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Review dan Analisis The Portrait of A Lady, Puisinya T.S. Eliot (Part 1)




Halloo :D
Tulang punya tugas nih. Disuruh buat review + analisis tentang puisinya Eliot, The Portrait of A Lady. 

Portrait of a Lady 
by T. S. Eliot

Thou hast committed—
Fornication: but that was in another country,
And besides, the wench is dead.
The Jew of Malta.I 


Among the smoke and fog of a December afternoon
You have the scene arrange itself—as it will seem to do— 
With "I have saved this afternoon for you"; 
And four wax candles in the darkened room, 
Four rings of light upon the ceiling overhead, 
An atmosphere of Juliet's tomb 
Prepared for all the things to be said, or left unsaid. 
We have been, let us say, to hear the latest 
Pole Transmit the Preludes, through his hair and fingertips.
"So intimate, this Chopin, that I think his soul 
Should be resurrected only among friends 
Some two or three, who will not touch the bloom 
That is rubbed and questioned in the concert room." 
—And so the conversation slips 
Among velleities and carefully caught regrets
Through attenuated tones of violins 
Mingled with remote cornets 
And begins. 
"You do not know how much they mean to me, my friends, 
And how, how rare and strange it is, to find In a life composed so much, so much of odds and ends, 
[For indeed I do not love it...you knew? you are not blind! How keen you are!] 
To find a friend who has these qualities, 
Who has, and gives 
Those qualities upon which friendship lives. 
How much it means that I say this to you— 
Without these friendships—life, what cauchemar!" 
Among the windings of the violins 
And the ariettes 
Of cracked cornets 
Inside my brain a dull tom-tom begins 
Absurdly hammering a prelude of its own, 
Capricious monotone 
That is at least one definite "false note." 
—Let us take the air, in a tobacco trance, 
Admire the monuments, 
Discuss the late events, 
Correct our watches by the public clocks. 
Then sit for half an hour and drink our bocks. 

II 
Now that lilacs are in bloom 
She has a bowl of lilacs in her room 
And twists one in his fingers while she talks. 
"Ah, my friend, you do not know, you do not know 
What life is, you who hold it in your hands";
(Slowly twisting the lilac stalks) 
"You let it flow from you, you let it flow, 
And youth is cruel, and has no remorse 
And smiles at situations which it cannot see." 
I smile, of course, And go on drinking tea. 
"Yet with these April sunsets, that somehow recall 
My buried life, and Paris in the Spring, 
I feel immeasurably at peace, and find the world
To be wonderful and youthful, after all." 
The voice returns like the insistent out-of-tune 
Of a broken violin on an August afternoon: "I am always sure that you understand 
My feelings, always sure that you feel, 
Sure that across the gulf you reach your hand. 
You are invulnerable, you have no Achilles' heel. 
You will go on, and when you have prevailed 
You can say: at this point many a one has failed. 
But what have I, but what have I, my friend, 
To give you, what can you receive from me?
Only the friendship and the sympathy 
Of one about to reach her journey's end. 

I shall sit here, serving tea to friends..." 

I take my hat: how can I make a cowardly amends 
For what she has said to me? 
You will see me any morning in the park 
Reading the comics and the sporting page. 
Particularly I remark 
An English countess goes upon the stage. 
A Greek was murdered at a Polish dance, 
Another bank defaulter has confessed. 
I keep my countenance, 
I remain self-possessed 
Except when a street piano, mechanical and tired 
Reiterates some worn-out common song 
With the smell of hyacinths across the garden 
Recalling things that other people have desired. 
Are these ideas right or wrong?

III 
The October night comes down; returning as before
Except for a slight sensation of being ill at ease
I mount the stairs and turn the handle of the door 
And feel as if I had mounted on my hands and knees. 
"And so you are going abroad; and when do you return? 
But that's a useless question. 
You hardly know when you are coming back, 
You will find so much to learn." 
My smile falls heavily among the bric-à-brac. 
"Perhaps you can write to me." 
My self-possession flares up for a second; 
This is as I had reckoned. 
"I have been wondering frequently of late 
(But our beginnings never know our ends!) 
Why we have not developed into friends." 
I feel like one who smiles, and turning shall remark 
Suddenly, his expression in a glass. 
My self-possession gutters; we are really in the dark.
"For everybody said so, all our friends, 
They all were sure our feelings would relate 
So closely! I myself can hardly understand. 
We must leave it now to fate. 
You will write, at any rate. 
Perhaps it is not too late. 
I shall sit here, serving tea to friends." 
And I must borrow every changing shape 
To find expression...dance, dance 
Like a dancing bear,
Cry like a parrot, chatter like an ape. 
Let us take the air, in a tobacco trance— 
Well! and what if she should die some afternoon, 
Afternoon grey and smoky, evening yellow and rose; 
Should die and leave me sitting pen in hand 
With the smoke coming down above the housetops; 
Doubtful, for a while 
Not knowing what to feel or if 
I understand 
Or whether wise or foolish, tardy or too soon... 
Would she not have the advantage, after all?
This music is successful with a "dying fall" 
Now that we talk of dying— 
And should I have the right to smile?


Portrait of a Lady: Judul puini ini diambil dari novel Henry James, "The Portrait of A Lady The Jew of Malta: Sebuah permainanan yang ditulis oleh Christopher Marlowe
Transmit the Preludes: Frederic Chopin, seorang komposer dan pianis dari periode Romanti. Tujuan utama musik dalam puisi tersebut adalah di bagian satu, menciptakan kekontrasan antara pendapat Lady tentang hubungan yang dekat "diantara teman-teman" (l. 11) dan "tom-tom yang membosankan" (l. 33) mengenyutkan kepala narator , yang tidak membagi perasaannya.
Velleities: Berharap tapi tidak berusaha Cauchemar: Bahasa Perancisnya mimpi buruk (nightmare) Ariettes: arietta adalah sebuah komposisi musik ceria yang singkat Let us take the air, in a tobacco trance--: Cf. “Prufrock” ll. 1-3: “Let us go then, you and I,/ When the evening is spread out against the sky/ Like a patient etherized upon a table.” *tulang benar-benar gak ngerti yang ini, kalo kalian tau, tolong tinggalkan comment. Please >< Bocks: Berbagai variasi warna gelap kuat bir Jerman
Lilacs: Cf. The Waste Land ll. 1-2: “April is the cruelest month, breeding/ Lilacs out of the dead land.” The lilac is a symbol of youth. During this section, the lady, who is now aging, laments that the narrator doesn't realize how fortunate he is to be young. *yang ini juga tulang gak ngerti T.T
Drinking tea: Cf. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” l. 34: “Before the taking of a toast and tea,” and l. 51: “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.” Drinks like coffee and tea that would be imbibed at social gatherings evoke the banal, perfunctory life of someone like Prufrock or the Lady. *yang ini juga gak ngerti ><
My buried life: Cf. "The Buried Life" (1852) oleh Matthew Arnold. Puisi tersebut berisi tentang ketidakmampuan untuk mengungkap atau mendiskusikan pikiran sejati dan keinginan kita.
October: Puisi dimulai pada siang Desember, berakhir di bulan Oktober. Hampir setahun telah berlalu, oleh  hubungan yang telah memburuk.
“Dying Fall”: Cf. “Prufrock” l. 52: “I know the voices dying with a dying fall.” Ungkapan tersebut diambil dari Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night 1.1.4: “That strain again, it had a dying fall.” Diucapkan oleh Duke Orsino yang muram selama dia mendengarkan musik dan merenungi penyakit cintanya.

to be continued...... *maaf ya kalo terjemahannya rada ngaco, ngawur, dan ngalor ngidul. amatiran soalnya >.<
makasih udah baca part 1
silahkan ditunggu part 2 nya :D





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