"Poetry to Poetry"
——A new interpretation of Blake's poem "Tiger"
An Xiaohong
"Tiger" " is a famous and thought-provoking poem by the British romantic poet Blake. The vivid poetic imagery and unique sonorous rhythm of "Tiger" are loved by readers, and the mysterious symbolic meaning of "Tiger" has attracted the attention of literary critics. Critics generally tend to believe that "The Tiger" is about the French Revolution, because the poem was published shortly after the French Revolution, and the poem is full of words such as "fire", "hammer", "chain", "furnace" and "spear". Images related to revolution. If interpreted from the perspective of class analysis in traditional criticism, the tiger is naturally regarded as a symbol of powerful revolutionary power. There is also a view that it celebrates the greatness of God, the Creator. The poem does express reverence for the tiger-maker: "What immortal hand and divine eye/could construct such terrible symmetry as yours?" In fact, the text of the poem provides us with a third reading of it. possibility. If we try to interpret this poem more deeply through New Criticism and Archetypal Criticism, we will find that Blake implicitly expresses the poet's ideas about poetry creation and the romantic style of poetry.
1. "Tiger" fits the image of "Tiger"
Blake combined copper plate engraving and poetry creation. In the copy of the print he made for "Tiger", the title "Tiger" Taking up one-ninth of the picture, each font is five times the size of the font in the poem. At the bottom of the title is a portrait of a tiger, thus vividly sketching out a ferocious and formidable tiger image. The title "Tiger" is spelled in the old style "Tyger" instead of "Tiger". Blake deliberately chose the former when both spellings were acceptable at the time, implying that the tiger in the poem is not only a specific object, but also an image with great "uniqueness and mystery" [2] (106). A symbol. Following the strange and scary tiger image are the two symmetrical "Tyger! Tyger!" in the first line of the poem, which express strong emotions. In this way, the title, painting and poem all outline the image of the "tiger" with "terrifying symmetry". The keyword "terrible symmetry" that describes the appearance of the tiger appears in the last line of both his first and last stanzas. It becomes a golden key to unlocking the mystery of the symbolic meaning of the poem "Tiger". Obviously, "terrible symmetry" is an oxymoron. The word "symmetry" is a word related to visual art, which means that the tiger's body shape and pattern contain a kind of balanced beauty and formal beauty with appropriate proportions. The word "terrible" is intended to emphasize that the tiger's balanced beauty is formidable. The image of "tiger" "connotes the power of stormy waves and the terror of a prairie fire" [2] (106). In short, "terrible symmetry" has become the essential feature of the "tiger" image.
The image of "tiger" is first of all consistent with the poetic form of "Tiger". The first and last stanzas of the poem are almost identical, except that the imaginary, mysterious "Tyger!" "Tyger!" image that existed in the first stanza evolved into the poet's real work in the last stanza. Tiger” “Tiger”, suggesting that the creative process is complete. In addition, the word "could" in the first stanza appears symmetrically with the word "dare" in the last stanza at the beginning and end of the poem, which is intended to point out that the creator must persevere and bravely complete the creation. These two opposing states and styles must echo each other. At this point, this circular structure marks the "symmetry" of the poetic form of "Tiger" in terms of both meaning and form.
Secondly, wrapped in the "symmetrical" poetic form of "Tiger" is the "terrifying" poetic state that permeates the middle four stanzas of "Tiger". Continuing the speculation and fantasy about the "tiger" in the first stanza: "What kind of divine hand or eye/created such terrible symmetry like yours?", the second stanza of the poem continues to discuss the questions of the first stanza, "Where did you get the fire in your eyes? / Why dare you grab this fire?", but further deepens the visual image of "fire" corresponding to the awe-inspiring tiger. Regarding the original image of fire, Will Wright pointed out in the article "The Symbol of Originality" that fire has "irrational suddenness and spread" [3], that is, fire is extremely destructive. In the terrifying light of the fire, in the third stanza the Creator begins to "twist the sinews of the tiger's heart" with his giant arms. The word "twist" implies "violence", responding to the terrifying fire in the second stanza in action, and foreshadowing the terrifying "mighty hands and feet" that appear at the end of the third stanza. The word "dread" has the dual meanings of "awesome" and "terrible" in English. "Dread" has completely evolved into "terrible" in the fourth stanza: "terrible grip" to "deathly terror". In the fifth stanza, the creator repays his horrific works. With a smile, the creator not only was not intimidated by the extremely lethal creation, but showed a satisfied smile, indicating that the creator of the tiger is more awe-inspiring than the tiger, and the "terrible" poetic scene was pushed to a climax.
At the same time, his smile is because while he created the tiger, which symbolizes evil and destruction, he also created the sheep, which symbolizes kindness and gentleness, giving this world a permanent driving force in "terrible symmetry". As Blake pointed out in "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell": "There is no progress without contrast. Attraction and repulsion, reason and vitality, love and hate, these are all necessary for human survival [4]." The theme of "Tiger", "terrible symmetry" is also enlightened.
We have interpreted that the poetic form, poetic context and poetic theme of "Tiger" are consistent with the "terrible symmetry" image of "Tiger". At this point, we can confirm that "Tiger" is related to poetry creation.
2. The image of "tiger" contains poetic ideas
After concluding that the image of "tiger" is about poetry creation, we slowly walked into the creation of "tiger" process, trying to further interpret the poetic proposition contained in it in detail. First, decipher the creator of "Tiger" in "Tiger". Look for the breakthrough point in the central sentence of the first stanza: "What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" The word "immorta" not only expresses the questioning of the nature of "tiger", but also the meditation on the immortality of the tiger's creator. At the same time, we know that the images of "tiger" in poems and paintings all come from Blake's "hand". "Eye", then as a sculptor and poet, is he the "immortal"? Then look at the "frame" in the next line, which has two connotations of "shape" and "conceive". If The two lines before and after are connected, which means that the portrait of "Tiger" was shaped by the hand of God, and the poem "Tiger" was seen by the divine eye. The original creator who unified the poem and painting is none other than Blake. . The second stanza continues the exploration of the creator’s characteristics: “With what wings does he dare to fight hard? "(On what wings dare he aspire?) The English word "aspire" implies eager hope and the courage to pursue great ambitions that are difficult to achieve. The creator with this quality should not be God, because God in Christianity is omnipotent and omnipresent. It doesn’t matter whether you have the courage to pursue unattainable things, and isn’t this spirit of “dare to fight hard” the best summary of Blake’s image as a pioneer of British romanticism? The poem “Tiger” questions the creator of “Tiger”. It continues until the fifth verse: “Did he who made the Lamb make you? "Here, in addition to reminding people of the Son of God, the lamb also reminds people of the poet's "Song of Innocence". At the same time, it can also refer to the readers at that time [5] (43). In the 19th century, poets generally Readers also think that Lamb faces their own works because they regard reading as a religious activity. Based on this reasoning, "you" can be understood as the poem "Tiger" included in "Songs of Experience". In addition, "he" in the whole poem is in lowercase, and "he" does not refer to God, but to the God-like poet Blake. The confirmation of Blake's creator of "Tiger" in "Tiger" is clear. Definition of a poet: The poet is not an omnipotent God; but he is indeed an immortal like God.
Why can the poet Blake have an "immortal hand or eye" like God? "With what wings did he dare to fight hard?" Blake wrote in "Letters": "See the universe in the grain of sand, the heaven in the wild flowers, the army of angels in the oak tree. Sing [6] (1576). "For what other people's narrow naked eyes can see, Blake's vision can extend infinitely, "throwing its aura and sharpness over everything, it penetrates the hidden things, searches for the complex essence, and needs no other way to see." Light is only by virtue of its own aura" [7] (55) This is "Blake's spiritual world controlled by imagination" [7] (56). As a pioneer of British romantic poetry, Blake regarded imagination as the source of literary and artistic creation and the driving force of human life, pushing imagination to an unprecedented importance. In "No Natural Religion" and "All Religion is One", Blake declared that "the poetic or creative power is identified with the power of prophecy" [ 6] (1576), and this all-encompassing, all-seeing power is what Blake calls imagination. Here, "imagination and God in Blake's religion are one" [7] (54). In the third, fourth and fifth stanzas of "Tiger", the creative inspiration of God's creation of all things in "Genesis" is given. With the wings of imagination, the poet Blake has divinity and the power to create all things like the Creator God. " What kind of arm strength, what kind of magical work, / can twist your heart to success."
After the creator captures the creature in the third stanza, the creator imagines himself as a "blacksmith" in the fourth stanza: "What kind of hammer? What kind of chain? / What kind of furnace handle Is your brain burning? The "heart" and "brain" here symbolize the coexistence and opposition of perception and reason when imagination is exerted. The "innocence" in his "Song of Innocence" and "Song of Experience" The coexistence and opposition of the two philosophical creeds "" and "experience". So far, Blake has completed the creation of "Tiger" and the creative process of "Tiger", and embodied the concept of romantic poetry in the image of "Tiger".
3. Blake’s “Poetry of Poetry”
Blake was opposed to neoclassicism. The standards of elegant, moderate and rational poetry creation promoted by neoclassicism were disdainful to him. He believes that this "is undoubtedly a very clear statement to idiots". He puts aside reason and regards inspiration and imagination as "the eternal resting place". The mysterious and rich symbolic meaning of "Tiger" makes this song. The poetry of the 18th century is very similar to the Imagist poetry of the 20th century. This alone fully demonstrates Blake's complete break with the neoclassicism full of aphorisms. At the same time, he boldly broke the rules of classical poetry in art. The iambic tetrameter or iambic couplet used throughout "The Tiger" replaces the iambic pentameter heroic couplet prescribed by neoclassicism. Not only that, most of the poems are also in tetrameter. Incomplete, ending with an extra stressed syllable, which is clearly unconventional in neoclassical terms.
Tyger! /Tyger! /Burning /bright
In the /forests/ of the/ night,
What im/mortal/ hand or /eye
Could frame/ thy fear/ful sym/metry?
Also , neoclassicism pursues the values ??of harmony, symmetry, and beauty, while Blake seems to be more fond of a noble emotion. This emotion is derived from a kind of fear, which is why the image in "Tiger" is vivid. The formidable image of the tiger. In Edmund Burk's "An Inquiry into the Philosophical Thoughts of the Sublime and the Beautiful," he believes: "Untamed power is sublime because it comes from the gloomy forest. , coming towards us from the roaring wilderness in the form of a lion, tiger, leopard or rhinoceros[8]. ”
“Poetry to poetry” is not unique to Blake. There is indeed a phenomenon of “poetry to poetry” in British romantic poetry [5] (43), but for a long time we have I have always turned a blind eye to it because as an implicit theme it is not as obvious as the issues of nature, democracy and freedom that poets are concerned about, and it is not a topic that any poet is always concerned about, so I am afraid that only careful readers can discover it. . For example, Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey", Curzine's "Ode to Depression", Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" and Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn" can all be called poets' poetics. The carrier of theory.
This article only takes the British romantic poet Blake's "The Tiger" as an example to interpret the phenomenon of "poetry based on poetry". Of course, poetry transcends time and space, and transcends fixity and limitation. The interpretation in this article is just one of many interpretations.
References
[1] Blake. Blake's Poems[M]. Translated by Zhang Chiheng. Shanghai: Joint Publishing House, 1999: 45
[2] Tang Meixiu . Blake's binary opposition thinking mode and anti-traditional consciousness [J]. Journal of Changsha Electric Power University, 2003, (5): 106.
[3] Ye Shuxian. Myth and prototype criticism[M]. Xi'an : Shaanxi Normal University Press, 1997: 187.
[4] Wang Shouren. A Brief History of British Literature[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2006: 100
[ 5]] Du Weiping. Discussing poetry with poetry: Interpretation of British Romantic Poetry[J]. Foreign Literature, 2003, (4): 43
[6] G.E.Bentley. Wiliam Blake's Writings[M]. London : Picking & Chattto,1978:1576
[7] Yuan Xianjun. Blake’s Spiritual World[J]. Foreign Literature, 1998, (1): 55, 56, 54
[ 8] Maurice Cranston. The Romantic Movement[M].Liphook: Blackwell Publishers, 1994:49.
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