“From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked… but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.” In this passage from Sylvia Plath’s "The Bell Jar," a young woman imagines an uncertain future– and speaks to the universal fear of becoming paralyzed by the prospect of making the wrong choice.
“在每一个树枝上, 就像硕大的紫色无花果一样, 一个美好的未来在召唤和眨眼... 但是选择一个就意味着 失去剩下的所有, 并且,当我坐在这里 没办法做出决定的时候, 无花果开始枯萎变黑, 一个接一个地掉落在我的脚边。” 在西尔维娅·普拉斯名为 《钟形罩》的文章中 一个年轻女人想象着未知的未来—— 诉说着普遍的担心,即 因为做出错误的选择而使自己陷入困境。 即使她考虑了选择其他职业,
Although she considered other careers, Plath chose the artist’s way. Poetry was her calling. Under her shrewd eye and pen, everyday objects became haunting images: a “new statue in a drafty museum,” a shadow in a mirror, a slab of soap. Fiercely intelligent, penetrating and witty, Plath was also diagnosed with clinical depression. She used poetry to explore her own states of mind in the most intimate terms, and her breathtaking perspectives on emotion, nature and art continue to captivate and resonate.
普拉斯还是成为了艺术家。 诗歌是她的使命。 在她敏锐的眼睛和笔下, 每天的事物都是她的灵感映像: “一座在透风博物馆的新雕像,” 镜子中的阴影,一块肥皂。 极度聪颖,敏锐机智, 普拉斯却被确诊为临床抑郁症。 用最暖心的说法, 她用诗歌探索自己的心境, 她在情感、自然和艺术上惊人的视角 吸引着人们,并让人们产生共鸣。
In her first collection of poems, "The Colossus," she wrote of a feeling of nothingness: "white: it is a complexion of the mind.” At the same time, she found solace in nature, from “a blue mist” “dragging the lake,” to white flowers that “tower and topple,” to blue mussels “clumped like bulbs.”
在她第一版诗集中, 《巨神像》 她写下了一种虚无的感觉: “白色:它是一种心灵的肤色。” 同时, 她找到了大自然的慰籍, 从“蓝色的薄雾”“摇曳地湖泊”, 到“高耸并摇摇欲坠“的白色花朵, 到“大片像球茎一样的”蓝贻贝。
After "The Colossus" she published "The Bell Jar," her only novel, which fictionalizes the time she spent working for Mademoiselle magazine in New York during college. The novel follows its heroine, Esther, as she slides into a severe depressive episode, but also includes wickedly funny and shrewd depictions of snobby fashion parties and dates with dull men.
《巨神像》之后她出版了《钟形罩》, 她唯一的小说, 书中写出了她在纽约读大学时 为《淑女》杂志工作的经历。 这部小说跟随着主人公埃斯特, 此时她正陷入严重的抑郁期, 但仍然包括着诙谐幽默和精明的描述: 势力的时尚派对,与乏味的男人约会。
Shortly after the publication of "The Bell Jar," Plath died by suicide at age 30. Two years later, the collection of poems she wrote in a burst of creative energy during the months before her death was published under the title "Ariel." Widely considered her masterpiece, Ariel exemplifies the honesty and imagination Plath harnessed to capture her pain.
《钟形罩》出版不久, 普拉斯在30岁死于自杀。 两年后,她充满创作活力地 在去世前几个月写下的诗集, 以《艾瑞尔》为名出版。 作为一部被广泛认可的著作, 《艾瑞尔》证明了普尔斯用诚实和想象力 来捕捉她的痛苦。
In one of "Ariel's" most forceful poems, "Lady Lazarus," she explores her attempts to take her own life through Lazarus, the biblical figure who rose from the dead. She writes, “and I a smiling woman/ I am only thirty/ And like the cat I have nine times to die.” But the poem is also a testament to survival: “I rise with my red hair/ And I eat men like air.” This unflinching language has made Plath an important touchstone for countless other readers and writers who sought to break the silence surrounding issues of trauma, frustration, and sexuality.
在《艾瑞尔》里最有影响力的一首诗中, 《拉萨路夫人》,她通过拉萨路来结束自己的生命, 就是圣经中由死复活地人物。 她写道:“我这个笑容可掬的女人/我才三十岁。 就像猫一样我有九条命。” 但这首诗也是一种对生存的证明: “我生为红发/像呼吸空气一样吃人。” 这种毫无畏惧的语言使得普拉斯 成为无数读者和作家的试金石, 那些想要打破 身边围绕着创伤,沮丧和性问题沉默的人。
"Ariel" is also filled with moving meditations on heartbreak and creativity. The title poem begins “Stasis in darkness/ Then the substanceless blue/ Pour of tor and distances.” This sets the scene for a naked ride on horseback in the early morning— one of Plath’s most memorable expressions of the elation of creative freedom. But it is also full of foreboding imagery, such as “a child's cry” that “melts in the wall” and a “red/eye, the cauldron of morning.”
《艾瑞尔》也充满了对心碎 和创造力的感人冥想。 这首诗开头写道“黑暗中的静止/ 随后是无形的蓝/小石山与距离涌来。” 这设置了一个在清晨裸体骑马的场景—— 普拉斯最令人难忘的 表达创意自由的喜悦之一。 但它也充满了不详的意象, 比如“融化在墙上”的“孩子的哭声” 和“红色/眼睛,早晨的大汽锅”。
This darkness is echoed throughout the collection, which includes controversial references to the holocaust and the Kamikazes. Even the relics of seemingly happier times are described as crucifying the author: “My husband and child smiling out of the family photo; Their smiles catch onto my skin, little smiling hooks.”
黑暗贯穿了整部诗集, 包括向大屠杀和 敢死队致敬的有争议的引用, 甚至那些看起来是幸福时光 的产物也被描述为折磨作者: “我的丈夫和我的孩子 拿出全家合影的微笑, 他们的微笑抓住我, 一些小小的微笑的钩子。”
Her domestic dissatisfaction and her husband’s mistreatment of her are constant themes in her later poetry. After her death, he inherited her estate, and has been accused of excluding some of her work from publication.
她对家庭的不满和丈夫的虐待 成为她之后作品的不变主题。 在她死后,她的丈夫继承了她的财产, 并因为透露她未出版的作品受到指控。
Despite these possible omissions and her untimely death, what survives is one of the most extraordinary bodies of work by a twentieth century poet. While her work can be shocking in its rage and trauma, Plath casts her readers as witnesses– not only to the truth of her psychological life, but to her astounding ability to express what often remains inexpressible.
尽管有这些可能的疏漏和她的英年早逝, 但幸存下来的是被一位20世纪诗人写下的 最杰出的作品。 虽然会因为作品的愤怒和创伤感到震惊, 普拉斯会把她的读者塑造成目击者—— 不仅是目击她心理生活的真相, 也是目击她惊人的表达能力, 能够表达出常常不能表达出来的东西。