Oliver Goldsmithオリヴァー・ゴールドスミス / ?1730-74
Category
詩人 G〜I 1600年〜1739年 翻訳作品 詩人 G〜I牧師の第2子としてアイルランドに生まれたが、誕生の年月日や場所については正確には判っていない。ダブリンのトリニティ・カレッジで神学と法学を学び、その後、エディンバラ大学とオランダのライデン大学で医学を学ぶ。
1759年に、18世紀におけるバラッド蒐集家として最も重要な人物であった Thomas Percy (1729-1811) に出会う。二人は親友となり、後にパースィはゴールドスミスの伝記 A Memoir of Goldsmith (1801) を書いた。61年にはジョンソン博士 (Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1709-84) との出会いがあり、ゴールドスミスは博士の有名な文学サロンの創設期のメンバーになった。(ちなみに、パースィも後にメンバーになっている。)
66年に出版された The Vicar of Wakefield は、 その後イギリスで最もポピュラーな小説の一つとなっていった。第8章で Mr. Burchell が、牧師の次女 Sophia に好意を寄せて一家をよく訪ねてくるが、戸外での昼食のあとの団欒の場面でソフィアが、互いの腕に抱かれたまま雷に打たれて死んだ二人の恋人のことを書いた John Gay の描写にとても心を打たれるものがあると言い、それに対して弟の Moses が、Ovid の Acis と Galatea の描写には及ばない、ローマの詩人は対照法をよく心得ており、人の心を動かす力はいかに巧みにその方法を駆使するかにかかっている、と述べる。二人のやりとりを聴いていたバーチェル氏 は、次のように言って、彼の詩に対する考え方を主張する。
“It is remarkable,” cried Mr. Burchell, “that both the poets you mention have equally contributed to introduce a false taste into their respective countries, by loading all their lines with epithet. Men of little genius found them most easily imitated in their defects, and English poetry, like that in the latter empire of Rome, is nothing at present but a combination of luxuriant images, without plot or connexion; a string of epithets that improve the sound, without carrying on the sense. [. . .] I have made this remark only to have an opportunity of introducing to the company a ballad, which, whatever be its other defects, is, I think, at least free from those I have mentioned. [The Vicar of Wakefield, in The Miscellaneous Works of Goldsmith, a new edition (London, 1821) 1: 36]
こう言って紹介された作品が “The Hermit, or Edwin and Angelina” であるが、このバラッド詩がゴールドスミスの作品であるように、バーチェル氏の英詩に対する批判は作者自身のものであると考えられよ う。なお、同じく有名なバラッド詩 “An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog” もこの小説の別の場面で紹介されているものである。ゴールドスミスの代表作 The Deserted Village は1770年に出版された。(M. Y.)
Anglo-Irish poet and novelist, born the second son of a clergyman in Ireland. Neither his birth date and year nor the location of his birthplace are certain. He studied theology and law at Trinity College, Dublin, and later studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Leiden.
In 1759 he met Thomas Percy, the most important figure in the field of ballad collection, who was to become a close friend, and wrote A Memoir of Goldsmith in 1801. In 1761 he met Dr Johnson, and became one of the original members of Johnson’s Club. The Vicar of Wakefield, which was to become one of the most popular novels in English, was published in 1766. Below is a discussion on English poetry by Mr. Burchell, who argues against Sophia and Moses, admirers of John Gay and Ovid, in Chapter 8 of the novel:
“It is remarkable,” cried Mr. Burchell, “that both the poets you mention have equally contributed to introduce a false taste into their respective countries, by loading all their lines with epithet. Men of little genius found them most easily imitated in their defects, and English poetry, like that in the latter empire of Rome, is nothing at present but a combination of luxuriant images, without plot or connexion; a string of epithets that improve the sound, without carrying on the sense. […] I have made this remark only to have an opportunity of introducing to the company a ballad, which, whatever be its other defects, is, I think, at least free from those I have mentioned. [The Vicar of Wakefield, in The Miscellaneous Works of Goldsmith, a new edition (London, 1821)1: 36]
The ballad introduced is “The Hermit, or Edwin and Angelina”. We have no doubt that Mr. Burchell’s opinion here is the author’s own. “An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog” is another well-known ballad introduced in a different place of the novel. His best-known poem, The Deserted Village, was published in 1770. (M. Y.)
原詩(PDF)
- 1. An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog
- 2. An Elegy on the Glory of her Sex, Mrs. Mary Blaize
- 3. The Hermit, or Edwin and Angelina
訳詩(PDF)
論文(PDF)
原詩出典
* “The Vicar of Wakefield”, The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith. A New Edition. Vol. 1. London, 1821.
* George Barnett Smith, ed. Illustrated British Ballads, Old and New. Vol. 2. London, 1881.