Abstract: Qian Zhongshu's article “Poetry Can Modify Vexations of Life” (“Our Sweetest Songs”) left a question at the end, that is, why China and the West generally devalued “happy words” but overestimated “miserable words”. In fact, there was already an answer to this in Qian's various works and manuscripts: sadness and resentment can easily penetrate into person's mind, and they are strong, long-lasting and complex, and have a dialectical relationship with pleasure. With the help of art, they can be transformed into aesthetic emotions. Compared to other forms of art, poetry is an art of language, which allows for more freedom to express sadness and resentment, and more freedom to reflect suffering; compared to other literary works such as historical books, poetry, due to its artistic techniques, such as rhythm, symbolism, allusion and dramatization, could transform sadness and resentment to art. Modern literature theory should not be limited to western discourse. “Poetry can modify vexations of life” was an ancient expression, which had originally been mentioned only from the perspective of acceptance in the text of The Analects of Confucius, but Qian Zhongshu interpreted it as a poetic concept with profound meaning and universality. Therefore, classical terms and modern ideas could be interrelated and fused.

Key words: Poetry Can Modify Vexations of Life, Qian Zhongshu, interrelated

摘要： 钱钟书的“诗可以怨”在文末留下一个疑问,即中西方普遍贬低“欢愉之辞”而肯定“穷苦之言”的原因何在。事实上,在钱氏的著作与笔记中对此已有回答:悲怨容易深入、强烈持久、复杂丰富,并与愉悦存在着辩证关系,在艺术之助力下能转化成审美情感。相较于其他艺术门类而言,诗是语言的艺术,故而能更为自由地抒发悲怨、反映苦难;相较于史书等其他语言作品而言,诗又因其韵律、象征、典故、戏剧化等手法,能使悲怨之情通往审美之境。现代文论并不只能在西方话语中打转,“诗可以怨”是一个古老而悠久的术语,钱钟书将《论语》中原本只是从接受的角度提及的话题,阐发为一个意蕴深刻并具有普适性的诗学概念,古典术语与现代思想因此得以会通。

关键词: 诗可以怨, 钱钟书, 会通