托馬斯·德·昆西（Thomas De Quincey，1785-1859年），英國散文家。他的散文作品熱情洋溢，經(jīng)常達(dá)到語氣莊重，韻律優(yōu)美如詩的效果，與彌爾頓等偉大詩人的作品相似。出生在曼徹斯特一個(gè)富裕的商人家庭。其父是一位富商和才華出眾的作家，在他七歲時(shí)去世，德·昆西由他天賦極高卻十分嚴(yán)厲的母親撫養(yǎng)成人。中學(xué)時(shí)代擅長希臘文和拉丁文。十六歲時(shí)逃離就讀的文法學(xué)校，漫游威爾士；十七歲時(shí)在倫敦流浪了一個(gè)嚴(yán)冬。早年風(fēng)餐露宿的經(jīng)歷令他成為一個(gè)生活陰暗面的深刻洞察者，也使他罹患終生未愈的胃病和牙痛。大約一年后，家人找到他，將他送到牛津大學(xué)。在那里，為了緩解神經(jīng)痛，他開始吸食鴉片。成為終生的癮君子。在牛津大學(xué)著重學(xué)習(xí)英國文學(xué)和德國語言、文學(xué)，對英國新興的浪漫主義文學(xué)非常向往，對威廉·華茲華斯和柯勒律治合寫的《抒情歌謠集》(1798)的革新精神和內(nèi)容十分欣賞。1807年成為這兩位詩人的親密朋友。1809年，他搬到湖泊區(qū)的格拉斯米爾，和沃茲沃斯、柯勒律治、騷塞等呆在一起，在自己的回憶錄中講述了他們的很多故事。

1816年，德·昆西與瑪格麗特·辛普森結(jié)婚，之后生了八個(gè)孩子。與此同時(shí)，他開始吸食更多的鴉片，為此耗盡了繼承來的遺產(chǎn)。他開始從事寫作，1820年，經(jīng)散文家查爾斯·蘭姆介紹，與《倫敦雜志》的出版人相識。1821年，《倫敦雜志》發(fā)表了德·昆西的著名作品《一個(gè)英國鴉片服用者的自白》，大獲成功，這部作品以他的親身體驗(yàn)和想象，描寫了主人公的心理和潛意識活動(dòng)，預(yù)示了20世紀(jì)現(xiàn)代派文學(xué)的題材和寫作方法的出現(xiàn)，雖然還在吸食鴉片，但德·昆西一直定期地向《布萊克伍德雜志》（Blackwood’s）、《季度評論》（Quarterly Review）等雜志投稿。由于和《黑檀雜志》的關(guān)系密切，1826年遷居愛丁堡。1859年12月8日去世。

從1853年起直至去世，德·昆西編輯他自己的全集。全集共14卷，出版于1853年和1860年之間。他的文章涉及歷史、政治經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)、哲學(xué)和文藝?yán)碚�。他把文學(xué)分為兩大類：“知識的文學(xué)”和“力量的文學(xué)”。前者教育讀者，后者感動(dòng)讀者。浪漫主義文學(xué)屬于后者。仿此，德·昆西的作品也可分為這兩類。在“知識的文學(xué)”方面，他寫有經(jīng)濟(jì)著作《三位法學(xué)家的對話》；哲學(xué)著作《論康德》；教育著作《致失學(xué)青年的信》；歷史著作《貞德》(1847)；文學(xué)批評著作《論〈麥克白〉劇中的敲門聲》（1823）、《論風(fēng)格》(1840)等。在“力量的文學(xué)”方面，德·昆西寫了《一個(gè)英國鴉片服用者的自白》、《自傳》（1834～1853）、《來自深處的嘆息》(1845)、《英國郵車》(1849)和《被看成是一種藝術(shù)的謀殺》(1827)等。

德·昆西的散文富于幻想和感情，注重詞藻和音樂性，有意識地模仿17世紀(jì)早期英國散文家的風(fēng)格。他是英國浪漫主義運(yùn)動(dòng)的主要文學(xué)批評家之一，曾經(jīng)稱贊莎士比亞的作品不僅是偉大的藝術(shù)品，而且還象“自然現(xiàn)象，象太陽和海洋，星星和花朵；象霜和雪，雨和露，冰雹和霹靂”。

Thomas de Quincey (August 15, 1785 u2013 December 8, 1859) was an English author and intellectual.

He was born in Manchester. His father was a successful businessman with an interest in literature; he died when Thomas was quite young. Soon after Thomas’s birth the family moved to The Farm, and later to Greenhay, a larger country house near Manchester. In 1796 De Quincey’s mother, now a widow, moved to Bath and enrolled him at King Edward’s School, Bath.

Thomas was a weak and sickly child. His youth was spent in solitude, and when his elder brother, William, came home, he wreaked havoc in the quiet surroundings. De Quincey’s mother was a woman of strong character and intelligence, but seems to have inspired more awe than affection in her children. She brought them up very strictly, taking Thomas out of school after three years because she was afraid he would become big-headed, and sending him to an inferior school at Winkfield in Wiltshire.

In 1800, De Quincey, aged fifteen, was ready for the University of Oxford; his scholarship was far in advance of his years. "That boy," his master at Bath School had said, "that boy could harangue an Athenian mob better than you or I could address an English one." He was sent to Manchester Grammar School, in order that after three years’ stay he might obtain a scholarship to Brasenose College, Oxford, but he took flight after nineteen months.

His first plan had been to reach William Wordsworth, whose Lyrical Ballads (1798) had consoled him in fits of depression and had awakened in him a deep reverence for the poet. But for that De Quincey was too timid, so he made his way to Chester, where his mother dwelt, in the hope of seeing a sister; he was caught by the older members of the family, but, through the efforts of his uncle, Colonel Penson, received the promise of a guinea a week to carry out his later project of a solitary tramp through Wales. From July to November, 1802, De Quincey lived as a wayfarer. He soon lost his guinea by ceasing to keep his family informed of his whereabouts, and had difficulty making ends meet. Still apparently fearing pursuit, he borrowed some money and travelled to London, where he tried to borrow more. Having failed, he lived close to starvation rather than return to his family.

Discovered by chance by his friends, De Quincey was brought home and finally allowed (1803) to go to Worcester College, Oxford, on a reduced income. Here, we are told, "he came to be looked upon as a strange being who associated with no one." During this time he began to take opium. He left, apparently about 1807, without a degree. In the same year he made the acquaintance of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, having already sought out Charles Lamb in London. His acquaintance with Wordsworth led to his settling in 1809 at Grasmere, in the beautiful English Lake District; his home for ten years was Dove Cottage, which Wordsworth had occupied and which is now a popular tourist attraction. De Quincey was married in 1816, and soon after, having no money left, he took up literary work in earnest.

In 1821 he went to London to dispose of some translations from German authors, but was persuaded first to write and publish an account of his opium experiences, which that year appeared in the London Magazine. This new sensation eclipsed Lamb’s Essays of Elia, which were then appearing in the same periodical. The Confessions of an English Opium-Eater were soon published in book form. De Quincey then made literary acquaintances. Tom Hood found the shrinking author "at home in a German ocean of literature, in a storm, flooding all the floor, the tables, and the chairs—billows of books." Richard Woodhouse speaks of the "depth and reality of his knowledge. ... His conversation appeared like the elaboration of a mine of results. ... Taylor led him into political economy, and the study of classics."

From this time on De Quincey maintained himself by contributing to various magazines. He soon exchanged London and the Lakes for Edinburgh and its suburb, Lasswade, where he spent the remainder of his life. Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine and its rival Tait’s Magazine received a large number of contributions. The English Mail-Coach appeared in 1849 in Blackwood. Joan of Arc had already been published (1847) in Tait. De Quincey throughout his life drank laudanum—after 1821, twice in great excess. During his last years he nearly completed a collected edition of his works.

Influence

His immediate influence extended to Edgar Allan Poe, Fitz Hugh Ludlow and Charles Baudelaire, but even major 20th century writers such as Jorge Luis Borges admired and claimed to be partly influenced by his work. Berlioz also loosely based his Symphonie Fantastique on Confessions of an English Opium Eater, drawing on the theme of the internal struggle with one’s self.

Bibliography

Selected works:

Confessions of an English Opium Eater, 1822

On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth, 1823

Walladmor, 1825

Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts, 1827

Klosterheim, or The Masque, 1832

Lake Reminscences, 1834-40

The Logic of the Political Economy, 1844

Suspiria de Profundis, 1845

The English Mail Coach, 1849

Autobiographical Sketches, 1853

Selections Grave and Gay, from the Writings, Published and Unpublished, by Thomas De Quincey, 1853-1860 (14 vols.)

Collected Writings, 1889

Uncollected Writings, 1890

The Posthumous Works, 1891-93

Memorials, 1891

Literary Criticism, 1909

The Diary, 1928

Selected Writings, 1937

Recollections of the Lake Poets, 1948 (written 1830-40)

New Essays, 1966