OVER THEIR LONG and parallel careers, Wallace Stevens and Robert Frost published poems in the same issue of a magazine only once––the first issue of The Measure: A Journal of Poetry in March 1921. Stevens’ contribution, “Cortège for Rosenbloom,” appeared in the middle of the issue, and was reprinted in the Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1921 and Year Book of American Poetry and in Harmonium (1923). Frost’s contribution, “The Aim Was Song,” concluded the issue and was reprinted in New Hampshire (1923).1 When read together, yet outside the context of the magazine, the poems seem to stage a philosophical debate. Stevens claims that the human world and natural world are distinct and irreconcilable. Frost claims that the human world and the natural world are complementary. The debate seems readymade for the classroom. Stevens v. Frost. Who wins? Conventional readings of both poems corroborate this description of the debate. In “Cortège,” Stevens examines two responses to death––a funeral procession and poetry––and finds them lacking. In the poem’s first three stanzas (of eight total), he mocks the procession:

中文翻译：

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史蒂文斯诉弗罗斯特

在他们漫长而平行的职业生涯中，华莱士·史蒂文斯和罗伯特·弗罗斯特只在同一期杂志上发表过一次诗歌——1921 年 3 月第一期《测量：诗歌杂志》。史蒂文斯的贡献，“罗森布鲁姆的护卫队”，出现在该期的中间，并在 1921 年杂志诗歌选集和美国诗歌年鉴和 Harmonium（1923 年）中重印。弗罗斯特的贡献，“目标是歌曲”，结束了这个问题，并在新罕布什尔州（1923 年）重印。1 当一起阅读时，但在杂志的上下文之外，这些诗似乎上演了一场哲学辩论。史蒂文斯声称，人类世界和自然世界是截然不同的、不可调和的。弗罗斯特声称人类世界和自然世界是互补的。这场辩论似乎是为课堂准备的。史蒂文斯诉弗罗斯特。谁赢？对这两首诗的传统解读证实了对这场辩论的这种描述。在“Cortège”中，史蒂文斯考察了对死亡的两种反应——葬礼游行和诗歌——并发现它们缺乏。在这首诗的前三节（共八节）中，他嘲笑了游行队伍：