Fallout from the thunder: poetry and politics in Seamus Heaney's District and Circle

This article examines Heaney's preoccupation in District and Circle (2006) with international political events during this ‘new age of anxiety’, and how he initially approaches these circuitously through a return to originary, boyhood experiences. Such momentous acts as the attacks of 9/ll, the ‘War on Terror’ and the London bombings are filtered through, juxtaposed with and illuminated by episodes both from the ancient past and Heaney's family history. In attendance, as always, throughout the latest volume is the poet's diverse literary ancestry, a reminder of how his work exemplifies core claims made in ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’ (1919), where Eliot argues that ‘what makes the writer most acutely conscious of his own place in time’ is ‘the historical sense’, ‘a feeling for the whole of literature’ from Homer onwards. Thus, alongside its detailed address to politics and such crucial literary matters as structure, form and metaphor, the essay repeatedly returns to the intertextual ‘presences’ which haunt and animate Heaney's continuing creative project.     

Visions of reconciliation: Longley,Heaney and the Greeks

At the heart of myth is negotiation, as the inner world comes to terms with external conditions. Many contemporary Irish poets have turned to mythical material in order to explore how, as Derek Mahon suggested, a good poem could be a paradigm of good politics. This essay explores the ways in which Seamus Heaney and Michael Longley have used ancient Greek myths to bring a hopeful light against seemingly intractable political problems, in line with the principle of third-party intervention, or the deus ex machina that prevents further misunderstanding. Translation opens up entrenched perspectives, forcing the self, in unfamiliar situations, to face the reality of the other, and to consider the other's perceptions and needs. This intervention aims for reconciliation, whether between individuals, social groups, individual and state, or between the living and the dead, and it reveals that reconciliation is always an approximation that must be continually fought for.     

灵魂与灵魂密语的繁富人生——从纳兰性德诗《西苑杂咏和荪友韵》看其人格理想

本文试图从纳兰性德的个案诗作做为切入点,在众所周知的是清代大词人和具有"哀感顽艳"词风的赞誉中,在与其好友严绳荪《西苑侍直杂诗》二十首的比对中,来观照构成其深邃的心灵世界的人格理想,在隐逸的伤情中亦凸现着入世狂举的豪情,这二者的对立统一,似灵魂与灵魂的密语,从而彰显出一个完整而繁富的纳兰性德。     

The avatars of modern poetry

This paper examines the reactions to the British labour unrest of 1910–1914 among the writers associated with two Edwardian periodicals, the Catholic Distributivist New Witness, and the advanced socialist New Age. Both papers were thrown into sympathy with the strikes whether through libertarianism, hatred of capitalism or the glorification of violence and struggle. This prompted theoretical discussions on the future organisation of labour in which liberty and consensus were precariously balanced, and mediated through elitism. By examining the contested and ambiguous origins of guild socialism, the paper draws tentative conclusions about its troubled legacy.     

The poetry of nationalism*

The poetry of nationalism has roots in ancient literature, particularly the Hebrew Bible, but is mostly a product of nationalism since the French Revolution. Many national poets are politically active and serve in government. Asserting artistic individuality, they express national individuality, though nationalism can also suppress creativity. Calling for moral regeneration, poets inspire their people with memories of heroism, real or imagined, and with myths unique to the nation. Their poetry often springs from defeat but anticipates national liberation and independence. Yet there is also a dark side to some national poets, particularly in their glorification of violence and lust for revenge against oppressors. National poetry changed after the failed revolutions of 1848–9. National poets were less inclined to believe in liberal ideals and progress toward universal goals and there was greater disillusionment and ambiguity toward the national role. World War I severely limited the militarist tendency in national poetry.     

The reception of Solomos: national poetry and the question of lyricism

Abstract

Through the reception of Solomos, this paper explores the tension between the lyric and the narrative, and the extent to which the roles of national and lyric poet are compatible. The critical reception of Solomos demonstrates that his recognition as a lyric poet was not on an equal footing with his presentation as a national one. It shows that his joint treatment as the national poet of Greece and its greatest lyric poet is problematic and not convincingly argued. It also argues that Solomos's reception can be summarized as the conflict between the historical and the aesthetic approaches.     

《全宋诗》补59首

宋人乐语和致语中的附诗被称为“口号”,它是宋人诗歌创作中的重要组成部分。《全宋诗》作为一部宋代诗歌全集,收入了大量宋人乐语和致语中的口号,然亦有疏漏之处。本文从宋人别集中辑录了59首口号,作为对《全宋诗》的补遗。     

我的诗词研究之路

此文是本刊的特约稿。作者刘扬忠是中国社科学文学研究所学术委员会委员,中国古代文学研究室主任、研究员、博士导师《文学遗产》杂志编委会委员,中国作家协会会员、中国宋代文学学会副会长、中国李清照辛弃疾学会副会长等。