沃尔特 •惠特曼
在序言中，惠特曼认为自己
是一个新的诗人，一个不分
性别、不分种族、不分年龄、
不分阶级的诗人。
Front-piece
Portrait of the poet
In the preface, Whitman
perceives himself to be the
new Poet, a poet of both
sexes, all races, all ages,
and all classes of people.
Inscriptions
铭言集
By the Roadside From Noon to Star by
路边之歌
Night
从正午到星光之夜
Children of Adam
Drum Taps
亚当的子孙
桴鼓集
Songs of Parting
Calamus
芦笛集
Memories of
President Lincoln
林肯总统纪念集
Birds of Passage
Autumn Rivulets
候鸟集
秋之溪水
Sea-Drift
Whispers of
海流集
Heavenly Death
神圣的死的低语
别离之歌
Sands at Seventy
七十生涯
Good-Bye My Fancy
再见了，我的幻想
Contributions of Whitman 惠特曼的贡献
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Whitman made the city and urban living conditions
suitable settings for poetry. 惠特曼使城市和城市生活条
件成为诗歌的适宜场所。
The central metaphor, the unity of self with all other
selves, is unique in American poetry. 核心的隐喻是自我
与其他所有自我的统一，这在美国诗歌中是独一无二的。
In his remarkable use of sex and sexual imagery,
Whitman broke new ground in American writing.
He introduced free verse into American poetry —modern
poetry thrives on this poetic form. 他将自由诗引入美国诗
歌——现代诗歌正是在这种诗歌形式的基础上发展起来的
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我相信你，我的灵魂，那另一个我决不可向你低头，
你也决不可向他低头。
请随我在草上悠闲地漫步，拔松你喉头的堵塞吧，
我要的不是词句、音乐或韵脚，不是惯例或演讲，甚至连
最好的也不要，
我喜欢的只是暂时的安静，你那有节制的声音的低吟。
我记得我们是如何一度在这样一个明亮的夏天的早晨睡在
一起的，
你是怎样把头横在我臀部，轻柔地翻转在我身上的，
又从我胸口解开衬衣，用你的舌头直探我赤裸的心脏，
直到你摸到我的胡须，直到你抱住了我的双脚。
超越人间一切雄辩的安宁和认识立即在我四周升起并扩散，
我知道上帝的手就是我自己的许诺，
我知道上帝的精神就是我自己的兄弟，
所有世间的男子也都是我的兄弟，所有的女子都是我的姊妹和情侣，
造化用来加固龙骨的木料就是爱，
田野里直立或低头的叶子是无穷无尽的，
叶下的洞孔里是褐色的蚂蚁，
还有曲栏上苦踪的斑痕，乱石堆，接骨木，毛蕊花和商陆。
² It is poetry that has an irregular rhythm and line length, and
that attempts to avoid any predetermined verse structure; it
uses the cadences of natural speech 自然语言的抑扬顿挫.
² Elements of Free Verse
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Assonance韵
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Alliteration头韵法 Repetition of the same sounds at beginning of words.
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Parallel Structure 平行结构 Repetition of words, phrases, or sentences.
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Imagery 意象，比喻
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Catalog 目录
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Cadence抑扬顿挫 Rhythmic rising and falling of the voice
when reading poetry
Repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.
Language that produces pictures in the mind.
List of types of people, situation or objects.
21 July Concord Masstts. 1855
Dear Sir,
I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of
"Leaves of Grass." I find it the most extraordinary
piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet
contributed... I greet you at the beginning of a great
career, which yet must have had a long foreground
somewhere for such a start…
R. W. Emerson
No title
in 1855
“Poem of Walt Whitman, an American”
in 1856
“Walt Whitman” in 1860
“Song of Myself” in 1881
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Who is the poet celebrating?
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Why does he observe “a spear of
summer grass”?
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What is the rhetorical device of
line 7? What is the poet saying?
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What do lines 10-13 indicate?
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1264y1U7ux/?spm_id_from=333.788.recommend_more_video.-1
Section 1
我赞美我自己，歌唱我自己
I CELEBRATE myself, and sing myself,
我所采取的你也将采取，
因为属于我的每一个原子也
And what I assume you shall assume,
同样属于你。
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. 我邀请我的灵魂和我一道闲
I loafe and invite my soul,
游，
我俯身悠然观察着一片夏日
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of
的草叶。
summer grass.
我的舌，我血液的每个原子
My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this
，是在这片土壤，这个空气
soil, this air,
里形成的，
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, 是这里的父母生下的，父母
的父母也是在这里生下的，
and their parents the same,
他们的父母也一样，
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
我，现在三十七岁，一生下
Hoping to cease not till death.
身体就十分健康
希望永远如此，直到死去。
Creeds and schools in abeyance,
信条和学派暂时不论，
Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but
后退一步，明了它们当前的
never forgotten,
情况已足，但也绝不是忘记,
不论我从善从恶，我允许随
I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every
意发表意见，
hazard,
让自然尽情地以原始的活力
Nature without check with original energy.
说话。
A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.
Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark, and
say Whose?
Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation.
Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,
And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones,
Growing among black folks as among white,
Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same,
I receive them the same.
And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.
Tenderly will I use you curling grass,
It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men,
It may be if I had known them I would have loved them,
It may be you are from old people, or from offspring taken soon out of their mothers'
laps,
And here you are the mothers' laps.
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一个小孩说，什么是草？他双手满满的捧了一把草给我看；
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我哪能回答这小孩？我并不比他知道得多。
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我猜想它必定是我个性的旗帜，由代表希望的绿色物质所织成。
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我猜想它或者是上帝的手帕，一种故意抛下的带香味的礼物和纪念品，
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在四角某处记有物主的名字，是为了让我们看到，并让我们问是谁的？
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我猜想这青草或者就是小孩，是植物界所生的婴儿。
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我猜想它或者是一种统一的象形文字，
其含义：在宽广和狭窄的地方都一样萌芽，
在黑人和白人之中都一样生长，
凯纳克人，塔卡荷人，国会议员，傻老汉，我给予他们的完全一样，
我对待他们也一样。
现在我看它像是坟墓里未修剪的美发。
卷曲的草，我愿以柔情待你，
你或者是从青年人胸脯上长出来的，
倘若我认识他们，我会爱他们，
或者你是从老人、女子、很快脱离了母体的婴儿那里长出来的。
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To Whitman, the self is both individual and universal. Man has an
individual self; the world has a universal self. The poet wishes to
maintain the identity of his individual self, and yet he desires to
merge it with the universal self, which involves the identification of
the poet’s self with mankind and the mystical union of the poet with
God, the Absolute self.
在惠特曼看来，自我既是个体的，也是普遍的。人有
独立的自我; 世界有一个普遍的自我。诗人希望保持
他的个人自我的身份，但他又希望它与普遍的自我合
并，这包括诗人的自我与人类的认同，诗人与上帝
的神秘的结合，绝对的自我。
Section 1
我赞美我自己，歌唱我自己
I CELEBRATE myself, and sing myself,
我所采取的你也将采取，
因为属于我的每一个原子也
And what I assume you shall assume,
同样属于你。
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. 我邀请我的灵魂和我一道闲
I loafe and invite my soul,
游，
我俯身悠然观察着一片夏日
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of
的草叶。
summer grass.
我的舌，我血液的每个原子
My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this
，是在这片土壤，这个空气
soil, this air,
里形成的，
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, 是这里的父母生下的，父母
的父母也是在这里生下的，
and their parents the same,
他们的父母也一样，
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
我，现在三十七岁，一生下
Hoping to cease not till death.
身体就十分健康
希望永远如此，直到死去。
Creeds and schools in abeyance,
信条和学派暂时不论，
Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but
后退一步，明了它们当前的
never forgotten,
情况已足，但也绝不是忘记,
不论我从善从恶，我允许随
I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every
意发表意见，
hazard,
让自然尽情地以原始的活力
Nature without check with original energy.
说话。
The last stanza:
èHe acknowledges the existence of formal knowledge,
profession and education, "creeds and schools."
他承认正规的知识、职业和教育、“信条和学校”的存在。
èHe turns to something much more invigorating, much
more essential. 他转向了一些更有活力、更重要的东西。
He remains open to the influence of "nature without check
with original energy," whether "good or bad." The speaker
embraces the raw, unpredictable, and powerful forces of
nature.
èWhitman loved and respected nature, and praised nature
for its beauty and original energy. He regarded nature as a
teacher that had taught him to see things from nature’s
perspective instead of human’s.
In part ten he told us his experience in walking the
wilderness. He went to the mountain, to the sea and
to take part in the marriage ceremony of an Indian
couple. At last he told us an experience of saving a
runaway slave, which showed his attitude toward
slavery.
他给我们讲了他在野外散步的经历。他去了山上，去
了海边，去参加了一对印度夫妇的婚礼。最后他给我
们讲了一个解救逃跑奴隶的经历，从中可以看出他对
奴隶制的态度。
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1264y1U7ux?p=10
我独自在遥远的荒山野外狩猎，
漫游而惊奇于我的轻快和昂扬，
在天晚时选择了一个安全的地方过夜，
烧起一把火，烤熟了刚猎获到的野味，
我酣睡在集拢来的叶子上，我的狗和枪躺在我的身旁。
高张风帆的美国人的快船，冲过了闪电和急雨，
我的眼睛凝望着陆地，我在船首上弯着腰，或者在舱面上欢快地叫笑
水手们和拾蚌的人很早就起来等待着我，
我将裤脚塞在靴筒里，上岸去玩得很痛快，
那一天你真该和我们在一起，围绕着我们的野餐的小锅。
在远处的西边，我曾经看见猎人在露天举行的婚礼，新妇是一个红种女人，
她的父亲和她的朋友们在旁边盘腿坐下，无声地吸着烟，
他们都穿着鹿皮鞋，肩上披着大而厚的毡条，
这个猎人慢悠悠地走在河岸上，差不多全身穿着皮衣，他的蓬松的胡子和卷发，
遮盖了他的脖颈，他用手牵着他的新妇，
她睫毛很长，头上没有帽子，她的粗而直的头发，披拂在她的丰满的四肢上，
一直到了她的脚胫。
Alfred Jacob Miller’s “The Trapper’s Bride”
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逃亡的黑奴来到我的屋子的前面站着，
我听见他在摘取木桩上的小枝，
从厨房的半截的弹簧门我看见他是那样无力而尪弱，
我走到他所坐着的木头边领他进来，对他加以安抚，
我满满地盛了一桶水让他洗涤他的汗垢的身体和负伤的两脚，
我给他一间由我的住屋进去的屋子，给他一些干净的粗布衣服，
我现在还清楚地记得他的转动着的眼珠和他的局促不安的样子，
记得涂了些药膏在他的颈上和踝骨的疮痕上面，
他和我住了一个星期，在他复元，并到北方去以前，
我让他在桌子旁边紧靠我坐着，我的火枪则斜放在屋子的一角。
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What repetitions of sentence patterns
help to create cadence? What feelings
does cadence create?
What is the significance of these
experiences?
Against what values of American
society 反抗了什么美国社会的价值观
does "Song of Myself" "beat the gong
of revolt"?
当一个句子有排比时，它是有节奏的，
有弹性的，平衡的。
Alone far in the wilds and mountains I
hunt,
Wandering amazed at my own lightness
and glee,
In the late afternoon choosing a safe spot
parallelism
to pass the night,
Kindling a fire and broiling the freshkill'd game,
Falling asleep on the gather'd leaves with
my dog and gun by my side.
When a sentence has parallelism, it is
rhythmic, bouncy, balanced.
And went where he sat on a log and
led him in and assured him,
And brought water and fill'd a tub
for his sweated body and bruis'd feet,
And gave him a room that enter'd
from my own, and gave him some
coarse clean clothes,
And remember perfectly well his
revolving eyes and his awkwardness,
And remember putting plasters on
the galls of his neck and ankles;
parallelism
Cadence creates a
calmness, a peacefulness, and a song-like
rhythm that is soothing
to the ears and mind. It
also makes the poem
seem more connected
and flowing.
抑扬顿挫创造了一种平静，一种平和，一
种像歌曲一样的节奏，对耳朵和心灵是舒
缓的。这也使诗歌看起来更连贯和流畅
The runaway slave 逃跑的奴隶 came to my house and stopt outside,
I heard his motions crackling the twigs of the woodpile,
Through the swung half-door of the kitchen I saw him limpsy and weak
And went where he sat on a log and led him in and assured him,
And brought water and fill'd a tub for his sweated body and bruis'd
feet,
And gave him a room that enter'd from my own, and gave him some
coarse clean clothes,
And remember perfectly well his revolving eyes and his awkwardness,
And remember putting plasters on the galls of his neck and ankles;
He staid with me a week before he was recuperated and pass'd north,
I had him sit next me at table, my fire-lock lean'd in the corner.
What is the significance of these experiences?
I saw the marriage of the trapper in the open air in the far west, the
bride was a red girl,
Her father and his friends sat near cross-legged and dumbly
smoking, they had moccasins to their feet and large thick
blankets hanging from their shoulders,
On a bank lounged the trapper, he was drest mostly in skins, his
luxuriant beard and curls protected his neck, he held his bride by
the hand,
She had long eyelashes, her head was bare, her coarse straight locks
descended upon her voluptuous limbs and reach'd to her feet.
What is the significance of these experiences?
Against what values of American society does
"Song of Myself" "beat the gong of revolt"?
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It revolted against the common conceptions about the
races. 它反抗了关于种族的普遍观念。
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Whitman describes helping a runaway slave, giving him
shelter and rest; he even sat next to him at the same table,
feeling no need for his gun.
The white trapper marries a Native Indian woman
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Whitman revolted against set rules regarding rhythm,
rhyme, meter, and verse. 惠特曼反对关于节奏、韵律、韵
律和诗歌的既定规则。
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His idea of self revolted against the intense religious
sentiment, and strict moral codes of the time. Whitman:
self = body + soul. 他的自我观念与当时强烈的宗教情感
和严格的道德规范相抵触。惠特曼:自我=肉体+灵魂。
I SIT and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and 我坐着，观望世界上所有的忧患，
所有的压迫和耻辱，
upon all oppression and shame;
I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, at anguish 我听到年轻人为自己做过的事悔
恨不安而痉挛的抽泣，
with themselves, remorseful after deeds done;
我看见穷苦人民被儿女虐待、无
I see in low life the mother misused by her children, dying, 依无靠的母亲消瘦、绝望、奄奄
neglected, gaunt, desperate;
一息
我看见被丈夫折磨的妻子，我看
I see the wife misused by her husband—I see the
见诱奸妇女的歹徒，
treacherous seducer of young women;
我注意到力图隐蔽的嫉妒和单恋
I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love
attempted to be hid—I see these sights on the earth; 的痛苦，我看见世上的这些情景，
我看见战争、瘟疫、暴政的恶果，
I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny—I see
我看见烈士与囚徒，
martyrs and prisoners;
我注视着海上的饥荒，我注视着
I observe a famine at sea—I observe the sailors casting 水手们抓阄决定谁去牺牲来维持
lots who shall be kill'd to preserve the lives of the rest; 众人的生命，
我注视着傲慢的人将轻视与侮蔑
I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant
persons upon laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, 加在劳动者、穷人和黑人等等的
身上
and the like;
所有这些—所有这些无休止的卑
All these—all the meanness and agony without end, I
劣行径和苦难，我坐着观望，
sitting, look out upon,
看着， 听着，一声不响。
See, hear, and am silent.
Is he looking at the natural
world, or at human society?
Is he seeing beauty or
ugliness?
Is he literally looking out a
window Or is he observing a
larger expanse of space and
time?
What does the speaker feel
about the various people and
scenes that he sees?
In the final line, why does he
remain silent?
W The poet criticizes the cruelties and acts of meanness
that human beings inflict upon one another. To be
“silent”— to be a detached observer while others are
suffering — is also part of the cruelty. 诗人批评了人
类对他人的残忍和卑鄙行为。“沉默”——当别人受苦时，
做一个超然的旁观者——也是残忍的一部分。
W The poem describes a greater being who has the
ability to reflect, at a distance, on all the wrongs in
the world. The persona “I” can be interpreted as a
religious figure who is all seeing, yet does not take
action to stop the violence.
这首诗描述了一个更伟大的人，
他有能力在远处反思世界上所
有的错误。“我”这个角色可
以理解为一个宗教人物，他眼
见为实，却不采取行动制止暴
力。
Requirements
s了解:
Whitman’s contribution to American poetry
s理解: Poems selected for reading
s掌握: Whitman’s poetic themes and styles
sReading
p
for Next Week:
Emily Dickinson
èI
Died for Beauty—but Was Scarce
è I Heard a Fly Buzz—When I Died
è Because I could not stop for death
p Ezra Pound
è In a Station of the Metro