弥尔顿与英语史诗简论

从《贝奥武甫》到《失乐园》所实现的英语史诗发展的转折切入,对两部史诗的结构、主题和语言进行了对比分析。《贝奥武甫》使用古老的日耳曼语言,将氏族部落英雄传说、神话故事和历史事件糅合起来,造就出一个英雄时代日耳曼世界的微缩景观,而《失乐园》使用诗人独创的＂庄严体＂,将《圣经》故事、希腊和阿拉伯神话与文艺复兴时代精神糅合起来,编织成一个穿梭在天堂、乐园、混沌界和地狱之间的宏大悲壮叙事。分析认为,弥尔顿及其《失乐园》对英语史诗做出了巨大的贡献。

Milton and English epics

From Beowulf to Paradise Lost,a significant transition and progression can be noted.In view of such a standpoint,this paper makes a comparative analysis of the two epics in their layout,theme and language.Beowulf combines the tribal legends,myths and historical events in Germanic poetic trad-ition,and creaties a microscopic view of the Germanic world in the Heroic Age.Paradise Lost,on the other hand,brings the Biblical stories,Greek and Arabian myths and the spirits of the Renaissance into a grand tragic narrative which shifts among the Heaven,Paradise,Chaos and the Hell,by means of the Miltonic grand style.The analysis shows that Milton with his Paradise Lost has made significant contributions to the development and progression of the English epics.