“شعرها چون صداهاى میان کوه ها در هم مى پیچند و در یکدیگر بازتابیده مى شوند. درین پیچش هاست که تشدید مى شوند. شعرها چون ما آدمیان نمى توانند تنها به زندگى شان ادامه دهند.”
“پاره هایى از گفتگو – شعرهایى که با هم حرف مى زنند” عنوان کتابى است که این روزها در دست گرفته ام. ویلیام کالینز – شاعر آمریکایى – در ابتداى این کتاب مى گوید که برخلاف آنچه ما اغلب فکر مى کنیم شعرها براى این سروده نمى شوند که حالات انسانى مثل عشق و مرگ، جدایى و شکست یا جذبه و شور انسانى را براى ما توصیف کنند؛ که شعرها در پاسخ به اشعار دیگر سروده مى شوند و شعرا به جاى مکالمه با مخاطبان با شعراى دیگر (که بیشتر اوقات قبل از آنها آمده اند و در زمان شاعر مرده اند) سخن مى گویند.
او معتقد است گذشته نقش اساسى در شعر امروز بازى مى کند و در واقع شاعرِ معاصر با شعرش تنها تکه اى به گفتگویى که قرن هاست بین شعرا در جریان است اضافه مى کند.
کتاب گزیده اى است از گفتگوى میان شاعران. من سه شعرش را که برای من جالب بود به ترتیب زمانی مى آورم.
در هم سویى با این نظر اتفاقا چند روز پیش مقاله اى مى خواندم درباره ى یکى از شعرهاى مشهور حافظ و اینکه چطور شعراى هم عصر یا بعد از او در جواب به او شعرى بر همان وزن یا با اشاره به کلمات آن شعر سروده اند.
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (1564-93)
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.
And we will sit upon the Rocks,
Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow Rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing Madrigals.
And I will make thee beds of Roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle;
A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty Lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;
A belt of straw and Ivy buds,
With Coral clasps and Amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.
The Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May-morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me, and be my love.
The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd
BY SIR WALTER RALEGH (1552-1618)
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every Shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move,
To live with thee, and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold,
And Philomel becometh dumb,
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields,
To wayward winter reckoning yields,
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten:
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds,
The Coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last, and love still breed,
Had joys no date, nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee, and be thy love.
Raleigh Was Right
William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
We cannot go to the country
for the country will bring us
no peace
What can the small violets tell us
that grow on the furry stems in
the long grass among the lance shaped
leaves?
Though you praise us
and call to mind the poets
who sung of our loveliness
it was long ago!
long ago! when country people
would plow and sow with
flowering minds and pockets
at ease –
if ever this were true.
Not now. Love itself a flower
with roots in a parched ground.
Empty pockets make empty heads.
Cure it if you can but
do not believe that we can live
today in the country
for the country will bring us
no peace.
