Portraits of two merovingian bishops in the poetry of Venantius Fortunatus

The poetry of Venantius Fortunatus is frequently used as source material for prosopographical data, for the roles and images of certain categories of individuals, and for details of buildings and topography. His poetry, however, can be used further to provide detailed personal portraits in some cases. There are several groups of poems to individuals which use a range ofgenres and arise from a variety of occasions, illuminating several aspects of the patron and his way of life. Two such clusters are to the bishops Leontius of Bordeaux and Gregory of Tours. The poet works from traditional genres but varies the structure and wording of these poems to respond sensitively to each bishop in his particular circumstances. Comparison of the two groups of poems, and especially of the formal panegyrics, builds up internally consistent and vivid pictures of the attitudes, ambitions and characters of two very different men. Fortunatus' poetry thus enables us to supplement bald prosopogrophical details and generalities about social roles, in a way unique in this period.     

“The artifice of eternity”: The Wanderings of Oisin and the Byzantium poems

Yeats’s poetry and drama centre on conflict, and crucially, on the clash between the mortal and the eternal. In this essay, I focus on the way in which The Wanderings of Oisin foreshadows and informs the treatment of eternity in Yeats’s later Byzantium poems. The Wanderings of Oisin explores the intensity of human longing for the eternal despite our time-bound nature, prefiguring his later impassioned though analytical Byzantium poems. Although the Byzantium poems seem initially to glorify eternity at the expense of human life, this essay traces the complexity of Yeats’s desire. Previous criticism has understated the extent to which Yeats’s poetry actively resists the siren song of eternity. The Byzantium poems problematise the eternity that they seem to desire, and this article reveals them as inflected by the way in which The Wanderings of Oisin questions the value of the eternal realm in the light of mortal heroic values. The “intensity, solitude, defeat” of the artist are inevitable, but there is a victory of sorts won from the poet’s deliberate inability to commit to any version of the eternal that preclude his own power and humanity. Yeats’s poetry runs the gamut between versions of desire that express an overweening desire for resolution even as they retain their resistance to any single pure state of being, if any such state is possible.     

Cavafy's Sensual City: A Question

Abstract

In his perceptive book, Cavafy's Alexandria (Cambridge, Mass., 1976), Edmund Keeley describes how Cavafy's major poetic preoccupation during the years 1911 to 1921 was the delineation of a mythical city called Alexandria and of the Greek, or Hellenic, way oflife it represents. An essential element in this way of life is its erotic style, which is explicitly homosexual; and it is through his poems on erotic themes that Cavafy slowly and deliberately builds his image of Alexandria as the Sensual City. His method of doing this is particular. In depicting other features of his mythical city Cavafy locates his poems in that ancient Hellenistic world of which Alexandria was the centre. Most of his erotic poetry, on the other hand, speaks of episodes and relationships in contemporary Alexandria, the city in which Cavafy actually lived. Indeed, all the poetry which Cavafy wrote that is located in contemporary Alexandria deals with erotic themes to the exclusion of all others. And it is with the help of this poetry that Cavafy builds up his image.     

The presence of Sikelianos in the poetry of George Seferis

Abstract

Echoes of Sike1ianos' poetry can be detected in many poets, but his presence in Seferis is particularly interesting in the light of the close personal relationship which developed between the two poets from the 1940s. The poetic dialogue starts with Seferis' Στρo?η (1931) and develops continuously until his last book of poems, Tρια Kρυ?? Φoιημα&tauα (1966). Seferis, attracted by Sikelianos' linguistic richness, recreates the older poet's words ingeniously in his search for a new poetics. I examine this dialogue chronologically to show that exploring the presence of Sikelianos in Seferis' poetry enhances the understanding of the younger poet and reveals that, however great the differences in matters of technique between the two poets, their attitudes to poetry and poetics are in the end closely related.     

Poetry,Cosmology, Cosmogony

Abstract

This reflective essay investigates the relationship between, on the one hand, the author’s own creative practice and, on the other, cosmological discoveries, both old and new. A series of poems from his collection, Musicolepsy (Shoestring Press, 2013), is presented, contextualized and discussed. All the poems, in very different ways, negotiate and explore the linguistic boundaries and overlap between poetry and cosmology. Specifically, the poetry provides a space in which the sometimes casual, sometimes deep-rooted analogies, metaphors and allusions of popular scientific discourse can be probed, dissected, stretched or exploded. In this way, poetry itself might be seen to embody a kind of pseudoscientific sphere of experimentation, when applied to scientific language.     

清代誠齋詩學與唐宋詩之爭

南宋詩人楊萬里的詩歌創作甚豐而風格別樹一幟,他受到同代人賞識,卻不見重於元明兩代,到清代更是屢受惡評。在當時詩學的唐宋詩之爭中,誠齋詩往往不容於雙方。直至清末,纔受到同光詩人的推尊。本文通過梳理清代誠齋詩在唐宋詩之爭中的各期發展,最後聚焦到同光詩人的誠齋詩觀,指出夏敬觀是清代第一個全面肯定誠齋詩的學者,楊萬里的詩史地位最終因同光派而得以確立。     

“出郭九行”与“诗史”精神

出郭九行”是对清初文学家魏禧及其兄魏际瑞九首叙事诗的总称。这组诗以沉痛的笔调描述了顺治末年百姓在官兵掳掠、盗贼横行之下的惨痛生活,是对杜甫“诗史”精神的践履;在艺术手法上,也吸收了杜甫叙事诗的艺术精华,并予以活用,体现出杜诗在清初诗坛的典范意义。     

Astronomy,Latinity, Enlightenment: Niels Krog Bredal’s Poems Commemorating the Transits of Venus, 1761 and 1769

The subject of this article is three pieces of elegiac Latin poetry, written in Trondheim by the mayor of the town, Niels Krog Bredal. The occasion for the poems were the transits of Venus occurring in the years 1761 and 1769, a rare phenomenon attracting considerable attention from natural philosophers of the Enlightenment and spurring numerous scientific expeditions across the globe. Bredal wrote the poems to commemorate expeditions undertaken by Thomas Bugge and Urban Bruun Aaskow (Trondheim, 1761), Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein (Trondheim, 1769), and Maximilianus Hell (Vardø, 1769). Bredal is primarily remembered as an important, albeit controversial, figure within Dano-Norwegian theatre history. His Latin poems reveal another side of his character, a person with a keen interest in the natural sciences, and more than willing to express his insights through poetry. The article includes an edition with critical apparatus, translation, and commentary.     

'[…;] all poetry is difficult […]: the limitations of Seferis' modernist poetics

Abstract

In Greece, as in several other countries in the period between the two World Wars, one of the serious charges frequently made against Modernism was that it was impossibly bad mannered towards the reader – that it made no effort at all to communicate and that modernist poetry was ‘difficult’ or ‘obscure’. For example, as early as 1931, Kostis Palamas – the poet who had had an enormous impact on Greek literary affairs in the first half of this century – in a charming if not somewhat condescending letter addressed to George Seferis, noted that the poems of <inline-graphic href="splitsection4_in1.tif"/>were ‘cryptographic’ and stated that he was personally unable to find the ‘key’ that was needed for deciphering such difficult poetry (Palamas 1931). A few years earlier, Seferis himself had noted in his journals that whenever he tried to read Valery's poems to Palamas and his circle, they had reacted by saying that they did not have time to solve ‘puzzles’ (1975: 62).     

扬帆诗海 展志文坛——喜读梁光华先生《诗词格律理论与创作实践》

梁光华先生的新著《诗词格律理论与创作实践》,论述诗词格律理论深入浅出,疏密得当,且以其大量的诗词作品为例证予以论析;其诗词作品情真意挚、立意高远,既具有古典诗词之韵味,又富有强烈的时代气息。该书是一部将诗词格律理论与自己的创作实践紧密结合的佳作。     

何绍基诗歌创作中呈现出的师承渊源

何绍基是晚清宋诗派中最有成就的诗论家和诗人,其诗歌创作中呈现出的师承渊源非常丰富。何绍基一生不论为人、治学还是写诗作文皆服膺苏轼,苏轼忠孝节义的道义心性,旷达乐观、洒落超迈的胸襟,格物致知的进取精神与谐趣睿智的人格魅力对他产生深刻的影响。何绍基的诗作中除了对苏轼诗句的借用、比喻手法的吸收以及大量次苏韵等表象外,还在谐趣、理趣、儒者伦理的追求等方面得苏诗之神韵。随着阅历的变化,何绍基寄韵白居易,创作了讽喻诗,语言平易流利,不避口语俗语。晚年的何绍基心境较为黯淡,师法对象再次发生转移,“自将诗心比郊岛”,企望“敲诗”“苦吟”而达到“人夸奇想自天来”,寒瘦之诗成又一风貌。     

从《书所见》看赵翼忧民诗的诗史价值

赵翼晚年创作了一系列纪实性的忧民诗。采用文史互证的方法,以《书所见》为个案进行研究,我们从中不仅可以看出诗人强烈的民胞物与的情怀与自觉的诗史意识,而且可以深刻地感受到所谓乾隆盛世的子民艰难的生活状态,透过该诗可以明晰地倾听到盛世之音下的凄凉之声。     

清代贵州诗歌之“王气”论略

钱仲联先生的诗学研究取向,始终以儒家经学传统为参照,其评价清代贵州郑珍诗歌,以“王气在夜郎”一语概言,既包含了有清一代“诗学”中心西移的客观信息,透露了清代诗歌历史的盛衰状况,亦强调了诗人的“学问”功底及作为诗人的经世致用功夫。在清代诗学“汉宋之争”与“宗唐崇宋”风气合融的道路上,钱氏以为惟郑珍独具“王者气象”。其核心在于文学经学化最高“体用”追求的张扬与发挥。     

郑珍为诗取径的主次分轨

郑珍为诗,要在学韩,本于叙议,出于学问。兹论分轨所由,多自学韩而出,及其所之,则上下唐宋。以宋人学韩,故郑珍学宋,盖亦学韩一路,得于宋人句法、苏黄驰骋才学及宋诗机趣。韩从杜出,故郑诗学韩,与学杜无悖,多在即事、叙述及诗语祖述。郑诗略近孟诗者,固以遭际相似,而有情感认同,不似孟郊刻厉;似乐天、太白,则以学韩叙议,造语至于敷衍散漫;似李贺,则以郑诗奇气在焉,而用语固有取用;小诗有似王维者,悉写乡居生活、片时风景、一时感受,拟之贴切。     

John Hewitt's allegorical imagination

John Hewitt (1907–1987), the Northern Irish poet from Belfast, is most famous for advocating the Regionalist project he helped start in the 1930's. Regionalism demanded something more than kinship: an allegiance to the smaller unit of land within a nation. In his poetry, Hewitt's pursuit of this ideal necessitated a concern with sectarian issues and the religious and cultural impasses that attended them. Consequently, he often examines his own complicity in the unhealthy relations between divided neighbors, and this opens the door to a couple of criticisms that have commonly been directed at Hewitt: that his negotiations with place are outdated and that his craft and imagination were superseded by a self-conscious attention to denominational questions. To a large degree this essay means to explore how Hewitt manages to overcome such difficulties in his best work, especially The Bloody Brae and ‘The Colony’. In these and other poems, he imagines an alternative time and place; such settings allow the poet to dramatize philosophical and meta-ethical questions without being explicitly hortative. The worlds of these poems exist independently, untainted by contemporary fact, yet they often allude to the predicaments of his homeland. This technique of using a double focus inspires reflection on questions current in Hewitt's lifetime, at the same time as it shifts responsibility for answers from poet to reader. It also insists on the recall of visual experience, thereby promoting a regionally characteristic language.     

西夏遗民余阙对魏晋六朝诗歌的接受

西夏遗民余阙是元代少数民族诗人的杰出代表。受到元代社会背景、文化熏陶以及文人交游等多维度因素影响,余阙在诗歌中表现出对魏晋六朝诗歌强烈的认同感,其诗承继魏晋风骨,规仿六朝风韵,熔炼吸收魏晋六朝诗人的作诗法度,吸纳意象和语言风格,在元代诗坛别具一格。论文详细探讨余阙对于魏晋六朝诗歌的多方面接受,楬橥余阙作为少数民族诗人在元代诗坛的重要意义,希望能为西夏文学研究,构建多民族文学交融的"中华文学史"添砖加瓦。     

The image of the Frankish kings in the poetry of Venantius Fortunatus

The poetry of Venantius Fortunatus is a sadly neglected historical source for sixth-century Gaul. Amongst the literary material that has survived from that age, the works of Gregory of Tours loom large. Since Gregory provides us with the sole narrative history of Gaul for much of this century, we are forced to see Merovingian society through his eyes. Venantius wrote panegyric, and an age such as ours, which values sincerity of expression, finds little that is attractive in that genre. Despite this, Venantius' poetry affords us a vantage point from which to view the Frankish kings. It also provides important evidence for the nature of the cultural fusion of Germanic, Roman and Christian elements that was taking place in the Gaul of Gregory of Tours and King Chilperic. The poems written for the Merovingian monarchs suggest that Venantius sensed a Frankish hankering after the trappings of Roman imperial authority. He wrote, perhaps with didactic intent, to give full exposition to the traditional Roman conception of the just ruler, coupled with the more recent ideal of the orthodox Christian monarch that was still current in the Byzantine Empire. When Venantius Fortunatus journeyed to the courts of the barbarian kings, he brought with him his cultural baggage from Byzantine Ravenna.     

Thinking Technologies: Poetry and Collage as Practice-Based Research

Abstract

The author’s book of poems Nitrate is evaluated as a model for a poetry that is a medium of research. The collection is positioned within Rachel Blau DuPlessis’ understanding of the essay form as involving ‘the play of speculation’ borne from curiosity and need — the need to examine opinions and contradictions and to interrogate cultural materials’. Nitrate explores the birth of cinema as a by-product of scientific exploration into the problem of understanding motion, and the specific significance of the French physiologist E. J. Marey and his chronophotography. The title reflects the importance of cellulose nitrate, introduced in 1889 and used until the 1950s as the — frighteningly flammable — basis of film stock. There is also discussion, accompanied by illustrations, of the visual collages produced in dialogue with the poems as part of the understanding of practice-based research.     

生面果然开一代,古人原不占千秋——赵翼自寿诗探赜

赵翼的自寿诗不仅丰富内容,而且功能多样,它为我们展示出诗人生命之旅、人生理想的样态以及曲折的心路历程。这类诗歌具有真实性、议论性、历史性与学术性等特点。赵翼对自寿诗的功能开拓甚广,而其特征的形成是诗人多重身份、卓荦个性以及乾嘉年间特殊的学术语境共同作用的结果。全面审视赵翼的自寿诗,对于了解、把握自寿诗以及对其进行深入的探讨皆有助益,同时这对寻绎乾嘉考据之风、常州地域诗风乃至赵翼人生经历与其诗歌风格之关系都将提供极佳"类"证。     

绍嵩《江浙纪行集句诗》对《全唐诗》校勘、辨重和辑佚的文献价值

南宋陈起编《江湖小集》中的释绍嵩《江浙纪行集句诗》历来少受古代文学研究者的关注,虽然《全唐诗补编》、《全宋诗》从中辑出了部分诗人的佚句,但对其文献价值尚无人研究,本文拟就其对《全唐诗》的校勘、辨别重出作品和辑佚作一些探讨,挖掘绍嵩《江浙纪行集句诗》被学人忽视的文献学价值。