登陆注册
5379100000017

第17章 CHAPTER II(8)

"Oh, cease! must hate and death return? Cease! must men kill and die? Cease! drain not to its dregs the urn Of bitter prophecy. The world is weary of the past, Oh, might it die or rest at last!"Perhaps the perfect beauty of Greek civilisation shall never be restored; but the wisdom of its thinkers and the creations of its artists are immortal, while the fabric of the world"Is but a vision;--all that it inherits Are motes of a sick eye, bubbles and dreams."It is curious that for three of his more considerable works Shelley should have chosen the form of drama, since the last thing one would say of him is that he had the dramatic talent. 'Prometheus' and 'Hellas', however, are dramas only in name; there is no thought in them of scenic representation. 'The Cenci' (1819), on the other hand, is a real play; in writing it he had the stage in view, and even a particular actress, Miss O'Neil. It thus stands alone among his works, unless we put beside it the fragment of a projected play about Charles I (1822), a theme which, with its crowd of historical figures, was ill-suited to his powers. And not only is 'The Cenci' a play; it is the most successful attempt since the seventeenth century at a kind of writing, tragedy in the grand style, over which all our poets, from Addison to Swinburne, have more or less come to grief. Its subject is the fate of Beatrice Cenci, the daughter of a noble Roman house, who in 1599 was executed with her stepmother and brother for the murder of her father. The wicked father, more intensely wicked for his grey hairs and his immense ability, whose wealth had purchased from the Pope impunity for a long succession of crimes, hated his children, and drove them to frenzy by his relentless cruelty. When to insults and oppression he added the horrors of an incestuous passion for his daughter, the cup overflowed, and Beatrice, faced with shame more intolerable than death, preferred parricide. Here was a subject made to Shelley's hand--a naturally pure and gentle soul soiled, driven to violence, and finally extinguished, by unnameable wrong, while all authority, both human and divine, is on the side of the persecutor. Haunted by the grave, sad eyes of Guido Reni's picture of Beatrice, so that the very streets of Rome seemed to echo hername--though it was only old women calling out "rags" ('cenci')--he was tempted from his airy flights to throw himself for once into the portrayal of reality. There was no need now to dip "his pen in earthquake and eclipse"; clothed in plain and natural language, the action unfolded itself in a crescendo of horror; but from the ease with which he wrote--it cost him relatively the least time and pains of all his works--it would be rash to infer that he could have constructed an equally good tragedy on any other subject than the injured Beatrice and the combination, which Count Francesco Cenci is, of paternal power with the extreme limit of human iniquity.

With the exception of 'The Cenci', everything Shelley published was almost entirely unnoticed at the time. This play, being more intelligible than the rest, attracted both notice and praise, though it was also much blamed for what would now be called its unpleasantness. Many people, among them his wife, regretted that, having proved his ability to handle the concrete, he still should devote himself to ideal and unpopular abstractions, such as 'The Witch of Atlas' (1821), a fantastical piece in rime royal, which seems particularly to have provoked Mrs. Shelley. A "lady Witch" lived in a cave on Mount Atlas, and her games in a magic boat, her dances in the upper regions of space, and the pranks which she played among men, are described in verse of a richness that bewilders because it leads to nothing. The poet juggles with flowers and gems, stars and spirits, lovers and meteors; we are constantly expecting him to break into some design, and are as constantly disappointed. Our bewilderment is of a peculiar kind; it is not the same, for instance, as that produced by Blake's prophetic books, where we are conscious of a great spirit fumbling after the inexpressible. Shelley is not a true mystic. He is seldom puzzled, and he never seems to have any difficulty in expressing exactly what he feels; his images are perfectly definite. Our uneasiness arises from the fact that, with so much clear definition, such great activity in reproducing the subtlest impressions which Nature makes upon him, his work should have so little artistic purpose or form. Stroke is accumulated on stroke, each a triumph of imaginative beauty; but as they do not cohere to any discoverable end, the total impression is apt to be one of effort running towaste.

同类推荐
  • 六祖坛经

    六祖坛经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 妙吉祥平等观门大教王经略出护摩仪

    妙吉祥平等观门大教王经略出护摩仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说出生无边门陀罗尼经

    佛说出生无边门陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 居竹轩诗集

    居竹轩诗集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 治浙成规

    治浙成规

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 穿越千年爱上你:宁不为皇妃

    穿越千年爱上你:宁不为皇妃

    OMG,穿越过来,居然被一支箭射得晕了过去,醒过来,却发现自己穿到了仇人的家里!面对仇敌咋办?当然是秉承最毒妇人心的真理,将仇敌全家搅得鸡犬不宁!想报仇,仇人的儿子又很帅,OK,那就用美人计吧!他,温润如玉,城府深沉,却惟独不肯对她算计;他,飞扬跳脱,风流不羁,却惟独对她情深一片;他,俊美无俦,冰冷绝情,却只愿为她展露温柔;他,惊才绝艳,目空一切,却只愿为她空悬妃位。
  • 胡商 胡腾舞与入华中亚人:解读虞弘墓

    胡商 胡腾舞与入华中亚人:解读虞弘墓

    《胡商胡腾舞与入华中亚人:解读虞弘墓》乃《太原隋虞弘墓》考古报告的续篇或者姊妹篇,试图通过虞弘和其他北朝入华中亚人,从几个侧面,展示汉唐之间黄河两岸的中西文化交流,旨在说明黄河两岸与丝绸之路的密切联系,揭示平城、晋阳在丝绸之路东西文化交流中的重要位置和作用,以引起丝路研究者和爱好者的注意。
  • hp心灵的救赎

    hp心灵的救赎

    哈利波特同人,纳威隆巴顿,原本是一个懦弱的小男孩。纵使心中有着真正的勇气,却也是当了许久的受气包。我想写一个不一样的故事,一个纳威是主角的故事,女主赫敏,一天一更,空闲时间多了会加更
  • 龙剑魔法与少年

    龙剑魔法与少年

    如果地狱和天堂接壤,神话会变成怎样?又有谁知道这个世界,究竟埋藏着多少秘密?十八岁生日那天,梦中有莫名的召唤响起,满天的星辰在燃烧,有恶龙张开遮天的双翼,骑士的大剑沾满鲜血。楚江河一觉醒来,推开门,此世界已经非彼世界。
  • 哭有啥用

    哭有啥用

    本文囊括了哭有啥用,空屋,秀色满,白骨说了假话,尖叫,我的心空如大海,乡下人进城出城的经历,星星闪耀在村子里,涂色几大部分,讲诉了何翠红,秀英,赵晨曦等人物为主线发生的小故事,来体现种种现实社会的生活。
  • 帝少宠妻无度:爱你如饮杯中蛊

    帝少宠妻无度:爱你如饮杯中蛊

    这世间,有那样一个人,遇见只需要一瞬间,可忘却,已耗尽毕生所有力气。IQ超常的天才少女何子颜,在换了一双眼瞳后,大脑不时被血腥诡异画面侵袭,牵引她抽丝剥茧,探清过往沉冤。豪门争夺,商海戮斗,财阀大少运筹帷幄下的徘徊犹疑,白月光初恋不择手段后的隐忍秘密,神秘贵公子温润谦和外的杀伐决断,一一浮出漩涡螺旋。在如履薄冰中步步为营,从溃不成军到翻云覆雨。只是午夜梦回,念荀子归,这骄傲冷血行事狠辣的掌事人,为何对她,如此无条件庇护纵容、予取予求?简单来说,这是一个讲述柔弱女恃宠横行绝地反击的公主复仇记,财阀痴心一片噬血供养的残酷罗曼史。
  • 无欲女皇

    无欲女皇

    前世,在爱人和亲人的双双背叛下,她坠楼身亡。今生,她只想无欲无求、默默终老,无奈却被卷入皇权的争斗当中。前生,她相信了爱情的美好,最后失去了一切,包括生命。重生后决定与爱绝缘的她,却得到一个又一个男子的倾心相对,面对他们的深情,她又能否走出过去的伤痛……是否在某一刻开始她的心已经不再无欲无求……现代文系列之《总裁的狂妻》完结现代文系列之:《无心娇妻》完结
  • 绿色大门

    绿色大门

    天才华人音乐家的归国之行困难重重,明知如此却依然放弃一切回国的他,目的究竟是什么?
  • A Topps League Story

    A Topps League Story

    Diego Prado has spent most of his time on the Pines' bench. But when Danny O'Brien goes on the disabled list, Diego gets a chance to play—and he's on a winning streak! Danny wants one of Chad's "magic" baseball cards to get back in the game. Diego wants to keep playing. What's a batboy to do?
  • 鬼医傻后

    鬼医傻后

    云笑,东秦摄政王的女儿,闻名天下的傻后。一根绣花针把皇帝的宠妃送进锦鲤池.一杯云舌茶使得皇帝不举,访遍天下名医,无人能医.捉奸捉到太后头上,宫女被打,太监被踢。从此诺大的宫中,只要此女从面前过,周遭鸦雀无声.太后大病,鬼医进宫,一招暗度陈仓,傻后出宫。从此民间多了罂粟医馆,名动天下,罂粟,带着毒汁的迷香,一如它的主人,亦正亦邪的怪胎鬼医,一把薄如蝉翼的手术刀,可救人于水火之中,亦可眨眼夺命。慕容冲——黑暗王国,神龙宫的宫主,一袭白衣飘飘,神秘如仙,世人眼中嗜血成魔,冷漠无情的男子,一张蝴蝶面具,遮盖住的是旷世的容颜,还是嗜血的魔性?上官曜——东秦的皇帝,俊美无俦的少年皇帝,后宫佳丽三千,霸气深沉,所有女子梦魅以求的男人。上官霖——霖王爷,腹黑阴险,皇上的左膀右臂,视女子如衣服,繁花落尽,是谁迷离了他的眼?夜无昀——烟京第一公子,美丽中带着一缕忧郁,让人想靠近,却又被他的疏离生生的阻隔在门外?燕昱——北燕的太子,邪魅狂放,神采逼人,这样出众的人偏偏喜欢那个傻子,这即不是传闻?云祯——温润懦雅,翩翩风采,疼宠妹妹的好哥哥,只要她想要,他必然费尽千幸万苦为她谋得。片段:耳边传来凉凉的声音:“要不要再靠近一点?”“那敢情好,”云笑赞同的点头,忽然后知后觉的反应过来,谁?掉头对上一双深幽如潭,凉如薄冰的美眸,忍不住叫起来:“慕容冲,你又跟着我干什么?我没欠你啥吧。”片段:霸气俊美的上官曜,一脸温柔的执起她的手,深情款款的开口:“云笑,朕发誓,你永远是东秦的皇后,这个位置除了你,谁也不配坐。”云笑不紧不慢的抽回手,笑眯眯的从袖口里抽出香绢,把上官曜摸过的手擦了又擦,皮笑肉不笑的开口:“皇上,这宝贵的位置还是留给别人吧,我怕你手上有细菌,嘴里有细菌,”她的话停顿了一下,眼睛慢慢的下移,准确无比的落在男性的特征部位,鄙视的接着说:“全身上下全是细菌。”女人说完,笑意盈盈施施然的离去了,男人的一张俊脸瞬间黑青一片,咬牙切齿:“云笑?”云笑——东秦摄政王的傻女儿,受人百般欺凌的傻后,被皇帝的宠妃骗进锦鲤池,再次醒过来,星瞳闪烁,灼灼生华.笑的新文《毒医王妃》推荐笑笑的完结文:《天价皇后》《黑道皇后》推荐好友的文:《绝色太监》一叶心香《大牌淑女》风间名香《十七妾》舒歌《嫡女不得宠》薄荷清凉糖《刁妾》简红装