论叶芝《驶向拜占庭》中的帝国形象

The image of Byzantium Empire in Sailing to Byzantium by W.B. Yeats

摘要:

叶芝是英国象征主义诗歌早期的代表人物，象征主义是其诗歌创作的一大特色。在晚期的名作《驶向拜占庭》中，叶芝构建了帝国拜占庭这一内涵丰富的象征物。在叶芝看来，拜占庭是艺术的象征、历史的符码和异域的标记。塑造拜占庭的形象时，叶芝并不完全遵循真实的原则，而是基于一些二手材料，对拜占庭进行了极端理想化的处理。对叶芝来说，拜占庭只是它山之石，叶芝的最终目的不在石而在玉。借助拜占庭这面镜像，叶芝实现了对诗人本身和祖国爱尔兰进行言说的最终目的。《驶向拜占庭》中塑造的帝国形象，代表了业已消逝的以贵族文明为标志的辉煌人类文化，这与叶芝骨子里的贵族主义倾向恰好吻合。此外，不满于爱尔兰当时的社会现实，叶芝试图在历史中为爱尔兰寻找一块可资借鉴的模板。在这种情形之下，代表艺术、历史和异域的拜占庭帝国就进入了叶芝的视线，因为它较为符合诗人理想主义的政治追求。

Abstract:

W.B.Yeats is the representative of the early British symbolism movement, and using symbol is one distinctive feature of his poetry. In the masterpiece Sailing to Byzantium, Yeats created a complex image the Byzantium Empire. Yeats maintained that Byzantium symbolized art, history and dissimilarity. When depicting the image of the Byzantium Empire, Yeats wasn't confined to the historical facts but transformed it into a holy place according to some secondhand materials. For Yeats, Byzantium was only an instrument instead of the final destination. In the image of the Byzantium Empire, Yeats expressed his wish for his mother country Ireland and disclosed his aristocratic ideal. The image of the Byzantium Empire represented the flowering culture characterized by the aristocratic civilization, which accorded with Yeats’ aristocratic taste. Besides, dissatisfied with Irish society, Yeats attempted to seek a role model for Ireland in history. Thus, the Byzantium Empire naturally drew Yeats’ attention, because it conformed to the poet’s political ideal.