英语词汇ivory tower的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

ivory tower. In the Song of Solomon the poet sings that his beloved’s neck is “as a tower of ivory,” but the phrase in its mod- ern sense has nothing else to do with biblical poetry. French lit- erary critic Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve used un tour d’ivoire in 1837 to charge that romantic poet Alfred de Vigny evaded the responsibilities of life by retiring to an ivory tower. Whether the charge was justified or not, the image did evoke someone sitting cool and elegantly detached, above it all and looking down on life. The phrase has become a cliché, especially when applied to scholars or intellectuals. It is seldom used any- more in a kind sense, that is, to indicate a place of refuge from the world’s strivings and posturings.

词汇	ivory tower
词源	ivory tower. In the Song of Solomon the poet sings that his beloved’s neck is “as a tower of ivory,” but the phrase in its mod- ern sense has nothing else to do with biblical poetry. French lit- erary critic Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve used un tour d’ivoire in 1837 to charge that romantic poet Alfred de Vigny evaded the responsibilities of life by retiring to an ivory tower. Whether the charge was justified or not, the image did evoke someone sitting cool and elegantly detached, above it all and looking down on life. The phrase has become a cliché, especially when applied to scholars or intellectuals. It is seldom used any- more in a kind sense, that is, to indicate a place of refuge from the world’s strivings and posturings.
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