W. H. Auden called opera the 'last refuge of the High Style', and considered it the one art in which the grand manner survived the ironic levelings of modernity. He began writing libretti soon after he arrived in America in 1939 and abandoned his earlier attempts to write public, political drama. Opera gave him the opportunity to rise to the high style in public, not in an attempt to elevate his own status as a poet, but in service of the heroic voice of the singers. These works present their mythical actions with a direct intensity unlike anything in even his greatest poems. In this volume of Auden and Chester Kallman's libretti, extensive historical and textual notes trace the history of the production and revision of the works and provide full texts of early scenarios, as well as abandoned and rewritten scenes. Almost all the works included here were previously published in incomplete and often inaccessible editions - or were never published at all. The book prints for the first time the full text of "Paul Bunyan", Auden's first libretto, which he wrote for music by Benjamin Britten. It also includes Auden and Kallman's ??i??The Rake's Progress??i??, written for Igor Stravinsky, and ? ?i??Delia??i??, written for Stravinsky but never set to music. This book continues with Auden and Kallman's two libretti written for music by Hans Werner Henze, ??i??Elegy for Young Lovers??i?? and ??i??The Bassarids??i??, and their adaptation of ??i??Love's Labour's Lost??i??, composed by Nicolas Nabokov. It also contains their translation of ??i??The Magic Flute??i??, with its scenes reordered for greater dramatic coherence and added dialogue for sharper mythical significance, and their antimasque, ??i??The Entertainment of the Senses??i??, for music by John Gardner. This book contains two radio plays - ??i??The Dark Valley??i??, a monologue written by Auden alone, and ??i??The Rocking Horse Winner??i??, written with James Stern and based on a story by D. H. Lawrence. Also included are the unpublished masque that Auden wrote for Kallman's twenty-second birthday, the unpublished versions of ??i??The Dutchess of Malfi??i?? that Auden prepared with Bertolt Brecht, scenarios for a film script and a libretto that were never completed, Auden's narrative for the medieval ??i??Play of Daniel??i??, two narratives for documentary films, and his song lyrics written for ??i??Man of La Mancha? ?i?? before the producer decided to use a different lyricist.
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老实说,我对当代诗歌的兴趣一直不算浓厚,总觉得缺少了那种能直击人心的力量。然而,当我被朋友强力推荐,抱着“试试看”的心态翻开这本奥登全集时,我立刻被那种独特的、近乎临床诊断般的清晰感所吸引。他的诗歌不像有些浪漫主义诗人那样,用大片的华丽辞藻来掩盖空洞,奥登是用一种近乎冷酷的准确性来描述世界。比如那些关于道德困境和个人责任的篇章,简直像是一份精心起草的法律文书,逻辑严密,不留情面。我尤其欣赏他那种在宏大叙事和微观细节之间自由穿梭的能力。上一秒,他还在探讨历史的洪流与文明的衰亡,下一秒,笔锋一转,就聚焦于一个咖啡馆里孤独的人影或是一次平庸的谈话,这种强烈的对比,反而将“人”在巨大命运面前的渺小与挣扎衬托得无比真实。这本书的装帧虽然扎实,但对于我这样经常在通勤路上阅读的人来说,着实是个负担,但我发现我宁愿在地铁上站着,也要捧着它,生怕错过任何一个被忽略的韵脚或是一个被精心挑选的动词。这套书的价值,在于它逼迫你思考,而不是仅仅让你感觉良好。
评分我最欣赏的是奥登对“日常”的捕捉与提升能力。很多诗人要么关注不朽的英雄事迹,要么沉溺于个人的浪漫情怀,而奥登似乎对我们每一个普通人每天面对的琐碎、矛盾和潜藏的焦虑更感兴趣。翻开这本书的任何一页,你都可能撞见对自己生活习惯的精准描述,那种感觉就像是你的日记被一个极其聪明的外人偷窥并提炼成了艺术品。他的讽刺是极其高明的,那种带着悲悯的嘲弄,既让你感到被理解,又让你不得不直面自身的局限。这本书的装帧和纸张质量无疑是顶级的,非常适合收藏,但真正让它熠熠生辉的,是那些被印刷出来的文字本身所蕴含的强大精神力量。它没有提供廉价的安慰,而是提供了一种精确的诊断报告,让你知道问题出在哪里。对于任何想要深入了解二十世纪精神史的人来说,这本书简直是不可或缺的地图集,只不过这张地图描绘的不是地理,而是人类心灵错综复杂的内部结构。
评分这本厚重的精装书一入手就给我一种沉甸甸的敬畏感,仿佛捧着一座文学的里程碑。我花了整整一个下午,才把《W.H.奥登全集》从书架上请了下来,那封面低调的深蓝色,配上烫金的字体,散发着一种历经时间考验的经典魅力。打开书页,首先映入眼帘的是密密麻麻的页码和那篇篇结构精巧的诗歌,每一个词语都像是经过了最精密的数学计算才摆放在那个位置,充满了理性之美与内在的张力。阅读奥登的过程,对我而言,与其说是享受文学的流畅,不如说是一场智力上的攀登。他的语言密度极高,常常需要停下来,反复咀嚼那些看似寻常却蕴含着深刻洞见的句子。我记得读到一篇关于现代都市人疏离感的作品时,那种被精准剖析的无所适从感,让我几乎感到了身体上的疼痛。这本书收录的广度令人惊叹,从早期的政治抒情诗到后期对存在主义的深刻反思,仿佛可以清晰地看到一位伟大灵魂的成长轨迹和思想的不断演变。它不仅仅是一本诗集,更像是一部关于二十世纪复杂人性、社会变迁以及精神困境的百科全书。每一次翻阅,都能从不同的角度解读出新的含义,这才是真正伟大的作品所具备的生命力。
评分我购买这本《W.H.奥登全集》主要是出于对英美文学史的好奇,想系统性地了解这位承上启下的关键人物是如何塑造了现代诗歌的面貌的。但说句实话,初读体验并不轻松。它的难度在于它的包容性与跨度。你不能用单一的审美标准来衡量这本书里的所有作品。早期的作品带着一种尖锐的社会批判和知识分子的焦虑,语言相对晦涩,充满了时代特有的典故和政治隐喻,如果不查阅注释,很多地方会感到云里雾里,仿佛在阅读一份加密的历史档案。而到了中后期,随着他移居美国并经历信仰的转变,诗歌的笔触变得更加内省和形而上,对“爱”、“时间”、“死亡”这些永恒主题的探讨,展现出一种近乎禅宗的平静与深刻。这本书的排版设计虽然考究,但在长时间阅读后,那种统一的、密集的字体依然会给眼睛带来不小的压力。我发现最好的阅读方式是把它当作一本“工具书”来对待,每次只专注攻克一个时期或一个主题,将它放在书桌上,像对待一位博学又略显刻薄的导师一样,时不时地请教一番。
评分作为一名业余的文学爱好者,我一直对诗歌中“音乐性”的追求非常看重。奥登的这部全集,在我听来,则是一部复杂的交响乐章,其中不乏不和谐音,但正是这些“噪音”,构成了最真实的人类情感光谱。他并不刻意追求传统意义上的优美旋律,反而更擅长运用打破常规的节奏和句法结构,制造出一种阅读上的“断裂感”——这种断裂感恰恰模拟了现代生活的破碎和疏离。我发现他的一些长篇叙事诗简直就是对语言的极限挑战,句子可以横跨好几页,像河流一样奔涌,信息量之大,需要读者具备极高的注意力和心智耐力去跟上他那迅疾的思路。这本书的厚度本身就构成了一种无声的宣言:这是一份严肃的、不容敷衍的文学遗产。我甚至会挑选一些特定情绪的日子来阅读特定主题的作品,比如在感到迷茫时,去翻阅他关于“旅程”与“归属”的诗篇。这本书的意义,不在于让你读完后能立刻说出几句名言,而在于它在你内心深处悄悄地重塑了你对世界运作方式的认知框架。
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