更具體地說,人類首次進入了“全球性災難時代”[7]。第二次世界大戰不僅讓整整一代人承受了空前的痛苦,而且讓人類從此永遠生活在原子彈的陰影之中。人類不僅難以擺脫大屠殺和集中營的噩夢,而且深陷各類冷戰和“熱戰”之中(從朝鮮戰爭、越南戰爭、阿富汗戰爭一直到伊拉克戰爭),一次次舊疼未除,又添新痛。著名美國詩人金斯堡在1956年的發問和怒吼如今仍然有效:“美利堅,我們何時才會終止對人類的爭戰?/滾你的蛋,滾你的原子彈。”[8]另一層空前的慘痛源自生態的惡化,就如埃爾德所說,人類進入了“環境大災難時代”,“生物圈受傷了,而侵害它的是我們自己”。[9]或如摩溫(William S.Merwin,1927— )在《瀕臨滅絕》(“For a Coming Extinction”)一詩中所說,人類正在把灰鯨“送上生命的歸程”[10],其實是在把自己送上絕路。
除了痛苦,還有焦慮。偉大的詩人奧登(W.H.Auden,1907—1973)曾經干脆以《焦慮的時代》(The Age of Anxiety)為題目,寫下了著名長詩,其中表達了因“經濟蕭條、納粹的崛起、極權主義、第二次世界大戰、大屠殺、原子彈和冷戰”而引發的焦慮,因此有人干脆稱“焦慮就是奧登的繆斯”。[11]事實上,焦慮何止是奧登的繆斯!在當代的優秀詩作中,幾乎全都彌漫著焦慮。
再說與未來的溝通。尋求過去,是為了溝通未來。上文所說的奧爾和萊文等人都深受濟慈詩風的浸染。更確切地說,他們的詩風主動靠攏濟慈,其最主要的目的是為了向后人傳遞一種信念。如赫希所說,萊文的詩歌“越來越強烈地表達出濟慈式的信念,即相信人生的可能性是無邊無際的”。[38]他的一首詩歌就叫《信念》,其中寫道,詩人的呼吸可以傳遞給“任何人,只要他能/相信生命會回歸/一而再地回歸,永無止境/總帶著相同的面龐”[39]。另一位美國詩人沃倫(Robert Penn Warren,1905—1989)以“記憶式詩人”(poet of memory)和“歷史感”(historical sense)著稱,不過正如瓦利斯所說:“在沃倫的作品里,回憶加強并加深了現在,而且向未來開放。”[40]事實上,沃倫還寫過直接面向未來的詩歌,如詩集《希望》(Promises,1957),其中一首組詩題為“獻給一位城堡廢墟中的一歲小姑娘”(“To a Little Girl,One Year Old,in a Ruined Fortress”),包含了這樣兩句詩行:“你在燦爛金光中蹦跳。/你在明亮空氣中魚躍。”[41]熟悉沃倫的人都知道,他的詩歌大都充滿了歷史的沉重感,如對血淚斑斑的奴隸史的追憶等,然而此處出現了極其明快的詩句,這是因為他從兒童的生命力中看到了希望,看到了未來。須特別一提的是,此處輕快的詩句離不開沉重歷史感的襯托——蒼涼的“城堡廢墟”和在燦爛金光中魚躍的小女孩兒之間形成了張力,形成了上文所說的擺渡關系,其間的深意令人回味。
支撐上述美感的,是當代人類的尊嚴。前文提到,第二次世界大戰以來的人類社會歷經苦難,程度空前,因而在可供詩人選擇的題材中,挫折多于成功,失敗多于勝利。不過,恰如博爾赫斯所說,“在失敗中總有一種特有的尊嚴,而這種尊嚴卻鮮少在勝利者身上找得到”。[45]應該說,當代詩歌中最美的,莫過于這種尊嚴。這一情形可以在古今兩位大詩人——華茲華斯和拉金——的對比中得到印證。假如華茲華斯當年還可以從記憶中的水仙花中汲取慰藉和力量,來抵御工業化/城市化漩渦中的喧囂浮華,那么拉金的記憶中只剩下了滿目凄涼的景象。在一次采訪會談中,拉金留下了一句名言:“喪失之于我,猶如水仙花之于華茲華斯(Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth)。”[46]華茲華斯也遭受了喪失之痛,但是他還有水仙花,而拉金只能直面喪失親人、喪失清潔環境、喪失家園(尤其是精神家園)后的廢墟,所以他的喪失之痛遠甚于華茲華斯。不過,在體現尊嚴及其美感方面,拉金并不亞于華茲華斯。小詩《廣播》(“Broadcast”,1962)可作一例。該詩描寫“我”在廣播里收聽音樂會現場直播,并想象現場女友的情景:
[5] Martin Heidegger,“H?lderlin and the Essence of Poetry”,in David H.Richter ed.,The Critical Tradition:Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends,Boston:Bedford/St.Martin’s,2007,p.619.
[7] 該說法的英文原文是“an age of global catastrophe”,John Elder語,詳見“Nature’s Refrain in American Poetry”,in Jay Parini and Brett C.Miller eds.,The Columbia History of American Poetry,Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2005,p.726.
[8] Allen Ginsberg,“America”,in George McMichael ed.,Anthology of American Literature,Vol.II,New York:Macmillan,1980,p.1643.
[9] John Elder,“Nature’s Refrain in American Poetry”,in Jay Parini and Brett C.Miller eds.,The Columbia History of American Poetry,Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2005,p.726.
[11] Kevin Dettmar and Jennifer Wicke,“W.H.Auden”,in David Damrosch ed.,The Longman Anthology of British Literature,Vol.2C,New York:Longman,1999,p.2657.
[15] George Orwell,“Politics and the English Language”,in David Damrosch ed.,The Longman Anthology of British Literature,Vol.2C,New York:Longman,1999,p.2708.
[16] W.H.Auden,“Writing”,in David Damrosch ed.,The Longman Anthology of British Literature,Vol.2C,New York:Longman,1999,pp.2674-2675.
[17] Philip Larkin,“Talking in Bed”,in David Damrosch ed.,The Longman Anthology of British Literature,Vol.2C,New York:Longman,1999,p.2834.
[25] Seamus Heaney,“Feeling into Words”,in David Damrosch ed.,The Longman Anthology of British Literature,Vol.2C,New York:Longman,1999,pp.2844-2848.
[26] Kevin Dettmar and Jennifer Wicke,“W.H.Auden”,in David Damrosch ed.,The Longman Anthology of British Literature,Vol.2C,New York:Longman,1999,p.2657.
[27] W.H.Auden,“In Memory of W.B.Yeats”,in David Damrosch ed.,The Longman Anthology of British Literature,Vol.2C,New York:Longman,1999,p.2660.
[28] Jay Parini,“Introduction”,in Jay Parini and Brett C.Miller eds.,The Columbia History of American Poetry,Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2005,p.xxix.
[34] Diane Wood Middlebrook,“What Was Confessional Poetry?”,in Jay Parini and Brett C.Miller eds.,The Columbia History of American Poetry,Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2005,p.635.
[35] Ann Charters,“Beat Poetry and the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance”,in The Columbia History of American Poetry,Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2005,p.595.
[36] Edward Hirsch,“Visionary Poetics of Levine and Wright”,in The Columbia History of American Poetry,Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2005,p.779.
[37] Gregory Orr,“The Postconfessional Lyric”,in The Columbia History of American Poetry,Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2005,p.654.
[38] Edward Hirsch,“Visionary Poetics of Levine and Wright”,The Columbia History of American Poetry,Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2005,p.779.
[40] Patricia Wallace,“Warren,with Ransom and Tate”,in The Columbia History of American Poetry,Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2005,p.502.
[41] Robert Penn Warren,“To a Little Girl,One Year Old,in a Ruined Fortress”,in John Burt ed.,Selected Poems of Robert Penn Warren,Baton Rouge:Louisiana State University Press,2001,p.69.
[46] 轉引自Kevin Dettmar and Jennifer Wicke,“Philip Larkin”,in David Damrosch ed.,The Longman Anthology of British Literature,Vol.2C,New York:Longman,1999,p.2832。
[51] 轉引自Kevin Dettmar and Jennifer Wicke,“Derek Walcott”,in David Damrosch ed.,The Longman Anthology of British Literature,Vol.2C,New York:Longman,1999,p.2888。
[52] 轉引自Kevin Dettmar and Jennifer Wicke,“Derek Walcott”,in David Damrosch ed.,The Longman Anthology of British Literature,Vol.2C,New York:Longman,1999,p.2889。
[53] Derek Walcott,“Midsummer”,in David Damrosch ed.,The Longman Anthology of British Literature,Vol.2C,New York:Longman,1999,p.2895.