Appreciation of the classic poem "[British] Milton's Dream of His Dead Wife"
I seem to see my beloved wife who died recently,
Sent back to earth, as Hercules had done
Rescued from death
Alcesti,
pale and feeble, and Back to her husband.
She is like the woman saved by baptism in ancient times.
The blood of the puerperium has been washed clean;
She is wearing a white dress as pure as her heart. ,
Just as I believe I will be free
and meet her in heaven one day.
Although she was covered with sand, I seemed to see her
Her whole body was full of kindness, kindness,
Gentleness and purity,
< p> More attractive than anyone's face shows.But when she was leaning over to hug me,
I woke up,
The person was empty, and the day brought a long night.
(Translated by Yin Baoshu)
This is a very beautiful mourning poem and the only love poem written by Milton. After his first wife died of illness, Milton married Catherine Woodcock in 1656. The two fell in love deeply after their marriage. Unfortunately, Woodcock died in childbirth two years later. So Milton wrote this poem to express his deep pain of losing his beloved wife and his infinite memory of her through dream narration.
At the beginning of this poem, the poet seemed to see his wife returning to him again, lost and found, and his mixed feelings were vividly written on the page, which served as an inspiration for the following narrative. Then, the poet borrowed an allusion to compare his wife to the ancient Greek beauty Alcesti. Alcesti was willing to die for her husband. Her noble character and selfless love for her husband moved Hercules. After the duel with the God of Death, Hercules took back Alcesti who had just died and returned her to him. Gave it to her husband. The poet uses Alcesti as a comparison, which not only highlights the virtue of his wife, but also explains that it is precisely because of this virtue that God returned her to the world. So what kind of image does this resurrected wife appear in front of her husband? The poet describes the appearance and quality of his wife in detail. Women's childbirth is considered unclean in Mosaic religion, but the wife has already washed away the blood stains, wears angelic white clothes, and is pure in heart and appearance, like a saint in heaven. Although she was covered with a veil, the poet could not see her face clearly, but he could really see the beauty of her soul: she was gentle, virtuous, kind and approachable. This kind of beauty is unmatched by anyone else, and the joy it brings to him is irreplaceable. At this point, a female image with a perfect heart and appearance appears in front of the reader, like a breeze or smoke. When she slowly walks towards the world, and is about to bend down to hug her husband, the poet's dream ends. All these are just smoke and clouds of the past, bringing the poet infinite melancholy and despair.
The whole poem is sad, beautiful and moving, and has a strong artistic appeal. This is first of all because the emotion of this poem is sincere. ·Although Milton was blind when he married Woodcock and had never seen her face, he was still deeply devoted to her and devoted his most sincere feelings to her. This feeling did not weaken due to her death, but became more lingering and pathos. And this sincerity is the most touching part of this poem.
The poet also used some techniques to effectively increase the expressiveness of the whole poem. First of all, the poem uses a lot of similes, such as repeatedly writing, "I seem to see my recently deceased...", "I seem to see her whole body showing..."; pointing out that the poet is in a dream state with his deceased wife. Reunited. The wife's voice and smile remained the same as before, without any change, and it was not like she was in a dream. This hazy, dream-like description vividly expresses the poet's thoughts and feelings of relaxation. The poem also quotes some other similes, such as "Like Hercules...", "Like the woman saved by baptism in ancient times...", "Wearing white clothes as pure as her heart." These metaphors fully mobilize the readers' imagination and make the image of the "dead wife" appear vividly in front of the readers. More importantly, through these metaphors, the image of the deceased wife becomes more and more perfect, which naturally pave the way for the last two sentences of this poem: The more precious and beautiful something is, the greater the loss it will bring to people when lost, and Losing such a wife can only bring pain and sorrow to the poet. In the last two sentences, the poet uses two contrasts to strengthen this desperate mood of "people walk out of the building empty": "I woke up, people are empty", "The day brings long nights." When he woke up from the dream, it was time for dawn and all things to wake up, but he was alone in eternal darkness, with no more light and joy to speak of. These two contrasts sublimate and are endlessly evocative.
(Liao Wanhong)