【读书札记】The Sound of Poetry -- Robert Pinsky （连载）

Rhapsodia

按：这是几年前读过的一本书，我对英语诗歌音韵方面的很多认识也是从这里来的。当时读的时候，曾零散地做了笔记，书上也随处有勾勾划划。我想，翻译诗歌的人，必须对两种语言的诗歌形式都有一定的认识，并掌握两种语言的诗歌写作技巧，才能保证译文的质量，更好地再现原文。Robert Pinsky 是美国桂冠诗人，有关他的情况，可以google一下便知。我现在一边重读这本书，一边把读书笔记整理出来，与大家分享。札记是中英双语混合，请大家谅解。
The Sound of Poetry           Robert Pinsky
Introduction
Native speakers of English articulate words in poetry naturally because the skill of uttering they acquired is like the way they learn how to walk and run. They learned and deal with the sound patterns without reflection or conscious analysis. But we, the learners of English, do not have this advantage. We do not develop the power as fully as native speakers. So it doesn’t always come to us as a natural thing to appreciate the sound of words or lines of poetry, regardless you know the meaning of them or not. However, even native speakers have to learn to hear language in a more conscious way. Thus one can enhance the pleasure in lines and poems.
母语不是英文的我们，在这个方面有有利的一面，我们对拆解声音，技术分析比他们在行，因为我们是从音标开始学起的（我们一开始就没有进入自然的语言学习程序）。不利的一面，是会因此而失去这种下意识的对声音是否“自然”的辨别能力。即使做了大量阅读，也仍然会因为非母语的缘故，而对一些微妙的声音没有意识。
Purpose of the book:
to enhance the reader’s pleasure in poetry through knowledge of a few basic principles and their tremendous effects.
Ref books:
Alfred Corn         The Poem's Heartbeat
Harvey Gross           Sound and Form in Modern Poetry
John Hollander         Rhyme’s Reason
James McAuley        Versification
John Thompson        The Founding of English Meter
About theory
Good books about traditional metrics
        * The Collected Poems of William Butler Yeats
        * The Complete Poems of Ben Johnson
Good books about free verse:
        * Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams
        * The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens
Most instructive books on short lines
        * The Complete Poems of Emily Dickenson
Adaptation of ballad meter to modern poetry:
        * Thomas Hardy: The Complete Poems
Ezra Pound wrote: poetry is a centaur. That is, in prose, one aims an arrow at a target. In a poem, one does the same thing, while also riding a horse. The horse I take to be the human body. Poetry calls upon both intellectual and bodily skills.
散文和诗歌在于，我们既要利用马作为“身”以实现文字的感性特征，也要用“身”上驮着的“人头”进行理性的运作，这就是技巧和逻辑。

自娱自乐

hehehe, well, maybe it is better to learn how to do rapping, hehhee

周道模

study it, thanks! Good luck to you!

Louisa

Enjoy your intro! How to make the poem like music to our ear is not easy for a translator. For the poet is a musician of his language.

自娱自乐

hehehe, well, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, having said that, I firmly believe in natural talent...which is handcrafted by our omnipotent Creator, hahaha
No way can Magic Monkey escape from Buhhda's hand, no matter how...hehehe, someone was born to be a musician, but someone was dumb and deaf...that's it, simple as that...hahaha

Rhapsodia

大过年的，不知道还有没有心情读书，呵呵，以前的一点东西，先贴出来，然后再续哈～
Chapter I
Accent and Duration
The word “stress” and “accent” are used interchangeably for the strong voice in a word or a sentence. 就是说他的书里stress = accent， 重读
The thought that stress means increased loudness or volume is not completely satisfactory, because change of pitch, ordinarily higher pitch, plays a part, the major part in signaling the accent. 音量大，音调高，是重音的主要标志，但还不全是？真的？还有啥呢？
Principle: the stress on a syllable in English is not inherent in the sound, but relative, 相对性，相对原则！which means a syllable is stressed or unstressed only in relation to the syllable around it. As a corollary, accent is a matter of degree. 还是“度“的把握啊！This is a useful knowledge because the simple pattern of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables in a line can have the interesting rhythms of sound: 轻重音能让诗行产生节奏感！看看这个：
It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be.
4 pairs of syllables in each line, 四对，嗯 and each pair has the second syllable more accent than the first. “is” sticks out just a little bit more than “it”, while “like” sticks out quite a lot more than “-ing”. The degree of accent varies and the degree of difference between the unstressed and stressed syllable also varies, from one pair to the next. Please note that in the second line, the pause after “bulk” varies the rhythm. “度”阐述得很清楚了。
Technical term:
A “pair” of syllables, with the first syllable less prominent than the second, is an “iambic foot” or “iamb.” 抑扬音步/抑扬格音步/抑扬格/轻重格
The stressed syllable is determined only in relation to the other syllables within the foot. Thus, a stressed syllable within one foot may be less stressed than the unstressed syllable in another. 轻或重，只限于在自己的音步里比较而言，不能用一个音步的音节跟另一个音步的音节去比谁重谁轻。 相对原则！！！！！

Loon

来给晚枫捧捧场。
抑扬格，是一种轻重交替的形式，但这种交替不是绝对的：不是完全不变的很轻，很重，很轻，很重...而是相对的轻重的起伏，有时会很明显，有时不那么明显。
在某种情况下，清音会加重，重音会减轻，这就是语言学家观察到的 Promotion 和 Demotion. 当一个清音夹在前后两个清音之间，我们给它稍稍加重一下，如：
x        /       x      /     x     /     x   /   x        /
And gnaw l the fro l zen tur l nip to l the ground
我们加重了四音步的介词 to， 它还是较轻，但比它前边的 nip 和后边的the 要重。
相反，我们在某种情况下 demote 一个重音节。
Sorry， got to run.

Loon

我们减轻一个夹在其它重音之间的一个重读音节。看下例：
  x     /         x     /    x     /           x       /      x     /
The mules l that an l gels ride l come slow l ly down
我们稍微减轻了 “come”, 因为它夹在它前面的重读音节 “ride” 和它后面的重读音节“slow” 之间。 一般情况下，单音节的动词如 “come”是重读的，但此时它没有像它处于周围是轻读音节时那么重。
当我们读一串三个轻音时，如果提升一点当中的那个轻音，会提高清晰度。
当我们读一串三个重音时，适当降低中间的那个重音，不会感觉过于喧吵。
抑扬格音步的诗行如同连绵起伏的山脉，时高时低；高多少，低多少，没有一个定数。只要前面的音节轻于后面的，后面的音节重于前面的，行成一个波动的起伏，即可。

童天鉴日

坐下来听讲座。嘿嘿

埃文河天鹅

如莎士比亚一般，一见也不受规则的束缚，为戏曲的理想。鲁迅译。