Hart Crane to Yvor Winters哈特·克兰致伊沃·温特斯的回信

【导读】哈特·克兰（1899—1932）是20世纪美国最有影响力的诗人之一。他中学毕业后即创作并发表诗歌，在T.S.艾略特和惠特曼等人的影响下，很早就立志以诗歌创作为业，并试图超越自己的偶像艾略特。在短暂且高度戏剧化的一生里，克兰留下了《白色建筑群》《桥》等作品。可以说没有哪个诗人像克兰那样以短暂悲怆的人生和强大的诗歌影响力塑造并改变了美国诗歌的发展轨迹。哈罗德·布鲁姆推崇其为20世纪最伟大的美国诗人之一。

克兰曾与艾伦·泰特、玛丽安·穆尔、E.E.卡明斯、威廉·卡洛斯·威廉斯、伊沃·温特斯等人建立不同程度的友谊并留下了通信记录。选文是克兰写给温特斯的46封信中最有名也最具文史价值的一封，节选自《哈特·克兰与伊沃·温特斯文学书信集》（Hart Crane and Yvor Winters： Their Literary Correspondence）第86—89页。这封信的写作背景主要有两个：一是温特斯在来信中就克兰的私生活和创作理念提出了批评；二是埃德蒙·威尔逊在《新共和》杂志发表了一篇评论年度诗歌的文章，指责诗人们为了缪斯放弃社会责任。温特斯针对敏感问题不请自来的建议在克兰看来逾越了友谊的边界，而威尔逊的挑衅则无异于文学的路线之争，在克兰看来都应当予以“抨击”。这封信也是间接写给威尔逊看的。

一如克兰晦涩难懂的诗作，这封私人书信也工于修辞、曲折回环，让人感叹28岁的克兰文风何其老熟。信中的一些观点时至今日仍有启发意义，比如：诗人是否要做“全人”，诗歌是否必然要回应“世务”、是否必然要向“时代需求”妥协，诗人是否要效仿古典诗人、是否要接受世俗的定义，等等。

Patterson， New York

May 29th， 1927

Dear Winters：

纽约帕特森

1927年5月29日

亲爱的温特斯：

You need a good drubbing for all your recent easy talk about ‘the complete man，’ the poet and his ethical place in society， etc. I’m afraid I lack the time right now to attempt what I might call a relatively complete excuse for committing myself to the above sentiments—and I am also encumbered by a good deal of sympathy with your viewpoint in general. Wilson’s article was just half-baked enough to make one warm around the collar. It is so damned easy for such as he， born into easy means， graduated from a fashionable university into a critical chair overlooking Washington Square， etc.  to sit tight and hatch little squibs of advice to poets not to be so ‘professional’ as he claims they are， as though all the names he has just mentioned had been as suavely nourished as he—as though 4 out of 5 of them hadn’t been damned well forced the major part of their lives to grub at any kind of work they could manage by hook or crook and the fear of hell to secure！ Yes， why not step into the State Dept. and join the diplomatic corps for a change！ Indeed， or some other courtly occupation which would bring you into wide and active contact with world affairs！ As a matter of fact I’m all too ready to concede that there are several other careers more engaging to follow than that of poetry. But the circumstances of one’s birth， the conduct of one’s parents， the current economic structure of society and a thousand other local factors have as much or more to say about successions to such occupations， the naive volitions of the poet to the contrary. I agree with you of course， that the poet should in as large a measure as possible adjust himself to society. But the question always will remain as to how far the conscience is justified in compromising with the age’s demands.

你近来轻率地谈论“全人”、诗人及其社会伦理地位等话题，着实该受一番抨击了。我此刻恐怕无暇找个我认为相对彻底的理由，来解释自己为何会有上述情绪——更何况，对你的观点大体上我仍颇为赞同。威尔逊那篇文章半生不熟，足以让人感到不安。对于他这样的人，一切都轻而易举得很——他出身优渥，从一所知名大学毕业后直接坐上了评论席位，在俯瞰华盛顿广场的办公室里正襟危坐，炮制或幽默或讽刺的小短文，建议诗人们不要像他所说的那么“专业”，就好像所有他提到的这些人都像他那样被生活温柔以待——仿佛这些人中的五分之四不是大半生疲于奔命，想方设法要找个工作，任何应付得了的工作，还终日惶惶，唯恐生计无着！是啊，可以改行去国务院当个外交官啊！其实，也可以找个别的什么体面工作，那样就能更广泛、更主动地接触世务了！事实上，我完全承认有若干职业比诗歌创作更吸引人。但是，一个人的家庭条件、父母的言传身教、当前社会的经济结构及无数其他环境因素对于这些职业的承继都有着同样甚至更多的影响，而诗人的天真意愿则恰恰相反。当然，我同意你说的诗人应该尽可能适应社会。但有个问题始终会存在，即良知在多大程度上可以与时代需求相妥协。

The image of ‘the complete man’ is a good idealistic antidote for the horrid hysteria for specialization that inhabits the modern world. And I strongly second your wish for some definite ethical order. Munson， however， and a number of my other friends， not so long ago， being stricken with the same urge， and feeling that something must be done about it—rushed into the portals of the famous Gurdjieff Institute and have since put themselves through all sorts of Hindu antics， songs， dances， incantations， psychic sessions， etc.， so that now， presumably the left lobes of their brains and their right lobes respectively function （M’s favorite word） in perfect unison. I spent hours at the typewriter trying to explain to certain of these urgent people why I could not enthuse about their methods; it was all to no avail， as I was told that the ‘complete man’ had a different logic than mine， and further that there was no way of gaining or understanding this logic without first submitting yourself to the necessary training. I was finally left to roll in the gutter of my ancient predispositions， and suffered to receive a good deal of unnecessary pity for my obstinance. Some of them， having found a good substitute for their former interest in writing by means of more complete formulas of expression， have ceased writing altogether， which is probably just as well. At any rate they have become hermetically sealed souls to my eyesight， and I am really not able to offer judgment.

“全人”形象是应对现代世界可怕的专业化狂热的一剂理想主义良药。我也强烈赞同你关于建立某种明确的伦理秩序的愿望。然而，就在不久前，由于遭受同一种冲动的困扰，曼森和我其他一些朋友都感到必须要为此做些什么——于是他们冲进著名的葛吉夫学院的大门，不厌其烦地学习了印度教的各种滑稽姿势、歌曲、舞蹈、咒语和灵修课程等，所以现在，想必他们的左脑和右脑各自运转（曼森最喜欢用这个词），配合默契。我曾花很多时间打字撰文，试图向这一心情迫切的群体中的某些人解释为什么我对他们的方法提不起兴趣；但一切都是徒劳，我得到的答复是，“全人”的逻辑和我的不一样，并且，一个人首先需接受必要的训练，否则无法获得或者理解这种逻辑。最终徒留我在陈旧执念的阴沟里翻滚，还为自己的固执忍受了那么多不必要的怜悯。他们中的一些已经找到了某种更完备的表达方式取代从前的写作兴趣，因而完全停止了写作，这或许也不是坏事。不管怎样，在我看来，他们的灵魂已经完全封闭，我实难做出评判。

I am not identifying your advice in any particular way with theirs， for you are certainly logical， so much so that I am inclined to doubt the success of your program even with yourself. ... I am only begging the question， after all， and asking you not to judge me too summarily by the shorthand statements that one has to use as the makeshift for the necessary chapters required for more explicit and final explanations. I am suspect， I fear， for equivocating. But I cannot flatter myself into quite as definite recipes for efficiency as you seem to， one reason being， I suppose， that I’m not so ardent an aspirant toward the rather classical characteristics that you cite as desirable. This is not to say that I don’t ‘envy’ the man who attains them， but rather that I have long since abandoned that field—and I doubt if I was born to achieve （with the particular vision） those richer syntheses of consciousness which we both agree in classing as supreme; at least the attitude of a Shakespeare or a Chaucer is not mine by organic rights， and why try to fool myself that I possess that type of vision when I obviously do not！