亞歷山大·蒲柏 (1688-1744) 是18世紀(jì)英國(guó)啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)時(shí)期一位博學(xué)多才的重要的新古典主義詩(shī)人，他幼年患病，身體畸形，一生坎坷，然而，他并不因此而失望，而消沉，相反，他卻以頑強(qiáng)的意志堅(jiān)持自學(xué)和寫(xiě)作，終成大器，成為英國(guó)文學(xué)史上第一位以文學(xué)為職業(yè)而謀生的作家。

蒲柏也是一位在英國(guó)文學(xué)史上引起長(zhǎng)期爭(zhēng)論的作家，只是到了20世紀(jì)二十年代，浪漫派詩(shī)風(fēng)衰竭，蒲柏又受到重視，認(rèn)識(shí)了他在英國(guó)詩(shī)歌史上的重要地位。評(píng)論家普遍認(rèn)為，他的詩(shī)作意境不高，拙于抒情，但長(zhǎng)于哲理；過(guò)于雕琢，但詩(shī)藝高超；他的詩(shī)作題材廣泛，在藝術(shù)上力求盡善盡美，目的異常專(zhuān)一，尤其是在“英雄雙韻體”的運(yùn)用上，他的藝術(shù)成就至今無(wú)人超越。

[Extracts from lines 289?336]

Some to conceit(1) alone their taste confine,

And glittering thoughts struck out at every line;

Pleased with a work where nothing's just or fit,

One glaring chaos and wild heap of wit.

Poets, like painters, thus unskilled to trace

The naked nature and the living grace,

With gold and jewels over every part,

And hide with ornaments their want of art.

True wit is Nature to advantage dressed,

What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed;

Something whose truth convinced at sight we find,

That gives us back the image of our mind.

As shades more sweetly recommend the light,

So modest plainness sets off sprightly wit;

For works may have more wit than does them good,

As bodies perish through excess of blood.

Others for language all their care express,

And value books, as women men, for dress.

Their praise is still—the style is excellent;

The sense they humbly take upon content.

Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,

Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.

False eloquence, like the prismatic glass,

Its gaudy colors spreads on every place;

The face of Nature we no more survey,

All glares alike, without distinction gay.

But true expression, like the unchanging sun,

Clears and improves whate'er it shines upon;

It gilds all objects, but it alters none.

Expression is the dress of thought, and still

Appears more decent as more suitable.

A vile conceit in pompous words expressed

Is like a clown in regal purple dressed;

For different styles with different subjects sort,

As several garbs with country, town, and court.

Some by old words to fame have made pretense,

Ancients in phrase, mere moderns in their sense.

Such labored nothings, in so strange a style,

Amaze the unlearn'd, and make the learned smile;

Unlucky as Fungoso(2) in the play,

These sparks with awkward vanity display

What the fine gentleman wore yesterday;

And but so mimic ancient wits at best,

As apes our grandsires in their doublets dressed.

In words as fashions the same rule will hold,

Alike fantastic if too new or old:

Be not the first by whom the new are tried,

Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

(289-336行)

有些人只一味追求奇思異想

每一行的構(gòu)思都要突出閃光；

作品既不合理又不適宜卻獨(dú)自喜悅，

實(shí)乃炫目混亂一團(tuán)，粗野智慧堆砌。

詩(shī)人，也像畫(huà)家一樣，無(wú)力去描繪

真實(shí)的大自然和活生生之優(yōu)美，

就用金玉寶石把每一部分蓋住，

用裝飾法掩蓋他們藝術(shù)之不足。

真正的智慧是保持自然最佳狀況，

思想平常，但無(wú)人表達(dá)得這么恰當(dāng)。

我們發(fā)現(xiàn)有些真實(shí)東西一看就信服

因?yàn)樗c我們腦海中的形象無(wú)誤。

正如陰影能更美好地襯托出亮光，

因此，樸實(shí)無(wú)華突出智慧更有力量。

作品里奇思異想過(guò)多并無(wú)好處，

正如體內(nèi)血液過(guò)多反會(huì)走上死路。

還有一些人只關(guān)心語(yǔ)言風(fēng)采，

評(píng)價(jià)書(shū)本像女人評(píng)價(jià)男人只看穿戴。

他們總是贊揚(yáng)說(shuō)——文采何等杰出，

對(duì)作品的意義勉強(qiáng)滿(mǎn)足而低估。

詞語(yǔ)像樹(shù)葉，哪里長(zhǎng)得最繁多，

下方就很難找到有意義的碩果。

虛假的雄辯，像多棱鏡的色彩，

華麗的光線(xiàn)向每個(gè)地方散開(kāi)；

我們無(wú)須去察看大自然的表層，

都一樣閃光，沒(méi)有明顯的區(qū)分。

真實(shí)的表達(dá)形式像不變的陽(yáng)光，

照到哪里，那里就清晰而明朗；

它給萬(wàn)物鍍金，但不改他們模樣。

語(yǔ)言的表達(dá)形式是思想的外衣，

它總是越是適合，就越是得體。

一個(gè)拙劣的奇思用了華麗的辭藻，

宛如小丑穿著一身豪華的紫袍：

因?yàn)椴煌L(fēng)格應(yīng)與不同事物一致，

正如鄉(xiāng)村、城市、宮廷服飾有異。

有些人用舊詞矯裝，沽名釣譽(yù)：

現(xiàn)代人的思想，古代人的詞語(yǔ)。

無(wú)價(jià)值的矯作，風(fēng)格如此古怪，

使無(wú)知者驚奇，把博學(xué)者笑壞；

這些花花公子像劇中的凡果索，

雖然顯得難堪但虛榮心理執(zhí)著，

總喜歡展示昨天紳士們的衣缽。

好模仿的古人充其量只知如此

學(xué)我們的祖先模樣穿緊身上衣。

用詞語(yǔ)和風(fēng)尚的規(guī)律都一樣，

無(wú)論太新或太舊都同樣荒唐：

不要第一個(gè)去使用時(shí)新東西，

也不要最后一個(gè)把古舊丟棄。