经济学人22:诗坛后起之秀 Late starter

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;Poetry and the first world war;Late starter;

　　文艺；书评；诗歌与第一次世界大战;诗坛后起之秀;

　　Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas. By Matthew Hollis.

　　《如今条条大道通法国：爱德华·托马斯人生最后几年》，马修·霍利斯著。

　　Edward Thomas was a late starter to poetry. “I couldn't write a poem to save my life,” he declared aged¹ 35, when a “literary hack” of minor² biographies and travel memoirs³, struggling to support a wife and three children. A year later, and three years before he was killed by a passing shell in the Arras offensive in the first world war, he had written and published some of the finest poems to come out of Britain at the beginning of the 20th century.

　　爱德华·托马斯在诗歌方面是一位后起之秀。“我没法靠写诗养家糊口 。”他在35岁时如是说。当时他是一位“受雇文人”，写一些短篇传记和游记，艰难地供养妻子和三个孩子。他在36岁时创作并发表了一些诗歌。在20世纪初的英国，他的这些诗作是最优秀的。又过了三年以后，他在第一次世界大战的阿拉斯战役中被炮弹击中，不幸身亡。

　　What changed Thomas from a middling prose writer to a dazzling poet is the central theme of Matthew Hollis's engaging new book, which won two awards for biography when it came out in Britain last year and is just now being published in America. Mr Hollis, a poet and editor, focuses on the last five years of Thomas's life before he died in 1917.

　　马修·霍利斯这本引人入胜的新书主要讲述托马斯是如何从一位普通的散文作家成为一位杰出诗人的，去年在英国问世时赢得了两项传记奖，眼下即将在美国出版。作者霍利斯既是诗人也是编辑，他主要描写了托马斯在1917年去世之前最后五年的生活。

　　His book begins in London, where Thomas visits a new bookshop dedicated⁴ to poetry that had just opened in “shady Bloomsbury”. Around this shop circled the poets that made up literary London at that time: Ezra Pound, an American, who would greet startled visitors to his flat in a purple dressing⁵ gown; W.B. Yeats, an Irish poet and playwright⁶ who shunned⁷ newfangled electricity in favour of candlelight for his evening readings; and Rupert Brooke, a dashing young English poet, who would die a soldier in 1915 from an infection caught while stationed near Greece, and whose poetry sold 250,000 copies in the decade after his death.

　　书中的故事从伦敦开始。在“树影婆娑的布鲁斯伯里”，托马斯来到了一家新开的书店（这里主要销售诗歌作品）。在书店的墙上，到处都是诗集——都出自当时伦敦文学界的主要诗人之手：其中包括美国诗人埃兹拉·庞德——他会穿着紫色的睡袍来接待公寓里的访客，让他们目瞪口呆；爱尔兰诗人兼剧作家 W.B. 叶芝——他在晚上读书的时候喜欢就着烛光，而不用新潮的电灯照明；以及风度翩翩的年轻英国诗人鲁伯特·布鲁克——他曾是一名士兵，1915年驻扎在希腊附近时受到感染，败血症发作身亡——而在他去世后的十年之内，他的诗集售出了25万册。

　　Less glamorous⁸ or eccentric than these figures, Thomas was a prolific⁹ and occasionally acerbic¹⁰ book reviewer, six feet tall, “slim, loose-limbed and vigorous”, who struggled with near-suicidal depression. He had married while still an undergraduate at Oxford¹¹ and his relationship with his wife Helen was a troubled one. He often spent time away on the long journeys needed for his travel books, such as the “The Icknield Way”.

　　托马斯不像这些人那么有魅力，也不像他们那么特立独行。他是一位多产的书评家，笔触偶尔会有些尖刻。他身高六英尺，“身材瘦削，四肢柔软灵活，充满了活力”，一直在和极易导致自杀的抑郁症抗争。托马斯还在牛津大学就读时就结了婚，而他和妻子海伦的关系并不好。为了写《伊克尼尔德驿道》之类的游记，他常常出门作长途旅行。

　　Mr Hollis is adept¹² at evoking¹³ the atmosphere of the time, and at negotiating the complicated friendships and squabbles between these poets. But it is when Thomas meets Robert Frost, a “Yankee” poet determined¹⁴ to be published in Britain that his book comes to life. It was Frost—a stocky, quick-tempered figure—who persuaded Thomas to write poems, and who believed that “words exist in the mouth, not in books”. Once Thomas decided¹⁵ to write verse, he did so quickly. Spurred on by Frost, and by the oncoming threat of war, at one point he wrote nearly a poem a day, including his much loved “Adlestrop” with its “lazed, heat-filled atmosphere…of that last summer before the war”. Mr Hollis re-creates Thomas's process of writing by comparing the differing drafts of his poems, giving life to his process of composition, and charting the correspondence between Thomas and Frost once the latter had moved back to America.

　　霍利斯擅长营造时代氛围，也擅长描写那些诗人之间复杂的友谊和矛盾。但这本书真正生动的部分是在托马斯遇到罗伯特·弗罗斯特（一位决心在英国发表诗作的“美国佬”诗人）之后。正是这位身材敦实、脾气急躁的弗罗斯特劝说托马斯走上诗歌创作道路的，他还认为“语言存在于口齿之间，而不是在书本里面”。一旦托马斯决定写诗了，他很快就开始了创作。受到了弗罗斯特的鞭策，战争的威胁又隐隐逼近，曾经有段时间他几乎每天就写出一首诗——其中就有那首广为人们称道的《艾德稠普》，诗中描写了“战争爆发前的最后一个夏天……那慵懒、闷热的空气”。霍利斯比较了托马斯不同的诗稿，为这位诗人的创作过程赋予了生命，并记录了弗罗斯特回到美国后两人的通信情况。通过这些途径，霍利斯重现了托马斯的写作历程。

　　In many ways, Thomas was a difficult, reticent¹⁶ figure, who was quite capable of signing off letters to his mother “Yours ever, Edward Thomas”. Even after he had enrolled¹⁷ in the Artists Rifles regiment¹⁸, he remained painfully shy about his work, hiding his poetry among calculations on the trajectory¹⁹ of shells, or disguising it as prose. This may be one reason why Mr Hollis tends to address his subject formally throughout his book, frequently by his full name, and does not delve—beyond polite speculation—into the various extramarital romances Thomas may have had. Those who want such details will have to go elsewhere. Instead, Mr Hollis captures something far greater than a man's personal life, and far more elusive²⁰: the desire and struggle to write, even when you begin, as Thomas put it, “at 36 in the shade”.

　　从很多方面来说，托马斯是一位寡言少语、不易相处的人。他在给母亲写信时，末尾处总是署上“您永远的儿子——爱德华·托马斯”。即使是在他加入艺术家枪兵团之后，他仍然极为羞涩，不愿将自己的作品公诸于众。他把诗作混在炮弹弹道测算纸里，或是伪装成散文。这或许能够从一个方面解释为什么霍利斯在写这本书时自始至终都郑重地论述主题，提到托马斯时常常以他的全名相称，而且并未探究托马斯可能有过的几段婚外恋——只是礼貌地进行了一些推测。想要了解此类细节的读者不得不去别的书中寻找了。而霍利斯所描绘的内容远比诗人的私生活重要，也更加难以捉摸，那就是：创作的欲望、创作的努力——正如托马斯所说，即使这个创作过程是从“36岁时在某片树荫下”开始的。

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

6 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

7 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

9 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

10 acerbic   

adj.酸的，刻薄的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• He sent back an acerbic letter.他回复了一封尖刻的信。

11 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

12 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

13 evoking   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Some occur in organisms without evoking symptoms. 一些存在于生物体中，但不发生症状。
• Nowadays, the protection of traditional knowledge is evoking heat discussion worldwide. 目前，全球都掀起了保护传统知识的热潮。

14 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 reticent   

adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的

参考例句：

• He was reticent about his opinion.他有保留意见。
• He was extremely reticent about his personal life.他对自己的个人生活讳莫如深。

17 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

19 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

20 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。