Murder in the Cathedral《聖堂殉道記》是帶領英美文壇風騷數十年的廿世紀文壇巨擘艾略特(T.S. Eliot)的著名詩劇。艾略特1922年以《荒原》詩作震撼文壇，寫下了文學史上的「艾略特時代」。成名後，他有感於一度有過耀煌歷史的詩劇在廿世紀裡竟告沒落，於是著手創作，企圖重振詩劇雄風。本劇即是艾氏後來所寫的一連串詩劇中最傑出的作品之一。

　　《聖堂殉道記》一劇是歷史劇與宗教劇的糅合，其中所涉及的歷史典故與宗教奧義繁多，非經疏注，一般讀者實在難以澈底了解。因此，十多年前，在談德義教授(PIERRE E. DEMERS) 、李達三教授(JOHN DENNEY)的推動下，文學研究社的同仁，同心協助，就本劇加以仔細的探討疏注，以期增進讀者對此一詩劇的理解。其中Introduction部份係由談德義教授主筆，Subject Matter and Theme 等由李達三教授續成。中文註釋部份註1/1-11/11由楊萬運教授負責，11/12-26/10的部份由周昭明教育負責，27/1-37/5的部份由林啟藩老師負責，37/8-47/27為止由彭小妍老師負責，最後由滕以魯教授加以總整理。

　　本書從註解到出版，前後超過十年。歷經波折，終於能夠完成問世，實應歸功滕以魯教授之耐心梳理與校訂。

　　本書英文原劇係抽印自T.S.Eliot:The Complete Poems and Plays 1909-1950 (1952,Harcourt, Brace and Company) 所收錄之本劇，僅頁碼加以重編。

　　本書若有疏漏錯誤之處，歡迎讀者隨時指正，是所至盼。


出版說明
I. Text: Murder in the Cathedral
II.
  1. Introduction
      History of a murder / Eliot's treatment of Becket's murder / First level of meaning/Second level of meaning / Third level of meaning
  2.Subject Matter and Theme
  3. Structural Summary
  4. Other Dramatic Elements
  5. Theatrical Dimension
III. 中文註釋


作者簡介

　　Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St Louis, Missouri in 1888. He was educated at Harvard, at the Sorbonne in Paris, and at Merton College, Oxford. His early poetry was profoundly influenced by the French symbolists, especially Baudelaire and Laforgue. In his academic studies he specialised in philosophy and logic. His doctoral thesis was on F. H. Bradley. He settled in England in 1915, the year in which he married Vivienne Haigh-Wood and also met his contemporary Ezra Pound for the first time. After teaching for a year or so he joined Lloyds Bank in the City of London in 1917, the year in which he published his first volume, Prufrock and Other Observations. In 1919 Poems was hand-printed by Leonard and Virginia Woolf. His first collection of essays, The Sacred Wood, appeared in 1920. His most famous work, The Waste Land, was published in 1922, the same year as James Joyce's Ulysses. The poem was included in the first issue of his journal The Criterion, which he founded and edited.