很多年前无意中听到Leonard Cohen的歌就一下喜欢上了他低沉充满磁性的嗓音。Cohen是个加拿大的诗人加歌手。他的这张专辑Ten New Songs是1992年推出的。我最喜欢里边的Alexa

很多年前无意中听到Leonar

很多年前无意中听到Leonard Cohen的歌就一下喜欢上了他低沉充满磁性的嗓音。Cohen是个加拿大的诗人加歌手。他的这张专辑Ten New Songs是1992年推出的。我最喜欢里边的Alexandra Leaving。这首歌是受一位叫Constantine P Cavafy的希腊诗人写的一首诗带来的灵感写出来的，诗的名字叫“The God Abandons Antony”。Cavafy诗中的Antony指的是著名的Marcus Antonius，Cleopatra的情人（说到这里跑下题，我看过HBO拍的电视剧Rome，里边有一个镜头是演马克·安东尼冲凉的，full frontal nudity，第一次看到时很受震撼😬感兴趣的可以找来看看）。诗说的是Antonius在Alexandria城市被敌军占领的前夜听到看不见的军队离开Alexandia的声音，顿时晕了过去。因为他的保护神Dionysus（狄俄尼索斯）抛弃了他。Cohen把Alexandria这个城市换成了Alexandra，化身成一个失去了的恋人。诗歌和歌曲都很有意境。

“Anthony, in Cavafy's poem is, of course, Marcus Antonius, Cleopatra's lover. The poem refers to Plutarch's story (Read it) that, when Anthony was besieged in Alexandria by Octavian, the night before the city fell into enemy hands, he heard an invisible troupe leaving the city. He heard the sounds of instruments and voices making their way through the city. Then, he passed out; the god Bacchus (Dionysus), Antony's protector, was deserting him. It is obviously a poem with many layers of meaning; but, I see it as a poem / lesson on how someone must face a great loss (Alexandria being a symbol for a beloved city, woman, past glory, but, above all else, life itself). It is a beautiful lesson on how to face death.

Now Mr.Cohen has changed Alexandria (a beloved city) to Alexandra (a beloved woman), thus giving a lesson on how to face a lost love. I thank him for that.”

2017-10-21 发布