Peter Levi

彼得·列維（Peter Levi，1931年5月16日－2000年2月1日），全名彼得·查德·蒂格·利維，出生於英國倫敦米德爾塞克斯郡魯伊斯利普，耶穌會神父、詩人、學者、傳記作家、評論家及考古學家。其父為皈依天主教的猶太裔商人，母親出身英格蘭天主教家庭。早年就讀於普賴爾公園學校與博蒙特學院，17歲加入耶穌會，在海斯羅普學院接受神職訓練後，於坎皮恩學院研習古典文學。1977年脫離神職後與貴族遺孀迪爾德麗·克雷格結婚，曾任《泰晤士報》考古通訊員，1984年當選牛津大學詩歌教授。

列維少年時因奧斯卡·王爾德的影響轉向希臘文學，罹患小兒麻痹症與車禍後遺症伴隨終生。在近三十年的修道生涯中始終經歷信仰與自我懷疑的衝突。1963年開啟首次希臘考察，1970年與布魯斯·查特文赴阿富汗追尋古希臘文化蹤跡。1988年因主張發現莎士比亞偽作致學術聲譽受損。其詩集《The Gravel Ponds》《Ruined Abbeys》融合古典韻律與現代格律，譯作涵蓋《聖經》詩篇與古希臘典籍，學術評論和傳記作品亦展現跨領域造詣。英國《衛報》稱其兼具'輓歌體詩人'與'英國上層中產階級怪人'特質，《巴黎評論》評價其詩歌具有'克製品質'並精通古典韻律結構。

基本介紹

• 別名：Peter Levi、彼得萊維、彼得列維、彼得利維、彼得·查德·蒂格·利維
• 出生日期：1931年5月16日 
• 全名：Peter Chad Tigar Levi 
• 逝世日期：2000年2月1日 
• 逝世地：塞文河畔弗蘭普頓 

人物經歷

早年生活和教育經歷

萊維出生於倫敦米德爾塞克斯郡的魯伊斯利普。其父赫伯特·西蒙·萊維來自伊斯坦堡，母親伊迪絲·瑪麗·蒂加爾則是英格蘭人，母親是虔誠的羅馬天主教徒，而猶太教背景的父親後來皈依了羅馬天主教；他們三個子女最終都加入了宗教團體。

他在巴斯附近的普賴爾公園天主教私立學校接受教育，該校由基督兄弟會運營。14歲時，奧斯卡·王爾德已成為他的文學偶像。王爾德曾稱希臘文版本的《福音》是世界上最美的書，因此他要求轉入希臘語課程更豐富的學校，於是轉學至伯克郡溫莎的耶穌會學校博蒙特學院。在博蒙特求學期間，17歲的他以見習修士身份加入耶穌會。此後29年間他始終身為耶穌會士，直至1977年辭去神職。萊維在海斯羅普學院接受神職培訓，並在坎皮恩學院攻讀古典文學。少年時期他曾罹患小兒麻痹症，大學期間又遭遇車禍——這些創傷的後遺症終其一生困擾著他。

在海瑟羅普學院求學期間——當時該學院是牛津郡奇平諾頓附近的一座鄉間宅邸——他並非最守規矩的神學院學生。這點加上他對自身聖召的潛在疑慮，導致他的授職儀式被推遲了一年：

"We used to translate psalm [119] Beati immaculati in via at Heythrop as Blessed are those who are not spotted on the way out. I was spotted too often...."

這段延誤意外促成了他1963年首次造訪希臘。1970年他與布魯斯·查特文穿越阿富汗，追尋希臘文化的蹤跡。

卸任神職之後

他於1977年脫離神職。隨後與迪爾德麗·克雷格（克雷加文勳爵的孫女）結婚，後者是西里爾·康諾利的遺孀。

他曾擔任《泰晤士報》考古通訊員一年，之後重返學術界。1984年，他當選牛津大學詩歌教授，該職位僅要求完成極少量的公開講座。

1988年，他宣稱在加利福尼亞州聖馬利諾市亨廷頓圖書館的手稿中發現了威廉·莎士比亞一首未曾面世的詩作。然而該主張未獲多數學者認可。該事件損害了他的聲譽；後來證實，那部作品顯然出自名不見經傳的詩人威廉·斯基普維斯之手。

個人作品

詩歌

1960: The Gravel Ponds. London: Andre Deutsch.

1962: Water, Rock and Sand. London: Andre Deutsch.

1965: The Shearwaters. Clive Allison (Harlequin Poets). In Longer Contemporary Poems (ed. David Wright, 1966). Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0140420876

1966: Fresh Water, Sea Water. London: Black Raven Press.

1968: Ruined Abbeys. Northwood: Anvil Press.

1968: Pancakes for the Queen of Babylon. Northwood: Anvil Press.

1970: Ο τόνος της φωνής του Σεφέρη (Mr Seferis' Tone of Voice).

1971: Death is a Pulpit. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-900977-69-8.

1971: Life is a Platform. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-900977-66-3.

1973: in Penguin Modern Poets vol 22. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

1976: Collected Poems, 1955–1975. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-022-2.

1977: The Noise Made by Poems. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-026-5

1978: Five ages. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-036-2

1979: Comfort at Fifty for my brother. Pamphlet.

1980?: Music of dark tones. (With an engraving by Simon Brett.) Marlborough: Paulinus Press.

1981: Private Ground. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-080-X.

1983: The Echoing Green: Three Elegies. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-111-3.

1985: Shakespeare's Birthday. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-142-3

1989: Shadow and Bone: Poems 1981–1988. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-211-X.

1994: The Rags of Time. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-258-6.

1997: Reed Music. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-279-9.

2001: Viriditas. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-331-0.

自傳與旅行傳記

1980: The Hill of Kronos. Collins. ISBN 0-00-216162-1.

1984: The Light Garden of the Angel King: Journeys in Afghanistan. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-009525-X

1996: A Bottle in the Shade: a Journey in the Western Peloponnese. London: Sinclair-Stevenson. ISBN 1-85619-588-0.

希臘與古代世界

Levi, Peter (1980). Atlas of the Greek world. Oxford: Phaidon. ISBN 0-7148-2044-X.

Levi, Peter and Porter, Eliot (1981). The Greek World. London: Aurum. ISBN 0-906053-24-2

Levi, Peter (1985). A History of Greek Literature. Harmondsworth: Viking (Penguin). ISBN 0-670-80100-3.

Brewster, Harry (1997). The River Gods of Greece: Myths and Mountain Waters in the Hellenic World. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-207-1. (Preface by Peter Levi).

傳記與文學

Levi, Peter (1961). Beaumont, 1861–1961. London: Andre Deutsch.

Pope, Alexander. Ed. Peter Levi (1974). Pope. Selected by Peter Levi. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-042174-2.

Levi, Peter (1983). The Flutes of Autumn. (Autobiography). London: Harvill. ISBN 0-00-216246-6.

Boswell, James, and Johnson, Samuel. Ed. Peter Levi (1984). A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and the Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-043221-3.

Levi, Peter (1988). The life and times of William Shakespeare. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-43584-2.

Levi, Peter (1988). A Private Commission: new verses by Shakespeare. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-47655-7.

Levi, Peter (1989). Goodbye to the Art of Poetry. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-212-8.

Levi, Peter (1990). Boris Pasternak. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-173886-5.

Levi, Peter (1993). Tennyson. Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-52205-2.

Levi, Peter (1995). Edward Lear: a biography. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-58804-5.

Levi, Peter (1996). Eden Renewed: the public and private life of John Milton. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-62071-2.

Levi, Peter (1997). Horace: a life. London: Duckworth (2001). ISBN 0-7156-3136-5.

Levi, Peter (1998). Virgil: his life and times. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0-7156-2833-X

譯作

Yevtushenko, Yevgeny. Trans. Peter Levi and Robin Milner-Gulland (1966). Poems: chosen by the author.London: Collins and Harvill.

Pausanias. Trans. Peter Levi (1971). Guide to Greece (2 vols: Central and Southern Greece). Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044226-X

The Bible. Trans. Peter Levi (1976). The Psalms. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044319-3.

Pavlopoulos, George. Trans. Peter Levi (1977). The cellar. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-027-3.

Papadiamantis, Alexandros. Trans. Peter Levi (1983). The murderess. London: Writers and Readers. ISBN 0-904613-94-1

Unknown. Trans. Anne Pennington and Peter Levi (1984). Marko the Prince: Serbo-Croat heroic songs. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0-7156-1715-X.

The Bible. Trans. Peter Levi (1985). The Holy Gospel of John. Worthing: Churchman. ISBN 1-85093-027-9.

de Courcel, Martine. Trans. Peter Levi (1988). Tolstoy: the ultimate reconciliation. New York: C. Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0-684-18569-5.

The Bible. Trans. Peter Levi (1992). The Revelation of John. London: Kyle Cathie. ISBN 1-85626-052-6.

Papadiamantis, Alexandros. Trans. Peter Levi (1995). The murderess. London: Loizou. ISBN 0-9521246-0-2.

宗教

The Bible. Compiled. Peter Levi (1974). The English Bible, 1534–1859. London: Constable. ISBN 0-09-459600-X.

Levi, Peter ed. (1984). The Penguin Book of English Christian Verse. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN Link0140422927.

Levi, Peter (1987). The Frontiers of Paradise: a study of monks and monasteries. London: Collins Harvill. ISBN 0-00-272513-4.

Bernard, Bruce and Lloyd, Christopher (1987). The Queen Of Heaven – A Selection of Paintings of the Virgin Mary. London: Macdonald Orbis. (Introduction by Peter Levi).

文章與講座

Levi, Peter (1975). John Clare and Thomas Hardy. University of London: The Athlone Press. ISBN 0-485-16210-5

Levi, Peter (1975). In Memory of David Jones: a sermon. In The Tablet.

O'Connell, Eileen. Trans. Eilís Dillon (1984). The Lamentation of the Dead with "The Lament For Arthur O'Leary". ISBN 0-85646-140-7.

Levi, Peter (1990). Hopkins a'i Dduw, (Hopkins and his God). North Wales Arts Association. ISSN 0260-6720.

Levi, Peter (1991). The Art of Poetry: The Oxford Lectures, 1984–1989. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04847-5.

小說

Levi, Peter (1979). The Head in the Soup. London: Constable. ISBN 0-09-462850-5.

Levi, Peter (1985). Grave Witness. London: Quartet. ISBN 0-7043-2497-0.

Levi, Peter (1986). Knit One, Drop Oone. London: Quartet. ISBN 0-7043-2592-6.

Levi, Peter (1988). To the Goat. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-173627-7.

Connolly, Cyril (1903–1974), concluded by Peter Levi (1990). Shade Those Laurels. London: Bellew. ISBN 0-947792-37-6.

人物評價

英國衛報評價

儘管文壇再無第二人能與他比肩——無論是執著於詩歌中的輓歌體、評論中如旋風般的名流軼事，還是紳士般的灑脫不羈——他卻也刻意演繹著一個熟悉的傳統角色：英國上層中產階級的怪人。

While there was no one in the literary world quite like him, with his resolute adherence to elegising in poetry, his whirlwind name-dropping in his criticism, his dandyish insouciance, he also hammed up a familiar traditional role: that of the English upper-middle-class eccentric.

作為評論家和詩歌批評家，他的衝動性反而能激發更多創造力。他博覽群書，諸如《The Noise Made》這類著作以自信的筆觸縱覽歐洲詩壇，令人深受啟發。他的評論風格獨樹一幟，整個職業生涯始終堅持手寫書稿。1986年他在《Poetry Review》為我撰寫的首篇書評在郵寄途中遺失，他主動提出重寫，並如約完成：“第二次寫得更好，”他說，“六月底我還在為成為更嚴肅的評論家而絞盡腦汁，如今已是'八月屬於民眾與他們鐘愛的島嶼'。”

As a reviewer and poetry critic his impulsiveness could be much more productive. He read very widely and books like The Noise Made By Poems were inspiring in their confident ranging over European poetry. His mode of reviewing was entirely his own and he continued to write them in longhand throughout this career. When his first piece for me at Poetry Review in 1986 went missing in the post, he offered to write it again, and he did: "I liked it better second time round," he said. "At the end of June I was falling over myself in the annual attempt to become a more serious critic, but now it is 'August for the people and their favourite islands'. "

巴黎評論評價

萊維是個高大魁梧、相貌英俊的男人，有時舉止令人望而生畏。但他的眼睛出賣了他——那雙眼睛充滿善意，常帶笑意；它們流露出對生活的真摯熱愛，以及對他畢生追求的事業的熱忱——古典學、文學，尤其是詩歌的閱讀與創作。他的詩歌折射出古典底蘊，風格克制而純粹，既深諳古典韻律結構，亦精通現代詩歌格律。代表作包括《The Gravel Ponds》《Ruined Abbeys》《Pancakes for the Queen of Babylon》《Death Is a Pulpit》等。

Levi is a tall, lumbering, handsome man, with sometimes an intimidating manner. But his eyes betray him—they are full of kindness, much given to laughter; they suggest a genuine love of life and the subject matter that it has been his life to pursue—the Classics, literature in general, and most especially the reading and writing of poetry. His poetry reflects his classical background; it has a restrained, almost a distilled quality, and is conscious of the whole range of classical as well as modem structures of rhythm, and meter. Among his works are The Gravel Ponds, Ruined Abbeys, Pancakes for the Queen of Babylon, Death Is a Pulpit.