An Artistic Analysis of Chicago

校园英语/文艺鉴赏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智力贫乏，根本没有任何思想。我们在帕默夫妇出现的每一拒绝了， ..赫.斯特先生无事可做，只好躺在沙发上打瞌场合，都觉得平静协调的生活中有着很多痛苦的因素。帕默睡夫人的一-味忍让， 正体现出了这种妇女对于时代的妥协，2.4说教派。《傲慢 与偏见》里面的柯林斯牧师是一- 个集她认为女人应该依附于男人，她的形象正是一个被男权社会 自 负和谦卑于一-身的可笑角色，是奥斯丁不遗余力讽刺的对从思想上奴役了的彻头彻尾的奴隶。帕默太太接收到来自她象作者在描写柯林斯出场的每个场景时，都让我们感到啼笑丈夫的语言都是负面的、冷淡的，打击人的:她却认为这体皆非， 这种高超的讽刺艺术主要通过言语反讽的形式展现出现了她丈夫的优点，是那么的有思想，那么的有魅力，甚至来。 柯林斯总是在喋喋不休的表达着自己的某个观点，不论还要强迫别人认为帕默先生是非常有趣的。这个没有心思的周围的人是否听得难受或者以此为可笑之处，他就是站在人形象给人一种总是保持大笑的固定的面容，虽然观众不知道群前面的一个滔滔不绝的演说者，只不过他的观众都在打瞌她为什么要笑。作者想展现出来的也许是一幅图画: 笑容后睡。 依靠说话者演说的篇幅之冗长，思想之既乏，作者成功面的哭泣。在夏绿蒂身上，这种- -眼就可 以看出得怪僻不只地 体现出了讽刺的意图。是夸大，而且一-再出现，这种毫无意义的大笑概括了她的面3.结论。奥斯丁作品的魅力经久不衰，其对反讽手法的貌，而且一再这样重复代替了对她个性的更广泛的探索。深刻理解和高超运用技巧是一个不容忽视的原因。奥斯丁作2.3享乐派。在中产阶级的家庭里，大家和谐地坐在圆品 的经典吸引我们去阅读，其作品中的反讽又使其具有了被桌旁吃饭，聊天，做家务，总有一些人士是除了享乐， 什么研究的魅力， 在对反讽的深入理解和研究的同时，可以帮助也不做的。《傲慢与偏见》里的赫斯特先生就是其中-一个。我们更好的理解作者本人创作作品时的思想和情感，也有助“再说赫斯特先生，他就坐在伊丽莎白身旁，可他天生一于我 们更深刻的理解作品的高度的文学价值。幅懒骨头，活在世上就是为了吃喝和玩牌，后来见伊丽莎白放着五香炖肉不吃，却去吃一盘家常菜， 便不再搭理他了。参考文献:....‘你宁可看书也不玩牌?真是少见。’...赫斯特先生[1] Austen.Jane. EmmalM1.San Diego:Canterbury Classics Baker便叫她们别吵了，厉声抱怨说，她们对打牌太不专心了。”& Taylor Publishin中国煤化工喝过茶之后，赫斯特先生便提醒小姨子快摆牌桌一可是徒 [2]林 文琛.在理性YHCN M H G的反讽”[].外劳无益。...后来赫斯特先生公开提出要打牌，宾利小姐也国 文学评论.1998.- 117校园英语1文艺鉴赏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.中国煤化工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.