瓦爾登湖Thoreau梭羅

HenryDavidThoreau

HenryDavidThoreau

(July12,1817

–May6,1862)

Americanessayist,poet,naturalist,philosopher,andleadingtranscendentalist

ContentsBiographicalIntroductionHisMajorWorksHisWritingStyleHisInfluenceintheWorldAppreciatingWaldenComparativeStudies:a.Thoreau&Emersonb.Thoreau’sIdea&ChineseTraditionalIdeas

c.Thoreau&TaoyuanmingBiographical

IntroductionBirthplace:BorninConcord,Massachusettsin1817EducationExperience:studiedatHarvardUniversity(1833and1837).HisrelationshipwithEmerson:Emerson’struestdiscipleandfriends.ResidenceatWaldenPond:in1845,hebegantotakeatwo-year-residenceatWaldenPondThoreauwasaprotesteraswell.Disapprovedofthegovernment’sconductoftheMexicanWarbyrefusingtopayhispolltax〔人頭稅.(wassenttojail1night).In1835,hecontractedTuberculosisandsufferedfromitafterwards.Hediedin1862andwasburiedinSleepyHollowCemetery.Continuing…Thatmanistherichestwhosepleasureisthecheapest.—HenryDavidThoreauThelessonhetaughthimself,andwhichhetriedtoteachothers,wassummedintheoneword“simplify〞(simplifytheoutwardcircumstancesofyourlife,simplifyyourneedsandyourambitions,learntodelightinthesimplepleasureswhichtheworldofnatureaffords.Andunlikemostwhoadvocatesuchattitudes,heputthemintopractice.)Major

WorksMostfamousessay:Walden(1854)18parts

EconomyWhereILived,andWhatILivedfor.ReadingSoundsSolitudeVisitors…SpringConclusionCivilDisobedience(1849)Anotherfamousessay:

CivilDisobedience(1849)論公民的不服從

thisisfromhisstayinginConcordjailforanightbecausehedisapprovedofslaveryandthegovernment’sconductoftheMexicanWarHisotherworksExcursion,1863TheMaineWoods,1864SlaveryinMassachusetts,1854ApleaforCaptainJohnBrown,1859Walking,1862AWeekontheConcordandMerrimackRiver,1849HiswritingstyleHiswritingisphysical,intellectual,andspiritual.Heexpressesstarkrealityinstronglanguageandconveysdelicatedetailandsubtlenuance.Hisworkischaracterizedbothbydirectnessofstyleandbythesuggestionoffarthanappearsonthesurface.Headmireddirect,vigorous,succinct,andeconomicalprose.Throeau’sInfluenceintheWorldThoreau'swritingsinfluencedmanypublicfigures.PoliticalleadersandreformerslikeMahatmaGandhi,PresidentJohnF.Kennedy,civilrightsactivistMartinLutherKing,Jr.

RussianauthorLeoTolstoy

WilliamButlerYeats,ErnestHemingway,Critical

Responses

AmericanpoetRobertFrostwroteofThoreau,"Inonebook...hesurpasseseverythingwehavehadinAmerica."PoetJohnGreenleafWhittiercriticizedwhatheperceivedasthemessageinWaldenthatmanshouldlowerhimselftothelevelofawoodchuck〔美洲旱獺〕andwalkonfourlegs.Hesaid:"Thoreau'sWaldenisacapitalreading,butverywickedandheathenish...Afterall,forme,IpreferwalkingontwolegsFromMrLinYutang林雨堂先生在《論生活的重要性》中寫道：“就其整個人生觀來說,梭羅在美國作家中最具中國情趣.作為中國人，我感覺與梭羅心心相通。我可以將梭羅的文字譯成中文，把它們當(dāng)作中國詩人的詩作向國人展示。沒有人會產(chǎn)生疑心。〞ThebeautifulWalden(Picture1)Walden(Picture2)ThebeautifulWalden(Picture3)Walden(Picture4)Waldenauthor

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HenryDavidThoreautypeofwork

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Essaygenre

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Autobiography;moralphilosophy;naturalhistory;socialcriticismtimeandplacewritten

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1845–1854,WaldenPond,nearConcord,Massachusettsdateoffirstpublication

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1854narrator

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HenryDavidThoreauWalden:descriptionofhislifenearthepondcalledWaldenbelongingtoEmerson.Theauthorlivedtherefornearlytwoyearswithonlyanaxeatthebeginning.Thisbookwasafailureinhisowntimebutbecameverypopularinthe20thcentury..WaldenpresentedThoreau'sunusualinterestinnatureandshowedhisindividualismwhichinheritedfromAmericanPuritanism.Thebookdescribedtheauthor'sextremelysimplelifeandregenerationheexperiencedwhenhelivedneartheWaldenpondwhereheputEmerson'sTranscendentaldoctrinesintopracticeintheactuallife.IntroductiontoWalden

ItcameoutofThoreau’stwo-year-experimentatWaldenPond.Itstressestheimportanceofthoughtovermaterialcircumstance.Hebelievedthattherewasthepossibilityforandimportanceofchangeinone’sspirituallifewhichisinharmonywithnature.Waldenemphasizestheimportanceofsolitude,contemplation,andclosenesstonatureintranscendingthe"desperate"existence.內(nèi)容提要選篇摘自《沃爾登》中的第二篇文章“我生活的地方；我為何生活〞。為了實踐他的超驗主義哲學(xué)，梭羅曾在馬薩諸塞州康科德附近的沃爾登湖畔自建木屋，靠采集野菜、野果，自種豆類而維持生活長達兩年之久。他在沃爾登湖畔的生活和思考使他得以完成兩部最重要的著作：《在康科德與梅里馬克河上一周》〔AweekontheConcordandMerrimackRiver,1849〕和《沃爾登》〔Walden,1854〕?！段譅柕恰酚?8篇文章組成，記錄了他所觀察到的自然以及他建造木屋、耕種土地、招待朋友等生活情況。書中謳歌了人類與自然的和諧生活，倡導(dǎo)個人主義、自力更生、物質(zhì)節(jié)儉。他試圖將身體的物質(zhì)需要縮小到最低限度，以便在讀書、思考、觀察自然與自我當(dāng)中獲得更大的精神財富和自由。他也呼吁人們過最簡樸的生活，以便節(jié)約時間和精力來“過深層次的生活，吮吸出生活的精髓〞。他努力開掘美國自然環(huán)境在人類教養(yǎng)、心靈塑造等方面的潛能，強調(diào)所有人都應(yīng)該有充分的自由來選擇獨一無二的生活方式，將自己的生活做成詩、當(dāng)作藝術(shù)。他向人們展示出閑暇、沉思、與大自然和諧共處等的種種益處，為美國自然作家的寫作開了先河。在《沃爾登》的數(shù)篇文章中，梭羅對工作和閑暇的意義進行了頗有獨創(chuàng)性的思考，并描述了自己在盡可能簡樸地、自給自足地生活方面所做的實驗，強調(diào)這項簡樸生活的試驗絕不是無所事事地與世隔絕。在這些文章中，梭羅描述了林中生活的細節(jié)：他與各種各樣的小動物的接觸；不同季節(jié)中樹木與水的不同聲音、氣味和顏色；大風(fēng)吹動電報線以及遠方的火車汽笛所奏出的旋律等。梭羅在沃爾登湖畔日復(fù)一日的切身經(jīng)歷使該書有極大的真實感，而文章清晰、直截了當(dāng)，但又不失文雅的風(fēng)格，使《沃爾登》到達了文學(xué)經(jīng)典作品的水平。賞析選篇分為兩局部：第一局部描述了梭羅對于家園的總體態(tài)度和一般尋求，主要刻畫了尋找家園的心理過程和精神滿足；第二局部那么具體描述梭羅在沃爾登湖畔的家園，以及這一家園與大自然的融合。他以“自然詩人〞的敏感細膩，改變了通常以人為中心的思維模式，將大自然放到了最重要的地位。他用一個雙關(guān)詞“committed〞告訴人們，要過自由、無拘無束“uncommitted〞的生活.梭羅的創(chuàng)作表現(xiàn)出對于聲音、意象、深層意義、詞的細微差異等的高度敏感。他的寫作風(fēng)格乍看起來平鋪直敘、直截了當(dāng)，但實際上，各種巧妙的比喻、詞源上的雙關(guān)語、典故的運用、對傳統(tǒng)諺語的靈活運用等使通常的意義發(fā)生了變化或者扭曲，使讀者不得不對作品進行重新思考、重新評價。NarrativePointofViewThebookisnotatraditionalautobiography,butcombinesautobiographywithasocialcritiqueofcontemporaryWesternculture'sconsumeristandmaterialistattitudesanditsdistancefromanddestructionofnature.Thatthebookisnotsimplyacriticismofsociety,butalsoanattempttoengagecreativelywiththebetteraspectsofcontemporaryculture,issuggestedbothbyThoreau'sproximitytoConcordsocietyandbyhisadmirationforclassicalliterature.StayingatWaldenPond—anexperimentwithathreefoldpurposeFirst,hewasescapingthedehumanizingeffectsoftheIndustrialRevolutionbyreturningtoasimpler,agrarianlifestyle.Second,hewassimplifyinghislifeandreducinghisexpenditures,increasingtheamountofleisuretimeinwhichhecouldworkonhiswritings.Third,hewasputtingintopracticetheTranscendentalistbeliefthatonecanbest"transcend"normalityandexperiencetheIdeal,ortheDivine,throughnature.Thoreau’sideasembodiedinhisWalden1.Hesawnatureasagenuinerestorativehealthyinfluenceonman’sspiritualwell-being,andregardeditasasymbolofspirit.Hefirmlybelievesthat“natureobjectsandphenomenaaretheoriginalsymbolsortypeswhichexpressourthoughtsandfeelings.〞Hewasseenlostincontemplationoftheworldaround.SoWaldenisafaithfulrecordofhisreflectionswhenhewasinsolitarycommunionwithnature,aneloquentindicationthathenotonlyembracedEmerson’sTranscendentalistphilosophybutwentevenfurthertoillustratethepantheisticalqualityofnature.2.Thoreauhasfaithintheinnervirtueandinward,spiritualgraceofman.Heholdsthatthemostimportantthingformentodowiththeirlivesistobeself-sufficientandstrivetoachievepersonalspiritualperfection.SohehasbeenregardedasaprophetofindividualisminAmericanliterature.3.Thoreauwasverycriticalofmoderncivilization.Itwas,inhisopinion,degradingandenslavingman.Ashesawit,moderncivilizedlifehaddehumanizedmanandplacedhiminaspiritualquandary.

4．Inhisopinion,spiritualrichnessisrealwealth.5.WaldenexhibitsThoreau’scalmtrustinthefutureandhisardentbeliefinanewgenerationofmen.這本書反映出人與自然的神性。他不僅是愛默生的忠實信徒，他是一個泛神主義——把自然界的萬物都具有神性。他堅決地認為自然