英语诗歌中的韵律和在翻译中的处理一 诗歌韵律

英语诗歌中的韵律和在翻译中的处理(一)

最近在我的《博客》中,曾有网友问及英语诗歌的押韵问题,也有网友和我讨论关于英语诗歌韵律在翻译中的处理问题。下面先对英语诗歌中的韵律作一个介绍,然后谈谈我对英诗韵律在翻译中处理的看法。

(一)英语诗歌中的韵律

诗人比其他的作家更注重语言的音乐性,他们常常通过语言的音乐性来烘托或加强他们所要表达的思想内容。诗歌中语言的音乐性包括语音(sound)和节奏(rhythm)两大要素,其中的韵属于语音因素。请读下面的诗节:

The curfew tolls the knell of partingday,

The lowing herd wind slowly o’er thelea,

The ploughman homeward plods hisweary way

And leaves the world to darkness andto me.

(from Elegy Written in a CountryChurchyard by Thomas Gray)

这一诗节中1、3行和2、4行分别押韵,幽长的音韵和缓慢的节奏,大大加强了这首诗低沉、幽思和哀婉的气氛,诗人一开始就以音义结合非常紧密的音乐性突出了全诗哀婉的主题。

什么是韵?

押韵的语言是一种特殊的语言,尽管现代诗歌不太讲究押韵,但诗歌中的韵毕竟是区分诗和其他文学品种的重要标志之一,也是诗歌音乐性的重要因素之一。“韵”是和谐之音,广义言之,英语中的“韵”就是任何两个相同的音的重复,包括元音或辅音的重复。狭义言之,英语中的“韵”是诗行末尾几个单词音节读音的一致。

在英语中,指的是单词相同的发音,而不是单词的拼写,如“calm—arm”,“light—height”,“time—rhyme”,“no—know”,“hay—sleigh”,这四对词,尽管每对词拼写不一样,但每一对词中的元音或元音后面辅音的发音都相同,所以它们都分别押韵。

韵律(rhyme scheme)是指一首诗中韵式的安排, 常用一个斜体字母代表诗行末尾某个相同的韵,如下面诗节的韵律(pattern of rhyme)是ababcbcd:

When we two parteda

In silence and tears,b

Half broken-hearted,a

To sever for years,b

Pale grew thy cheek and cold,c

Colder thy kiss;d

Truly that hour foretoldc

Sorrow to this! d

(From When We Two Parted byGeorge Gordon Byron)

韵的种类

英语中韵的种类可细分成很多类。其种类可以按照发音的情况在诗行中的位置押韵音节的多少来分类,下面分别介绍:

1按照发音的情况来分,英语中有元音韵(assonance)辅音韵 (consonance)

1)元音韵是相同元音的重复,如“time—tide”,“freeeasy”, “born—warm”,“hard andfast”等。拜伦在他的She Walks inBeauty 一诗中,元音 [ei] 在下面两行诗中重复了四次,描写和强调出了那不可名状的美:

One shade the more, oneray the less,

Had half impaired the namelessgrace.

2)辅音韵是相同辅音的重复,如“first and last”,“odds and ends”,“short and sweet”, “astroke of luck”。W. H. 奥登在下面的诗行中有意运用了辅音韵(r和d),以求达到某种特殊的效果:“‘O where are you going?’saidreader to rider”(其中的辅音“r”是头韵)。

2按照押韵所在的位置来分,有尾韵(end rhyme),头韵(alliteration行中韵(internalrhyme):

1)尾韵(end rhyme)顾名思义落在诗行之末尾,前面已经提到,这是诗歌中运用最多的押韵方式。不同的诗节尾韵有不同的韵律安排,以四行诗为例,有aabb,abab,abcb, abba, aaab等押韵方式,英语诗歌中以双行押韵和隔行押韵最常见:

a)

Ask me no more where Jove bestowsa

When June is past, the fadingrose;a

For in your beauty‘s orientdeepb

These flowers, as in their causes,sleep. b

(From Song by ThomasCarew)

b)

Sweet day, so cool, so calm, sobright, a

The bridal of the earth and sky;b

The dew shall weep thy fall to night,a

For thy must die. b

(From Virtue by GeorgeHerbert)

英语诗歌中的民谣体(ballad stanza)主要采用“abcb”式的韵律安排,如:

It is an ancient Mariner,a

And he stoppeth one of three.b

—“By thy long grey beard andglittering eye, c

Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?b

(From The Rime of the AncientMariner by Samuel TalorColeridge)

有人把“abba”式的韵律称之为“抱韵”,有一些道理:

I envy not in any moodsa

The captive void of noble rage,b

The linnet born within the cage,b

That never knew the summer woods;a

(From In Memoriam A. H. H. 27 byAlfred, Lord Tennyson)

丁尼生在《悼念集》的一百三十一首诗中全部用的是“抱韵”,第一行和第四行的a韵把两行b韵抱在中间,仿佛把作者的思想包含在脑子里一样;第一行的a韵和第四行的a韵相隔较远,造成一种悬空和不稳定感。这种韵律最适合表现内省、犹豫、怀疑的情绪。丁尼生运用抱韵来写《怀念集》是最恰当不过的,但在汉语诗歌中找不到这样的韵律。

2)头韵(alliteration,也称beginning rhyme),这主要是指诗行中单词开头辅音的重复。在“His death is a bitterblow to me”中, ‘bitterblow’两个单词中重复了词首字母‘b’,起到了强调的作用。在成语中,头韵是常见不鲜的,如‘good as gold’,‘safe and sound’, ‘thick and thin’,‘right as rain’, ‘with might andmain’。头韵用得好,读者会从中发现某种惟妙惟肖的联系。在下面的例子中,“married” 与 “marred”,“mice”与 “men”诗人运用头韵,分别巧妙地暗示了他们之间的内在联系。

a) A young man marriedis a man that'smarred.

(William Shakespeare: All's Wellthat Ends Well,II.iii)

b) But Mousie, thou art no thylane,

In proving foresight may bevain:

The best-laid scheme o’ Micean’ Men

Gang aft agley,

An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’pain,

For promisedjoy!

(From To a Mouse by RobertBurns)

(但是,小鼠啊,证明预见是空劳

这岂止是你老鼠一家的烦恼:

人和鼠都一样,计划再好,

都免不了有差误,

留下的只是悲伤和痛苦,

那有欢乐和幸福!)

c) The fair breezeblow, the white foamflew,

The furrow followedfree;

We were the first that everburst

Into that silentsea.

(From The Ancient Marriner byS.T. Coleridge)

头韵在Anglo-Saxon 时期的诗歌中是一种非常普遍而重要的押韵方式:

In a somer seson - whensoft was the sonne,

I shope me in shrouds -as I a shep were,

In habite as an hermite- unholy of werkes

Went wyde in this worlde- wondres to here.

Ac on a May mornynge -on Malvern hulles

Me byfel a ferly - offairy, me thoughte;

I was wery forwandred -and went me to reste

Under a broke banke -by a bornes side,

And as I lay and lened - andloked in the waters

I slombred in a slepyng- it sweyved so merye.

(William Langland: Prologue toPiers Plowman lines 1 - 10)

下面是用现代英语改写的:

In a summer season,when soft was the sunlight,

I shook on someshreds shepherdclothing

And habited like ahermit, but not a holyone,

Went wide in this world,watching for wonders.

But on a May morning,on a Malvern hilltop,

A marvel befell me, asmight a fairy-tale.

I was weary andfar-wandered and went to restmyself

On a broadish bankby a running brook,

And as I lay leaningand looking in the water

I slipped into aslumber, it slid away somerrily.

(Modern version by NevillCahill?)

Anglo-Saxon 时期的诗歌,每行有四个重音(偶尔也增加到5个重音),中间有一停顿把诗行隔成前后两部分,每部分各有两个重音。诗行中的前三个重音都押头韵,最后一个重音则不必押韵。

14世纪以后,英语诗歌主要以音节的数目为诗行长短的标准,但头韵一直被诗人们沿用着,或用以强调意思,或使声音有一种回环往复的音乐感,如在“round and round therugged rocks the ragged rascalran”一行诗中,头韵就起到了上述的效果。

元音有时也能作头韵,如“all the awfulauguries”,但用得比较少。

需要提醒一下的是,头韵也不是以拼写而是以发音为准的,如“Know” 和 “nail”是押头韵, 但是 “know”和“key” 则不能视为押头韵。

3) 行中韵(Internal rhyme)是诗行中间的某一个或几个词中的某个音与行末那个词的重读音节押韵,如:

英语诗歌中的韵律和在翻译中的处理(一) 诗歌韵律

For my mind, of allmankind,

I love but youalone.

(From the ballad The Nut-BrownMaid)

在下面两行诗中:

Her goodly eyes likesapphires shiningbright,

Her forehead ivorywhite(Edmund Spencer).

其中[ai]这个音反复出现在“eyes”, “like”, “sapphires”,“shining”, “bright”, “ivory” 和“white”之中,这是典型的行中韵。从这个例子可以看出,押韵的词也可分别出现在上下两行。如下面两行中的"fair" 和 "air"也算是行中韵:

We have seen thee, O Love, thou artfair, thou art goodly, OLove;

Thy wings make light in theair as wings of dove.

(Algernon CharlesSwinburne)

3、按押韵音节的多少来分,有阳韵(masculine rhyme)和阴韵(feminine rhyme)。

1)阳韵:韵一般都落在诗行末尾,如果押韵的音落在行末重读音节上,这种韵称之为阳韵(masculinerhyme,如:

Since to look at things blooma

Fifty springs are little room,a

About the woodland I will gob

To see the cherry hung withsnow. b

(From Loveliest of Trees byA.E. Housman)

阳韵如果用得恰当,能表现出阳刚之气或激昂的情感,如拜抡的“Greek WarSong”的尾韵押的就是阳韵,与内容结合紧密,韵律是a b a b,现录该诗的第一节为例:

Sons of Greeks, arise!a

The glorious hours gone forth,b

And, worthy of such ties,a

Display who gave us birth.b

下面再看一例:

Under the greenwood treea

Who loves to live withme,a

And turn his merry noteb

Unto the sweet bird’s throat.b

—W. Shakespeare: Under the Green woodTree

2)阴韵(femininerhyme)。阴韵涉及到两个或两个以上的音节同时押韵,即不仅重读音节押韵,重读以后的非重读音节也押韵。如:

And will make thee beds of rosesa

And a thousand fragrant poses;a

A cap of flower,and a kirtle,b

Embroider'd all with leaves ofmyrtle. b

(From Marlow's PassionateShipherd)

阴韵常用在具有喜剧气氛的诗中(comic verse), 能帮助表达一种嬉戏、轻佻或轻松的情感;但如果在一般比较严肃的诗中用得恰当,也能起到很好的效果,如:

a)We poets in our youth begin ingladness,

But thereof come in the enddespondency and madness.

(From Resolution andIndependence by WilliamWordsworth)

b)Teach me to hear mermaid’ssinging

Or to keep off envy’sstinging.

(From Song by JohnDonne)

c)The age is best which is thefirst,

When youth and blood arewarmer;

But being spent, the worse andworst

Times still succeed theformer.

Then be not coy, but use yourtime;

And while ye may, gomarry,

For having lost but once yourprime,

You may forevertarry.

(From To the Virgins, To Make Muchof Time by Robert Herrick)

阴韵在下面这首诗中有很多运用,如crowing―flowing,twitter―glitter,grazing―raising,defeated―retreated,mountain―fountain,等等,表现出春回大地的轻松欢快情调:

Written inMarch

WilliamWordsworth

The cock iscrowing,

The stream isflowing,

The small birdstwitter,

The lake doesglitter,

The green fields sleeps in thesun;

The oldest and theyoungest

Are at work with thestrongest;

The cattle aregrazing,

Their heads neverraising;

There are forty likeone.

Like an armydefeated

The snow hasretreated,

And now does fareill

On the top of the bearehill;

The plowboy iswhooping—anon—anon:

There’s joy in thenountains;

There’s life in thefountains;

Small clouds aresailing,

Blue skyprevailing;

The rain is over andgong!

4就押韵的性质而言,在英诗中有完全韵(perfectrhyme不完全韵(imperfectrhyme)之分。

完全韵中,除了重读音节中的元音必须是相同外,元音之后的辅音也必须是相同的,如“red—bread”, “deep—leap—steep”,“wealthily—stealthily”, “walk to her—talk toher”等。

不完全韵只有辅音相同,如在“sun—bone—moon—rain—green—thin”中,它们的元音读音不同,但每个词的词尾都有辅音“n”,其实,这是一种辅音韵,或称之为“半韵”(half或partial rhyme)。

英语中还有一种情况,即单词拼写一样,但发音不一样,如“plough—through”,“blow—cow”,严格说,二者不能算是押韵,但诗人们偶尔也利用这种形式以求达到某种目的。在英语诗歌中这种情况称之为眼韵eye rhyme,顾名思义,因为拼写相同,眼睛看上似乎发音也应该是相同的。其他类似的例子如“rough—dough”, “idea—plea”,“Venus—menus”。ChristopherMarlowe的The Passionate Shepherd toHis Love一诗中的“loveprove”和move— love就是属于这种韵:

Come live with me and be mylove

And we will all the pleasureprove

If these delights thy minds maymove,

Then live with me and be mylove.

上面提到的半韵,眼韵,等等,他们都属于不完全韵。不完全韵常用于表示不协调、失望、否定、拒绝等语气或情感,诗人为了取得某种特殊的戏剧性效果,他们也常常使用这种不完全韵。例如下面布莱克的两行对偶句就比较典型:

He who the ox to wrath hasmoved

Still never be by womanloved.

下面再看两个例子:

a)

And by his smile, I knew that sullenhall,

By his dead smile I knew we stood inHell.

(Wilfred Owen: StrangeMeeting)

(b)

The little boy who says “I’lltry”

Will climb to thehill-top.’

The little boy who says “Ican't”

Will at the bottomstop.

“I’ll try” does great things everyday,

“I can't” gets nothingdone;

Be sure then that you say “I’lltry”

And let “I can’t”alone.

(I’ll Try by C.Rossetti)

韵在诗中的作用

韵在诗中所起的作用,总的来说,它不仅便于吟诵和记忆,更能使作品具有节奏感和声调美,具体一点说,诗韵运用得当能起到下列四个方面的效果:

1) 押韵的语言像音乐一样,听起来能给人一种愉悦感。

2) 押韵的语言特别容易记忆。小孩喜欢读押韵的儿歌,原因多半在这两个因素。

3) 因为韵是语音的重复,重复往往能表达某种强调的作用,所以,诗人利用韵来强调某个词语所表达的意思。

4) 英语诗人有时利用韵律帮助组织诗篇的思想内容,这时,诗中的韵律可以指导和帮助读者理解内容结构。莎士比亚的十四行诗基本上就是按照韵律来组织思想内容的,柯勒律治的“Kubla Khan”(《忽必烈汗》)和奥登的“The UnknownCitizen”两首诗中的韵律都与内容有着密切的关系,描述的内容变了,韵也改变了。

朗读押韵的词语时一般应该重读、慢读,或稍稍停顿思考一下。所以读诗与读一般散文不一样,读诗时应该以慢速为宜。

有些诗的韵用得非常巧妙,不仅给人愉悦感,而且还给人惊奇感,如在下面的三行诗中,

JuliusCaesar,

The Romangeezer,

Squashed his wife with a lemonsqueezer.

诗人用韵把Caesar- geezer-squeezer三者连系在一起,令人惊奇不已,或捧腹大笑。又如,在Robert Herrick写的下面的两行诗句中,诗人把decaying和a-Maying用韵连接起来,形成强烈的对比:

The while time serves, and we are butdecaying,

Come, my Corina, come, let‘s goa-Maying.

但是,如果韵运用不当,就会显得单调,正如Alexander Pope描述的那样,

Where're you finding “the coolingwestern breeze”,

In the next line it “whispers throughthe trees”;

If crystal streams “with pleasingmurmurs creep”,

The reader’s threatened (not in vein)with “sleep”.

这是为押韵而押韵,是没有价值的韵,这样的韵只会令人听了昏昏入睡。在严肃的诗篇中,韵不应该是单纯的装饰品,而应该是诗人表达思想内容的形式之一,应该能给人有新鲜感,能起到“船舵”(rudder)的“导航”(steer theircourses)作用。诗人用韵应该如17世纪诗人Samuel Butler所说的那样:

Rhyme the rudder is ofverses,

With which, likeships, they steer their courses.

  

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