Why should you read Sylvia Plath? - Iseult Gillespie

翻译人员: x Vicky 校对人员: Rong Chen

“From the tip of every branch,

“在每一个树枝上，

like a fat purple fig,

就像硕大的紫色无花果一样，

a wonderful future beckoned and winked…

一个美好的未来在召唤和眨眼...

but choosing one meant losing all the rest,

但是选择一个就意味着 失去剩下的所有，

and, as I sat there, unable to decide,

并且，当我坐在这里 没办法做出决定的时候，

the figs began to wrinkle and go black,

无花果开始枯萎变黑，

and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”

一个接一个地掉落在我的脚边。”

In this passage from Sylvia Plath’s "The Bell Jar,"

在西尔维娅·普拉斯名为 《钟形罩》的文章中

a young woman imagines an uncertain future–

一个年轻女人想象着未知的未来——

and speaks to the universal fear

诉说着普遍的担心，即

of becoming paralyzed

因为做出错误的选择而使自己陷入困境。

by the prospect of making the wrong choice.

Although she considered other careers,

即使她考虑了选择其他职业，

Plath chose the artist’s way.

普拉斯还是成为了艺术家。

Poetry was her calling.

诗歌是她的使命。

Under her shrewd eye and pen,

在她敏锐的眼睛和笔下，

everyday objects became haunting images:

每天的事物都是她的灵感映像：

a “new statue in a drafty museum,”

“一座在透风博物馆的新雕像，”

a shadow in a mirror, a slab of soap.

镜子中的阴影，一块肥皂。

Fiercely intelligent, penetrating and witty,

极度聪颖，敏锐机智，

Plath was also diagnosed with clinical depression.

普拉斯却被确诊为临床抑郁症。

She used poetry to explore her own states of mind

用最暖心的说法， 她用诗歌探索自己的心境，

in the most intimate terms,

and her breathtaking perspectives on emotion,

她在情感、自然和艺术上惊人的视角

nature and art continue to captivate and resonate.

吸引着人们，并让人们产生共鸣。

In her first collection of poems,

在她第一版诗集中，

"The Colossus,"

《巨神像》

she wrote of a feeling of nothingness:

她写下了一种虚无的感觉：

"white: it is a complexion of the mind.”

“白色：它是一种心灵的肤色。”

At the same time,

同时，

she found solace in nature,

她找到了大自然的慰籍，

from “a blue mist” “dragging the lake,”

从“蓝色的薄雾”“摇曳地湖泊”，

to white flowers that “tower and topple,”

到“高耸并摇摇欲坠“的白色花朵，

to blue mussels “clumped like bulbs.”

到“大片像球茎一样的”蓝贻贝。

After "The Colossus" she published "The Bell Jar,"

《巨神像》之后她出版了《钟形罩》，

her only novel,

她唯一的小说，

which fictionalizes the time she spent working for Mademoiselle magazine

书中写出了她在纽约读大学时 为《淑女》杂志工作的经历。

in New York during college.

The novel follows its heroine, Esther,

这部小说跟随着主人公埃斯特，

as she slides into a severe depressive episode,

此时她正陷入严重的抑郁期，

but also includes wickedly funny and shrewd depictions

但仍然包括着诙谐幽默和精明的描述：

of snobby fashion parties and dates with dull men.

势力的时尚派对，与乏味的男人约会。

Shortly after the publication of "The Bell Jar,"

《钟形罩》出版不久，

Plath died by suicide at age 30.

普拉斯在30岁死于自杀。

Two years later, the collection of poems she wrote in a burst of creative energy

两年后，她充满创作活力地

during the months before her death

在去世前几个月写下的诗集，

was published under the title "Ariel."

以《艾瑞尔》为名出版。

Widely considered her masterpiece,

作为一部被广泛认可的著作，

Ariel exemplifies the honesty and imagination

《艾瑞尔》证明了普尔斯用诚实和想象力

Plath harnessed to capture her pain.

来捕捉她的痛苦。

In one of "Ariel's" most forceful poems,

在《艾瑞尔》里最有影响力的一首诗中，

"Lady Lazarus," she explores her attempts to take her own life through Lazarus,

《拉萨路夫人》，她通过拉萨路来结束自己的生命，

the biblical figure who rose from the dead.

就是圣经中由死复活地人物。

She writes, “and I a smiling woman/ I am only thirty/

她写道：“我这个笑容可掬的女人／我才三十岁。

And like the cat I have nine times to die.”

就像猫一样我有九条命。”

But the poem is also a testament to survival:

但这首诗也是一种对生存的证明：

“I rise with my red hair/ And I eat men like air.”

“我生为红发／像呼吸空气一样吃人。”

This unflinching language has made Plath an important touchstone

这种毫无畏惧的语言使得普拉斯

for countless other readers and writers

成为无数读者和作家的试金石，

who sought to break the silence

那些想要打破

surrounding issues of trauma, frustration, and sexuality.

身边围绕着创伤，沮丧和性问题沉默的人。

"Ariel" is also filled with moving meditations on heartbreak and creativity.

《艾瑞尔》也充满了对心碎 和创造力的感人冥想。

The title poem begins “Stasis in darkness/

这首诗开头写道“黑暗中的静止／

Then the substanceless blue/ Pour of tor and distances.”

随后是无形的蓝／小石山与距离涌来。”

This sets the scene for a naked ride on horseback in the early morning—

这设置了一个在清晨裸体骑马的场景——

one of Plath’s most memorable expressions of the elation of creative freedom.

普拉斯最令人难忘的 表达创意自由的喜悦之一。

But it is also full of foreboding imagery,

但它也充满了不详的意象，

such as “a child's cry” that “melts in the wall”

比如“融化在墙上”的“孩子的哭声”

and a “red/eye, the cauldron of morning.”

和“红色／眼睛，早晨的大汽锅”。

This darkness is echoed throughout the collection,

黑暗贯穿了整部诗集，

which includes controversial references to the holocaust and the Kamikazes.

包括向大屠杀和 敢死队致敬的有争议的引用，

Even the relics of seemingly happier times are described as crucifying the author:

甚至那些看起来是幸福时光 的产物也被描述为折磨作者:

“My husband and child smiling out of the family photo;

“我的丈夫和我的孩子 拿出全家合影的微笑，

Their smiles catch onto my skin, little smiling hooks.”

他们的微笑抓住我， 一些小小的微笑的钩子。”

Her domestic dissatisfaction and her husband’s mistreatment of her

她对家庭的不满和丈夫的虐待

are constant themes in her later poetry.

成为她之后作品的不变主题。

After her death, he inherited her estate,

在她死后，她的丈夫继承了她的财产，

and has been accused of excluding some of her work from publication.

并因为透露她未出版的作品受到指控。

Despite these possible omissions and her untimely death,

尽管有这些可能的疏漏和她的英年早逝，

what survives is one of the most extraordinary bodies of work

但幸存下来的是被一位20世纪诗人写下的 最杰出的作品。

by a twentieth century poet.

While her work can be shocking in its rage and trauma,

虽然会因为作品的愤怒和创伤感到震惊，

Plath casts her readers as witnesses–

普拉斯会把她的读者塑造成目击者——

not only to the truth of her psychological life,

不仅是目击她心理生活的真相，

but to her astounding ability to express what often remains inexpressible.

也是目击她惊人的表达能力， 能够表达出常常不能表达出来的东西。