Sunday 17 July 2011

In defence of 徐志摩


有一天 (是在二零零九年的八月),特然收到一封電郵批評徐志摩,使我十分氣惱,徐志摩是個浪漫派詩人,在封建的社會下被迫娶一個素未謀面的女子為妻,而他只是拿出他的一份勇氣來反抗這一段沒有愛情的婚姻,為自己爭取自由戀愛而提出離婚!這個來電郵是這樣寫的: [甚麼是天才?甚麼是愛?甚麼是偉大?不懂。從小就對除志摩和他的作品都沒有好感。對除志摩說的所謂風流,天才等等,都是人們的無知和盲從。看過這篇介紹關於徐志摩的第一任妻子,張幼儀傳奇,反而對張幼儀有點敬佩,對徐志摩更鄙視。] 為自由戀愛、為抗拒盲婚而離婚,我不明白為什麼他會受人鄙視呢?


於是我便立刻寫以下的一篇 "In defence of 徐志摩" 作回應 (是在二零零九年的八月)



看了 XXX 的電郵,真的忍不住要寫幾行

徐志摩是我最喜愛的中國文學家兼詩人之一,我認為我們應當把個人的文采與個人的生活方式分開,兩者不可以相提並論。

話得說回頭,首先要說的是:徐志摩是一個徹底的浪漫主義者,他一生都在追求他的理想 ---- 是英文的三個字:愛、自由、美 (beauty, freedom, love),他跟十八世紀的浪漫派詩人 Lord Byron, Keats, Wordsworth, Shelley, Coleridge 所追隨的理想都是大同小異。徐志摩是為他的理想而毅然放棄一段沒有感情的婚姻、向妻子提出似乎是不近人情的要求 - 離婚!要離婚、當然要找個理由。他要自由、亦把自由還予他的妻子,(至於張幼儀不另嫁他人是她的選擇,徐志摩與她始終保持良好關係,而她為兒子與家庭的付出是值得人敬仰的。)

另一方面,為追求愛與美,徐志摩要找尋他的靈魂伴侶,他是找到了 - 是他在英國求學時遇到的一位人美艷如花的紅顏知己林徽音,只是她卻沒有選擇徐志摩作為終身伴侶,但志摩對她還是念念不忘, (據說他是為了要趕往北平聽林徽音的演講才坐飛機不幸遇難的。)

一段婚姻的離與合,並非外人能說誰是誰非,這始終是他們兩人的事,外人很難作出任何判斷,當然是公說公有理,婆說婆有理,是看你要選擇站在那一方。在這兒,我卻佩服徐志摩的勇氣,在那個年代,他居然敢公開提出離婚,受盡身邊的親朋戚友唾罵,要知到、他跟陸小曼結婚時,更被他的恩師兼證婚人梁任公 (即梁啟超) 說他用情不專、被當眾大罵了一頓!但我還是覺得徐志摩敢作敢為,亦為自己所作的事情肯作承擔,在那民初年代,表面雖然是推翻了封建制度,但是很多人仍舊是三妻四妾,徐志摩大可以把妻兒放在家裡,在外另結新歡,但這樣是違反了他那三個字的理想,他需要的是自由,追求的是真愛與真美,更何況,這妻子是父母給他找來的!

(我在這裡替徐志摩辯護是有我的理由、因我親眼看到一段沒有感情的婚姻害了兩個當事人痛苦終身,這便是我的兄長和嫂子,他們也是民初時代的青年,在舊式社會的盲婚制度下奉父母之命成婚,可是我兄長跟本不喜歡嫂子,於是便把自己長期麻醉在煙酒葯物裡,不願返家,終日在外流連,結果屈屈不得志、把大好前程荒廢,英年早逝,這邊廂我嫂子亦不好過,終日獨守空緯,悶氣難洩,常遷怒於兒女身上,我們幾姊妹看到也愛莫能助,我也曾為兄長想過,為甚麼不反抗這段盲婚呢? 唉,話說容易,他是生長在那個年代,作為兒子的多是幼承父蔭或承繼祖業,換句話說,是沒有自立能力,那年代的人亦沒有今天年青人所擁有的勇氣為自己的將來而跟父母搞對抗,他唯有忍氣聽從,正如巴金小說 (家、春、秋) 筆下的大少爺一樣弱無能,弄成累幾累人! 眼見兒子前途盡毀,我看到母親很是內疚,終日經念佛來懺悔。)

離婚或是拋妻棄子,徐志摩不是第一人,且看看古今幾許著名大文學家與詩人,他們在徐志摩之前已作過同樣事情,也沒有影響他們在文學上的貢獻和地位呢!

中國古代社會可容納三妻四妾,所以沒有甚麼離婚的例子,只有拋妻或不認妻的例子,古代女子更沒有自由可言,只有從一而終,來順受。

以下是我們熟識的幾位英國詩人的婚姻及情史,比較起來,徐志摩並不差矣!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (21 October 1772 – 25 July 1834) - In 1795 he married Sarah Fricker.  He grew to detest his wife, whom he only married because of social constraints. They had 4 children together.  He eventually separated from her.  In 1799, Coleridge went and stayed at Thomas Hutchinson's farm and there he fell in love with with Sara Hutchinson and stayed with her since.

William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) - He fell in love with a French woman, Annette Vallon, who in 1792 gave birth to their child, Caroline.  He could not bring them to England because of the French Revolution.  In 1802, after returning from his trip to France, he married a childhood friend, Mary Hutchinson and they had 5 children together.

George Gordon Byron or Lord Byron (22 January 1788– 19 April 1824) - After his many affairs with Lady Caroline Lamb, Lady Webster and his half sister Augusta, he married Annabella Milbanke in 1815 and they had a daughter.  In 1816, his wife left him in January and he then began an affair with Claire Clairmont and later with Marianna Segati, his landlord's wife.  In 1917, Byron's daughter, Allegra, was born to Claire Clairmont.  Later he had another affair with Margarita Cogni, wife of a Venetian baker.  In 1819, Byron began yet another affair with the married Countess Teresa Guiccioli. 

Percy Bysshe Shelley (4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) - In 1811, the 19-year-old Shelley travelled to Scotland with the 16-year-old schoolgirl Harriet Westbrook to get married. Unhappy in his nearly three-year-old marriage, Shelley often left his wife and child alone as he travelled.  He later met Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, later known as Mary Shelley. On 28 July 1814, Shelley abandoned his pregnant wife and child as he ran away with Mary to Europe.  They married in 1816 after Shelley’s estranged wife Harriet drowned herself.


至於為甚麼在沒有感情下的婚姻,仍育有好幾個兒女呢?關於這個問題、我是答不了,因我不是男兒,大概是男兒本 吧!

在結束之前,讓我送出我最喜愛的一首徐志摩詩 - "再別康橋" 的末段:

悄悄的我走了,正如我悄悄的來;
我揮一揮衣袖,不帶走一片雲彩。

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