin by some personal the [204:07] memories the memories not only of a [204:11] writer but also of a reader for really I [204:16] think of myself as being essentially a [204:20] reader but of course as you are aware I [204:24] have ventured into writing but I think [204:27] that what I have read is of course far [204:30] more important than what I have written [204:33] for one reads what one likes and and one [204:37] writes not what one would like to write [204:40] but what what one is able to write my [204:45] memory can carries me back to certain [204:50] evening some 60 years ago [204:56] to my father's Library [205:02] Ines I see [205:04] him I see the gas light I could place my [205:10] hand on the shelves I know exactly where [205:13] to find Burton's Arabian Night [205:17] and prescot's conquest of Peru though of [205:20] course the library [205:23] exists if no longer and I go back to [205:28] that already ancient South American [205:31] evening and I see my father I'm seeing [205:36] him at this moment and I hear his voice [205:40] saying words that I understood [205:43] not but but yet that I [205:47] felt those words came from kids from [205:52] isod to a [205:54] Nightingale and of course I have reread [205:57] them ever so many times as you have but [206:00] I think I will go over them I think it [206:03] might please my father's ghost if he's [206:07] around the vers is I remember are those [206:11] that you're recalling at this moment [206:13] thou was not born for death Immortal [206:15] bird [206:16] no hungry Generations thread the down [206:19] the voice I hear this passing night was [206:22] heard in nation Days by Emperor and [206:24] clown perhaps the selfing song that [206:26] found a path to that heart of Ruth when [206:30] sick for whom she stood in tears am it's [206:32] the alien [206:34] corn well of [206:37] course I thought I knew all about words [206:40] all about language but when is a child [206:44] one one feels that one knows many things [206:48] but those words came as a revelation to [206:51] me of course I did not understand them [206:54] how could I understand those lines about [206:58] birds about animals being somehow [207:01] Eternal Timeless because they live in [207:04] the present and we are mortal because we [207:07] live in the past and in the future [207:09] because we remember a time when we did [207:12] not exist and we foresee a time when we [207:15] shall be dead well those verses came to [207:19] me but they came to [207:22] me through their music I had thought of [207:26] language as being let's say a way of [207:31] saying things of uttering complaints of [207:35] saying that one was glad or sad or so on [207:39] then when I heard those lines and I've [207:42] been hearing them in a sense ever since [207:47] I knew that language could also be a [207:52] music and a passion and thus was poetry [207:58] revealed to me I have toyed with an idea [208:03] the idea that though a man's life is [208:07] compounded of thousands and thousands of [208:12] moments and days yet those many instance [208:16] and those many days may be reduced to a [208:20] single one the moment when a man knows [208:24] who he is when he sees himself face to [208:27] face I suppose that when Judas kissed [208:33] Jesus if indeed he did so he felt at [208:37] that moment that he was a traitor that [208:40] to be a traitor was his Destiny and that [208:44] he was being loyal to that evil Destiny [208:48] we all Remember The Red Badge of Courage [208:52] the story of the man who does not know [208:55] whether he's a [208:56] coward or a brave man and then the woman [209:00] comes and he knows who he is [209:04] and when I [209:05] heard those verses of Kats I certainly I [209:10] felt that that was a great [209:13] experience I've been feeling it ever [209:16] since and perhaps since then as suppose [209:19] we may exaggerate for the purposes of a [209:21] lecture perhaps since then I thought of [209:26] myself as being [209:29] literary that is to say many things have [209:32] happened to me as to all men I have felt [209:35] joy in many things for example in [209:38] swimming in [209:41] riding in looking at a sunrise or a [209:45] sunset in being in love and so on but [209:48] somehow the central fact of my life has [209:52] been the existence of words and the [209:56] possibility of weaving those words into [209:59] poetry at first of course I was only a [210:03] reader or rather I think [210:07] that that the happiness of a reader is [210:10] beyond that of a writer for a reader [210:15] need [210:16] feel no trouble he need not he need feel [210:21] no anxiety he's merely out for Happiness [210:24] and happiness when you a reader is [210:28] frequent thus before I go on to speaking [210:32] of my literary output I would like to [210:36] say a few words about books that have [210:40] been important to me and I know that [210:43] this list will abound in a mission [210:46] as all lists do in fact the danger of [210:49] making a list is that the omissions [210:51] stand out that people think of you [210:54] being or sensitive I spoke few moments [210:59] ago about the Arabian nights and I spoke [211:03] of Boral Arabian kns but when I really [211:07] think about Arabian kns I am thinking [211:09] not of those many and ponderous and [211:13] pedantic or rather stilted volumes but [211:16] what I may call the true Arabian Nights [211:20] the Arabian kns of [211:21] galam and perhaps of Edward William Lane [211:27] I have done most of my reading in [211:29] English most books have come to me [211:33] through the English language and I am [211:35] duly grateful for that privilege when I [211:39] think of the Arabian Nights the first [211:42] feeling I have is a feeling of a vast [211:46] freedom and yet at the same time I know [211:51] that the book though vast and free is [211:56] limited to a few patterns we have for [211:59] example the number [212:04] three very frequently and we have no [212:09] characters or rather flat characters [212:12] except perhaps the silent barar and then [212:16] we have evil men and good men rewards [212:21] and punishments and magic rings and [212:23] talismans and so [212:25] on and though we are apt to think of [212:29] mere size as being somehow brutal yet I [212:33] think there are many books whose Essence [212:36] lies in their being lengthy for example [212:41] in the case of the Arabian knights we [212:43] must needs think that the book [212:46] is a large one that The Story Goes On we [212:50] may never come to the end of it we may [212:52] never have gone through all the Thousand [212:56] and One Nights but the fact that they [212:59] are there somehow [213:02] lends uh a wildness to the whole thing [213:06] we know that you can delve deeper that [213:08] you can room on and the Marvels The [213:12] Magicians the three beautiful sisters [213:15] and so [213:16] will always there awaiting us and there [213:20] are other books I would like to [213:23] recall and I think that one of the very [213:27] first was a huckleberry fin I have R it [213:32] ever so many times since and also [213:35] roughing it the first days in [213:37] California life on the Mississippi and [213:40] so on and now had I to analyze [213:43] Huckleberry fin I would say say that [213:47] perhaps in order to make to create a [213:51] great book perhaps only one Central and [213:56] one very simple fact is needed there [213:59] should be something pleasing to the [214:02] imagination in the very framework of the [214:05] book in the case of Huckleberry Finn we [214:08] feel that the idea of the black man and [214:15] the boy and the raft and the Mississippi [214:18] and the long nights those are somehow [214:22] agreeable to the imagination those are [214:24] accepted by the [214:28] imagination I also would like to say [214:31] something about Don kote that was one of [214:34] the first books I ever read through I [214:37] remember the very [214:39] inic and one knows so little about [214:42] oneself that when I read donot [214:46] I thought I read it because of the [214:48] pleasure I found in the archaic style [214:51] and in The Adventures of the night and [214:54] The Squire but now I think that my [214:58] pleasure lay elsewhere I think that it [215:02] came from the character of the night I'm [215:05] not sure now that I believe in the [215:08] adventures or in the conversations [215:10] between the KN and The Squire but I know [215:15] that I believe in the night's character [215:17] and I suppose that the adventures were [215:20] invented by cantes in order to show us [215:24] the character of the hero and the same [215:27] might be said of another book that one [215:31] may call a minor classic the same I [215:34] suppose might be said of Mr Sherlock [215:37] Holmes and Dr Watson I am I I don't I'm [215:42] not sure I believe in the Hound of the [215:46] baskets I sure I do not believe in being [215:50] terrified by a dog painted over with [215:53] linous paint but I'm sure that I believe [215:56] in Mr Sherlock Holmes and in the strange [216:01] friendship between Sherlock Holmes and [216:04] Dr [216:05] Watson and of course who never knows [216:08] what the future may bring as about the [216:10] future will bring all things in the long [216:13] run and so we imagine a moment when [216:18] donot and Sano Sherlock Holmes and Dr W [216:23] and Watson exist though all the adventur [216:28] for all I know been blotted out and yet [216:31] still men in other languages may go on [216:35] inventing [216:37] stories to fit those characters stories [216:42] that should be as mirrors to the [216:45] character matters this for all I know [216:48] may happen and now I will jump over the [216:52] ears and come and go to [216:55] Geneva I was then a very unhappy young [216:59] man supposed young men are fond of [217:03] Happiness they do their best to be unha [217:06] to be unhappy and they generally achieve [217:08] it and yet and then I was shamed because [217:12] I discovered an author who was doubtless [217:16] a very happy man it must have been [217:21] 1916 that he came to W wman and then I [217:25] felt ashamed of my unhappiness I felt [217:28] ashamed of having tried to be still more [217:30] unhappy by the reading of [217:38] dooi and now that I have read ReRe wal [217:42] Whitman his biographies I suppose that [217:44] perhaps when Walt Whitman read his [217:47] Leaves of Grass he may have said to [217:49] himself oh if only I were Walt Witman a [217:52] cosmos of man hat and the sun because [217:55] doubtless he was a very different kind [217:56] of man doubtless he evolved Walt Wiman [218:00] from himself a kind of fantastic the [218:04] projection then at the same time I also [218:08] discovered a very different writer I [218:11] also discovered and I was also [218:13] overwhelmed by him I also discovered [218:15] Thomas car I read s [218:21] res I can recall many of its pages I [218:26] knew them by heart and carile sent me to [218:32] the study of German I remember I bought [218:36] highness Lous intermo a German English [218:40] dictionary and after a time I found a [218:43] good dispense with dictionary and and [218:45] that I could go on reading about his [218:48] Nightingales and his moons and his pine [218:51] trees and his love and so on but what I [218:55] really wanted and what I did not find at [218:58] the time [219:00] was the idea of the [219:04] germanism [219:06] because the idea I suppose was evolved [219:10] not perhaps by the Germanic people [219:12] themselves but by a Roman gentleman that [219:15] itus and I was led by car to think I [219:19] could find it in German literature I [219:21] found many other things I'm very [219:24] grateful to carile for having sent me to [219:28] chenhow and to hling and to lesing and [219:33] so on but the idea I had the idea of men [219:40] not at all intellectual but of men given [219:44] over let us say [219:45] to loyalty to braveness to a manly [219:50] submission to Faith that I did not find [219:55] for example in the Nalan lead all that [219:58] seemed too romantic for me and I was to [220:01] find it years and years afterwards in [220:05] the north sagas and in the study of Old [220:08] English poetry there I found at last [220:12] what I had been looking for when I was a [220:14] young man [220:16] I found in Old English a harsh language [220:21] but a but a language whose harshness [220:23] made for a certain kind of beauty and [220:27] also very deep [220:29] feeling and perhaps no very [220:34] deep thinking but of course in poetry I [220:38] suppose feeling is enough if a feeling [220:41] comes through to you that is that should [220:44] be it's a [220:46] sufficient I was led to the study of Old [220:50] English by my inclination to the [220:54] metaphor I had read in lones that the [220:58] metaphor was the essential element of [221:01] literature and they accepted that dictum [221:05] Lon wrote that all words were originally [221:09] metaphors this is true but it is also [221:12] true that in order to understand most [221:15] words you have to forget about the fact [221:18] of their having of their being metaphors [221:21] for example if I say style should be [221:25] plain then I don't think we should [221:28] remember that style still loose meant an [221:32] pen and that plain means flat because in [221:36] that case I would never understand [221:39] it now I will go back to my Boyhood days [221:43] and remember [221:45] other authors who struck me I wonder if [221:49] it has been often remarked that PO and [221:53] Oscar [221:54] wild are really writers for boys at [222:00] least the stories of Po impressed me [222:03] when I was a boy and now I can hardly [222:06] reread them without feeling rather [222:10] uncomfortable over the style of the [222:12] author in fact I can quite understand [222:15] though I remember this here since we [222:18] were speaking ofano genius I can quite [222:20] understand what erson meant when he [222:23] called edar Alan the jingle [222:28] man and I suppose that this fact of [222:32] being a writer for boys might be applied [222:36] to many other [222:39] writers some in some cases it is unjust [222:43] in the case of Stevenson for example or [222:45] of Kling for though they write for boys [222:49] they also write for men but there are [222:51] other writers who one must read when one [222:54] is Young [222:56] because if one comes to them who one is [222:59] old and gray and full of days then the [223:03] reading of those writers can hardly be [223:06] pleasant it may be a blasphemy to say [223:10] that in order to to enjoy B and po we [223:14] should be young afterwards it is [223:17] difficult one has to put up with so many [223:20] things one has to think about history [223:23] and so on as to the metaphor I should [223:27] add that now I see that metaphor is a [223:32] far more complicated thing than I [223:34] thought it is not merely comparing a [223:38] thing to another saying the moon like [223:41] and so on no it may be done in a more [223:44] subtle way [223:45] I was thinking of Robert Frost you of [223:49] course you remember the the lines for I [223:53] have promises to keep and miles to go [223:57] before I sleep and miles to go before I [224:00] sleep now if we take the two [224:05] verses the first verse and miles to go [224:09] before I sleep is I suppose a statement [224:13] the poet thinking of miles and of sleep [224:18] while when he repeats those lines and [224:21] miles to go before a [224:24] sleep those verses are a metaphor for M [224:28] I suppose should stand for days for [224:32] years for a long stretch of time and [224:36] sleep I suppose should stand for death [224:40] perhaps I'm doing Frost no good by [224:43] pointing this out perhaps the pleasure [224:46] lies not in our translating miles into [224:50] years and sleep into death but rather in [224:55] feeling the implication and the same [224:57] thing might be said of that other very [225:00] fine poem of his acquainted with a KN in [225:04] the beginning I have been one acquainted [225:06] with a KN May mean literally what is [225:09] telling you but in the end [225:12] after one luminary clock against the sky [225:15] proclaim the time was neither wrong nor [225:18] right I have been one acquainted with a [225:20] night then you made to think of the [225:24] night as an image of evil of sexual evil [225:29] I [225:30] suppose I I spoke a moment ago about Don [225:36] kot Sherlock Holmes and I said that one [225:40] that I could believe in the characters [225:43] but not in the adventures and hardly in [225:45] the words that the authors put in their [225:48] mouths now I wonder where we could find [225:51] a book where the exact contrary occurred [225:55] could we find a book in whose characters [225:58] we disbelieved but where we might [226:02] believe the story and here I remember [226:06] another book that has struck [226:09] me I remember Melville's M dick because [226:15] I'm not sure that I believe in Captain [226:18] Ahab I'm not [226:20] sure that I believe in his Feud with a [226:24] white whale I can hardly tell the other [226:27] characters apart and yet I believe in [226:31] the story that you say believe in it as [226:34] a kind of parable though I don't know [226:36] exactly a parable of what I suppose it [226:40] should be a parable of a struggle [226:42] against evil of the wrong way of [226:45] fighting evil I wonder if there are any [226:48] books of which it might be said in the [226:51] Pilgrim's Progress I think I believe [226:54] both in the [226:56] parable both in the in the allegory and [227:00] in the characters this should be looked [227:04] into I [227:06] suppose well remember the gnostics said [227:11] that the only way to be rid of a sin was [227:16] to commit it because afterwards you [227:20] repented [227:22] and and I think that as regards [227:25] literature they were essentially right [227:29] for if I have attained to the happiness [227:34] of writing four or five tolerable Pages [227:38] after writing 15 tolerable volumes I [227:41] have come to that feat not only through [227:44] the many years [227:45] but also through the method of trial and [227:48] error I think I've committed not all the [227:51] possible mistakes because mistakes are [227:54] innumerable but many of them for example [227:58] I began as most young men do by thinking [228:03] that free verse is easier than the [228:06] regular forms of verse now I am quite [228:10] now I feel I am quite sure in thinking [228:14] that threee verse is far more difficult [228:19] than regular than the classic [228:22] forms and the proof [228:25] is if a proof be needed that literature [228:29] Begins by verse with I suppose the [228:33] explanation would be that once a pattern [228:35] is evolved a pattern for example of [228:39] rhymes of assonances of alliterations of [228:42] long or short syllables and so on [228:45] you only have to repeat the pattern [228:48] while if you attempt pros and pros of [228:51] course comes long afterwards then you [228:55] need a Stevenson pointed out a more [228:58] subtle pattern because the year is led [229:03] to expect something and then it does not [229:06] get what it expects but something else [229:08] is given to it and that something else [229:11] should be in a sense a a failure and [229:16] also it's a [229:18] satisfaction and so I should say that [229:21] unless you take the precaution of being [229:24] Walt Whitman or car Sandberg then free [229:27] verse is more difficult at least I have [229:32] found now when I'm near my Journey's End [229:36] that the classic forms of verse are [229:39] easier and another facility another [229:42] easiness May Li in the fact [229:45] that once you have written a certain [229:48] line that once you have resigned [229:50] yourself to a certain line then you have [229:52] committed yourself to a certain rhyme [229:55] and as Rhymes are not infinite then your [230:01] work is made easier for [230:04] you of course what is important is what [230:07] is behind the [230:09] verse I began by trying [230:14] as all young men do I began by trying to [230:18] disguise [230:20] myself at [230:22] first I was so mistaken that at the time [230:26] when I read carile and Whitman I thought [230:30] that car's way of writing Pros was the [230:33] only possible one and that Whitman's way [230:36] of writing verse was the only possible [230:38] one and I made I made no attempt [230:43] whatever to reconcile this very strange [230:46] fact of having two opposite men having [230:49] attained the Perfections of pros and and [230:52] of [230:52] ver when I began writing I always said [230:56] to myself that my ideas were very [231:01] shallow that if a reader saw through [231:04] them he would despise me and so I [231:07] disguised myself I disguised myself the [231:10] beginning I try to be a 17th Century [231:15] Spanish writer with a certain knowledge [231:17] of [231:20] Latin my knowledge of Latin was quite [231:23] slight I do not think of myself now as a [231:26] 17th century Spanish [231:28] writer and my attempt to be Sir Thomas [231:32] brown in Spanish failed [231:35] utterly who perhaps I evolved quite a [231:38] dozen fine sounding lines of course I [231:42] was out for purple patches now I think [231:45] that purple patches are a mistake I [231:47] think they are a mistake because they're [231:50] a sign of vanity and so the reader [231:54] thinks of them as being signs of vanity [231:57] and if the reader thinks of you and he [232:00] thinks that you have a moral effect [232:02] there is no reason whatever why he [232:04] should admire you or put up with you [232:07] then I fell into a very common mistake I [232:11] did my best to be of all things [232:16] modern now there is a character in [232:22] GES in GES wihelm meisters lar the [232:28] character says well you may say of me [232:31] what you like but nobody will deny that [232:33] I am a [232:34] [Music] [232:36] contemporary now I see no difference [232:39] whatever between that quite absurd [232:42] character in G's novel and the wish to [232:45] be modern because we are modern we don't [232:49] have to strive to be modern it is not a [232:53] case of subject matter of style I [232:56] suppose that if you look into Sir Walter [232:59] Scott's Ivan who or to take a l [233:02] different example into flber salambo you [233:07] may tell the [233:09] date when those books were written [233:13] though FL spoke of salambo as a Roman [233:17] kinoa any reader worth his salt would [233:21] know after reading the first page that [233:24] the book was not written in Carthage but [233:26] it was written by a very intelligent [233:29] Frenchman of the 19th century and the St [233:32] and who were not taken in by the castles [233:37] and the Knights and the sax and swier [233:39] and so on when all the time they were [233:42] reading an 18th or 19th century author [233:48] besides we are modern by the very simple [233:51] fact that we live in the present no [233:56] nobody has discovered as yet the art of [233:59] living in the past and not even the [234:01] futurist have discovered the secret of [234:03] living in the future we are modern [234:06] whether we want it or not and perhaps [234:10] the very fact of my attacking modernity [234:13] now is in way I suppose a way of being [234:17] modern [234:19] also when I began writing [234:23] stories I did my best to trick them out [234:28] I labored over the [234:30] style sometimes they were hidden under [234:33] the [234:35] many the many over layings for example I [234:39] thought of a quite good [234:42] plot then I wrote the story ill Immortal [234:47] now the idea behind that story and the [234:51] idea will come as a surprise to any of [234:54] you who have read the story is the idea [234:57] that if a man were Immortal then in the [235:01] long run and the Run would be long of [235:04] course since it would be [235:06] endless then in the long run he would [235:10] have said all things done all things [235:13] written all things and then I took as my [235:17] example Homer I thought of Homer if [235:21] indeed he existed as having written his [235:24] ilot then Homer would go on living and [235:27] then he would change as the generations [235:29] of men have changed and then of course [235:32] he would forget his Greek in due time [235:35] you would forget that he had been Homer [235:38] and a moment may come when you would [235:40] think of Pope's translation of Homer as [235:43] being not only a fine work of art indeed [235:46] it is but as being true to the [235:50] original but that idea of Homer [235:53] forgetting that it was Homer that idea [235:56] is hidden under the many structures i w [236:02] around the book and indeed when i r that [236:06] story a couple of years ago I found it [236:09] awareness of the Flesh and I had to go [236:13] back to my my old plan to see that the [236:16] story would have been quite good had I [236:19] been content to write it down simply and [236:22] not to permit so many purple patches and [236:28] so many strange adjectives and and [236:32] metaphors now I think I've come not to [236:36] certain in wisdom but perhaps to a [236:39] certain [236:41] sense [236:42] I I think of myself as a writer and what [236:47] do what does being a writer mean to me [236:51] it means simply being true being true to [236:56] my [236:57] imagination that is to say when I write [237:00] something I do not think of it as being [237:03] true to fact to Mere fact since mere [237:07] fact after Ro is a web of circumstances [237:11] and accidents but of being through the [237:14] something deeper that you say when I [237:16] write a story I I write it because [237:21] somehow I believe in it not as One [237:24] Believes In mere history but as One [237:26] Believes In a dream or in a ideal or in [237:29] an ideal [237:31] and I think that perhaps you led astray [237:36] my one of the studies I value most the [237:40] study of the history of literature I [237:43] wonder [237:44] and I hope this is not a blasphemy I [237:47] wonder if you're not too aware of [237:52] History because being aware of the [237:55] history of literature or of any other [237:57] art for that matter is really a form of [238:01] unbelieving a form of skepticism if I [238:05] say to myself for example that [238:08] Wordsworth or Verlin were very good 19th [238:13] century poets [238:15] then I may fall into danger of thinking [238:18] that time somehow has destroyed them [238:22] that they they're not as good now as [238:24] they were and yet I think the ancient [238:28] idea was a braver one the idea that [238:32] Perfection might be allowed to Art [238:35] without taking into account the [238:38] dates I have read several histories of [238:41] Indian philosophy and the author [238:45] Englishmen Germans Frenchmen Americans [238:48] and so on always wonder at the facts [238:52] that the that in India people have no [238:55] historical sense that they treat all [238:58] thinkers as if they were contemporary [239:01] that they translate the words of a [239:03] Nation philosophy into the let us say [239:07] the modern jargon of of today philosophy [239:12] but this stands for something [239:15] this stands for the idea that one [239:18] believes in philosophy or one believes [239:21] in poetry that things beautiful once can [239:27] go on being beautiful still and though I [239:31] suppose I'm being quite a historic when [239:33] I say this since of course the meanings [239:36] of words are changing the connotations [239:39] of words are changing it still I think [239:42] that there are versus in virgin for [239:46] example I wonder if I'm scanning it as I [239:49] should because my Latin is very Rusty [239:52] for example I suppose that when Virgin [239:59] wrote or that when an Old English poet [240:04] wrote noran new day and so on or when we [240:08] read for example music to hear why hear [240:11] is so music sadly sweet with s War not [240:15] Joy Delights in joy I think that somehow [240:18] we are Beyond time I think that there is [240:22] an eternity in Beauty and this of course [240:26] is what kits had in mind when he wrote a [240:30] thing of beauty is a joy forever we [240:34] accept this verse but you accept it [240:37] somehow as a kind of right as a kind of [240:40] formula and yet sometimes I have been [240:45] sometimes I am well courage for and [240:48] hopeful enough courageous and hopeful [240:51] enough to think that it may be true that [240:56] the men right in time the so old men are [241:00] involved in the circumstances and [241:02] accidents and failures of time somehow [241:08] things of [241:09] Eternal Beauty may be achieved [241:15] when I write I try as I have said to be [241:19] loyal to the [241:21] dream not of being loyal to [241:24] circumstances of course in my [241:28] stories people tell me I should speak [241:31] about them in my story there are true [241:34] circumstances but somehow I have felt [241:37] that those circumstances should always [241:40] be told with a certain amount of untruth [241:44] I think there is no satisfaction in [241:46] telling a story as it actually happened [241:49] you have to change things even if we [241:51] think them is significant if not we [241:54] should not think of ourselves as artists [241:57] but perhaps as meere well mere [242:00] journalists or mere historians though I [242:05] suppose all true historians have known [242:07] that they can be quite as imaginative as [242:12] novelists for example when we read [242:15] Gibbon as suppose the pleasure we get [242:17] from Gibbon is quite akin to the [242:21] pleasure we get from reading a great [242:25] novelist after [242:27] all he knew very little about his [242:30] characters I suppose he had to imagine [242:33] the circumstances I suppose he must have [242:35] thought of himself as having created in [242:38] a sense the decline and fall of the [242:41] Roman Empire and he did it so [242:44] wonderfully that I do not care to accept [242:47] any other [242:58] explanation so that had I to give advice [243:03] the writers and I do not think they need [243:06] it because everyone has to find all [243:08] things by himself I would give them [243:13] simply this one I would ask them to [243:15] Tamper as little as they can with their [243:18] own work I do not think tinkering is any [243:21] good I think that a moment comes when [243:24] one has found out what one can do when [243:28] one has found out once's natural voice [243:32] once's Rhythm and then I do not think [243:36] slight [243:37] inundations should prove [243:41] useful when I write I think not of a [243:45] reader because a reader is of course an [243:48] imaginary character I do not think of [243:51] myself perhaps I am an imaginary [243:53] character [243:54] also I think of what I am trying to [243:59] convey and I do my best not to spoil it [244:03] when I was young I believed in [244:06] expression I could read croch and the [244:09] reading of croch did me no good [244:15] I wanted to express everything I thought [244:18] for example that if I needed a sunset [244:22] then I should [244:24] find the exact word for a sunset or the [244:29] exact or rather the most surprising [244:32] metaphor and now I have come to a [244:35] conclusion and this conclusion may sound [244:38] sad the conclusion is that I no longer [244:41] believe in expression I only believe in [244:45] illusion because after all what are [244:48] words words are symbols for shared [244:53] memories if I use a word then you should [244:58] have experience of what the word stands [245:00] for if not the word means nothing to you [245:05] and I think we can only allude we can [245:08] only try to make the reader imagine I [245:12] think that the reader if he's quick [245:15] enough can be satisfied without merely [245:18] hinting at something and this makes I [245:21] think for efficiency and in my own case [245:25] it also makes for [245:28] laziness I have been asked why I have [245:32] never attempted a [245:33] novel well laziness of course is the [245:36] first explanation but there is another [245:38] one I have never read any novel without [245:43] feeling a certain in weariness I think [245:45] that novels include padding I think that [245:48] padding may be an essential part of the [245:50] novel for all I know and yet I have read [245:53] many short stories over and over again [245:57] and I find for example that in a short [246:00] story by Henry James over rard Kipling [246:05] you get quite as much comp complexity [246:08] and in a more pleasurable way as you may [246:12] get out of a long [246:14] and I think that this is what my Creed [246:19] comes to when I promised a poet's Creed [246:24] I thought very credulously that once I [246:27] had given five lectures I will be made [246:30] by the fact of having given five [246:33] lectures I would be I would evolve a [246:36] Creed of some [246:37] kind but I think I owe it to you to say [246:42] that I know I have no particular Creed [246:45] except those few precautions and [246:48] misgivings I have been talking to you [246:55] about I try when I writing something I I [247:00] try not to understand it I do not think [247:03] intelligence has much to do with the [247:06] work of a writer I think that one of the [247:11] sins of modern literature is a fact that [247:15] it is too self-conscious for example I [247:19] think of French literature as being one [247:22] of the great literatures in the world I [247:24] don't suppose anybody could doubt that [247:26] and yet I have been made to feel how the [247:30] authors are generally too self-conscious [247:34] I suppose a French writer Begins by [247:37] defining himself before he quite knows [247:40] what he is going to write and so he says [247:43] what should for example a Catholic born [247:45] in such and such a province and being a [247:47] bit of a socialist right or how should [247:51] we WR after the second world [247:55] war and I suppose there are many people [247:58] all over the world who labor under those [248:01] illusory problems when I write and of [248:05] course I may not be a fair example but [248:07] merely an awful [248:09] warning when I write I try to forget [248:13] what all about myself I forget about my [248:15] personal circumstances I do not try as I [248:19] tried once to be a South American [248:23] writer I merely try to convey what the [248:28] dream is and if the dream be a dim one [248:31] and in my case it generally is I do not [248:35] try to beautify it or even to understand [248:39] it and maybe I have done well for every [248:43] time time I read an article about me and [248:47] somehow there seem to be quite a people [248:50] quite a lot of people doing that sort of [248:52] thing I am [248:53] generally amazed and very grateful for [248:57] the Deep meanings that I read into [249:01] quite halfhazard jottings of [249:05] Mind of course I grateful to them for I [249:08] think of [249:10] writing as being a kind of [249:14] the [249:14] collaboration that is to say the reader [249:17] does his part of the word of the the [249:20] work he's enriching the book and the [249:23] same thing happens as oppose when one is [249:26] lecturing you may think that now and [249:29] then I have given a good lecture in that [249:32] case I have to congratulate you because [249:34] after all you have been working with me [249:36] had it not been for you I don't think [249:38] the lecture would have seemed [249:39] particularly good or even tolerably [249:43] I hope that you have been collaborating [249:45] with me tonight and since this night is [249:48] different from other nights I would like [249:50] to say something about myself because I [249:55] came to America 6 months ago in my [250:01] country I am [250:03] practically to repeat the title of a [250:06] famous book by Wells I'm practically The [250:09] Invisible Man and [250:12] here I am somehow [250:14] visible here people have read me they [250:18] have read me so much that they [250:19] cross-examine me on stories I forgotten [250:22] all [250:25] about they asked me why did so and [250:31] so why so and so was silent before he [250:35] answered and then I wonder who so and so [250:40] was why he was silent what he answered [250:48] well and then I hesitate to tell them [250:51] the truth I say that so and so was [250:53] silent before he answered because one [250:56] gener is silent before one [251:03] [Applause] [251:09] answers and yet all the things have made [251:12] me happy [251:13] I think that you're quite mistaken if [251:16] you admire I wonder if you do my writing [251:20] but I think of it as a very generous [251:24] mistake I think that one should try to [251:26] believe in things even if they let you [251:29] down afterwards and if I am joking now I [251:33] am [251:34] joking well because I feel something [251:38] within me I am joking because I really [251:42] feel what this means to me I know that I [251:46] shall look back on this night that I [251:49] shall wonder why did not I say what I [251:52] should have said why did not I say what [251:56] this month in America have meant to me [251:59] what all these unknown unknown friends [252:01] have meant to me but I suppose that [252:04] somehow my feeling is coming through to [252:07] you I been asked to say some verses of [252:12] mine [252:14] I will go over a Sonet the Sonet on [252:18] Spinosa the fact that many of you may [252:21] have no Spanish will make it a finer son [252:25] of [252:27] course and as I have said that meaning [252:30] is not important that what is important [252:33] is's a certain music a certain way of [252:37] saying things maybe though the music may [252:40] not be there you will feel it or rather [252:44] since I know that you're very kind you [252:46] will invent it for me now we come on to [253:12] Sonet for [253:34] [Applause] [253:35] [Music] [253:45] [Applause]