學弟:

我們現在要來做一件「不道德」的事!──偷看詩人的日記與信件!學「狗仔隊」那樣,看看詩人們私底下在想些什麼事情…

 

Sylvia Plath(1932-1963)在1958年3月29日的日記中寫道:

傲慢,我認為我已經寫出足以使我被評價為美國女詩人的代表(就像泰德將成為英國及其屬地的詩人的代表)。誰是對手?這個嘛,歷史上—Sappho, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti, Amy Lowell, Emily Dickenson, Edna St. Vincent Millay—全作古了。現在:Edith Sitwell & Marianne Moore,年邁的女巨人和詩壇教母。Phyllis McGinley出局了—輕浮的韻文:她出賣了自己。當然:May Swenson, Isabella Gardner, & most close, Adrienne Cecile Rich—她們將會被這八首詩蓋過鋒芒:我現在熱切、皮膚發紅,確信我的天賦,只想要磨練和教導它—我要算算從現在起我將會以這八首詩打開多少雜誌和稿費。咱們等著瞧。[1]

S.P.這種野心勃勃、患得患失的競爭焦慮充斥在日記中,例如不久前的2月5日她寫道:

至少在美國我沒有理由不能超過那口齒伶俐的—Isabella Gardner&甚至那女同性戀&異想天開&珠光寶氣的Elizabeth Bishop。假如我這個夏天揮汗工作的話。[2]

是呀!不夠份量的詩人,也無法成為S.P.的「假想敵」!然而有趣的是,S.P.似乎只以「女詩人」為「假想敵」。在1958年3月29日同一天的日記裡,當時正在教書的S.P.提到她備課的工作:

看了一遍又一遍我的月曆:八週:實際要教七週的課。每週都會耗掉我一大疊的準備:Hopkins, Yeats, Eliot, Thomas, Auden, Crowe Ransom, e.e. cummings。我應該會樂在其中如果我面對備課並紮紮實實、好好準備的話。[3]

雖然提到了這一串名單,然而S.P.似乎沒有與這些詩壇的男性巨頭們一決雌雄的念頭,是她將男、女詩人分班看待,還是她覺得自己羽翼未豐,決戰時刻未到?而S.P.用的「女詩人」這個字Poetess(或許譯為「女流詩人」更為恰當),在女性主義興起後,已成為帶有貶抑的辭彙,不過1958年的S.P.在用Poetess這個字時,顯然並沒有這種感覺。可是十年之後,Anne Sexton(1928-1974)在1967年回信Ted Hughes(1930-1998)答應去英國出席一場詩人大會時,就特別強調了一下性別問題:

看來我將會是這場節慶中唯一的女詩人(Ginsberg不算的話!)…是這樣嗎?多奇怪…當然,你不是因為我的性別不同而邀請我。非也。這是我討厭的另一掛「女詩人那一掛」、「自白派詩人那一掛」或「Lowell, Sexton, Plath那一掛」。你的意圖是睿智而正確的。因此,能被原諒。[4]

事實上,Anne Sexton不願被貼上任何標籤,不願被歸類為「某某類」詩人。現在,女詩人不會喜歡被強調自己的性別,但是願意正視自己的女性意識。Female poet或Woman poet取代了Poetess。然而,正如上述S.P.列出的上起公元前七世紀古希臘女詩人Sappho的名單,並將自己投入這個傳承中與前人同輩一較高下,以砥礪自己的才華。像S.P.那樣將「女詩人」標舉出來,究竟對女性詩人而言是好還是不好呢?還是說,我們現在應該很自然地只問才華不問性別,將「Sappho, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti, Amy Lowell, Emily Dickenson, Edna St. Vincent Millay」與「Hopkins, Yeats, Eliot, Thomas, Auden, Crowe Ransom, e.e. cummings」一齊位列仙班?

1997年英國女詩人Maura Dooley(1957- )在她編輯的一本英國女詩人選集的序言中,表達了「女詩人」問題的兩難:

舊的論點將正好是女性的詩人置於一種兩難的窠臼中。此論點是這樣的。女性已不再為了出版而掙扎:她們的作品被購買、借閱與閱讀,在廣播中被聆聽並公開朗誦。繼續將她們區別開來出版或推廣是去創造一種文學的貧民窟或一種文化的點綴節目。相對的論點則是這樣。女性被出版、被閱讀與聆聽,但她們的作品沒有被討論。若她們的作品仍未被當今主流文學期刊持續地、嚴肅地、無差別地好好思考並為之撰文,她們的詩未來將不會成為英國文學主流經典的一部分。[5]

即便沒有人認為詩寫得好不好與性別有什麼關係,即便女詩人中的翹楚更受男詩人敬重,但性別歧視這種問題就像「雖然飯菜多半是女人在燒,頂尖的大廚多半還是男人」這樣的偏見一樣,正如多數的男人其實認為男人寫詩是「娘娘腔」的事情(正如上文中Anne Sexton調侃Ginsberg那樣)…不過,我總覺得問題似乎又不在於性別…

因為若說到文學史的地位,那可真是殘酷的優勝劣敗,如果舉另一位英國女詩人Elizabeth Jennings(1926-2001)於1996年編輯的一本掌上型的、個人化的英國詩選《一位詩人的選擇》(A Poet's Choice)為例,她在浪漫時期與維多利亞時期選擇的是Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, Tennyson, Arthur Hugh Clough, Matthew Arnold, Dante Gabriel Rossetti & Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson, Hopkins, G. K. Chesterton, Edward Thomas, Wilfred Owen,我們可以看到,嚴選之下,連拜倫都被捨棄,但當Elizabeth Jennings回憶起中學時代初識詩歌之美的時刻,令自己大受感動的卻是G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)浮誇的長詩Lepanto:

當時我十三歲,仍然還十足是個孩子,我那一班正讀著一本名為《龍塾韻書》的選集中的幾首詩。某日我們讀到G. K. Chesterton的 Lepanto。詩中充斥著像這樣的詩句:「低沉鼓聲震震微聞丘壑間…」、「瓦洛王的影子呵欠於彌撒」、「西班牙萬歲!光榮的道明會!奧地利的唐璜馳向大洋!」我被改變了,被徹底掌握;英文詩歌的魔力已接管了我。[6]

因此回顧自己走向詩學之路的原點,Elizabeth Jennings無論如何也要選擇曾經紅透半邊天,現在卻已無人聞問的G. K. Chesterton的詩。順代一提的是,《龍塾韻書》(The Dragon Book of Verse)是牛津一所聲譽卓著的小學「龍塾」(The Dragon School)編撰的詩選集,該校成立於1877年,招收八到十三歲的學生,男女兼收。電影哈利波特(Harry Potter)中飾演妙麗(Hermione Granger)的小女孩Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson(1990- )在現實生活中就是讀這所古老的小學。

誠然,每個詩人心中自有一本「選集」,例如Anne Sexton在1962年寫給她其實並不認識的另一位女詩人May Swenson(1913-1989)的信中說:

我感覺(正如讀者有時會這樣)我好像認識妳…因為我已仰慕妳的作品很久了…向上望著妳的作品,而不知為何,以此為傲…因為這的確是女性的作品而且是優秀詩人的作品。我將妳列為首位…僅在Elizabeth Bishop之後…
假如我要編一本選集(我無此計畫只是假設)若缺了妳的許多詩作我將無法呈現現代詩的狀況…[7]

真是尷尬呀!Anne Sexton在自己未曾謀面的May Swenson面前大大稱揚Elizabeth Bishop(1911-1979),這到底是抬舉還是貶抑對方呢?還說對方的詩「的確是女性的作品而且是優秀詩人的作品」,以及「假如」自己編選集的話一定會選對方的詩等等,May Swenson看信時想必只能苦笑吧!唯一能確定的一點是:Anne Sexton對Elizabeth Bishop讚譽有加!而無獨有偶,S.P.也對Elizabeth Bishop讚譽有加,雖說正如前文所引,S.P.用「女同性戀&異想天開&珠光寶氣」這種不懷好意的方式形容她,但在1959年10月10日的日記中,S.P.可是大大稱讚了她一番:

以極大的欽佩讀Elizabeth Bishop。她優秀的原創性,總是令人驚喜,從不僵硬,行雲流水,比起Marianne Moore,她的教母,更為豐富多汁。[8]

如果承認S.P.與Anne Sexton是真正有才氣的詩人,而不只是什麼「女詩人那一掛」、「自白派詩人那一掛」或「Lowell, Sexton, Plath那一掛」的詩人,那麼她們欣賞Elizabeth Bishop,是她為真正有才氣的詩人,也就沒有什麼共謀,也不是出於什麼意識形態。因此再回到性別的問題,如果考量到詩人月旦人物時狂妄自大卻又慧眼識英雄的本質,那麼詩人的眼中從來只有「好詩人」與「爛詩人」,沒有「男詩人」與「女詩人」。例如英國女詩人Stevie Smith(1902-1971)就曾尖酸地評論道:

差勁的女詩人的人品比較端正,她們很少…酩酊大醉…鎯鐺入獄…射殺鋼琴師。她們的錯誤在於靈魂過於豐富而且陳腔濫調。她們喜歡密談(誰不是呢),與精靈、自然還有她們彼此之間,但她們的辭句卻不足以承載其交通…有些差勁的男詩人能夠取信於人…耍把戲與驚世駭俗成了天賦的代用品…好的詩人不分性別皆超乎於這些喧囂之上。[9]

詩人品評詩人常常是殘酷的。上文中被S.P.稱之為「年邁的女巨人、詩壇教母」的Edith Sitwell(1887-1964)在1949年寫給John Lehmann(1907-1987)的一封信中,議論著他們正在合作編輯的一本美國詩選,以及她對美國詩壇的看法:

我現在對美國詩選生氣死了。天啊!那裡面實際上沒有一個生氣勃勃的詩人,除了 Tom, Ezra, Marianne, e.e. commings, Wystan與Jose Villa之外。然而,那裡面有一首壯觀的詩是Robert Lowell寫的。名為〈鬼魂〉。你知道嗎?我認為那首詩屬最高等級,幾乎真的可以說是一首偉大的作品。此詩縈繞著絕望感,並有某種揮之不去邪氣。
那裡面死掉的詩人也不多!唯一可做的事仍然是去大量刻劃那些好的詩人們—咱們美妙的惠特曼,當然,幾首艾倫坡,幾首Emily Dickinson,還有Wystan發現的早期的泰勒。Wystan還點出 了一首Melville的絕佳詩作給我。[10]

Edith Sitwell毫不客氣地批評美國詩壇生氣勃勃的詩人不多,死後能留名的更少,但也毫不吝嗇地稱讚她喜愛的詩人,她更促狹地開玩笑說:

沒有把所有美國詩人編進裡面使我非常煩惱。因此我該在序言中說這只是第一冊,而其他人將全部進入第二冊。然後根本就不會有第二冊!!這樣能哄他們開心,倘若我還會去美國的話,我會對他們說,第二冊就要出來囉… [11]

唉!我們讀詩不也只會挑「第一冊」的詩來讀,爛詩又何必讀呢?但這樣對被貶抑為「第二冊」的詩人們又情何以堪呢?然而,詩人的才性各有不同,正如寶石雖有「硬度」、「稀有度」等標準,但也不能一蓋而論,鑽石雖然硬度高又稀有,但中國人偏偏喜歡硬度低的玉石,另外講究其成色與質地,不取其材質精純稀有而取其自然造化難得。因此歷經時代考驗的詩壇大名家固然如鑽石般閃耀,但默默寫詩的小名家也各如奇石,自有識者珍愛之,當然,評詩選集也無須必欲去掉「硬度」、「稀有度」等標準,畢竟文學的標準畢竟不能用自由、民主、平等這樣的價值來判斷,後代歷史的評價也非今人所能操弄。所以我也不覺得「女流詩人」就是不好,就是貶抑,各有其才華而已。

註釋:

[1] Arrogant, I think I have written lines which qualify me to be The Poetess of America (as Ted will be The Poet of England and her dominions). Who rivals? Well, in history—Sappho, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti, Amy Lowell, Emily Dickenson, Edna St. Vincent Millay—all dead. Now: Edith Sitwell & Marianne Moore, the aging giantesses & poetic godmother. Phyllis McGinley is out—light verse: she's sold herself. Rather: May Swenson, Isabella Gardner, & most close, Adrienne Cecile Rich—who will soon be eclipsed by these eight poems: I am eager, chafing, sure of my gift, wanting only to train & teach it—I'll count the magazines & money I break open by these best eight poems from now on. We'll see. 引自:Karen V. Kukil, ed., The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath: 1950-1962, New York: Anchor Books., 2000, p.360.

[2] No reason why I shouldn't surpass at least the facile—Isabella Gardner & even the lesbian & fanciful & jeweled Elizabeth Bishop in America. If I sweat the summer out. 引自:Karen V. Kukil, ed., The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath: 1950-1962, New York: Anchor Books., 2000, p.322.

[3] Looked through & through my calendar: eight weeks: seven actual teaching weeks. Each week will diminish my pile of preparation: Hopkins, Yeats, Eliot, Thomas, Auden, Crowe Ransom, e.e. cummings. I should have fun if I face preparations & do them very tight, very well. 引自:Karen V. Kukil, ed., The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath: 1950-1962, New York: Anchor Books., 2000, p.358.

[4] It looks as if I will be the only female poet at the festival (not counting Ginsberg!)...is that so? How strange...Not, of course, that you asked me because I was another sex. No. That is another lump I dislike "female poets lump," the "confessional poets lump," or "Lowell, Sexton, Plath lump." Your intentions were insightful and correct. Thus, be forgiven. 引自:Linda Gray Sexton & Lois Ames, ed., Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait in Letters, Boston, New York, London: Houghton Mifflin Company, [1977], 1991, p.308.

[5] The old argument sets poets who happen to be women in an unhappy groove of ambivalence. The argument runs like this. Women no longer have the same struggle to be published: their work is bought, borrowed and read, heard on radio and at public readings. To continue to publish and promote them separately is to create a literary ghetto or a cultural sideshow. The counter argument runs like this. Women are published, read and heard, but their work is not discussed. Until their work is considered and written about consistently, seriously and undifferentiatingly by the major literary journals of the day, their poetry will not have a future as part of the main canon of English Literature. 引自:Maura Dooley, ed., Making for Planet Alice, Highgreen, Great Britain: Bloodaxe Books. 1997, p.12.

[6] When I was thirteen, and still very much a child, my class was studying certain poems in an anthology called The Dragon Book of Verse. One day we read G.K. Chesterton's 'Lepanto'. It was packed with lines like 'Dim drums throbbing in the hills half-heard...', 'The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass', 'Vivat Hispania! Domino Gloria! Done John of Austria is riding to the sea.' I was transfigured, totally held; the magic of English verse had taken me over. 引自:Elizabeth Jennings, ed., A Poet's Choice, Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1996, p.xiii.

[7] I feel (as readers sometimes do) as if I knew you...for I have long admired your work…looking up to it and being, somehow, proud of it…for it is the work of a woman and the work of a fine poet. I have counted you at the top of the list...beside Elizabeth Bishop...
If I were to make up an anthology (and I don't plan to but if I did) I would not be able to represent modern poetry without many of your poems...
引自:Linda Gray Sexton & Lois Ames, ed., Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait in Letters, Boston, New York, London: Houghton Mifflin Company, [1977], 1991, p.146.

[8] Am reading Elizabeth Bishop with great admiration. Her fine originality, always surprising, never rigid, flowing, juicier than Marianne Moore, who is her godmother. 引自:Karen V. Kukil, ed., The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath: 1950-1962, New York: Anchor Books., 2000, p.516.

[9] Bad women poets are better characters, they seldom... get drunk ... go to prison ... shoot the pianist. Their faults are soul fullness and banality. They like to commune (who does not) with the deity, nature, and themselves, but their words do not quite carry the traffic ... some bad men poets can persuade people ... that tricks and shocks are a substitute for talent ... good poets of either sex are above these quarrels. 引自:Anne Bryan, Stevie Smith Biography;參見:http://www.strange-attractor.co.uk/stevibio.htm

[10] I am having, at the moment, hell with the American Anthology. Heavens! There is practically not a living poet, excepting Tom, Ezra, Marianne, e.e. commings, Wystan, and Jose Villa. There is, however, a really magnificent poem by Robert Lowell, ‘The Ghost.’ Do you know it? I think that on the highest level, one may very nearly call it a really great poem. It has a despair about it, and a haunting wickedness.
There are also very few dead poets either!! Still, the only thing to do is to give a large representation, of those who are good poets,--our wonderful Whitman, of course, some Poe, some Emily Dickinson, and Wystan’s discovery, the early Taylor. Wystan also pointed out to me a very fine poem by Melville.
引自:John Lehmann & Derek Parker, ed., Edith Sitwell: Selected Letters (1919-1964), New York: The Vanguard Press, 1970., pp.164-5.

[11] I shall be in fearful trouble with all the Americans for not putting them all in. I shall therefore say in my Preface that this is the First Volume only, and that of course they will all come in the Second. And then there will be no Second!! That will jolly them all along, and I shall say to them, if I ever go to America again, that the Second Volume is comimg… 引自:John Lehmann & Derek Parker, ed., Edith Sitwell: Selected Letters (1919-1964) ,New York: The Vanguard Press, 1970., p.165

參考書目:

.Karen V. Kukil, ed., The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath: 1950-1962, New York: Anchor Books., 2000.
.Linda Gray Sexton & Lois Ames, ed., Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait in Letters, Boston, New York, London: Houghton Mifflin Company, [1977], 1991.
.Maura Dooley, ed., Making for Planet Alice, Highgreen, Great Britain: Bloodaxe Books. 1997.
.Elizabeth Jennings, ed., A Poet's Choice, Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1996.
.John Lehmann & Derek Parker, ed., Edith Sitwell: Selected Letters (1919-1964) ,New York: The Vanguard Press, 1970.
arrow
arrow
    全站熱搜

    kamadevas 發表在 痞客邦 留言(1) 人氣()