Surfing, the sea-
Pick up your sharp pine needles,
Put your huge pine needles
Pour it on our stones,
Throw us your green,
Cover us with your fir.
(Translated by Qiu Xiaolong)
In American literature, whenever imagism is mentioned, it is impossible not to mention H D (Hilda Doolittle); When we quote the representative works of this avant-garde school, it is impossible not to quote ezra pound's In a Subway Station, and the other must be Doolittle's Orrit. She is regarded as "the most perfect Imagist" and "the only poet who adheres to the principles of Imagist from beginning to end." Therefore, her poems have typical significance, and the principle of imagism has been embodied in her poems.
The typical significance of the poem Orrit is first manifested in its image innovation. Traditional poetry regards image as one of the important elements of creation. The image that most people say mainly refers to connecting two similar things with similes or metaphors, which makes them associate in their hearts. Imagism, on the other hand, gives images new and concrete meaning. In Pound's words, image is "a synthesis of reason and sensibility"; That is to say, when forming an image, we should not simply compare two things, but fully grasp the perceptual characteristics of the objective object, and integrate the subjective feelings with the perceptual characteristics of the objective object in an instant through intuition, thus being included in the same image. In this way, image has a new meaning: it has both perceptual and rational characteristics, which not only expresses objectivity and subjectivity, but also describes objectivity. Because images are both perceptual and rational, the subjective feelings in poetry do not appear in the form of naked concepts and sermons, but are vividly conveyed through sounds and forms. Correspondingly, when describing objective objects, it is not simply to write landscapes, which also permeates the poet's strong subjective ideas. The poem Orrit is not only the best practice of Imagist theory, but also its most accurate interpretation.
Many critics think that this poem is simply about scenery, which is beautiful but lacks connotation. At first glance, this is the case, but once it is evaluated in poetry, the conclusion is different. The main images in this poem are the pine forest and the sea, and the whole poem revolves around these two images, thus obtaining the sensory effects of hearing, vision and touch: "Rolling" makes people hear the howl of the sea or pine forest; Descriptions such as "green" and "fir is like a pool of water" let us see the blue sea and lush pine forests; And "sharp pine needles" roll in the water, which can't help but make people feel tingling on the skin and muscles. However, these two images are not only an objective description of the pine forest and the sea to obtain a specific sensory effect, but also have rich connotations behind the surface description, that is, they show the poet's intoxication and admiration in front of the magnificent scenery of nature and her novelty and infection in front of the vigorous vitality of nature, which makes her willing to be conquered by the beauty of nature, let it "cover us" and let nature and us finally melt into one. From here, we can see that the two images of pine forest and sea not only vividly describe objective things, but also convey the poet's subjective feelings.
In the poem Aurett, the poet's innovation in images is also manifested in the overlapping use of images. Overlapping images is also one of the most commonly used techniques of imagism, which means overlapping one image with another. "It's like a pile of photographic negatives. They seem to be stacked on top of each other." (Peter Jones's Selected Imagist Poems) All the images in a poem are integrated to form an organic mixture, which has the characteristics of several images appearing at the same time. It is at the intersection or fusion point of these images that poetry appears "dazzling" and "full of commercial flavor" In Aurieth, pine forest is the sea, and pine waves are the waves of the sea, which can be thrown, poured and covered with stones; The sea is also a pine forest, and the ups and downs are pine needles, green and fir trees; These two images are completely intertwined and cannot be separated. And "Ollie", a fairy in the forest, is integrated with these two images in the poem, which is both a pine forest and the sea; She swings her long hair or raises her green skirt, dances gracefully or makes waves, emitting a supernatural and mysterious force. It is precisely because of the overlapping use of several images that this poem has infinite vitality and strong artistic expression. As the poet summed up in another poem of his own, "At this point in the spectrum/all the light becomes a/white, and white is not a color/... but a complete color:/where the flames mix/where the wings meet, and then we get a/perfect arc." Peter Jones, Selected Poems of Imagism.
The use of image fusion makes Orrit's whole poems become a seamless whole, and people experience the beauty of the whole rather than the impression of a word, phrase or sentence. This kind of poetry has a strong cohesion, and there is no room for those "superfluous words" except the images that run through the whole article and are full of vitality. Therefore, Doolittle's poems are always praised as "as pure and tough as marble". The poem Orrit is even more concise, concise and accurate, sweeping away the soft, sentimental, sweet and artificial tone of the poetry in the later period of romanticism.
(Liao Wanhong)