T.s· Eliot (1888- 1965) "In his later years, he said that he had only experienced two happy periods in his life-childhood and his second marriage." "He once admitted that he paid a lot for his best poems in his life." (2) In his life, 1927 was a crucial year. This year, he officially became a British citizen, merged into the Anglican Church, and completely completed his return to European cultural traditions. This year became a watershed in his creative career. Eliot's previous works "express emotions with symbols and hints" (3). According to Ackroyd's records, "in the summer of 19 1 1, he (Eliot) went to Munich again, where he finished writing" Jie? Alpin? Pruefer Locke's love songs. He copied the poem in his notebook and never thought about it again. According to Conrad. Aiken said he didn't care about the fate of the poem. "(4) It can be seen that Eliot was very young when he finished writing this poem. At that time, he went to Europe to study for the first time, and he hoped to really appreciate "poetry" at the University of Paris (later he (Eliot) said that France meant "poetry" to him at that time) (5). The evaluation of this poem by later generations is similar to: "The whole poem depicts the contradictory and complicated psychology of middle-class intellectuals at that time in the form of a sensitive and timid middle-aged man's inner monologue.
Reflect the poet's great disappointment with the degradation of spiritual civilization in the western world "(6), or, before he became a pure Christian, he was a rebellious work when he was lost. From this perspective, "Jay? Alpin? Pruefer Locke's Love Song is the prelude and overture to The Waste Land. "The Waste Land symbolically summarizes the spiritual disillusionment of the western generation and shows the spiritual characteristics of modern westerners. This is an epic work. " (7)
In Jay? Alpin? Before appreciating Pruefer Locke's Love Song, it is necessary to know Eliot's thought and mental state from creation to completion. Ackroyd described it in detail in his biography of Eliot. "Eliot will even think of him (Eliot's grandfather) in his later years, and regard him as a man who controlled his son and his sons from hell, a tombstone engraved with the precepts of public office. "(8) Although Eliot, who went to Harvard, completely lost interest in the only God advocated by his grandfather, the influence of his family character always accompanied him, including his later choice of religious and political schools. 1February, 908, contact with Jules? Lafarge, he admitted that he "influenced his life. "Eliot was deeply moved by the anti-traditional feelings in Lafarge's poems, because Lafarge was critical of the so-called romantic passion, and even covered up or even despised his true feelings. Obviously, there are signs that Eliot's "impersonal" theory. At Harvard, there was a man named Owen? Babbitt's Teacher ",whose book Literature and American Universities was published the year before Eliot became his student. In this book, the text strongly criticizes the statement that progress is in line with American tastes (especially the only religion), pointing out that American universities like Harvard are kowtowing to the developing industrial culture and egalitarianism in the United States. He advocates the establishment of a culture of "standards" and "discipline" to oppose the traditional requirements of growth, prosperity and success. He is just the man Eliot is looking for. " (9) Babbitt advocates "impersonality", "because Babbitt's" impersonality "is detached and impeccable, and it is the feeling that is out of tune with the world in Eliot's early poems. "(10)1910 Eliot went to France to study." In the first two months of this year, he went to the French Academy to listen to Bergson's lectures every Friday ... During this period, he experienced a "short-lived" change to "Bergsonism" ... Bergson asserted that all concepts and knowledge have their relativity, and phenomena such as time and chaos cannot be grasped. "(1 1)" Bergson's so-called "real-time" and "continuous" will inevitably have an impact on Eliot's poems written in Paris. Eliot once told an inquirer that he was writing Jay? Alpin? Pruefer Locke's love songs, he is a Bergsonist, and he is attracted by this philosopher probably because he understands the true meaning of poetry creation, which Bergson said is "to get the truth through intuition". Bergson's point of view confirms his belief that grasping reality can only be achieved through' intellectual sympathy'. " ( 12)
Bergson wrote in the first section of the third chapter of the article "Laughter-On the Meaning of Funny": "What is the purpose of art? If reality can directly shock our senses and consciousness, if we can directly communicate with things and ourselves, I think art will be useless, or we will all be artists, because at this time our hearts will constantly sing with nature. " (13) "However, we can't see or hear all this clearly. Between nature and us, no, between us and our consciousness, there is a curtain that is thick for ordinary people and almost transparent for artists and poets. " (14) "The core of Bergson's theory is that people have two basic ways to understand reality ... the other is a rare, penetrating and subtle way. The latter is the insight of artists, saints and creators of all spiritual products; These people put aside science, practical interests and management, and only seek to go deep into individuals, into the rhythm of individuals in nature, and into human personality traits. Closely related to the intuition of creation is the ability of continuous consciousness. Once the artist observes it, he conveys it powerfully ... He also believes that honesty, sympathy and reason can only be awakened when the artist's imagination and compassion occupy their due position in people's daily affairs. " (15) At this point, when we read "Jie? Alpin? Pruefer Locke's love songs, I found Bergson's shadow lingering.
"Jay? Alpin? Pruefer Locke's love song, with an inscription at the beginning, is quoted from Dante's Divine Comedy:
"If I think my answer is,
For those who are going to be reincarnated,
The flame will no longer tremble.
But if what I heard is true,
Because no one left this abyss alive,
I can answer you, don't worry about rumors. "( 16)
I agree that "for the sake of love, he began to experience romantic disillusionment." His heart was still stained with romantic colors, but he vaguely saw the hypocrisy of this romantic color. Disillusionment mixed with self-mockery is also such a specious contrast, entitled Love Song. What is lacking is true love. " (19) Pruefer Rocco just indulged in his heart. Eliot used things and plots to symbolize and hint according to the struggle and development of the protagonist's psychological activities. Judging from the plot trend of the poem, the two people who just started to eat seemed to have anesthetized the patient and felt messy and disgusting all the way. Then at the banquet, everything seems out of place. Elegant art is a tool for women to communicate. The room is filled with yellow fog, and everything becomes chaotic. In this context, the protagonist started this banquet and began his inner struggle. Pruefer Rocco kept asking himself questions and urging himself to face them, but his performance only gave him blows again and again, confirming his cowardice, timidity and incompetence. In the ideological struggle again and again, Eliot made the poor man constantly analyze and observe himself. Finally, Pruefer Rocco didn't confess. Poetry does not end here. Before line 1 10 of the poem (that is, "That's not my intention, that's definitely not my intention"), Pruefer Rocco was still struggling, but after that, he shouted loudly and defined himself. After World War I, the outcome has been decided, and it's time to announce the result. Pruefer Rocco went on to say, "I'm just a squire/…/Sometimes, to be honest, it looks almost ridiculous,/Sometimes, it's almost a clown. /Oh, I'm old ... I'm old .../I roll up my trouser legs. " All he can do is fantasize that he will "drown" once he is awakened by human voice.
"-others like to explore in their own hearts. Under the influence of some emotion, behind the common social language that expresses personal psychological state and gives this psychological state a shell, they explore that pure and simple emotion, that pure and simple psychological state. In order to induce us to try the same effort on ourselves, they try their best to let us see what they see: through the rhythmic arrangement of words (words are organized in this way to gain new life), they tell us that this language did not intend to express anything when it was created, or, more precisely, what it implied to us. " (2 1) Bergson's passage is about some artists' exploration of inner mental state, and they give us feelings by means of language suggestion. "Jay? Alpin? Pruefer Locke's love songs are the poet's exploration of his inner mental state. The poet constantly exaggerates sensitivity, cowardice, fear, weakness and weakness in his poems, and these human faces are displayed in a courtship process. Whether there is such a process of confession is not the point. Maybe the poet can choose another event and scene instead. It is important to use some things and events to imply and symbolize the poet's exploration and exploration of human nature.