An Artistic Analysis of Chicago

校園英語(yǔ)/文藝鑒賞An Artistic Analysis of ChicagoSichuan Conservatory of Music/Wu Licong[ Abstract] Chicago is Sandburg' s masterpiece. This thesis said: “ It is so good a place for a healthy man who wants to watchtries to analyze the poem from an artistic angle. It means to give the biggest, most intense, brutal and complicated game in thea better understanding of Sandburg’s delight in violence and his world.'membership in the industrial workers of the world.The title“Chicago” gives us a very clear impression[Key Words ] Sandburg Chicago Artistic Analysisthat the poem is depicting a city in America. According to ourSandburg is a revered figure in American literature. In his common knowledge that Chicago now is the second largest city inwell-known poem Chicago, Sandburg gave us his opinion of America and it is full of energy and vitality. The speaker choosesthis bustling, sprawling city and celebrated the city for its pride, the name of a city as the title to tell the reader the subject of theenergy, and optimism. As some critics said,“Chicago, had poem directly and express his deep and abiding love for this city.seemed another overgrown industrial city until Sandburg began toThe first four lines give us the general impression thatapostrophize its monstrosity with maternal indulgence. He did this Chicago is famous for meat packing, tool manufacturing, businessdirectly in his poem‘ Chicago' , where he asks，'Let me be that processed grain, railroads, and shipping industries. Thethe great nail holding a sky scraper through blue might into white speaker uses metaphor here. All these comprise a vivid picturestar.’ ”of a prosperous city to our readers. Then from line 6 to line 8In this poem, Sandburg mentions hog butcher, railroads the speaker gives us another vivid picture of the unfavorableand other objects and activities with an intensity that reflects aspects of the city. As people say the city is wicked with paintedthe bustling urban landscape. In Chicago, Sandburg wants to women, crooked with gunmen, brutal with hungry women andexpress such a theme that Chicago is such a good place full of children. Sandburg admits these: prostitution, gangsters, andvitality, energy, brutality and coarseness that he is pride of, and he terrible poverty. Why he admits these because there is a veryseeks to express his sincere and abiding love for this city and the strong comparison between these details and the details in thedignity of common people, in whom he finds the spirit and value following part. Despite the ugliness of the city, the poet stillof American democracy. As writing in his letter to his friend, he admires Chicago and feels proud of it. Because he believes that智力貧乏，根本沒(méi)有任何思想。我們在帕默夫婦出現的每一拒絕了， ..赫.斯特先生無(wú)事可做，只好躺在沙發(fā)上打瞌場(chǎng)合，都覺(jué)得平靜協(xié)調的生活中有著(zhù)很多痛苦的因素。帕默睡夫人的一-味忍讓?zhuān)?正體現出了這種婦女對于時(shí)代的妥協(xié)，2.4說(shuō)教派?！栋谅?與偏見(jiàn)》里面的柯林斯牧師是一- 個(gè)集她認為女人應該依附于男人，她的形象正是一個(gè)被男權社會(huì ) 自 負和謙卑于一-身的可笑角色，是奧斯丁不遺余力諷刺的對從思想上奴役了的徹頭徹尾的奴隸。帕默太太接收到來(lái)自她象作者在描寫(xiě)柯林斯出場(chǎng)的每個(gè)場(chǎng)景時(shí)，都讓我們感到啼笑丈夫的語(yǔ)言都是負面的、冷淡的，打擊人的:她卻認為這體皆非， 這種高超的諷刺藝術(shù)主要通過(guò)言語(yǔ)反諷的形式展現出現了她丈夫的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，是那么的有思想，那么的有魅力，甚至來(lái)。 柯林斯總是在喋喋不休的表達著(zhù)自己的某個(gè)觀(guān)點(diǎn)，不論還要強迫別人認為帕默先生是非常有趣的。這個(gè)沒(méi)有心思的周?chē)娜耸欠衤?tīng)得難受或者以此為可笑之處，他就是站在人形象給人一種總是保持大笑的固定的面容，雖然觀(guān)眾不知道群前面的一個(gè)滔滔不絕的演說(shuō)者，只不過(guò)他的觀(guān)眾都在打瞌她為什么要笑。作者想展現出來(lái)的也許是一幅圖畫(huà): 笑容后睡。 依靠說(shuō)話(huà)者演說(shuō)的篇幅之冗長(cháng)，思想之既乏，作者成功面的哭泣。在夏綠蒂身上，這種- -眼就可 以看出得怪僻不只地 體現出了諷刺的意圖。是夸大，而且一-再出現，這種毫無(wú)意義的大笑概括了她的面3.結論。奧斯丁作品的魅力經(jīng)久不衰，其對反諷手法的貌，而且一再這樣重復代替了對她個(gè)性的更廣泛的探索。深刻理解和高超運用技巧是一個(gè)不容忽視的原因。奧斯丁作2.3享樂(lè )派。在中產(chǎn)階級的家庭里，大家和諧地坐在圓品 的經(jīng)典吸引我們去閱讀，其作品中的反諷又使其具有了被桌旁吃飯，聊天，做家務(wù)，總有一些人士是除了享樂(lè )， 什么研究的魅力， 在對反諷的深入理解和研究的同時(shí)，可以幫助也不做的?！栋谅c偏見(jiàn)》里的赫斯特先生就是其中-一個(gè)。我們更好的理解作者本人創(chuàng )作作品時(shí)的思想和情感，也有助“再說(shuō)赫斯特先生，他就坐在伊麗莎白身旁，可他天生一于我 們更深刻的理解作品的高度的文學(xué)價(jià)值。幅懶骨頭，活在世上就是為了吃喝和玩牌，后來(lái)見(jiàn)伊麗莎白放著(zhù)五香燉肉不吃，卻去吃一盤(pán)家常菜， 便不再搭理他了。參考文獻:....‘你寧可看書(shū)也不玩牌?真是少見(jiàn)?！?..赫斯特先生[1] Austen.Jane. EmmalM1.San Diego:Canterbury Classics Baker便叫她們別吵了，厲聲抱怨說(shuō)，她們對打牌太不專(zhuān)心了?！? Taylor Publishin中國煤化工喝過(guò)茶之后，赫斯特先生便提醒小姨子快擺牌桌一可是徒 [2]林 文琛.在理性YHCN M H G的反諷”[].外勞無(wú)益。...后來(lái)赫斯特先生公開(kāi)提出要打牌，賓利小姐也國 文學(xué)評論.1998.- 117校園英語(yǔ)1文藝鑒賞the good is much stronger than the ugliness, and he believes that fierce giant, other cities seem small and weak. The function ofChicago is better than other cities. Sandburg shows his defense the comparison here is to emphasize the vitality, strength, andof Chicago against people who“sneer”at the city. Beginning braveness of Chicago. In line 18, Chicago is compared to a fiercewith line 10 till the end, the poem is addressed to those people. dog with tongue lapping for action. The speaker here uses simileHe counters in line 10 that there is no other city with such energy to tell us that Chicago is as wild and energetic and ready forand life. According to him, the admirable characteristics of the adventure as a panting dog. In addition to being compared to acity include its pride, vitality, energy, coarseness, strength, andbold slugger and a fierce dog, Chicago is“ cunning as a savagecunning. All these details contribute to emphasize that Chicago is pitted against the wilderness" . It is a young man covered witha brave, energetic, coarse as well as pride city, so do the common dirt “ laughing with white teeth ”. Besides, the speaker usespeople in it. At the same time, the speaker expresses his idea that epithets in the first four lines at the very beginning of the poem.he believes strongly in workers’rights, and has a great optimism And the final line ties the poem together by repeating the epithetsabout his ability to change the fates of common people.for the city with which the poem begins. The function of theIn line 18, the speaker chooses the phase“ trrible burden repetition here is to echo and emphasize the braveness, strength, .of destiny”to refer to the fact that being an important industrial prosperousness of Chicago. We can get a deeper impression thatcenter of the country, Chicago is characterized by hard, unpleasant the speaker is very pound of this city, and his strong respect,labor. The word“ laughing”is repeated for several times as the optimism and hope for the common man in this city.linking word in line 18 to 23 and to help to focus the optimismIn this poem,Sandburg’s description of Chicago uses theof the city. The final line ties the poem together by repeating the following images: firstly, images of evil: painted women underepithets for the city with which the poem begins.the gas lamps, the killer who goes free, the women and childrenThe poem ends with the characteristic sound of the city-- whose faces show hunger; secondly, images of energy: the hoglaughter--the loud, proud, life-affirming sound of“ the heart of butcher, the big shoulders, the dog with tongue lapping for action,the people.”The laughter symbolizes the optimism of the city bareheaded, shoveling, laughing with white teeth; thirdly, imagesof Chicago; the satisfactions to be gained form hard, unpleasant of planning and scheming: the wrecking and rebuilding, thework; the happy, excited feeling that greater things are still to cunning like that of a savage pitted against the wilderness. Thecome. The ending of the poem shows that the vitality of the city imagery in poem helps to emphasize the unfavorable aspects andoutweighs its flaws and that Chicago as line 21 suggests is a truly the favorable aspects. More importantly, all the images are visual.democratic city, reflecting the urges and characteristics of its They put our readers“ right in the scene itself" 3, making us seepeople.and hear what is there.Additionally, there are some other symbols in this poem. InAnother amazing thing about thisline 18, the“ dust”on the giant' s mouth symbolizes the ltter Sandburg' s very vivid use of slang. He can use slang to seriousand disorder of a great industrial city and also the fact that the city themes to deepen, not to travesty them.“ Hog butcher for theis too busy to keep everything neat and clean. This also proves world ”--This is a slangy way of saying that Chicago is thethat Chicago is full of vitality and energy. The“ white teeth”greatest center of meat packing in the world. It vividly conveysmay symbolize the flashes of dazzling beauty of an industrial the idea of coarseness and strenuous activity, and the greatcity. In line 21, we get to know that Chicago is proud to be alive，amount of this work that goes on in Chicago.“Slugger”--Thisproud of its energy, vitality and hard work.“ The people”are conveys the idea of violence, determined energy, better than anypeople who work with their hands in construction, in plants, and other words could.“ Bragging”--This is a stronger word thanin factories.“boasting”; it conveys the sense of noise and commotion alongIn terms of figure of speech, we can find the central figure with its basic idea of intense egotism.of speech in this poem is the personification of Chicago. In lineIn Chicago, by using kinds of devices, Sandburg directly6，“you” is Chicago. The speaker uses a direct address to the expresses his delight in violence and his membership in thepersonified city. This is an example of apostrophe in which the industrial workers of the world, especially, his trust in his fellowspeaker tries to express his sincere and abiding love to this city countrymen ’s ability to handle what might come.and the people in this city. Within the central personificationReferences:appear various similes and metaphors, each helping create acomposite picture of the city. Such as Chicago looks like a big,[1]Ellmann,Richard, and Clair Robert O'The Norton Anthologystrong, tough young man with no shirt, white teth, and a dirty of Modern Poetty. Edition.2. New York: W.W. Norton andface. He is bold and wild, agressive and cunning, proud, and Company.1988.中國煤化工hard-working. In line 11, Chicago is compared to a tall bold []llmann, RicYHCNMHGslugger. The comparison tlls that Chicago is big, brave, coarse, [3]Drury, John. Avang 4 voly. Cliviain, Ohio: Writer’ sstrong, and cunning, like a prize fighter. In contrast to such aDigest Books. 1991.