By the time George Eliot made her poetic debut with the publication of The Spanish Gypsy in 1868, she had already achieved wealth and fame with five successful novels: Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Romola (1863), and Felix Holt, the Radical (1866). Widely recognized as one of the era's leading writers, Eliot had established her position as a prominent novelist. Why, then, did she turn to poetry at this point in her successful publishing career? In George Eliot, Poetess, I argue that Eliot relied on the gender-specific and religiously motivated poetess persona to write poetry that promoted a doctrine of sympathy rather than orthodox religion. As a poetess with spiritual authority, Eliot could take greater risks than she could as a popular novelist. (1) Eliot's own perception of poetry's aesthetic preeminence over fiction provides evidence of another poetic aim: in 1868, she wrote that poetry had a "superiority over all the other arts." (2) The cultural prestige of poetry thus offered Eliot a chance to secure a literary legacy beyond that of a popular novelist. Indeed, throughout her poems, Eliot linked herself to a great poetic tradition by invoking Dante, Boccaccio, Homer, Erinna, Sappho, and Shakespeare. Despite seeking to rank among the great artists of the age, however, Eliot also feared the corrupting power of fame and egoistic ambition. She maintained an uneasy relationship with the fame that she consciously employed to promote her work, and her poems reveal this disquietude. Scholars have noted how a number of Eliot's poems reveal her struggle with fame and ambition but have largely overlooked "Arion," a little-known poem from 1873 that constitutes a fascinating example of Eliot's literary effort to address this conflict in the aftermath of MidAlemarch's critical and financial success in 1871 to 1872. (3) In "Arion," Eliot adapts Herodotus's Histories, book 1, chapter 24, which tells the story of Arion (ancient Greek poet and inventor of the dithyramb), who won fame and wealth in Italy and was forced by sailors to jump into the sea upon returning to his native Corinth. (4) Eliot's thematic and formal changes to Herodotus's story reveal her own struggle as a famous, aging artist working to compose lasting and meaningful art while grappling with the potential trappings of celebrity. After providing background concerning Eliot's poetry-writing career, I offer an in-depth examination of "Arion" to show how this poem indicates a maturation in Eliot's conception of herself as an artist. In addition, I offer biographical evidence to date the composition of "Arion" to March 1873 and explain the significance of this period by reading the poem as an expression of Eliot's struggle with artistic creation, performance, mortality, and influence after writing Middlemarch, her most famous novel. Poetry, Prominence, and Prestige Despite the crucial role that Eliot's poetic work played in the later part of her writing career, few who read Eliot today know of it. During Eliot's lifetime, her poetry sold well and received mostly positive reviews. However, after her death critics largely dismissed her poetry as inferior verse, and over time it fell out of wide circulation. (5) Until recently, scholars neglected this important part of her work--written at the height of her career--but new studies focusing on her poetry and prominence as a public figure offer a more complete picture of the author and her work as a whole. (6) From 1864 to 1878, Eliot wrote poetry regularly and, from 1866 to 1870 and 1873 to 1874, intensively. She wrote numerous poetic epigraphs to preface chapters of her novels; a handful of poetic fragments; and over twenty-five poems, including lyric poems, a sonnet sequence, elegies, hymns and ballads, verse narratives, a closet drama, philosophical dialogues, narrative monologues, and an epic-length dramatic poem. In these works, she masterfully employed blank verse, free verse, heroic couplets, and irregular rhyme schemes. …

中文翻译：

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《Arion》：乔治·艾略特对米德尔马契之后的艺术和影响的探索

到乔治·艾略特于 1868 年出版《西班牙吉普赛人》而首度诗篇时，她已经凭借五部成功的小说获得了财富和名望：亚当·比德（1859 年）、牙线上的磨坊（1860 年）、塞拉斯·马纳（1861 年） )、Romola (1863) 和激进派 Felix Holt (1866)。艾略特被广泛认为是那个时代的主要作家之一，确立了她作为杰出小说家的地位。那么，在她成功的出版生涯中，她为什么会在这个时候转向诗歌呢？在女诗人乔治·艾略特 (George Eliot) 中，我认为艾略特 (Eliot) 依靠特定性别和宗教动机的女诗人角色来写诗，以宣扬同情学说而非正统宗教。作为一位具有精神权威的女诗人，艾略特可以承担比流行小说家更大的风险。（一）艾略特自己的诗歌观 美学优于小说提供了另一个诗歌目标的证据：1868 年，她写道诗歌“优于所有其他艺术”。(2) 因此，诗歌的文化声望为艾略特提供了获得超越流行小说家的文学遗产的机会。事实上，在艾略特的整首诗中，艾略特通过引用但丁、薄伽丘、荷马、艾琳娜、萨福和莎士比亚，将自己与伟大的诗歌传统联系起来。然而，尽管艾略特力求跻身那个时代的伟大艺术家之列，但他也害怕名誉和自私野心的腐化力量。她与她有意识地用来宣传她的作品的名气保持着不安的关系，她的诗歌揭示了这种不安。学者们注意到艾略特的许多诗歌如何揭示她与名望和野心的斗争，但在很大程度上忽略了“阿里昂，展示这首诗如何表明艾略特对自己作为艺术家的观念的成熟。此外，我还提供了《Arion》的创作日期至 1873 年 3 月的传记证据，并通过阅读这首诗来解释这一时期的意义，该诗表达了艾略特在创作了《米德尔马契》后与艺术创作、表演、死亡和影响的斗争。最著名的小说。诗歌、声望和声望 尽管艾略特的诗歌作品在她写作生涯的后期发挥了关键作用，但今天读过艾略特的人很少知道这一点。在艾略特的一生中，她的诗卖得很好，并获得了大部分好评。然而，在她去世后，评论家们大多将她的诗歌视为劣等诗，随着时间的推移，它不再广泛流传。(5) 直到最近，学者们忽视了她作品中的这一重要部分——在她职业生涯的巅峰时期写的——但是关注她的诗歌和作为公众人物的突出地位的新研究为作者和她的整个作品提供了更完整的画面。(6) 从 1864 年到 1878 年，艾略特定期写诗，从 1866 年到 1870 年和 1873 年到 1874 年，集中写诗。她写了许多诗意的题词作为她小说的序言；一些诗意的片段；以及超过二十五首诗歌，包括抒情诗、十四行诗序列、挽歌、赞美诗和民谣、诗歌叙事、壁橱戏剧、哲学对话、叙事独白和史诗般的长篇戏剧诗。在这些作品中，她巧妙地运用了空白诗、自由诗、英雄对联和不规则的韵律。… 艾略特定期写诗，并在 1866 年至 1870 年和 1873 年至 1874 年期间集中写作。她写了许多诗意的题词作为她小说的序言；一些诗意的片段；以及超过二十五首诗歌，包括抒情诗、十四行诗序列、挽歌、赞美诗和民谣、诗歌叙事、壁橱戏剧、哲学对话、叙事独白和史诗般的长篇戏剧诗。在这些作品中，她巧妙地运用了空白诗、自由诗、英雄对联和不规则的韵律。… 艾略特定期写诗，并在 1866 年至 1870 年和 1873 年至 1874 年期间集中写作。她写了许多诗意的题词作为她小说的序言；一些诗意的片段；以及超过二十五首诗歌，包括抒情诗、十四行诗序列、挽歌、赞美诗和民谣、诗歌叙事、壁橱戏剧、哲学对话、叙事独白和史诗般的长篇戏剧诗。在这些作品中，她巧妙地运用了空白诗、自由诗、英雄对联和不规则的韵律。… 叙事独白，以及一首史诗般的戏剧长诗。在这些作品中，她巧妙地运用了空白诗、自由诗、英雄对联和不规则的韵律。… 叙事独白，以及一首史诗般的戏剧长诗。在这些作品中，她巧妙地运用了空白诗、自由诗、英雄对联和不规则的韵律。…