Why You Should Read Louise Glück’s Poetry为何要读露易丝·格丽克的诗

迪比奥德·达斯　成玉华/译

The winner of 2020 Nobel Prize in literature Louise Glück has been publishing poetry for nearly 58 years， yet a lot of us are not very familiar with her work or her importance as one of Americas leading poets. She works as an adjunct1 professor and the Rosenkranz Writer-in-Residence2 at Yale University， and has won almost every major award in literature including a Pultizer， a Bollingen Prize， the National Humanities Medal， National Book Award to name a few. She has even served as the Poet Laureate of United States. That is some CV.

2020年的诺贝尔文学奖得主露易丝·格丽克出版诗歌已近58年，但我们很多人仍然不太熟悉她的作品，也不太了解她作为美国领军诗人之一的重要性。她现任耶鲁大学客座教授及罗森克兰茨驻校作家，几乎已将所有重要文学奖项收入囊中，包括普利策奖、博林根诗歌奖、美国国家人文奖章、美国国家图书奖等。她甚至还担任过美国桂冠诗人。这是份了不得的简历。

Yet， the news of her winning the Nobel came like just her poetry： sudden， with leanness3 of sentiment and in a flash of everyday beauty.

然而，她获诺奖的消息就像她的诗歌一样突如其来、感情平淡，瞬间闪出日常之美。

According to reports， Glück lives like any other overachiever4： reading mystery novels， gardening， cooking and writing bomb poetry with an analytical clarity about inner life.

据报道，格丽克的生活与其他成就非凡的人别无二致：阅读悬疑小说、摆弄花草、烹饪美食、写出洞悉人心的绝佳诗歌。

From weaving themes of childhood and married life with Greek and Roman myths， to writing feminist anthems， Glück is as prolific as prolific can get.

从借用希腊罗马神话编就童年往事和婚后生活，到书写女性主义赞歌，格丽克足够多产。

In an interview with Poets and Writers magazine， she had said， “you have to live your life if youre going to do original work”， because “your work will come out of an authentic life， and if you suppress all of your most passionate impulses in the service of an art that has not yet declared itself， youre making a terrible mistake”. Yet， her former colleague Dan Chiasson says， “She has suffered more than some， less than many; she has nothing uniquely harrowing5 to report. If someone told you to make fifty years of poetry out of what Glück has kept on hand， you would say， no， Im sorry， thats not possible.”

她在接受《诗人和作家》杂志采访时说：“如果你要写原创作品，你就必须体验生活。”因为“你的作品必须来源于真实的生活，如果你为了一种尚未清晰显露的艺术而将自己最狂热的冲动通通压抑，那你就是在犯一个可怕的错誤”。然而，她的前同事丹·恰森却说：“她受的苦比一些人多，但比许多人少；她没有特别悲惨的事要诉说。如果有人叫你用格丽克现有的生活经历创作50年诗歌，你会说，不，对不起，那是不可能的。”

Thats where her genius lies： in observing， feeling， really capturing those feelings in clarity and meter.

这便是她的天赋所在：观察、体会，清晰而准确地将那些感受牢牢抓住。

When she was appointed as the US poet laureate in 2003， she said she had “no concern with widening audience”， and that she preferred her audience “small， intense， passionate”. Maybe that is why a lot of us dont actively know about her， even though we might have come across her work.

2003年，当被任命为美国桂冠诗人时，她说自己“无意扩大受众面”，更希望受众群体“规模不大、全心投入、激情澎湃”。也许这就是为什么我们很多人都没有主动去了解她，即使我们可能偶然读过她的作品。

The chair of the Nobel Prize committee， Anders Olsson， hailed Glücks “candid and uncompromising” voice， which is “full of humour and biting wit”. Her 12 collections of poetry， from Faithful and Virtuous Night to The Wild Iris are “characterised by a striving for clarity”， he added， comparing her to Emily Dickinson with her “severity and unwillingness to accept simple tenets of faith”.

诺贝尔奖委员会主席安德斯·奥尔森称赞格丽克“坦率而不妥协”的声音“充满幽默和犀利的智慧”。他还说格丽克的12部诗集，从《忠贞之夜》到《野鸢尾》，都“以力求清晰为特点”，并将她与艾米莉·狄金森相比，因为她“行文简朴且不愿接受宗教的天真原则”。

“In her poems， the self listens for what is left of its dreams and delusions6， and nobody can be harder than she in confronting the illusions of the self，” Olsson said. “But even if Glück would never deny the significance of the autobiographical background， she is not to be regarded as a confessional poet.”

“在她的詩中，自己倾听着自己剩下的梦想和妄想，面对自我的幻想，没有人能比她更加坚韧。”奥尔森说，“但是，即使格丽克永远不会否认自传性背景的重要性，她也不应该被视为自白派诗人。”

The Nobel committee singled out “Snowdrops”， a poem from her Pulitzer-winning collection The Wild Iris， in which she evokes the return of life after winter. “I did not expect to survive， / earth suppressing me，” Glück writes. “I didnt expect / to waken again， to feel / in damp earth my body / able to respond again …”7

诺贝尔奖委员会从她获得普利策奖的诗集《野鸢尾》中，特别挑出了《雪花莲》一诗。在这首诗中，她唤起了冬日过后生命的回归。“我并不期望存活，/大地压制我。”格丽克写道，“我不期望/再次醒来，感觉/我的身体在潮湿的泥土里/能够再次回应……”

Olsson called her collection Averno， an interpretation of the myth of Perse-phones descent into hell with Hades， “masterly”， adding that the National Book Award-winning collection Faithful and Virtuous Night is “another spectacular achievement.

奥尔森称她的诗集《阿弗尔诺》“巧妙地”诠释了珀耳塞福涅与哈得斯坠入地狱的神话，并表示她获得美国国家图书奖的诗集《忠贞之夜》是“另一个惊人的成就”。

“The reader is again struck by the presence of voice and Glück approaches the motif of death with remarkable grace and lightness，” he said. “She writes oneiric8， narrative poetry recalling memories and travels， only to hesitate and pause for new insights. The world is disenthralled9， only to become magically present once again.”

“读者再次被格丽克字里行间传递的声音震撼，她以非凡的优雅和轻盈描述死亡这一主题。”他说，“她写下梦一般的叙事诗，回忆往事和旅行，却为新的见解而犹豫和停顿。世界得到解放，竟神奇地再一次呈现在眼前。”

Several scholars have pointed out how Glücks poetry can be said to be focused on trauma， as she has written throughout her career about death， loss， rejection， the failure of relationships， and attempts at healing and renewal. The scholar Daniel Morris notes that even a Glück poem that uses traditionally happy or idyllic imagery “suggests the authors awareness of mortality， of the loss of innocence”.

一些学者指出，格丽克的诗歌可以说是专注于创伤，因为她终其职业生涯都在书写死亡、失去、拒绝、感情的失败，以及对治愈和重生的尝试。学者丹尼尔·莫里斯指出，格丽克的诗即使采用了典型的快乐意象或田园诗意象，也会“表明作者意识到死亡，意识到纯真的丧失”。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）