《致水鸟》的意境美 The Beauty of Artistic Conception in To a Waterfowl

The Beauty of Artistic Conception in To a WaterfowlPoetry is the precious wealth of people’s spiritual world. Poetry often reflects real life and express people’s thoughts and feelings through rhythmic language with strong emotion and rich imagination. Some poems bring readers important spiritual enlightenment by the descriptions of nature. Reading such poems is a kind of “bathing the soul”. William Cullen Bryant’s To a Waterfowl is such a typical example. This paper aims at analyzing the beauty of artistic conception in To a Waterfowl and the spiritual enlightenment brought by this poem.I. Bryant and To a WaterfowlWilliam Cullen Bryant is the first Romantic poet in American literature, known as “Fireside Poets” along with Longfellow. He is good at depicting natural scenes and believes the beauty of nature can guide people perform goodness. The peaceful qualities and noble imagination of Bryant are not easy to found among other great American poets. Emerson once complimented him as a “ native sincere, original and patriotic poet”.In Bryant’s poems, he usually praised the harmony between people and the spirit of optimism by praising the local common waterfowl and wildflowers. He searched for both the artistic inspiration and people’s inner world from nature and was essentially concerned about human’s uncertain fate. To a Waterfowl perfectly reflects this feature.II. The Beauty of Artistic Conception in To a WaterfowlTo a Waterfowl was evaluated as “ the poem with the most succinct and perfect language” by Matthew Arnold, a famous English poet and critic. This poem could be regarded as the pinnacle of Bryant’s poetry. It was written in the winter in 1815. It is said that Bryant was once extremely sad and desperate during a journey and didn’t know his direction in this boundless world. At this time, he watched high above in the sky and found a waterfowl flying “through their rosy depths”, which suddenly madehim physically and mentally relaxed and cleared all his anxiety. He realized that everything in nature are protected by Gods and Gods would guide each of their paces.In the first stanza of the poem, the poet depicted the background of a waterfowl’s solitary fly: nightfall, sunset and the “rosy depths” of sky. He used “falling dew” and “last steps of day” to explaining the time, and used “far” and “depths” to implying the expanse of the space, which formed a very strong contrast with the “weak” image of the waterfowl.In the second stanza, the poet portrayed the waterfowl with the steadfast characteristics: the fowler was trying to figure out the waterfowl’s flight path and catch it, but his strives were all in vain. This is a contrast between human and nature: human are powerless in front of nature; even though human has more wisdom, he can’t defeat the power of a solitary waterfowl.In the third and forth stanzas, the poet described how the waterfowl arrived at its destination. Everything is so natural, as if there was a mysterious power acting as the waterfowl’s guider whether it is in the invisible coast or in the endless sky; it would not be lost even though it flied alone. Bryant didn’t point out what the “power”exactly was; maybe in young Bryant’s eyes, the “power” had no specific image, and it was just a guider somewhere.From the fifth stanza on, the symbolism of the poem becomes apparent. Although “the dark night is near” and ”all day thy wings have fanned”, the waterfowl was not willing to stop in the “welcome land”. What’s the real meaning of the “welcome land” here? Does it mean the end of its journey or the end of its life? Does the “dark night” mean the real night or the time when life stops? The answers are in readers’ mind.And in the sixth stanza, the poet went on using the symbolism to express his ideas. “That toil shall end” and the waterfowl shall finally “find a summer home, and rest”, but at this time, the “reeds shall bend” over its “sheltered nest”. So the “rest” in the poem does not only mean the usual rest; it means that the waterfowl finally died after its long and arduous travel.In the seventh and eighth stanza, the poet expressed his emotion and sentiment.He learned a “lesson” from the waterfowl and become firm. The power of nature is so formidable, and even the brave waterfowl can’t escape from it. So why not listen to the guide of the nature or Gods?III. ConclusionTo a Waterfowl describes how the poet deeply thought about his future and finally got rid of his hesitation. In To a Waterfowl, Bryant used “waterfowl”as a symbol, and endue the “waterfowl”with his complexed experiences. Human, like other creatures, would thank to the protection and guide of the Heaven. They may suffered from tough struggles, sorrows and hesitation, but after their hard fight, they would finally get a bright future.。