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书名：英国诗歌选集（珍藏版）（上册）

作者：王佐良；金立群

出版社：上海译文出版社

出版时间：2016年5月

ISBN：9787532772384

本书由上海译文出版社授权得到APP电子版制作与发行

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上海译文出版社 | Digital Lab

序

编写一部有价值的英国诗歌集，必须掌握两个要点：其一，重要的诗人及其作品都应入选，否则就缺乏代表性；其二，应该尽量避免和其他选本雷同，否则就没有其自身特殊的价值。这本身就是矛盾的。王佐良教授以其独到的慧眼，精心筛选了英国文学史上的著名诗人和诗作，最终确定了这个选集，圆满地解决了这个两难问题。这是一部在时代、流派、作家和作品等方面都得到兼顾，而又重点突出的英国诗歌选集。

《英国诗歌选集》原名为《英国诗选》，是为中国学生选编的。就其代表性而言，中国学生应该了解的重要作家和作品，基本都已齐备。因此，只要认真阅读这个选本，他们的知识板块中就不会出现让人尴尬的缺陷。而且就其特殊性而言，英国诗歌中思想性和艺术性都很强的作品在此均获一席之地，而这些诗歌常因某种原因被排斥在英美学者选编的诗集之外。王佐良教授一贯强调，中国人研究西方文学应有中国的视觉。这部选集充分体现了他的选编原则。他在遴选作家和作品时，始终着眼于中国学生的需要，以使学生通过这些诗歌更好地了解英国的历史和社会，培养学生独立的见解和赏析能力。鉴于这个选本的主要阅读对象是中国高等学校英语专业的学生，入选作品有相当的难度，但是却有利于学生打好英国语言文学的基础，爱好英语的学生可以从中体会到植根于浓厚文化中的英语，咀嚼含义深邃的词语，欣赏多变的句法，领悟英语丰富的表达形式。

原《英国诗选》出版至今，已将近二十年了。多年来，我一直跟踪英美高等学府在英国文学方面的教学动态，关注各种文学体裁选集的编者增选和淘汰作家及其作品的倾向，观察英美学者对英国文学史上有影响的作家的评价和再评价。总体上说，核心作家及其核心作品受到的重视是基本稳定的，但即使是历史上著名的诗人和诗作，因受政治气候、经济发展和社会变动等因素的影响，也有可能会遭遇周期性的波动，或被热烈追捧，或遭冷遇被弃。在这方面，这部选集受到的影响并不大，足见王佐良教授的功力。这次修订时，我感到有必要做些小幅度的调整，补充了一些重要的诗作。为此，不得不放弃了个别长诗，或作删节，以便为前者腾出版面。这次修订再版，就题解和注释方面增加了不少内容，并更名为《英国诗歌选集》。同时，在排版设计上也做了必要的改进，统一了体例，以使读者一目了然。（详见图例）

这个选本所包括的作品，就其文学价值而言，王佐良教授已经在序言中做了深刻的阐述，我不可能再做任何更加有意义的补充。我只想借本书修订本出版之际，就这部选集超出英国文学教学范围的意义，和读者分享我的体会。

中国古人曰：“诗言志，歌永言”，“在心为志，发言为诗”。诗歌是表达人的思想和意志最原始、最直接、最质朴、最有冲击力的艺术形式，而追求冲击力也许是现当代的诗人最本能的冲动。有些诗人醉心于形式的创新，意象的奇特，表达的乖张，致使他们的作品扑朔迷离，难于卒读。他们乐于和传统决裂，不惧走到另一个极端。另一方面，这些诗歌也更多地反映了时代的特点。正因为这些诗歌结构不合常规，语义含混，不易诠释，反倒为读者留出了宽阔的想象空间。注释者面临的最大的挑战，是既要提供必要的理解助力，又要防止随心所欲的发挥，越俎代庖，妨碍读者的独立思考。英美有些文学教师对我说过，他们不喜欢教材里有太多的注释，担心学生由此产生依赖心，不去认真探求诗歌的内涵和底蕴。此话并非没有一定的道理。但是，这要有一个基本的前提，即学生必须具备一定的文学基础知识。即使对英美一般人来说，一部白文英国诗歌选，或者一部白文《莎士比亚全集》，也并不是浅显的读物，正如一部白文《十三经》对于今天的中国学生一样，不啻是天书。英国文学史上的有些诗人，如多恩、叶芝、艾略特、燕卜荪等，都刻意创新，语蕴奥秘，他们的诗作，如无较为详细的注释，学生根本无从入手，更谈不上独立分析和欣赏，只会感到索然无味，兴致全消。我希望本书的题解和注释能为学生铺平道路，排除障碍，在此基础上，由他们自己来发掘这些诗歌所包含的语言、文学和人文精神的价值。

需要说明的是，原《英国诗选》的中文译本的问世，先于英文版。在我动笔为英文版作注释时，中文译本尚在排印之中，因此我没有机会看到这些诗歌译文的真容。王佐良教授在向我交代任务的时候，提到一个很实际的问题：如果注释和中译文不一致怎么办？对现当代诗人的作品中晦涩和有争议的解释怎么处理？他的建议是，可以不去理会中文译本，该怎么注释，就怎么注，由我自行裁定。这就给了我很大的回旋余地。确实，翻译和注释是两种不同质的工作。诗歌的翻译，贵在抓住原作的灵魂，如能做到译文达意，富有诗情，语言优美，风格相似，那就是成功之作。诗歌之美，美在形式，但又脱不开形式的桎梏。诗歌的翻译更是受到形式的束缚。可以这么说，几乎没有一首译诗可以达到这一尽善尽美的境界：既完整地表达原诗中的所有含义，而又不害其音韵，不伤其形式。我如此说，并不是出于对诸多译者的不恭，而恰恰表明我深深理解翻译诗歌的苦衷。诗歌语言较散文简洁，多重含义浓缩于字里行间，译诗确实难以顾全者，有时只能以文害意，有所割舍，亦是无可奈何之事。但是，注释者有放开手脚的自由，不必迁就形式，凡是诗中任何可能的含义，都可以而且应该逐一点明，梳理和解释清楚。注释的关键是出言有据，避免毫无根据地随意发挥。根据上述原则，对于本书中的每一首诗，我尽可能做简明而必要的诠释，避免过于繁琐的解析，有别于现今流行的“某某诗歌赏析”之类书的处理方式。有些诗句或词语众说纷纭，莫衷一是，难有定论。遇到这种情况，则加以点明，同时给读者留出自己思索和理解的空间。我至今仍未看到过这部选集的中文译本，这次修订时也刻意不去找中文译本。但是，我跟踪了最近几年英美出版的有关学术著作，尽可能大量地引用资料，对初版中的注释逐条重新思考，或推翻，或修正，或充实。修订版中近一半的注释，都是重新写定的。

原《英国诗选》对于有些近当代诗人的注释过于简单，或者该注未注，读者定会感到不便。当时的考虑是，如无权威定论，对有争议的词语，宁可不注，也不要误导后学。原《英国诗选》的注释完成于上世纪的八十年代，该书出版之后，我又利用在美国工作之机，陆陆续续积累了一些研究资料。对于二十世纪初出生，活跃在三四十年代的诗人，近年来英美学术界取得了一些新的研究成果。这次修订时，我花了很多精力，对近当代一些诗人的作品，尽可能地充实了注释的分量。当初作注时，我只为少量的诗歌写了题解。这次修订时，我对大部分诗歌都增补了题解。本书的中文版译者对每位诗人都写了“作者和作品简介”，英文注释本采用了这些内容，这对读者是很有帮助的。新增的题解和原译者的“作者和作品简介”并不重复，在大多数情况下，我写的这些题解或者是必要的补充，或者从另外一个角度为读者提供理解的便利。题解起到导读的作用，希望读者能够根据提供的线索，自己进一步去加深理解。一部优秀的作品，绝不是只有一种给定的解释，甚至不应局限于作者的本意。只有为读者不断提供新的理解和想象延伸性的作品，才是真正有深度的杰作。而注释者则应该懂得适可而止，避免过于繁琐，剥夺读者自由赏析的权利。

需要说明的是，原译者对有些诗歌的标题和一些专门术语的中文译名，和我的翻译并不完全一致。这次修订时，为尊重原译者，我决定对原书中“作者和作品简介”的文字，基本不作改动，以存原貌，只是改正了排印错误，并对个别地方作了一些必要的技术性处理。鉴于修订本对有些诗人的作品有所增删，故所选诗歌的实际数量，和原译者所举会有出入，就不再一一说明了。此外，在过去的二十多年中，一些入选诗人陆续谢世，我已相应将他们的卒年补上。

原《英国诗选》的定位，是高等学校英语专业的教材。我借这次重新修订之机，力图通过提供必要的背景知识和详略得当的注释，为广大英语爱好者提供阅读的方便，激发他们的兴趣。和二三十年之前不同，今天中国的青年人几乎都在孜孜不倦地学习英语，热情之高，远非我们这一代人当年可比。中国大学生的英语基础都已普遍提高，具备了阅读难度较高的作品的能力。本书所选诗歌对于了解英国文化历史背景，提高英语水平是非常有帮助的。其中不少有名的作品，英美学生在中学时代就已经开始接触。例如，美国有的中学，要求十年级学生在两周内读完莎士比亚的《哈姆雷特》，学会分析约翰·多恩这样难读的玄学派诗人的作品。这些基本训练，是培养学生理解能力和提高英语写作水平的必要条件。我们国家也一样，中学生都应该熟读一些唐诗、宋词，要逐步打一点基本的古汉语底子，提高文学修养。在语言文学方面，扎实的基础训练是一门必要的课程，今后无论从事何种职业，都会终身从中获益。我感到，作为一部精心编著的英语教材，在今天不应该仅仅限于英美文学专业的学生独享。本书对于高等学校的学生，以及具有中等以上英语水平的文学爱好者，都是有益的。

关于从事国学研究的学生是否需要学习外语，曾经有过一番激烈的争论。我的看法是，悉听尊便。中国古代出了那么多大学者，没有一个是懂外语的。从这个角度看，国学研究者学习外语，当然没有绝对的必要。但是，那是历史使然。近当代的情况就不同了。国学大师梁启超、王国维、鲁迅、胡适、陈寅恪、郭沫若、钱锺书等，无不是学贯中西的大学问家。受到西学的启发，他们的视野更为宽阔，研究方法都有创新，从而在某些方面超越了前人。在跨国交流频频、学术切磋繁荣的今天，即使是中国文史哲领域的学生，花点时间学习国际上的主要语种，肯定也是值得的。

改革开放三十多年之后，中国对外交往的广度和深度，都有长足的进展。中国英语教学的普及程度空前提高。英语不再是英语教学工作者、科研人员、外交官、英语翻译等所独享的技能。事实上，英语已经成为具有一定教育程度的人都拥有的知识技能。我国各行各业专业人员的英语水平有了根本的改观，这是十分可喜的现象。但是，我更要强调的是，打好英美文学语言功底对涉外工作者的重要性。我国已有一大批专业人员在涉外经贸活动中、在各种国际交往中，凭借娴熟的英语沟通能力，有效地开展工作。越来越多的中青年专业人员进入联合国和其他国际机构工作，甚至担任要职。在这可喜可贺的现象背后，也有一些问题令人惴惴不安。不能否认，外语水平欠缺仍然是障碍，影响不少涉外工作人员在国际舞台上的表现。和母语为英语的同行相比，国人在表达能力上的差距，无形中限制了他们在国际机构中的发展晋升。总之，在我们的对外交往中，语言水平依然是高层次和深层次发挥我国软实力的制约因素之一。作为应用最广泛的语言，英语水平对于涉外工作的重要性不可低估。在出国留学必须经过的英语考试中，我国的学生成绩骄人，但是他们实际的口笔头表达能力非常有限，与考试成绩形成很大的反差。虽然语言的局限并没有妨碍中国留学生在自然科学领域里取得应有的成就，但显然制约了他们在社会科学和人文科学领域里的发展，影响他们在国际舞台上施展才华。随着改革开放的深入，我国进一步融入了全球化经济，所谓“涉外”和“涉内”的界限日益变得模糊。为此，我们需要培养高素质的复合型人才。这次修订时，我着眼于较为广泛的读者群体，大大地加强了注释的分量，对一些关键词语作了双语释义的处理。修订本中注释的新增内容超过原书三分之一以上，相信能为广大英语爱好者带来很大的便利。

常听人感慨，英语水平到达一定的程度时，就似乎碰上了玻璃天花板，无论怎么努力，也只是徘徊在原地，无法攀升到更高的层次，去领略得心应手地运用这门语言的乐趣。其实，再上一个台阶的困难，并非源于任何天然屏障。大凡人们到了一定的阶段，就会满足于听说读写差强人意的表现，深造的动力明显衰竭。应该看到，障碍往往是自己设置的。不少人闯过了阅读关之后，满足于浏览与工作有关的书籍和报刊，不太愿意花费精力和时间去钻研较为艰深的诗歌和其他体裁的文学作品。这样，一旦在阅读上限制了自己，就很难指望有所突破，长此以往无异于自我封杀。反之，只要能扩大阅读面，加深难度，完全有可能突破限制，在玻璃天花板上凿开一个突破口，到达一个新的境界。

一代著名英语教授王佐良恩师已经作古多年，但愿此书的再版，能给他的在天之灵送去我最诚挚的告慰。

修订稿杀青之际，不禁想起拜伦《哀希腊》中由马君武先生翻译的脍炙人口的诗文，其中有两句曰：“吁嗟乎！欲作神圣希腊歌，才薄其奈希腊何！”我为此选本作注，实有同感。所幸修订本的出版，得到了上海译文出版社的大力支持，朱亚军博士和他的同事为此倾注了大量的心血，提出了宝贵的意见。我谨在此表示衷心的感谢！

该书简装本出版发行以来，颇受欢迎，诸多中外友人和政要都很喜欢。这次的精装本，对个别地方作了一些技术性处理，改正了个别排印错误。当然，不当之处在所难免，还望读者不吝赐教。

金立群

2016年4月2日于北京

原序

把一个外国的诗歌通过一个选本介绍给我国读者，是在向他们展现这个国家里最敏感的人的体验、见闻、思想、情绪、想象力、文才。不只是赤裸裸的灵魂，而是经过加工的艺术品。那么，英国诗歌有些什么独特品质值得中国读者倾心？

这个问题早已有了事实上的答案。从苏曼殊等人发表所译拜伦的《哀希腊》开始，中国的读书界就有了印象，看出英国诗歌是西洋文学里的一大精华。要取得中国读者的欢心并非易事，他们受过中国古典诗歌的熏陶，而这是世界文学中历史最长、成就最高的民族诗歌之一，因此在他们阅读英国诗的时候，免不了要将英国诗同中国诗加以比较，或喜其异，或寻其同，同异之中又有优劣，从而扩大了视野，磨炼了判断力，丰富了情感和美学经验。

现在是二十世纪九十年代。中国经历了大革命、十年内乱，眼前又在以空前的规模进行着深刻的四个现代化，我们的情感更其深沉又更其敏锐了，文学趣味也更其多样化了。在这个时候再来阅读英国诗歌，又会有什么印象？

一个编者无权代读者立言。他只能根据自己的眼光，从英国诗歌的大海中，选取若干明珠，以供众赏。他主观上想要努力编出一本各代各家都有代表作在内的综合选本，然而限于认识，难免偏颇。只不过，这偏颇是一个中国编者的偏颇，他的骨子里既有对于中国诗歌的深刻爱好，又有对于世界诗歌的强烈追求。随着时代的迁移，他的诗歌趣味经历过变化。青年时代，他自己也写诗，醉心于现代主义，到了他编选此书的老年，他有了更广泛、更兼容并包的看法，既是现代主义者，又是古典主义者，凡是好诗，皆我所爱。

说明了这一点，他愿意进而谈谈他觉得英国诗歌有些什么特点，什么优秀的品质。

历史

英国诗的历史并不短，大致有一千五百年。通常人们把它分为三个时期：一、古英语时期，从五世纪到十世纪，其代表作是史诗《贝奥武甫》，其特点为内容上的英雄主义和诗律上着重头韵而不用脚韵，因此节奏严厉，重音一下一下打击着人的听觉，犹如古日耳曼武士“酣战中的刀砍声”[1]。二、中古英语时期，从十一世纪到十五世纪，其代表作是乔叟的《坎特伯雷故事集》，它将英国写实主义同欧洲大陆优雅诗风结合在一起，而巧妙地突出了前者；另一重要作品《农夫皮尔斯之幻象》则继续了古英语头韵体诗的传统，只不过内容上变成了宗教性的揭恶劝善。三、近代英语时期，从十六世纪到今天。

中国读者所注意的，主要是近代英语时期的诗歌，而这也确是一个收获特别丰盛的时期。它包括几个大的诗歌高潮：十六七世纪的文艺复兴时期诗歌、十九世纪的浪漫主义诗歌、二十世纪上半叶的现代主义诗歌，每个高潮里都涌现一大群有影响的优秀诗人，在世界文学史上做了“发其端”的大事情。

品种

戏剧诗是英国诗的特长。莎士比亚和他的一大群同辈不仅是戏剧天才，而且是诗歌天才，而他们所写的戏剧诗是雅俗共赏的，即既是高雅艺术，又是群众娱乐媒介，无论是叙述行动、描写环境、抒唱感情、发表议论或只是引人发笑都做得极为出色。这诗剧是一个特有的历史时刻的产物；这个时刻一过，英国舞台上再也见不到这样诗与剧、高雅与普及的完美结合了。而这，也使它更加可贵。

抒情诗也同样是英国诗的骄傲。文艺复兴时期的成百个抒情歌手已经令人惊叹，而到了十九世纪初年，五位浪漫主义大诗人相继出现，其中华兹华斯以哲理入诗，以白话写诗，开辟了全新的境界；雪莱在社会思想上、济慈在美学思想上都攀上新的高峰；柯尔律治兼是敏锐的诗歌理论家；而拜伦所作风靡全欧以至全世界。诗歌变成了一种情感潮流和思想力量，英国诗把它的抒情性发挥到了极致。

但还有许多其它品种。弥尔顿一个人在英国树立了新型史诗，又复兴了希腊式的古典悲剧。比他略早的玄学派诗人写出了既有热情又有思辨深度的十分耐读的奇异作品。十八世纪的蒲柏精雕细刻，在双韵体的写作上达到了至今无人超越的水平。有一类专写农村生活的诗，如十八世纪后半叶克莱普所作，他用细致的笔触带着感情描述人民疾苦。在叙事诗方面，司各特和拜伦以及十九世纪末年的威廉·莫里斯都是说故事的能手。后来有霍普金斯用“跳跃节奏”写的宗教诗，更后又有燕卜荪吸收了现代科学理论如爱因斯坦学说写的哲理诗，两者又都是纯然英国本色的。在一个低平面上，还有一类滑稽诗，似乎是没有意义，实则当中有对于势利眼、逻辑迷、学究气之类从不经意处斜斜一刺的可喜之作，如十九世纪末年爱德华·李亚的“胡说诗”，也是英国的独特产物。

没有一种文学品种是完全纯粹的，但是英国诗人们似乎更能利用品种的混杂而取得特殊效果。弥尔顿的《失乐园》是史诗，而混杂了抒情诗，这就不仅使内容更加丰富，而且透露了这位大诗人特别富于人情味的一面，例如在光明颂里突然插上了对自己失明的痛苦的呼喊，而夏娃对亚当诉衷情的段落则使人类的母亲显得分外温存。拜伦的《唐璜》实际上包含两本书，一本是主人公的经历史，一本是作者的谈话录，而两者互为层次，互相衬托，有机结合，使这部“讽刺史诗”成为一大奇书。

地方色彩也增加了英国诗的丰富。彭斯的苏格兰民歌为英国诗开辟了一整个新的方面。二十世纪的爱尔兰则提供了叶芝的诗，而叶芝的成就——从象征主义到现代主义而又超越它，不热心于武装斗争而传下了民族解放运动中英雄美人的风姿——使他站在二十世纪英文诗坛的最前列。

深刻性

有几种深刻性并存：感受得深，探索得深，再加上刻画得深。

感受深：对生和死的感喟，对命运的抗拒，灵魂受煎熬的痛苦，见诸十六七世纪诗剧，见诸弥尔顿的史诗；对于工业文明的烟尘遮盖了英格兰的绿色田园及其纯朴生活的切肤之痛，使雕刻匠人布莱克写出了最朴素又最深刻的好诗；以爱情诗而论，很少有人像哈代那样写得平凡实在，却又那样真挚感人。华兹华斯对自然的神往，济慈对诗艺的专注，丁尼生对世界变化的焦虑，布朗宁对心理的剖析，艾略特对乡土、宗教和战争的沉思，等等，又何尝不是一种深刻？

探索深：在科学进展的十七世纪，诗人们对新的时空观进行了探索；在阶级压迫特别凶狠的十九世纪初年，雪莱在《解放了的普罗米修斯》里展望一个无阶级的大同世界；威廉·莫里斯从浪漫主义者转变成社会主义者之后，对未来社会多所憧憬，才能在《希望的香客》里对巴黎公社作了那样热情的歌颂，其滔滔长行反映了他澎湃的心潮。论者说英国浪漫主义诗歌的主题是诗人不倦的探索，但是探索的又何止浪漫派一家？

刻画深：深刻的思想感情溶入诗艺，诗艺又使思想感情进一步深化，两者你中有我，我中有你，实是一体。抒情则高翔九天，写实则笔笔具体，而具体事物之后又总有一种大的精神背景，使之厚实，使之深远。

新颖性

新颖性见诸形式上的多种试验，因此才有上文提到的品种的丰富。有的品种音乐性强，有的则发掘了诗的散文美，而后一点构成英国诗的一大特色。早期诗剧所用的无韵白体诗就有散文的因素在内，因此才能变成能上能下、能实能虚的戏剧诗体，后来这诗体又在弥尔顿的史诗和华兹华斯的哲理长诗里进一步发挥了强烈、敏锐而灵活的表达力。散文化又见于多恩的玄学诗，蒲柏和斯威夫特的讽刺诗，拜伦在《唐璜》中的纵横放言，布朗宁的戏剧性独白，一直到艾略特、奥登等人的现代派诗里的城市节奏和城市谈吐；同时，音乐性强的诗也在发展，莎士比亚的歌谣，德莱顿的将军乐，丁尼生的清音，斯温伯恩的恋歌，一直到二十世纪三四十年代，还出现狄兰·托马斯的如醉、如狂、如念符咒的奇诗。无论是散文式或是吟唱式，英国诗歌天才都自有创造，而两体兼美，或慷慨高昂，或亲切低语，既能写实，又能抒怀，表达了人生的千种情态和想象世界的无穷变化。

新颖性又见诸诗歌语言的不断革新。几次大的革新运动，如十六世纪之反对掉书袋，十八世纪末年之反对“诗歌词藻”，二十世纪二十年代之反对陈言套语，都是与革新内容同时进行的，谈的似乎是文字细节，着眼点则是文字后面的意境亦即精神世界，涉及诗歌的本质、诗人的地位和职责，甚至整个文学艺术在社会里的作用等等根本问题。因此每一次改革不仅使诗歌语言新鲜起来，而且把新的艺术观、社会观、历史观注入内容，合起来就造成一种诗艺新、思想意识也新的大局面。

而作为制约，英国的诗人们又有浓厚的传统意识，使得革新不成为一种放纵——唯美主义在英国是短命的——不成为毫无法度的跑野马。

既是本土的，又是世界的

英国诗当然不是没有缺点，例如有的论者讥它气度窄狭，岛国本色。确实是这样。十九世纪浪漫派高潮过后，多的是内容琐微、文字平庸之作，只在美洲新大陆上才出现一种内容与文字都迥然不同的新的英文诗歌，大气魄，新节奏，真是石破天惊，从此建立了一个新的诗歌传统，惠特曼之可贵正在这里。

然而任何国家、民族的诗都有其本土气质，本土气质越浓厚，往往也越能吸引世界上的读者。英国诗里多的是具有这种真正本土气质的优秀作家——没有人能比莎士比亚更富于英国本色，但他又是世界文学上巨人中的巨人。

问题的另一方面则是本土气质不可能是全然纯粹的，任何土地都不是孤立的，都承受外来影响，特别是像英国这样一个靠海洋作为向外通道的国家。在从小小岛国变成世界帝国的过程里，它的思想气候也起了变化，在诗里也多所反映。在玄学派诗里有新科学，有从未见过的海洋，才产生了从未入过诗的新形象。在蒲柏的整齐、文雅的诗行里，有从欧洲大陆来的理性主义的新文明。帝国的残酷出现在十九世纪下半叶歌颂武功的诗里，连丁尼生也不免唱和。第一次世界大战的屠杀使得一整代诗人从甜美的抒情转向战壕尸骨的写实，而现代主义的兴起则表明法国和美国的诗风在猛烈吹进英伦三岛。还应该加上翻译的作用：十六世纪译荷马、十九世纪译奥马尔·哈亚姆[2]、二十世纪译中国唐诗，都使英国诗吸收了外来影响，而优秀的译作本身又成为英国诗里的精品。

通过翻译，也通过日益增加的别处的人阅读英文原著，英国诗也一直在影响着别国的诗。特别是十六七世纪的诗剧、十九世纪的浪漫派、二十世纪的现代派，其影响更是世界性的。而这种影响不是一时的或一次性的，常有过去的作家、作品被重新发现或重新认识，例如近年来对于布莱克和济慈的新的重视就早已越出英语国家的范围，在我们中国也有了波澜。

英国诗有深厚的本土根子，又向世界开放，其力量在此，其丰富也在此。

现状

二十世纪中叶，世界的变化使得英帝国瓦解了，对英国诗又产生了什么影响？

有的论者以为英国诗衰落了，特别是同精力旺盛的美国诗比较。

政治经济的消长不一定立即导致文学艺术的同样消长，何况帝国虽不存在，英国还是有一定的经济实力和政治影响的。变化当然是有的。二次大战之后，在“福利国家”平凡生活的气氛里，产生了拉金那样的嘲讽多于激情的随笔式的诗。然而接着来的，却是休斯的写猛禽野兽的强烈性作品，有些人认为他是在宣扬暴力，虽然诗人本人是否认的。同时，地区上仍然活跃着优秀诗人——苏格兰就有一群，他们的领袖人物休·麦克迪儿米德一直到七十年代还在写作，而北爱尔兰则出现了一个凯尔特天才的新的体现者，即西默斯·希尼。

英国诗仍然走自己的路。风行美国的垮掉派诗和后来的自白诗似乎并未在英国诗坛引起多大反响。也许，这正是英国诗的力量所在。在当今世界上，英文诗里仍然是两大传统竞秀的局面，没有归于单一。

从经历了二十世纪前半叶的现代主义的盛况的人来看，英国诗目前无疑处于低潮。但没有一个国家的诗歌能长远处于峰巅，低潮固是消退，也可以是另一个高潮的准备。

只有英国诗人们自己能够判断。不过我想，在他们作出回答之前，他们必然会把他们和他们先辈已经写了的诗指给我们看。建立了世界文学中这样一个名家辈出、个性鲜明的诗歌传统的人在面对将来的时候，尽管命运难测，一定是无所畏惧的。

关于这个选本

剩下来的事，就是对本书的体例稍作说明了。

这是一个在有限的篇幅内力求全面的选本，包括了古英语、中古英语和近代英语三个时期，每期中的重要流派、作家、作品大致上都备一格。重点则是近代，以二十世纪七十年代为结束点。

共选诗人64家，诗315首[3]（短诗全是完整的，长诗则只能节选）。这些诗绝大多数是公认的名作，但也选入了若干不见于其它选本的诗篇，特别是内容与中国有关而诗艺又出色的佳作，如奥登的几首十四行诗和燕卜荪的长诗《南岳之秋》。在每家前面，有“作者与作品简介”，力求写得简练，除介绍必要的背景知识外，着重说明作家的特点和所选诗章的特色，虽然参考了前人评论，更多的是撰写者个人的见解。

本书先出中译版（上海译文，1988），是《外国文学名著丛书》的一项，现在为了学习和爱好英诗的读者的方便，续出英文版，加上了中文注释。这些注释和题解都出自金立群之手，我谨在此对他和帮我撰写“作者与作品简介”的同志们一并表示衷心的感谢。

王佐良

一九九二年春

[1]英国十九世纪历史学家约翰·理查德·格林：《英国人民短史》，（1874）万人丛书版，1915，上卷，第26页。

[2]奥马尔·哈亚姆（1048—1122）是波斯的诗人、数学家和天文学家。归在他名下的主要诗作为《柔巴依集》（一译《鲁拜集》）。

[3]本次修订本有所增删，共331首。

体例示意图

ANONYMOUS POET

佚名诗人

【作者与作品简介】

《贝奥武甫》是一部英雄史诗，是英国文学史中已知最早的文学作品。它是根据公元五世纪末至六世纪前半期流传在北欧的民间传说，于十世纪末由基督教僧侣，用古英语（西威塞克斯方言）最终写成。这部作品对于了解北欧古代部族的社会生活，以及古英语的状况都是十分珍贵的。

史诗中一些人物（贝奥武甫除外）以及某些历史事件均有史可稽。故事发生在公元五至六世纪之间的斯堪的那维亚地区（即今丹麦和瑞典南部），当时正处于民族大迁徙期间。因为该诗出自著名僧侣之手笔，所以使最早口头流传数百年，歌颂“异教”英雄业绩的史诗涂上了基督教的灵光。异教的习俗与基督的教谕糅合在一起。《贝奥武甫》与大约同一时期流传的其他北欧民间文学作品（如《尼伯龙根之歌》等）有渊源关系。

《贝奥武甫》全诗长达三一八二行，包括序诗及四十三节诗。史诗叙述了由许尔德开基的丹麦王朝传至其曾孙赫罗斯加以后所发生的故事。故事分两部分展开，描述了贝奥武甫前后五十年中两次英雄壮举：与怪兽格伦德尔及其母的搏斗，以及与火龙的英勇拼搏，最后壮烈献身。故事梗概如下：

丹麦国王赫罗斯加修建一座富丽堂皇的殿堂——鹿厅（因其壁上所挂鹿角而得名），但受住在附近湖底洞穴中的一个半人半兽怪物格伦德尔侵扰，达十二年之久；对之既无人可敌，献祭亦无效，致使鹿厅终年不得安宁。消息传到耶阿特族（今瑞典南部），国王的外甥贝奥武甫立即率领十四名兵士渡海前往援助。贝奥武甫一行受到赫罗斯加的欢迎，却遭到朝臣恩弗思的讥讽，说他在一次游泳比赛中，被布伦丁部族首领布莱卡击败。贝奥武甫讲出真情，并且驳斥恩弗思不敢对抗格伦德尔。王后出面安抚，为贝奥武甫斟酒。英雄表示要誓死除害。是夜，贝奥武甫与伙伴在鹿厅歇息，等候怪兽。果然格伦德尔又一次前来偷袭，吃掉一名兵士。贝奥武甫奋起搏斗，扭下怪兽一只胳臂。怪兽仓皇逃回洞穴后死亡。贝奥武甫将其巨臂展示于大厅山墙之上，备受众人赞扬；国王亦大喜，嘉奖贝奥武甫；王后赐之以项链。恩弗思无言以对。

格伦德尔之母乃是水妖，不久即来到鹿厅为子复仇，掳走谋臣依歇尔。国王告之贝奥武甫；恩弗思亦以剑相赠，略表钦佩之意。贝奥武甫跃入水中，找到洞穴，与女妖格斗，却不能以剑伤她。若不是有上帝暗中保佑，贝奥武甫险些丧生。忽然，他发现有一支巨人所用的宝剑，顺手拾起，砍下女妖首级，又取下已经死去的格伦德尔首级。但是剑身却被血溶化，只留下剑柄。贝奥武甫返回鹿厅，再次受到国王表彰。次日贝奥武甫一行胜利返回本国。他将所得礼物转赠国王许耶拉克。国王将父传宝剑赐给他，并且封赏他部分国土。

许耶拉克父子相继去世后，贝奥武甫继承王位，统治达五十余年之久。守卫宝物的火龙发现宝物被盗，便四处骚扰作乱，以为报复。贝奥武甫以其垂暮之年，决计为民除害，率十一名武士前往迎战。龙口喷吐烈焰，吓跑众武士，只剩威耶拉夫紧紧相随。火龙咬住贝奥武甫的脖颈，威耶拉夫奋不顾身，砍伤火龙。火龙力渐不支，随后被贝奥武甫杀死。老英雄亦负重伤，生命垂危。弥留之际，他要求威耶拉夫将宝物从窟穴中取出观赏，并且要求在鲸鱼之岬为他营造一个墓穴。威耶拉夫送出贝奥武甫逝世的消息；信使警告人民将有灾变发生。贝奥武甫的遗骸、甲胄，以及项链，连同宝物一起火化。在火化堆上建起了英雄的墓穴。十二名武士围绕墓穴骑马慢行一周，以示哀念。英雄的陵墓成为灯塔，为航海者指示方向。

史诗中穿插有许多“故事中的故事”，对于主体故事的展开起到铺陈烘托的作用。对比、类比、暗示，是作者的主要写作手法。如歌唱艺人在庆功宴上歌唱希格蒙德斩龙（参阅《尼伯龙根之歌》），与五十年后贝奥武甫斩龙即构成前后对比，并且暗示贝奥武甫的命运。但是某些插曲，则显得有些游离于主要故事之外，如把许耶拉克年轻王后的高贵品德与盎格鲁族国王奥法的妻子的邪恶相对照。类似的插曲显然是为宣扬基督教义而添加的。

贝奥武甫作为理想中的英雄人物，其描写是成功的、完美的——他具有一切古代英雄所应具有的高尚品质：勇敢大度、珍惜荣誉、对人友爱，为拯救人民于危难之中，则赴汤蹈火在所不惜。在公元五世纪前后，北欧乃至欧洲氏族社会开始分崩离析，部族之间因血仇而导致战事频繁，在此之际，史诗塑造了贝奥武甫这样一位英雄，应该说是寄托了一般人民对世事太平的希冀——他们盼望部族之间的关系应该像贝奥武甫同人们的关系一样，能够相互援助，而不是以刀兵相见。在部族内部，人们则应像他那样，作为臣民时，恪尽忠孝；作为君王时，能够勇于献身；不要相互算计，为图谋私利而不择手段。

《贝奥武甫》是头韵体叙事长诗，每行诗由两个半行组成，分别有两个重读字，即全行可有四个字叶头韵（辅音或元音相同或相似）；多数情况下是“前二后一”的格局，与“前二后二”或“前一后一”的格局交替，很适合歌唱艺人一边弹拨竖琴，一边吟唱诗句，富有节奏感，以及较强的音乐效果。

《贝奥武甫》的语言形象生动，多用“代用词”——古英语中普遍使用的比喻修辞方式。譬如，国王称为“颁赏金环者”；武士叫做“持盾者”；太阳是“天空之烛光”，而大海则叫“鲸鱼之路”。但是过多使用近义的“代用词”，使其集中在一起并列出现，构成排比，则产生放缓速度的效果；而且对于所指是什么，现代读者需要费些思索。

范守义

FromBEOWULF

［Beowulf's Fight with Grendel］

Thus did the King of Glory，1

to oppose this Grendel，appoint a hall-guard^2

— so the tale went abroad^3 — who took on a special

task at the court — to cope with the monster.

The Geat prince^4 placed all his trust

in his mighty strength，his Maker's favour.5

He now uncased himself of his coat of mail，6

unhelmed his head，handed his attendant

his embellished sword，best of weapons，

and bade him take care of these trappings of war.7

Beowulf then made a boasting speech，

the Geat man，8 before mounting his bed：

‘I fancy my fighting-strength，my performance in combat，

at least as greatly as Grendel does his；

and therefore I shall not cut short his life

with a slashing sword — too simple a business.9

He has not the art to answer me in kind，10

hew at my shield，shrewd though he be

at his nasty catches. No，we'll at night play

without any weapons — if unweaponed he dare

to face me in fight. The Father in His wisdom

shall apportion the honours^11 then，the All-holy Lord，

to whichever side shall seem to Him fit.’

Then the hero lay down，leant his head

on the bolster^12 there；about him manybrave sea-warriors bowed to their hall-rest.13

Not one of them thought he^14 would thence be departing

ever to set eyes on his own country，

the home that nourished him，or its noble people；

for they had heard how many men of the Danes

death had dragged from that drinking-hall.15

But God was to grant to the Geat people

the clue to war-success in the web of fate —

His help and support；so that they all did

overcome the foe — through the force of one

unweaponed man. The Almighty Lord

has ruled the affairs of the race of men

thus from the beginning.

Gliding through the shadows came

the walker in the night；the warriors slept

whose task was to hold the horned building，

all except one. It was well-known to men

that the demon could not drag them to the shades

without God's willing it；yet the one man kept

unblinking watch. He awaited，heart swelling

with anger^16 against his foe，the ordeal of battle.

Down off the moorlands' misting fells^17 came

Grendel stalking；God's brand was on him.18

The spoiler meant to snatch away

from the high hall some of human race.

He came on under the clouds，clearly saw at last

the gold-hall of men，the mead-drinking place

nailed with gold plates. That was not the first visit

he had paid to the hall of Hrothgar the Dane：

he never before and never after

harder luck nor hall-guards found.19

Walking to the hall came this warlike creature

condemned to agony.20 The door gave way，

toughened with iron，at the touch of those hands.

Rage-inflamed，wreckage-bent，21 he ripped open

the jaws of the hall. Hastening on，

the foe then stepped onto the unstained floor，22

angrily advanced：out of his eyes stood

an unlovely light like that of fire.

He saw then in the hall a host of young soldiers，

a company of kinsmen caught away in sleep，

a whole warrior-band. In his heart he laughed then，

horrible monster，his hopes swelling

to a gluttonous^23 meal. He meant to wrench

the life from each body that lay in the place

before night was done. It was not to be；24

he was no longer to feast on the flesh of mankind

after that night.

Narrowly the powerful

kinsman of Hygelac^25 kept watch how the ravager

set to work with his sudden catches；

nor did the monster mean to hang back.

As a first step he set his hands on

a sleeping soldier，savagely tore at him，

gnashed at his bone-joints，bolted huge gobbets，26

sucked at his veins，and had soon eaten

all of the dead man，even down to his

hands and feet.

Forward he stepped，

stretched out his hands to seize the warrior

calmly at rest there，reached out for him with his

unfriendly fingers：but the faster man

forestalling，sat up，sent back his arm.

The upholder of evils^27 at once knew

he had not met，on middle earth's

extremest acres，28 with any man

of harder hand-grip：his heart panicked.

He was quit of the place no more quickly for that.

Eager to be away，he ailed for his darkness^29

and the company of devils；the dealings he had there

were like nothing he had come across in his lifetime.

Then Hygelac's brave kinsman called to mind

that evening's utterance，30 upright he stood，

fastened his hold till fingers were bursting.

The monster strained away：the man stepped closer.

The monster's desire was for darkness between them，31

direction regardless，to get out and run

for his fen-bordered lair；he felt his grip's strength

crushed by his enemy. It was an ill journey

the rough marauder had made to Heorot.

The crash in the banqueting-hall came to the Danes，

the men of the guard that remained in the building，

with the taste of death.32 The deepening rage

of the claimants to Heorot^33 caused it to resound.

It was indeed wonderful that the wine-supper-hall

withstood the wrestling pair，that the world's palace

fell not to the ground. But it was girt^34 firmly，

both inside and out，by iron braces

of skilled manufacture. Many a figured

gold-worked wine-bench，35 as we heard it，

started from the floor at the struggles of that pair.

The men of the Danes had not imagined that

any of mankind by what method soever

might undo^36 that intricate，antlered hall，

sunder it by strength — unless it were swallowed up in

the embraces of fire.37

Fear entered into

the listening North Danes，as that noise rose up again

strange and strident. It shrilled terror

to the ears that heard it through the hall's side-wall，

the grisly plaint^38 of God's enemy，

his song of ill-success，the sobs of the damned one

bewailing his pain. He was pinioned there

by the man of all mankind living

in this world's estate the strongest of his hands.

Not for anything would the earls' guardian^39

let his deadly guest go living：

he did not count his continued existence

of the least use to anyone. The earls ran

to defend the person of their famous prince；

they drew their ancestral swords to bring

what aid they could to their captain，Beowulf.

They were ignorant of this，when they entered the fight，

boldly-intentioned battle-friends，

to hew at Grendel，hunt his life

on every side — that no sword on earth，

not the truest steel，40 could touch their assailant；

for by a spell he had dispossessed all

blades of their bite on him.41

A bitter parting

from life was that day destined for him；

the eldritch spirit^42 was sent off on his

far faring into the fiends' domain.

It was then that this monster，who moved by spite^43

against human kind，had caused so much harm

— so feuding with God — found at last

that flesh and bone were to fail him^44 in the end；

for Hygelac's great-hearted kinsman

had him by the hand；and hateful to each

was the breath of the other.

A breach in the giant

flesh-frame showed then，shoulder-muscles

sprang apart，there was a snapping of tendons，

bone-locks^45 burst. To Beowulf the glory

of this fight was granted；Grendel's lot

to flee the slopes fen-ward with flagging heart，46

to a den where he knew there could be no relief，

no refuge for a life at its very last stage，

whose surrender-day^47 had dawned. The Danish hopes

in this fatal fight had found their answer.

He had cleansed Heorot. He who had come from afar，

deep-minded，strong-hearted，had saved the hall

from persecution. He was pleased with his night's work，

the deed he had done. Before the Danish people

the Geat captain had made good his boast，

had taken away all their unhappiness，

the evil menace under which they had lived，

enduring it by dire constraint，

no slight affliction. As a signal to all

the hero hung up the hand，the arm

and torn-off shoulder，the entire limb，

Grendel's whole grip，below the gable of the roof.

There was，as I heard it，at hall next morning

a great gathering in the gift-hall yard

to see the wonder. Along the wide highroads

the chiefs of the clans came from near and far

to see the foe's footprints. It may fairly be said

that his parting from life aroused no pity in any

who tracked the spoor-blood^48 of his blind flight

for the monster's mere-pool；49 with mood flagging

and strength crushed，he had staggered onwards；

each step evidenced his ebbing life's blood.50

The tarn^51 was troubled；a terrible wave-thrash

brimmed it，bubbling；black-mingled，

the warm wound-blood welled upwards.

He had dived to his doom，he had died miserably；

here in his fen-lair he had laid aside

his heathen soul. Hell welcomed it.

——Beowulf（Penguin Classics，1966），

translated by Michael Alexander

【题解】

原诗用古英语西威塞克斯方言写成，历代传抄中多有讹脱。现代译本颇多，此处选用迈克·亚历山大（Michael Alexander）译本《贝奥武甫—韵文体译本》（Beowulf，a Verse Translation ）（Penguin Classics，1966）。为了便于读者比较，个别地方摘引法兰西斯·古密尔（Francis B. Gummere）教授所选编和翻译的《上古英语史诗》（The Oldest English Epic ）（简称“古密尔本”）。但该书已不多见，此处转摘自辛德（F.B.Synder）和莫顿（R.G.Morton）所编的《英国文学集成》（A Book of English Literature ）（ Macmillan Company，1924）。古密尔本的文字较为艰深，但诗意甚笃。通过这两个本子的比较，读者可以窥见原文中的某些微妙意味。

【注释】

1.King of Glory：指丹麦国王赫罗斯加（Hrothgar），曾以赫赫战功闻名。

2.Grendel：骚扰丹麦国王及其臣民的魔鬼，穴居荒原；a hall-guard：指本诗主人公贝奥武甫（Beowulf）。

3.so the tale went abroad：消息四处传开。古密尔本作so heroes heard。

4.The Geat prince：指贝奥武甫。盖特人（Geat）可能是瑞典南部一部落，或是朱特人（Jute）。当时盖特人的国王是许耶拉克（Hygelac），他是贝奥武甫的舅舅，故称贝奥武甫为王子。

5.his Maker's favour：他的巨大力量乃是上帝所赐。按：此诗虽系描写早期北欧异教徒的传说，但已明显反映出作者的基督教思想。在本诗诞生之前的一百年前，在英格兰定居的日耳曼人基本上都已皈依基督教。诗中明显提到《圣经》的《旧约》；上帝是造物主，其意志代表了人类的命运（Fate），如下文，并且言及格伦德尔（Grendel）是该隐（Cain）的后裔。第5—6两行古密尔本译作：“In truth，the Geats' prince gladly trusted/his mettle，his might，the mercy of God！”

6.uncased himself of his coat of mail：脱掉铠甲；uncase：undress，莎士比亚用语，译者以此求拟古效果。

7.trappings of war：打仗用的盔甲和武器。古密尔本作the gear of battle。

8.the Geat man：本诗作者喜爱反复以不同形式的同位语来强调主人公或其他重要人物。第11—12两行古密尔本译作：“Spake then his vaunt the valiant man，/Beowulf Geat，ere the bed he sought：——”.

9.I shall not cut short his life ... business：比较古密尔本：Not with the sword，then，to sleep of death/his life will I give，though it lie in my power.《诺顿英国文学选集》（The Norton Anthology of English Literature ）（简称诺顿本）的编者的散文体译文作：Therefore I will not put him to sleep with a sword，so take away his life，though surely I might.注意这两个文本都用了sleep的比喻。

10.not the art to answer me in kind：没有本领以同样的方式回敬我。

11.apportion the honours：（由上帝来安排）谁能获胜。

12.bolster：长枕头。

13.bowed to their hall-rest：在大殿卧室倒头便睡。古密尔本作on hall-beds sank。此处hall-rest表示大殿中的休息室。

14.he：此处大家认为每人都难免一死，据古密尔本和诺顿（Norton）本，似应指贝奥武甫及其所有随从。

15.drinking-hall：赫罗斯加命许多部落为其建造的宫殿，金碧辉煌、画栋雕梁，状如鹿角，故取名为鹿宫（Heorot，即Hart）。赫罗斯加常在宫中宴请或嘉赏为其效劳的乡绅武士（thanes）。以下gold-hall，mead-drinking place，horned building，antlered hall等均表示这一“鹿宫”。

16.heart swelling ... anger：怒火中烧。参阅古密尔本：“wakeful，ready，with warrior's wrath，/bold be bided the battle's issue.”

17.misting fells：朦胧的丘原。

18.God's brand was on him：指格伦德尔是该隐（Cain）的后代。该隐因嫉妒其弟亚伯（Abel）受上帝青睐而杀之，被上帝在身上打上印记（brand of Cain），放逐异乡，参见《旧约·创世记》4：3—15。

19.harder luck nor hall-guards found：此harder也修饰hall-guards。比较古密尔本：“such hardy heroes，such hall-thanes，found！”

20.condemned to agony：情绪抑郁。古密尔本作parted from peace，指魔鬼注定灭亡，丧魂落魄。诺顿本作deprived of joy。

21.wreckage-bent：恣意破坏。

22.the unstained floor：光洁的地面。

23.gluttonous：原意为“贪食”，此处指“丰盛的”。

24.It was not to be：意思是命运不允许它再以人肉为宴了。古密尔本似乎表达得更清楚：“But Wyrd forbade him/to seize any more of men on earth／after that evening.”按：Wyrd（Fate）指上帝的意志，应上文Beowulf关于由上帝裁决之言。

25.kinsman of Hygelac：指贝奥武甫，见前注4。

26.bolted huge gobbets：狼吞虎咽地大口食人肉；bolt：swallow hastily.

27.upholder of evils：指格伦德尔。古密尔本作shepherd of evils。

28.on middle earth's ... acres：在地球上最遥远的地方。地球被认为处于上天和地狱之间，故称middle-earth；acres：（plural ）土地。

29.ailed for his darkness：意为急于想赶回它的住处。格伦德尔居于黑暗之中。比较古密尔本：“Fain would he flee，his fastness seek，/the den of devils”；fastness：fortress.

30.that evening's utterance：指准备和格伦德尔徒手搏斗。

31.for darkness between them：意为凭借他俩之间的黑暗逃跑。古密尔本和诺顿本均无此意。前者的译文为：The monster meant — if he might at all —／to fling himself free，and far away/fly to the fens ...

32.The crash in the banqueting-hall came to the Danes ... death：关于这三行诸本略有不同。此处指宴会厅中的格斗声传到丹麦守卫者的耳朵里，带来一种死亡的威胁（with the taste of death）。古密尔本作Din filled the room：the Danes were bereft，/castle-dwellers and clansmen all，/earls，of their ale.意思是厅里一片混乱声作响，丹麦人不能像往日那样饮酒作乐。诺顿本作The retainers' hall，rang with the noise — terrible drink for all the Danes，the house-dwellers，every brave man，the earls.意思是厅里的吵闹声使丹麦人个个害怕，如饮苦酒。

33.claimants to Heorot：这两个都是想控制鹿宫的人。

34.girt：gird的过去分词，加固。

35.gold-worked wine-bench：镶金的供人坐着饮酒的凳子。

36.undo：毁坏。

37.unless it were swallowed up in ... fire：鹿宫最后被大火烧毁，但在本诗中并无具体描写。赫罗斯加建造完此宫以后，原诗第81—83行曾有预言：there towered the hall，／high，gabled，wide，the hot sarge waiting/of furious flame.

38.the grisly plaint：惨叫；plaint：lamentation，a mournful song，恸哭，哀愁之歌。

39.earls' guardian：指贝奥武甫；诺顿本作protector of the warriors。

40.truest steel：最纯的钢；古密尔本作keenest blode。

41.by a spell he had dispossessed all ... him：意思是格伦德尔有魔法可刀枪不入。

42.eldritch spirit：指恶魔被杀死，仅其幽灵奔向魔鬼的王国；eldritch：（Scottish ）weird，uncanny，神秘的，可怕的。

43.spite：仇恨。

44.flesh and bone were to fail him：（格伦德尔的）身躯骨肉不听使唤，无能为力。

45.bone-locks：骨关节。

46.Grendel's lot ... heart：垂头丧气地逃回沼泽地；lot：后省略was。

47.surrender-day：末日。

48.spoor-blood：（野兽）脚迹，臭迹。

49.mere-pool：湖泽；mere：a pool or lake.

50.ebbing life's blood：奄奄一息之际的血滴。

51.tarn：a small mountain lake.

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

杰弗雷·乔叟

（CA.1343—1400）

【作者与作品简介】

乔叟是英国中世纪伟大诗人。他开创了英国现实主义文学之先河，奠定了英国近代语言的基础，享有“英国诗歌之父”的盛誉。

《坎特伯雷故事集》（1386—1400）是乔叟晚年的作品，堪称英国长篇诗歌之绝唱。《故事集》以香客在前往坎特伯雷朝圣途中讲故事的形式，将骑士传奇、寓言、劝善书、圣徒传、滑稽诗等文学体裁汇于一集，成为英国中古文学之荟萃。《故事集》包括二十四个故事，多取材于传统的骑士文学、宗教文学或民间文学。其诗歌创作深受意大利文艺复兴运动先驱但丁、彼特拉克和卜伽丘及古罗马诗人奥维德的影响，使他成为英国最早接受人文主义思想的文学家。《故事集》在一定程度上表现了乔叟反封建和人文主义的进步思想，揭露了教会的腐败。肯定爱情，反对禁欲主义，劝善惩恶构成了作品的基调。幽默和讽刺是它的艺术特色。

《故事集》由总引、开场语和收场语这种新颖的框架形式将故事巧妙而自然地串合一起。在八百六十行的总引中，诗人刻画了骑士、修女、僧侣、商人、学生、旅店老板等三十余人的形象，揭示了他们的生活习俗、情趣理想和乐观的精神，展现了充满中古时代气息的英国社会的图景，更加深了整个作品的现实主义深度。

《故事集》的绝大部分（一万七千余行）用双韵诗体写成。语言精练，技法纯熟，风格独特，标志着乔叟的诗歌创作达到了炉火纯青的地步。

范守义

FromTHE CANTERBURY TALES

The General Prologue

Whan* that April with his* showres soote*

When / its / fresh showers

The droughte* of March hath perced* to the roote，1

dryness / pierced

And bathed every veine^2 in swich* licour*，

such / moisture

Of which vertu^3 engendred is the flowr*；

flower

Whan Zephyrus^4 eek* with his sweete breeth*

also / breath

Inspired hath in every holt* and heeth*

grove / field

The tendre croppes，5 and the yonge sonne

Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne，6

And smale* fowles* maken melodye^7

small / birds

That sleepen al the night with open yë* —

eye

So priketh hem* Nature in hir* corages*8—

them / their / hearts

Thanne* longen* folk to goon* on pilgrimages，9

Then / long / go

And palmeres for to seeken* straunge strondes^10

seek

To ferne halwes，couthe* in sondry* londes；11

known / various

And specially from every shires ende^12

Of Engelond* to Canterbury^13 they wende*，

England / travel

The holy blisful* martyr for to seeke

blessed

That hem hath holpen*whan that they were seke*.

helped / sick

Bifel* that in that seson* on a day，

It befell / season

In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay，14

Redy* to wenden* on my pilgrimage

Ready / depart

To Canterbury with ful devout corage*，

heart

At night was come into that hostelrye*

inn

Wel nine and twenty in a compaignye*

company

Of sondry folk，by aventure* yfalle*

chance / fallen

In felaweshipe*，and pilgrimes were they alle

fellowship

That toward Canterbury wolden* ride.

would

The chambres and the stables weren* wide*，

were / spacious

And wel we weren esed at the beste.15

And shortly*，whan the sonne was to* reste，

in brief / at

So hadde I spoken with hem everichoon*

everyone

That I was of hir felaweshipe anoon*，

at once

And made forward* erly* for to rise，

agreement / early

To take oure way ther as I you devise*.

describe

But nathelees*，whil I have time and space

nevertheless

Er* that I ferther in this tale pace*，

Before / proceed

Me thinketh it accordant to resoun^16

To telle you al the condicioun*

condition，state

Of eech* of hem，so as it seemed me，17

each

And whiche they were，and of what degree^18

And eek in what array* that they were inne：

clothing

And at a knight thanne wol* I first biginne*.

will / begin

A Knight ther was，and that a worthy man，

That fro the time that he first bigan

To riden out，he loved chivalrye，19

Trouthe and honour，freedom and curteisye.20

Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre，21

And therto hadde he ridden，no man ferre*，

further

As wel in Cristendom as hethenesse，22

And evere honoured for his worthinesse.23

At Alisandre^24 he was whan it was wonne；

Ful ofte time he hadde the boord bigonne

Aboven alle nacions in Pruce；25

In Lettou had he reised*，and in Ruce，26

campaigned

No Cristen man so ofte of his degree*；

rank

In Gernade at the sege*eek hadde he be*

siege / been

Of Algezir，and riden in Belmarye；27

At Lyeis^28 was he，and at Satalye，29

Whan they were wonne；and in the Grete See^30

At many a noble armee^31 hadde he be.

At mortal batailes^32 hadde he been fifteene，

And foughten for oure faith at Tramissene^33

In listes^34 thries*，and ay* slain his fo*.

thrice / always / foe

This ilke* worthy Knight hadde been also

same

Somtime with the lord of Palatye^35

Again* another hethen* in Turkye；

Against / heathen

And everemore he hadde a soverein pris.36

And though that he were worthy，he was wis*，

wise

And of his port* as meeke as is a maide.

demeanor

He nevere yit* no vilainye* ne saide

yet / rudeness

In al his lif unto no manere wight：37

He was a verray*，parfit*，gentil* knight.

true/perfect/noble

But for to tellen you of his array，

His hors* were goode，but he was nat gay.38

horse

Of fustian* he wered* a gipoun*

thick cloth / wore / tunic

Al bismotered* with* his haubergeoun^39

rust-stained / by

For he was late* come from his viage*，

lately / expedition

And wente for to doon* his pilgrimage.

make

With him ther was his sone，a yong Squier，40

A lovere and a lusty* bachelor，

vigorous

With lokkes crulle* as* they were laid in presse.41

curly locks / as if

Of twenty yeer of age he was，I gesse*.

guess

Of his stature he was of evene* lengthe，42

moderate

And wonderly delivere，* and of greet* strengthe.

agile / great

And he hadde been som* time in chivachye*

some / expedition

In Flandres，in Artois，and Picardye，43

And born him wel as of so litel space，44

In hope to stonden* in his lady* grace.45

stand / lady's

Embrouded was he as it were a mede，46

Al ful of fresshe* flowres，white and rede*；

fresh / red

Singing he was，or floiting*，al the day：

whistling

He was as fressh as is the month of May

Short was his gown with sleeves longe and wide.

Wel coude* he sitte on hors，and faire ride；

knew how to

He coude songes make，and wel endite*，

compose verse

Juste*and eek daunce，and wel portraye* and write.

Joust / sketch

So hote he loved that by nightertale*

at night

He slepte namore* than dooth* a nightingale.47

no more / does

Curteis* he was，lowely*，and servisable，

Courteous / humble

And carf biforn* his fader* at the table.48

before / father

A Yeman hadde he^49 and servants namo*no more

At that time，for him liste ride so；50

And he was clad in cote* and hood of greene.51

coat

A sheef of pecok arwes，52 bright and keene，

Under his belt he bar* ful thriftily*；

bore / properly

Wel coude he dresse his takel yemanly：53

His arwes drouped* nought with fetheres* lowe.

drooped / feathers

And in his hand he bar a mighty bowe.

A not-heed* hadde he with a brown visage.

close-cut head

Of wodecraft^54 wel coude* he al the usage.

knew

Upon his arm he bar a gay* bracer，55

bright

And by his side a swerd* and a bokeler*，

sword / buckler

And on that other side a gay daggere，

Harneised^56 wel and sharp as point of spere*；

spear

A Cristophre^57 on his brest* of silver sheene*；

breast / bright

An horn he bar，the baudrik* was of greene.

baldric

A forster^58 was he soothly* as I gesse.

truly

Ther was also a Nonne，a Prioresse，59

That of hir* smiling was ful simple* and coy*.

her / sincere / mild

Hir gretteste ooth* was but by sainte Loy！60

oath

And she was cleped* Madame Eglantine.61

named

Ful wel she soong* the service divine，

sang

Entuned* in hir nose ful semely；

Chanted

And Frenssh* she spak* ful faire and fetisly*，

French / spoke / elegantly

After the scole* of Stratford at the Bowe^62—

school

For Frenssh of Paris was to hire unknowe.

At mete* wel ytaught was she withalle*：

meals / besides

She leet* no morsel from hir lippes falle，

let

Ne wette hir fingres in hir sauce deepe；

Wel coude she carye* a morsel，and wel keepe*

carry / take care

That no drape* ne fille* upon hir brest.

drop / should fall

In curteisye was set ful muchel hir lest.63

Hir over-lippe wiped she so clene*

clean

That in hir coppe* ther was no farthing* seene

cup / bit

Of grece*，whan she dronken hadde hir draughte*；

grease / drink

Ful semely after hir mete she raughte*.

reached

And sikerly* she was of greet disport，64

certainly

And ful plesant，and amiable of port，65

And pained hire to countrefete cheere

Of court，66 and to been statlich* of manere*，

dignified / manner

And to been holden digne of reverence.67

But，for to speken of hir conscience*，

sensibility

She was so charitable and so pitous*

merciful

She wolde* weepe if that she saw a mous*

would / mouse

Caught in a trappe，if it were deed* or bledde*.

dead / bled

Of* smale houndes hadde she that she fedde

Some

With rosted* flesh，or milk and wastelbreed*；

roasted / fine white bread

But sore* wepte she if oon* of hem were deed，

sorely / one

Or if men* smoot it with a yerde* smerte*；

someone / stick / sharply

And al was conscience and tendre herte*.

heart

Ful semely hir wimpel pinched^68 was，

Hir nose tretis*，hir yën* greye as glas，

well-formed / eyes

Hir mouth ful small，and therto* softe and reed*，

moreover / red

But sikerly she hadde a fair forheed：

It was almost a spanne brood，69 I trowe*，

believe

For hardily*，she was nat undergrowe*.

certainly / not undersized

Ful fetis* was hir cloke，as I was war*；

becoming / aware

Of small* coral* aboute hir arm she bar*

dainty / coral beads / wore

A paire of bedes*，gauded al with greene，70

beads

And theron heeng* a brooch of gold full sheene，

hung

On which ther was fist written a crowned A，71

And after，Amor vincit omnia.72

【题解】

乔叟生活在中古时期，采用中古英语以伦敦为主的中部方言（the Midland dialect）写作，这种方言也是现代英语的先声。为了方便现代读者，尽管乔叟的作品采用原文，但在拼写上已作了调整。

乔叟运用的中古英语中部方言主要有下列特点。

从语音方面来说，和现代英语的区别主要表现在以下三方面：（1） 长元音a，e，i（或y），o和u（拼作ou，ow）的发音不同；（2） 中古英语的单词的最后一个字母e往往发音；（3） 凡是辅音都发音。

一、长元音：凡是双写元音（aa，ee，oo）、词尾元音（he，to，holy）以及尾随单辅音加一元音的a，e和o（name，mete，note）都是长元音。凡是后面跟双辅音的都是短元音。

二、词尾e发音为［ə］，成一弱读音节。韵律上若不需要亦可不发音，如在Another Nonnë with hire haddë she中，hire的e不发音。如果后面紧跟的词以元音字母或h开头，也不发音。

三、一般来说，中古英语的辅音都发音。组合辅音中的各辅音均单独发音，如gnat：g-nat；knave：k-nave；write：w-rite；folk：fol-k；“gn”如不在词首，其中g不发音。

从词类和语法方面来说，主要有以下特点。

一、名词：名词的复数和所有格以es结尾，如knight：knightes；roote：rootes。词尾的辅音往往双写再加es，如bed：beddes；crop：croppes。yë（eye）的复数是不规则的，为yën。

二、代词：现代英语和中古英语的若干代词的区别如下：

I

I，ich（ik为北方方言）

you（单数）

thou（主格）；thee（宾格）

her

hir（e）；her（e）

its

his

you（复数）

ye（主格）；you（宾格）

their

hir

them

hem

此外，所有格形容词my，thy后的名词如以元音或不发音的h开首，则my和thy都分别加n，如thyn yë，myn host。

三、形容词：以辅音结尾的形容词如位于所修饰的名词之前，并位于定冠词或指示代词the，this，that等词，或所有格名词或代词之后，则须加e。如以good为例：a good hors，其中good不加e（因为前面是不定冠词a），但在the（this，my，the kinges） goode hors中，good必须加e。形容词如位于复数名词，名词呼格或专有名词之前，一般加e，如goode men，oh goode man，faire Venus等等。

形容词比较级加er（e），最高级加est（e）。有些词根的元音变成短元音或发生元音变音，如sweete：swettere，swettest；long：longer，longest。

四、副词：形容词加e，ly，或liche变成副词，如fair：faire，fairly，fairliche。

五、动词：中古英语的动词像现代英语的动词一样，有强、弱变化之分。弱变化动词的过去式和过去分词是在动词词尾加t或d，词根的元音不变，但有时变为短元音，如hear：heard；meet：met。强变化动词的过去式和过去分词中的词根元音发生变化，如take：took，taken。

动词不定式的词尾是e或en，如love（n）；heere（n）；take（n）。如本诗中bigan to riden out。

中古英语强变化和弱变化动词的屈折变化词尾均相同，但过去式单数和祈使语气单数是例外。试以弱变化动词loven（to love）和heeren（to hear），强变化动词taken（to take）和ginnen（to begin）为例：

现在时陈述语气

过去时陈述语气

I

love，heere

loved（e），herde

take，ginne

took，gan

thou

lovest，heerest

lovedest，herdest

takest，ginnest

tooke，gonne

he，she，it　loveth，heereth

loved（e），herde

taketh，ginneth

took，gan

we，ye，they　love（n）（th），heere（n）（th）

loved（e）（en），herde（n）

take（n）（th），ginne（n）（th）

tooke（n），gonne（n）

根据上表可以看出，在现在时陈述语气中，对各组人称来说，强、弱变化动词的屈折变化词尾都是相同的。但是，在过去时陈述语气中单数人称的强、弱动词的词尾则不同。

现在时复数词尾eth属南部方言，而e（n）属中部方言，是乔叟的特点。

大多数弱变化动词的祈使语气单数词尾为e，如：（thou） love，但是有些弱变化动词和所有的强变化动词的祈使语气单数没有词尾，如：（thou） heer，taak，gin。所有动词的祈使语气复数词尾为e或eth，如：（ye） love（th），heere（th），take（th），ginne（th）。

弱变化动词的过去分词和过去式相同，但是没有词尾，如：loved，herd。强变化动词的过去分词以e或en为词尾，如：taken，gonne（n）。过去分词往往以y为前缀，如：yloved，yherd，ytake（n）。

以上是乔叟英语的最显著的特点。就诗体而言，乔叟则是英国民族文学的先驱。在他以前，每行诗以四个重音为多见，间或也有三个重音，弱强交替很不规则。乔叟的《坎特伯雷故事集》采用押韵排偶体（rhymed couplet），每行五个音步，弱强交替，即五步抑扬格（iambic pentameter）。从此以后，五步抑扬格成为英国诗体最基本的诗体。

【注释】

1.The droughte of March hath perced to the roote：The droughte是动词perced 的宾语，此句正常结构为 （Whan that April） hath perced the droughte of March to the roote。

2.veine：指植物的茎络。

3.Of which vertu：by the power of which；这四行的意思是：当四月的甘霖渗透了三月枯竭的根须，使草木的茎络得到滋润，勃发生机，鲜花开放。按：licour 和flowr押韵，在中古英语中，双元音ou和ow发［ɔː］音。

4.Zephyrus：Zephyr，西风，和煦之风（a soft，gentle breeze），和中国寒冷的西风不同。此词在英国诗歌中屡见不鲜。

5.Inspired hath in every holt and heath ... croppes：hath inspired the tendre croppes in every grove and field，（和煦的西风以其甜蜜的呼吸）催醒了原野和树丛的绿芽；Inspired：breathed into，给予生命的气息，催醒；croppes：shoots，新芽，嫩枝，和其现代英语中的意义不同。中古英语的名词复数加词尾 -es，词尾的辅音往往双写。

6.the yonge sonne ... yronne：四月份太阳在太阳系的黄道十二宫的第一宫，即白羊宫（Ram）中仅运行了一半路程，故称“年轻的太阳”。依照乔叟时代的日历，太阳此时的位置约在四月十一日之后。在中古英语中，由于形容词yonge位于定冠词和所修饰的名词之间，故须加词尾 -e；halve cours yronne：half course run，过去分词（如此处ronne）之前常冠以前缀 y-，这在斯宾塞等人的诗歌中亦颇多见。

7.And smale fowles maken melodye：注意fowles （birds） 复数词尾加-es；maken：make，-e（n） 为复数人称动词现在时的词尾，如下行sleepen，亦可作-e（th）。

8.So priketh hem Nature in hir corages：Nature pricks them in their hearts，大自然拨动了它们的心弦；priketh：-eth为第三人称单数动词现在时的词尾。

9.Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages：Then folk long to go on pilgrimages，人们渴望着去朝圣；folk：是复数，故用复数人称的动词longen，有词尾-en。

10.palmeres for to seeken straunge strondes：pilgrims hope to seek foreign shores，朝圣者希望去寻访圣地的异国风光。朝圣者（pilgrims）从圣地归来都手握两张交叉的棕榈叶（palm），表明已到实地，故palmer是朝圣者的又一称谓。

11.To ferne halwes，couthe in sundry londes：要到凡有所闻的各地去拜谒神龛；ferne halwes：far-off shrines.

12.from every shires ende：从（英格兰）每个郡的角落；shire：尤指以其为后缀的郡。

13.Canterbury：坎特伯雷是英格兰东南部的一个具有历史意义的古城，是圣奥古斯丁使英格兰皈依基督教的中心，后来成为英国国教主教的驻地。1170年12月29日，坎特伯雷主教托马斯·阿·柏刻特（Thomas à Becket）在坎特伯雷大教堂遇刺身亡，当时群情激愤。柏刻特在1173年被封为圣徒，即下行所指的The holy blisful martyr （福泽无边的殉难圣徒）。此后，其圣堂开放，供朝圣者参拜，不久即成为众多民间传说的策源地。乔叟在1360—1361年期间在此居住，作为皇家家族 （Royal Household） 的成员。

14.In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay：我在萨得克的泰巴旅店下榻；Southwerk：是当时伦敦一个郊区，位于泰晤士河南岸，当地的泰巴旅店（Tabard）非常有名。

15.wel we weren esed at the beste：we were accommodated in the best possible way，我们舒舒服服地安顿下来。

16.Me thinketh it accordant to resoun：it seems to me reasonable （or proper），我感到应该按常规（向读者介绍）。

17.seemed me：seemed to me.

18.And whiche they were，and of what degree：他们是干什么的，身份如何；whiche：what，疑问词what 和who 不同，问的不是有关人的身份，而是其职业、地位、作用等；degree：status，社会地位。

19.To riden out：to ride on expeditions，出去远征；chivalrye：chivalry，骑士精神，中世纪所推崇的一种勇敢而又有绅士风度的品行和风范。

20.Trouthe and honour，freedom and curteisye：品行端正、讲究信誉、慷慨大度、彬彬有礼。这些都是骑士所应有的品行；Trouthe：truth，古义为fidelity，constancy，honesty，integrity；curteisye：courtesy.

21.his lordes werre：his lord's war；lordes：名词的词尾加-es，表示所有格。

22.Cristendom：Christendom，基督教国家境内；hethenesse：heathen lands，异教区域。

23.And evere honoured for his worthinesse：and he was ever honoured for his worthiness. 以上四行大意是：他为主子南征北战，勇悍无比，无出其右，足迹遍及基督教世界和异教世界，备受崇敬。

24.Alisandre：现拼为Alexandria，亚历山大城。亚历山大城系亚历山大大帝于公元前331年在尼罗河三角洲创建。此行意为这位骑士参加了攻克由穆斯林占据的亚历山大城的战斗。他还参加过与另外两个异教徒民族的战争，即北方蛮族和北非的摩尔人。这些异教民族在十四世纪被视为对欧洲基督教世界的威胁。以下的地名即是这些连年战争的战场。

25.Ful ofte time he hadde the boord bigonne ... Pruce：Very often，he was the one seated with honour above all knights in Prussia，他在普鲁士多次荣居贵宾席，位于他国骑士之上；hadde the boord bigonne：sat in the seat of honour at military feasts，在军事宴会上为首席贵宾，另一说为 had been placed at the head of the table，居首席，但不一定指宴会；Aboven alle nacions：above the knights of all nations，位于其他（基督教）国家的骑士之上。

26.In Lettou had he reised，and in Ruce：he had been on campaigns in Lettou and Rusce；Lettou：Lithuania，立陶宛；Ruce：Russia，俄罗斯。

27.In Gernade at the sege eek hadde he be ... Belmarye：In Gernade，at the siege，he had also been of Algezir，and he rode at Belmarye，此句意为：他参与过包围格拉纳达的战役，在阿给西勒打过仗，也征伐过柏尔马里亚；Gernada：Granade，格拉纳达；Algezir：Algeciras，阿给西勒；以上均系西班牙城市，前者是西班牙最后一个穆斯林王国的首府（1232—1492），后者位于直布罗陀海峡上，为摩尔人所建；Belmarye：柏尔马里亚，摩尔王国城市。

28.Lyeis：列亚斯，小亚细亚地名。

29.Satalye：萨达莉亚，小亚细亚地名。

30.Grete See：Great Sea，即the Mediterranean，地中海。

31.armee：armed expedition；一作arivee，military landing。

32.mortal batailes：mortal battles，血腥殊死的战斗；另一说为tournaments，即直至决斗一方或双方斗到死为止的竞技比赛。

33.Tramissene：特里姆森，摩尔王国。

34.listes：arena for combats，jousting （as jousting），竞技场，武场，兼有tournament的意思，即致死的竞技比赛。

35.the lord of Palatye：帕拉希亚君王。帕拉希亚是小亚细亚地名，是异教徒区域。按：在十字军东征时，基督教徒也常和某些异教徒结成同盟，以打击另一派，如下行所说。

36.sovereign pris：sovereign reputation，崇高的声誉。

37.He nevere yit no vilainye ne saide ... wight：he had said no rude word all his life to any man，however much his might. 按：在中古英语里，经常迭加否定词，以示强调，如第70—71两行中，连续出现never，no，ne，no，都表示否定；ne：not.

38.nat gay：衣着不矫饰。

39.Al bismotered with his haubergeoun：All rust-stained from his haubergeoun，（衣服）都沾上了锁子铠甲的铁锈；haubergeoun：coat of mail，锁子铠甲。

40.Squier：下级骑士，即下行的bachelor，扈从骑士。

41.With lokkes crulle as they were laid in presse：With locks as curly as if they'd been pressed （by a curling iron），头发卷曲，好像是用卷发夹子压出来的那样。

42.Of his stature he was of evene lengthe：他身材中等。

43.In Flandres，in Artois，and Picardye：这位年轻骑士征战过的地方；Flandres：佛兰德斯，中世纪一伯爵领地，在今比利时、法国和荷兰等地区，十四世纪从属法国，但在英法百年战争中倒向英国，十七世纪后被法、比、荷分割；Artois：亚多亚，位于法国东北部，十二世纪中从佛兰德斯分割出去的伯爵领地；Picardye：毕伽的，位于法国东北部，包括佛兰德斯的大部分地区。这些地方都是英法摩擦期间久争之地。

44.born him wel as of so litel space：考虑到他在军中服役不久，他的战绩颇为不错。

45.In hope to stonden in his lady grace：意为想博得意中人的爱恋。

46.Embrouded was he as it were a mede：此行意为他的服装也绣得像草地一样漂亮；Embrouded：embroidered。

47.So hote he loved that by nightertale ... a nightingale：他热情求爱，像夜莺一样晚上不眠。

48.carf biforn his fader at the table：在餐桌上为父亲切肉。下级骑士为主人切肉是应有的职责，此处主人恰好是他父亲，并不是纯粹出于孝道。

49.A Yeman hadde he：他（指骑士）有一个充当其侍从的自由民。

50.him liste ride so：it pleased him to ride so，他愿意这么骑马出行。

51.he was clad in cote and hood of greene：他身穿绿色衣服，头戴绿色的护帽；hood：a protective covering for the head and face.

52.A sheef of pecok arwes：一束镶着孔雀羽毛的箭；sheef：sheaf；pecok：peacock；arwes：arrows.

53.dresse his takel yemanly：以侍从特有的职业习惯，将武器佩戴好；dress：tend to，打扮好；takel：gear，equipment，装备。

54.wodecraft：woodcraft，林中狩猎的本领。

55.bracer：an arm or wrist protector especially for use by an archer，弓箭手戴在手上的护腕。

56.Harneised：mounted，（匕首的把柄）装得很精致。

57.A Cristophre：一枚圣·克利斯多弗银像。圣·克利斯多弗是林猎者的护神。

58.forster：forester，林猎者。

59.Prioresse：女修道院院长。

60.Hir gretteste ooth was but by sainte Loy：她最凶的誓咒不过说声 “凭着圣洛哀起誓”。妄用上帝或圣人名字诅咒是亵渎神明的行为，但是圣洛哀本是590年当过某金银匠的徒弟，后来成为法国里摩日城法琅艺术业的奠基者，并非大圣人。这也说明她出身于一般中等阶级；Loy：Eloi.

61.Madame Eglantine：玫瑰女士。

62.After the scole of Stratford at the Bowe：（她的法语是）在伦敦郊区Bowe的斯特拉特伏特修道院学的，从未听到巴黎的法语（第126行），当然不可能说得标准。

63.In curteisye was set ful muchel hir lest：举止得体是她最大的乐事；curteisye：etiquette；muchel：much；lest：delight.

64.of greet disport：of great cheerfulness，饶有兴趣。

65.amiable of port：仪态友善可亲；port：mien，the manner of bearing oneself.

66.pained hire to countrefete cheere ... court：took pains to imitate the behavior of the court，竭力模仿宫闱的礼仪；countrefete：imitate；cheere：behavior.

67.been holden digne of reverence：be considered worthy of reverence，值得受人敬重。

68.wimpel pinched：打成百褶的头巾。

69.a spanne brood：a handbreadth wide，她的额头有一掌之宽。

70.gauded al with greene：marked off by special stones，called “gauds” of green，（戴在手臂上的一串珊瑚念珠，）配上翡翠饰品；gauded：来自名词gauds，是一种相当于翡翠的玉石。

71.a crowned A：一个王冕装饰的A字。

72.Amor vincit omnia：（Latin） 爱情战胜一切。

WILLIAM LANGLAND

威廉·兰格伦

（1330？—1400？）

【作者与作品简介】

兰格伦与乔叟同代。其生平不详。约出生于伍斯特郡一带的一个自由民家庭，幼年务农，受过经院教育，成年定居伦敦，任教会下级职务。据考证是《农夫皮尔斯之幻象》一诗的作者。

该诗系著名头韵体长篇寓言诗，以中古英语的西中部方言写成。此诗虽是头韵体，但是与《贝奥武甫》有些不同。《贝奥武甫》诗行分两部分，形成以“前二后一”为主的重音头韵格局；而本诗则是信笔写来，少则三个字，多则五个字压头韵，朗朗上口，铿锵有声。该诗现存三类抄本，计五十余部，其中以乙种本最为通行。该种抄本经作者增修，长达七千四百余行，含序诗和二十节诗，完成于1389年。

全诗包括诗人作的三场梦。第一梦：代表真理的“神圣教会”女士向诗人传授基督教义之精华，并以“奖赏女士”（实为“贿赂”）与“虚伪”、“良知”婚配，及“谄媚”、“神学”、“理智”和国王等对此事所持态度，揭露僧俗各界世风日下的腐败现象。第二梦：“良知”布道，“七孽”忏悔，后有上千人欲求“真理”，但多无诚意；唯有一女子代表贫苦民众，愿付出辛勤劳动，终随皮尔斯找到“真理”。“真理”赐之以赎罪券，曰：行善者永生，作恶者遭劫。此梦之寓意显然是只有通过诚实的劳动方能获得真理。第三梦：出现“善”、“中善”与“上善”三个形象，表达诗人对“善行”认识的升华。所谓“行善”不仅是诚实的劳动或积极的生活，而是应符合基督的崇高精神，即以其“慈爱之心”惩恶救世，是为“上善”。诗人以叙述者身份出现，化名郎为尔，有“长久希冀”之意。农夫皮尔斯则是该诗主人公——一个纯朴、诚实的农民，又是“真理”的仆人，兼有神和人的双重美德，故诗人在全诗结束时表示：愿意作一香客，远游天涯海角，寻访农夫至四方。

诗中重教化的主题，在宗教败坏、民生艰难的中世纪英国产生了特定的社会效果，为1381年瓦特·泰勒农民起义作了思想准备；同时也为后来主张脱离罗马教廷，建立英国国教的改良派找到理论依据。需指出：虽然作者猛烈抨击教会，同情劳苦大众，其思想仍旧是正统的，他对国王寄予希望即可佐证，因而他算不上是革命的。

与乔叟的《坎特伯雷故事集》一样，兰格伦在诗中也描述了形形色色的人物：农夫、商人、艺人、乞丐、僧侣、律师、贵胄、市民等百数十人。现实的人与概念化的人糅合在一起，形成鲜明对照，使寓意深化，体现了诗人的爱憎、理想和追求。如果说乔叟的《故事集》是一幅浓颜重彩的油画，洋溢着诗人的乐观情绪，那么兰格伦的《农夫皮尔斯之幻象》则是一幅轻涂淡抹的水粉画，流露出诗人冷漠、严峻的态度。

范守义

FromTHE VISION OF PIERS PLOWMAN

From The Prologue

［The Field of Folk］

In a summer season when the sun was mild

I got myself up in garb as though I'd grown into a sheep；1

In the habit of a hermit，unholy of works，2

I went wide in the world，watching for wonders.

And on a May morning on Malvern Hills^3

A marvel befell me^4 — magic it seemed.

I was wearied from wandering and went to rest

At the bottom of a broad bank by a brook's side，

And as I lay lazily looking in the water

I slid into a slumber，5 it sounded so soothing.

Then there came to me reclining there^6 a most curious dream，

That I was in a wilderness — where，I'd no idea.

But as I looked into the east，up high toward the sun，

I saw a tower on a hill-top，trimly constructed，7

A deep dale beneath，a dungeon-tower^8 in it，

With deep dark ditches，dreadful to see.

A fair field full of folk I found between the towers，

Of people of all positions，9 the poor and the rich，

Working and wandering as the world requires.

Some applied themselves to plowing，played full seldom，

Sowing seeds and setting plants worked full hard；

Won what wasters destroy with their gluttony.10

And some applied themselves to pride，11 wore proud garments，

Came all costumed in costly clothes.

To prayers and to penance many put themselves，12

All for love of our Lord lived hard lives

In hope to have afterwards heaven's bliss^13 —

Such as anchorites and hermits that hold to their cells^14

And don't care to go cantering about the countryside，15

With some lush livelihood delighting their bodies.16

And some made themselves merchants — they managed better，17

As it seems to our sight that such men prosper.

And some make mirths as minstrels can，18

And get gold with their glee，19 guiltless，I think.

But word-jugglers and jokers，20 Judas' children，

Invent fantasies to speak of and make fools of themselves，

Yet they have whatever wit they need to work if they wanted.

What Paul^21 preaches of them I don't dare repeat it here：

Qui loquitur turpiloquimis Lucifer's servant.22

Beggars and beadsmen^23 went about fast

Till both their bellies and their bags were crammed to the brim；

Staged flytings^24 for their food，fought over ale.

In gluttony，God knows，they go to bed

And rise up with ribaldry，those Robert's boys；25

Sleep and sloth always pursue them.

Pilgrims and palmers^26 made pacts with each other

To seek Saint James^27 and saints at Rome.

They went along the way with many wise tales，28

And had leave to tell lies^29 all their lives after.

I saw some that said they'd sought after saints：

In every tale they told their tongues tended to lie

More than to tell the truth，their talk was such.

A heap of hermits carrying hooked staffs^30

Went off to Walsingham，with their wenches^31 behind.

Great long lubbers^32 that don't like to work

Clothed themselves in copes^33 to keep distinct from other men，

And behaved like hermits to have their ease.

Friars I found there，all the four orders，34

Preaching to the populace for their own paunches' profit，35

Explaining Holy Scripture^36 as seemed best for themselves，

In hope to acquire copes^37 construed it as they pleased.

Many of these Masters^38 may clothe themselves gaily

For their money and their merchandise march hand in hand.39

since Charity has proved a peddler and principally shrives lords^40

Many marvels have been meted out within a few years.

Unless Holy Church and friars' orders hold together better

The worst trouble in the world will well up^41 soon.

A pardoner^42 preached there as if he'd a priest's rights，

Brought out a bull^43 with bishop's seals，

And said he himself could absolve^44 them all

Of failure to fast，of vows they'd broken.

Unlearnéd men believed him and liked his words，

Came crowding up on knees to kiss his bulls.

He banged them with his brevet and bleared their eyes，45

And raked in with his parchment-roll rings and brooches.46

Thus you give your gold for gluttons' profit，

And squander it on scoundrels who're schooled as lechers.47

If the bishop were blessed and worth both his ears^48

His seal should not be sent out to deceive the people.

It's not by the bishop's leave that the blackguard preaches；

What's more，the parish priest and the pardoner split the money^49

That the poor people of the parish should otherwise have.

Parsons and parish priests complained to the bishop

That their parishes were poor since the pestilence-time，

Asked for licence and leave to live in London，50

And sing masses there for simony，51 for silver is sweet.

【题解】

兰格伦是以英国民族诗体创作的最后一位重要诗人。他以苏格兰西部方言写作，故与乔叟的中部方言有所不同。《农夫皮尔斯》，或称《农夫皮尔斯之幻象》属头韵体诗（alliterative verse），每行四个重音，行中稍有停顿，抑扬节律并不规则，但是重音突出，铿锵有力。

《农夫皮尔斯》有三个原始抄本，诸本各异。A本约有2400多行，内容残缺；B本增补400多行；C本则在B本的基础上修订和充实。一般推B本为优。此处采用的现代文本由《诺尔顿英国文学选集》（The Norton Anthology of English Literature，1979）的编者根据George Kane和E.T.Donaldson编辑的B本（1975）译出。

【注释】

1.sheep：基督徒往往被比作羊，一语双关。原文为scheep，注家亦有认为指shepherd（牧羊人）。皮尔斯的形象在诗中几经变化，无论作何解，均有寓意。

2.habit：衣服；unholy of works：隐修士的行为亵渎神明。

3.Malvern Hills：莫尔文山。位于赫勒福德（Hereford）和伍斯特（Worcester）之间的山脉，相传为兰格伦故乡。

4.A marvel befell me：我遇见了一件神奇的事。

5.slid into a slumber：不觉酣然入睡。

6.reclining there：躺在那里梦幻是中古寓言体作品中常用的手法，并为后世作家所效法。如约翰·班扬（John Bunyan）在其名著《天路历程》（The Pilgrim's Progress ）中开首即言：As I walked through the wilderness of this world，I lighted on a certain place where was a Den，and I laid me down in that place to sleep；and，as I slept，I dreamed a dream.（“我在旷野里行走，来到一个地方，那里有个洞穴，我就在那儿躺下睡觉，我睡熟了，做了一个梦。”）

7.trimly constructed：建造得非常精致。

8.dale：溪谷。与上文up high toward the sun对照，（英语中有up hill and down dale的习语）；a dungeon-tower：中世纪的城堡主楼式塔。按：此处展示寓言的象征意义：东边阳光普照的山巅上耸立着光明的真理之塔，而西边则是阴森可怖的死亡之谷。这种描绘既表现了浓重的地方色彩，又有泛指人世的普遍意义。

9.people of all positions：形形色色之人。

10.Won what wasters destroy with their gluttony：耕作所获被餮饕挥霍而尽。

11.applied themselves to pride：趾高气扬，盛气凌人。

12.To prayers and to penance many put themselves：正常结构是many put themselves to prayers and penance；penance：苦行。

13.to have afterwards heaven's bliss：死后能坐享天堂之福。

14.anchorite：隐修士，指出于宗教目的而隐逸的修道者；hold to their cells：独处幽居，cell为隐修士居住的单间屋子。

15.go cantering about the countryside：在乡间溜达；canter：原指马溜达或骑马慢跑。

16.With some lush livelihood delighting their bodies：以丰富的生活满足身心的愉悦。按：兰格伦认为苦行修道者深居简出，不愿领略大自然的胜景，享受人生的乐趣，并不足取。

17.managed better：安排得更好。

18.make mirths as minstrels can：能像吟游诗人那样逗人快乐。

19.glee：音乐。

20.word-jugglers and jokers：吟游诗人中的丑角。他们编造各种荒诞不经的故事供人取乐，被认为是出卖耶稣的犹太的后代（Juda's children）。

21.Paul：即圣保罗，原名扫罗（Saul），出生于西里西亚地区塔瑟斯的犹太人家庭，早年在耶路撒冷读经，原为虔诚的犹太教徒，后皈依基督教，改名保罗。《圣经·新约》中的《保罗书信》相传出于保罗之手，构成后世基督教义和神学的重要依据之一。

22.Qui loquitur turpiloquimis Lucifer's servant：Qui loquitur turpiloquim：（Latin ）意为Who speaks slander．按：该引语并非圣保罗原话，所以上文说“不敢斗胆重复”（I don't dare repeat it），意为作者无意借用圣人之言来诽谤滑稽丑角；Lucifer：即Satan，撒旦。

23.beadsmen：为人祈祷求福而接受施舍者。下行说他们因此而腹饱囊满。

24.Staged flytings：表演相互辱骂的闹剧，常以赛诗形式进行。

25.ribaldry ［′rɪbəldrɪ］：猥亵话，下流话；Robert's boys：强盗。

26.palmers：朝圣者。他们从圣地回来时带着棕榈叶，因而得名。此处实指利用人们对朝圣者的热情好客而终年在外浪游者。

27.Saint James：圣詹姆士，十二使徒之一。此处指圣詹姆士的神龛，在西班牙圣地亚哥一德一孔波斯特拉。

28.wise tales：能哄骗人的故事。

29.had leave to tell lies：可以自由地招摇撞骗。这些浪游者见多识广，容易编造谎言来哄骗他人。

30.hooked staffs：钩状杖。

31.Walsingham：英国城市，著名的圣母玛丽亚神龛所在地；wenches：荡妇。

32.lubber：傻大个子。

33.copes：僧侣、修士和隐士等的披肩。

34.Friar：可指任一教团的托钵僧（或译行乞修士）；the four orders：四个教团（或修道会）。当时罗马天主教有四个托钵僧教团，即方济各会（Franciscans）、多明我会（Dominicans）、卡迈乐会（Carmelites）和奥古斯丁会（Argustincans）。托钵僧教团标榜不占有任何财产，行乞为生，鼓吹清贫福音，实质上后来占有大量财产。故诗人讽刺他们传道的目的完全是为饱私囊，见下行。

35.for their own paunches' profit：为了肥己；paunch：大肚子。

36.Holy Scripture：《圣经》。这些托钵僧随心所欲地解释《圣经》（as seemed best for themselves）。

37.copes：新衣服。

38.Master：（Masters of Divinity）神学硕士。

39.For their money and their merchandise march hand in hand：因为他们一手拿钱一手交货。所谓“商品”（merchandise），指托钵僧的苦行（shrift），他们行乞为生，以苦行得到人们的施舍。按教会法规，苦行是不能出卖赚钱的。

40.Charity has proved a peddler：教友之爱证明只是一种商贩。Charity：此处意思是教友之爱。托钵僧制乃圣法兰西斯所创，其主旨是仁爱。principally shrives lords：主要赦免贵人们。

41.well up：泛滥成灾。

42.pardoner：免罪符售卖吏，即获准向有罪者售卖免罪符的官吏。他们以此筹资，为慈善事业捐款，希冀从那里得到上帝的宽恕。这一特权常被滥用。此句谓售卖免罪符者不是牧师，无权讲道。

43.bull：罗马教皇的训谕，上有教皇大印。此处指教皇签发的免罪符。

44.absolve：赦免。

45.brevet：售卖免罪符的特许证；bleared their eyes：弄模糊他们的眼睛。

46.raked in with his parchment-roll rings and brooches：把教皇的训谕卷起来，像用耙子似地捞进戒指和胸针；parchment：即教皇用羊皮纸发出的训谕。此处活活勾出售卖免罪符者的丑态。

47.schooled as lechers：被教育成淫荡成性者。

48.worth both his ears：（如果主教）有耳朵，能了解下情。

49.split the money：教区牧师和免罪符售卖吏均分钱财。

50.since the pestilence-time ... London：英格兰自1349年起连遭瘟疫，饥馑频发，人口锐减。牧师借机谎称民不聊生，教区贫困，要求教皇准许他们移居伦敦。

51.simony：圣职买卖罪。按：当时不少富人，尤其是伦敦的豪富建立了基金，请牧师为他们及其亲属的灵魂做弥撒。教区牧师已有薪俸，不能接受其他有报酬的神职，否则构成圣职买卖罪。

EARLY MODERN ENGLISH BALLADS

早期现代英语时期民谣

【作者与作品简介】

民谣早在口头流传，写下来则是后来的事。它们饱含民间的智慧和情感，用词简单，句子和结构常有重复，戏剧性强，音乐性也强。

这里共选六首。第一首讲海上航行遇险故事。既表现水手们的英雄气概和宿命论，也表现国王的残忍。第二首通过乌鸦的眼睛看苏格兰社会，爵士被杀（可能死于决斗）之后妻走家散，只剩他的白骨暴露野地，任风飘荡，形象鲜明，寓意也深远。简洁是两首民谣共同的特点。故事的意义不是靠作者点明而是让读者根据情节去自己领会的。第三首讲巴巴拉·阿伦这位姑娘的殉情，虽然她一开始有点矜持，但毕竟心地善良，最后还是被对方的真情打动了，回家就殉情而死。对话在这里运用得巧妙，结尾有点出人意料，增加了全诗的戏剧性。厄舍尔井的妇人思子心切，幻想出海干活的三个儿子全能平安回家，而事实上他们全在海上丧生了。这里透露出海边人家面对无情的大自然所产生的深刻的悲剧感，一代又一代地逃不掉这样的命运。母亲的爱，家庭的温暖，生的欢乐，都只更加衬托出海的残酷和死的丑恶。第五首的主题是诗人的追求。为了艺术，托马斯不惜同妖女为伴，越过血河，直奔妖窟。然而诗中还有难以料到之笔，如三条道路的展现，正义之路充满荆棘，倒是邪恶之路宽广舒坦，而第三条艺术之路另有一番风光，但走在上面也要付出重大代价，所得的报酬则是文学艺术的真实性。这是饶有意义的。虽有这些寓言成分，诗却写得具体、生动，把追求艺术途中的奇遇、险境和行吟诗人献身艺术的精神都写出来了。古民谣的美丽和智慧在此又得了一个明证。

最后一首是关于民间义士罗宾汉的。以罗宾汉为题材的谣曲有许多首，此为其一。同中国某些较好的武侠小说中的英雄人物一样，罗宾汉是仗义的侠盗，而他的对头则是以郡长（或译司法长）为代表的官府，他们践踏小民，如这里所写要将老妇的三个儿子吊死，罪名仅仅是他们射死了御鹿。人民将复仇出气的希望寄托在罗宾汉这样的绿林豪杰身上，而罗宾汉也不负众望，不但坚决、勇敢，而且足智多谋，加上有人民群众（如这里同他换衣服的老僧）的帮助，总能制服那些残酷而又愚蠢的官府人员。一如其他许多谣曲，这一首也是采取了讲故事的形式，情节一步一步展开，叙述得清楚而有趣，通篇节奏感强，适于吟唱，展现了说唱文学的特点。

王佐良

Sir Patrick Spens

The King sits in Dumferling^1 town，

Drinking the blude-reid* wine；

blood-red

“O whar* shall I get guid* sailor^2

where / good

To sail this ship o'* mine？”

of

Then up and spak* an eldern* knicht*，

spoke / elderly / night

Sat at the King's richt* knee：3

right

“Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor

That ever sailed the sea.”

The King has written a braid* letter，

broad （i.e. long）

And signed^4 it wi'* his hand，

with

And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens，

Was walking on the sand.5

The first line that Sir Patrick read，

A loud lauch* lauched* he；

laugh / laughed

The next line that Sir Patrick read，

The tear blinded his e'e*.

eye

“O wha is this has done this deed，6

This ill deed done to me，7

To send us out at this time o' the year，

To sail upon the sea？

“Mak* haste，8 mak haste，my mirry* men all，

Make / merry

Our guid ship sails the morn*.”9

morning

“O，say na* sae*，10 my master dear，

not / so

For I fear a deadly storm.

“Late，late yestre'en* I saw the new moon

yesterday evening

Wi' the auld* moon in hir* arm，11

old / her

AndI fear，I fear，my dear master，

That we'll come to harm.”

“O our Scots nobles were richt laith*12

loath

To weet* their cork-heeled shoon*，13

wet / shoes

But lang* or* a'* the play were played

long / before / all

Their hats they swam aboon*.14

above

O lang，lang may their ladies sit，

Wi' their fans into their hand

Or ere* they see Sir Patrick Spens

before

Come sailing to the land.

O lang，lang may the ladies stand

Wi' their gold kems* in their hair，

combs

Waiting for their ain* dear lords，

own

For they'll see them na* mair*.

no / more

Half o'er，half o'er to Aberdour^15

It's fifty fadom*16 deep，

fathom

And there lies guid Sir Patrick Spens

Wi' the Scots lords at his feet.

【题解】

《派屈克· 司本斯爵士》是一首苏格兰民谣，取材于十三世纪与苏格兰王室婚事有关的两次海难的真实事件。1281年，苏格兰国王亚历山大三世 （Alexander Ⅲ） 的女儿玛格丽特 （Margaret ） 出嫁到挪威，和埃里克国王（Eric of Norway）成婚，送亲仪仗队在返程的途中，遇到暴风，船上很多人葬身海底。1290年，玛格丽特的幼女，称为 “挪威公主” （Maid of Norway） 的玛格丽特 （与其母同名），作为苏格兰王位的继承者，前往苏格兰，并将应英王爱德华一世之聘，与其子定亲。途中因气候恶劣而出事身亡。这首民谣传播较广，文本众多。较为详细的本子有二十二节，简单的本子只有十一二节。详本具体叙述出海的目的是奉命为国王去挪威求亲，而简本对此只字未提。蔡尔德（F.J. Child）编写的五卷本《英格兰和苏格兰民谣》 （English and Scottish Popular Ballads，1882—1898）采用的是简本。简本以其含蓄、凝练的笔法描绘了一场海难，使读者掩卷浮想，感慨唏嘘。为了便于读者比较，此处增补了详本的若干诗节。本诗大量运用苏格兰语，拼法和英语颇为不同，但大都可以按读音猜出其意。

【注释】

1.Dumferling：或拼作Dumferline，苏格兰古城，在十三世纪及之前为苏格兰首府。

2.guid sailor：一作skeely skipper，即航海技术娴熟的船长。

3.at the King's richt knee：at the King's right hand.

4.signed：有的本子作sealed。

5.Was walking on the sand：Who was walking on the sand；sand：有些版本作strand，意思差不多。按：在早期英语中，关系代词如who，which，that 等，常常省略，如下面注6。此节以下，详本有一节，国王要求主人公派屈克·司本斯爵士去挪威求亲：

To Noroway，to Noroway，

To Noroway o'er the faem

The king's daughter of Noroway，

'Tis thou must bring her hame！

6.wha is this has done this deed：who is this that has done this deed；关系代词that省略。

7.This ill deed done to me：此行有的本子作 And told the King o' me，意思上无本质的出入。此节以下，详本另有两节说明派屈克·司本斯爵士一行已经到达挪威：

Be it wind，be it weet，be it hail，be it sleet，

Our ship must sail the faem；

The king's daughter o' Noroway，

'Tis we must fetch her hame.

They hoysed their sails on Monday morn，

Wi' a' the speed they may，

They hae landed in Noroway

Upon a Wodensday.

8.mak haste：有的本子作make ready。按：从详本的叙述中可知，派屈克·司本斯爵士在到达挪威之后，又急着要踏上归途。而简本的叙述是和上文紧密相连的，为同一次出航，而非归途。简本在事件的进展上有很大的跳跃，没有表示海难发生在返航途中。

9.sails the morn：sails in the morning.

10.O，say na sae：O，do not say so；有的本子作Now ever alack，意为 “啊呀！”

11.the new moon ... arm：预示将变天。详本以下尚有两节：

They hadna sail'd a league，a league，

A league but barely three，

When the lift grew dark，and the wind blew loud，

And gurly grew the sea.

The Anchors broke，the topmast split，

It was sic a deadly storm；

And the waves came over the broke ship

Till a' her sides were torn.

此处lift：heavens，sky；gurly：stormy，boisterous；均系苏格兰语。

12.richt laith：very much loath.

13.cork-heeled shoon：cork-heeled shoes，软木底的鞋子。此行有的本子作 O loath，loath，were our guid Scots lords。

14.But lang or a' the play were played ... aboon：此两行意为风暴早已过去，而他们也已葬身海底，帽子在海面上漂浮；they：即their hats，在修辞上称为冗言（pleonasm），民谣和诗歌中常见。

15.Half o'er，half o'er to Aberdour：离开阿勃丁（Aberdour）还有半路之遥；Aberdour：为苏格兰—渔港，此处暗示他们在归途中遇难。

16.fadom：fathom，英寻，相当于1.829米。莎士比亚《暴风雨》（The Tempest ） 1.2. 460—461：Full fathom five they father lies，/ Of his bones are coral made.

The Twa Corbies

As I was walking all alane*，

alone

I heard twa* corbies* making a mane*；1

two / ravens / moan

The tane* unto t'other* say，

one / the other

“Where sall* we gang* and dine to-day？”

shall / go

“In behint* yon* auld* fail* dyke，2

behind / yonder / old / turf

I wot* there lies a new* slain knight；

know / newly

And naebody* kens* that he lies there，

nobody / knows

But* his hawk，his hound，and lady fair.

Except

“His hound is to the hunting gane*，

gone

His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl hame*，

home

His lady's ta'en* another mate，

taken

So we may mak* our dinner sweet.

make

“Ye'll sit on his white hause-bane*，

neck-bone

And I'll pike* out his bonny* blue een*；

pick / pretty / eyes

Wi'* ae* lock o'* his gowden* hair

With / one / of / golden

We'll theek* our nest when it grows bare.3

thatch

“Mony* a one for him makes mane，4

Many

But nane* sall ken* where he is gane；

none / know

O'er his white banes，when they are bare，

The wind sall blaw for evermair.

【题解】

这首苏格兰民谣通过两只乌鸦的对话，叙述了因女人不贞而使其情人招致杀戮的悲剧。谋杀是民谣中常见的主题，而对话则是常用的艺术手法。在这首诗歌中，乌鸦坐享死者腐肉给它们带来的佳肴，闲谈谋杀，若无其事，颇有讥讽之意。

【注释】

1.mane：moan，complaint，a low murmuring sound，抱怨，低语。此处从上下文看，只有一只乌鸦在抱怨没有吃的，另一只则知道食品在哪里，因此，moan仅表示这两只乌鸦在唧唧喳喳地对话。

2.auld fail dyke：old wall of turf，土堆，土墙。

3.Wi' ae lock o' his gowden hair ... bare：意为等我们的窝稀松的时候，可以用他那一缕金色的头发来修补我们的窝。

4.Mony a one for him makes mane：很多人为他悲哀；Mony a：being one of a large but indefinite number，表示众多人或事物中的一个，强调数量之多，动词为单数。

Bonny Barbara Allan

It was in and about the Martinmas^1 time

When the green leaves were a-fallin'2

That Sir John Graeme in the West Country^3

Fell in love with Barbara Allan.

He sent his man down through the town，

To the place where she was dwellin'：

“O haste and come to my master dear，

Gin* ye^4 be Barbara Allan.”

If

O hooly*，hooly rase* she up，

slowly，gently / rose

To the place where he was lyin'

And when she drew the curtain by：5

“Young man，I think you're dyin'”

“O it's I'm sick，and very，very sick，

And 'tis a'* for Barbara Allan.”

all

“O the better for me ye sal* never be，

shall

Though your heart's blood were a-spillin'.

“O dinna* ye mind，6 young man，” said she，

don't

“When ye the cups were fillin'，

That ye made the healths* gae* round and round，

toasts / go

And slighted Barbara Allan？”7

He turned his face unto the wall，

And death with him was dealin'：8

“Adieu，9 adieu，my dear friends all，

And be kind to Barbara Allan.”

And slowly，slowly rase she up，

And slowly，slowly left him；

And sighing said she could not stay，

Since death of life had reft* him.10deprived

She had not gane* a mile but twa*，

gone / two

When she heard the dead-bell knellin'11

And every jow* that the dead-bell geid*

stroke / gave

It cried，“Woe to Barbara Allan！”12

“O mother，mother，make my bed，13

O make it soft and narrow：

Since my love died for me today，

I'll die for him tomorrow.”

【题解】

民谣描写男女爱情的悲剧没有一定的模式，感叹悲欢离合，角度各不相同，但往往刻写深沉纤巧。此诗描述约翰·格雷穆爵士和芭芭拉·艾伦相爱，期间亦有误会。约翰可能无意中冷落了芭芭拉，使她无法原谅。诗歌中略略几段对话，道出了当时有一定身份的男子面临社交和爱情之间分配感情和时间的矛盾，点出了女子受到轻视而怨愤的心态。约翰思慕心切，不幸染病，而终于使芭芭拉悔悟，回心转意，甚至痛不欲生的，并不是他行将就木的可怜状态，而是他嘱咐朋友们要善待他的女友。民谣口头流传，词语和内容都有不同，难怪这首民谣有几十种不同的版本。

【注释】

1.the Martinmas：the feast of St. Martin，圣马丁节，十一月十一日。

2.a-fallin'：a-falling，前缀a- 表示动作正在进行之中。这种形式在现代英语的正规用法中已经废弃，但在不规范的口语和某些方言中依然存在，部分原因是出于节奏上的需要。此处a-fallin' 的省略号 “ ' ”表示省略了g，类似的例子如下面的dwellin'，lyin'，a-spillin' 和 fillin' 等，不再逐一解释。圣马丁节亦是冬季的开始，绿叶凋零预示爱情的悲剧。

3.West Country：英国西南部地区。

4.ye：you 的复数形式，但在此处指单数。

5.drew the curtain by：拉开床帘。

6.dinna ye mind：don't you remember；mind：（chiefly dialect ） remember，参见（第50页） Robin Hood and the Three Squires（lines 25—26）：“Dost thou not mind，old woman，” he said，“Since thou made me sup and dine？”

7.ye made the healths gae round and round ... Allan：你 （忘了）你当初一轮又一轮地举杯祝酒，唯独冷落了芭芭拉；healths：toasts，祝酒；slighted：treated with disdain or indifference，怠慢，冷落。

8.death with him was dealin'：death was dealing with him，死神正在折磨他。

9.Adieu：farewell，永别了。

10.death of life had reft him：death had deprived him of his life；reft：reave 的过去分词，to deprive somebody of，剥夺。

11.dead-bell knellin'：death-bell knelling，丧钟敲响。

12.Woe to Barbara Allan：愿芭芭拉·艾伦（Barbara Allan）遭难。

13.make my bed：暗指芭芭拉因悔恨而准备殉情，让母亲为她准备坟墓。

The Wife of Usher's Well

There lived a wife* at Usher's Well，

woman

And a wealthy wife was she；

She had three stout and stalwart sons，

And sent them o'er* the sea.

over

They hadna'* been a week from her，

had not

A week but barely ane*，

one

Whan* word came to the carlin* wife

When / old

That her three sons were gane*.1gone

They hadna' been a week from her，

A week but barely three，

Whan word came to the carlin wife

That her sons she'd never see.

“I wish the wind may never cease，2

Nor fashes* in the flood*，

disturbances / a body of water

Till my three sons come hame* to me，

home

In earthly flesh and blood.”3

It fell about the Martinmas，4

When^5 nights are lang* and mirk*.

long / dark

The carlin wife's three sons came hame，

And their hats were o'* the birk*.6of / birch

It neither grew in syke* nor ditch

field

Nor yet in ony* sheugh*any / furrow

But at the gates o' Paradise，

That birk grew fair eneugh*.

enough

“Blow up the fire，my maidens，

Bring water from the well；

For a'* my house shall feast this night，

all

Since my three sons are well.”

And she has made to them a bed，

She's made it large and wide，

And she's ta'en* her mantle her about，7

taken

Sat down at the bedside.

Up then crew the red，red cock，

And up and crew the gray.8

The eldest to the youngest said，

“ 'Tis time we were away.”9

The cock he hadna' crawed but once，10

And clappd his wings at a'，

When the youngest to the eldest said，

“Brother，we must awa'*.11away

“The cock doth craw，the day doth daw*，

dawn

The channerin'* worm doth chide；12fretting

Gin* we be mist out o' our place，

If

A sair* pain we maun* bide.13sore / must

“Fare ye weel*，14 my mother dear！

well

Fareweel* to barn and byre*！

Farewell / cowhouse

And fare ye weel，the bonny lass

That kindles my mother's fire！”

【题解】

The Wife of Usher's Well ：“厄舍尔井” 为虚构的地名。这首民谣讲述一位年迈的农村老母亲思念海上遇难的三个儿子，忽然在圣马丁节的冬夜见到他们回来。这位老母亲喜不自胜，忙着张罗，但是冬夜苦短，公鸡已鸣，天欲破晓，鬼魂须匆匆离去。全篇无悲痛气息，却荡漾着合家欢聚的情调。临别时三个儿子放心不下，嘱咐女佣好好照顾老母亲。

【注释】

1.were gane：意为遇难而亡。

2.I wish the wind may never cease：但愿风不停止，能让儿子们扬帆回家。

3.In earthly flesh and blood：以天生的骨肉之躯体生还，暗示下文鬼魂出现。

4.It fell about the Martinmas：事情发生在圣马丁节；fell：happened.

5.When：此处和第39行都用现代拼写形式，不少版本都如此处理。说明后起拼法已渐行渐近，而民谣对此不甚严格。

6.o' the birk：of the birch，据说鬼魂归来时头戴用白桦树编织的帽子，是鬼魂回到人间时可以受到保护。下文说这白桦树不是长在一般的田地里，而是长在天堂门口。这给老妇人带来莫大的安慰。

7.she's ta'en her mantle her about：she has taken her mantle about her.

8.the gray：the gray cock.

9.'Tis time we were away：鸡鸣时鬼魂必须回到墓地里。比较莎士比亚《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet ）1.1.149—155：I have heard，/ The cock，that is the trumpet to the morn，/ Doth with his lofty and shrill-sound throat / Awake the God of day，and at his warning，/ Whether in sea of fire，in earth or air，/ The extravagant and erring spirit hies / to his confine.

10.The cock he hadna' crawed but once：这只公鸡还只是啼叫了一次；he：即cock，修辞学上称为冗言 （pleonasm），民谣和口语中多见；crawed：crowed，另外一种过去式的形式是crew，但是只用于公鸡啼叫之意。

11.we must awa'：we must go away；早期英语中，这种结构中表示形状的动词常常省略。

12.The channerin' worm doth chide：坟墓里的蛆虫就会闹事；channerin'：fretting，devouring，吞噬的；chide：to make an uproar，大吵大闹。

13.A sair pain we maun bide：我们就会遭殃，受到严厉的惩罚。

14.Fare ye weel：farewell to you.

Thomas the Rhymer

True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank，1

A ferlie* he spied wi'* his ee*，

wonder / with / eye

And there he saw a lady bright，

Come riding down by Eildon Tree.2

Her shirt was o'* the grass-green silk，

of

Her mantle o' the velvet fyne*fine

At ilka* tett of her horse's mane

every

Hang fifty sil'er* bells and nine.3silver

True Thomas he pu'd* off his cap，

pulled

And louted* low down to his knee

bowed

“All hail，thou mighty Queen of Heaven！

For thy peer on earth I never did see.”4

“O no，O no，Thomas，” she said，

“That name does not belang* to me；

belong

I am but the queen of fair Elfland，5

That am hither come to visit thee.”

“Harp* and carp*，6 Thomas，” she said，

Play / speak

“Harp and carp along wi' me，

And if ye^7 dare to kiss my lips，

Sure of your bodie* I will be.”

body

“Betide me weal，betide me woe，8

That weird* shall never daunton* me；”

fate / subdue

Syne* he has kissed her rosy lips，

Then

All^9 underneath the Eildon Tree.

“Now，ye maun* go wi' me，” she said，

must

“True Thomas，ye maun go wi' me，

And ye maun serve me seven years，

Thro* weal or woe，as may chance to be.”10Through

She mounted on her milk-white steed，11

She's ta'en* True Thomas up behind，

taken

And aye* whene'er* her bridle rung，12

always / whenever

The steed flew swifter than the wind.

O they rade* on，and farther on —

rode

The steed gaed* swifter than the wind —

went

Until they reached a desert wide，

And living land was left behind.

“Light^13down，light down，now，True Thomas，

And lean your head upon my knee；

Abide* and rest a little space，

Stay

And I will shew* you ferlies three.”

show

“O see ye not that narrow road，

So thick beset with thorns and briers？14

That is the path of righteousness，

Tho'* after it but few enquires.15Though

“And see not ye that braid*，braid road，

broad

That lies across that lily leven*？

lawn （？）

That is the path to wickedness，

Tho' some call it the road to heaven.

“And see not ye that bonny* road，

comely

That winds about the fernie brae*？16hill-slope

That is the road to fair Elfland，

Where thou and I this night maun gae*.

go

“But，Thomas，ye maun hold your tongue，

Whatever ye may hear or see，

For，if you speak word in Elflyn-land，

Ye'll ne'er* get back to your ain* countrie*.”

never / own / country

O they rade on，and farther on，

And they waded thro' rivers aboon* the knee，

above

And they saw neither sun nor moon，

But they heard the roaring of the sea.

It was mirk*，mirk night，and there was nae* stern* light，

dark / no / star

And they waded thro' red blude* to the knee；

blood

For a'* the blude that's shed on earth

all

Rins* thro' the springs o' that countrie.17Runs

Syne they came on to a garden green，

And she pulled an apple frae* the tree：18from

“Take this for thy wages，True Thomas，

It will give the tongue that can never lie.”

“My tongue is mine ain*，” True Thomas said；

own

A gudely* gift ye wad* gi'e* to me！

goodly / would / give

I neither dought* to buy nor sell^19

feared

At fair or tryst where I may be.

“I dought neither speak to prince or peer，

Nor ask of grace frae fair lady.”

“Now hold thy peace，” the lady said，

“For as I say，so must it be.”

He has gotten a coat of the even* cloth，

smooth

And a pair of shoes of velvet green，

And till seven years were gane* and past

gone

True Thomas on earth was never seen.

【题解】

Thomas the Rhymer：Thomas the Minstrel，行吟诗人托马斯。吟诗人托马斯遇到一位白马女子，自称是仙后。在她的劝诱下，托马斯骑在她的马背上，涉过流淌着汇集世界上所有鲜血的河流，跟着她来到了一个碧绿的园林里。仙女从树上摘下一个苹果，作为对他的酬劳，而且说明吃了这个苹果，他就永远不会说谎。在这里，外来者不能开口，否则再也不能回到故乡。然而行吟诗人终难缄默，从此在人间销声匿迹。这首民谣中描述仙后向托马斯指出通往天堂、地狱和精灵世界的三条路，显然反映了《新约·马太福音》（7：13）和《新约·路加福音》（13：24）中耶稣的关于进入天堂和陷入地狱的传道。但仙后要把托马斯带到精灵世界去，反映了在基督教教义扎根的英国，民间传说的神秘，依然充满着让人遐想的魅力。

【注释】

1.Huntly bank：Huntly河岸上；Huntly：河流的名称，具体不详。

2.Eildon Tree：Old Tree；在民间故事中，林木常是超自然人或精灵等出没之处。

3.At ilka tett of her horse's mane ... nine：在每一根马鬃毛的发辫上都挂着银铃，一共有59个；tett：braid，plait，辫子。按：此句应为At ilka tett of her hourse's mane hang silver bells，fifty-nine altogether，不是每个发辫上都挂着59个银铃。

4.For thy peer on earth I never did see：我在人间从未看到有人可以和你匹敌。

5.I am but the queen of fair Elfland：仙后谦虚地自称只是精灵世界的仙后，不能与天堂里的圣玛丽亚相比，此句说明民间传说中的仙神已经让位于基督教的神；Elfland：有不同的拼写形式，第55行的Elflyn-land亦为一例；elf：a small often mischievous fairy，传说中体型很小，喜欢作弄人的小精灵。

6.Harp and carp：游玩和吟唱。仙后的这句话对托马斯这位行吟诗人，很有吸引力。

7.ye：多作复数，在十三世纪初开始，同时用作第二人称单数，表示对社会地位高的人或对陌生人的尊称。

8.Betide me weal，betide me woe：不管是福还是祸降临到我的头上。

9.All：just，起强调作用，意为就在这棵古树底下。

10.as may chance to be：（是福是祸） 全凭机缘。

11.steed：horse，especially a spirited horse （as for war），尤其指战马。

12.her bridle rung：rung her bridle，抽紧缰绳。

13.Light：dismount，come down from a horse，下马。

14.O see ye not that narrow road ... briers：长满荆棘和野蔷薇的路是通往正义之路。按：仙后指出的三条路中，其中两条路分别是指正义之路和邪恶之路。这两条路也暗示通往天堂或地狱之路。比较：《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ） 7：13—14：Enter ye in at the strait gate：for wide is the gate，and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction，and many there be which go in thereat：because strait is the gate，and narrow is the way，which leadeth unto life，and few there be that find it. （你们要进窄门。因为引到灭亡，那门是宽的，路是大的，进去的人也多；引到永生，那门是窄的，路是小的，找着的人也少。）《新约·路加福音》（Luke ） 13：24：Strike to enter in at the strait gate：for many，I say unto you，will seek to enter in，and shall not be able. （耶稣对众人说：“你们要努力进窄门。我告诉你们，将来有许多人想要进去，却是不能。”） briers：亦可拼作briars，野蔷薇属植物。

15.after it but few inquires：but few inquires after it，指极少数人问津正义之路，犹如很少人想走进通往天堂的窄门。

16.fernie brae：长满蕨树的山坡。

17.For a' the blude that's shed on earth ... countrie：这条河流汇集了人世所有的鲜血。这两行意为虽然仙后带领托马斯去的地方不是基督教所称的天堂，但精灵世界也是有别于人间的凡夫俗子所居之处，超越人间血腥和污秽之地。

18.pulled an apple frae the tree：《旧约·创世记》中夏娃摘的果子，虽未明言是何水果，但一般都认为就是苹果。此处显然受《圣经》影响。

19.I neither dought to buy nor sell：dought：是动词dow的过去式；dow：（obsolete ＆ Scottish ）to be able；边注feared系有些版本的注释，不一定确切，仅供参考。此处dought 作could似乎较为贴切；to：为赘词。此意在以下I dought neither speak to prince or peer 这两行中也说得通。

Robin Hood and the Three Squires

There are twelve months in all the year，

As I hear many men say，

But the merriest month in all the year

Is the merry month of May.1

Now Robin Hood is to Nottingham gone，

With a link a-down and a-day，2

And there he met a silly* old woman，

poor，innocent

Was weeping^3 on the way.

“What news？ what news，thou silly old woman？

What news hast thou for me？”

Said she，“There's three squires in Nottingham town

To-day is condemned^4 to die.”

“O have they parishes burnt？” he said，

“Or have they ministers^5 slain？

Or have they robbed any virgin，

Or with other men's wives have lain？”6

“They have no parishes burnt，good sir，

Nor yet have ministers slain，

Nor have they robbed any virgin，

Nor with other men's wives have lain.”

“O what have they done？” said bold Robin Hood，

“I pray thee tell to me”

“It's for slaying of the king's fallow* deer，

yellowish-brown

Bearing their longbows with thee.”7

“Dost thou not mind*，8 old woman，” he said，

remember

“Since* thou made me sup* and dine？9When / supper

By the truth of my body，”10 quoth* bold Robin Hood，

said

“You could not tell it in better time.”

Now Robin Hood is to Nottingham gone，

With a link a-down and a-day，

And there he met a silly old palmer，11

Was walking along the highway.

“What news？ what news，thou silly old man？

What news，I do thee pray？”

Said he，Three squires in Nottingham town

Are condemned to die this day.

“Come change thy apparel with me，old man，

Come change thy apparel for mine；

Here is forty shillings in good silver，

Go drink it in beer or wine.”

“O thine^12 apparel is good，” he said，

“And mine is ragged and torn；

Wherever you go，wherever you ride，

Laugh ne'er* an old man to scorn.”

never

“Come change thy apparel with me，old churl*，

fellow

Come change thy apparel with mine；

Here are twenty pieces of good broad gold，

Go feast thy brethren^13 with wine.”

Then he put on the old man's hat，

It stood full high on the crown*：

head

“The first bold bargain that I come at，

It shall make thee^14 come down.”

Then he put on the old man's cloak，

Was patched black，blue，and red；

He thought it no shame all the day long

To wear the bags of bread.

Then he put on the old man's breeks*，

breeches

Was patched from ballup* to side；

center

“By the truth of my body，” bold Robin can say，

“This man loved little pride.”15

Then he put on the old man's hose*，

short breeches

Were patched from knee to wrist*；

ankle

“By the truth of my body，” said bold Robin Hood，

“I'd laugh if I had any list*.”

desire

Then he put on the old man's shoes，

Were patched both beneath and aboon*；

above

Then Robin Hood swore a solemn oath，

“It's good habit* that makes a man.”

clothing

Now Robin Hood is to Nottingham gone，

With a link a-down and a-down，

And there he met with the proud sheriff，16

Was walking along the town.

“O Christ you save，17 O sheriff，” he said，

“O Christ you save and see！

And what will you give to a silly old man

To-day will your hangman^18 be？”

“Some suits，19 some suits，” the sheriff he said，

“Some suits I'll give to thee；

Some suits，some suits，and pence thirteen

To-day's a hangman's fee.”

Then Robin he^20 turns him round about，

And jumps from stock* to stone；21stump

“By the truth of my body，” the sheriff he said，

“That’s well jumped，thou nimble old man.”

“I was ne'er a hangman in all my life，

Nor yet intends to trade；22

But curst be he，” said bold Robin，

“That first a hangman was made.

“I've a bag for meal，and a bag for malt，

And a bag for barley and corn；

A bag for bread，and a bag for beef，

And a bag for my little small horn.

“I have a horn in my pocket，

I got it from Robin Hood，

And still when I set it to my mouth，

For thee it blows little good.”

“O wind thy horn，23 thou proud fellow，

Of thee I have no doubt*.

fear

I wish that you give such a blast

Till both thy eyes fall out.”

The first loud blast that he did blow，

He blew both loud and shrill；

A hundred and fifty of Robin Hood's men

Came riding over the hill.

The next loud blast that he did give，

He blew both loud and amain*，

with force，violently

And quickly sixty of Robin Hood's men

Came shining^24 over the plain.

“O who are yon*，” the sheriff he said，

yonder

“Come tripping over the lea*？”

grassland

“They're my attendants，” brave Robin did say，

“They'll pay a visit to thee.”

They took the gallows from the slack*，

a pass between hills

They set it in the glen*，

a secluded narrow valley

They hanged the proud sheriff on that，

Released their own three men.

【题解】

罗宾汉是英国家喻户晓的绿林好汉，但是在历史上并无其人，纯属百姓虚构，以寄托广大贫苦大众的希望，愿世界上有好汉出来劫富济贫，扶弱抑强，伸张正义。在中世纪产生了很多以罗宾汉为主题的民谣。这些民谣以英格兰为背景，文字上极少北方方言的特点，比较通俗易懂。这个文本形成较晚，文字属于现代英语。

【注释】

1.the merry month of May：英格兰的五月阳光明媚，气候宜人，向为骚人墨客所乐道。

2.Now Robin Hood is to Notthingham gone ... a-day：从第二节起至最后第二十九节共分为三大段，每段都以这两行起首（唯第70行略有不同）。第6行是民谣中的迭唱，并无实质意义，只是以声韵表示轻快的步法，但是暗示情节的发展变化。第一大段叙述罗宾汉得悉寡妇三个儿子因杀死国王的鹿而将被处死。Nottingham：诺丁汉市，在英国的中部偏东地区。

3.Was weeping：who was weeping；在早期英语中，关系代词who，which，that 等经常省略，如下第12行is to die，第32行Was walking along the highway，第36行Are condemned to die，第72行Was walking along the town，第54行Was patched 等。

4.is condemned：are condemned.

5.ministers：牧师。

6.lain：lie 的过去分词；to lie with：to have sex with；罗宾汉提出的以上四个问题反映了当时英国人的宗教意识和基本道德观念。

7.Bearing their longbows with thee：和你们一样手执弯弓。

8.Dost thou not mind：don't you remember；参见（第40页）Bonny Barbara Allan（lines 17—20） ：“O dinna ye mind，young man，” said she，/ “When ye the cups were fillin'，/ That ye made the healths gae round and round，/ And slighted Barbara Allan？”

9.Since thou made me sup and dine：（你是否记得）你曾经招待过我；Since：when，in the past；sup：take supper.

10.By the truth of my body：凭着我自身起誓；注意罗宾汉不以神或圣人起誓，而是以自己的人格起誓，表现了他不畏权贵的精神。

11.palmer：朝圣者；朝圣者归来时往往手执两张交错的棕榈叶，表示已经到达圣地，故称palmer。从这节开始为第二大段，叙述罗宾汉说服一位老年行脚僧和他互换衣服，乔装打扮去救三个将被处死的年轻人。

12.thine：your；在元音之前用thine，辅音之前用thy。

13.brethren：brother的复数，在正式场合使用，往往表示指同一个社团或行业的同仁。

14.thee：此处指hat。

15.This man loved little pride：这个人没有什么虚荣心。指老行脚僧的衣服太破旧，打满了补丁。

16.sheriff：执法官；在英国，往往由国王任命的郡或县级行政长官，有司法执行权。从这一节起为最后一大段，写罗宾汉召来他的一帮绿林好汉，救出三人，并杀死了执法官。

17.O Christ you save：O Christ save you.

18.hangman：绞刑吏，刽子手。

19.Some suits：从被处死的囚犯身上剥下来的衣服。

20.Then Robin he：he：即Robin，修辞学上称为冗言 （pleonasm），在口语或民谣中常见。

21.jumps from stock to stone：从树桩上跳到石头上，形容他动作十分灵活。

22.to trade：干刽子手这个行当。

23.wind thy horn：blow your horn.

24.shining：气昂昂地。

EDMUND SPENSER

爱德蒙·斯宾塞

（1552？—1599）

【作者与作品简介】

斯宾塞，十六世纪诗人，站在近代英国诗发展的起点，诗艺精湛，被认为全部英国诗史上最重要的六七个诗人之一。

他在剑桥大学毕业之后，变成贵族家的门客，1580年任英国驻爱尔兰总督的秘书，直到1598年由于爱尔兰人民反英起义，他的庄宅被烧，才仓皇奔回英格兰，不久病死于伦敦。

他的主要作品是长诗《仙后》（1596），仅完成计划中的六卷，然已卷帙丰富，内容之一是对颇有作为的伊丽莎白女王的歌颂，表现了民族主义的自豪。今天的读者喜欢阅读的则是他的一些次要作品，如两首结婚曲和以《爱情小唱》（1595）为总题的十四行诗集。

他的诗内容丰富，形式完整，在诗律上多所创造，如建立了优美流畅的“斯宾塞体”（即九行体），影响深远，后世拜伦、雪莱、济慈、丁尼生等人都曾用它写出佳作，因此人们称斯宾塞为“诗人的诗人”。

我们在这里选了他的结婚曲一首和十四行诗四首。

这首结婚曲有的批评家觉得不如另一首，但自有优点，写泰晤士河上的风光、婚庆的礼俗和沿途著名庄宅，写得美，也写得实在，而在一片花团锦簇之中又流露了诗人本人在仕途上不得意的感喟，着墨无多，却增加了诗的深度。全诗形式整齐，音乐性强，一再重复的迭唱：

Sweet Thames！ run softly，till I end my song.

（可爱的河，轻轻流到歌罢。）

成为传诵几百年的名句，使人感染到英国文艺复兴初期的新鲜气息。

斯宾塞的十四行诗集《爱情小唱》出版于1595年。当时英国诗人中写十四行诗的很多，这种诗体成为一时风气，其中斯宾塞所作自有特色。十四行诗体原是从意大利传入英国的，斯宾塞运用其形式而调整了它的脚韵安排，成为abab bcbc cdcd ee，人称英国式。

内容方面，当时的十四行诗多半是表白爱情的，斯宾塞的也不例外，但他写得多样化，还注入了当时的一些新思想，如心灵之美更胜外貌（见第15首）、美人能因有诗人歌颂而不朽（第75首）等，又如从人生如舞台这一感想展开而责备无真挚感情的女人（第54首），以及通过对话的运用（第75首），将民谣体渗入了十四行诗，都可看出他在艺术上的匠心。

王佐良

AMORETTI

Sonnet 15

Ye tradefull merchants that with weary toyle^1

Do seeke most pretious^2 things to make your gain，

And both the Indias of their treasures spoile，3

What needeth you to seeke so farre in vaine？4

For loe my love doth in her selfe^5 containe

All this world's riches that may farre^6 be found.

If saphyres，loe her eyes be saphyres plaine；7

If rubies，loe her lips be rubies sound；

If pearls，her teeth be pearls both pure and round

If yvorie，her forhead yvory weene；8

If gold，her locks are finest gold on ground；9

If silver，her faire hands are silver sheene.10

But that which fairest is，but few behold：11

Her mind，adornd with vertues manifold.12

【注释】

1.Ye tradefull merchants that with weary toyle：以呼语起首，乃诗歌中常见写法，如雪莱“Oh，Men of England”，具有注明突出效应。起句即言商人，更见当时英国海外贸易之兴盛；weary toyle：weary toil，言商人之辛劳。

2.seeke：seek；pretious：precious.

3.both the Indias of their treasures spoile：正常结构应是spoile both the Indias of their treasures；both the Indias：指印度和西印度群岛；spoile：掠夺，与上文weary toyle对照，颇有讽刺意味。

4.What needeth you to seeke so farre in vaine：此行承上启下，一语否定了海外寻觅到的财宝的价值，突出下文爱人的美德。farre：far.

5.loe：lo，感叹词；selfe：self．

6.farre：anywhere.

7.If saphyres，loe her eyes be saphyres plaine ：以下叠用比喻，表明她全身上下美如珍宝；saphyres：saphires；plaine：纯真。

8.yvorie：ivory；weene：suppose，即她的额头可视为象牙。

9.locks：（plural ）头发；on ground：on earth，在人世间。

10.sheene：bright，shining.

11.But that which fairest is，but few behold：此句从外貌转向内美。

12.adornd with vertues manifold：（她的心）充满了种种美德；adornd：adorned.

Sonnet 54

Of this worlds theatre^1 in which we stay，

My love like the spectator ydly^2 sits

Beholding me that all the pageants^3 play，

Disguysing diversly my troubled wits.4

Sometimes I joy when glad occasion fits，

And mask in myrth lyke to a comedy：5

Soone after when my joy to sorrow flits，

I waile and make my woes a tragedy.

Yet she，beholding me with constant eye，

Delights not in my merth nor rues my smart：6

But when I laugh she mocks，and when I cry

She laughs and hardens evermore her heart.

What then can move her？ if nor merth nor mone，7

She is no woman，but a sencelesse stone.8

【注释】

1.Of this worlds theatre：早期现代英语中，名词加-s或-es词尾可表示复数或名词所有格。按：把世界比作舞台的例子颇多，如常常被引用的名句出自莎士比亚《皆大欢喜》（As You Like It ） 2.7.139—140：All the world's a stage，／And all the men and women merely players.又如他把人生比作蹩脚的演员，参见本书选段《麦克佩斯》（Macbeth ） 5.5.24—26：Life's but a walking shadow，a poor player／That struts and frets his hour on the stage，／And then is heard no more．

2.ydly：idly.

3.pageants：roles，在舞台上扮演的角色。

4.Disguysing：disguising；wits：mind.这四行的意思是我在人世的舞台上扮演各种角色，极力掩盖我内心的不安，而我的爱人只是闲坐的旁观者。

5.mask in myrth lyke to a comedy：mask in mirth like to a comedy，戴着欢乐的面具，如演喜剧；lyke to：like.

6.Delights not in my merth nor rues my smart：既不因我乐而喜，亦不因我痛而悲；rue：（archaic ）grieve，悲痛，现代意义一般为“懊悔”。

7.if nor merth nor mone：if neither mirth nor moan，如果欢乐和呜咽都不能打动她。

8.a sencelesse stone：一块冥顽不灵的石头；sencelesse：senseless.

Sonnet 70

Fresh spring the herald of loves^1 mighty king，

In whose cote armour^2 richly are displayd

All sorts of flowers the which^3 on earth do spring

In goodly colours gloriously^4 arrayd.

Goe to my love，where she is carelesse layd，5

Yet in her winters bowre^6 not well awake：

Tell her the joyous time wil not be staid^7

Unlesse she doe him by the forelock take.8

Bid her therefore her selfe soone ready make，

To wayt on love amongst his lovely crew：9

Where every one that misseth then her make，10

Shall be by him amearest with penance dew^11

Make hast therefore sweet love，whilest it is prime，12

For none can call againe the passed time.

【注释】

1.loves：love's，如第58页注1，名词加-s或-es既可表示复数，也可表示名词所有格。

2.whose cote armour：coat of arms，（贵族家的）纹章；whose：指herald，herald在古代为传令官，在中古时代为司宗谱纹章的官员。

3.the which：which；关系代词which用定冠词修饰是较古的用法。如莎士比亚《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet ）1.1.91—94：all those his lands .../Against the which，a moiety competent／Was gaged by our king.

4.goodly colours：excellent colours；gloriously：splendidly.前四行为一句，无动词。大意是爱情像国王，而春天则是他的纹章官，其纹章展现了春天装缀大地的色彩缤纷的鲜花。

5.layd：laid.

6.winters bowre：winter's bower，参见第58页注1。

7.staid：stayed，即be stopped by，斯宾塞喜用此义。此句意为欢乐的时间不会滞留。

8.Unlesse she doe him by the forelock take：unless she doe take him by the forelock，除非她抓紧时机；doe take：十六世纪英语中的现在虚拟式，主语单数则动词加-e。

9.To wayt on love amongst his lovely crew：在丽人群中迎候爱神；wayt on：wait for.

10.her make：her mate，her lover.

11.Shall be by him amearest with penance dew：将会受到他应有的惩罚；amearest：amearst，斯宾塞用语，即amerced，受到惩罚；penance dew：penance due.

12.hast：haste；prime：early morning.

Sonnet 75

One day I wrote her name upon the strand，1

But came the waves and washéd it away：

Agayne^2 I wrote it with a second hand，

But came the tyde，and made my paynes his pray.3

“Vayne man，” sayd she，“that doest in vaine assay，4

A mortall thing so to immortalize，5

For I my selve shall lyke to this decay，6

And eek my name bee wypéd out lykewize.7”

“Not so，” quod I，“let baser things devize，8

To dy in dust，9 but you shall live by fame：

My verse your vertues rare shall eternize，10

And in the heavens wryte^11 your glorious name.

Where whenas death shall all the world subdew，12

Our love shall live，and later life renew.”

【注释】

1.strand：beach.

2.Agayne：Again.

3.made my paynes his pray：使我白白辛苦，指两次写上她的名字，均被潮水冲走；paynes：pains，辛劳；pray：prey．

4.Vayne man：异想天开的人；that doest in vaine assay：that doest try in vain，徒劳地尝试。

5.A mortall thing so to immortalize：（试图）使必死的东西变为不朽。

6.shall lyke to this decay：shall decay like this，也会像这样腐朽。

7.eek my name bee wypéd out lykewize：我的名字也会被抹掉；eek：also；wypéd out：wiped out；lykewise：likewise.

8.quod I：quoth I，我回答说；devize：contrive，费尽心机。

9.To dy in dust：to die in dust，人死归土之说始于《圣经》。据说上帝用土造了人类始祖亚当，后因亚当和夏娃偷吃禁果，被上帝逐出天堂，且不能免于一死，还归土里。《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ） 3：19：... for out of it wast thou taken：for dust thou art，and unto dust shalt thou return.（因为你是从土而出的。你本是尘土，仍要归于尘土。）

10.My verse your vertues rare shall eternize：我的诗将使你难得的美德永存不死。按：文艺复兴时期颇有一些文人表现了文学可以使人不朽的思想。

11.wryte：write.

12.whenas death shall all the world subdew：虽然死亡将征服整个世界；whenas：whereas；subdew：subdue.

Prothalamion

Calm was the day，and through the trembling air

Sweet breathing Zephyrus^1 did softly play，

A gentle spirit，that lightly did delay

Hot Titan's beams，2 which then did glister fair；

When I （whom sullen care，

Through discontent of my long fruitless stay

In princes' court，and expectation vain

Of idle hopes，which still do fly away.

Like empty shadows，did afflict my brain）3

Walked forth，to ease my pain.

Along the shore of silver streaming Thames；

Whose rutty bank，the which his river hems，4

Was painted all with variable flowers，

And all the meads^5 adorned with dainty gems，

Fit to deck maidens' bowers，

And crown their paramours，6

Against the bridal day，7 which is not long：

Sweet Thames！ run softly，till I end my song.8

There，in a meadow，by the river's side，

A flock of nymphs I chanced to espy，9

All lovely daughters of the flood thereby，10

With goodly greenish locks，11 all loose untied，

As each had been a bride：

And each one had a little wicker basket，

Made of fine twigs，entrailèd curiously.12

In which they gathered flowers to fill their flasket，13

And with fine fingers cropt full feateously^14

The tender stalks on high.

Of every sort which in that meadow grew

They gathered some；the violet，pallid blue，

The little daisy，that at evening closes，

The virgin lily，and the primrose true，

With store of vermeil^15 roses，

To deck their bridegroom's posies，16

Against the bridal day，which was not long：

Sweet Thames！ run softly，till I end my song.

With that，I saw two swans of goodly hue^17

Come softly swimming down along the Lee：18

Two fairer birds I yet did never see；

The snow which doth the top of Pindus^19 strew

Did never whiter shew，

Nor Jove himself，when he a swan would be

For love of Leda，20 whiter did appear；

Yet Leda was，they say，as white as he，

Yet not so white as these，nor nothing near；

So purely white they were，

That even the gentle stream，the which them bare，21

Seemed foul to them，and bade his billows spare

To wet their silken feathers，22 lest they might

Soil their fair plumes with water not so fair，

And mar their beauties bright，

That shone as heaven's light，

Against their bridal day，which was not long：

Sweet Thames！ run softly，till I end my song.

Eftsoons the nymphs，which now had flowers their fill，23

Ran all in haste to see that silver brood，24

As they came floating on the crystal flood；

Whom when they saw，they stood amazéd still，

Their wondering eyes to fill；

Them seemed they never saw a sight so fair^25

Of fowls so lovely，that they sure did deem

Them heavenly born，or to be that same pair

Which through the sky draw Venus' silver team；26

For sure they did not seem

To be begot of any earthly seed，27

But rather angels，or of angels' breed；

Yet were they bred of summer's heat，28 they say，

In sweetest season，29 when each flower and weed

The earth did fresh array；

So fresh they seemed as day，

Even as their bridal day，which was not long；

Sweet Thames！ run softly，till I end my song.

Then forth they all out of their baskets drew

Great store of flowers，the honour of the field，

That to the sense did fragrant odours yield，

All which upon those goodly birds they threw，

And all the waves did strew，

That like old Peneus' waters^30 they did seem，

When down along by pleasant Tempe's shore，31

Scattered with flowers，through Thessaly^32 they stream，

That they appear，through lilies' plenteous store，

Like a bride's chamber floor.33

Two of those nymphs，meanwhile，two garlands bound

Of freshest flowers which in that mead they found，

The which presenting all in trim array，

Their snowy foreheads therewithal they crowned，

Whilst one did sing this lay，34

Prepared against that day，

Against their bridal day，which was not long：

Sweet Thames！ run softly，till I end my song.

“Ye gentle birds！ the world's fair ornament，

And heaven's glory，whom this happy hour

Doth lead unto your lover's blissful bower，

Joy may you have，and gentle hearts' content

Of your love's couplement；35

And let fair Venus，that is queen of love，

With her heart-quelling son^36 upon you smile，

Whose smile，they say，hath virtue to remove

All love's dislike，37 and friendship's faulty guile

For ever to assoil，38

Let endless peace your steadfast hearts accord，

And blessed plenty wait upon your board；39

And let your bed with pleasures chaste abound，

That fruitful issue may to you afford，40

Which may your foes confound，

And make your joys redound^41

Upon your bridal day，which is not long：

Sweet Thames！ run softly till I end my song.”

So ended she；and all the rest around

To her redoubled that her undersong，42

Which said their bridal day should not be long：

And gentle Echo from the neighbour ground

Their accents did resound.

So forth those joyous birds did pass along，

Adown^43 the Lee，that to them murmured low，

As he would speak，44 but that he lacked a tongue，

Yet did by signs his glad affection show，

Making his stream run slow.

And all the fowl which in his flood did dwell

'Gan^45 flock about these twain，that did excel

The rest，so far as Cynthia doth shend

The lesser stars.46 So they，enrangèd well，47

Did on those two attend，

And their best service lend，

Against their wedding day，which was not long：

Sweet Thames！ run softly，till I end my song.

At length they all to merry London came，48

To merry London，my most kindly nurse，

That to me gave this life's first native source；49

Though from another place I take my name，50

An house of ancient fame：

There when they came，whereas^51 those bricky towers

The which on Thames' broad，agèd back do ride，

Where now the studious lawyers have their bowers，52

There whilom wont the Templar Knights^53 to bide，

Till they decayed through pride：

Next whereunto there stands a stately place，54

Where oft I gainèd gifts and goodly grace^55

Of that great lord^56 which therein wont to dwell，

Whose want too well now feels my friendless case；57

But ah！ here fits not well

Old woes，58 but joys，to tell，

Against the bridal day，which is not long：

Sweet Thames！ run softly，till I end my song.

Yet therein now doth lodge a noble peer，59

Great England's glory，and the world's wide wonder，

Whose dreadful name late through all Spain did thunder，60

And Hercules' two pillars^61 standing near

Did make to quake and fear：

Fair branch of honour，flower of chivalry！

That fillest England with thy triumph's fame，

Joy have thou of thy noble victory，

And endless happiness of thine own name，

That promiseth the same；62

That through thy prowess and victorious arms^63

Thy country may be freed from foreign harms；

And great Elisa's^64 glorious name may ring

Through all the world，filled with thy wide alarms，

Which some brave muse may sing

To ages following，

Upon the bridal day，which is not long：

Sweet Thames！ run softly，till I end my song.

From those high towers this noble lord issuing，

Like radiant Hesper^65 when his golden hair

In th' ocean billows he hath bathed fair，

Descended to the river's open viewing，66

With a great train ensuing.67

Above the rest were goodly to be seen^68

Two gentle knights of lovely face and feature^69

Beseeming well the bower of any queen，70

With gifts of wit，and ornaments of nature，71

Fit for so goodly stature，

That like the twins of Jove^72 they seemed in sight，

Which deck the baldrick of the heavens bright；73

They two，forth pacing to the river's side，

Received those two fair brides，their love's delight；

Which，at th' appointed tide，74

Each one did make his bride，

Against their bridal day，which is not long：

Sweet Thames！ run softly，till I end my song.

【题解】

斯宾塞有两首“贺婚曲”，Epithalamion和Prothalamion。这两个词语略有区别，前者是献给新郎和新娘而写的祝颂诗歌（a song or poem in honor of a bride and bridegroom），后者是庆祝婚礼的诗歌（a song in celebration of a marriage），但是，都是以婚礼为主题，并表现出贺婚诗和其他题材诗歌的不同风格。贺婚诗歌往往采用强烈的表现形式，讲求优美的韵律，注重押韵，以及采用各种修辞技巧，如明喻（simile）、隐喻（metaphor）、拟声法（onomatopoeia）等等，都刻意渲染婚礼的氛围。本书所选的这首诗是非常有名的、典型的贺婚诗。

【注释】

1.Zephyrus：即Zephyr，西风。在英国，乃和煦之风，和我国的西风不同。

2.Hot Titan's beams：阳光。Titan：泰坦巨人，是希腊神话中天、地所生的十二个子女中的任何一人。其中一位叫许珀里翁（Hyperion），是太阳神赫洛斯（Helios）之父，故Titan经常被喻为太阳。

3.whom sullen care ... brain：斯宾塞当时想在伊丽莎白的宫廷里求一职位，终不可得，不免有所怨言。按： whom和brain都是afflict的宾语，这种结构在古典希腊语中颇为常见。

4.rutty bank：草木葳蕤的堤岸；rooty原指“多情的”，在十六世纪有时被拼写为rutty；the which his river hems：河岸给河水镶上了边；the which：which，在早期英语中较为常见，参见第60页注3。

5.meads：meadows，草地。

6.paramours：（archaic ）爱人，现一般指情夫或情妇。

7.Against the bridal day：为婚日作准备；against意为“为……作准备”。

8.Sweet Thames！ run softly，till I end my song：诗中的迭唱之句，向为人传诵。现代派诗人爱略特（T．S．Eliot）在《荒原》（The Wasteland，1922）一诗第三章《火诫》（The Fire Sermon ）中曾引用此语，以泰晤士河当年的美丽景致来对照后世的污秽，反映现代社会的堕落。参见第742页注4。

9.nymphs：神话中居于山林湖泽的仙女，；espy：窥见。

10.All lovely daughters of the flood thereby：那里的泰晤士河的可爱女儿。

11.locks：头发。

12.entrailèd curiously：精细地编织的；-èd：为一音节，要发音；curiously：（archaic ）carefully.

13.flasket：长形的浅篮子。

14.cropt full feateously：（花）摘得非常整齐；feateously：（archaic ）neatly.

15.vermeil：（poetic ）vermilion，朱红色。

16.bridgegroom's posies：新郎的花束（准备送给新娘）。

17.two swans of goodly hue：这一对天鹅，喻两位新娘；goodly hue：悦目的色彩，指羽毛洁白的色彩。

18.the Lee：即the Lea，利河，发源于赫特福德郡，注入泰晤士河。

19.doth：does；Pindus：品都斯山脉，在希腊色萨利（Thessaly）地区。

20.Jove himself，when he a swan would be ... Leda：据希腊神话传说，朱夫（Jove）看到丽达（Leda）在洗澡，化成白天鹅向她求爱，后生下希腊美人海伦（Helen）。按： 罗马神话中的朱夫或称朱庇特（Jupiter），相当于希腊神话中的宙斯（Zeus）。希腊神话和罗马神话一脉相承，后人往往任意使用其中任何一个名字， 不加区别。参阅叶芝（W.B.Yeats）诗《丽达和天鹅》（Leda and the Swan ）（第666页）。

21.the which them bare：河水托起她们的身体，即浮游在水面上。

22.Seemed foul to them，and bade his billows spare ... feathers：河水与洁白的羽毛一比相形见绌，因此嘱咐波浪不要用不洁之水去打湿洁白如丝的羽毛。

23.Eftsoons：（archaic ）soon afterwards；had flowers their fill：had their fill of flowers，摘花盈篮。

24.that silver brood：指这一对天鹅，亦表示两位新娘。

25.Them seemed they never saw a sight so fair：it seemed to them that they had never seen a sight so fair，她们似乎从未见到如此美丽的一对（天鹅）。

26.Venus’ silver team：爱神维纳斯的车子；team：车子。

27.they did not seem ... seed：非凡夫俗子所生。

28.bred of summer's heat：在仲夏的爱欲中成孕。这两位新娘都是Earl of Worcester的女儿，即Elizabeth Lady和Katherine Somerset，Somerset与Summer谐音。

29.In sweetest season：夏季是英国最美丽的季节。

30.old Peneus' waters：皮尼奥斯（Peneus）是希腊的一条河流。

31.Tempe's shore：敦陂，希腊色萨利地区东北部一个狭长山谷的出海口处，风景秀丽，每隔九年在此庆祝阿波罗节，把鲜花投到河里。

32.Thessaly：色萨利希腊北部地区，位于马其顿南面，在伊庇鲁斯高地和爱琴海之间。

33.Like a bride's chamber floor：就像新娘新房的地面。

34.lay：歌曲。

35.couplement：union，结合。

36.her heart-quelling son：指维纳斯（Venus）之子丘比特（Cupid）。他的箭射中谁的心脏，谁就会堕入情网。

37.hath virtue to remove ... dislike：有能力使所爱的人不再厌恶自己；virtue：功效。

38.For ever to assoil：永远宽恕（奸诈的朋友）。

39.And blessed plenty wait upon your board：上天赐予你们的丰盛食物在餐桌上等候你们去享用。

40.And let your bed with pleasures chaste abound ... afford：意为让你们享受燕尔新婚之乐，早生贵子；pleasures：原指耽于声色（sensuality），用chaste 一词则表示正当的床上之乐；issue：后代。

41.redound：overflow，（Latin ）redundare.

42.all the rest around ... undersong：她周围其他的仙女唱着她歌里的叠句，即Sweet Thames一行；undersong：chorus.

43.Adown：（archaic ） down.

44.As he would speak：he：指河流，the Lee。

45.'Gan：Began.

46.so far as Cynthia doth shend ... stars：就像月神使众星黯然失色；Cynthia：the Moon．伊丽莎白女王也被喻为“月神”，故此处对女王有赞美之词；shend：（poetic ）to put to shame，使相形见绌，自惭形秽。

47.enrangéd well：排成整齐的队列。

48.At length they all to merry London came：此节叙述新娘和众仙女来到伦敦，诗人夹叙夹议，融入个人的观感。

49.That to me gave this life's first native source：据说斯宾塞出生在伦敦塔（Tower）东边的East Smithfield。

50.Though from another place I take my name：诗人虽生于伦敦，但其家族世居Althorp。

51.whereas：where.

52.Where now the studious lawyers have their bowers：当地有四个有名的律师组织，即Lincoln's Inn，Gray's Inn，the Inner Temple和the Middle Temple，统称为Inns of Court。

53.whilom：（archaic ） formerly；wont：be accustomed to；the Templar Knights：通常称the Knights Templars，是保护去耶路撒冷朝圣基督徒的圣殿骑士团，建立于1185年，后成为欧洲各国政治中的重要力量，1312年为教皇下令解散。

54.a stately place：指艾塞克斯府邸（Essex House），从前诗人锡德尼（Sir Philip Sidney）的叔父莱斯特伯爵（Earl of Leicester）在此居住时称为莱斯特府邸（Leicester House）。

55.Where oft I gainèd gifts and goodly grace：诗人曾受到莱斯特伯爵的赏识。

56.that great lord：指莱斯特伯爵，他颇受宠于伊丽莎白女王。

57.Whose want too well now feels my friendless case：此句倒装，意为my friendless state feels，all too deeply，the loss of him，斯宾塞痛感失去了朋友。当时莱斯特伯爵（1532—1588）已死去八年。此诗写于1596年。

58.Old woes：to tell的宾语。

59.a noble peer：指艾塞克斯伯爵（Earl of Essex），女王另一宠臣。斯宾塞写此诗时，这位伯爵正红极一时，但后来因图谋反叛而于1601年被斩首。

60.Whose dreadful name late through all Spain did thunder：不久前艾塞克斯伯爵率领海军一举攻克西班牙的加的斯港（Cádiz），威震西班牙；late：lately.

61.Hercules' two pillars：直布罗陀海峡两岸的悬岩，被称为大力神海克立斯的一对石柱。

62.endless happiness of thine own name ... same：艾塞克斯伯爵的名字是Robert Devereux，其姓Devereux与法语的heureux（幸福）发音相似，故说endless happiness。

63.victorious arms：获胜的武器，指艾塞克斯伯爵的战绩。

64.great Elisa's：指伊丽莎白女王。

65.radiant Hesper：明亮的晚星；Hesper：即Hesperus，the evening star。此处以拟人笔法描写晚星光芒四射（his golden hair）从海上升起，以此比喻艾塞克斯伯爵的英俊。

66.Descended to the river's open viewing：descended to where he can get a clear view of the river.

67.With a great train ensuing：尾随着一大群人；train：一行随从；ensuing：following.

68.goodly to be seen：gracefully to be seen.

69.Two gentle Knights of lovely face and feature：指两位新郎M. Henry Gilford和William Peter。

70.Beseeming well the bower of any queen：适合于任何女王的卧室，即配得上任何高贵的女郎。

71.gifts of wit，and ornaments of nature：天资聪敏，风度翩翩。

72.the twins of Jove：即朱庇特（Jupitar）和丽达（Leda）所生的双生子Castor和Pollux。在Castor死后，两人变为黄道带上的双子座（黄道第三宫）。

73.Which deck the baldrick of the heavens bright：the baldrick：是“肩带”；天空的肩带即黄道带，双子座在黄道带上，故说“装饰着明亮的天空的肩带”。

74.at th' appointed tide：在预定的时刻；tide：（archaic ）一段时间，时刻。

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

克里斯托弗·马娄

（1564—1593）

【作者与作品简介】

马娄，英国十六世纪诗剧大家，是莎士比亚的先行者，以“壮丽的诗行”（mighty line）著名。毕业于剑桥大学，交结了一批无神论者，又为英国政府完成过一项秘密使命，不久因在酒店与人口角，当场被刺身亡，留下了六部剧作和一些诗歌。

他是一个浪漫奇才，笔下写的都是大过常人的征服者和追求者。他有丰富的历史想象力，并能通过壮丽、有力的文字把它表达出来。他也是一个写爱情和美人的能手。

这里选的是一首情诗和两个片断。情诗题为《多情牧童致爱人》，利用了牧歌形式，诗人自比为牧童，而以所爱姑娘为牧羊女，这样就把背景放在美丽的山水之间。这是古典文学的一种手法，用意在使爱情去掉俗气而表现纯真，像古代乐园里乡下人一样纯真，古罗马的作家用过，十六世纪又在英国盛行。马娄之不同凡俗处在于写得音乐性强，自然生动，美丽的描写中看出气魄，而其关键的一行——“与我同居吧，做我的爱人”——又大胆直言，几乎是一种挑战，曾引起许多同时代诗人的注意，至少有三人——多恩、赫里克、劳莱——写诗应和，以劳莱所作最好，其答诗的结句是：

如果青春长存，爱情繁茂，

欢乐不逝，老年无忧，

那么这类乐事会使我动心，

我就与你同居，做你的爱人。

从此也可看出此诗的影响。

两个片断之中，第一个取自马娄未写完的长诗《希洛与里安德》（1598）。这一对爱人各住赫里士滂特（即今天的达达尼尔）海峡的一边，里安德每夜游过海峡去与希洛相会，直到他某夜淹死，希洛也跳海殉情。故事来自古希腊，马娄用它作为诗的骨架，细节则很多是他创造，但他只写完一部分，其余由另一诗人贾浦曼续成。马娄所写，固然也叙事，恣意渲染的却是这一对爱人的青春活力，这里所选对于希洛美貌的描写，即是例证。诗句充满了明亮的色彩，把诗人的“视觉的想象力”发挥到了极致。几乎同时，莎士比亚也写了一首叙事长诗，名《维纳斯与阿多尼斯》（1593），也流利可诵，但不及马娄此作之瑰丽有力。

第二个片断选自《浮士德博士的悲剧》（1592—1593），是形容浮士德蓦见海伦时的印象的。海伦是古希腊的有名美人，为了抢回她，希腊联军同特洛伊军交战十年。这一史实燃起了马娄的历史想象力，现在借浮士德之口来赞颂她。颂美人容易流于浮艳，马娄所作则有历史与宇宙的壮观，并且显得新鲜，体现了文艺复兴时期追求无限知识、无限经验的劲头。

王佐良

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

Come live with me and be my love，

And we will all the pleasures prove^1

That valleys，groves，hills，and fields，

Woods，or steepy mountain yields.2

And we will sit upon the rocks，

Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks，

By shallow rivers to whose falls

Melodious birds sing madrigals.3

And I will make thee beds of roses

And a thousand fragrant posies，4

A cap of flowers，and a kirtle^5

Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle；6

A gown made of the finest wool

Which from our pretty lambs we pull；

Fair lined slippers for the cold，

With buckles of the purest gold；7

A belt of straw and ivy buds，8

With coral clasps and amber studs：9

And if these pleasures may thee move，

Come live with me，and be my love.

The shepherds' swains^10 shall dance and sing

For thy delight each May morning：

If these delights thy mind may move，

Then live with me and be my love.

【题解】

这是马娄的一首名诗，也是伊丽莎白王朝最为人喜爱的牧歌（pastorial lyric）之一。马娄的诗剧风格以雄奇豪迈著称，琼生（Ben Jonson）称之为“mighty lines”，已成公认的定论。这首田园诗则表现了马娄诗歌委婉轻快的一面。后世诗人和唱者甚众，最有名的是同时代沃尔特·罗利爵士（Sir Walter Raleigh）即前文“劳莱”的《仙女答牧童》（The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd ）。玄学派诗人多恩（John Donne）的《诱饵》（The Bait ）一诗，也是步马娄之作。莎士比亚在《温莎的风流娘儿们》（Merry Wives of Windsor ）一剧中也援引此诗的若干诗行。

这首牧歌历来是许多诗集编者的必选之作。

【注释】

1.prove：经历，体验。

2.That句：这是修饰pleasures的定语从句。第3—4两行声律优雅，节奏明快，一笔勾画出山谷林野的田园风景所带来的怡悦。此行pleasure一词历来为后人大做文章。沃尔特·罗利爵士在和诗中如斯作答：

If all the world and love were young，

And truth in every shepherd's tongue，

These pretty pleasures might me move

To live with thee and be thy love.

实则讽刺马娄的田园胜景不可能实现。多恩亦有仿作，题为《诱饵》（The Bait ），以玄学派诗风，把爱情喻为垂钓的诱饵，开首一节为：

Come live with me，and be my love，

And we will some new pleasures prove

Of golden sands，and crystal brooks，

With silken lines，and silver hooks.

二十世纪三十年代，西方资本主义世界发生经济大危机，英国诗人路易斯（C．D．Lewis）在题为Song （1935）的诗中模仿马娄诗，揶揄当时社会：

Come live with me and be my love，

And we will all the pleasures prove

Of peace and plenty，bed and board

That chance enployment may afford.

又奥格登·纳什（Ogden Nash）的Love Under the Republicans or Democrats （1931）一诗中头两行也意如马娄原诗，接着说“of a marriage conducted with economy/In the Twentieth Century Anno Donony.”足见马娄此诗之影响。

3.madrigals：情歌，此处泛指歌。真正的madrigal分为五至六部分，韵律非常严格。

4.posies：posy的复数，花束。

5.kirtle：skirt，女长袍裙。

6.myrtle：爱神木，一种常青灌木，叶子美而芳香。此词英国诗人极喜用。

7.With buckles of the purest gold：饰有纯金的鞋扣。

8.ivy buds：常春藤的嫩芽。

9.coral clasps and amber studs：珊瑚做的扣子和琥珀做的胸饰。

10.The shepherds' swains：牧羊少年。有的版本作shepherd swains。

FromHero and Leander

On Hellespont，guilty of true-loves'1 blood，

In view and opposite，2 two cities stood，

Sea-borderers，3 disjoined by Neptune's might；

The one Abydos，the other Sestos hight.4

At Sestos Hero dwelt；Hero the fair，5

Whom young Apollo^6 courted for her hair，

And offered as a dower his burning throne，7

Where she should sit for men to gaze upon.

The outside of her garments were of lawn，8

The lining purple silk，9 with gilt stars drawn；

Her wide sleeves green，and bordered with a grove^10

Where Venus in her naked glory^11 strove

To please the careless and disdainful eyes

Of proud Adonis，that before her lies；12

Her kirtle blue，whereon was many a stain，

Made with the blood of wretched lovers slain.13

Upon her head she ware a myrtle wreath，14

From whence her veil reached to the ground beneath.

Her veil was artificial flowers and leaves，

Whose workmanship both man and beast deceives；15

Many would praise the sweet smell as she passed，

When 'twas the odor which her breath forth cast；16

And there for honey，bees have sought in vain，

And，beat from thence，have lighted there again.17

About her neck hung chains of pebble-stone，

Which，lightened by her neck，18 like diamonds shone.

She ware^19 no gloves，for neither sun nor wind

Would burn or parch her hands，but to her mind^20

or warm or cool them，for they took delight

To play upon those hands，they were so white.

Buskins of shells^21 all silvered，used she，

And branched with blushing coral to the knee，22

Where sparrows perched，of hollow pearl and gold，

Such as the world would wonder to behold；

Those with sweet water oft her handmaid fills，

Which，as she went，would chirrup through the bills.23

Some say，for her the fairest Cupid^24 pined，

And looking in her face，was strooken blind.25

But this is true：so like was one the other，

As he imagined Hero was his mother；26

And oftentimes into her bosom flew，

About her naked neck his bare arms threw，

And laid his childish head upon her breast，

And with still^27 panting rocked，there took his rest.

So lovely fair was Hero，Venus' nun，28

As Nature wept，thinking she was undone，29

Because she took more from her than she left

And of such wondrous beauty her bereft；30

Therefore，in sign her treasure suffered wrack，

Since Hero's time hath half the world been black.

【注释】

1.Hellespont：赫勒斯滂，达达尼尔（Dardanelles）海峡的古名，欧亚两洲之界，水流湍急。里安德游过此海峡和希洛幽会虽属传说，但泅渡至彼岸并非人力所不能为。诗人拜伦和艾肯海德（Ekenhead）曾于1810年5月横渡成功。拜伦十分引以为豪，在诗歌和书信中曾多次提及，如他在《唐璜》（Don Juan ）第二章第105节中把自己和当年里安德游过海峡的事并提：

He could perhaps have passed the Hellespont.

As once（a feat on which ourselves we prided）

Leander，Mr. Ekenhead，and I did.

一水横断两城，致使有情人丧生，故曰guilty；true-loves’：sweethearts'．

2.In view and opposite：隔岸对峙，遥遥相望。

3.Sea-borderers：位于海滨之城，为罗马神话中的海神尼普顿（Neptune）的神力所阻隔。

4.Abydos：艾包德斯城，位于亚洲的城市；Sestos：塞斯托士城，位于欧洲；hight：called.

5.the fair：金发女郎。

6.Apollo：太阳神阿波罗，希腊神话中主管光明、青春、智慧等的神。

7.burning throne：金光闪闪的宝座，因阿波罗是太阳神，故其宝座为burning throne。

8.lawn：精纺麻纱布面料。

9.The lining purple silk：the lining was of purple silk，衬料为紫色的丝织品。

10.bordered with a grove：（袖子）镶边上饰着一个小园林。

11.Venus：（罗马神话）维纳斯爱神，常以裸体形象出现，故称in her naked glory；维纳斯相当于希腊神话中的阿芙罗狄蒂（Aphrodite）。

12.Adonis：阿多尼斯，希腊神话中的美少年，为维纳斯所爱。阿多尼斯被野猪咬死，因维纳斯恳求，诸神允许他每一年复生半年，故此处说that before her lies。关于阿多尼斯高傲冷漠的态度，莎士比亚在长诗Venus and Adonis 中也有类似描写：Hunting he loved，but love he laughéd to scorn（第4行）。

13.Her kirtle blue，whereon was many a stain ... slain：这两行的大意是许多求爱者不能遂愿而自杀于她脚下，鲜血溅在她蓝色的裙子上；kirtle：skirt．

14.myrtle wreath：爱神木花环。

15.Whose workmanship both man and beast deceives：（假花和假叶）做工精巧，以假乱真，人兽都难辨真伪。

16.'twas：it was；forth cast：cast forth.

17.And there for honey，bees have sought in vain ... again：蜜蜂以为是花香而误去采蜜，被赶去以后重又飞来；lighted：停落在（假花之上）。

18.lightened by her neck：被她白皙的脖子照亮；lighten：illuminate．

19.ware：（archaic ）wore.

20.to her mind：as she wished.

21.Buskins of shells：贝壳做成的高筒靴。

22.branched with blushing coral to the knee：靴筒子上的红珊瑚一直延伸到膝盖；branched：spread，延伸之意；blushing：pinkish，粉红色的。

23.chirrup through the bills：（麻雀）嘴里吱吱唧唧地叫。用珍珠和黄金做的空心麻雀灌了水以后，震动时发出的声音。

24.Cupid：罗马神话中的丘比特，维纳斯和默丘利之子。他是一位美男孩，有双翅，手持弓箭。他的箭射中男女心里，双方就会相爱。

25.strooken blind：striken blind，被弄得眼花缭乱；strooken：strike的过去分词，也是斯宾塞、莎士比亚和弥尔顿等作家的用语，今已废。

26.his mother：即维纳斯。

27.still：continual，不停地（气喘吁吁）。

28.Venus' nun：维纳斯的修女。希洛是维纳斯神殿里的侍女，称之为nun即表示希洛不为常情所动。

29.thinking she was undone：（大自然）认为自己给毁了。

30.Because she took more from her than she left ... bereft：此两行的大意是：希洛从大自然那里得到倾国倾城之美，却不留下什么（即恋爱结婚，带来美丽的下一代）；of such wondrous beauty her bereft：bereft her of such wondrous beauty；her：指Nature.

FromDoctor Faustus

［Helen^1］

5.1.98—117

［Enter Helen again，passing over between two Cupids .］

FAUST. Was this the face that launched a thousand ships

And burnt the topless towers of Ilium？2

Sweet Helen，make me immortal with a kiss.3

Her lips sucks forth my soul^4 — see where it flies！

Come，Helen，come，give me my soul again.

Here will I dwell，for heaven is in these lips

And all is dross that is not Helena.

［Enter old man and stands watching Faustus .］

I will be Paris，5 and for love of thee

Instead of Troy shall Wittenberg be sacked，6

And I will combat with weak Menelaus^7

And wear thy colors on my plumed crest；8

Yea，I will wound Achilles^9 in the heel

And then return to Helen for a kiss.

O thou art fairer than the evening air

Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars！

Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter^10

When he appeared to hapless Semele，11

More lovely than the monarch of the sky

In wanton Arethusas azured arms，12

And none but thou shalt be my paramour！13

【题解】

本节选自马娄的名剧《浮士德博士的悲剧》（The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus5．1.98—117），其中咏古希腊美人海伦的两行诗“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships／And burnt the topless towers of Ilium”（竟是此脸催千帆，巍峨伊城化废墟）是历来传诵的名句。

浮士德的素材取自现成的德语作品的译文，剧本采用的白体诗（blank verse）也是由萨利伯爵（Earl of Surrey）首先引进英国的诗歌领域的。马娄的贡献，在于成功地把白体诗的艺术形式和剧本中的内容紧密加以结合。浮士德和马娄塑造的其他人物一样，感情狂暴，燃烧着极端的欲望，达到置其他一切于不顾的程度。他把灵魂出卖给撒旦，求得无限的智慧和超人的力量，竟能把古希腊美人海伦呼唤到人间，一睹为快。马娄充分发挥了白体诗的特点，创造了豪迈雄健的诗风，即琼生称为Marlowe's mighty lines。

白体诗每行五个音步，每音步为抑扬两个音节，无脚韵，因而整饬、匀称，音律优美而不失之死板，一扫前代头韵体的沉闷，也克服了乔叟双韵体的束缚。

【注释】

1.Helen：海伦。据古希腊传说，系宙斯（Zeus）和丽达（Leda）所生。古希腊斯巴达城邦国王墨涅拉俄斯（Menelaus）之妻，绝代佳人，因被特洛伊王子帕里斯（Paris）诱至特洛伊而触发特洛伊战争。

2.Was this the face that launched a thousand ships ... Ilium：马娄的千古名句，把历十年之久的特洛伊战争的起因和后果一语囊括：使千帆竞发，把伊利安的巍峨城楼烧为灰烬的，就是这一张脸吗？特洛伊城在现代的土耳其境内，和希腊隔着大海；topless：因高耸入云而不见顶，喻特洛伊城楼之高；Ilium：即Troy。莎士比亚曾在《特洛伊罗斯和克瑞西达》（Troilus and Cressida ）一剧中套用此语（2.2.80—82）：She is a pearl／whose price hath launch'd above a thousand ships，／And turn'd crown'd kings to merchants.

3.make me immortal with a kiss：你的一吻将使我永生。

4.soul：希腊语中灵魂和呼吸是同一词（psuch或psyche），有些古代哲学家认为呼吸中有灵魂。

5.Paris：帕里斯，他到希腊斯巴达城见到海伦，把她诱骗回国。

6.Wittenberg：浮士德居住的德国城市；sack：to plunder，to ravage，洗劫。

7.Menelaus：墨涅拉俄斯，海伦的丈夫。

8.plumed crest：头盔上的羽毛饰顶。

9.Achilles：（希腊神话）阿喀琉斯，出生时其母倒提着他在冥河中浸过，浑身刀枪不入。因其脚跟未曾浸过，成为唯一致命弱点。他在特洛伊战争中杀死赫克托耳（Hector），但被帕里斯一箭射中脚跟而丧命。

10.Jupiter：（罗马神话中的主神）朱庇特，相当于希腊神话中的宙斯（Zeus），海伦之父。

11.Semele：（希腊神话）塞墨勒，和宙斯生酒神狄俄倪索斯（Dionysus）。当狄俄倪索斯还在母腹中时，宙斯之妻赫拉出于嫉妒，怂恿塞墨勒要求宙斯以火神的本来面目，带着霹雳闪电来看望她。结果宙斯经不起塞墨勒纠缠，只能以真面目出现，雷电当即把塞墨勒化为灰烬。宙斯把狄俄倪索斯从母腹中救出，放在自己大腿上长大。

12.wanton：merciless；Arethusa：阿瑞图萨。据希腊神话，阿瑞图萨在河里洗澡时被河神阿尔甫斯（Alpheus）看中，遭到追逐。月神狄阿娜（Diana）帮助她遁入地下，变成一股清泉。但是，阿尔甫斯最终把她抓住，河水和泉水结为一体。事见奥维德《变形记》（Ovid's Metamorphoses ）。弥尔顿在《利西达斯》（Lycidas ）一诗中咏阿瑞图萨：（O fountain Arethusa），把她作为古希腊田园诗人忒奥克里托斯（Theocritus）灵感的源泉。至于她和朱庇特（monarch of the sky）的爱情，则未见经传，疑是马娄臆造。azured arms：碧水喻其手臂的肤色。

13.paramour：（archaic，poetic ）情人。

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

威廉·莎士比亚

（1564—1616）

【作者与作品简介】

莎士比亚，英国最重要的剧作家和诗人，也是世界文学史上最伟大的作家之一。

这里要谈的，是他与诗的关系。

首先，他的剧本都是用“白体诗”写成，白体诗是不押韵然而富于节奏感的诗体，表达力强而又伸缩自如，高昂与亲切兼能。这里选了几段台词，出自他最著名的剧本，表达了几种不同的情调：哈姆雷特的疑虑和对生死问题的沉思，李尔王在暴风雨后的片刻宁静和醒悟，麦克白对于自己一生的透视，普鲁斯佩罗向魔法的告别，都出自英雄人物之口，属于不同程度的高昂格调。唯有选自《奥赛罗》的一段台词是一个女仆说的，属于市井谈吐格调。

其次，莎士比亚还善于写别种体裁的诗，如抒情诗。他的十四行诗比当时别人所作更真挚深刻，所选六首各有特色，主题也不一样，虽则都包含一个思想，即文学能超越时间而长存。唯有第129首是写人如何受情欲煎熬的，写得透彻，起初如何，过程如何，结果如何，最后则是从天堂进入了地狱。能这样正面写情欲，又能透视其祸害，但又不简单化，而能道其曲折，形之于诗，莎氏以前没有过，以后也在很长时间内罕见。

十四行诗格律谨严，范围又很小，是典型的文人诗。莎士比亚的高明处，在于他还写了许多谣曲、短歌、小调，抒发了青年人的欢欣和哀怨，也传达了民间的幽默和戏谑情绪，至于像《暴风雨》中爱丽尔所唱的短歌则纯然是音乐，但又不是虚无缥缈的，而是饱含着深海的秘密智慧，所以它本身也是“富丽、新奇”的。

王佐良

SONNETS

18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day？1

Thou art^2 more lovely and more temperate：

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May，3

And summer's lease hath all too short a date：4

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven^5 shines

And often is his gold complexion dimmed；6

And every fair from fair sometimes declines，7

By chance or nature's changing course untrimmed，8

But thy eternal summer shall not fade，

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st，9

Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade，

When in eternal hues to time thou grow'st：10

So long as men can breathe，or eyes can see，

So long lives this，and this gives life to thee.

【题解】

此诗说明人的美貌虽胜过自然之美，但是终将因时光流逝而衰老，只有诗歌能使人的美丽亘古长新。这种思想在文艺复兴时期颇为盛行，甚至可以追溯到更远的时代。比较本书斯宾塞Sonnet 75（第60页）。

【注释】

1.Shall I compare thee to a summer's day：诗人把爱人比作夏天。英国之夏气候宜人，故有此比。

2.Thou art：you are；thou：是单数，复数为ye，不像现代英语中单复数都是you。

3.Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May：第一个音节为扬抑格（trochee），rough重读，音律上的变化强调了自然之美不如爱人之美，从此行起至第八行都以具体的形象支持第二行的断言。

4.summer's lease hath all too short a date：此行喻夏日苦短，不能久留。lease：（房、土地等）租期；date：duration，延续的时期。

5.the eye of heaven：天之眼睛，即太阳。

6.gold complexion dimmed：（太阳）金色的容颜被罩上阴云。

7.every fair from fair sometimes declines：此处两个fair都作名词，前者指美之载体，人或物，后者指美之本质。（同第10行）。

8.By chance or nature's changing course untrimmed：倒装句，正常结构应为untrimmed by chance or nature's changing course；untrimmed：剥夺美丽的外表。

9.that fair thou ow'st：你所占有的美貌；ow'st：owest；按：owe即own，此系古义，和现在的“负债”之意恰好相反，如《暴风雨》（Tempest ）1.2.410—419：This is no mortal business，nor no sound/That the earth owes.

10.to time thou grow'st：与时间同寿，喻亘古不朽；to time：to all time.

29

When，in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes，1

I all alone beweep my outcast state，2

And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries，3

And look upon myself，and curse my fate，

Wishing me like to^4 one more rich in hope.

Featured like him，5 like him with friends possessed，

Desiring this man's art and that man's scope，6

With what I most enjoy contented least；7

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising，

Haply I think on thee — and then my state，8

Like to the lark at break of day arising

From sullen earth，sings hymns at heaven's gate；9

For thy sweet love rememb' red such wealth brings^10

That then I scorn to change my state^11 with kings.

【注释】

1.in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes：穷愁潦倒，遭人蔑视；in disgrace：out of favour，失宠于。

2.beweep my outcast state：悲叹见弃于人的境遇；beweep：weep over，lament；早期英语中前缀be-的作用是将不及物动词变为及物动词。

3.trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries：此行喻呼天不应。bootless：徒劳的。

4.like to：like，第11行同。

5.Featured like him：容貌像他。

6.art：技能，才华；scope：有用武之地。

7.With what I most enjoy contented least：倒装句，正常结构应为contented least with ...， 意为自己最擅长之事，倒是最不满意之处。

8.state：state of mind心情。

9.lark at break of day arising ... gate：云雀被视为欢乐之精灵，日出时歌唱。英语中常有关于云雀欢唱于天门的描写。莎氏本人的诗句如《辛白林》（Cymbeline ） 2.3.20—28：Hark，hark！ the lark at heaven's gate sings；雪莱诗To a Skylark：blithe spirit ...／That from heaven，or near it，/Pourest thy full heart ....华兹华斯诗To the Skylark：Ethereal minstreal！ Pilgrim of the sky！/Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound？

10.For thy sweet love rememb' red such wealth brings：正常结构应为... brings such wealth.

11.state：王位。一语双关，和第10行呼应，言心情顿然舒畅，不屑与帝王易位。

此诗和下一首实为姊妹篇。前者说明所爱之人使诗人忘却现时的悲苦，后者则是消除过去的痛苦。

30

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

I summon up^1 remembrance of things past，

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought，

And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste：2

Then can I drown an eye，unused to flow，3

For precious friends hid in death's dateless^4 night，

And weep afresh love's long since canceled woe，5

And moan the expense^6 of many a vanished sight：

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone.7

And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er^8

The sad account of fore-bemoaned^9 moan，

Which I new pay as if not paid before.

But if the while^10 I think on thee，dear friend，

All losses are restored and sorrows end.

【注释】

1.the sessions of sweet silent thought ... up：意为像在法庭上那样，把往事回忆召来作为见证；sessions：审案，法律用语；summon up：（法庭上）传唤。

2.with old woes new wail my dear time's waste：过去因蹉跎岁月的哀伤，而今重又为此悲叹（utter afresh my old lamentations for the waste of my past life）；new wail：bewail anew．第3—4两行朱湘译为“我为多志寡成吁声叹气，我为光阴空逝哭泣悲伤”（《番石榴集》）。

3.drown an eye，unused to flow：虽然不惯于轻弹眼泪，却泪水横流。

4.dateless：漫漫无期。

5.long since canceled woe：早已消失的苦楚。

6.moan the expense：bemoan the loss，意为我悲叹消失的许多故人旧物。

7.grieve at grievances foregone：为过去伤心事再度哀伤。

8.tell o'er：count，点数，清算。诗人把岁月蹉跎和多志寡成看成人生的亏损和欠账，故用一系列的比喻。除tell外，expense（第8行）、account（第11行）、pay（第12行）和末行的losses都反复表达同一个意思。

9.fore-bemoaned：已经悲叹过的。

10.the while：at such a time，在此时。

65

Since brass，1 nor stone，nor earth，nor boundless sea，

But sad mortality^2 o'ersways their power，

How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea，3

Whose action^4 is no stronger than a flower？

O，how shall summer's honey breath^5 hold out

Against the wreckful siege of battering days，6

When rocks impregnable are not so stout，7

Nor gates of steel so strong，but Time decays？8

O fearful meditation！ where，alack！

Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid？9

Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back？

Or who his spoil of beauty^10 can forbid？

O，none，unless this miracle have might，

That in black ink my love may still^11 shine bright.

【注释】

1.Since brass：since neither brass.

2.mortality：死亡。这两行意为无论是金石，土地，还是海洋，都将被时间所消灭。

3.rage：暴力，淫威；hold a plea：抗辩，法律用语。

4.action：case，申辩的理由，法律用语。

5.honey breath：honeyed breath.

6.the wreckful siege of battering days：时间摧毁一切犹如猛烈攻城。

7.rocks impregnable：坚不可摧的顽石；stout：牢固。

8.decays：causes to waste away，意为时间使顽石和钢门腐烂。

9.Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid：此行意为时间把一切猎获物悉数投入箧中，诗人的爱人也在劫难逃。Time's best jewel：时间的最好珍宝，指诗人心目中的爱人；from Time's chest lie hid：lie hid from Time's chest，潜伏起来，不致被投入时间的箧中。

10.spoil of beauty：对美的劫掠。

11.still：（archaic ）always.

73

That time of year^1 thou mayst in me behold

When yellow leaves，or none，or few，do hang

Upon those boughs which shake against the cold，

Bare ruined choirs，where late^2 the sweet birds sang.

In me thou see'st the twilight of such day

As after sunset fadeth in the west；

Which by and by^3 black night doth take away，

Death's second self^4 that seals up all in rest.

In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire，

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie，5

As the deathbed whereon it must expire，

Consumed with that which it was nourished by.6

This thou perceiv'st，which makes thy love more strong，

To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

【注释】

1.That time of year：一年中的时令，指下行黄叶枯落，颤抖于寒风的景象，喻垂暮之年。

2.Bare ruined choirs：荒芜毁坏的唱诗坛，指boughs；choirs：原意为教堂唱诗班或教士的席位；late：lately，recently.

3.by and by：shortly.

4.Death's second self：指睡眠。比较约翰·多恩（John Donne）：“Death be not proud ... sleep，which but thy pictures be.”另一说指夜（black night）。

5.In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire ... lie：此两行意为火焰在自己的灰烬上燃烧，你在我身上也能看到此种即将熄灭之火；his youth：its youth，指火。

6.Consumed with that which it was nourished by：意为火焰和燃料一起消失。

此诗大意是诗人已是风烛残年，如秋冬，似日暮，生命的火焰即将燃尽，希望爱人因此而更加热爱诗人。

129

Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame

Is lust in action，1 and till action，lust

Is perjured，2 murderous，bloody，full of blame，

Savage，extreme，rude，cruel，not to trust，

Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight：3

Past reason hunted，4 and no sooner had，

Past reason hated，as a swallowed bait，

On purpose laid to make the taker mad：

Mad in pursuit，and in possession so；5

Had，having，and in quest to have，extreme；6

A bliss in proof and proved，7 a very woe；

Before，a joy proposed；behind，a dream.

All this the world well knows；yet none knows well

To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.8

【注释】

1.Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame ... action：此句实为倒装结构：Lust，when put into action，expends spirit in a waste；spirit：vital energy，暗示男人之精液；waste of shame：shameful waste，可耻的消耗，此处waste一语双关，指waist，即人的生殖脏器所在之处。

2.perjured：oath-breaking，违背誓言。

3.Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight：刚尝到情欲之乐，立即感到可鄙；no sooner but：no sooner than；straight：immediately. 注意过去分词enjoyed，despisèd，hunted，hated前面省去lust is.

4.Past reason hunted：冲破了理智去追求（情欲）。

5.in possession so：疯狂地占有。

6.extreme：going to extreme，走极端。

7.A bliss in proof and proved：情欲在享受期间是极乐；in proof：duing the experience；proved：experienced.

8.To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell：去躲避这个把人引入地狱的天堂；heaven：应上文A bliss。

诗人分析了贪欲者的心理和后果，告诫人们不要误将地狱认作天堂。

SONGS FROM THE PLAYS

Spring

When daisies pied^1 and violets blue

And ladysmocks^2 all silver-white

And cuckoobuds^3 of yellow hue

Do paint the meadows with delight，

The cuckoo then，on every tree，

Mocks married men；4 for thus sings he，

Cuckoo；

Cuckoo，cuckoo：On word of fear，

Unpleasing to a married ear！

When shepherds pipe on oaten straws，5

And merry larks are plowmen's clocks，6

When turtles tread，and rooks，and daws，7

And maidens bleach their summer smocks，

The cuckoo then，on every tree，

Mocks married men；for thus sings he，

Cuckoo；

Cuckoo，cuckoo：Oh word of fear，

Unpleasing to a married ear！

【题解】

此歌选自早期喜剧《爱的徒劳》（Love's Labour's Lost，1594）的结尾，分《春之歌》（Spring ）和《冬之歌》（Winter ）两部分。这两支歌在形式上是一场对话，《春》赞扬布谷鸟，《冬》推崇猫头鹰。它们分别象征着该剧苦甜相杂的结尾。

【注释】

1.daisies：（雏菊）花色斑驳，一般有黄、白或粉红色的花瓣；pied：variegated，杂色的。

2.ladysmocks ：ladymock，布谷鸟剪秋罗，一种合叶子属植物，花呈白色。

3.cuckoobuds：莎士比亚用来指buttercup（金凤花），marsh-marigold（立金花）和cowslip（黄花九轮草）等。

4.Mocks married men：布谷鸟的叫声cuckoo，听起来像是cuckold（戴绿帽子的丈夫），所以说在嘲弄已婚的男子。

5.oaten straws：（牧羊人吹奏的）芦笛，象征田园诗。

6.merry larks are plowmen's clocks：云雀在日出时歌唱，故像农夫的钟表。

7.turtles tread：斑鸠交尾；turtle：turtledove，在伊丽莎白朝代，斑鸠被视为爱情忠贞之鸟；tread：copulate，交尾；rooks：白嘴鸦；daws：穴鸟。

Winter

When icicles hang by the wall

And Dick the shepherd blows his nail^1

And Tom bears logs into the hall，

And milk comes frozen home in pail，

When blood is nipped and ways be foul，

Then nightly sings the staring owl.

Tu-who；2

Tu-whit，tu-who：a merry note，

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot，3

When all aloud the wind doth blow，

And coughing drowns the parson's saw，4

And birds sit brooding in the snow，

And Marian's nose looks red and raw，

When roasted crabs^5 hiss in the bowl，

Then nightly sings the staring owl，

Tu-who；

Tu-whit，tu-who：a merry note

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

【注释】

1.blows his nail：对手呵气以取暖。

2.Tu-who：和下行Tu-whit都指猫头鹰叫声。

3.keel the pot：搅动汤锅，以防汤水沸腾溢出。

4.the parson's saw：牧师的格言；saw：wise saying．

5.crabs：crabapples，野生酸苹果。

Sigh No More，Ladies

Sigh no more，ladies，sigh no more，

Men were deceivers ever；

One foot in sea，and one on shore，1

To one thing constant never.

Then sigh not so，

But let them go，

And be you blithe and bonny，2

Converting all your sounds of woe

Into Hey nonny，nonny.3

Sing no more ditties，sing no mo^4

Of dumps^5 so dull and heavy；

The fraud of men was ever so，

Since summer first was leavy.6

Then sigh not so，

But let them go，

And be you blithe and bonny，

Converting all your sounds of woe

Into Hey nonny，nonny.

【题解】

此歌选自《无事生非》（或译《捕风捉影》）（Much Ado About Nothing，1598—1599）第二幕第三场。

【注释】

1.One foot in sea，and one on shore：脚踩两头船。

2.bonny：gay．

3.Hey nonny，nonny：表示欢乐的呼声；Hey：高叫声；nonny：无实义，在民谣中常作迭唱。

4.ditties：（plural ）小调，小曲；no mo：no more.

5.dumps：sad song，悲哀之歌。

6.The fraud of men was ever so ... leavy：意为正如夏天总是绿阴浓密，男人也总是沾花惹草，不安分守己。“哪个夏天不是树荫绿沉沉？哪个男子不是无义又无情。”leavy：leafy，绿叶葳蕤。

Under the Greenwood Tree

Under the greenwood tree

Who loves^1 to lie with me，

And turn his merry note

Unto the sweet bird's throat，2

Come hither，come hither，come hither：

Here shall he see

No enemy

But winter and rough weather.

Who doth ambition shun^3

And loves to live i'4 the sun，

Seeking the food he eats，

And pleased with what he gets，

Come hither，come hither，come hither：

Here shall he see

No enemy

But winter and rough weather.

【题解】

此歌选自《皆大欢喜》（As You Like It，1599—1600）第二幕第五场，轻快地描绘了被放逐的公爵及其随从在亚登森林（the Forest of Arden）中无拘无束、尽情欢乐的生活。

【注释】

1.Who loves：he who lives.

2.And turn his merry note ... throat：improvise his song in harmony with the bird's，即兴放声歌唱，和鸟声相和谐。

3.doth ambition shun：doth shun ambition，意为不慕荣利。

4.i’：in．

Blow，Blow，Thou Winter Wind

Blow，blow，thou winter wind，

Thou art not so unkind

As man's ingratitude；

Thy tooth is not so keen，

Because thou art not seen，

Although thy breath be rude.1

Heigh-ho！2 sing，heigh-ho！ unto the green holly：3

Most friendship is feigning，most loving mere folly：

Then，heigh-ho，the holly！

This life is most jolly.4

Freeze，freeze，thou bitter sky，

That dost not bite so nigh

As benefits^5 forgot：

Though thou the waters warp，6

Thy sting is not so sharp

As friend remembered not.

Heigh-ho！ sing，etc.

【题解】

此歌选自《皆大欢喜》第二幕第七场，第174行以下。主题是把大自然和人类的恶相对照，这也是全剧贯穿的中心思想。

【注释】

1.Although thy breath be rude：虽然你的呼吸非常狂暴。在早期英语中，although引起的从句中用虚拟语气。

2.Heigh-ho：an exclamation used to give encouragement，相当于“来啊！”

3.holly：冬青属植物。

4.jolly：merry.

5.benefits：acts of kindness，favours，恩惠。

6.thou the waters warp：thou warp the waters；warp：roughen by freezing，使水结成冰即变得不平。

Oh Mistress Mine

Oh mistress mine！ where are you roaming？

Oh！ stay and hear；your true love's coming，

That can sing both high and low.

Trip no further，pretty sweeting；1

Journeys end in lovers meeting，

Every wise man's son doth know.

What is love？ 'tis not hereafter；2

Present mirth hath present laughter；

What's to come is still^3 unsure：

In delay there lies no plenty；4

Then come kiss me，5 sweet and twenty，

Youth's a stuff will not endure.6

【题解】

此歌选自《第十二夜》（Twelfth Night，601—602）第二幕第三场。这是小丑费斯特（Feste）唱的一首情歌，颂扬及时行乐。

【注释】

1.sweeting：sweetheart，情人。

2.'tis：it is；hereafter：in some future time，life，or state，在未来，来生。

3.still：always.

4.In delay there lies no plenty：此句比较唐代杜秋娘诗《金缕衣》：“花开堪折直须折，莫待无花空折枝。”又如Robort Herrick诗To the Virgins，to Make Much of Time：Gather ye rosebuds while ye may，/Old time is still a-flying；/And this same flower that smiles today/Tomorrow will be dying.

5.come kiss me：come and kiss me.

6.Youth's a stuff will not endure：Youth's a stuff that will not endure；endure：remain firm，last，历久不衰。

Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun

Fear no more the heat o' the sun，

Nor the furious winter's rages；

Thou thy worldly task hast done，

Home art gone，and ta'en^1 thy wages；

Golden^2 lads and girls all must，

As chimney-sweepers，come to dust.3

Fear no more the frown o' the great；

Thou art past the tyrant's stroke；4

Care no more to clothe and eat；5

To thee the reed is as the oak：6

The scepter，learning，physic，7 must

All follow this，8 and come to dust，

Fear no more the lightning flash，

Nor the all-dreaded thunder stone，9

Fear not slander，censure rash；

Thou hast^10 finished joy and moan：

All lovers young，all lovers must

Consign to thee，11 and come to dust.

No exorciser^12 harm thee！

Nor no^13 witchcraft charm thee！

Ghost unlaid forbear thee！14

Nothing ill come near thee！

Quiet consummation have；15

And renownéd be thy grave！

【题解】

此诗选自《辛白林》（Cymbeline）第四幕第二场。这首挽歌哀悼假死的伊摩琴（Imogen），表达了摆脱尘世苦恼的情调。

【注释】

1.Home art gone：art gone home；ta'en：taken.

2.Golden：gifted in a way that promises future success，有才能和前途的。

3.As：like；come to dust：上帝用土创造了人类，人死后还归土里，见《旧约·创世记》。第5—6两行表示无论贵贱，总有一死。

4.Thou art past the tyrant's stroke：暴君也拿你无可奈何。

5.Care no more to clothe and eat：不再为吃穿发愁。

6.To thee the reed is as the oak：对你来说，芦苇和橡树都没有区别，芦苇象征微不足道之物，橡树象征贵重之物。

7.The scepter，learning，physic：分别指国王、学者和医生，泛指各界人士。

8.All follow this：都必须服从这一规律。

9.the all-dreaded thunder stone：人皆畏惧的雷鸣声；人们认为雷声因陨石坠落所致，故thunder stone；all-dreaded：dreaded by all.

10.Thou hast：you have.

11.Consign to thee：委托给你，意为所有的情人们都得和你走到一起，变成泥土（come to dust）。

12.exorciser：祓除妖魔者。

13.Nor no：叠用否定词，意思仍然否定。又如《暴风雨》（Tempest）1.2.410—411：This is no mortal business，Nor no sourd／That the earth owes［owns］.

14.Ghost unlaid forbear thee：怨气未消的鬼魂会饶恕你。

15.Quiet consummation have：May you have a quiet conclusion of life，愿你安息。比较《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet）：'tis a consummation/Devoutly to be wish'd.参见本书选段（第96页）To be，or not to be.

When Daffodils Begin to Peer

When daffodils begin to peer，1

With heigh！ the doxy^2 over the dale，

Why，then comes in the sweet o' the year；3

For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale.4

The white sheet bleaching on the hedge，5

With heigh！ the sweet birds，Oh，how they sing！

Doth set my pugging tooth on edge；6

For a quart of ale is a dish for a king.7

The lark，that tirra-lirra^8 chants，

With heigh！ with heigh！ the thrush and the jay，9

Are summer songs for me and my aunts，10

While we lie tumbling in the hay.11

【题解】

此歌选自《冬天的故事》（The Winter's Tale，1610—1611）第四幕第三场。这是卖唱艺人、小贩、流浪汉奥托里古斯（Autolycus）出场时所唱之歌。歌词的情调不仅突出了他的性格，而且也使剧情带有由冬天转入春天的气息。

【注释】

1.peer：emerge partly，花朵初放。

2.heigh：呼语，常作heigh-ho；the doxy：（thieves' slang） girl or mistress，（小偷的行话）姑娘或情妇。

3.此行the sweet o' the year是主语。

4.pale：双关语，（1） a territony over which one has jurisdiction（属管辖权下的某一地区）；（2） lacking in colour（苍白，失色）。

5.The white sheet bleaching on the hedge：晒晾在篱笆上的漂白布单（有时会被奥托里古斯那样的流浪汉偷走）。

6.Doth set my pugging tooth on edge：使我心痒痒地想偷窃；doth：does；pugging：thieving.

7.For a quart of ale is a dish for a king：一夸脱的酒就像国王享受佳肴那么甘美。

8.tirra-lirra：云雀的叫声，表示喜悦、欢乐。

9.the thrush and the jay：鸫和鸟。

10.aunts：girls or mistress.

11.lie tumbling in the hay：搂抱着在干草堆上打滚。

Full Fathom Five

Full fathom^1 five thy father lies，

Of his bones are coral made；2

Those are pearls that were his eyes：

Nothing of him that doth fade，

But doth suffer a sea change^3

Into something rich and strange.

Sea nymphs hourly ring his knell：

Ding-dong.

Hark！ now I hear them — Ding-dong，bell.

【题解】

此歌选自悲喜剧《暴风雨》（The Tempest，1611—1612）第一幕第二场。魔岛上的小精灵爱丽尔（Ariel）向那不勒斯的王子腓迪南（Ferdinand，prince of Naples）唱了这支歌。腓迪南大为感动，说：“The ditty does remember my drowned father. /This is no mortal business，nor no sound/That the earth owes.”（这支歌在纪念我溺毙的父亲。这不是尘世的音乐，也不是地上声音。）

【注释】

1.fathom：英寻（测量水深的长度单位，一英寻合6英尺）。前面加数字时，常作单数，故不作five fathoms。

2.Of his bones are coral made：Pieces of red coral are made of his bones，块块红珊瑚是他的骨头形成的。此处coral是集合名词，故用are。

3.Nothing of him that doth fade ... change：whatever in him that is subject to change urdergoes a sea change，凡是他身上可变化的一切都经历着沧海的变化；fade：change gradualy；suffer：undergo，experience.

DRAMATIC VERSE

Hamlet

3.1.56—88

To be，or not to be^1— that is the question：

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer^2

The slings^3 and arrows of outrageous fortune，

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles，

And by opposing end them？4 To die：to sleep —

No more；5 and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to，6— 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish'd.7 To die，to sleep；

To sleep，perchance^8 to dream. Ay，there's the rub；9

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil，10

Must give us pause.11 There's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life.12

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time，13

The oppressor's wrong，14 the proud man's contumely，15

The pangs of despised^16love，the law's delay，

The insolence of office^17 and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes，18

When he himself might his quietus make^19

With a bare bodkin？20 Who would fardels^21bear，

To grunt and sweat under a weary life，

But that the dread of something after death，

The undiscover'd country from whose bourn

No traveller returns，22 puzzles^23 the will

And makes us rather bear those ills^24 we have

Than fly to others that we know not of？

Thus conscience^25does make cowards of us all；

And thus the native hue of resolution^26

Is sicklied o'er^27 with the pale cast of thought，28

And enterprises of great pith and moment^29

With this regard^30heir currents^31turn awry，

And lose the name of action.

【题解】

这几乎是尽人皆知的《哈姆雷特》剧中主人公的著名独白。但是不见得都熟悉和理解整段独白的深刻意义。哈姆雷特因父王突然亡故，叔父登基并迅速娶母为后，深感悲伤。当他从父王的亡灵处得悉其叔父弑君篡位的实情之后，他将信将疑，设法一试鬼魂所言真伪。这段独白正是在他痛苦万分、疑虑重重时的感情吐露。莎士比亚在哈姆雷特这段著名的独白里所表现的深度，不仅刻画了主人公的彷徨和优柔寡断，更重要的是把他的个人的不幸和痛苦上升到整个社会内部的矛盾和冲突。由于哈姆雷特的视角是普遍的社会现象问题，读者可以看到这段独白不是从I或me出发，而全是we，us，who，he. 这正是哈姆雷特的高度，更确切地说是莎士比亚的高度。这段白体诗的情调深沉、严肃，也反映了主人公的自我剖析和批判。

【注释】

1.To be，or not to be：活下去还是不活；to be：to exist.按：后世套用这一结构者甚多。

2.nobler in the mind to suffer：有两种结构：（1） nobler in the mind为一意群，后面是并列的两个动词不定式结构，to suffer the slings etc. 和 to take arms etc.；（2） 'tis nobler 后略微停顿，in the mind to suffer为一意群。一般都认为前说为优。

3.slings：古代一种武器，即投掷器（a strap or pocket with a string attached to each end，for hurtling a stone）。

4.by opposing end them：bringing them to an end by actively taking them on.

5.No more：i.e.，dying is no more than sleeping，死亡无非是睡眠而已。另一说为 to die is to be （exist） no more。

6.flesh is heir to：人类肉体所不可避免的（各种疾病等自然灾害，即 natural shocks）。

7.'tis a consummation ... wish'd：这真是虔诚地祈求的完美结局；consummation：the ultimate end，the fitting end，conclusion of a life or of the universe.

8.perchance：perhaps，possibly.

9.there's the rub：obstacle，difficulty — a metaphor derived from the game of bowls，in which a rub is an obstacle or impediment by which a bow is hindered in，or diverted from，its proper course. 原指地滚球在往前滚动时遇到障碍，使之无法往前或偏离方向。

10.shuffled off this mortal coil：摆脱这人世的纷扰。按：mortal coil 一般的释义为 this turmoil and trouble of living。但是，另有含义是指缠绕在人身上的肉体，在死亡时才得以摆脱，就像蛇蜕皮一样（this mortal flesh，which encloses within its coils or folds our essential being and has to be shuffled off at death as a snake sloughs its old skin）。

11.give us pause：make us stop and think.

12.the respect ... life：the consideration makes those afflicted by calamity willing to endure it for so long，由于这种顾虑，人们甘愿忍受长期的煎熬，苟且活着；respect：consideration.

13.whips and scorns of time：lacerating injuries and insults inflicted on us by the worlds we live in；time：the time or the world we live in，时代，世道。

14.oppressor's wrong：压迫者施行的欺压。

15.contumely：insolence，insulting behavior or treatment.

16.despised：undervalued，held in contempt.

17.office：people in official positions，官僚。

18.the spurns ... takes：the rejections or setbacks that a patient or deserving person receives from worthless or despicable （unworthy ） people，意为谦谦君子受小人之气。

19.might his quietus make：might make his quietus，secure his release from life；quietus：final discharge or acquittance （as from debt or obligation）. The debt in question here is man's debt to God，who lent him life，which he pays by dying.所谓一笔债了断，指上帝将生命租赁于人，人死后即予归还。

20.bare bodkin：可有两解：（1） 只消一刀（mere）；（2） 用出鞘之刀（unsheathed）；bare：mere or unsheathed。

21.fardels：burdens，loads，often used with reference to sin，sorrow，etc.，常指因罪孽、不幸或悲伤等引起的心理负担。

22.The undiscover'd country ... returns：人死即踏上不归之路，跨入那个未知的且永远不能返回的疆域；bourn：frontier；Hamle 此番独白，在他刚刚见到父亲的鬼魂之后。显然，人鬼殊道，他并不因见到父亲鬼魂而认为人死之后犹能回到人间。

23.puzzles：confounds，bewilders.

24.ills：calamity，disaster.

25.conscience：consciousness，scrupulousness，意识，顾虑。

26.native hue of resolution：决断的本色。按：hue和colour的意义不同，hue表示“色彩”，颜色变化的层次（gradation of colour），如hues and shades of twilight，或是使一种颜色被定为红色、黄色等各种不同颜色的特征（the attribute of colours that permits them to be classed as red，yellow，green，blue，etc.），而colour则表示颜色或某种颜色。因此，hue有aspect的含义。

27.sicklied o'er：covered all over with a sickly hue. 按：sickly作动词是莎士比亚所创。

28.pale cast of thought：惨白的思虑的病容；cast：a shade of colour，a trace of a particular quality.

29.pith and moment：gravity and importance；pith和moment都表示importance。

30.With this regard：because of this consideration.

31.currents：direction，course of action.

Othello

4.3. 89—106

But I do think it is their husbands' faults

If wives do fall.1 Say that they slack their duties，2

And pour our treasures into foreign laps；3

Or else break out in peevish jealousies，4

Throwing restraint upon us；5 or say they strike us，

Or scant our former having in despite，6

Why，we have galls：and though we have some grace，7

Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know

Their wives have sense^8 like them：they see and smell

And have their palates both for sweet and sour

As husbands have. What is it that they do

When they change^9 us for others？ Is it sport？10

I think it is. And doth affection breed it？11

I think it doth. Is't frailty that thus errs？12

It is so too. And have not we affections？

Desires for sport，and frailty，as men have？

Then let them use us well：13 else^14 let them know，

The ills^15 we do，their ills instruct us so.

【题解】

莎士比亚的四大悲剧之一的《奥赛罗》和其他悲剧一样，都揭示出人的一些致命弱点，最终酿成悲剧。奥赛罗所处的环境更加险恶，其命运也更加不幸。作为一个摩尔人，奥赛罗全凭自己的军事才能和辉煌业绩，在威尼斯站住脚跟，赢得了很高的社会地位。但是，他却经不起小人雅戈（Iago）的捉弄，终于误中奸计，亲手杀死了妻子苔丝德蒙娜（Desdemona），最后真相大白，悔恨自尽。此处所选是阴谋家雅戈之妻爱米利亚（Emilia）对苔丝德蒙娜说的一段话。

【注释】

1.fall：女人失节。

2.slack their duties：渎职，指丈夫用情不专；slack：slacken.

3.pour our treasures into foreign laps：把我们所珍爱的东西浪荡到别人的怀抱；our treasures：指妻子应该从丈夫那里得到的精神和肉体之爱；foreign：other than their wives'.

4.Or else break out in peevish jealousies：妒火中烧，勃然大怒；此处含沙射影，指自己身边埃古（Iago）和奥赛罗（Othello）这样的人；peevish：foolish，mad，spiteful，perverse，irritable.

5.Throwing restraint upon us：restricting our freedom （i.e. to see other men），限制我们的自由，隐含不让我们和其他人（男子）往来之意。

6.scant our former having in despite：故意刁难，克扣我们的零花钱；scant：to make small or meager；having：allowance；in despite：out of spite.

7.we have galls：and though we have some grace：我们也有脾气或怨气，只是很有涵养，不发作而已（we can feel resentment，though we show some mercy）；galls：bitterness of spirit，rancor.

8.sense：sensual appetite，emotional consciousness；此处也有“七情六欲”之意。

9.change：exchange.

10.sport：recreation，fun，逢场作戏。

11.doth affection breed it：（男人们这样做）是由于他们欲火的驱使吗；affection：passion，lust，和以下And have not we affections中的affections是一个意思。

12.Is't frailty that thus errs：问题是出在脆弱上吗；frailty：moral weakness. 比较Hamlet，1.2.146：Frailty，thy name is woman （脆弱啊，你的名字是女人）。

13.use us well：好好地对待我们。本剧开始时，一个议员对奥赛罗说（1.3. 292）：Adieu，brave Moor，use Desdemona well.

14.else：if not，otherwise.

15.ills：wicked or sinful acts.

King Lear

5.3.9—20

No，no，no，no！ Come，let's away to prison：1

We two alone will sing like birds i'2 the cage：

When thou dost ask me blessing，I'll kneel down，3

And ask of thee forgiveness：4 so we'll live，

And pray，and sing，and tell old tales，and laugh

At gilded butterflies，5 and hear poor rogues

Talk of court news；and we'll talk with them too，

Who loses and who wins；who's in，who's out；6

And take upon 's the mystery of things，7

As if we were God's spies：and we'll wear out，

In a wall'd prison，packs and sects of great ones，8

That ebb and flow by the moon.9

【题解】

李尔王因不辨真诚和虚伪，误将国土分给阴险的长女和二女儿，而对真正爱他并说实话的小女儿则寸土不给，最后由万乘君主变为阶下囚。李尔王的落难使他阅尽人间一切，成为真正的“人”。在全剧的最后一幕中，他和小女儿考底丽娅 （Cordelia）在战场上被俘。考底丽娅问他是否想见见她的两个姐姐。以下即是李尔王的回答。

【注释】

1.let's away to prison：let us come away to prison. 在莎士比亚的英语中，“let us do something” 这样的结构中常省去动词，从上下文中不难知道所省略之动词。

2.i'：in.

3.When thou dost ask me blessing，I'll kneel down：父母不能向子女下跪，此言李尔王悔恨莫及，深感对不起考底丽娅；thou dost：you do.

4.ask of thee forgiveness：ask for forgiveness from you.

5.gilded butterflies：foppish courtiers，浮华的朝臣。

6.who's in，who's out：谁执政，谁在野。

7.take upon 's the mystery of things：profess to understand the mysterious course of events，声称知道世事神秘的变迁；take upon 's：take upon us，一作assume the burden of.

8.we'll wear out ... ones：我们将在高墙厚筑的牢狱中活得比朋比为奸者更长 （we will outlast，in prison，cliques and parties）；wear out：survive beyond；packs and sects：一批狐群狗党；pack：a set of persons with a common interest，clique，常指一群野兽；sects：a group adhering to a distinctive doctrine or to a leader，party，faction.

9.ebb and flow by the moon：像月亮引起的潮汐一样盛衰消长。

Macbeth

5.5.19—28

To-morrow，and to-morrow，and to-morrow，

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time，1

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death.2 Out，out，brief candle！3

Life's but a walking shadow，a poor player^4

That struts and frets his hour^5 upon the stage

And then is heard no more：it is a tale

Told by an idiot，full of sound and fury，

Signifying nothing.6

【题解】

苏格兰大将麦克佩斯因野心的驱使，在女巫与夫人的诱使下，杀死了善良的国王，沦为罪犯，遭到覆灭的下场。此处所选一节表达了已临穷途末路的麦克佩斯吐露的颓唐情绪。

【注释】

1.To-morrow，and to-morrow，and to-morrow ... time：one morrow after another creeps on in this trivial daily progress，till the last word is reached and the Book of Time closed，意为明日复明日，时光蹒跚而行，直至到达时间之书的最后一个字；recorded time：while time lasts a record of it is kept，and the record will only cease when time itself ceases，merged in Eternity，时间在延续时都有记载，而时间消失时记载也随之停止。

2.all our yesterdays have lighted fools ... dusty death：此句意为我们昔日的所有荣光，无非是给（我们这样的）傻瓜照亮了通向坟墓的道路；死后入土，故称。

3.brief candle：short-lived ... flame of existence，生存的短暂的光亮，与上文lighted呼应。《旧约·约伯记》（Job ）21：17：How oft is the candle of the wicked put out！ and how oft cometh their destruction upon them！ （恶人的灯何尝熄灭？患难何尝临到他们呢？）

4.Life's but a walking shadow，a poor player：莎士比亚喜欢这个比喻，又见最著名的《皆大欢喜》 （As You Like It ） 中的一段诗行2.7.142—143：All the world's a stage，/ And all the men and women merely players.

5.struts and frets his hour：（在他登台时）大摇大摆，指手画脚。

6.it is a tale ... nothing：人生好比白痴讲的故事，充满了噪声和狂怒，却毫无意义。比较《约翰王》 （King John ）3.4.107—109：There's nothing in this world can make me joy：/ Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale / Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man. 又：美国作家、诺贝尔文学奖得主福克纳（William Faulkner）的名著 The Sound and the Fury 即典出此处。

Tempest

4.1.161—171

Our revels^1 now are ended. These our actors，2

As I foretold you，were all spirits and

Are melted into air，into thin air：

And，like the baseless fabric of this vision，3

The cloud-capp'd towers，the gorgeous palaces，

The solemn temples，the great globe itself，

Ye all which it inherit，4 shall dissolve

And，like this insubstantial pageant^5 faded，

Leave not a rack^6 behind. We are such stuff^7

As dreams are made on，and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep.8

【题解】

这一段说白选自《暴风雨》。米兰公爵普洛斯彼罗（Prospero）被弟弟驱逐，携幼女米兰达（Miranda）逃往荒岛，后来他以魔法掀起风暴，把篡位的弟弟安东尼奥（Antonio）、那不勒斯王子等乘坐的船掀到荒岛，宽恕了安东尼奥，恢复了爵位，王子同米兰达结为夫妇，一起回到意大利。

【注释】

1.revels：狂欢；普洛斯彼罗施展魔法，安排了一场假面剧，庆祝米兰达和王子费迪南订婚。

2.These our actors：指假面剧中的仙子和精灵；在莎士比亚英语中，指示代词（these）和所有格代词（our）可以连用。

3.the baseless fabric of this vision：凭空搭成的海市蜃楼的材料。

4.all which it inherit：拥有地球的所有这一切；all which：上述一切，作复数，谓语是inherit （i.e.possess）； it：globe.

5.insubstantial pageant：虚无缭缈的热闹场面。

6.rack：指云朵。

7.such stuff：（我们也是）这么凭空搭成的材料。

8.Is rounded with a sleep：以睡眠为终结。

THOMAS NASHE

托马斯·纳什

（1567—1601）

【作者与作品简介】

纳什，剑桥大学学生，写过一部小说叫《不幸的旅客》（1594），这是英国最早的叙述个人冒险经历的小说。此外他写过剧本和同人进行笔战的许多小册子。

《春》是纳什写的《夏天最后的遗嘱》（1600）一剧中的一首诗，剧中人物以四季为名，“夏天”就是剧中的一个人物，这首诗表达了春天给人们带来的欢乐和喜悦的心情。

这首诗的语言朴素无华，通俗易懂。它之所以能给人以美感，主要靠的是诗人运用了丰富多彩的意象，如视觉意象、听觉意象、触觉意象、嗅觉意象，等等。诗中有男女老幼，有禽兽花木，有静景，有动态，“轻寒”的春风和温暖的阳光人们可以感到，百鸟的鸣啭声和悠扬的牧笛声人们可以听到，田野里的芬芳人们可以闻到，——这岂止是一幅欢乐的春景画！我们读这首诗时，只要稍稍发挥一下想象力，就会感到身临其境，深深地陶醉在这生机盎然的迷人的春色之中。

何功杰

Spring，the Sweet Spring

Spring，the sweet spring，is the year's pleasant king，

Then blooms each thing，then maids dance in a ring，

Cold doth^1 not sting，the pretty birds do sing：

Cuckoo，jug-jug，pu-we，to-witta-woo！2

The palm and may^3 make country houses gay，

Lambs frisk^4 and play，the shepherds pipe all day，

And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay：5

Cuckoo，jug-jug，pu-we，to-witta-woo！

The fields breathe sweet，the daisies kiss our feet，

Young lovers meet，old wives a-sunning^6 sit，

In every street these tunes our ears do greet：

Cuckoo，jug-jug，pu-we，to-witta-woo！

Spring，the sweet spring！

【注释】

1.doth：does.

2.Cuckoo：布谷鸟的叫声；jug-jug：夜莺的叫声；pu-we：田凫的叫声；to-witta-woo：猫头鹰的叫声。

3.may：山楂花。

4.frisk：跳跃。

5.aye：（archaic ）always；lay：song.

6.a-sunning：晒太阳；前缀a-表示动作在进行之中。

JOHN DONNE

约翰·多恩

（1572—1631）

【作者与作品简介】

二十世纪二十年代，英美对文学有点研究的人几乎言必称多恩和他的玄学派诗。多恩其人活在十六、十七世纪，原非无名之徒，只不过后来他的那派诗不再行时，于是当格里厄孙教授在1912年重编他和他的那派人的诗集又经艾略特写书评加以宣传的时候，多恩又成为文学时尚，成为英美现代主义潮流的前驱。

多恩出生在伦敦的一个富有的商人家庭，受天主教徒教育，在牛津、剑桥两校都念过，1591至1594年在伦敦学法律，生活放荡。1598年任一位大臣的秘书，却又因与其内侄女私自结婚而入狱，出狱后生活潦倒，改信了英国国教，1612年成为伦敦圣保罗大教堂的教长。他的宗教宣讲极负盛名，后来作为布道文结集印行，为英国散文珍品。

但他更有诗名。其特点是：大部分写爱情，小部分是十四行体的宗教诗，而不论写爱情或写信仰，都像是在同人进行辩论，带哲学探索意味，因此自十七世纪德莱顿称之为“喜弄玄学”起，有“玄学诗”之名，但多恩能将玄学写得十分具体，甚至戏剧化，加上语言口语化，比喻新奇，常将科学发现与海外航行之类的事情引了进来，所以颇有吸引力。特别是在人们厌腻了后期浪漫派的感伤式的甜美之后，这类诗反而显得既有思辨的深度又有个人的激情，写法也新颖可喜。

历来对于多恩作品的评论集中于两点：一是同时代人本·琼生责其不协音律，二是十八世纪约翰逊点出其意象过分奇特，“将杂七杂八的思想硬拉一处，全凭蛮力”。但也正是这后一点，使得现代派的艾略特等人倾心，说他能够将思想与感觉化成一体，“一朵玫瑰在他不是一个概念而是一种感觉”。这话也有道理，但艾略特进而发挥，提出一个“感觉脱节说”，拿多恩来打击弥尔顿，则已为历史证明为愚妄，连艾略特本人也不得不声明收回了。

这类新奇的意象，最有名的例子莫过于以圆规的双脚来比喻离别的男女双方（见《别离辞：节哀》）。多恩作此奇想，说明他对当时的新鲜事物感觉灵敏，而这类事物中显然包括了数学、测量学、航海术之类，因此有人也把这个意象看作是英国十七世纪正在发达的自然科学影响文学创作的一个证明。

我们这里共选多恩四首诗[1]：三首爱情诗，一首宗教诗，全是名作。爱情诗里反复辩论的一个题目是：女人能否忠于爱情？这是诗歌里的一个老题目，男性中心的社会从来是要求妇女绝对地忠实于丈夫的。所不同的，是多恩把背景扩大，把《圣经》上的传说、天文学上天体的偏移、神话中神仙的千年沉睡，以及当时实际生活中的海外万里行种种都引了进来，使得爱情显得渺小，而同时：

对其他一切景色的爱，都受爱的控制，

爱能使一间斗室成为广阔天地。

——早安

又突出人和人的爱情的伟大，于是自我辩论的过程成为一个自我成熟的过程，了解到事物的正反两面相反相成的辩证道理。这样的“玄思”无疑丰富了英国诗的内容。

有关信仰的一首十四行诗也显得奇特，它不是表示对死亡的屈服，而是对死亡的嘲弄：

睡了一小觉之后，我们便永远觉醒了，

再也不会有死亡，你死神也将死去。

依然是辩证法搭救了玄学。

王佐良

The Good-Morrow

I wonder by my troth，1 what thou，and I

Did，till we loved？ Were we not weaned till then，

But sucked on country pleasures，childishly？2

Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers' den？3

T'was so；But this，all pleasures fancies be.4

If ever any beauty I did see，

Which I desir'd，and got，'twas but a dreame of thee.5

And now good morrow to our waking souls，

Which watch not one another out of fear；

For love all love of other sights controls，6

And makes one little room an everywhere.7

Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone，

Let Maps to other，worlds on worlds have shown，8

Let us possess one world，each hath one，and is one.9

My face in thine eye，thine in mine appears，10

And true plain hearts do in the faces rest，11

Where can we find two better hemispheres^12

Without sharp North，without declining West？13

What ever dies was not mixed equally；14

If our two loves be one，or，thou and I

Love so alike，that none do slacken，none can die.

【题解】

这是多恩最有名的诗之一。主题是爱情，爱是一种极其强烈的、绝对的经验。爱情使相爱之人超脱现实，但是给他们一种不同的体验，使他们同时感到两人小小的爱的天地和现实变得无限宽大。本诗歌分三节：第一节讲过去，相爱之前犹如儿童，浑浑噩噩，不懂这个世界；第二节讲现在，因相爱而醒悟，拥有了一个属于自己的世界；第三节展望未来，真正的爱情是永恒的，相爱之人也将是永恒的。

【注释】

题目：Good-Morrow：（archaic ） Good Morning.

1.by my troth：truly，upon my word，我保证，请你相信。

2.Were we not weaned till then ... childishly：意为我们在相爱之前似乎一直没有真正长大，脱离幼稚的童年（断奶），只是孩子气地在乡间嬉戏；weaned和sucked相呼应。

3.snorted we in the Seven Sleepers' den：在两人没有相爱之前，好像是浑浑噩噩，处于酣睡之中。相传古希腊城市爱菲苏斯（Ephesus）的七个年轻基督教徒为躲避罗马国王底修斯（Decius）的迫害，深藏洞穴，沉睡了187年，醒来时发现世界已经变成了基督教世界，一说自公元250年睡到479年。穆斯林的作品中亦有类似传说。

4.But this，all pleasures fancies be：other than this，all pleasures are just fancies，除此之外，所有的欢乐无非是幻觉而已；But：exept，other than；fancy：imagination，illusion；be：虚拟式。

5.If ever any beauty I did see ... thee：此句意为：即使以前见到美人，渴望并得到过她的爱，那也只是像梦幻一样，不能和真正的你相比；beauty：a beautiful woman.

6.For love all love of other sights controls：爱情控制了其他一切美貌。意为有了爱，其他的一切美貌或胜景都不在话下。

7.And makes one little room an everywhere：此行意思承上，意为爱自身就是一个小天地，这个小小的天地就是他们拥有的整个世界；everywhere：此处作名词用。

8.Let Maps to other，worlds on worlds have shown：Let us concede that maps have shown to other investigators worlds on worlds，就算地图向其他探索者显示了一个又一个世界，那又怎么样呢；other：（archaic，plural ） 他人，其他人。

9.Let us possess one world，each hath one，and is one：让我们拥有一个我们自己的世界 （let us possess ourworld），个人自有自己的天地，并相互融合为一个世界。

10.My face in thine eye，thine in mine appears：意为情人四目对视，各自的眼睛里反映着对方的形象；thine和 mine用在以元音开头的名词之前。

11.true plain hearts do in the faces rest：一颗真诚质朴的心会在脸上反映出来。

12.Where can we find two better hemispheres：我们能到哪里去找两个更好的脸颊呢，即能够反映我们的心；two hemispheres：指两个脸颊。

13.Without sharp North，without declining West：（脸颊）没有寒冷严峻的北方，也没有低垂的西方；sharp：briskly or biting cold，austere；declining West：太阳、月亮和星星西沉，故云低垂的西方。

14.Whatever dies was not mixed equally：经院哲学认为，物质的要素（elements） 如果结合得不平衡（not mixed equally），那么，这种物质就会变化，不能永存；只有要素完美结合的物质才会亘古不变，而月球则是这两种不同物质的分水岭。

Song

Go and catch a falling star，1

Get with child a mandrake root，2

Tell me where all past years are，3

Or who cleft the devil's foot，4

Teach me to hear mermaids singing，5

Or to keep off envy's stinging，6

And find

What wind

Serves to advance an honest mind.7

If thou be'st born to strange sights，

Things invisible to see，8

Ride ten thousand days and nights，

Till age snow white hairs on thee，9

Thou，when thou return'st，wilt^10 tell me，

All strange wonders that befell thee，

And swear，

No where

Lives a woman true，and fair.11

If thou find'st one，let me know，

Such a pilgrimage^12 were sweet；

Yet do not，I would not go，

Though at next door we might meet；

Though she were true，13 when you met her，

And last，till you write your letter，14

Yet she

Will be

False，ere I come，to two，or three.15

【题解】

这是多恩《歌与短歌》（Songs and Sonnets ）中的一首名诗，谱上曲调，可以吟唱。多恩的爱情诗有截然相反的两种论调，一是歌颂和肯定爱情，另一种是否定和怀疑爱情。此诗否定女人有忠贞的爱情。这首诗歌家喻户晓，并有谱曲。第一节所说的事情都是不可能发生的；第二节讲即使走遍天涯海角，经过千年万载，也找不到忠贞不渝的爱情；第三节说即便真有奇迹出现，他也不信。

【注释】

1.Go and catch a falling star：去抓住流星，这是不可能的事。以下所言之事，皆非人力所能为。

2.Get with child a mandrake root：和蔓德拉草生孩子，也是不可能的。按：蔓德拉草的须根像男子的身躯，一说此草有壮阳和催情的作用。

3.Tell me where all past years are：已逝的岁月都去了哪里？比较法国中古时期诗人Villon的名句：Mais où sont les neiges d'antan（往年的雪今在何方）？这种提问方式和所提的问题，都是经院哲学辩论的风格。

4.who cleft the devil's foot：传说魔鬼的脚状如偶蹄类牛羊之蹄，故云是何人劈开了魔鬼的脚；to cleave的过去式有三种形式：cleaved，cleft，clove.

5.Teach me to hear mermaids singing：此句意为：谁能教我能听到海妖的歌声，而且能活着回来；mermaid：siren，古希腊神话中的海妖。按：海妖歌声美妙，闻之者都会不顾一切地驶近海妖处，致使船只触礁沉没，葬身海底。唯有奥德修斯（Odysseus）想法亲耳听了一下海妖的歌唱，事见Homer's Odyssey（荷马《奥德修纪》，一译《奥德赛》）。

6.keep off envy's stinging：抵挡嫉妒者的恶毒攻击，不受刺疼。这也极难。

7.What wind ... mind：此前都是祈使句，此句改为疑问句：什么风能使诚实的人有进身之所；wind：发音为［waɪnd］。培根（Francis Bacon）曾说：“and it is sometimes bases；and by indignities men come to dignities.” （有时事且卑劣，因此须做尽不光荣之事，方能达光荣之位。）

8.If thou be'st born to strange sights ... see：此句诸说不一。一说：If you are strongly drawn to see strange things；be'st：beest，和thou相配合；sights：景色；Things invisible to see：things是上行sights 的同位语，亦可理解为to see invisible things。

9.Till age snow white hairs on thee：直至白发苍苍，垂垂老矣；snow：作动词用；早期英语中，till引起的从句可用虚拟式。

10.wilt：will，和thou相配合。

11.true，and fair：true后停顿，以求强调，美貌和忠贞不可两全。

12.pilgrimage：朝圣跋涉。意为如能遇到美貌和忠贞双全的女子，即使必须像朝圣者那样千里迢迢去相会，也是其乐无穷之事（sweet），否则，如下两行所言，即使是一墙之隔，也不愿意相会。

13.Though she were true：早期英语中，though引起的从句可用虚拟式。

14.And last，till you write your letter：她水性杨花，别离之后等你给她写第一封信时，她已经移情他人。

15.False，ere I come，to two，or three：连上句，在她背叛你之后，我尚未和她交往（ere I come），她又已经欺骗了两三个情人了；ere：before.

A Valediction of Weeping

Let me pour forth

My tears before thy face，whilst I stay here，1

For thy face coins them，and thy stamp they bear，2

And by this mintage^3 they are something worth.

For thus they be^4

Pregnant of thee；5

Fruits^6 of much grief they are，emblems of more；

When a tear falls，that Thou^7 falls which it bore；

So^8 thou and I are nothing then，when on a divers shore.

On a round ball

A workman，that hath copies by，can lay^9

An Europe，Afric，and an Asia，

And quickly make that，which was nothing，all.10

So doth each tear，

Which thee doth wear，11

A globe，yea world，12 by that impression grow，

Till thy tears mixed with mine do overflow

This world，by waters sent from thee，my heaven^13 dissolvèd so.

O more than moon，14

Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere；15

Weep me not dead，in thine arms，16 but forbear

To teach the sea，what it may do too soon；17

Let not the wind^18

Example find

To do me more harm than it purposeth；19

Since thou and I sigh one another's breath，20

Whoe'er sighs most is cruellest，and hastes the other's death.21

【题解】

这是多恩同妻子分别时写的又一首《别离辞》诗。他一共写了四首《别离辞》诗，内容各有侧重，论述与别离相关的思想和情感。此诗讨论的是哭泣，充满离奇的意象和比喻。对多恩的奇思怪想（conceit）以及由此构造的表达形式含意，批评家见仁见智，不必强求一致。

【注释】

题目：A Valediction of Weeping：valediction：a departure speech or discourse，a bidding of farewell；of：on.

1.whilst I stay here：while I am still with you.

2.For thy face coins them，and thy stamp they bear：看到你的脸，使我悲泪双流，眼泪像钱币，我的泪珠反映出你的脸；coins：makes them （tears） coins；stamp：image.

3.mintage：铸币，和上文coins them相呼应。既然眼泪是钱币，那就是有价值的（something worth）。

4.thus they be：they would be.

5.Pregnant of thee：泪珠有你孕育在其中。（因此就像钱币一样有价值。）

6.Fruits：（plural ）product，effect；眼泪是过于悲哀的结果。水果也是圆的，如同泪珠。

7.that Thou：此处that是指示代词，Thou起名词的作用，即 “那个你”，故动词用falls，而不是和thou相配合的fallest。此句意为：当眼泪掉下来之后，眼泪里包含着的那个你也就掉下来了。

8.So：由于这样的原因，其结果是。随上句意思而扩展，此句表示：当他们俩天各一方（on a diverse shore），诗人的眼泪流尽，钱币消失，你也因孕育你的泪珠的消失而不复存在。参见约翰·肖克劳斯（John T. Showcross）注释：he because his tears can no longer be coined and only they are valuable，and she because without his tears she cannot be born. （The Complete Poetry of John Donne ）

9.On a round ball ... lay：工匠拿着一张张地图（copies） 往空白的地球仪（round ball）上贴上去。

10.make that，which was nothing，all：本来是空荡荡的地球仪（which was nothing），把印有各洲的地图贴上之后，现在有了一个包罗万象（all）的地球仪了。

11.So doth each tear ... wear：So：像工匠做地球仪那样；thee doth wear：doth wear thee，doth系因音节需要而加的垫词（expletive），并非特别强调，诗歌中常见，又如下do overflow。

12.yea world：more than just a blank globe，a world，because it bears her impression. 地球仪上有了各洲、各国，也就不仅是一个球，而是一个世界了，同样，我的眼泪也因为有你的形象在其中而成为一个丰富的世界。

13.my heaven：是thee的同位语。

14.more than moon：Not just a satellite of the world，but the world itself.

15.Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere：月亮的引力使得海平面升起。你不要让我痛哭，这将使我淹死在你的世界里；sphere：domain.

16.thine arms：在元音之前用thine，不用thy。

17.forbear ... soon：不要让大海过早地把我淹死。

18.wind：此处发音为 ［waɪnd］。

19.than it purposeth：不要让狂风本如此厉害地伤害我，它也本无意如此而为。

20.sigh one another's breath：互相面对着叹气，把对方的气吸入。

21.Whoe'er sighs most is cruellest，and hastes the other's death：叹气使人折寿，故谁最伤心叹气，谁就加速对方的死亡。

Love's Alchemy

Some that have deeper digged love's mine than I，1

Say，where his centric happiness^2 doth lie.

I have loved，and got，and told，3

But should I love，get，tell，till I were old，

I should not find that hidden mystery.

O ！ 'tis imposture all；

And as no chemic^4 yet th' elixir^5 got，

But glorifies his pregnant pot，6

If by the way to him befall

Some odoriferous^7 thing，or medicinal，

So，lovers dream a rich and long delight，

But get a winter-seeming summer's night.8

Our ease，our thrift，our honour，and our day，

Shall we for this vain bubble's shadow^9 pay？

Ends love in this，that my man^10

Can be as happy as I can，if he can

Endure the short scorn of a bridegroom's play？11

That loving wretch that swears，

'Tis not the bodies marry，12 but the minds，

Which he in her angelic finds，13

Would swear as justly，14 that he hears，

In that day's rude hoarse minstrelsy，the spheres.15

Hope not for mind in women；at their best，

Sweetness and wit they are，but mummy，possessed.16

【题解】

《爱的炼金术》是多恩的一首名诗，其结构复杂、遣词微妙、意象繁复，需细细玩味和体会。诗人感叹真正爱情之不可得。此诗第一节表明追求柏拉图式精神恋爱和炼金术师企图从贱金属中炼出黄金一样，都是徒劳无益之举。第二节揭示追求虚无缥缈的天使般智慧型爱情者得不偿失，但他们往往自欺欺人，赌咒发誓声明结合的是心灵而不是肉体，就像在婚礼上说听到的是天堂里来的音乐，其实只是凡夫俗子的喧闹声，都是一派谎话。

【注释】

1.deeper digged love's mine than I：有些人深挖爱情之矿，指的是追求柏拉图式的精神恋爱，而“我”只是满足于凡人之爱；digged：（archaic ） dug；love's mine：爱之矿。

2.centric happiness：the center of love's happiness，也就是下面所说的hidden mystery。本诗开始两行实际是祈使句，意为：有些人比我更深地挖掘爱之矿，说吧，到底爱的极致在哪里？

3.told：counted （successful love affairs），点数着得到的一次次爱。诗人自慰经历过爱情，得到了爱情，也能数得出有多少次爱的享受，而这无非是普通的爱情。接下来说，如要找到所谓爱的不可窥探的神秘（hidden mystery），那到白头也求之不得。

4.chemic：alchemist，炼金术师。

5.elixir：有两个含义：（1） philosopher's stone，a substance which transmutes base metals to gold，炼金术师极力寻找的是能够把一般金属变成黄金的某种物质；（2） elixir of life，a liquor once supposed to have the power of indefinitely prolonging life，一种使人长生不老的液体。The import is：the love that I have dug from the mine is base，and not gold，and no elixir to transmute it has been found.

6.pregnant pot：fruitful crucible；如果炼金术师偶尔炼出一点香味或者有疗效的药，就会吹嘘他的炼金锅充满（pregnant）好东西。此处pregnant一语双关，也暗示结婚生孩子此类世俗的事情，不是柏拉图精神恋爱所期望的结果。

7.odoriferous：emitting a （usually pleasant） smell.

8.winter-seeming summer's night：（幸福）原来冰凉如隆冬，短暂似夏夜。第二节的意思为：正如（And as no chemic ... ）炼金术师还未找到点石成金的物质，偶尔炼丹锅里发现一点香味或有疗效的药，就会大肆吹嘘，同样（So，lovers dream ... ）恋人们梦想着两情美满长久的幸福，到头来只发现幸福原来不过像冰凉的冬天和短暂的夏夜而已。

9.vain bubble's shadow：（爱情是）虚幻的泡沫的影子，强调不仅是泡沫，而且只是泡沫的影子。

10.man：servant.

11.the short scorn of a bridegroom's play：the soon-past indignity of a bridegroom；此句含义不清楚，可能表示新郎出席婚礼仪式像是演戏，受人摆弄，没有尊严。此句正常结构应为：Does love end in this，so that my man ... bridegroom's play？

12.'Tis not the bodies marry：'Tis not the bodies that marry；按：在早期英语中，关系代词that 或which经常省略。但是，此处也可以是另外一种结构：'Tis not that the bodies marry.

13.Which he in her angelic finds：which he finds angelic in her；angelic 有celestial，intellectual之意，即天使般的、智慧型的。按：which 的先行词为minds，复数，但实质上只是指她的mind，单数。

14.Would swear as justly：也是这样赌咒发誓地宣称；justly：exactly，precisely.

15.In that day's rude hoarse minstrelsy，the spheres：that day：wedding day；minstrelsy：the singing and playing of a minstrel，此处只是指婚礼上的音乐和歌唱，并不一定是吟游诗人的弹唱；the spheres：the heavenly music of the celestial sphere，天堂里的天籁之声。

16.Hope not for mind in women；at their best ... possessed：最后两行的意思非常复杂，根据如何标点来定。一般可以理解为： 不必希求女人的心，她们温柔、聪明，但是充其量不过是被人拥有的木乃伊而已。参见The Norton Anthology of English Literature，Volume I： The syntax of the last two lines is very dark；the last line in particular may be read with a comma after “wit，” after “are，” or after “mummy.” The final word may modify “mummy，” to signify “mummy” with a demon in “it，” or “they，” to signify “women who when you have possessed them.” A comma after “best” would change the whole balance of the end. Some sort of misogyny is almost certainly expressed.

A Valediction：Forbidding Mourning

As virtuous men pass mildly away，1

And whisper to their souls to go，2

Whilst some of their sad friends do say，

“The breath goes now，” and some say，3 “No.”

So let us melt，4 and make no noise，

No tear-floods，nor sigh-tempests move；5

'Twere^6 profanation of our joys

To tell the laity^7 our love.

Moving of th' earth^8 brings harms and fears；

Men reckon what it did，and meant；

But trepidation of the spheres，9

Though greater far，is innocent.

Dull sublunary^10 lovers' love

（Whose^11 soul is sense） cannot admit

Of absence，'cause it doth remove

The thing which elemented^12 it.

But we by a love so much refined，

That ourselves^13 know not what it is，

Inter-assurèd of the mind，14

Care less，eyes，lips and hands to miss.15

Our two souls therefore，which are one，

Though I must go，endure not yet

A breach，but an expansion，16

Like gold to airy thinness beat.17

If they be two，they are two so

As stiff twin compasses are two；18

Thy soul，the fix'd foot，makes no show

To move，but doth，if th' other do.

And though it in the centre sit，19

Yet，when the other far doth roam，

It leans，and hearkens after it，

And grows erect，as that comes home.

Such wilt thou be to me，who must，

Like th' other foot，obliquely run；20

Thy firmness makes my circle just，21

And makes me end where I begun.22

【题解】

此诗是多恩在1612年出游欧洲大陆时写给妻子的《告别词》。据艾萨克· 沃尔登（Izaak Walton）记载，多恩在远行前已有不祥之兆，果然，在他离开后不久其妻生了一死胎，预感不幸应验。然而，沃尔登认为多氏夫妇的不幸与此诗有关的看法，只是一种臆断而已。此诗写得严肃而深沉，其中奇思构想，颇能代表多恩的玄学派诗风，故历来为选家所重视。

【注释】

1.As virtuous men pass mildly away：as和第5行的so呼应，即Just as ... so；pass mildly away：静静地离开人世。

2.whispers to their souls to go：有的版本在to之前加逗号。离别赠诗，起首论生离死别，实在是大胆新奇之笔。

3.“The breath goes now，”：直接引语，“已经咽气”。

4.melt：depart unobtrusively，悄然死去，应上文pass mildly away。

5.No tear-floods，nor sigh-tempests move：move no tear-floods，nor sigh-tempests，不使人悲泪双流，哀痛欷歔。

6.'Twere：it were.

7.laity：（区别于僧侣、教士的）俗人。诗人把爱情喻为神圣的宗教，故不懂真正爱情者为俗人。

8.Moving of th' earth：地震。

9.trepidation of the spheres：天体的震颤。文艺复兴时期的一种假设，认为天体因震动而偏离正常的运行轨道，但地球上的人观察不到，故并不为之担忧。这种运动不像地震，被认为是无害的 （innocent），虽然天体的颤抖要比地震猛烈得多（though greater far）。按：“天体震颤”一说在950年由托勒密天体学提出，以解释某些天象，其实只是地球在绕地轴旋转时发生抖动而引起的。

10.sublunary：below the moon，月亮下的，即尘世的，多变的。

11.Whose：指love；这种爱情的本质（soul）是感官之爱，故不能容忍别离（cannot admit absence）。

12.elemented：composed；此句意为感官之爱消除了爱的基本因素，使爱情空虚，故只能凭借感官得以生存。

13.ourselves：我们的自我。

14.Inter-assurèd of the mind：彼此心心相印。

15.Care less，eyes，lips and hands to miss：care less to miss eyes，lips，and hands.

16.endure not yet ... expansion：（由于我们心有灵犀一点通，） 所以我们的心灵经受的不是背弃，而是扩展。

17.Like gold to airy thinness beat：正常结构为Like gold beat to airy thinness，（别离是爱情的扩展）犹如黄金被延展成薄片。

18.As stiff twin compasses are two：像两脚圆规两只脚。把相恋的情人比作圆规，这是多恩典型的奇思怪想（conceits），这一比喻常被用来说明玄学派奇思的特点。

19.though it in the centre sit：早期英语though引导的从句中，动词可用虚拟式。

20.obliquely run：圆规活动的那只脚有所倾斜，故说obliquely。

21.Thy firmness makes my circle just：你站得稳扎，我转得滚圆；just：proper.

22.makes me end where I begun：我的活动首尾相接。表明走得很圆，圆是完美的象征。

HOLY SONNETS

10

Death，1 be not proud，though some have callèd thee

Mighty and dreadfull，for，thou art^2 not so；

For，those，whom thou think'st，3 thou dost overthrow，

Die not，poor Death，nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep，which but thy pictures be，4

Much pleasure；then from thee，much more must flow，5

And soonest our best men with thee do go，

Rest of their bones，and soul's delivery.6

Thou art slave to Fate，Chance，kings，and desperate men，7

And dost with poison，war，and sickness dwell，

And poppy，or charms^8 can make us sleep as well

And better then thy stroke；9 why swell'st thou then；10

One short sleep past，we wake eternally，

And death shall be no more；11 Death，thou shalt die.

【注释】

1.Death：拟人化，死神。

2.thou art：you are.

3.think'st：thinkest，和thou相配合的动词现在时形式；如下dost （do），canst （can），swell'st （swell）等。

4.which but thy pictures be：（休息和睡眠）只是你的化身；pictures：likeness.

5.Much pleasure；then from thee，much more must flow：有的版本后面用逗号，谓语动词是后面的must flow。第5—6两行正常的句子结构应为：Much pleasure from rest and sleep，which are but thy pictures，and then much more （pleasure） must flow from thee. 意为：你的化身，即休息和睡眠，给人以很大的快乐，尔后你又给人以更大的快乐；much more：much more pleasure.

6.And soonest our best men with thee do go ... delivery：our best men go with thee to find rest for their bones，and freedom （delivery） for their souls，我们出类拔萃的人最愿意和你离去，寻找骨肉的安歇之处，和灵魂的自由（解脱）；soonest：most willingly；delivery：deliverance，freedom.

7.Thou art slave to Fate，Chance，kings，and desperate men：命运，偶然性，帝王和亡命之徒都会置人于死地，故死神是它（他）们的奴隶；fate和chance拟人化，在有的版本中大写。下行poison，war，sickness都是拟人化用法。

8.poppy：opium，鸦片；charms：符咒。

9.stroke：（致人死命的）打击。

10.why swell'st thou then：why do you puff with pride，你为何趾高气扬？

11.no more：死了。

[1]这次修订增加了两首，共六首。

BEN JONSON

本·琼生

（1572—1637）

【作者与作品简介】

琼生以写剧出名，在其生时名声高出莎士比亚。他也写诗，以典雅胜。

《给西丽雅》一诗经后人谱成音乐，至今有人演唱。它是情诗，但能不落俗套，说法巧妙，结构完整，最后一行尤见机智。

《规模》也含奇思。当别的诗人慨叹事物不能长存的时候，琼生则做反面文章，说明时间短、规模小反更完美，几个对照，两行结语，都能说清道理而又出之以文雅。

王佐良

Song：To Celia （Ⅰ）

Come，my Celia，let us prove，1

While we can，the sports of love；2

Time will not be ours forever；

He at length our good will sever.3

Spend not then his^4 gifts in vain.

Suns that set may rise again；

But if once we lose this light，5

'Tis with us perpetual night.

Why should we defer our joys？6

Fame and rumor are but toys.7

Cannot we delude the eyes

Of a few poor household spies，8

Or his easier ears beguile，9

So removèd by our wile？

'Tis no sin love's fruit to steal；

But the sweet thefts to reveal，

To be taken，to be seen，

These^10 have crimes accounted been.

【题解】

琼生有两首To Celia，两诗在内容上并无前后承接和内在的关系。这一首取自他的剧本《沃尔波内，又名狐狸》（Volpone，or The Fox ）。主人公沃尔波内（Volpone）名字的意思是“狐狸”，象征他为人狡诈，诡计多端。他是个贪婪的骗子，好色之徒。他没有子嗣，佯称将死，需要寻找继承人，以此来骗取觊觎其财产的贪利者的珍贵礼物。剧中有一个情节是描述库尼弗（Cornivo，意为“乌鸦”）献妻，沃尔波内设法诱奸其妻西丽雅（Celia）。此诗大部分内容取自罗马抒情诗人卡图鲁斯（Gaius Valerius Catullus）的作品，也被谱曲。

【注释】

1.prove：experience，体验。

2.sports of love：调情做爱，说明对爱极不严肃，玩世不恭。

3.He at length our good will sever：时间将最终剥夺我们的欢愉；He：time；at length：comprehensively，finally，此处这两层意思都有；good：benefit，delight；sever：separate.

4.his：its，i.e.，time's；一说love's 两者似皆通，然以前说为优。

5.this light：i.e. love，like the sunlight.

6.defer our joys：及时行乐。

7.Fame and rumor are but toys：名声和流言蜚语无所谓，不必考虑。

8.poor household spies：大户人家的家中佣人常被作为耳目，监督家中其他成员的不轨行为。

9.Or his easier ears beguile：通过巧妙的手段能更好地避开他的耳朵。不是ears easier to beguile，而是beguile his ears more easily by stratagem，这是一种修辞法，称为“移就格”，hypallage （an interchange of two elements in a phrase or sentence from a more logical to a less logical relationship，as in “a mind is a terrible thing to waste” for “to waste a mind is a terrible thing”）；his：指西丽雅（Celia）的丈夫。

10.These：to be taken and to be seen，偷情不是罪愆，被人发现才是。

Song：To Celia （Ⅱ）

Drink to me only with thine eyes^1

And I will pledge^2 with mine；

Or leave a kiss but in the cup，3

And I'll not look for wine.

The thirst that from the soul doth rise^4

Doth^5 ask a drink divine；

But might I of Jove's nectar sup，6

I would not change for thine.7

I sent thee late^8 a rosy wreath，

Not so much honouring thee^9

As giving it a hope，that there

It could not withered be.10

But thou thereon didst only breathe，11

And sent'st it back to me；

Since when^12 it grows，and smells，I swear，

Not of itself，but thee.13

【题解】

此诗选自《森林》（Forest，1616）。琼生从古希腊诡辩家菲洛斯特拉托斯（Philostratus）的《书信集》（Epistles ）中集句而成。原文取自五个不同的段落，琼生加以修剪移接，炼字琢句，遂成千古绝唱。这首英国诗歌中的名诗，历来得到选家的垂青。

【注释】

1.Drink to me only with thine eyes：你只需用秋波向我祝酒。杯酒在手，却愿对方以眼神祝酒，起句即不凡；thine：thy，元音eye之前用thine。

2.pledge：vow，即 I vow to drink to thee with mine；此处一语双关，另有祝酒、干杯之意。

3.leave a kiss but in the cup：only leave a kiss in the cup，以吻代酒。

4.The thirst that from the soul doth rise：灵魂的渴望，与第一句呼应，非凡酒所能缓解，故下说 drink divine；doth：does，和第三人称单数相配合。

5.Doth：expletive，垫词，非为强调，而是因音节的需要而加。

6.might I of Jove's nectar sup：If I might sup some of Jove's nector，品尝主神朱庇特（Jupiter，即Jove）的美酒；nectar：古希腊神话中众神的饮料 （the drink of the gods，the beverage of the gods，giving life and beauty），并非由朱庇特专享；sup：taste.

7.change for thine：take it （Jove's nectar） in exchange for thine；change：exchange；thine：yours. 此句意为：Even if I might taste Jove's nectar，I would not take it in exchange for thine.

8.late：lately.

9.honouring thee：offering it （i.e. rosy wreath） in your honor.

10.that there ... be：这一个词组是hope 的同位语；there：with you，戴在你的头上或身上某一处；could not withered be：could not wither. 此句意为：我送你一朵玫瑰花，不是献给你的，而是给花一个希望，因为到了你那里它就不会枯萎。

11.thou thereon didst only breathe：thou didst only breathe on it，你只要对花呼口气；此句为虚拟语气，didst，sent'st和thou配合。

12.Since when：after which time，then.

13.Not of itself，but thee：i.e.，it does not grow by itself，or does not smell of itself，but grows and smell on account of thee. 花一旦到了你的身上，其生长或散发香味，是因为有你的缘故，而非依靠其自身。

按：菲洛斯特拉《书信集》中五段内容的英译文如下，供参考。

PHILO STRATUS，Epistles ：

（33） So set the cups down and leave them alone，especially for fear of their fragility；and drink to me only with your eyes，'twas such a draught that Zeus too drank — and took to himself a lovely boy to bear his cup. And，if it please you，do not squander the wine，but pour in water only，and，bringing it to your lips，fill the cup with kisses and so pass it to the thirsty. Surely nobody is so ignorant of love as to yearn for the gift of Dionysus any longer after the vines of Aphrodite. （32） I first and foremost，when I see you，feel thirst，and against my will stand still，and hold the cup back；and I do not bring it to my lips，but I know that I am drinking of you. （60） And if ever you sip from the cup all that is left becomes warmer with your breath and sweeter than nectar. At all events it slips by a clear passage down to the throat，as if it were mingled not with wine but with kisses. （2） I have sent you a garland of roses，not to honour you （though I would fain do that as well），but to do a favour to the roses themselves，so that they may not wither. （46）If you wish to do a favour for a lover，send back what is left of ［my roses］，since they now breathe a fragrance，not of roses only，but also of you.

To the Memory of My Beloved，the Author Mr. William Shakespeare

And What He Hath Left Us

To draw no envy，Shakespeare，on thy name，

Am I thus ample to thy book and fame；1

While I confess thy writings to be such

As neither man nor muse can praise too much.2

'Tis true，and all men's suffrage.3 But these ways

Were not the paths I meant unto thy praise：4

For silliest ignorance on these may light，5

Which，when it sounds at best，but echoes right；

Or blind affection，which doth ne'er advance

The truth，but gropes，and urgeth all by chance；6

Or crafty malice^7 might pretend this praise，

And think^8 to ruin，where it seemed to raise.

These are，as some infamous bawd^9 or whore

Should praise a matron.10 What could hurt her more？

But thou art proof against them，11 and indeed，

Above th' ill fortune of them，or the need.12

I therefore will begin. Soul of the age！

The applause！ Delight！ the wonder of our stage！

My Shakespeare，rise；I will not lodge thee by^13

Chaucer，14 or Spenser，15 or bid Beaumont^16 lie

A little further，to make thee a room：

Thou art a monument without a tomb，

And art alive still while thy book doth live

And we have wits to read and praise to give.

That I not mix thee so，my brain excuses，

I mean with great，but disproportioned Muses，

For if I thought my judgment were of years，

I should commit thee surely with thy peers，

And tell how far thou didst our Lyly^17 outshine，

Or sporting Kyd，18 or Marlowe's^19 mighty line.

And though thou hadst small Latin and less Greek，20

From thence to honour thee，I would not seek

For names；21 but call forth thund'ring Aeschylus，22

Euripides^23 and Sophocles^24 to us；

Pacuvius，25 Accius，26 him of Cordova dead，27

To life again，to hear thy buskin^28 tread，

And shake a stage；or，when thy socks^29 were on，

Leave thee alone for the comparison

Of^30 all that insolent Greece or haughty Rome^31

Sent forth，or since did from their ashes come.32

Triumph，my Britain，thou hast one to show

To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe.33

He was not of an age but for all time！

And all the Muses still^34 were in their prime，

When，like Apollo，35 he came forth to warm

Our ears，or like a Mercury^36 to charm！

Nature herself was proud of his designs^37

And joyed to wear the dressing of his lines，

Which were so richly spun，and woven so fit，

As，since，she will vouchsafe no other wit.38

The merry Greek，tart Aristophanes，39

Neat Terence，40 witty Plautus，41 now not please，

But antiquated and deserted lie，

As they were not of Nature's family.42

Yet must I not give Nature all；thy art，

My gentle^43 Shakespeare，must enjoy a part.

For though the poet's matter nature be，

His art doth give the fashion；44 and，that he^45

Who casts to write a living line，46 must sweat，

（Such as thine are）47 and strike the second heat

Upon the Muses' anvil；48 turn the same

（And himself with it） that he thinks to frame，49

Or，for the laurel，he may gain a scorn；50

For a good poet's made，as well as born；51

And such wert thou！52 Look how the father's face

Lives in his issue，53 even so the race

Of Shakespeare's mind and manners^54 brightly shines

In his well-turned，and true-filed lines；55

In each of which he seems to shake a lance，56

As brandished at the eyes of ignorance.

Sweet Swan of Avon！57 what a sight it were

To see thee in our waters yet appear，

And make those flights upon the banks of Thames，

That so did take Eliza and our James！58

But stay，I see thee in the hemisphere^59

Advanced，and made a constellation there！60

Shine forth，thou star of poets，and with rage

Or influence，61 chide or cheer the drooping stage，62

Which，since thy flight from hence，hath mourned like night，

And despairs day，but for thy volume's light.63

【题解】

琼生这首诗置于《莎士比亚戏剧第一对开本》（The First Folio，1623）卷首。不是一首普通的赞美诗，而是一首高超的文艺批评诗。诗人把莎士比亚和自古希腊、古罗马以来的著名戏剧作家相比较，彰显其对戏剧的突出贡献，批驳了有些人的恶意贬黜。琼生当时名盖莎士比亚，在文坛影响巨大，一言九鼎。在各个剧团、剧作家之间竞争激烈的背景下，如此热情公允地推戴莎士比亚，充分表现了琼生对莎士比亚的由衷折服。琼生说理透彻，掷地有声，有些名句成为不刊之论。He was not of an age but for all time.这句名言，概括了琼生对莎士比亚的定论。这使人想起用中国唐代文章大家韩愈对李、杜的称颂：“李杜文章在，光芒万丈长”。对有些无理贬低这位戏剧大师的人来说，或如杜甫在《戏为六绝句》中所言：“尔曹身与名俱灭，不废江河万古流。”

【注释】

第1—16行为第一部分，是引子，表明琼生对赞扬的态度，并非什么颂扬都是对的。

1.To draw no envy，Shakespeare，on thy name ... fame：诗人在开首两行即表示，他如此放开地推崇莎士比亚的作品和美名，并不是想招致对莎士比亚的嫉妒。按：当时各剧团之间、剧作家之间的竞争非常激烈。ample：liberal，free from restraint or check.

2.As neither man nor muse can praise too much：无论是凡人还是缪斯对你的作品怎么赞美也不会过分；muse：Muse，通常大写；希腊神话中掌管诗歌、艺术和科学的女神，代表灵感，缪斯共有九位。荷马在作品中首先要祈求缪斯给予创作的灵感。

3.suffrage：consent.

4.unto thy praise：in order to praise you.

5.silliest ignorance on these may light：silliest ignorance may light on these，无知的推崇可能会落到这种地步；these：these ways，paths，指上句说到的那种赞美的方式；light：come or arrive by chance，happen.

6.blind affection ... chance：盲目爱戴。这句意为盲目的爱戴从来不能真正地宣扬真理 （advance the truth），而正因为是盲目的，所以为了赞美你只能瞎找根据（gropes），或者随便瞎吹（urgeth all by chance）。

7.crafty malice：奸诈的恶意。

8.think：intend.

9.bawd：prostitute，whore.

10.matron：大户人家的正经的主妇。按：罗马喜剧中常见的人物，有身份、有地位、举止优雅的成熟妇女的形象。

11.thou art proof against them：你能够不受那些人的影响；proof against：able to resist or repel；them：指上面那些赞美者或恶毒攻击者。

12.Above th' ill fortune of them，or the need：不会遭到被瞎吹捧或恶意攻击的不幸，也不需他们歌颂；of：from.

第17—42行，琼生把莎士比亚和古今诗人和剧作家进行比较。

13.lodge thee by：把你葬在（乔叟或斯宾塞）的旁边。

14.Chaucer：Geoffrey （CA.1343—1400），杰弗雷·乔叟，莎士比亚之前的最重要的英国诗人，参见本书关于他的介绍及作品。

15.Spenser：Edmund （1552？—1599），爱德蒙·斯宾塞，英国诗人，其最重要的作品是长篇叙事诗《仙后》（The Faerie Queene ），参见本书关于他的介绍和诗选。

16.Beaumont：Francis （1585—1616），弗朗西斯·博蒙特，英国雅各宾时期的诗人和剧作家，主要和约翰·弗莱彻（John Fletcher）合作，在 1606—1613期间内创作了很多喜剧和悲剧。其独立完成的剧本是The Knight of the Burning Pestle，在和约翰·弗莱彻共同创作的剧本中，他个人风格比较突出的有三部作品，即The Maid's Tragedies，Philaster和A King and No King。

17.Lyly：John （1554—1606），约翰·黎里，被认为是英国第一位散文大家，其文风对英语的发展具有深远的影响。作为剧作家，他发展了喜剧中的对白语言，创一代新风，对英国喜剧有巨大的推进。

18.Kyd：Thomas （1558—1594），托马斯·基德，英国剧作家，他写的《西班牙悲剧》（The Spanish Tragedies ） 开启了当时复仇剧的先河。其剧作的结构为后世的喜剧定下了基调，包括剧情在中间部分的发展和最后的高潮。一般认为，《西班牙悲剧》为莎士比亚对《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet ）的心理剖析起了先导的作用。

19.Marlowe：Christopher （1564—1593），克里斯托弗·马娄，英国剧作家，参见本书有关他的介绍。其诗风刚健雄伟，琼生称之为mighty lines，遂成不刊之论。

20.small Latin and less Greek：莎士比亚向来被认为是熟练掌握本土语言和风情的剧作家，而对于古典拉丁和希腊文学则功底不深，故称“少谙拉丁，略知希腊”。其实莎士比亚在这方面还是有一定的造诣的。

21.would not seek ... names：不想找一大堆人（来和你作比较）。

22.Aeschylus：（525/4—456/455 BC），埃斯库罗斯，古希腊伟大的悲剧作家，其作品乃古希腊真正意义上的古典悲剧之滥觞。他创作了 Oedipus trilogy，以雄健的语言、清新的声韵、复杂的剧情和严谨的结构，来表现人类社会的普遍的题材。一生创作了90 多个剧本，有80 个剧本仅有剧名，完整保存的剧本有7个。

23.Euripides：（ 484—406 BC），欧里庇得斯，是最杰出的三位古希腊悲剧作家之一。欧里庇得斯的创作标志着古希腊悲剧进入了成熟的阶段，是雅典民主制盛极而衰时期社会生活的反映。在艺术上，欧里庇得斯的悲剧结构比较复杂，布局非常巧妙，被文学史家们誉为“戏剧艺术的荷马”。

24.Sophocles：（496—406 BC），索福克勒斯，是和埃斯库罗斯和欧里庇得斯齐名的古希腊悲剧作家，其最有名的剧本为《俄狄浦斯王》（Oedipus the King，拉丁文名为Oedipus Rex ）。一生写了123 个剧本，在戏剧竞赛中至少有24个剧本获奖。现存完整的剧本仅有7 个。其风格特色为语言委婉，艺术感染力强。其剧本描绘了个人的判断失误和命运的肆虐导致了人类的灾难。

25.Pacuvius：Marcus （220—130 BC），帕库维乌斯，被公认为阿克齐乌斯之前最伟大的罗马悲剧作家，其主要剧作是根据索福克勒斯和其他古希腊剧作家的作品翻译并改编的，现存23个剧名，共440行。其成就在于深刻地处理古希腊晦涩的神话主题，高雅的风格，以及对复杂情感的驾驭。

26.Accius：或拼写为Attius（170—86 BC），阿克齐乌斯，被同代人公认为最杰出的罗马剧作家之一，现存40个剧名，共700行。都是根据古希腊悲剧，特别是欧里庇得斯的剧本自由地翻译的剧作，剧情狂暴，人物形象夸张，台词极具感染力。

27.him of Cordova dead：指罗马悲剧作家塞内加（Seneca），因生于西班牙的可多瓦城（Cordova），故称“已故的可多瓦的他”。这种结构常为弥尔顿所采用。

28.buskin：古希腊、罗马演员穿的厚底鞋，代表悲剧。琼生要让古代这些悲剧作家起死回生（call forth ... to life again），来看看莎士比亚塑造的悲剧人物在舞台上的表演（to hear thy buskin tread），是多么的震撼人心（shake a stage）。

29.socks：喜剧演员穿的“轻履”。

30.Of：with.

31.insolent Greece or haughty Rome：骄希腊，傲罗马。这个著名的评语初出于塞内加，琼生在论培根时用过。此句说即使这些傲慢无礼的希腊、罗马剧作家把他们的全部作品摆出来比试一下，莎士比亚也是独一无二的。

32.or since did from their ashes come：or （all that） since did come from their ashes；since：afterwards，和下面since同。

33.To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe：to whom all scenes of Europe owe homage，欧洲的所有戏剧都需对此人顶礼膜拜；scenes：拉丁文的原意是“舞台”。

第43行至65行为第三段。此段写莎士比亚的作品和自然融为一体，故能永存，而古希腊、罗马的剧作家的，如过眼云烟，稍纵即逝。

34.still：constantly.

35.Appolo：阿波罗，太阳神。

36.Mercury：催眠促梦之神，故曰charm。

37.Nature herself was proud of his designs：自然本不需要装扮，但却以莎士比亚的描绘而感到自豪；design：构思，剪裁。

38.As，since，she will vouchsafe no other wit：因为此后她再也不会接受其他有才干的人为她量体裁衣了；vouchsafe：（obsolete ） to accept graciously，非常大度有礼地接受。注意此义已废，现在常用的意义与此刚好相反，表示“给予”（to grant as a privilege or special favor）。此词无论是作“接受”还是“给予”解，都有屈尊、恩赐对方特权的含义。

39.Aristophnes：（450—380BC），阿里斯托芬尼斯，古希腊喜剧作家，其喜剧被视为这一类喜剧流派（genre）的奠基之作，故享有“喜剧之父”，或“古典喜剧王子”之誉，现存有几乎完整的11个剧本，以及其他剧本的残篇。其讽刺挖苦的风格为同代人所惧，故曰tart。

40.Terence：Publius Terentius Afer （195？—159BC），泰伦斯，是继普劳图斯（Plautus）之后的最伟大的罗马喜剧作家，有6个诗体喜剧向被尊为纯正拉丁的范例。其剧作被视为现代风尚喜剧（comedy of manners）的鼻祖。

41.Plautus：Titus Maccius （254—184BC），普劳图斯，罗马剧作家，一生创作了约50个剧本，大约有20个剧本保留较为完整，以幽默、讽刺见长，运用拉丁语言炉火纯青。

42.now not please ... family：这些喜剧作家已经不再给人愉悦乐趣，而早已长眠过时，被人遗忘，因为他们不属于自然的家庭的一员，不能永存。

43.gentle：高贵的，温和的。

44.though the poet's matter nature be ... fashion：诗人作品的本质（matter） 固然应该是自然，但其表现技巧（art）会赋予自然一种风采（fashion）；though the poet's matter nature be：though the poet's matter be nature，虚拟式；give：to produce，emit，to yield or furnish as a product，consequence，or effect.

45.and，that he：that 之前省去了引导语，如I would like to say，或I think等。

46.casts to write a living line：cast：aim；a living line：不朽的诗行。

47.Such as thine are：such as thy lines are.

48.strike the second heat ... anvil：趁热打铁不能一次而休，不能在缪斯的铁砧上只捶打一次就完事。意为惊人之语，不朽之诗，需要千锤百炼，在缪斯的铁砧上反复锤打。此处强调莎士比亚不仅有天才，而且勤奋。

49.turn the same ... frame：把他想锻造成某种形状（frame）的器件在铁砧上转动、捶打，自己也要随着铁器转动。

50.Or，for the laurel，he may gain a scorn：否则，他得到的将不是桂冠，而是嘲讽；Or：otherwise.

51.For a good poet's made，as well as born：一位优秀的诗人天才一半，勤奋一半。

52.such wert thou：such were you；wert：（archaic ） were，和thou 配合的be 动词的第二人称单数形式为wast或wert。

53.father's face ... issue：父亲的相貌传给子女；issue：offspring，progeny，子嗣，如died without issue，身后没有留下子女，无嗣而殁。

54.even so the race ... manners：意为莎士比亚的形象反映在他的作品之中，更甚于子女相貌和父亲酷似；race：把莎士比亚的作品比作他的家族，充分体现了他的思想和风范，承接上文父亲和子女的连带关系；race另有一义：distinguished flavor，taste or strength。

55.well-turned，and true-filed lines：继续延伸上述锻打的比喻，诗句千锤百炼，犹如一件器具被细致加工、旋转打造、细细挫平。比较贺拉斯的《诗艺》（Ars Poetica ）“limae labor et mora”，花工夫去磨。

56.shake a lance：暗示莎士比亚的名字有挥舞长矛之意；lance：spear.

57.Sweet Swan of Avon：天鹅身上附有阿波罗的音乐，故能唱歌；莎士比亚的故居是亚丰河上的斯特拉斯堡（Strasburg-upon-Avon），故称为亚丰河上的天鹅。

58.That so did take Eliza and our James：伊丽莎白女王（Queen Elizabeth，昵称Eliza） 和詹姆士一世（James Ⅰ）曾在泰晤士河上泛舟。

59.hemisphere：此处指苍穹，天宇，不是地球上的东西半球或南北半球。

60.made a constellation there：天上本有天鹅星座，琼生借此发挥，言诗人莎士比亚升天而成天鹅星座。

61.thou star of poets，and with rage ... influence：莎士比亚是众诗人之星；星星被认为对人类的命运极有影响。

62.drooping stage：衰败的舞台；当时戏剧供宫廷王室和大臣娱乐，1642年清教徒关闭了伦敦的公共剧场。

63.Which，since thy flight from hence，hath mourned like night ... light：你离开人间之后，若非你的著作 （即这部第一对开本） 光照人间，那么英国衰败的舞台将悲伤如长夜，失去了重见天日的希望；despair：vt.， （obsolete ） to lose hope for；but for：if it weren't for. 按：hath mourned 和despairs按正常语法规则，应该为虚拟式would mourn和 would despair。

Proportion

It is not growing like a tree

In bulke，doth make man better bee；1

Or standing long an Oake，three hundred yeare，

To fall a logge at last，dry，bald，and seare：2

A Lillie of a Day，3

Is fairer farre，4 in May，

Although it fall，and die that night；

It was the Plant，and flowre^5 of light.

In small proportions，we just beautie see：6

And in short measures，7 life may perfect bee.

【题解】

此诗选自《记念卢西尤斯·卡里爵士和莫里森爵士挚友的友谊》（To the Immortal Memory and Friendship of that Noble Pair，Sir Lucius Cary and Sir H. Morrison ）。亨利·莫里森二十岁夭折，琼生在这一节诗中表达的思想是美不在雄伟，不在年资，适度才算完美。

【注释】

1.bulke：bulk；bee：be；此诗的拼法比较古旧，结尾加-e的词还有以下的Oake，yeare，seare等。

2.logge：log；seare：干枯。

3.A Lillie of a Day：朝放暮凋的百合花。

4.farre：far.

5.flowre：flower.

6.In small proportions，we just beautie see：体态小，我们就能看到隽美所在；In small proportions：指体积小，规模小；proportions：（plural ）体积，大小。just beautie：exact beauty.

7.in short measures：短暂；与上行in small proportions对应。

ROBERT HERRICK

罗伯特·赫里克

（1591—1674）

【作者与作品简介】

赫里克是英国十七世纪的抒情诗人，曾就学于剑桥圣约翰学院，毕业后虽授圣职，但从未做过朝臣，只交游于当时的才子骚人之间，是本·琼生的热情追随者。1630年开始在德文郡乡间一个小教区当牧师。查理一世被处死后，罗伯特曾一度背井流离，直到王政复辟后才返回故土，默默地度过余生。

赫里克一生创作了一千余首诗歌，结集在题为《海斯派里底斯·圣曲》（一译《西方乐土》）里。诗集的前一部分《海斯派里底斯》是爱情诗和田园诗，后一部分《圣曲》是宗教诗。他写诗比较随便，日常生活琐事和各种宗教活动，他信手拈来，即可吟咏成篇。他的诗歌语言采用当时宫廷中通用的会话语体，正式典雅，但平易生动。他的作品带有学童般的天真，富于幻想，轻松愉快；但当他触及人间瞬息即逝的欢乐时，又不免带点淡淡的忧伤。

这里选的《致妙龄少女：莫误青春》以其第一行名句流芳于世，其意境与我国唐代流行歌词《金缕衣》中的“有花堪折直须折，莫待无花空折枝”极为相似。这首诗从一个角度反映了英国十七世纪“骑士派”诗人的处世哲学。原诗是抑扬格（第一行第一音步例外，是扬抑格），每节四音步和三音步相同，韵式是a b a b。

《无章的情趣》反映了十七世纪英国一些诗人审美观点的变化。英国十七世纪中期，妇女服饰讲究严谨、华丽；长服外面（有时下穿裙子）套一件紧身胸衣，胸前用丝带系住，代替纽扣；两袖有卷边袖口；领口、袖口和紧身胸衣前都有绉边装饰；肩上披一块披肩，头饰也颇讲究。作者认为这种穿戴太拘谨；在他看来，不修边幅，任其自然，反更显得洒脱和饶有风度，从而更具有诱人的魅力。诗人拿英国妇女穿着作比，意在说明艺术之美不全在形式上的刻意追求，表面的无章有时反更富于情趣。这首诗喻物寻常，但得体清奇，诗中采用的大量的矛盾修饰法，既加强了诗的主题，也丰富了语言的表现力。

全诗抑扬格，每行四音步，两行一押韵。

何功杰

To the Virgins，to Make Much of Time

Gather ye Rose-buds while ye may，1

Old Time is still a flying：2

And this same flower that smiles to day，

To morrow will be dying.

The glorious Lamp of Heaven，3 the Sun，

The higher he's a getting；4

The sooner will his Race be run，5

And neerer^6 he's to Setting.

That Age is best，which is the first，7

When Youth and Blood are warmer；

But being spent，8 the worse，and worst

Times，still succeed the former.9

Then be not coy，but use your time；

And while ye may，goe marry：10

For having lost but once your prime，11

You may for ever tarry.

【注释】

1.Gather ye Rose-buds while ye may：较为古旧的祈使句形式，即（You） gather rosebuds etc.；试比较唐代杜秋娘诗《金缕衣》：“花开堪折直须折，莫待无花空折枝。”

2.still a flying：always flying；前缀“a-”（或不加连字符“-”）表示动作正在进行之中。

3.Lamp of Heaven：天灯，即太阳。

4.a getting：和a flying的结构一样，有getting up之意。

5.Race be run：结束运行。

6.neerer：nearer.

7.That Age is best，which is the first：That Age which is the first is the best，人生一世，青春最美。

8.being spent：青春消逝，气血衰竭。

9.still：always；the former：the former times.

10.goe marry：go and marry；goe：go.

11.prime：青春。最后四行比较Spenser的Sonnet To：Make hast therefor sweet love，whilest it is prime，／For none can call againe the pass'ed time.

Delight in Disorder

A sweet disorder in the dress

Kindles in clothes a wantonness：1

A lawn about the shoulders thrown

Into a fine distraction：2

An erring lace，which here and there

Enthralls the crimson stomacher：3

A cuff neglectful，and thereby

Ribbands to flow confusedly：4

A winning wave （deserving note）

In the tempestuous petticoat：5

A careless shoe-string，in whose tie

I see a wild civility：6

Do more bewitch me，than when art

Is too precise in every part.7

【题解】

赫里克这首诗是从另一个角度来观察世界的美。美并不意味着必须中规中矩、严谨有序；自然之美不同于矫揉造作、刻板划一的程式，而是没有斧凿痕迹、不修边幅的形象、姿态和风度。《无章的情趣》借对女人穿着的评判，表达了诗人对自然的赞美和对朴素的艺术形式的肯定。诚如李白所言：清水出芙蓉，天然去雕饰。

【注释】

1.A sweet disorder in the dress ... wantonness：衣服穿着带有一点妩媚的凌乱，使服饰迸发出一种狂放不羁之状；Kindles in clothes a wantonness：clothes实际上指的是穿衣服不讲修饰的人，修辞学上的移就格；wantonness：sportive appearance，此处并无贬义。

2.A lawn about the shoulders thrown ... distraction：一条披巾漫不经意地往肩上一甩，显得优雅而随意；lawn：优质亚麻披巾；distraction：disorder.

3.An erring lace，which here and there ... stomacher：一条扎得不当的腰带，使得深红色的紧身围腰更加迷人；an erring lace：腰带束得不是地方，也可表示wandering，floating，飘动的；Enthrall：to charm，to hold spellbound，腰带扎得不合常规，反而使紧身围腰更加好看；stomacher：a usually large jeweled ornament worn by women on the front of a bodice.

4.A cuff neglectful，and thereby ... confusedly：袖子的卷边袖口没有整好，而绸带又凌乱飘动；thereby：connected with that，close to the cuff.

5.A winning wave （deserving note）... petticoat：乱糟糟的裙子那令人注目的一个摆动；tempestuous：marked by violent disturbance，狂暴的，此处指裙子皱巴巴，非常凌乱。

6.wild civility：狂放不羁而文雅有度；wild和civility意思相反，修辞学上称为oxymoron。

7.Do more bewitch me，than when art ... part：从A lawn起至第12行是do的主语；precise：精密，精准。按：当时人们常用precise 和precision来讥讽清教徒。全诗讲的都是女人的服饰打扮，直到最后点出“艺术”（art） 之美不在于每个细节的精准，一丝不苟，而在于自然洒脱，毫不造作。

GEORGE HERBERT

乔治·赫伯特

（1593—1633）

【作者与作品简介】

赫伯特被称为英国十七世纪的“玄学派诗圣”。他出身于显贵家庭，在剑桥三一学院学习，并获学位。他在宫廷任职时也颇受器重，后因詹姆斯一世逝世，从此失宠而放弃功名，到一个小教堂当了一名牧师，三年后就逝世了。

赫伯特是位虔诚的英国国教徒，他的诗歌带有强烈的宗教色彩。他喜用《圣经》典故，诗歌的形式和格律富于变化，但构思巧妙，结构严谨，意象清奇，语言自然平易。他的诗集《圣殿》对英国后来的宗教诗、对现代和当代的诗人都有影响。

《美德》表达了一种基督教的信仰：凡世俗万物，无论如何美好，都不能长留人间；唯有“一颗美好而圣洁的心灵”方能流芳百世。诗中前三节中的意象与最后一节形成强烈对照，从而使主题更加鲜明突出。

《珍珠》是根据《圣经》中的故事写的。诗人用“珍珠”作比，暗指来自天国的“福音”是无价之宝，他愿放弃一切“学识”、“荣名”和“欢乐”的途径，“登上天国，听取福音”。此诗在结构上与《美德》有极相似之处：前三节描述三个为诗人摈弃的观点，最后一节说明真旨；每节最后一行是每节的小结，弃取鲜明，简洁有力。全诗基本上抑扬格，原诗除每节最后一行是二音步以外，都是五音步，韵律是ababccdede。

何功杰

Virtue

Sweet day，so cool，so calm，so bright，

The bridal of the earth and sky：1

The dew shall weep thy fall to night；2

For thou must die.

Sweet rose，whose hue，angry and brave，3

Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye：4

Thy root is ever in its grave，

And thou must die.

Sweet spring，full of sweet days and roses，

A box where sweets compacted lie；5

My music shows ye have your closes，6

And all must die.

Only a sweet and virtuous soul，7

Like seasoned timber，never gives；8

But though the whole world turn to coal，9

Then chiefly lives.10

【题解】

《美德》选自赫伯特的诗集《圣殿》（Temple ），是他一生中最后三年的作品。他在这首诗里强调世界上万物都会死亡消失，唯有美德是例外，可享永年。全诗分四节，前三节均以must die 收尾，唯独最后一节以lives终结。另一个贯穿全诗的词是sweet，诗人以甜蜜的良辰美景、妩媚可爱的玫瑰和温馨芬芳的春天这些意象，来说明这些都无非是过眼云烟，昙花一现的现象，从而烘托唯一能够永驻的美德。诗人在盛赞美德的同时，也流露出一点惆怅，不无惋惜地感叹世上那么多可爱的事物生存短暂。

【注释】

1.The bridal of the earth and sky：晴朗美好的白昼是天地的结合；bridal：a marriage festival or ceremony，婚礼。

2.The dew shall weep thy fall to night：露水本是在夜间凝成，但为白昼坠入黑夜而流泪；fall：也暗指人类触犯上帝的禁令，偷食禁果而被逐出伊甸园。

3.Sweet rose，whose hue，angry and brave：玫瑰的色彩是鲜红的、艳丽的；hue：hue 和colour 的含义不同，hue指色彩、色调，是使某种颜色表现为赤、橙、黄、绿等不同颜色的特性，或者不同颜色之间的过渡，而colour则是我们通称的颜色；angry：angry red，having a hue that suggests anger，赤红，人愤怒时脸的颜色；brave：bright，colourful.

4.Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye：（美艳的玫瑰花）使性急的观赏者擦亮眼睛去欣赏。

5.A box where sweets compacted lie：（可爱的春天） 像装满香水的小盒子；sweets：perfumes.

6.My music shows ye have your closes：乐曲总有收场；closes：concluding cadences，乐曲的尾声。

7.Only a sweet and virtuous soul：此节句法有变化，不以sweet起首，而变为强调形式only a sweet and virtuous soul，和题目virtue呼应，突出诗人所言virtue，是指一颗美好的心灵，是对上帝的忠诚和虔敬。

8.Like seasoned timber，never gives：木材经过一定时间的处理和烘焙之后，就不会变形。

9.though the whole world turn to coal：though the whole world is reduced to cinder （at the last Judgment）；早期现代英语中，though 引导的从句可用虚拟式。按：《新约· 彼得后书》（II Peter ） 3：10：But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night；in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise，and the elements shall melt with fervent heat，the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. （但主的日子要像贼来到一样。那日，天必大有响声废去，有形质的都要被烈火销化，地和其上的物都要烧尽了。）

10.Then chiefly lives：then lives above all.

The Pearl

I know the ways of learning；1 both the head

And pipes that feed the press，and make it run；2

What reason hath from nature borrowed，

Or of itself，3 like a good huswife，spun

In laws and policy；4 what the stars conspire，5

What willing nature speaks，6 what forc'd by fire；7

Both th'old discoveries and the new-found seas，8

The stock and surplus，cause and history；9

All these stand open，or I have the keys：10

Yet I love thee.

I know the ways of honour；11 what maintains

The quick returns of courtesy and wit；12

In vies of favours whether^13 party gains

When glory swells the heart and moldeth it

To all expressions both of hand and eye，14

Which on the world a true-love-knot may tie，15

And bear the bundle wheresoe'er it goes；16

How many drams of spirit there must be

To sell my life unto my friends or foes：17

Yet I love thee.

I know the ways of pleasure；18 the sweet strains

The lullings and the relishes of it；19

The propositions of hot blood and brains；20

What mirth and music mean；what love and wit

Have done these twenty hundred years and more；

I know the projects of unbridled store；21

My stuff is flesh，not brass；22 my senses live，

And grumble oft that they have more in me

Than he that curbs them，being but one to five：23

Yet I love thee.

I know all these and have them in my hand；

Therefore not seeled but with open eyes

I fly to thee，and fully understand

Both the main sale and the commodities；24

And at what rate and price I have thy love，25

With all the circumstances that may move.26

Yet through the labyrinths，not my grovelling wit，

But thy silk twist let down from heav'n to me

Did both conduct and teach me how by it

To climb to thee.27

【题解】

赫伯特在《珍珠》一诗中表达了对上帝的虔敬，任何具有巨大吸引力的东西，他都会为了上帝而舍弃，毫不足惜。他列举对他具有吸引力的三件世俗美事：学识 （Learning）、荣名 （Honour） 和欢乐（Pleasure），并在每一诗节里充分陈述了他对这三方面的深入了解，然后干脆利落地对此加以否定，并简洁有力地表达了对上帝的爱：Yet I love thee.

【注释】

题目：Pearl的题材来自《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ） 13：45—46：Again，the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man，seeking goodly pearls；who，when he had found one pearl of great price，went and sold all that he had and bought it. （天国又好像买卖人寻找好珠子，遇见一个重价的珠子，就去变卖他一切所有的，买了这颗珠子。） 在这个圣经故事里，耶稣向其信徒说明，天国好比价值连城的珠子，商人会倾其所有，来换取这枚珠子。

1.I know the ways of learning：我知道如何做学问的门道。

2.both the head ... run：做学问就像用压榨机挤压葡萄汁（wine-press） 那样，把汁水挤压出来；the head and pipes：压榨机的头和管道。

3.What reason hath from nature borrowed ... itself：（我也知道） 理性从自然那里借鉴到什么，或者从自己本身得到何种启发。

4.like a good huswife，spun ... policy：或者像一个巧妇纺纱抽丝那样，从法律和政治博弈中获取最大的利益；huswife：housewife；policy：statecraft.

5.what the stars conspire：指星相学；星相学认为天上的星宿对人类有影响，故云conspire。

6.What willing nature speaks：自然愿意吐露其真相。

7.what forc'd by fire：what is forced by fire through alchemy，指懂得炼金术。

8.Both th'old discoveries and the new-found seas：当时科学已经有很多新的发现，也已经发现了新大陆。

9.The stock and surplus，cause and history：知识的存量和增量，事物的成因和结果；stock and surplus：the learning which we inherit，and that which we add to it； cause and history：原因和结果。

10.All these stand open，or I have the keys：所有这些知识都对我开放，或者我有钥匙来开启所有这些知识的大门。谈论上述所有这些的落脚点是，我并不在乎懂得这些，而只是对上帝表示的爱。

11.I know the ways of honour：知道如何赢得荣耀。这一节主要以在宫廷里供职而赢得荣誉和地位为例。

12.The quick returns of courtesy and wit：在宫廷里要善于应付，对于官场上的各种客套（courtesy） 要随机应变，斗智斗勇；returns：replies，retorts.

13.vies：rivalries；whether：whichever one of the two.

14.When glory swells the heart and moldeth it ... eye：人在荣耀得意时，不免趾高气扬，手舞足蹈，难以掩饰。

15.Which on the world a true-love-knot may tie：Which may tie a true-love-knot on the world，还能赢得世人的爱戴；which：heart.

16.And bear the bundle wheresoe'er it goes：能够承当所负盛名；bundle：指上行所言同心结所捆绑的世界。

17.How many drams of spirit there must be ... foes：打兰 （度量单位），一打兰合1.771克；drams of spirit：用人的精神来计量，无论有多少也不会轻易把自己的生命出售给朋友或敌人。

18.I know the ways of pleasure：懂得如何寻求欢乐。

19.the sweet strains ... it：（欢乐）犹如甜蜜优美的音乐，催人入眠，使人心旷神怡。这一节主要以美妙的音乐来代表其他给人以愉悦之事。

20.The propositions of hot blood and brains：热情和智慧能给人带来的愉悦；propositions：（obsolete ） the act of setting or showing forth，表现。

21.projects of unbridled store：无数寻欢作乐之事；unbridled store：abundance.

22.My stuff is flesh，not brass：比喻和金属不一样，生命不能久驻；比较莎士比亚Sonnet65：Since brass，nor stone，nor earth，nor boundless sea，/But sad mortality o'ersways their power. brass：黄铜；当时较为常见，故泛指金属。

23.my senses live ... five：此句意为：我（那些能够享受愉悦）的感官是活生生的，经常抱怨在我的体内，它们是多数，而肉体是少数，却受制于肉体；but one to five：人有五种感觉，但是生命只有一个，故云。

24.Both the main sale and the commodities：full terms of the sale，including the advantages，（完全知道我放弃了）一桩大买卖和这些商品。

25.And at what rate and price I have thy love：（知道我放弃这些，而得到你的爱）其代价多高。

26.With all the circumstances that may move：各种各样的情况都会出现；move：stir.

27.Yet through the labyrinths，not my grovelling wit ... thee：这最后四行的意思是：引导我和教导我登上天堂来见你的，不是我低微的智慧（groveling wit），而是你从天庭放下来的丝线，让我通过弯弯曲曲的迷宫从里走出来；labyrinths：迷宫，指人生会遇到很多诱惑，找不到正道；silk twist：喻上帝从天上放下来的丝绸带子，引导他走出迷宫。

JOHN MILTON

约翰·弥尔顿

（1608—1674）

【作者与作品简介】

弥尔顿是革命文豪，剑桥大学毕业，在家潜心读书几年，精通希腊、罗马的古典学问。接着投身革命行列，任革命政权中的拉丁文秘书，为了辩护英国人民处死国王查理一世的行动而同欧洲大陆上的反动派进行笔战，工作过分紧张，卒至双目失明。又值王政复辟，受到迫害，一腔孤愤，泄之于诗，写出了史诗《失乐园》（1667）、《复乐园》（1671）和希腊式悲剧《力士参孙》（1671）。

在他的身上，不仅有清教主义的严峻，还有人文主义的文雅，二者结合，使他的诗既雄迈，又俊美。

这里选的十四行诗三首：一首谴责意大利对新教徒的屠杀，悲壮激越，到诗尾产生了希望。另外两首是关于他的失明。前一首主要讲失了明，有怨气，但一想到这是上帝之命使然，也就只好忍耐。后一首则表现自豪感，由于想到了他之失明，是因为捍卫自由。

在弥尔顿之前，已经有许多英国诗人写了十四行诗，但多数是用它来歌颂爱情的。弥尔顿却拿它来写反动派的残暴和自身的不幸，加入了新的内容。在结构上，两诗都有一问，放在诗的后半，我们看了，少不得要停下思索一番。而诗人自己的回答是直截了当的，有力的。这一问一答给了诗以戏剧性。此外，在两诗之末都出现一种迅疾的运动：

他威灵显赫，命千万天使奔跑，

越过陆地和海洋，不稍停留。

我这神圣的使命现已传遍了全欧。

而结句则是耐人思考的警句：

只站着待命的人，也是在侍奉

走过人世的舞台，瞎，但知足而优游。

这种速度上的变化表现了情绪上的起伏，增加了诗的深刻性。可见弥尔顿写这些小诗也是颇具匠心的，不仅写得有充实的内容，很高的艺术性，而且两者有完美的结合。

如果英国十四行诗的作者们也可以分成婉约和豪放两派的话，弥尔顿是豪放派的首领。在他之后，华兹华斯和雪莱的十四行诗也写得豪放，特别是华兹华斯，他写了一首十四行诗，其起句就是：

弥尔顿，你应该生在这个时刻！

在那法国大革命的黎明，英国处于动荡的时候，他想起这位伟大革命诗人来了！

弥尔顿的十四行诗还有一个特点，即在格律上他回溯意大利原型，与莎士比亚等人的英国型不同。

弥尔顿的杰作，当然是用白体无韵诗写的史诗《失乐园》。

我们在这里选了若干片断，有头，有尾，有地狱景象，有撒旦的著名演讲，有夏娃对亚当的情话，有两人被逐出伊甸园时的回顾与前瞻，中间还插了一段诗人在歌颂了光明之后回顾自己，对失明又一次表达了痛苦的心情。人们往往以为《失乐园》由于其宗教的主题很枯燥，很难读（因此也很难译），实际上它的内容丰富，有几个层次，有各种情调，包括抒发个人感情的抒情段落，由于其出现在庄严的环境中而更显优美，而且不论是什么题旨，都是用高度艺术写出的，这一切都说明弥尔顿确实是英国文艺复兴时期精神最后的伟大的体现者。

王佐良

When I Consider How My Light Is Spent

When I consider how my light is spent^1

Ere half my days，in this dark world and wide，2

And that one talent which is death to hide，3

Lodged with me useless，though my soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker，4 and present

My true account，lest he returning chide；5

“Doth God exact day-labor，light denied？”6

I fondly ask；but Patience to prevent^7

That murmur，soon replies，“God doth not need

Either man's work or his own gifts；who best

Bear his mild yoke，they serve him best.8 His state

Is kingly. Thousands^9 at his bidding speed

And post^10 o'er land and ocean without rest：

They also serve who only stand and wait.”11

【题解】

弥尔顿投身英国革命，为推翻斯图亚特王朝，宣传共和政体奋笔疾书，致双目失明。这首诗另有题目为《哀失明》（On His Blindness ）。此诗表达了诗人自我安慰，等待使命的心情。这首诗打破前八行（the octave）末意思休止的体格，从首行起直至第十一行为一整句，滔滔不尽，直抒胸臆。前八行韵脚为abba，abba，后六行（the sestet）为cde，cde。

【注释】

1.light is spent：光明燃尽，指双目失明。

2.Ere half my days：诗人于1652年双目失明，时年四十二岁，故说尚未到半生；Ere：before；this dark world and wide：this dark and wide world，当时王权复辟，许多革命志士惨遭迫害，形势险恶。弥尔顿因双目失明，才得幸免。他在《失乐园》第七卷中说：though fall'n on evil days，／On evil days though fall'n，and evil tongues；／In darkness，and with dangers compassed round，／And solitude；yet not alone，其中“not alone”两字指诗人得到诗神的灵感，在黑暗中吟咏这首史诗，毫无寂寞之感。

3.one talent which is death to hide：直至死亡才会消失的才干，指写作能力。诗人感慨失明之苦，何能再事写作（下行lodged with me useless）。但事实上，诗人晚年的不朽之作《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ）、《复乐园》（Paradise Regained ）和《力士参孙》（Samson Agonistes ）都是失明后创作的。此处talent语涉双关，既指“能力”（ability），又指古希腊、罗马和中东等的钱币（译为“泰伦”）。《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ）25：14—30节中有一寓言：主人在外出旅行前根据其仆人的能力分发泰伦，一仆人得五枚，另一人得三枚，最后一人得一枚。前两个仆人都以分得的钱挣得更多的钱，主人回来后如数交出。唯领取一枚者将钱埋在地里，一无所获，遭主人斥责；talent：由钱币泰伦引申为“能力”，“天赋”，源于此典；which is death to hide借用的正是这一故事，对弥尔顿来说，埋藏他的talent无疑是死亡。

4.therewith：with that；Maker：上帝。

5.true account，lest he returning chide：承上寓言，意为想以这个泰伦为上帝服务，把账目结清，免得他回来责怪。诗人虽感失明后力不从心，但仍不甘沉沦，力图有所作为。由when引导的状语从句至此结束。

6.Doth God exact day-labor，light denied：上帝既不给我光明，是否还要逼我做日工；exact：强求。

7.fondly：foolishly；Patience：耐心，拟人用法；prevent：forestall，抢先制止。

8.who best ... best：谁最能忍受上帝的宽松的枷锁，谁对上帝的服务最为周到。此句正常结构为whoever best bear his mild yoke serve him best。

9.Thousands：the heavenly angels，成千上万的天使。

10.at his bidding speed ... post：他一声招呼就星夜兼程，急速而来；post：急速行走。

11.They also serve who only stand and wait：those who only stand and wait also serve，静候侍主者也在为上帝效劳。末三行吐露了诗人失明后的哀怨之情，但又勉励自己要有耐心，静候历史使命，不能以残疾毕志。

On the Late Massacre in Piedmont

Avenge，O Lord，thy slaughtered saints，1 whose bones

Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains^2 cold，

Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old

When all our fathers worshiped stocks and stones，3

Forget not：in thy book record their groans

Who were thy sheep^4 and in their ancient fold

Slain by the bloody Piemontese^5 that rolled

Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans

The vales redoubled to the hills，and they^6

To Heaven.7 Their martyred blood and ashes sow

O'er all th' Italian fields where still doth sway^8

The triple tyrant：9 that from these may grow

A hundredfold，who having learnt thy way

Early may fly the Babylonian woe.10

【题解】

沛蒙推是意大利北部一山脉。1655年4月24日（复活节），萨伏伊公爵（Duke of Savoy）命士兵血洗沛蒙推山谷，残酷迫害居住此间的沃尔登斯新教派（Waldensian sect）1700人。该教派创立于1170年，开始属罗马正教内一派别，但由于激烈反对教会的典礼和政策，特别是圣像崇拜，而与罗马正教决裂。在此事件之前，沃尔登斯新教派一直享有信仰的自由。

弥尔顿得到这一骇人听闻的消息后，义愤填膺，以克伦威尔拉丁文秘书的名义，写信谴责这一暴行，并作诗记之。在这首十四行诗中，有十一行的韵脚含有长元音“O”，愕愕之声回荡。帕尔格雷夫（Palgrave）认为“这是一首最为雄壮的十四行诗”。

【注释】

1.thy slaughtered saints：即在沛蒙推大屠杀中被害的沃尔登斯教派的教徒。该教派的教义和基督教新教教义（Protestanism）相似，尤其是反对圣像崇拜。

2.the Alpine mountains：阿尔卑斯山脉。

3.Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old ... stones：them：是第5行Forget not的宾语；of old：自古；stocks and stones：木石像。此句意为当年先辈们还在崇拜圣像时，他们就已经致力于保持上帝绝对真理的纯洁性。按：四世纪以后圣像供奉甚兴，反对正统教会的各派势力常以反对圣像供奉为口号进行斗争。十六世纪主张宗教改革的基督教新教各派普遍地废除圣像作为改革的一项内容。

4.thy sheep：教徒；由此把他们的居地称为“羊栏”（fold）；《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ）25：32—34：And before him shall be gathered all nations：and he shall separate them one from another，as a shepherd divideth hissheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hard，but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand，Come，ye blessed of my Father，inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.（万民都要聚集在他面前。他要把他们分别出来，好像牧羊的分别绵羊和山羊一般，把绵羊安置在右边，山羊在左边。于是王要向那右边的说：“你们这蒙我父亲赐福的，可来承受那创世以来为你们所预备的国。”）

5.Piemontese：彼蒙特人，指萨伏伊公爵的士兵；Piemont：在意大利语中拼为Piemonte。

6.The vales redoubled：宾语为their moans，他们的哭声从山谷回荡至山上；they：hills.

7.To Heaven：they redoubled their moans to Heaven.

8.O'er：over；th'：the；still：constantly；doth sway：does sway，统治；此句倒装，主语为下行的the triple tyrant。

9.The triple tyrant：罗马教皇。教皇头戴象征现世、灵界和地狱的三重冕（tiara），故称。

10.fly the Babylonian woe：逃脱巴比伦覆灭的灾难。新教派把罗马天主教喻为巴比伦娼妇（whore of Babylon），表示罗马正教派也会像巴比伦一样覆灭，见《新约·启示录》（Revelation ） 18：2：Babylon the great is fallen，is fallen，and is become the habitation of devils，and the hold of every foul spirit，and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.（巴比伦大城倾倒了！倾倒了！成了鬼魔的住处和各种污秽之灵的巢穴，并各种污秽可憎之雀鸟的巢穴。）又18：8：Therefore shall her plagues come in one day，death，and mourning，and famine；and she shall be utterly burned with fire：for strong isthe Lord God who judgeth her.（所以在一天之内，她的灾殃要一齐到来，就是死亡、悲哀、饥荒。她又要被火烧尽了，因为审判她的主神大有能力。）弥尔顿鼓励人们摆脱罗马正教。

To Cyriack Skinner upon His Blindness

Cyriack，this three years' day these eyes，though clear

To outward view of blemish or of spot，1

Bereft of light their seeing have forgot；2

Nor to their idle orbs doth sight appear^3

Of sun or moon or star throughout the year，

Or man or woman.Yet I argue not

Against Heaven's hand or will，4 nor bate a jot

Of heart or hope；but still bear up^5 and steer

Right onward.What supports me，dost thou ask？6

The conscience，friend，to have lost them overplied^7

In Liberty's defense，my noble task，

Of which all Europe talks from side to side.8

This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask，9

Content though blind，had I no better guide.10

【题解】

如果说《哀失明》（On His Blindness ）或多或少表达了诗人把失明的打击作为神的意志来接受，那么，此诗则高昂地表达了诗人为革命牺牲视力的自豪感，显示了一往无前的英雄气概。

题目：Cyriack Skinner是伦敦一商人之子，其外祖父是有名的法官爱德华·柯克（Sir Edward Coke），曾在君王特权问题上反对詹姆士一世。弥尔顿在另一首致斯金纳的十四行诗中崇敬地赞扬柯克说：“Cyriack，whose grandsire，on the royal bench/of British Themis，with no mean applause/Pronounced，and in his volumes taught，our laws.”斯金纳本人学识丰富，与弥尔顿交谊甚密。

【注释】

1.this three years' day these eyes，though clear ... spot：弥尔顿于1652年双目失明，此诗作于1655年，因政治立场鲜明，直至1694年才得以发表；though clear/To outward view of blemish or of spot：虽然从外表上看来眼睛并无瑕疵；clear of blemish or of spot：没有疵点；诗人自慰地庆幸未毁损容颜。

2.Bereft of light their seeing have forgot：眼睛因被剥夺了光明而忘了视觉；their seeing have forgot：have forgot their seeing，主语是these eyes。

3.Nor to their idle orbs doth sight appear：无用的眼球里不会出现太阳、月亮和星星；正常结构为sight （of sun，etc.） does not appear to their idle orbs；比较《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ）3.22—26：but thou/Revisitest not these eyes，that roll in vain/To find thy piercing ray，and find no dawn；/So thick a drop serene hath quenched their obs，／Or dim suffusion veiled．（可是你（太阳）却不再照顾我这双眼睛，它们只徒劳地回转着寻求你那尖利的光线，却没有找到黎明；如此浓翳厚障，蒙住我的眼球，使它们暗淡无光。）

4.argue not ... will：不埋怨上天的举动或意志。

5.bate a jot ... hope：不丧失一点希望；bear up：鼓起勇气，毫不气馁。

6.dost thou ask：do you ask.

7.conscience：consciousness，觉悟，意识；以conscience一词作答，略作停顿，十分有力，尔后再叙述意识的具体内容；overplied：plied beyond strength，使用过度。

8.Europe talks from side to side：意为诗人的崇高事业在整个欧洲激起极大的反响；talks：一作rings。

9.lead me through the world's vain mask：（想到这一点）我能奋进，走过人走的浮华舞台。意为即使双目失明，已成残废，那又何妨！

10.had I no better guide：if I had no better guide.

FromPARADISE LOST

From Book 1

［The Invocation］

Of Man's First Disobedience，and the Fruit^1

Of that Forbidd'n Tree，whose mortal taste^2

Brought Death into the World，and all our woe，3

With loss of Eden，till one greater Man^4

Restore us，and regain the blissful Seat，

Sing Heav'nly Muse，that on the secret top^5

Of Oreb，or of Sinai，6 didst inspire

That Shepherd，who first taught the chosen Seed，7

In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth

Rose out of Chaos：or if Sion 8 Hill

Delight thee more，and Siloa's 9 Brook that flowd

Fast by the Oracle of God；10 I thence

Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song，11

That with no middle flight intends to soar

Above th' AonianMount；12 while it persues^13

Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rime.14

And chiefly Thou O Spirit，15 that dost preferr^16

Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure，17

Instruct me，for Thou know'st；18 Thou from the first

Wast present，19 and with mighty wings outspred

Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss

And mad'st it pregnant：20 What in mee is dark

Illumine，21 what is low raise and support；

That to the highth of this great Argument^22

I may assert Eternal Providence，23

And justify the ways of God to men.24

【题解】

《失乐园》是英国文学史上的伟大史诗。全诗共十二卷，叙述撒旦一伙因反抗上帝被打入地狱。后为图报复，诱惑人类始祖亚当和夏娃偷食禁果。亚当和夏娃触犯天禁后被迫离开伊甸乐园，开始了自食其力的生活，从而展开了人类历史演进的画卷。

《失乐园》是在王政复辟以后的险恶环境和诗人双目失明的艰苦条件下创作的。这首史诗虽然没有直接总结或反映英国革命，但是至少是革命失败后诗人对人类历史演进的沉思录。诗人也不自觉地在前二卷中轰轰烈烈地描写了撒旦与上帝的斗争，使这二卷成为最为人喜爱的篇章，尽管弥尔顿最终对撒旦持否定态度。史诗的主人公亚当和夏娃亦是诗人精心塑造的形象。他们追求知识、面对生活的挑战时所表现的勇气，体现了人类最原始的进取精神。

《失乐园》用英语英雄无韵体诗（English heroic verse without rhyme）写成，气势雄壮，用词典雅，含义深邃。

此节选自《失乐园》第一卷第1—26行，为全诗明义开宗之篇。诗人模仿古希腊盲诗人荷马，开始先祈求诗神赐予灵感。但他雄心勃勃，力争超越荷马，所求之神，实为上帝。

【注释】

1.Of Man's First Disobedience：人类始祖违背上帝之令，偷食禁果，犯下原罪（original sin），事见《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ）。希伯来语中亚当（Adam）意为“人”（man）；First：此处除表示“第一次”外，兼有“重大”之义；Fruit：食之能辨善恶的智慧之果，此处含有enjoyment，result 或 consequence等义。

2.Forbidd'n Tree：上帝禁止亚当和夏娃摘食其果的树；mortal taste：mortal语涉双关，表示human和deadly，人类尝到智慧之果，能分辨善恶，知羞耻，同时也使人难逃一死。《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ） 2：9：And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight，and good for food；the tree of life also in the midst of the garden，and the tree of knowledge of good and evil．又3：3：But of the fruit of the tree which isin the midst of the garden，God hath said，Ye shall not eat of it，neither shall ye touch it，lest ye die.

3.all our woe：人类偷食禁果之后，不仅会死，还将因此而遭受种种灾难，如天灾、疾病、战争、饥饿等。《失乐园》第十一卷描写天使米迦勒（Michael）领亚当上高山，观其子孙在洪水发生之前因其原罪所遭受的种种不幸。

4.Eden ：伊甸乐园，此处也有超凡完美（heavenly perfection）之义；one greater Man：指耶稣，他兼人神于一身。耶稣是上帝之子，下凡为人。他被钉死在十字架上是为人类赎罪，恢复乐园。

5.Sing Heav'nly Muse：祈使句，sing和第1行of有关，即Heav'nly Muse，sing of Man's First Disobedience etc. Heav'nly Muse：天庭的诗神缪斯。缪斯是希腊神话中的诗神，给人以诗的灵感。按史诗体例，开头必先向缪斯祈求灵感，如古希腊盲人诗人荷马之作。但是，弥尔顿祈求的诗神并不是古希腊的异教诗神，而是基督教的圣灵；secret top：神秘的峰巅。

6.Oreb，or of Sinai ：河烈山，或称西奈山，在埃及和迦南之间。摩西曾在山上领受上帝的灵感。

7.Shepherd：牧羊人，指摩西（Moses）。摩西是《圣经·旧约》中记载的古代犹太人的领袖，曾向犹太民族传授上帝的律法。他因杀死奴役希伯来人的埃及人而逃至西奈山附近的米甸荒野，在那里牧羊。“牧羊人”兼有基督教精神指路人（pastor）之义。关于摩西事见《旧约·出埃及记》（Exodus ）和《旧约·申命记》（Deuteronomy ）；chosen Seed：选民，即上帝特选的以色列人。

8.Chaos ：混沌，上帝从一片混沌中创造出天地和世界；Sion ：郇山，即锡安山（Zion），指耶路撒冷，圣殿在该山上，被尊为神山。

9.Siloa ：西罗亚溪，流经圣殿近旁。

10.Fast：close；the Oracle of God：上帝的圣殿。圣殿在锡安山上，旁有西罗亚溪流。上帝通过预言家传达其意旨。《旧约·以赛亚书》（Isaiah ） 2：3：“Come ye，and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord，... and he will teach us of his ways ... for out of Zion shall go forth the law.”按：“郇山似乎更蒙你喜悦”句表示，弥尔顿呼吁的诗神虽然和古希腊的缪斯不同，但是，可能也喜欢在高山流水之处。如特尔菲神殿（Oracle of Delphi）在帕那萨斯山，旁有卡斯塔连泉流（Castalion Spring），是缪斯和阿波罗（音乐，诗歌和预言之神）的圣殿所在地。在希腊神话中，缪斯住在赫利孔山（Mount Helicon）喜波琴灵泉（Hippocrene）旁，喜波琴灵泉是象征诗歌灵感的柏伽索斯（Pegasus）飞马的蹄踩出的泉水。

11.Invoke thy aid：祈求你的帮助；adventrous Song：反映人类变迁的史诗尚无先例（参见第16行），此外反映革命精神在王权复辟之时是很危险的，故称冒险之歌；adventrous：adventurous.

12.with no middle flight interds to soar ... Mount：此句意为要超过荷马的史诗。在弥尔顿时代，人们认为地球分为三层，第二层（middle region）达到山巅，希腊神话中神仙居住的最高天界在奥林帕斯山，属中天（middle air），如本诗篇一卷514—517行说：“on the snowy top/Of cold Olympus ruled the middle air/Their highest heav'n.”荷马祈求的诗神居住在爱奥尼（Aonian Mount，即Mount Helicon）山，仅在中天，而弥尔顿决心飞越中天，到达真正的天界。

13.persues：pursues，试图完成（tries to accomplish）。

14.Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rime：此句译自文艺复兴时代意大利诗人阿里奥斯托（Ludovico Ariosto，1474—1533）的长篇传奇诗《疯狂的罗兰》（Orlando Furioso ）中的诗句。弥尔顿强调其主题的伟大和严肃，并非是自诩自夸之言。

15.And chiefly Thou O Spirit：此处Spirit不一定指第6行的Heav'nly Muse，而是三位一体（Trinity）中的Holy Spirit，严格地说，指上帝。诗人表示吟咏这部史诗所需的创作性和智慧，恰如上帝创造世界一样，因此，他呼吁的实质上并不只是第三位格圣灵，而是上帝本身。参见下面注20。

16.dost preferr：do prefer．

17.Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure：（您喜爱）公正和纯洁的心胸，胜过所有的神殿。

18.Thou know'st：you know，您无所不知。

19.Wast present：（圣灵）从太初便存在；Wast：was.

20.Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss ... pregnant：像鸽子那样孵伏那洪荒，使之怀孕。进一步表明弥尔顿呼吁的是创造万物的上帝。据《新约·福音书》，圣灵降临至地上时状如鸽子，如《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ） 3：16：and he （Jesus） saw the spirit of God descending like a dove，and lighting upon him.《新约·路加福音》（Luke ） 3：22：and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him. satst brooding：sat brooding，（像鸽子那样）孵伏，这是根据《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ） 第一卷第二章演变而来：And the earth was without form，and void；and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters．其中moved一词在希伯来原文中意为hovered（伏窝孵化）或brooded；Abyss：取自希腊语abyssos，意为“无底”，“深不可测”，和以上引文中the deep同义；mad'st it pregnant：上帝兼两性于一身，故能独自“孵化”万物；mad'st：made.

21.Illumine：宾语是what in mee is dark；mee：me．此句倒装结构同what is low raise and support。

22.to the highth of this great Argument：as far as is possible by means of this great Argument，通过这个伟大的主题尽可能地；highth：height的古体，今已废；Argument：主题（theme）；此词源出拉丁语argumentum，即根据事实得到的部分证据（the part of proof that rests on facts），领悟某事的征兆（a sign by which something is known），弥尔顿在此处指叙述事情的来龙去脉。

23.assert：有的译本译作“阐明”，不甚确切，当作“捍卫”解；assert源出拉丁语asserere，本义是“把手按在奴隶头上，以示解放或保护他”（to put one's hand on the head of a slave to set him free or protect or defend him），引申为champion（捍卫），take the part of（袒护）；Eternal：永恒的，强调无始无终（without beginning or end）；Providence：天理，意为foreknowing（预知），beneficient and efficient concern（仁慈的有效的关切）。按：上帝预知人类始祖将受撒旦之诱惑而违反禁令，但是并不阻止他们，让他们不受诱惑，而是由他们自由决定。这就是弥尔顿的“自由意志论”。弥尔顿对“foreknowledge”的理解不同于加尔文教派（Calvinism）所理解的“预定论”（predestination），即上帝一开始就命令谁该受罚，谁该得到拯救。弥尔顿认为上帝对人类的宽厚表现为允许人运用自己的理智来作出抉择，即使犯错误，也优于消极服从而不犯错误的表现。犯了罪后只要继续信赖上帝，便能得到拯救。

24.justify the ways of God to men：向世人昭示天道的公正。意为人类始祖因逆上帝之命而遭惩罚，此后神子下凡，为人类赎罪，人类通过信奉上帝而得到解脱这一切都是理所当然的事情。西方学者一般都根据弥尔顿的自述，认为这是本诗的主题。其实弥尔顿在这部不朽史诗中所表达的复杂思想和感情，决不是第25—26两行的表面意思所能概述的，否则，《失乐园》的意义，只能等同于中世纪类似题材的神秘剧，而不可能成为吟诵数百年而盛名不衰的杰作。

From Book 1

［The Fallen Angels］

Him the Almighty Power

Hurled headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie

With hideous ruin and combustion down

To bottomless perdition，there to dwell

In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire，

Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.1

Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night

To mortal men，hee with his horrid crew^2

Lay vanquisht，rowling in the fiery Gulfe^3

Confounded though immortal：But his doom^4

Reserv'd him to more wrauth；for now the thought

Both of lost happiness and lasting pain

Torments him；round he throws his baleful eyes^5

That witnessd^6 huge affliction and dismay

Mixt with obdurat pride and stedfast^7 hate：

At once as farr as Angels kenn^8 he views

The dismal Situation waste and wilde：9

A Dungeon^10 horrible，on all sides round

As one great Furnace flam'd，11 yet from those flames

No light，but rather darkness visible^12

Serv'd onely to discover^13 sights of woe，

Regions of sorrow，doleful shades，where peace

And rest can never dwell，hope never comes

That comes to all；14 but torture without end

Still urges，and a fiery Deluge，15 fed

With ever-burning Sulfur unconsum'd：16

Such place Eternal Justice had prepar'd^17

For these rebellious，here thir Pris'n^18 ordaind

In utter darkness，and thir portion^19 set

As farr remov'd from God and light of Heav'n

As from the Center thrice to th'utmost Pole.20

【题解】

撒旦的骄矜和争夺霸位的野心，使其遭到覆灭的下场。不管弥尔顿本意如何，《失乐园》第一、二卷中的撒旦，是一位令人崇敬的革命英雄，其宏伟之气势，坚韧不拔的毅力，卓越的领导才能和风度，使之成为世界文学史上最杰出的形象之一。

【注释】

1.Him the Almighty Power ... Arms：这是诗人描写撒旦被上帝打入万丈深渊的名句。倒装结构形象地刻画了撒旦倒栽葱堕入地狱的情景；Him：指撒旦；the Almighty Power：全能的神，指上帝；th' Ethereal Skie：the Ethereal sky，天庭；hideous：causing dread or horror，可怕的；ruin：fall，destruction，覆灭；flaming和combustion：撒旦被雷霆击中，故全身皆火焰；perdition：地狱；Adamantine Chains：坚硬的锁链；durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms：居然敢向全能全力的上帝挑战；durst：（archaic ）dared；defie：defy.

2.Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night ... crew：按照人间计算，九天九夜； Space：（一段）时间；hee：he； horrid：（archaic ）horrible．

3.vanquisht：vanquished；Gulfe：Gulf.

4.Confounded：ruined，routed，溃败的，被摧毁的；immortal：撒旦也是天使，和上帝一样，长生不死；his doom：他所遭受的刑罚。

5.round he throws his baleful eyes：他抬起忧虑的凶目，环视四周；round he throws：he throws round；baleful：full of suffering，of pernicious influence，痛苦的，目光凶狠的。

6.witnessd：expressed，revealed.

7.Mixt：mixed；obdurat：obdurate，执拗的，倔强的；stedfast：steadfast，永不消失的（憎恨）。

8.as farr as Angels kenn：在天使的目力限度内；farr：far；kenn：ken，to see and recognize at a distance.有的版本作Angel's ken，则ken为名词，作range of sight解。

9.dismal：calamitous，as well as depressingly dark，阴暗的，不幸的；wilde：wild.

10.Dungeon：地牢。

11.flam'd：flamed.

12.darkness visible：参见《旧约·约伯记》（Job ）10：20—22：let me alone，that I may take comfort a little，before I go whence I shall not return，even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death；A land of darkness，as darkness itself；and of the shadow of death，without any order，and where the light is as darkness.此句无动词，以句法结构烘托地牢有火无光的景象。

13.Serv'd：served；discover：to reveal.

14.hope never comes ... all：希望无所不至，唯独不到这里。但丁（Dante）：“All hope abandon，ye who enter here”，这在逻辑上是矛盾的说法，“all”本应包括“地牢”。

15.Still：constantly；urges：stimulates，excites，provokes，有的注家认为作afflicts解；fiery Deluge：燃烧的火焰铺天盖地，如洪水一样；Deluge：洪水。

16.Sulfur unconsum'd：永燃不尽的硫磺。

17.Eternal Justice：永恒的正义，指上帝；prepar'd：prepared.

18.these：一作those，即those who were rebellious；thir Pris'n：their prison.

19.utter：complete，又作outer解。据《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ）8：11—12，耶稣看到外邦人信仰笃深，而本民族以色列人却缺乏信仰，说：“Many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham，and Issac，and Jacob，in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness：there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”（从东从西，将有许多人来，在天国里与亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各一同坐席。然而本国的子民竟被赶到外面黑暗里去，在那里一定哀哭切齿了。）因此，utter darkness有“天国之外冥荒”之意；thir：their；portion：（他们）那块地方。

20.from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole：（相当于）天极到中心的三倍之遥。“中心”（Center）指地球，“天极”（utmost Pole）指宇宙轴的顶端。据托勒密的天文学：天居上，地居中，地狱居下。天堂离地狱相当于天离地的三倍。

From Book 1

［Satan's Adjuration］

What though the field be lost？1

All is not lost；2 the unconquerable Will，

And study of revenge，immortal hate，3

And courage never to submit or yield：

And what is else not to be overcome？4

That Glory never shall his wrauth or might

Extort from mee.5 To bow and sue for grace

With suppliant knee，and deifie his power

Who from the terrour of this Arm^6 so late

Doubted^7 his Empire；that were low indeed，

That were an ignominy^8 and shame beneath

This downfall；since by Fate the strength of Gods^9

And this Empyreal substance cannot fail，10

Since through experience of this great event

In Arms not worse，in foresight much advanc't，11

We may with more successful hope resolve

To wage by force or guile eternal Warr，12

Irreconcileable to our grand Foe，

Who now triumphs，and in th'excess of joy

Sole reigning holds the Tyranny of Heav'n.13

【题解】

此篇选自《失乐园》第一卷第105—124行，是表现撒旦英雄气概的著名的诗行。

【注释】

1.What though the field be lost：What matters though the field be lost，这一仗打败了又怎么样。在早期现代英语里though引起的从句中动词用虚拟式。

2.All is not lost：并非一切都丢光；all ... not属部分否定结构，如莎士比亚名句：All is not gold that glitters.闪闪发光物，未必尽黄金。

3.study of：application of thought to，zealous effort to achieve，想方设法；immortal hate：不死的憎恨，比较上段选文（第158页）第58行stedfast hate。

4.what is else not to be overcome：还有什么比这些更难战胜的呢？

5.That Glory never shall his wrauth or might ... mee：his wrauth or might shall never extort that Glory from me，他暴怒也罢，威力也罢，都不能从我这儿夺取那份光荣；That Glory：指上帝能光荣地听到撒旦服输；wrauth：wrath.

6.deifie his power Who：deify the power of him who；from the terrour of this Arm：慑于这次激战；Arm：fighting.

7.Doubted：fear for，担忧。

8.ignominy：发音为［′ɪgnəmɪ］，否则此行多一音节。按： To bow and sue for grace ... downfall这一句大意为上帝被最近这场激战弄得惶惶不可终日，担心是否能维持权力，因此若向他屈膝，把他的权力奉若神明，则是可鄙之举。

9.Fate：按基督教教义，“命运”（Fate）就是“天理”（Providence），撒旦认为Fate是高于上帝权力的力量；the strength of Gods：天使的生命力。上帝称天使为gods，如第三卷第341行：“But all ye gods，/Adore him，”撒旦暗指上帝（God）只是天使（gods）中的一员而已。

10.this Empyreal substance：天庭的灵质。按：天使不同于人类，其躯体不死；fail：cease to exist.按： since by Fate the strength of Gods ... fail意为命运注定天使的生命力及其躯体的灵质不可毁灭，上帝也无可奈何。

11.In Arms not worse，in foresight much advanc't：用更好的武器，以更大的远见；advanc't：advanced.

12.by force or guile：以暴力或计谋，为撒旦变成蛇诱惑夏娃伏笔。Warr：war．

13.Tyranny of Heav'n：弥尔顿的大胆之笔。他并不是借撒旦之口攻击上帝，而是强调撒旦的狂妄。当诗人情不自禁地描绘撒旦不屈不挠的革命精神时，他心中的上帝实质上成了斯图亚特王朝的暴政。

From Book 3

［Darkness］

Thus with the Year

Seasons return，but not to mee^1 returns

Day，or the sweet approach of Ev'n or Morn，2

Or sight of vernal^3 bloom，or Summers Rose，

Or flocks，or herds，or human face divine；4

But cloud in stead，and ever-during^5 dark

Surrounds me，from the chearful waies of men^6

Cut off，and for the Book of knowledge fair^7

Presented with a Universal blanc

Of Natures works to mee expung'd and ras'd^8，

And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.

【题解】

此篇选自《失乐园》第三卷第40—50行。诗人在此卷开首第1—55行向神圣的光呼吁。诗人痛感双目失明之苦，诗句写得悲壮。

【注释】

1.mee：me.

2.Ev'n：even，evening；Morn：morning.

3.vernal：春天的。

4.human face divine：圣洁的面容。

5.in stead：instead；ever-during：无穷尽的。

6.chearful waies of men：人世间享乐的一切渠道（都被切断了）；chearful：cheerful；waies：ways.

7.the Book of knowledg fair：美丽的知识书本，指大自然。

8.Universal blanc ... works：大自然的杰作（在我面前）只是一片空白；blanc：blank；Natures：Nature's；expung'd：expunged，wiped out；ras'd：rased，erased.

From Book 4

［Eve to Adam］

With thee conversing^1 I forget all time，

All seasons and thir change，all please alike.2

Sweet is the breath of morn，her rising sweet，

With charm^3 of earliest Birds；pleasant the Sun

When first on this delightful Land he spreads

His orient Beams，on herb，tree，fruit and flour，4

Glistring with dew；fragrant the fertil^5 earth

After soft showers；and sweet the coming on

Of grateful Evening milde，6 then silent Night

With this her solemn Bird^7 and this fair Moon，

And these the Gemms of Heav'n，her starrie train：8

But neither breath of Morn when she ascends

With charm of earliest Birds，nor rising Sun

On this delightful land，nor herb，fruit，floure，

Glistring with dew，nor fragrance after showers，

Nor grateful Eevning mild，nor silent Night

With this her solemn Bird，nor walk by Moon，

Or glittering Starr-light without thee is sweet.9

【题解】

此篇选自《失乐园》第四卷第639—656行。弥尔顿在《失乐园》中塑造了一个热情、美丽的夏娃的形象：她柔和，妩媚，而有魅力（For softness she and sweet attractive grace. 4.298）。

【注释】

1.conversing：亲密交谈；converse有两层意思：（1） to engage in conversation；（2） （obsolete ） to have sexual intercourse。

2.seasons：times of day，一天中的时辰；thir：their；all please alike：无论何时总感到高兴。

3.charm：song，歌声。

4.orient Beams：（太阳）初升的（东方的）光芒；flour：flower.

5.Glistring：glistering，闪光；fertil：fertile.

6.milde：mild.

7.this her solemn Bird：（黑夜）严肃的鸟儿，指夜莺；this her：在早期英语中可连用。

8.Gemms of Heav'n：天上的宝石；Gemms：gems；starrie：starry；train：原指拖裙，禽类的长尾，此处指围绕月亮的众星。

9.But neither breath of Morn when she ascends ... sweet：从第650行起诗人重复叙述第641—649行的形象，突出夏娃对亚当的爱情。无论是良辰美景，还是繁花鸟语，若没有亚当，一切都失去了意义。

Book 12

［Leave Taking］

Whence thou returnst，and whither wentst，1 I know；

For God is also in sleep，and Dreams advise，

Which he hath sent propitious，2 some great good

Presaging，3 since with sorrow and hearts distress

Wearied I fell asleep：but now lead on；

In mee is no delay；with thee to goe，4

Is to stay here；without thee here to stay，

Is to go hence unwilling；5 thou to mee

Art all things under Heav'n，all places thou，6

Who for my wilful crime art banisht^7 hence.

This furder^8 consolation yet secure

I carry hence：though all by mee^9 is lost，

Such favour I unworthie am voutsaft，10

By mee the Promisd Seed^11 shall all restore.

So spake^12 our Mother Eve，and Adamheard

Well pleas'd，but answerd not；for now too nigh^13

Th' Arch-Angel^14 stood，and from the other Hill

To thir fixt^15 Station，all in bright array

The Cherubim^16 descended；on the ground

Gliding meteorous，as Ev'ning^17 Mist

Ris'n from a River ore the marish^18 glides，

And gathers ground fast at the Labourers heel

Homeward returning.19 High in Front advanc't，20

The brandisht Sword of God before them blaz'd^21

Fierce as a Comet；which with torrid^22 heat，

And vapour as the LibyanAir adust，23

Began to parch that temperat Clime；whereat^24

In either hand the hastning^25 Angel caught

Our lingring^26 Parents，and to th' Eastern Gate

Led them direct，and down the Cliff as fast

To the subjected Plaine；then disappeerd.27

They looking back，all th' Eastern side beheld

Of Paradise，so late thir happie^28 seat，

Wav'd^29 over by that flaming Brand，the Gate

With dreadful Faces throngd and fierie Armes：30

Som natural tears they dropd，but wip'd^31 them soon；

The world was all before them，where to choose

Thir place of rest，and Providence thir guide：

They hand in hand with wandring^32 steps and slow，

Through Edentook thir solitarie^33 way.

【题解】

这是全诗的结尾，第十二卷第610—649行亚当听完米迦勒叙述未来的事情以后，感到有所欣慰，叫醒夏娃，准备离开乐园。以下即是夏娃的答话。

【注释】

1.Whence thou returnst，and whither wentst：你从哪儿回来，到哪儿去。夏娃熟睡时亚当跟米迦勒上山，观看来世的情景。

2.propitious：吉祥的。

3.Presaging：预言。

4.goe：go.

5.go hence unwilling：被迫离开。此句意为没有你，留在乐园也等于被放逐。

6.Art：are，和thou相配合；all places thou：意为有你在，天涯海角，都是我的故乡。

7.wilful：obstinate，done intentionally，兼有“故意”和“任性”之义。按：上帝事先已派天使警告人类始祖，撒旦将引诱他们堕落，但夏娃未能抵挡诱惑，因是明知故犯，此外亚当劝夏娃不要单独在乐园中活动，以免遇到邪恶，夏娃执意不从，从而使撒旦有机可乘，故犯罪亦是任性所致。见原诗第六卷和第九卷；banisht：banished．

8.furder：further．

9.mee：me．

10.Such favour I unworthie am voutsaft：这样的恩典我不配接受；unworthie：unworthy；voutsaft：vouchsafed.

11.the Promisd Seed：圣约所定的种子。本卷第598—601行：“Let her with thee partake what thou hast heard；/chiefly what may concern her faith to know，/The great deliverance by her seed to come/（For by the Woman's Seed） on all mankind.”（让她分享你所听到的，尤其是有关她该相信的知识：她的种子将要来施行对人类的伟大救赎。）“女人的种子”即神子耶稣，他下凡来到人间，被钉死在十字架上为人类赎罪。

12.spake：spoke.

13.pleas'd：pleased；nigh：near.

14.Th' Arch-Angel：大天使，指米迦勒（Michael）。

15.thir fixt：their fixed.

16.Cherubim：（九级天使中第二级司知识的天使）。

17.meteorous：像流星一般闪光；Ev'ning：evening.

18.Ris'n：Risen；ore：o'er （over）；marish：marsh.

19.gathers ground fast at the Labourers heel ... returning：晚雾紧贴着归家农夫的脚跟。暗示人类将会死亡，并且要靠务农生活。《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ） 3：19：In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread，till thou return unto the ground；又3：23：Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden，to till the ground from whence he was taken.

20.advanc't：advanced.

21.brandisht：brandished；blaz'd：blazed.此行“神的宝剑高扬，挥舞在他们前面”是说上帝怕人类始祖偷吃生命之果以后长生不老，故在把他们驱逐出伊甸乐园时派挥动神之剑，挡住通到生命树的路。《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ）3：24：So he drove out the man：and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims，and a flaming sword which turned every way，to keep the way of the tree of life.

22.torrid：灼热的。

23.adust：parched，烤干的。

24.temperat：temperate；whereat：at which.

25.hastning：hastening.

26.lingring：lingering.

27.subjected：lying below；Plaine：plain；disappeerd：disappeared.

28.happie：happy.

29.Wav'd：waved．

30.throngd：thronged；fierie Armes：fiery arms.

31.dropd：dropped；wip'd：wiped.在弥尔顿笔下，亚当和夏娃对于失去乐园并非悲不自胜。其一，根据圣约神子将下凡为人类赎罪，并在世界末日到来之前再度来到人间，判决不信者，赏赐忠实信徒，“那时大地的乐园将胜过伊甸”。（12：463—465：for then the earth/Shall all be Paradise，far happier place/Than this of Eden，and far happier days.）故亚当不知该为犯罪痛悔还是高兴。（12：474—476：Whether I should repent me now of sin/By me done and occasioned，or rejoice/Much more.）其二，他们本身积极地迎接新生活的挑战，如亚当对今后的艰苦生活作达观之语：“说我们必须靠劳动得食，这又何妨？懒惰才是更坏的事情。”（10：1054：with labour I must earn/My bread；what harm？ Idleness had been worse.）

32.wandring：wandering.

33.solitarie：solitary.

FromSamson Agonistes

A little onward lend thy guiding hand

To these dark steps，a little further on；

For yonder bank hath choice of sun or shade.1

There I am wont^2 to sit，when any chance

Relieves me from my task of servile toil，

Daily in the common prison else enjoined me；3

Where I，a prisoner chained，scarce^4 freely draw

The air，imprisoned also，close and damp，5

Unwholesome draught.6 But here I feel amends —

The breath of heaven fresh blowing，pure and sweet，

With day-spring^7 born；here leave me to respire.8

This day a solemn feast the people hold

To Dagon，their sea-idol，9 and forbid

Laborious. Unwillingly this rest

Their superstition yields me；hence，with leave

Retiring from the popular noise，I seek

This unfrequented place，10 to find some^11 ease —

Ease to the body some，none to the mind

From restless thoughts，that，like a deadly swarm

Of hornets armed，no sooner found alone

But rush upon me thronging，12 and present

Times past，what once I was，and what am now.13

Oh，wherefore was my birth from Heaven foretold

Twice by an angel，14 who，at last，in sight

Of both my parents，all in flames ascended

From off the altar，15 where an offering burned，

As in a fiery column charioting

His godlike presence，16 and from some great act

Or benefit revealed to Abraham's race？17

Why was my breeding ordered and prescribed^18

As of a person separate to God，19

Designed for great exploits，20 if I must die

Betrayed，captives，and both my eyes put out，

Made of my enemies the scorn and gaze，21

To grind in brazen fetters under task

With this heaven-gifted strength？ O glorious strength，

Put to the labor of a beast，debased

Lower than bondslave！ Promise was that I

Should Israel from Philistian yoke deliver；22

Ask for this great deliverer now，and find him

Eyeless in Gaza，at the mill with slaves，

Himself in hands under Philistian yoke.

Yet stay；23 let me not rashly call in doubt

Divine prediction. What if all foretold

Had been fulfilled but through mine own default？24

Whom have I to complain of but myself，

Who this high gift of strength committed to me，

In what part lodged，how easily bereft me，

Under the seal of silence could not keep^25

But weakly to a woman must reveal it，

O'ercome with importunity and tears？26

O impotence of mind，in body strong！27

But what is strength without a double share

Of wisdom？28 Vast，unwieldy，burdensome，29

Proudly secure，30 yet liable to fall

By weakest subtleties；31 not made to rule，

But to subserve where wisdom bears command.32

God，when he gave me strength，to show withal，

How slight the gift was，hung it in my hair.33

But peace！ I must not quarrel with the will

Of highest dispensation，34 which herein

Haply had ends above my reach to know.35

Suffices that to me strength is my bane，36

And proves the source of all my miseries —

So many，and so huge，that each apart

Would ask a life to wail.37 But，chief of all，

O loss of sight，of thee I most complain！38

Blind among enemies！ O worse than chains，

Dungeon，or beggary，or decrepit^39 age！

Light，the prime work of God，40 to me is extinct，

And all her various objects of delight

Annulled，41 which might in part my grief have eased.

Inferior to the vilest now become

Of man or worm，42 the vilest here excel me：43

They creep，yet see；44 I，dark in light，exposed

To daily fraud，contempt，abuse，and wrong，

Within doors，or without，45 still^46 as a fool，

In power of others，never in my own —

Scarce^47 half I seem to live，dead more than half.

O dark，dark，dark，amid the blaze of noon，

Irrecoverably dark，total eclipse

Without all hope of day！48

O first-created beam，and thou great Word，

“Let there be light，and light was over all，”49

Why am I thus bereaved thy prime decree？50

The sun to me is dark^51

And silent as the moon，

When she deserts the night，

Hid in her vacant interlunar-cave.52

Since light so necessary is to life，

And almost life itself，if it be true^53

That light is in the soul，

She all in every part，54 why was the sight

To such a tender ball as th' eye confined，

So obvious^55 and so easy to be quenched，

And not，as feeling，through all parts diffused，

That she might look at will through every pore？56

Then had I not been thus exiled from light，

As in the land of darkness，yet in light，

To live a life half dead，a living death，57

And buried；but，O yet more miserable！

Myself my sepulcher，a moving grave；58

Buried，yet not exempt，

By privilege of death and burial，59

From worst of other evils，pains，and wrongs；

But made hereby obnoxious^60 more

To all the miseries of life，

Life in captivity

Among inhuman foes.

But' who are these？ for with joint pace I hear

The tread of many feet steering this way；

Perhaps my enemies，who come to stare

At my affliction，and perhaps to insult，

Their daily practice to afflict me more.

【题解】

弥尔顿的《力士参孙》按体例讲属于戏剧诗（Dramatic Poem），是和《失乐园》和《复乐园》并列的重要著作。诗人创作这个悲剧，有其自身的体会，也有大胆的主题构想和对《圣经》故事的改造。据《旧约·士师记》（Judges ）所述，由于参孙对腓力士女子德利拉的信任，透露了他的神力的秘密，从而被腓力士人剃掉头发，丧失了上帝给予的神力，被剜去双眼，充当奴隶做苦役。《圣经》所描写的力士参孙，是一个强横、好斗，甚至是残忍的大力士，和传统的悲剧式的英雄有很大的差别。但是，他狂热的感情和轻信的弱点，也属于传统悲剧式人物的性格缺陷。弥尔顿挖掘了这个传说的含义，其笔下的参孙反省自己的过失，痛惜未能实践拯救和保护犹太人的使命。此处所选为全剧的开始，力士参孙在迦萨的监狱里，开首的114行的这段独白，是他沉痛的反思和自责。

【注释】

1.For yonder bank hath choice of sun or shade：参孙在做苦役时，见不到阳光，今天是节日，被人领到有阳光和树荫的河岸上休息；这天因为腓力士人过鱼神节而没有去劳动。具有讽刺意义的是，腓力士人（《圣经》中文版和合本作“非利士”）庆祝的正是他们从力士参孙的控制中解放出来。按：开首的情景颇似索福克勒斯（Sophocles）的《俄狄浦斯在科罗诺斯》（Oedipus at Colonus ）一剧中俄狄浦斯出场：双目失明的他由女儿安提戈涅（Antigone）领着往前走。

2.wont：accustomed to，used to.

3.Daily in the common prison else enjoined me：否则的话我每天都得在大牢里做苦役（servile toil）；common prison：关押众犯人的大牢；else：otherwise，今天因为腓力士人过节而不必劳动；enjoin：to command.

4.scarce：（adv.） scarcely，hardly.

5.The air，imprisoned also，close and damp：牢房里空气不流通，好像也遭拘捕，闷热、潮湿；close：hot and stuffy.

6.Unwholesome draught：（吸进）密室里的过堂风很不卫生；draught：draft，a current of air in a closed-in space.

7.day-spring：break of day.

8.respire：breathe.

9.a solemn feast the people hold ... sea-idol：今天（腓力士人）举行庄严的宴会，供奉大衮；Dagon：大衮，是腓力士人敬奉的半人半鱼的神（a god worshipped by the Philistines，represented as half man and half fish）。《旧约·士师记》（Judges ）16：23：Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god，and to rejoice：for they said，Our God hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. （腓力士人的首领聚集，要给他们的神大衮献大祭，并且欢乐，因为他们说：“我们的神将我们的仇敌参孙交给我们手中了。”）

10.unfrequented place：很少有人去的地方，因而参孙愿意来这里休息。

11.some：in some degree，somewhat.

12.like a deadly swarm ... thronging：（思绪万千） 犹如一群凶恶的黄蜂，一旦发现我独自一人，就成群结队地扑过来；no sooner found alone：no sooner found me alone，因音节关系而省去me。

13.what once I was，and what am now：比较被上帝打入地狱的撒旦痛苦地回忆自己的身世和悲叹目前的处境和未来。参见《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ）4.24—25：Now conscience wakes despair / That slumber'd，wakes the bitter memory / Of what he was，what is，and what must be / Worse.

14.wherefore was my birth from Heaven foretold ... angel：关于参孙出生之前，天使两次对他父母传递神的意志的事。参见《旧约·士师记》（Judges ）13：1—25。其中13：2：And there was a certain man of Zorah，of the family of the Danites，whose name was Manoah；and his wife was barren，and bare not. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman，and said unto her，Behold now，thou art barren，and bearest not：but thou shalt conceive，and bear a son. （那时，有一个琐拉人，是属但族的，名叫玛挪亚。他的妻不怀孕，不生育。耶和华的使者向那妇人显现，对她说：“向来你不怀孕，不生育，如今你必怀孕生一个儿子。”） 又，13：8：Then Manoah intreated the Lord，and said，O my Lord，let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us，and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah；and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field：but Manoah her husband was not with her. （玛挪亚就祈求耶和华说：“主啊，求你再差遣那神人到我们这里来，好指教我们怎样待这将要出生的孩子。”神应允玛挪亚的话。妇人正坐在田间的时候，神的使者又到她那里，她丈夫玛挪亚却没有同她在一处。）

15.who，at last，in sight ... altar：我的父母亲眼看着（in sight Of both my parents）天使身上一团火焰，从祭坛上升上天去。参见《旧约·士师记》（Judges ）13：19—20：So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering，and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord：and the angel did wonderously；and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass，when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar，that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it，and fell on their faces to the ground. （ 玛挪亚将一只山羊羔和素祭放在磐石上献与耶和华。使者行奇妙的事，玛挪亚和他妻子观看：见火焰从壇上往上升，耶和华的使者在壇上的火焰中也升上去了。玛挪亚和他的妻看见，就俯伏于地。）

16.As in a fiery column charioting ... presence：好像一团火柱，火柱像战车载着天使的身躯升上天。

17.Or benefit revealed to Abraham's race：Abraham： 亚伯拉罕，是犹太人和阿拉伯人的祖先，原名亚伯兰（Abram），因神赐名而改为亚伯拉罕。神应许亚伯兰万族因他得福事，见《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ）12：2：I will make of thee a great nation，and I will bless thee，and make thy name great；and thou shalt be a blessing.（我必叫你成为大国。我必赐福给你，叫你的名为大，你也要叫别人得福。）又，应许其子孙多如众星，见15：5：He brought him forth abroad and said，Look now toward heaven，and tell the stars，if thou be able to number them：and he said unto him，So shall thy seed be.（于是又领他走到外边说：“你向天观看，数算众星，能数得过来吗？”又对他说：“你的后裔将要如此。” ）又，17：3：And Abram fell on his face：and God talked with him，saying，As for me，behold，my covenant is with thee，and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram，but thy name shall be Abraham；for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful，and I will make nations of thee，and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an ever lasting covenant，to be a God unto thee，and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee，and to thy seed after thee，the land wherein thou art a stranger，all the land of Canaan，for an everlasting possession；and I will be their God. （亚伯兰俯伏在地，神又对他说：“我与你立约，你要作多国的父。从此以后，你的名不再叫亚伯兰，要叫亚伯拉罕，因为我已立你作多国的父。我必使你的后裔极其繁多，国度从你而立，君王从你而出。我要与你和你世世代代的后裔坚立我的约，作永远的约，是要作你和你后裔的神。我要将你现在寄居的地，就是迦南全地，赐给你和你的后裔，永远为业。我也必作他们的神。”）

18.my breeding ordered and prescribed：参孙受神的旨意，受命出生。

19.As of a person separate to God：脱离自身，投心于上帝。按：参孙是拿撒勒人（Nazarite，《圣经》和合本作“拿细尔人”）。Nazarite这个词的本义是“脱离”（to separate），意为人应当摆脱自身的束缚，立誓按拿撒勒的规矩行事，全心投向上帝，而且也应戒酒。《旧约·士师记》（Judges ）13：7：Behold，thou shalt conceive，and bear a son；and now drink no wine nor strong drink，neither eat any unclean thing：for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. （你要怀孕，生一个儿子，所以，清酒浓酒都不可喝，一切不清洁之物也不可吃，因为这孩子从出胎一直到死，必归神作拿细尔人。）

20.Designed for great exploits：注定要有一番大作为。见下注22。

21.Made of my enemies the scorn and gaze：made the scorn and gaze of my enemies，成为敌人嘲笑和盯视的对象。

22.Promise was that I ... deliver：关于力士参孙的使命和其神力，参看《旧约·士师记》（Judges ）13：5：For，lo，thou shalt conceive，and bear a son；and no razor shall come on his head：for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb：and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.（你必怀孕，生一个儿子，不可用剃刀剃他的头，因为这孩子一出胎就归神作拿细尔人。他必起首拯救以色列人脱离腓力士人的手。）

23.Yet stay：pause，且慢；参孙提醒自己不能这么想。

24.What if all foretold ... default：如果要不是因为我的过错，所有的预言本来都是可以实现的，哪能怪谁；had been fulfilled：would have been fulfilled；but：if not，except for the fact.

25.Who this high gift of strength committed to me ... keep：who could not keep silent about the high gift of strength committed to me，or about where it was located，or about how easily it could be taken from me （Norton Anthology of Poetry ）.

26.But weakly to a woman must reveal it ... tears：参孙经不住腓力士妻子大利拉连哭带闹的诱探，将其力量来源于头发的秘密透露给她，致使被擒，并被剜去双目的叙述，参见《旧约·士师记》（Judges ）16：4—21，如其中15—17：And she said unto him，How canst thou say，I love thee，when thy heart is not with me？ thou hast mocked me these three times and hath not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. And it came to pass，when she pressed him daily with words，and urged him，so that his soul was vexed unto death；That he told her all his heart，and said unto her，There hath not come a razor upon mine head；for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb：if I be shaven，then my strength will go from me，and I shall become weak，and be like any other man. （ 大利拉对参孙说：“你既不与我同心，怎么说你爱我呢？你这三次欺哄我，没有告诉我，你因何有这么大的力气。”大利拉天天用话催逼他，他心里烦闷得要死。参孙就把心中所藏的都告诉了她，对她说：“向来人没有用剃头刀剃我的头，因为我自出母胎就归神作拿细尔人；若剃了我的头发，我的力气就离开我，我便软弱像别人一样。”）

27.O impotence of mind，in body strong：impotence of mind in a strong body，四肢发达，头脑简单。

28.what is strength without a double share ... wisdom：如果没有双倍于力量的智慧，力量又算什么呢？

29.Vast，unwieldy，burdensome：都是指strength，直至command 结束，为一个名词词组。

30.secure：careless，heedless of danger，此处保留了拉丁语中原有的含义。

31.By weakest subtleties：虚弱的伎俩；哄骗不要力气，反衬力量的无用。

32.not made to rule ... command：相当于孟子所言：劳心者治人，劳力者治于人。

33.to show withal ... hair：千钧之力，悬于一发，所以说神的礼物非常轻巧（how slight the gift was），参孙此时明白，神的赋予应该谨慎对待；withal：wherewith，with that.

34.Of highest dispensation：最高的天命，天道（the regulation or ordering of events by God，Providence）。

35.Haply had ends above my reach to know：也许其目的并不为我所能理解；Haply：perhaps.

36.Suffices that to me strength is my bane：suffices it to say that strength is bane to me；bane：death，ruin.

37.each apart ... wail：（苦难如此之大以至于） 其中一份痛苦就要花一辈子的时间来哀叹；apart：as a separate unit；ask：require，need.

38.O loss of sight，of thee I most complain：双目失明，弥尔顿自己有切肤之痛。参见本书所选其 “When I Consider How My Light Is Spent” 和 “To Cyriack Skinner Upon His Blindness”两首诗的注释。

39.decrepit：衰老的，衰弱的（worn out by the infirmities of old age）。

40.Light，the prime work of God：《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ） 1：3：神说：“要有光，就有了光。”诗人多次提到神造光乃首要大事，如《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ） 3. 1：Hail holy light，offspring of Heav'n first-born.

41.Annulled：are annulled.

42.Inferior to the vilest now become ... worm：I have now become inferior to the vilest of man or worm.

43.the vilest here excel me：the vilest here are superior to me.

44.They creep，yet see：这些最低微的虫子虽然只是在地上爬行，但是有眼睛，能看得见。

45.without：（archaic ）out of doors.

46.still：always.

47.Scarce：scarcely.

48.Without all hope of day：比较《麦克佩斯》中麦克佩斯夫人的台词，3.2.11—12：Things without all remedie Should be without regard （无法挽回的事情，只好听其自然）；all：any.

49.“Let there be light，and light was over all，”：见上注40。按：引号内并非《圣经》原文。比较《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ） 7.243—244：Let there be light，said God，and forthwith Light / Ethereal，first of things.

50.bereaved thy prime decree：被剥夺了首要天意，即光；bereaved of thy prime decree，i.e. deprived of the first-created，（and most important） thing.

51.The sun to me is dark：地狱里太阳是无声的，即地狱里是黑暗的。注家提到但丁在《神曲·地狱篇》（The Divine Comedy：The Inferno）1.60。

52.When she deserts the night ... interlunar-cave：古代罗马人认为，夜里没有月亮的时候，是月亮沉寂的时候（interlunar time），这时候，月亮躲在地下的洞里。

53.if it be true：虚拟式。

54.She all in every part：古罗马哲学家柏罗丁（Plotinus， 205？—270？） 有一名言：the soul is “all in all and all in every part”.

55.obvious：exposed.

56.That she might look at will through every pore：因为人的感觉是遍布全身的，所以可以随心所欲地通过每一个汗毛孔来感知外面的世界。

57.To live a life half dead，a living death：参见《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ） 10． 775—791：How gladly would I meet / Mortality my sentence （亚当表示接受毫无怨言地死亡的惩罚），Yet one doubt / Pursues me still，lest all I cannot die，/ Lest that pure breath of life，the spirit of man / Which god inspired，cannot together perish with this corporeal clod（但是，担心自己并不彻底死亡，而是肉体消亡，灵魂不灭），因此发问：But I shall die a living Death？而此处参孙认为自己仅存肉体，而失去了光，即灵魂，无异于过着死亡的生活。

58.Myself my sepulcher，a moving grave：因为是living death，故而自己成了自己的坟场，活动的坟墓。

59.By privilege of death and burial：死亡并安葬之后，人可以免除许多痛苦，故云privilege。

60.obnoxious：此处保留拉丁文原文，有exposed之意。

SIR JOHN SUCKLING

约翰·萨克令

（1609—1642）

【作者与作品简介】

约翰·萨克令出身在英格兰诺福克郡一个显贵家庭，就学剑桥大学的三一学院和伦敦格雷学院，1630年受封为爵士。萨克令生活浪漫不羁，豪放好义，也颇有才气，是有才华的“骑士派”诗人之一。他一生参过军，当过朝臣，是一位重要的保皇党成员。1641年因帮助当时保皇党的宫廷大臣斯特拉福伯爵越狱失败，被迫逃往法国，最后在法国由于穷困而自杀身亡。

萨克令受本·琼生影响颇深。他的诗歌自然轻松，读来流畅，但常带嘲讽的语调，《爱人与人爱》就是一个很好的例证。

《为什么这样子苍白，憔悴，痴心汉》是名篇，由于恋爱痛苦反而大骂女方，颇有贵族的不在乎的劲头。

《爱人与人爱》反映了萨克令愤世嫉俗的观点：“爱情的胜利必定是荣誉的葬礼”——爱情的交易，只不过如此而已。诗人在诗中直抒胸臆，是愤慨，是针砭，也是尖锐的讽刺。但面对这感情欺诈的现实，又显得无可奈何。

诗分四节，每节是一个四行组加两行押韵偶句构成；四行组每行四音步，押韵偶句每行五音步；全诗为抑扬格，韵律是ababcc。

何功杰

Song

Why so pale and wan，1 fond lover？

Prithee，2 why so pale？

Will，when looking well can't move her，

Looking ill prevail？3

Prithee，why so pale？

Why so dull and mute，young sinner？4

Prithee，why so mute？

Will，when speaking well can't win her，

Saying nothing do't？5

Prithee，why so mute？

Quit，quit，for shame；this will not move，

This cannot take her.

If of herself she will not love，

Nothing can make her：6

The devil take her！7

【注释】

1.wan：苍白的，没有血色的。

2.Prithee：（archaic ）pray thee，求您；此处相当于Tell me，prithee，请您告诉我。

3.prevail：成功，奏效。此句说假如健康的容貌不能打动她，那么病弱的体态能否使她动心？

4.sinner：（宗教或道德上的）罪人。此处形容可怜可悲的时态。

5.do't：do it，起作用。

6.make her：make her love.

7.The devil take her：虚拟语气，见鬼去吧！

Loving and Beloved

There never yet was honest man

That ever drove the trade of love；1

It is impossible，nor can

Integrity our ends promote：2

For Kings and Lovers are alike in this

That their chief art in reigne dissembling is.3

Here we are lov'd，4 and there we love，

Good nature now and passion strive

Which of the two should be above，

And laws unto the other give.5

So we false fire with art sometime discover，6

And the true fire with the same art do cover.7

What Rack can Fancy find so high？8

Here we must Court，and here ingage，9

Though in the other place we die.

O！ 'tis a torture all，and cozenage；10

And which the harder is^11 I cannot tell，

To hide true love，or make false love look well.

Since it is thus，God of desire，

Give me my honesty again，

And take thy brands back，and thy^12 fire；

I'm weary of the State I'm in：

Since （if the very best should now befall）

Loves Triumph，must be Honours Funeral.13

【注释】

1.drove the trade of love：做成一笔爱情的交易；drive the trade：使一笔生意成交。

2.promote：promote，move forward.此句说诚实正直也不会有助于达到目的。

3.art：诡计；reigne：reign；dissembling is：is dissembling；dissembling：欺骗，虚伪。

4.lov'd：loved.此句说一面被人爱，一面又爱着另一人。

5.laws unto the other give：give laws unto the other，把自己的意志强加于某人。此句意为善良的天性和狂热的恋情决心一争高低，看谁能制服对方。

6.we false fire with art sometime discover：we sometimes discover false fire with art，有时我们凭着一点窍门能发现虚假的热情；sometime：sometimes.

7.do cover：do cover the true fire etc.此句结构和上行相同。

8.What Rack can Fancy find so high：what agony can we imagine so extreme as this，to be obliged by the affections of one girl while ourselves loving another，被一个姑娘的爱情牵制着，心里又爱着另一姑娘，我们能想象这种痛苦多大吗？Rack：原意为拉肢刑架，引申为“折磨”（torture）。

9.Court：求爱；ingage：engage，保证，允诺。

10.'tis：it is；cozenage：欺骗。

11.which the harder is：which is the harder，指下行To hide true love，or make false love look well。

12.thy：your．此句意为你不要给我打上不诚实的烙印。

13.Loves Triumph：Love's Triumph；Honours Funeral：Honour's Funeral.

RICHARD LOVELACE

理查德·勒夫莱斯

（1618—1657）

【作者与作品简介】

理查德·勒夫莱斯是十七世纪英国“骑士派”诗人之一，出身在肯特郡的一个乡绅家庭，较早地接受了教育，毕业于牛津大学，获硕士学位。勒夫莱斯曾应征入伍，并远征国外；1641年退伍后回故乡定居。1642年因代表王室向议会呈交一份请愿书而被监禁两个月；1648年又由于被怀疑与当时肯特郡的骚乱有联系，再次被捕入狱。勒夫莱斯出狱后，继续资助王室，耗尽了钱财，致使经济状况日益恶化，最后死于穷困之中。

勒夫莱斯以他的抒情诗名垂于世，他的生前诗作结集在《露卡斯妲》（1649）中，死后又出版了续篇。他的很多诗篇都被谱成歌曲，颇受读者欢迎。

这里选的两首诗都是勒夫莱斯的名篇。《出征前致露卡斯妲》可能是诗人在英国内战时期（1642—1645）替国王效命而出征之前为他的妻子所作。诗中最后一句反映了作者对待圣命和爱情的态度：为国争光的责任应该胜过对爱情的留恋。这首诗比喻奇特，似乎悖理，但却符合逻辑：没有国，哪有家；没有家，爱复何在？诗歌的步律是抑扬格四音步和三音步交错，韵律是abab。

《狱中致爱尔西娅》写于作者第一次被监禁期间，表达了他对妻子真诚的爱情，这种爱情是任何力量都禁锢不住的，“石头砌不成一座监狱，/铁栅也编不就一个牢笼”，“如果我在爱情上有了自由的意志，/心灵也不受任何拘囿”，爱神的自由羽翼，就可以在这“重重的牢门内翱翔”。诗中每节末行的叠句强调了肉体的禁锢倒是促成了爱的自由想象力的解放，表达了作者那种乐观而又忧伤的深沉、复杂的心情。诗中二三两节是当时骑士阶级的生活和思想的写照。全诗四节，每节由两个四行组构成，抑扬格，四音步和三音步交错，韵律是ababcdcd。

何功杰

To Lucasta，Going to the Wars

Tell me not，Sweet，1 I am unkind

That from the nunnery^2

Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind，

To war and arms I fly.

True，a new mistress^3 now I chase，

The first foe in the field；

And with a stronger faith embrace^4

A sword，a horse，a shield.

Yet this inconstancy^5 is such

As you too shall adore；

I could not love thee，Dear，so much，

Loved I not honor more.6

【题解】

此诗是《露卡斯妲》中第二支歌。Going to the Wars即On Going to the Wars.

【注释】

1.Sweet：Sweetheart，情人。

2.nunnery：女修道院，喻纯洁和宁静。

3.a new mistress：指下行the first foe，把上战场杀敌人喻为追求新欢。按：勒夫莱斯为英国国王而战，并倾其家产，贫困而死。他还在1646年帮助法军从西班牙手中夺取敦克尔克（Dunkirk）。

4.stronger faith：比追求爱情更加强烈的信念；embrace：表明他不是拥抱爱人，而是跨上战马，荷盾执剑。

5.inconstancy：用情不专。

6.Loved I not honor more：if I did not love Honour more.

To Althea，from Prison

When Love with unconfinéd wings

Hovers within my gates，

And my divine Althea brings^1

To whisper at the grates；2When I lie tangled in her hair

And fettered to her eye，

The gods that wanton^3 in the air

Know no such liberty.

When flowing cups run swiftly round，

With no allaying Thames，4

Our careless heads with roses bound，5

Our hearts with loyal flames；

When thirsty grief in wine we steep，6

When healths and draughts go free，7

Fishes，that tipple in the deep，8

Know no such liberty.

When，like committed linnets，9 I

With shriller throat shall sing

The sweetness，mercy，majesty，

And glories of my King；10

When I shall voice aloud how good

He is，how great should be，11

Enlargéd winds，that curl the flood，12

Know no such liberty.

Stone walls do not a prison make，

Nor iron bars a cage；13

Minds innocent and quiet take

That for an hermitage.14

If I have freedom in my love，

And in my soul am free，

Angels alone，that soar above，

Enjoy such liberty.

【注释】

1.my divine Althea brings：brings my divine Althea.

2.grates：监狱的铁栅。

3.gods：天使；珀西（Percy）主教的《英诗辑古》（Reliques of Ancient Poetry ）作birds；wanton：moving freely or capriciously，自由奔放。

4.With no allaying Thames：With no mixture of water in the wine，酒里未掺水。

5.with roses bound：bound with rose；bound：一作crowned。

6.thirsty grief in wine we steep：we steep thirsty grief in wine，颇似“借酒浇愁”。

7.healths and draughts go free：频频祝酒，开怀痛饮。

8.tipple：to drink constantly in small quantities，不停地一点一点地喝；the deep：（poetic ）大海。

9.committed linnets：caged finches，笼中的红雀。

10.King：指查理一世（King Charles I），他于1649年被处死。

11.how great should be：how great he should be.

12.curl the flood：推波助澜。

13.Stone walls do not a prison make ... cage：石壁不成监狱，铁栅不成牢笼。这是勒夫莱斯的名句。

14.hermitage：修道院，隐修院。

ANDREW MARVELL

安德鲁·马韦尔

（1621—1678）

【作者与作品简介】

马韦尔是政治上活跃人物，做过弥尔顿在革命政府里任拉丁书记时的助手，写诗歌颂过克伦威尔，然而王政复辟后却未受追捕，反而当了议员，他也不改本色，替弥尔顿辩护，对朝政讥刺，锋芒及于国王查理二世本人。

他写诗不多，但有少数作品至今传诵，特别是这里所选的两首。

《致他的娇羞的女友》是情诗，然而又写得如何不同寻常！为了表示爱情的长久，把《圣经》里的洪水、辽远的印度、历史上的大帝国等等都扯了进来，对爱人的身体的赞美也是愿意“用一百个年头来……凝视你的娥眉；用二百年来膜拜你的酥胸”，而用了这无限扩大的“气派”，却只为点出青春在飞快消逝，而一旦逝去，则前面只有“一片永恒的沙漠”。因此劝姑娘去掉贞女的矜持，而要全力投入恋爱——不要慢吞吞地温文尔雅地爱，而要像“烈火”，像“食肉的猛禽”，把“时间立刻吞掉”，“通过粗暴的厮打把我们的欢乐／从生活的两扇铁门中间扯过。”如果说，这诗的前半写得有点俏皮，到了后半则是完全认真的；前面是时间、空间的大扩张，后面则是突然缩小到火热的情欲一点上。所谓“玄学派”，实际上是最入世的。多恩如此，马韦尔也知此。

《花园》一诗属于牧歌类，写的是理想世界。诗人感叹在人世追逐荣名实在不如隐居花园，后来凭想象进入了一个无忧的伊甸园。但是中间经过若干层次，一层比一层更纯净，更自在，直到超脱凡尘，而他的伊甸园又不同于《圣经》上的伊甸园，其中并无夏娃出现，也就没有“原罪”的威胁。然而诗人又知道希冀“超出凡人的部分，是妄想”，所以最后一节又回到一种中层境界，安于“用碧草与鲜花来计算”时间的人世的普通花园。

诗人拿来与尘世的五颜六色相对比的是绿色，这是他的主要象征，一则云“不论是白的，还是红的，看来／总不及这可爱的绿色那么昵爱”，再则云：

Annihilating all that's made

To a green Thought in a green Shade.

把一切凡是造出来的，都化为虚妄，

变成绿荫中的一个绿色的思想。

这可能是马韦尔全部诗作里最有名的两行，也是历代学者和批评家绞尽脑汁力图阐明的两行。比较可取的解释是两种：一、把全部物质世界化为非物质的；二、与绿色思想相比，物质世界毫无价值。不论如何解释，这两行体现了作者在艺术上的精心，上行用了annihilate这个厉害的词，下行又重复green两次，而且两行出现在全节之末，更使这两行突出地受到注意，此外用green Shade之实来调剂green Thought之虚，也使我们看清富于形象的诗怎样大异于逻辑思维的哲理文章。

玄学派诗之难能可贵处正在于以哲理入诗，而诗不仅不减本色，反而更加动人。

王佐良

To His Coy Mistress

Had we but world enough，and time，

This coyness，lady，were no crime.1

We would sit down，and think which way

To walk，and pass our long love's day.

Thou by the Indian Ganges' side^2

Shouldst rubies^3 find；I by the tide

Of Humber would complain，4 I would

Love you ten years before the flood，5

And you should，if you please，refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.6

My vegetable love^7 should grow

Vaster than empires and more slow；

An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes，and on thy forehead gaze；8

Two hundred to adore each breast，

But thirty thousand to the rest；9

An age at least to every part，10

And the last age should show your heart.

For，lady，you deserve this state，11

Nor would I love at lower rate.12

But at my back I always hear

Time's wingéd chariot^13 hurrying near；

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.14

Thy beauty shall no more be found.

Nor，in thy marble vault，15 shall sound

My echoing song；then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity，

And your quaint^16 honor turn to dust，

And into ashes all my lust：17

The grave's^18 a fine and private place，

But none，I think，do there embrace.

Now therefore，while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew，

And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires，19

Now let us sport us^20 while we may，

And now，like amorous birds of prey，21

Rather at once our time devour

Than languish in his slow-chapped^22 power.

Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball，23

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Thorough the iron gates of life：24

Thus，though we cannot make our sun

Stand still，yet we will make him run.25

【题解】

这是一首及时行乐诗。古来咏此题者，不乏其人。前见莎氏、琼生、赫里克等诗人之作，各臻其妙。但是，马韦尔此诗却另有一番新意，意境开阔，构思精巧。规劝少女珍惜时光，说得入情入理，但又不是干枯的说教。全诗写得既轻松又严肃，热情洋溢而又充满哲理。

【注释】

1.Had we but world enough，and time ... crime：if we had but enough world and time etc.，假如我们不受空间和时间的限制，那么你忸怩不从也不算罪过。全诗起首先退一步说，欲擒故纵之笔。

2.the Indian Ganges' side：印度的恒河之畔。

3.Shouldst：shouldest，即should，和thou配合；rubies：红宝石。

4.Humber：亨伯河。流经马韦尔家乡赫尔镇（Hull）；complain：埋怨，此处有哼着失恋的哀怨小调之意。第5—7行形象地说明，如果不受地域的限制，你可到东方印度的恒河之畔去找红宝石，我可在西方的亨伯河边独自怨伤悲歌。

5.the flood：《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ）第6至9章所载的太古洪水。

6.conversion of the Jews：犹太人皈依基督教。据基督教的信仰，犹太人在世界末日前夕会皈依基督教。此句从时间上说，假如不受时限，我可以从上古就爱你，而你可以拒绝我，直至犹太人都改变了信仰。

7.vegetable love：像植物那样慢慢生长和蔓延的爱情。此句结合时空来写，想象颇为奇突。

8.Thine：your；因eyes以元音字母起头，故不用thy，而用thine；and on thy forehead gaze：and to gaze on thy forehead.

9.to the rest：身体的其他部分。

10.An age at least to every part：欣赏你身体的每一部分，少说也得用一个历史时期。

11.state：dignity，荣耀。

12.at lower rate：与上行state相比较而言，在程度上较低的意思。此两行说：你无愧于这样的荣光，而我爱你岂敢有所轻慢！

13.Time's wingéd chariot：时间那驾翼的战车；Time：拟人用法，亦可视为“时间之神”。希腊神话中太阳神阿波罗（Apollo）驾驶着金色的战车冲出中天；wingéd：“éd”成一音节，é要发音；诗歌中出于音律的需要，增减音节十分常见；第21—22行是诗人的名句。

14.Deserts of vast eternity：地无界限，时无始末的荒原。按：诗人紧紧抓住时间和空间这两个概念。

15.marble vault：玉石的墓穴。

16.quaint：fastidious，矜持的。

17.lust：情欲。

18.The grave's：the grave is.

19.while thy willing soul transpires ... fires：意思说你表面上矜持，但内心的情思毕竟关不住，在全身都焕发出来；transpires：breathes forth，吐露；At every pore：浑身上下；instant fires：immediate，present enthusiasm，一点就燃的热情。

20.sport us：娱乐。

21.amorous birds of prey：燃着情火的猛禽。按：amorous表明“猛禽”捕食时的动机是为及时享受爱情，就像猛禽捕食小鸟是出于充饥一样。有的注者以为amorous是指“相爱着的”。按：从这里起至结束的比喻反映了马韦尔继承了多恩（Donne）的玄学派诗风，比喻上刻意追求奇思。

22.slow-chapped：slow-jawed，慢慢地吞食。

23.Let us roll all our strength and all ... ball：此句意为把我们的力量和爱情集中成一个球，以冲破时空的限制。

24.And tear our pleasures with rough strife ... life：用尽力量把快活从禁闭的生活的铁门里拔出来；Thorough：through.

25.Thus，though we cannot make our sun ... run：意为我们不能让太阳停留，但可以让太阳来追逐我们。全诗结尾时强调转被动为主动，化消极因素为积极因素，享受人生的乐趣。

The Garden

How vainly men themselves amaze^1

To win the palm，the oak，or bays，2

And their incessant labors see^3

Crowned^4 from some single herb，or tree，

Whose short and narrow-vergéd^5 shade

Does prudently their toils upbraid；6

While all flowers and all trees do close^7

To weave the garlands of repose！

Fair Quiet，8 have I found thee here，

And Innocence，thy sister dear？

Mistaken long，9 I sought you then

In busy companies of men.

Your sacred plants，if here below，10

Only among the plants will grow；

Society is all but rude^11

To this delicious^12 solitude.

No white nor red^13 was ever seen

So amorous as this lovely green.14

Fond lovers，cruel as their flame，15

Cut in these trees their mistress' name：16

Little，alas，they know or heed

How far these beauties hers exceed！17

Fair trees，wheresoe'er your barks I wound，18

No name shall but your own be found.19

When we have run our passion's heat，20

Love hither makes his best retreat.21

The gods，that mortal beauty chase，22

Still^23 in a tree did end their race：

Apollo hunted Daphne so，

Only that she might laurel grow；

And Pan did after Syrinx speed，

Not as a nymph，but for a reed.

What wondrous life is this^24 I lead！

Ripe apples drop about my head；

The luscious^25 clusters of the vine

Upon my mouth do crush their wine；

The nectarine and curious^26 peach

Into my hands themselves do reach；

Stumbling on melons，as I pass，

Insnared with flowers，I fall on grass.27

Meanwhile the mind，from pleasure less，

Withdraws into its happiness；28

The mind，that ocean where each kind

Does straight its own resemblance find；29

Yet it creates，transcending these，30

Far other worlds and other seas，

Annihilating all that's made

To a green thought in a green shade.31

Here at the fountain's sliding foot，32

Or at some fruit tree's mossy root，

Casting the body's vest^33 aside，

My soul into the boughs does glide；

There，like a bird，it sits and sings，

Then whets^34 and combs its silver wings，

And，till prepared for longer flight，

Waves in its plumes the various light.35

Such was that happy garden-state，

While man there walked without a mate：

After a place so pure and sweet，

What other help could yet be meet！36

But 'twas beyond a mortal's share^37

To wander solitary there：

Two paradises 'twere^38 in one

To live in paradise alone.

How well the skillful gardener drew

Of flowers and herbs this dial new，39

Where，from above，the milder sun

Does through a fragrant zodiac run；40

And as it works，th'41 industrious bee

Computes its time as well as we！

How could such sweet and wholesome hours

Be reckoned but^42 with herbs and flowers？

【题解】

此诗写诗人在园林里思索人与自然的关系，发表于1681年。

【注释】

1.amaze：perplex.

2.the palm：棕榈枝，给予竞技优胜者的奖品；the oak：指civic crown，奖给在战争中救战友生命者的橡树枝叶冠：bays：月桂冠，授予诗人和凯旋归来的将军。

3.their incessant labors see：see their incessant labors.

4.Crowned：奖赏。

5.short and narrow-vergéd：意为用树叶做成的冠冕很短，边沿很窄；vergéd：“é”要发音。

6.prudently their toils upbraid：prudently upbraid their toils，谨慎地责备人们的劳瘁；prudently：暗示小小的冠冕是被迫做成的，对人的责备只能如此而已，与下两行以花木自然地结成恬静的花环反衬。

7.close：unite，形容草木葳蕤。1726年版本中作while all the flowers and trees do close，在节律上较原句优美。

8.Fair Quiet：美丽的恬静，拟人化用法，下行Innocence同。

9.Mistaken long：意为我长期错误地想到熙熙攘攘的人群中去找恬静和无邪。

10.if here below：如果能投在人间生长。

11.all but rude：almost barbarous.

12.To：compared to；delicious：兼指精神和感官两方面而言的美味。

13.No white nor red：Neither white nor red；white： 指天真烂漫；red： 指狂热的爱情。

14.So amorous as this lovely green：花园中赏心悦目的绿色（比白色或红色）更加可爱；amorous： （archaic ）lovely.

15.cruel as their flame：恋火炽烈的。

16.Cut in these trees their mistress' name：在树上刻上恋人的名字。如莎氏《皆大欢喜》（As You Like It ）3.2.5—10：O Rosalind！ these trees shall be my books，/ And in their barks my thoughts I'll character./That every eye which in this forest looks/Shall see thy virtue witnessed everywhere./Run，run，Orlando，carve on every tree/ The fair，the chaste，and unexpressive she.

17.hers exceed：exceed hers；hers： 指mistress。

18.wheresoe'er：wheresoever；wound：刻字。

19.No name shall but your own be found：意为如果我要在你们这些美好的树上刻字，那么我刻在树上的将不是情人的名字，而是你们这些树木本身的名字，如不刻“Sylvia”或“Laura”，而刻“Beech”或“Oak”。

20.run our passion's heat：此处heat除作“热情”解外，另有竞技中“一个回合”之义，即a single intense effort or bout of action。

21.hither：指在树这里；retreat：退却。

22.The gods，that mortal beauty chase：诸神追逐凡人之躯的美颜。出自两个典故：一、太阳神阿波罗（Apollo）追求仙女达佛涅（Daphne）；达佛涅无奈，求助于神，化为月桂树。二、森林之神潘（Pan）一厢情愿爱上了叙任克斯（Syrinx）；为了逃避潘的追逐，叙任克斯投入拉冬河（Ladon），并请求神把她变成芦苇。潘用此芦苇做成芦笛。承上引意，爱情退入树木。按： 这里描写的是一个古希腊、古罗马的异教世界，不同于基督教所描绘的伊甸园。mortal beauty：阿波罗和潘追求的女神属nymph，尚未完全成仙，故称mortal。这两个典故出自奥维德（Ovid）的《变形记》（Metamorphoses ）。

23.Still：always.

24.is this：1681年版作in this （i.e. in this garden）。

25.luscious：sweet in a great degree.

26.nectarine：一种皮光滑的桃子，油桃；另暗示甘美如众神所饮之酒nectar；curious：exquisite，精美的。

27.I fall on grass：一失足倒在草地上，无伤无痛。亚当在伊甸园中一失足（fall）却被逐出乐园。本节极写园中乐趣，笔调轻快，颇见巧思，十分真切。

28.the mind，from pleasure less ... happiness：the mind withdraws from smaller outside enjoyment into its own internal happiness.关于此句诸说略有不同。总的意思是说心灵不放浪形骸，求声色之乐，而是追求内在的，更加深沉的幸福。

29.The mind，that ocean where each kind ... find：All land creatures were supposed to have corresponding sea-creatures；thus the mind is an ocean because it contains a counterpart to everything on earth，当时人们认为地上的一切生物在海洋里都有等同的海生物。心灵就像大海一样，因为它们都能包孕万物。straight：directly，immediately；此句正常结构为does find straight its own resemblance。

30.Yet it creates，transcending these：然而心灵还能创造，凌驾于这一切之上。

31.Annihilating all that's made ... shade：此句诸说不同。据《诺尔顿英国文学选集》（The Norton Anthology of English Literature，1979），此句说花园象征沉思的生活，和活跃的生活完全不同；绿色不同于天真烂漫的白色和恋情的红色，表示一种冷静、超脱，不受世俗骚扰的生活方式（The garden is a symbol of contemplative life as contrasted with the active life；and green，distinguished from the white of innocence and the red of passion ［line 17］，connotes a way of life which is cool and detached from human concerns）.据帕尔格雷夫（Palgrave）选编，由惠勒（C．B．Wheeler）注释的《黄金诗库》（The Golden Treasury，1924），此句解释为心灵忙于创造，只感到周围的一切成了模糊的一片绿阴（so intent is the mind on its own creation that all the objects round become merely a blurred sensation of shady green）。按：根据第45—48行总的意思来说，诗人表示心灵创造的一切超过整个物质世界，它那冷静的无邪之思，使现有的一切相比之下成为子虚乌有。Aunihilating：reducing to nothing；To：compared to；a green thought in a green shade：绿阴中冷静的无邪之思，此处象征精神世界和物质世界的结合。

32.sliding foot：潺潺流水的源头。

33.the body's vest：肉体的外壳。肉体是灵魂的外衣。

34.whets：trims，dresses，鸟用嘴整理羽毛。

35.Waves in its plumes the various light：正常结构为the various light waves in its plumes，银色的羽毛如水波一般泛出五光十色；various：many-coloured.

36.What other help could yet be meet：《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ）2：18：And the Lord God said，It is not good that the man should be alone；I will make him a help meet for him.（耶和华神说：“那人独居不好，我要为他造一个配偶帮助他。”）意为在这样一个超凡入神的地方，还有什么伴侣会不合适呢？help：伴侣；meet：proper.

37.'twas beyond a mortal's share：凡夫俗子哪能独占这样的乐园；'twas：it was.

38.'twere：it were；独自享受乐园，等于享受双料乐园。既然凡人不能独自享受，只能和人分享，因此，当初亚当正因为有夏娃作伴，而一同犯禁，被逐出乐园。诗人感慨不能久驻神仙境地，还得回到现实。

39.the skillful gardener drew ... new：the skillful gardner drew this new dial of flowers and herbs，高超的园丁用花草设计了一个日晷。巧妙的花匠可以根据花卉开放的不同时间布置花圃，计算时间。

40.Does through a fragrant zodiac run：does run through a fragrant zodiac，太阳光在芬芳的花草组成的日晷上移动，就像在黄道带上移动一样；zodiac：黄道带，分十二宫（sign），日照每月移动一宫。此处黄道带指园中花草。

41.th'：the．

42.but：except.

JOHN DRYDEN

约翰·德莱顿

（1631—1700）

【作者与作品简介】

德莱顿生于英国北安普敦。剑桥大学三一学院毕业。十七世纪五十年代迁居伦敦，开始文学活动。23岁结婚，婚后生活并不美满。1670年，被封为桂冠诗人，并任宫廷史官。他生于清教徒家庭，经历过克伦威尔的全盛时期，但到王政复辟的晚期，他55岁时又改奉天主教，对此人们议论很多。光荣革命之后推行新教，他仍坚持天主教，因而被撤销了“桂冠诗人”的称号和宫廷职务，并停发退休养老金。晚年以翻译为生，常坐在花园的咖啡座上和追随者谈论政治或文学。69岁去世，葬于威斯敏斯特教堂。

德莱顿是一位全面的作家，不仅能写诗歌、戏剧、散文、文艺批评、理论文章，还能翻译希腊文、拉丁文的作品，对法国戏剧也深有研究。人们一般称他为诗人、剧作家、批评家，承认他在许多方面都有杰出的贡献；文学史家认为他是王政复辟时期具有代表性的作家，称当时的时代为“德莱顿时代”。据他的老友英国剧作家康格列夫（1670—1729）说，“他是朋友中间最为谦虚的人”；也许就是这种“谦虚”成就了一代多才多艺的文豪吧！？

德莱顿开始只写诗歌，以后为了谋生开始写戏剧。他写了近三十部剧本，大都以爱情与荣誉的矛盾为主题。另外改写了莎士比亚的《安东尼和克莉奥佩特拉》，简化故事，突出悲剧性恋情，写成著名的古典悲剧《一切为了爱情》。

他初期的诗歌多与时事结合，如《纪念护国公逝世的英雄诗》和庆贺查理第二复辟的《回来的星辰》，以及描述1666年伦敦大火、瘟疫和对荷战争的《奇异的年代》。后来转而写政论诗、讽刺诗，如《阿伯沙隆和阿基托弗尔》（1681）等，人们认为都是较成熟的作品。

但是，他最受人称颂的诗作还是纪念塞西莉亚节的那两首：《献给塞西莉亚节之歌》（1687）和《亚历山大的宴会》（1697）。前者称颂了音乐节奏和谐之美；后者歌颂了音乐的力量，伟大如亚历山大的人物也不免为音乐的力量所左右。尽管他以谦虚闻名，他对这两首诗的自我评价却是：“前无古人，后无来者”。人们多年来也一贯推崇这两首诗，为之谱曲，并常常在塞西莉亚节歌唱。

吕千飞

FromAbsalom and Achitophel：A Poem

In the first rank of these did Zimri^1 stand；

A man so various，2 that he seemed to be

Not one，but all mankind's epitome：

Stiff in opinions，always in the wrong；

Was everything by starts，and nothing long；3

But，in the course of one revolving moon，4

Was chymist，fiddler，statesman，and buffoon：5

Then all for women，painting，rhyming，drinking，

Besides ten thousand freaks^6 that died in thinking.

Blest madman，who could every hour employ，7

With something new to wish，or to enjoy！

Railing^8 and praising were his usual themes；

And both （to show his judgment） in extremes：9

So over-violent，or over-civil，10

That every man，with him，was God or Devil.11

In squandering wealth was his peculiar art：

Nothing went unrewarded but desert.

Beggared by fools，whom still he found too late，12

He had his jest，and they had his estate.13

He laughed himself from court；then sought relief

By forming parties，but could ne'er be chief；

For，spite of^14 him，the weight of business fell

On Absalom and wise Achitophel：15

Thus，wicked but in will，of means bereft，16

He left not faction，but of that was left.

【题解】

此诗的背景是1678—1681年间英国政治和宗教舞台上围绕王位继承问题展开的一场斗争。国王查理二世一生荒淫好色，却无子继承王位，因此欲立其弟约克公爵詹姆士为继承人。但是，詹姆士因信奉天主教而遭到普遍反对。1678年，奥茨（Titus Oats）谎称天主教徒阴谋推翻查理二世，纵火烧毁伦敦，屠杀新教徒，并作伪证，即所谓Popish Plot。新教徒闻之，群情激愤，致使新的内战几成一触即发之势。谢芙慈勃里伯爵（Earl of Shaftesbury）和白金汉公爵（Duke of Backingham）等人乘机煽动民情，要求废除詹姆士作为王位继承者，并拥立查理二世的庶子蒙茅斯公爵（Duke of Monmouth）继承王位。以国王为首的托利党（Tory）和以谢芙慈勃里伯爵为代表的辉格党（Whig）进行了一番斗争，后谢芙慈勃里伯爵被指控为在苏格兰谋反而囚禁狱中。1681年11月，经主要由辉格党人组成的大陪审团作出判决后，他终于获释，翌年避居荷兰，1683年病死。蒙茅斯公爵本人在1685年企图篡位，但兵败，不久被斩首。

德莱顿借圣经故事来讽喻这一历史事件。他把国王比作大卫，把蒙茅斯公爵比作押沙龙，把谢芙慈勃里伯爵比作阿奇托菲尔，把白金汉公爵比作齐姆莱，等等。德莱顿的矛头，主要是针对谢芙慈勃里伯爵等辉格党人。此诗发表于1681年，恰在大陪审团开庭之前，显然是想使其作出不利于被告的裁决。

本诗采用英雄排偶诗体（heroic couplet），渗与讽刺笔法，堪称史诗和讽刺诗的绝妙结合。

押沙龙（Absalom）反叛父王大卫（David）的历史故事，和私生子蒙茅斯公爵反对其父查理二世的事件之间，有许多惊人的相似之处。大卫晚年荒淫，沉于女色，与国王查理如出一辙。押沙龙被杀，蒙茅斯公爵被斩首，结局亦相同。谢芙慈勃里伯爵鼓动蒙茅斯公爵争夺王位，亦像是阿奇托菲尔（Achitophel）唆使押沙龙反叛的历史翻版。

【注释】

1.Zimri：心利，一译齐默黎。据《旧约·历王记上》（I Kings ）第16章，心利是犹太国王以拉（Elah）的臣仆，掌管战车，后弑君篡位。《旧约·民数记》（Numbers ） 第25章，提到另一个心利，因好色和亵渎神明而被杀。德莱顿用以指白金汉公爵二世乔治·维里埃（George Villiers，2nd Duke of Buckingham）。他曾参加五大臣小组（cabal），但在1673年后和谢芙慈勃里伯爵联合反对国王。此处所选的一节即是讽刺维里埃的。其实他也反对谢芙慈勃里伯爵和蒙茅斯公爵。批评家认为他在本诗遭到猛烈嘲讽是因为他曾主笔创作《排练》（The Rehearsal，1671）一剧，讽刺德莱顿，故德莱顿借机反击。

2.various：性格特点多种多样。

3.Was everything by starts，and nothing long：他什么事都要干一下，但事事都虎头蛇尾。

4.in the course of one revolving moon：月球自转和公转的速度相同，约27天。

5.chymist：chemist；buffoon：小丑。

6.ten thousand：形容数量之多；freaks：畸形者，此处指各种怪诞行为。这些怪诞行为想想就放弃了（died in thinking）。

7.Blest：blessed；every hour employ：employ every hour.

8.Railing：reviling，abusing，谩骂。

9.both （to show his judgment） in extremes：无论是谩骂还是赞扬，都持极端观点，以表明他的见地。

10.over-civil：过分讲礼貌。

11.That every man，with him，was God or Davil：他不是把人尊为上帝，就是贬为魔鬼。

12.Beggared by fools，whom still he found too late：他被弄臣搞成穷光蛋，每次等他发现，总是为时太晚；still：constantly；found：found out.

13.estate：财产。

14.spite of：despite.

15.Absalom：押沙龙。古希伯来统一王国大卫的宠儿，后反叛其父，自立为王，但最后兵败被杀。德莱顿把蒙茅斯公爵比作押沙龙。Achitophel：阿奇托菲尔，即Ahithophel，大卫的谋臣（counsellor），追随押沙龙反叛大卫，后因押沙龙不听其意见而自杀。见《旧约·撒母耳记下》（II Samuel ）13—18。

16.but：only；of means bereft：bereft of means，此意为他只能主观上刻毒，但无法施展，因为大权掌握在押沙龙和阿奇托菲尔手中。

Epigram on Milton

Three poets，1 in three distant ages born，

Greece，Italy，and England did adorn.

The first in loftiness of thought surpassed，2

The next in majesty，in both the last：3

The force of Nature could no farther go；

To make a third，she joined the former two.4

【题解】

此诗刊印在1688年约各布·汤森版《失乐园》（Jacob Tonson's edition of Paradise Lost ）弥尔顿肖像之下。

【注释】

1.Three poets：古希腊荷马，意大利维吉尔和英国弥尔顿。弥尔顿在青年时代就立志吟咏一部英雄史诗，能与荷马和维吉尔的作品齐名。晚年创作史诗《失乐园》等伟大诗篇，在英国乃至世界文学史上居有重要地位。参见本书关于弥尔顿的介绍和诗选。

2.in loftiness of thought surpassed：surpassed in loftiness of thought.

3.in both the last：弥尔顿既有荷马之崇高，又有维吉尔之庄严。

4.The force of Nature could no farther go ... two：此系德莱顿名句。意为大自然创造荷马和维吉尔这样的天才已竭尽全力，要创造第三个天才，必须把前两者合而为一。

Alexander's Feast；or，The Power of Music：An Ode in Honor of St. Cecilia's Day

'Twas at the royal feast，for Persia won^1

By Philip's warlike son：2

Aloft in awful state^3

The godlike hero sate^3

On his imperial throne；

His valiant peers^4 were placed around；

Their brows with roses and with myrtles bound.5

（So should desert in arms^6 be crowned）.

The lovely Thaïs，7 by his side，

Sate like a blooming Eastern bride

In flower of youth and beauty's pride.

Happy，happy，happy pair！

None but the brave，

None but the brave，

None but the brave deserves the fair.8

Chorus

Happy，happy，happy pair！

None but the brave，

None but the brave，

None but the brave deserves the fair.9

2

Timotheus，10 placed on high

Amid the tuneful choir，

With flying fingers touched the lyre：11

The trembling notes ascend the sky，

And heavenly joys inspire.12

The song began from Jove，13

Who left his blissful seats above

（Such is the power of mighty love^14）.

A dragon's fiery form belied the god：15

Sublime on radiant spires^16 he rode，

When he to fair Olympia pressed；17

And while he sought her snowy breast：

Then，round her slender waist he curled，

And stamped an image of himself，a sovereign of the world.18The listening crowd admire^19 the lofty sound：“A present deity，” they shout around；

“A present deity，” the vaulted roofs rebound.

With ravished ears^20

The monarch hears，

Assumes the god，

Affects to nod，

And seems to shake the spheres.21

Chorus

With ravished ears

The monarch hears，

Assumes the god，

Affects to nod，

And seems to shake the spheres .

3

The praise of Bacchus^22 then the sweet musician sung，

Of Bacchus ever fair and ever young：

The jolly god in triumph comes；

Sound the trumpets；beat the drums；

Flushed with a purple grace

He shows his honest face：

Now give the hautboys^23 breath；he comes，he comes！

Bacchus，ever fair and young

Drinking joys did first ordain；24

Bacchus' blessings are a treasure，

Drinking is a soldier's pleasure；

Rich the treasure，

Sweet the pleasure，

Sweet is pleasure after pain.

Chorus

Bacchus' blessings are a treasure，

Drinking is the soldier's pleasure，

Rich the treasure，

Sweet the pleasure，

Sweet is pleasure after pain.

4

Soothed with the sound，the king grew vain；25

Fought all his battles o'er again，

And thrice he routed^26 all his foes，and thrice he slew the slain.

The master saw the madness rise，

His glowing cheeks，his ardent eyes；

And，while he^27 heaven and earth defied，

Changed his hand， and checked his pride.28

He chose a mournful Muse，29

Soft pity to infuse：

He sung Darius^30 great and good，

By too severe a fate

Fallen，fallen，fallen，fallen，

Fallen from his high estate，

And weltering in his blood；

Deserted at his utmost need

By those his former bounty fed；

On the bare earth exposed he lies，

With not a friend to close his eyes.31

With downcast looks the joyless victor sate，

Revolving in his altered soul^32

The various turns of chance below；33

And，now and then，a sigh he stole，

And tears began to flow.

Chorus

Revolving in his altered soul

The various turns of chance below；

And，now and then，a sigh he stole，

And tears began to flow.

5

The mighty master smiled to see

That love was in the next degree；

'Twas but a kindred sound to move，

For pity melts the mind to love.

Softly sweet，in Lydian measures，34

Soon he soothed his soul to pleasures.

“War，” he sung，“is toil and trouble；

Honor，but an empty bubble.

Never ending，still^35 beginning，

Fighting still，and still destroying：

If the world be^36 worth thy winning，

Think，O think it worth enjoying.

Lovely Thaïs sits beside thee，

Take the good the gods provide thee.”

The many^37 rend the skies with loud applause；

So Love was crowned，but Music won the cause，

The prince，unable to conceal his pain，

Gazed on the fair

Who caused his care，

And sighed and looked，sighed and looked，

Sighed and looked，and sighed again：

At length，with love and wine at once oppressed，

The vanquished^38 victor sunk upon her breast.

Chorus

The prince，unable to conceal his pain，

Gazed on the fair

Who caused his care，

And sighed and looked，sighed and looked，

Sighed and looked，and sighed again：

At length，with love and wine at once oppressed，The vanquished victor sunk upon her breast .

6

Now strike the golden lyre again：

A louder yet，and yet a louder strain.

Break his bands of sleep asunder，

And rouse him，like a rattling peal of thunder.

Hark，hark，the horrid^39 sound

Has raised up his head：

As waked from the dead，

And amazed，he stares around.

“Revenge，revenge！” Timotheus cries，

“See the Furies^40 arise！

See the snakes that they rear，

How they hiss in their hair，

And the sparkles that flash from their eyes！

Behold a ghastly band，

Each a torch in his hand！

Those are Grecian^41 ghosts，that in battle were slain，

And unburied remain^42

Inglorious on the plain：

Give the vengeance due

To the valiant crew.

Behold how they toss their torches on high，

How they point to the Persian abodes，

And glittering temples of their hostile gods！”

The princes applaud，with a furious joy；

And the king seized a flambeau^43 with zeal to destroy；

Thaïs led the way，

To light him to his prey，44

And，like another Helen，45 fired another Troy.

Chorus

And the king seized a flambeau with zeal to destroy；

Thaïs led the way，

To light him to his prey，

And，like another Helen，fired another Troy.

7

Thus long ago，

Ere heaving bellows learned to blow，46

While organs^47 yet were mute；

Timotheus，to his breathing flute，48

And sounding lyre，

Could swell the soul to rage，or kindle soft desire.

At last，divine Cecilia came，

Inventress of the vocal frame；49

The sweet enthusiast，50 from her sacred store，

Enlarged the former narrow bounds，

And added length^51 to solemn sounds，

With nature's mother wit，and arts unknown before.

Let old Timotheus yield the prize，

Or both divide the crown：52

He raised a mortal to the skies；53

She drew an angel down.54

Grand Chorus

At last，divine Cecilia came，

Inventress of the vocal frame；

The sweet enthusiast，from her sacred store，

Enlarged the former narrow bounds，

And added length to solemn sounds，

With nature's mother wit，and arts unknown before .

Let old Timotheus yield the prize，

Or both divide the crown：

He raised a mortal to the skies；

She drew an angel down .

【题解】

本诗的副标题称此诗是纪念圣西西莉亚节的颂歌。西西莉亚是罗马女子、早期基督徒，约在公元230年殉难。相传她是管风琴的发明者，被尊为音乐保护神。大约在1683至1703年期间，伦敦一音乐组织（Musical Society）每年在圣西西莉亚节（11月22日）举行宗教仪式和音乐会。其间演唱配乐颂歌。德莱顿写过两首颂歌： 一首较早的诗作于1687年，题为《圣西西莉亚日颂歌》（A Song for Cecilia's Day ）；《亚历山大的宴会》作于1697年。前者由意大利人德拉奇（G.B Draghi）作曲，后者由克拉克（Jeremiah Clarke）作曲。后英籍德国作曲家亨德尔（Handel，1685—1759）分别于1739年和1736年为这两首诗所谱的曲子，流传更广。

《圣西西莉亚日颂歌》主要是歌颂音乐的和谐，及其典定万物创造的序列，但也提到音乐能激发和遏制人的感情（What passion cannot Music raise and quell，1.16）。《亚历山大的宴会》则主要是歌颂音乐的力量。此诗以亚历山大大帝（Alexander the Great，356—323BC）一生中的一段著名经历为基础。公元前334年，他举兵越过赫勒斯滂（Hellespont），即今达达尼尔海峡，入小亚细亚，翌年大败波斯王大流士三世（Darius Ⅲ）于伊劳城。公元前331年攻克波斯首都帕斯波里斯（Persepolis）后，举行盛大宴会，招待诸将领。席间，其雅典情妇塔伊丝（Thais）叫他烧毁宫殿，以报大流士一世之子、波斯王赛克西斯（Xerxes）在公元前480年烧毁雅典之仇。亚历山大果从。据希腊传记作家普罗塔克（Plutarch）记载，亚历山大在酒酣之际，为爱情所驱使，才作此举，而非有感于音乐。据传说，乐师提摩修斯（Timotheus）曾以笛声激励亚历山大起兵。或许德莱顿受此启发，把烧毁帕斯波里斯归因于音乐的力量。

【注释】

1.Persia won：指亚历山大大帝在公元前331年攻克波斯首都帕斯波里斯（Persepolis）。

2.Philip's warlike son：即亚历山大大帝，马其顿国王腓力二世之子。

3.sate：sat.

4.peers：此处指诸将领，亦指贵族。

5.Their brows with roses and with myrtles bound：their brows bound with，etc．，古希腊和罗马人在参加宴席时头戴花环。玫瑰花和爱神木 （myrtles）是爱情的象征。

6.desert in arms：战功。

7.Thaïs：塔伊丝，亚历山大大帝之情妇，雅典人。

8.the fair：美人。

9.这是合唱团（chorus）的迭唱。古希腊戏剧中常有歌舞团合唱。

10.Timotheus：提摩修斯，曾吹笛鼓动亚历山大大帝起兵。

11.lyre：里拉，古希腊一种七弦竖琴。

12.heavenly joys inspire：inspire heavenly joys.

13.Jove：朱夫，即朱庇特（Jupiter），罗马神话中的主神，相当于希腊神话中的宙斯（Zeus）；提摩修斯的歌先从宙斯唱起。

14.the power of mighty love：非凡之爱所赋予的力量。传说据神谕示，亚历山大大帝是宙斯和腓力二世之妻奥林匹阿斯（Olympias）所生，因此是半神半人，威力无比。宙斯追求凡人女子时常化为某种动物，他在生亚历山大大帝时化为龙。

15.belied the god：宙斯化为一条赤龙，掩盖其神的形象。

16.Sublime on radiant spires：High on shining coils，巨龙在空中盘绕，闪闪发光；spires：coils，表示蛇曲体盘绕。弥尔顿在《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ）第九卷中描绘撒旦诱惑夏娃时，说他“金碧辉煌的头颈，直立在他环绕的盘体之中（With burnished neck of verdant gold，erect/Amids his circling spires），并说撒旦姿态之可爱，连宙斯向奥林匹阿斯求爱的姿态都比不上（Nor to which transformed／Ammonian Jove，...／He with Olympias）。注：宙斯在利比亚被称为安扪（Ammon），故称“安扪朱夫”。

17.to fair Olympia pressed：pressed to fair Olympia； Olympia：应为Olympias；pressed to：追逐。

18.a sovereign of the world：宙斯是神和人的世界的最高主宰。他的化身（an image of himself）亚历山大大帝也成为威震四海的一代帝王。

19.admire：wonder at．

20.ravished ears：入迷的耳朵。

21.shake the spheres：震振天地。据古罗马诗人维吉尔在《埃涅阿斯记》，一译《埃涅伊德》（Aeneid ）中说宙斯点头会引起地震。以上几行描写亚历山大大帝十分得意，俨然像神，装模作样点头。

22.The praise of Bacchus： 是sung的宾语；Bacchus：巴科斯。希腊神话中的植物神和酒神，一名狄俄倪索斯（Dionysus）。巴科斯是宙斯和塞墨勒之子。

23.hautboys：oboes，双簧管。

24.Drinking joys did first ordain：did first ordain drinking joys；ordain：（神或命运）注定，规定。

25.Soothed with the sound，the king grew vain：国王听了歌声的奉承，变得忘乎所以；Soothed：flattered.

26.routed：击溃，打败。

27.he：指亚历山大。

28.Changed his hand：提摩修斯改变弹琴的手法；his pride：亚历山大的骄傲。

29.Muse：缪斯，希腊神话中司文艺诸女神。

30.Darius：大流士。指大流士三世（380—330BC），波斯国王（336—330BC在位）。

31.With not a friend to close his eyes：大流士三世被亚历山大大帝击败后，为其下属所杀。

32.Revolving：pondering，深思；altered soul：思想有所改变。

33.The various turns of chance below：人世间变化无常的种种机遇和运数；below：on earth．

34.Lydian measures：吕底亚音律。吕底亚是古代小亚细亚的一个奴隶制国家。在希腊音乐中，吕底亚的曲调哀怨悲怆。

35.still：constantly，下同。

36.If the world be：虚拟式。

37.many：retinue，扈从。

38.vanquished：指被爱情和酒所征服的。

39.Hark：（用于祈使句）听；horrid：rough.

40.Furies：罗马神话中的复仇三女神，在希腊神话中称厄里倪厄斯（Erinyes）。在荷马史诗中，厄里倪厄斯的数目还未确定，以后明确为三人，即提西福涅（Tisiphone）、墨盖拉（Megaera）和阿勒克托（Alecto）。她们的形象是头发、腰和手上缠着毒蛇的丑妇，眼滴鲜血，专门惩罚那些违犯誓约、狠待客人，不敬父母者及杀人凶手。

41.Grecian：希腊的。

42.unburied remain：希腊的迷信认为死者不入葬，阴魂就不会安息。这些阴魂是当年被波斯王薛西斯一世（Xerxes Ⅰ）杀死的希腊士兵。

43.flambeau：torch，火炬。

44.prey：此处指他要烧毁的东西。

45.Helen：古希腊美人海伦，墨涅拉俄斯（Menelaus）之妻。相传是宙斯和丽达（Leda）所生。海伦被帕里斯（Paris）拐到特洛伊以后，希腊人在阿伽门农（Agamemnon）率领下攻打特洛伊城，达十年之久，最后用木马计攻克之，放火烧毁。参见本书选马娄（Marlowe）《浮士德博士》（Dr．Faustus ） 一剧中咏海伦的诗。按： 宙斯即罗马神话中的朱夫（Jove），或称朱庇特（Jupiter）。

46.Ere heaving bellows learned to blow：指当时尚无管风琴；bellows：管风琴的风箱。

47.organs：管风琴。

48.to his breathing flute：以笛子伴奏。

49.frame：organ.

50.enthusiast：在这种场合通常指狂热者或宗教狂，贬义。但此处褒义，意为有神附身者（possessed by a god），神即第170行“She drew an angel down”中所指的angel。

51.length：音长。

52.Let old Timotheus yield the prize ... the crown：让提摩修斯让出荣誉，或者两人平分秋色。称old Timotheus，因为提摩修斯比西西莉亚约早500年；crown：音乐的冠冕。

53.He raised a mortal to the skies：把凡人亚历山大捧到天上。

54.She drew an angel down：西西莉亚能使天使附身。据传说，西西莉亚能使天使附身是因为她虔诚，而不是凭借她美妙的歌声。但是，德莱顿在《圣西西莉亚颂歌》中也说天使降临其身乃歌声所致：“But bright Cecilia raised the wonder higher：/When to her organ vocal breath was given，／An angel heard，and straight appeared，/Mistaking earth for heaven （1.51—54）.”“西西莉亚一展歌喉，一位天使听到她的天籁之声，误将人间当天堂，立即现身。”据德莱顿的描述，天使只是降临而已，而不是附身。

JONATHAN SWIFT

乔纳森·斯威夫特

（1667—1745）

【作者与作品简介】

斯威夫特出生于爱尔兰的都柏林，父亲是英国人，在他出生前已经死了。他由叔父抚养长大，毕业于都柏林三一学院。二十一岁时叔父去世，适逢爱尔兰动乱，斯威夫特跑到英国，在亲戚邓波尔爵士家当秘书，此后十年间大都与邓波尔相处。这期间他读了大量的书，并开始写讽刺文章，三十二岁时一度返回都柏林任宗教职务，但不久返回伦敦参加宗教和政治活动，开始结交辉格党人，以后又转向托利党，担任该党刊物主编。四十六岁时安妮女王逝世，托利党失利，他政治前途黯淡了，以后回到爱尔兰继续写作，直至七十七岁去世。

他开始写讽刺文章时是三十三岁。三十七岁时出第一个文集（包括《一只澡盆的故事》、《书战》、《圣灵的机械》等三篇作品），六年中连续五版。此后经常写讽刺、政治作品。在伦敦时与一批才华横溢的文人如蒲柏、盖伊、阿布斯诺等组成俱乐部，过从甚密，同时还为各报刊撰稿。

他在邓波尔家认识了管家的小女孩艾斯特·约翰生，他称她为丝苔拉。他教育她，形成她的性格，两人之间感情深厚，终生不渝，他写给她的信件，优美自然，是很好的书札散文。

1713年斯威夫特回爱尔兰任都柏林帕特里克大教堂教长，维护爱尔兰利益，反对英国剥削、压迫，发表了一系列文章，有的公开攻击英国。他被爱尔兰人奉为民族英雄，至今受到爱戴。他这时期写的《布商的信》（1722）中所提出的民主观念对1775年的美国革命和1789年的法国革命都有影响。

他最著名的作品当然是《格列佛游记》（1726），那是极其尖锐的政治讽刺小说。他是英国文学史上最伟大的散文作家之一，但也写了一些诗。《咏斯威夫特教长之死》是他晚年回到爱尔兰后的作品。他的诗具有独特的风格，直到最近才为人们大大重视起来。那是一种“不是诗的诗”，没有浪漫的爱情，没有装模作样的文学姿态和诗的传统语言，他反而对这一切发出嘲笑。他的诗像散文一样，其主要的目的在于讽刺，在于“改造”人类。有人说他厌恶人类，他自己给蒲柏的信里也曾自称为“厌恶人类的人”，但这只是对当时过于乐观的看法的反击。尽管有人出于各种动机把他称为某种怪物，但是，考虑到他的民族感和个人品德，考虑到给丝苔拉的信件中的天真无邪、优美动人的儿童语言，他仍不失为富于幻想，具有幽默感、正义感，受人爱戴，但是也具有时代野心的人物。他的诗中流露出的许多观念与我国的某些传统说法（如布衣傲王侯、幸灾乐祸、乘人之危、唯我独尊、唯利是图、富贵不可交等等）不谋而合，我们或许因而觉得他的诗笔异常亲切吧？

吕千飞

FromVerses on the Death of Dr. Swift

Occasioned by Reading a Maxim in Rochefoucauld

Dans l'adversité de nos meilleurs amis nous

trouvons toujours quelque chose，

qui ne nous déplaît pas.

［Proem］

As Rochefoucauld^1 his maxims drew

From nature，I believe 'em^2 true：

They argue no corrupted mind^3

In him；the fault is in mankind.4

This maxim more than all the rest

Is thought too base for human breast：5

“In all distresses of our friends

We first consult our private ends，6

While Nature，kindly bent to ease us，

Points out some circumstance to please us.”

If this perhaps your patience move，7

Let reason and experience prove.

We all behold with envious eyes

Our equal raised above our size.8

Who would not at a crowded show^9

Stand high himself，keep others low？

I love my friend as well as you，

But why should he obstruct my view？

Then let me have the higher post；

Suppose it but an inch at most.10

If in a battle you should find

One，whom you love of all mankind，11

Had some heroic action done，

A champion killed，or trophy won；

Rather than thus be overtopped，12

Would you not wish his laurels cropped？13

Dear honest Ned is in the gout，14

Lies racked with pain，15 and you without：

How patiently you hear him groan！

How glad the case^16 is not your own！

What poet would not grieve to see

His brethren^17 write as well as he？

But rather than they should excel，

He'd wish his rivals all in hell.

Her end when Emulation misses，18

She turns to envy，stings，and hisses：19

The strongest friendship yields to pride，

Unless the odds be on our side.20

Vain humankind！ fantastic race！

Thy various follies who can trace？21

Self-love，ambition，envy，pride，

Their empire in our hearts divide.22

Give others riches，power，and station；23

'Tis^24 all on me an usurpation；

I have no title to aspire，

Yet，when you sink，I seem the higher.

In Pope I cannot read a line，

But with a sigh I wish it mine：25

When he can in one couplet fix

More sense than I can do in six，

It gives me such a jealous fit，26

I cry，“Pox take him and his wit！”27

I grieve to be outdone by Gay^28

In my own humorous biting way.

Arbuthnot^29 is no more my friend，

Who dares to irony pretend，30

Which I was born to introduce，

Refined it first，and showed its use.

St. John，as well as Pulteney，31 knows

That I had some repute for prose；

And，till they drove me out of date，

Could maul a minister of state.32

If they have mortified my pride，

And made me throw my pen aside；

If with such talents Heaven hath blessed 'em，

Have I not reason to detest 'em？

To all my foes，dear Fortune，33 send

Thy^34 gifts，but never to my friend：

I tamely can endure the first，

But this with envy makes me burst.

［The Dean's Character］

“The Dean，if we believe report，

Was never ill received at court.

As for his works in verse and prose，

I own^1 myself no judge of those；

Nor can I tell what crities thought 'em：

But this I know，all people bought 'em，

As with a moral view designed

To cure the vices of mankind.

“His vein，2 ironically grave，

Exposed the fool and lashed the knave，

To steal a hint was never known，

But what he writ was all his own.3

“He never thought an honor done him，

Because a duke was proud to own him，

Would rather slip aside and choose

To talk with wits in dirty shoes；

Despised the fools with stars and garters，4

So often seen caressing Chartres.5

He never courted men in station，6

Nor persons held in admiration；

Of no man's greatness was afraid，

Because he sought for no man's aid.

Though trusted long in great affairs，

He gave himself no haughty airs；7

Without regarding private ends，

Spent all his credit for his friends；

And only chose the wise and good；

No flatterers，no allies in blood；8

But succored^9 virtue in distress，And seldom failed of^10 good success；

As numbers in their hearts must own，

Who，but for him，had been unknown.11

“With princes kept a due decorum，12

But never stood in awe before 'em.13

He followed David's lesson^14 just；

In princes never put thy trust：

And would you^15 make him truly sour，

Provoke him with a slave in power.

The Irish senate if you named，

With what impatience he declaimed！

Fair Liberty was all his cry，

For her^16 he stood prepared to die；

For her he boldly stood alone；

For her he oft^17 exposed his own.

Two kingdoms，just as faction led，

Had set a price upon his head，

But not a traitor could be found，

To sell him for six hundred pound.18

［Satirist］

“Perhaps I may allow^1 the Dean

Had too much satire in his vein；

And seemed determined not to starve it，

Because no age could more deserve it.

Yet malice never was his aim；

He lashed the vice，but spared the name；2

No individual could resent，

Where thousands equally were meant；3

His satire points at no defect，

But what all mortals may correct；4

For he abhorred that senseless tribe^5

Who call it humor when they gibe：6

He spared a hump，or crooked nose，

Whose owners set not up for beaux.7

True genuine dullness moved his pity，

Unless it offered^8 to be witty.

Those who their ignorance confessed，

He ne'er^9 offended with a jest；

But laughed to hear an idiot quote

A verse from Horace^10 learned by rote.

“He knew an hundred pleasant stories，

With all the turns of Whigs and Tories：11

Was cheerful to his dying day；

And friends would let him have his way.

“He gave the little wealth he had

To build a house for fools and mad；12

And showed by one satiric touch，

No nation wanted it so much.13

That kingdom he hath left his debtor，14

I wish it soon may have a better.”

【题解】

斯威夫特称此诗因有感于拉罗什富科的一条箴言而作。题下法语引文说：“从我们真挚友人的灾难之中，我们总能发现有些情况未必使我们难受。”斯威夫特曾在1725年11月26日致蒲柏和鲍林布鲁克的信中表示反对他们在当时提倡的乐观主义哲学，并声称他在拉罗什富科箴言的基础上确立了本人的性格。

【注释】

Proem

（序诗）

1.Rochefoucauld：拉罗什富科（François de La Rochefoucauld，1613—1680），法国作家。早年参与反对红衣主教黎塞留的政治斗争，遭囚禁。摄政时期，又因不满红衣主教马扎兰的政策参加投石党的武装斗争而身负重伤。晚年专事写作，有《回忆录》（1662）和《箴言录》。后者是其代表作，全书共收箴言504条。这些箴言揭露了宫廷和贵族社会中的尔虞我诈，也反映了他悲观厌世的情绪。

2.nature：斯威夫特所言的“自然”，实为社会现实。他对这条箴言的欣赏，与他不相信同代人推崇的“性本善”说是相一致的。另nature似亦可作human nature解；'em：them.

3.They argue no corupted mind：这些格言并不说明他心灵败坏。

4.the fault is in mankind：斯威夫特在给蒲柏的信中曾说他热爱个人，但憎恨人类。他持一种十分古老的看法，即认为人的天性是有很深的缺陷的。他把这种看法视为自己的“厌世”态度。

5.too base for human breast：卑鄙之极，简直不可能是人的思想。

6.consult our private ends：考虑个人目的。

7.If this perhaps your patience move：if this should agitate your patience；move： 为动词虚拟式。

8.size：声望，才干。

9.crowded show：观者云集的演出。

10.Suppose it but an inch at most：I ask but for an inch at most，我只要求稍高一点点就可以了。

11.whom you love of all mankind：你最爱的人。

12.overtopped：surpassed.

13.laurels cropped：桂冠被切掉顶边，失去威风。按：laurel（桂冠）是给予诗人和战功辉煌者的荣誉。

14.Ned：人名，并不特指某人；gout：痛风。

15.racked with pain：痛苦万分。

16.case：病症。

17.brethren：（archaic ）brothers，尤指同行。

18.Her end when Emulation misses：when Emulation misses her end；Emulation：拟人用法，指欲与他人一争高低者。

19.stings：刺人，或感到刺痛。此处主要指挖苦，讥讽。比较多恩《歌》（Song ）：“Teach me to hear mermaid's singing，／Or to keep off envy's stinging．”意思相同；hisses：发嘘嘘之声，以示不满。

20.The strongest friendship yields to pride ... side：此句意为除非自己胜人一筹，否则不管友情多深，也要显得十分傲慢；the odds be on our side：优势在自己一方；虚拟语气。

21.trace：描绘。

22.Their empire in our hearts divide：divide their empire etc.，在我们心中各自割据一方，自立帝国。

23.station：地位。

24.'Tis：it is.

25.In Pope I cannot read a line ... mine：此句意为每读蒲柏诗行，总不免因为不是自己所写而叹息；cannot ... but：不得不；蒲柏（Alexarder Pope，1688 —1744），英国诗人，与斯威夫特交谊甚密。主要作品有《批评论》（On Criticism，1711）、《人论》（On Man，1733—1734）和《夺发记》（The Rape of the Lock，1712）等。蒲柏诗新意不多，但诗句精练，颇有一些警句为人传诵。详见本书蒲柏的选节。

26.a jealous fit：嫉妒情绪的发作。

27.Pox take him and his wit：愿他得天花，才能丧失殆尽；虚拟语气；Pox：天花，瘟疫。

28.Gay：盖依（John Gay，1685—1732），英国剧作家，诗人。曾与蒲柏、斯威夫特和阿巴斯诺特（见下注）等结成“涂鸦社”（Scriblerus Club），以写讽刺诗为长。主要诗作有《琐事》（Trivia，or the Art of Walking the street of Lordon ）和两集《寓言诗》（Fables，1727—1738）。有五部喜剧，其中以《乞丐的歌剧》（Beggar's Opera，1728）最享盛名。

29.Arbuthnot：阿巴斯诺特（Dr．John Arbuthnot，1667—1735），名医，并善辞令，与斯威夫特和蒲柏等往来甚密。

30.irony pretend：倒装，自命善于讽刺。

31.St. John：鲍林布鲁克勋爵（Henry St．John，Lord Bolingbroke），他虽被禁止参与上议院和担任公职，但是影响很大，成为一批托利党人和不满政府的青年辉格党人的中心人物。以他为首的这两批人联合反对辉格党首领、内阁首席大臣沃尔波尔（Sir Robert Walpole），并创办了《工匠》（Craftsman ）的政治刊物；Pulteney：威廉·普尔梯尼（William Pulteney）是青年派辉格党人。由于斯威夫特以写政论著名，政治上反对沃尔波尔，这批人创办政治刊物无异在和他争高低。

32.maul：（用言语）攻击、挫伤；a minister of state：暗指沃尔波尔，当时任财政大臣。

33.Fortune：司命运的女神。

34.Thy：your.

The Dean's Character

（教长的品性）

斯威夫特于1713年任都柏林圣帕特利克教堂教区长。在以下选段中，他假借世人的口吻对他这位教长进行评判。

1.own：admit as valid or true，承认。

2.vein：风格。

3.To steal a hint was never known ... own：从未剽窃别人的意思，这些都是他自己写的；writ：wrote.

4.fools with stars and garters：获得星型勋章和嘉德勋章的傻瓜；garter：英国的最高勋位或勋章，应大写，否则作吊袜带解，显然有奚落之意。

5.Chartres：查特里斯上校（Colonel Francis Chartres），登徒子，屡遭斯威夫特控告。

6.courted men in station：奉承达官显贵。

7.haughty airs：趾高气扬。

8.allies in blood：亲戚；ally：（archaic ）kinsman.

9.succored：救助。

10.failed of：达不到，不能取得（成功）。

11.Who，but for him，had been unknown：（许多人在内心承认）要不是靠了他，他们就会默默无闻；had been unknown：would have been unknown．

12.kept a due decorum：对（王子）表示应有的恭敬。

13.stood in awe before 'em：见了他们诚惶诚恐。通常说stand in awe of，敬畏。

14.David's lesson：大卫的教训。《旧约·诗篇》（Psalm ） 146：3：“Put not your trust in princes，nor in the son of man，in whom there isno help.”按：大卫是古希伯来统一王国第一任国王。晚年，其子押沙龙反叛，被迫出逃。详见本书德莱顿《押沙龙和阿奇托菲尔》选篇注。

15.would you：if you would.

16.her：指Fair Liberty。

17.oft：often．

18.Two kingdoms，just as faction led ... pound：1714年，英国政府悬赏300英镑缉拿《辉格党公共精神》 （Public Spirit of the Whigs ） 一文的作者，但无人告发斯威夫特。1724年，爱尔兰政府悬赏300英镑，缉拿化名M．B．Drapier（德雷布尔，即布商），即《德雷布尔信札》（Drapier's Letters ）的作者。虽然众所周知布商就是斯威夫特，但是无一人告密。斯威夫特假托德雷布尔共写了七封书信，抗议英国国王特许一英商在爱尔兰铸造贬值铜币，呼吁全国一致拒用。英政府追于压力，只得取消该商的特许权。斯威夫特在以下说：“The Dean did，by his pen，defeat／An infamous destructive cheat”指的正是此事。并谴责爱尔兰当权者得到了好处，却反而要加害于他：“While they who at the steerage stood，/and reaped the profit，sought his blood．”

Satirist

（讽刺诗文家）

1.allow：承认。

2.spared the name：不点出名字。

3.No individual could resent ... meant：矛头所指到者千千万万，因不点名指责，故无人可以表示愤恨。

4.His satire Points at no defect... correct：意为他所讽刺都是人们可以克服的缺点；But：except.

5.tribe：（derogatory ）一伙，一帮。

6.gibe：嘲秀。

7.set not up for beaux：（驼背和鹰勾鼻者天生如此）不是为了装美。

8.offered：attempted，made as if，假装。

9.ne'er：never．

10.Horace：贺拉斯（Quintus Horatius Flaccus，65—8BC），古罗马诗人。

11.turns：倾向，特点；Whigs and Tories：辉格党徒和托利党徒，该两党派相互之间的贬称。辉格党和托利党是在查利二世在位时围绕王位继承者问题展开的斗争中形成的政治派别。参见本书德莱顿《押沙龙和阿奇托菲尔》选篇的有关说明和注释（第197页）。斯威夫特先结交执政的辉格党人，后因辉格党政府决心支持爱尔兰的非英国国教徒，与辉格党人决裂。托利党执政后，该党首脑考虑到斯威夫特的影响，邀请他任该党《考察者》主编。

12.He gave the little wealth he had ... mad：斯威夫特捐给疯人医院一笔资金。

13.No nation wanted it so much：喻英国疯子多。

14.That kingdom he hath left his debtor：He hath left that kingdom his debtor，他身后的国家还欠着他一笔债。

ALEXANDER POPE

亚历山大·蒲柏

（1688—1744）

【作者与作品简介】

蒲柏的父亲是伦敦的商人，退休定居农村。蒲柏自幼患病，发育不良，但在农村，健康有进步，又养成欣赏自然和园林之美的爱好。他因家庭信奉天主教，受到歧视，不能上大学，但在农村博览群书，自学成材。十六岁开始写诗，二十三岁发表《批评论》，一举成名。他因受宗教迫害，不能担任公职，便埋头翻译荷马的《伊利昂纪》和《奥德修纪》，出版之后，收入可观，在乡间买了田庄，过上乡绅生活，成为英国文学史上第一个职业作家。他写作取材之广泛、诗体之变化、技艺之高超、为十八世纪英国诗坛之冠，其对英雄双韵体的运用，更是炉火纯青，达到英国诗史的最高成就。他在文学上崇奉新古典主义，重节制、讲法则，与当时提倡理性的上层社会相适应。

《批评论》一诗共744行，分为三部分：1—200行论文学批评之重要和批评家的养成；201—559行论述批评不当的十个原因（骄傲、浅学、枝节、挑剔或奉承、崇古或厚今、偏颇、怪僻、易变、党见、嫉妒）；560—744行论述文学批评准则和欧洲文学史概况。本篇从第二部分中选了有关“奇思怪喻”的一段。《牛顿墓志铭》虽仅两行，但较有名，值得一读。

《人论》（1733—1734）是一首哲理诗，反映了当时在上层社会流行的信念，内容浅薄，但有些名句，常为人引用。全诗较长，本篇仅选了两段。《致阿布斯诺医生》（1735）是诗人后期的杰作，也是诗人的自传和辩护词，写得真切自然、妙笔生花、笑骂皆是文章。他从不主动攻击别人，但一旦受人侵犯，有来必往，所向披靡。下面选了他回敬艾迪生的一节，锋利辛辣，入木三分，至今传诵不绝。

吕千飞

FromAn Essay on Criticism

［Conceit］

Some to conceit alone their taste confine，1

And glittering thoughts struck out^2 at every line；

Pleased with a work where nothing's just or fit，3

One glaring chaos and wild heap of wit.4

Poets，like painters，thus unskilled to trace

The naked nature and the living grace，

With gold and jewels cover every part，

And hide with omaments their want of art.5

True wit is Nature to advantage dressed，6

What oft was thought，but ne'er so well expressed；7

Something whose truth convinced at sight we find，

That gives us back the image of our mind.

As shades more sweetly recommend^8 the light，

So modest plainness sets off sprightly wit；

For works may have more wit than does them good，9

As bodies perish through excess of blood.

【题解】

蒲柏创作《批评论》时年仅二十一岁。这是他的成名之作。蒲柏深受法国布洛瓦和古罗马贺拉斯等人的影响，主张文学批评家应掌握趣味高雅的新古典主义理论。他在本诗中阐述古典主义的审美原则，主张诗歌应模仿自然，把古希腊和罗马的文艺遗产尊为艺术典范。

本诗采用英语排偶体（Heroic Couplet），蒲柏运用得十分娴熟。虽然此诗并无新的见地，思想亦欠深邃，但是，炼字造句，甚见功力，表明年轻的诗人已经才气横溢，掉鞅文场。

【注释】

1.Some to conceit alone their taste confine：此句倒装，正常结构为Some confine their taste to conceit alone；conceit：奇思怪想，指遣词诡异，怪僻晦涩的奇特比喻，奇思风格玄学派诗人多恩（Donne）首创。以下数行均系对玄学派诗风的讥评。

2.struck out：提出。

3.where nothing's just or fit：作品中所言不当，出格。

4.glaring chaos and wild heap of wit：强烈的混沌杂乱，胡乱堆砌的妙语；wit：妙语；此词在本诗中有各种意义，可指a clever remark or the man who makes it，a conceit，liveliness of mind，inventiveness，fancy，a genius，poetry itself等。

5.want of art：技巧的贫乏。

6.True wit is Nature to advantage dressed：自然巧描摹，始见文思奇；wit：此处指把思想和文采加以结合的能力（the power of combining ideas with a pointed verbal effect）；to advantage dressed：dressed to advantage，描绘恰到好处。

7.What oft was thought，but ne'er so well expressed：所思虽常见，妙笔则空前；这是常为人引用的名句。oft：often；ne'er：never.蒲柏创作本诗的意旨也不是想有所创见，他只是思前人已所思，而欲言前人之所未言，总的是不重创思而重表意。

8.recommend：衬托，使……更见可爱。

9.more wit than does them good：妙语过多，弄巧成拙。

Intended for Sir Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey

Nature and Nature's Laws lay hid in Night.

God said，Let Newton be！ and All was Light .1

【注释】

一代科学巨人牛顿在力学、热学、光学、数学和天文学方面的成就开启了人类的思想，改变了人们对世界的看法。蒲柏奉献的墓志铭以简洁的笔法，高度概括了牛顿的成就，堪称一绝。

1.God said，Let Newton be！ and All was Light ：这是脱胎于《圣经》中的妙句。《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ）1：2—3：“And the earth was without form，and void；and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said，Let there be light；and there was light.”

FromAn Essay on Man

From Epistle 1

［One Truth］

All Nature is but art，unknown to thee；1

All chance，direction，which thou canst not^2 see；

All discord，harmony not understood；

All partial evil，universal good：3

And，spite of pride，in erring reason's spite，4

One truth is clear：Whatever IS，is RIGHT.5

From Epistle 2

［Know Thyself］

Know then thyself，presume not God to scan；1

The proper study of mankind is Man.2

Placed on this isthmus of a middle state，3

A being darkly wise，4 and rudely great：

With too much knowledge for the skeptic side，5

With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride，6

He hangs between；7 in doubt to act，or rest，

In doubt to deem himself a god，or beast；

In doubt his mind or body to prefer，8

Born but to die，and reasoning but to err；9

Alike in ignorance，his reason such，

Whether he thinks too little，or too much：

Chaos of thought and passion，all confused；

Still^10 by himself abused，or disabused；

Created half to rise，and half to fall；

Great lord of all things，yet a prey to all；

Sole judge of truth，in endless error hurled：

The glory，jest，and riddle of the world！

【题解】

以上两篇选自《人论》。《人论》是蒲柏的著名哲理诗，包括致友人鲍林布鲁克勋爵（Bolingbroke）的四封诗体信。蒲柏本人虽是天主教徒，但是受鲍林布鲁克勋爵的自然神论和谢芙慈勃里伯爵三世的道德哲学的影响颇深。此诗也代表了当时流行的思潮。牛顿的科学思想已经渗入了中世纪和文艺复兴时代关于上帝、人和无生命物质组成一个连锁而人类居中的传统观念。当时最突出的看法是作为社会人，人是可以被认识的，人也可以认识自身。

第一封信论述人在自然中的位置，并为了强调人的地位，在第一段末行套用弥尔顿《失乐园》中的诗句：“Vindicate the ways of God to man.”此处节选一段为原诗289—294行。

【注释】

One Truth

（道理）

1.All Nature is but art，unknown to thee：蒲柏认为“自然是躯体，上帝乃灵魂”（whose body Nature is，and God the soul”（原诗268行），因此，整个世界秩序井然，恰如人之手足，各得其所。人类只能根据已知的一切进行推理，只能看到自身的状态。对于一切生物，上天的命运文书秘而不宣（Heaven from all creatures hides the book of Fate.） （原诗77行）。

2.All chance，direction：all chance is but direction；以下三行句法同。chance：无常的机遇；direction：既定的倾向，两者意义相反；thou canst not：you cannot.

3.All partial evil，universal good：世界以善为主，恶为次。这是蒲柏等人的乐观主义观念。太阳可烤死生物，地震和风暴会毁灭城镇，全能者以统见大局为事，而不拘泥于局部的失调：“The first Almighty Cause／Acts not by partial，but by general laws：/The exceptions few”（原诗145—147行）。

4.spite of：despite；in erring reason's spite：in spite of erring reason.

5.Whatever IS，is RIGHT：凡是存在的，都是合理的。蒲柏的名句。这是第一封信结论性的观点。自然界乃一完整的序列，如果打破一环，整个秩序就会完全打破：“one step broken，the great scale's destroyed．”（原诗224行）。但是，蒲柏并不仅指自然的存在和序列是合理的现象，也不只是人与自然的关系，而且还涉及人类社会中的一切关系。

Know Thyself

（知己）

1.thyself：yourself；not God to scan：not to scan God，不要擅自审视上帝。

2.Man：此处指“个人”，区别于“人类”（mankind）。

3.isthmus ［′ɪsməs］：地峡，地颈；a middle state：middle earth；地球被认为居中，天堂在上，地狱在下。

4.darkly wise：人是智慧之动物，但尚未脱离愚昧。反映了蒲柏启蒙主义思想。

5.too much knowledge for the skeptic side：意为知识过多而不信不可知论。

6.too much weakness for the Stoic's pride：太软弱而不能表现出斯多葛派的骄傲；Stoic：斯多葛派。公元前四世纪芝诺（Zeno）创立于雅典的哲学派别，后传至罗马。认为一切生存都是物质的，因此，灵魂和德行亦是如此。但是，人类的灵魂渊源于上帝，是维持肉体的活力本原。唯有活力本原才有意义，因此明智者以苦为乐，注重德行。斯多葛派代表苦行主义。

7.hangs between：悬于两者之间。

8.In doubt his mind or body to prefer：不知该修身养性，还是该纵情享乐。

9.Born but to die，and reasoning but to err：降生而归于一死，思索而终于谬误；but：only.

10.Still：constant．

FromEpistle to Dr. Arbuthnot

［Atticus］

Peace to all such！ but were there one^1 whose fires

True Genius kindles，and fair Fame inspires；

Blessed with each talent and each art to please，

And born to write，converse，and live with ease：2

Should such a man，too fond to rule alone，

Bear，like the Turk，3 no brother near the throne；

View him with scornful，yet with jealous eyes，

And hate for arts that caused himself to rise；

Damn with faint praise，assent with civil leer，4

And without sneering，teach the rest to sneer；

Willing to wound，and yet afraid to strike，

Just hint a fault，and hesitate dislike；5

Alike reserved to blame or to commend，6

A timorous foe，and a suspicious friend；

Dreading even fools；by flatterers besieged，

And so obliging that he ne'er obliged；7

Like Cato，8 give his little senate laws，

And sit attentive to his own applause；

While wits and Templars^9 every sentence raise，

And wonder with a foolish face of praise—

Who but must laugh，if such a man there be？

Who would not weep，if Atticus^10 were he？

【题解】

蒲柏此诗是应“有财有势者”对他的人身、道德和家庭的诋毁而作的反击。他写得尖锐、扎实、节奏多变，文体殊异，在诗歌艺术上达到很高的成就。此处所选针对艾迪生（Joseph Addison）的一段，尤为有名。

Dr. John Arbuthnot（约翰·阿布斯诺特医生，1667—1735）是当时的名医，极富才智。他和斯威夫特、蒲柏和盖依等创立“涂鸦社”（Scriblerus Club），帮助他们虚构关于马丁纳新·斯克里布利勒斯的传记，以刺迂腐学究。阿布斯诺特医生为人笃实厚道，声望很高。蒲柏把这首自我辩护的自传体诗送给这位名人，无疑有力地肯定了自己，打击了对他毁损贬低的人。

【注释】

1.Peace to all such：上文提到被他讽刺的人大发雷霆，此处请他们息怒；were there one：if there were one.

2.born to write，converse，and live with ease：按：艾迪生在文坛上极负盛名，与友人斯梯尔（Richard Steele）合编《闲谈者》（Tatler，1709—1711），又主编《旁观者》（The Spectator，1711—1712；1714），并亲笔撰稿。崇拜者很多，常常和他聚会，听他发表种种评论。曾任国务大臣，又娶一有遗产的伯爵夫人为妻，生活富足。

3.Bear：容忍；Turk：土耳其人，当时西方人对土耳其人的诬蔑性称呼，喻专横凶暴者。

4.Damn with faint praise，assent with civil leer：这是蒲柏名句，挖苦艾迪生阴险狡猾的处世态度；Damn：condemn a work of art，etc.，对艺术品等贬斥。

5.hesitate dislike：吞吞吐吐，不直接了当地表示不喜欢。

6.Alike reserved to blame or to commend：既不责怪人，也不称赞人。

7.ne'er：never；obliged［əb′liːdʒd］：和besieged押韵，模仿法语发音，这是当时英国上流社会的风气。此行意为表现得有求必应，但实际上从不施惠于人。

8.Cato：Marcus Poreius Cato（95—46BC），加图（亦称小加图，以区别于其曾祖父），古罗马政治家，斯多葛派哲学信徒，支持元老院共和派，反对恺撒。得悉恺撤再胜于塔普斯（Thapus）自杀。艾迪生写的悲剧《加图》在1713年大获成功。蒲柏此处讽刺艾迪生在勃顿咖啡馆里对朋友和他的崇拜者（大多数是辉格党人）的鉴赏力进行评判。这些人都贬低蒲柏翻译的荷马作品。

9.Templars：法学家。

10.Atticus：阿蒂卡斯（109—32BC），西塞罗（Cicero）的朋友，有敏慧而无偏见之誉。蒲柏以阿蒂卡斯喻艾迪生实是很大的讽刺。

SAMUEL JOHNSON

塞缪尔·约翰逊

（1709—1784）

【作者与作品简介】

约翰逊不只是文学评论家，也是一位诗人。他出身贫苦，父亲是小书店业主。十九岁进牛津大学，后因家贫辍学，没有拿到学位；早婚，为家庭生计，开私塾教学，二十八岁去伦敦，生活清苦，逐渐开始撰写文章。1855年五十六岁，编成英国第一部词典出版，文名大震。他本准备用三年时间，结果用了七年。开始时朋友警告他说，法国研究院四十个院士用了四十年才编成一部词典，他豪狂地回答：“四十乘四十是一千六百，三比一千六百，这就是一个英国人和一个法国人的比例。”令人惊叹的是他不仅凭博学和坚毅对高强度劳动应付裕如，而且还趁抽暇喘息的机会，同时写出了自己传世的诗文代表作。《人生希望多空幻》就完成于此时。

这首诗全长268行，是模仿朱文诺讽喻诗第十章[1]写成的。诗的中心主题就是诗的标题：人生希望多空幻。他利用罗马的禁欲主义为手段，表现自己基督徒的淡泊禁欲和人生是悲剧的看法。诗句言简意赅，痛切言之，是过来人语；所用英雄双韵体译诗尽量保留。

全诗开头两句是“让我们观察，高瞻远瞩，衡量人类，从中国到秘鲁。”这诗写作的时期正是我国乾隆年间的清朝鼎盛时期。就本篇所选一段原诗看来，和我国当时学林情况是否相符，读者不难做出有趣的比较。

吕千飞

FromThe Vanity of Human Wishes

In Imitation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal

［The Scholar's Life］

When first the college rolls^1 receive his name，

The young enthusiast quits his ease for fame；

Resistless burns the fever of renown

Caught from the strong contagion of the gown：2

O'er Bodley's dome^3 his future labors spread，

And Bacon's^4 mansion trembles o'er his head.

Are these thy views？ proceed，illustrious^5 youth，

And Virtue guard thee^6 to the throne of Truth！

Yet should thy soul indulge the generous heat，7

Till captive Science yields her last retreat；8

Should Reason guide thee with her brightest ray，

And pour on misty Doubt resistless day；9

Should no false kindness lure to loose delight，

Nor praise relax，nor difficulty fright；10

Should tempting Novelty thy cell refrain，11

And Sloth effuse her opiate fumes in vain；

Should Beauty blunt on fops^12 her fatal dart，

Nor claim the triumph of a lettered^13 heart；

Should no disease thy torpid veins invade，

Nor Melancholy's phantoms haunt thy shade；

Yet hope not life from grief or danger free，14

Nor think the doom of man reversed for thee：15

Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes，16

And pause a while from letters，to be wise；

There mark what ills^17 the scholar's life assail，

Toil，envy，want，the patron，18 and the jail.

See nations slowly wise，and meanly just，

To buried merit raise the tardy bust.19

If dreams yet flatter，once again attend，

Hear Lydiat's life，and Galileo's^20 end.

【注释】

1.rolls：（学校的）名册。

2.the gown：教授穿的礼服。

3.O'er：over；Bodley's dome：指牛津大学的鲍德莱图书馆；dome：圆屋顶，转指大厦。

4.Bacon：罗吉尔·培根（Roger Bacon，1214？—1292？），英国思想家，实验科学的先驱者。他批评经院哲学，提出科学能造福人类，曾被教会幽禁约15年。主要著作《大著作》（Opus Mains ），是当时科学的一部百科全书。他曾在牛津大学执教。据传说，牛津大学一旦出现超过他的人，他的书斋就会倒塌（trembles o'er his head），可见其影响之大。

5.thy：your；illustrious：distinguished，renown.

6.Virtue：德行，此处指治学的诚实态度；大写，拟人化用法，以下Reason等同；thee：you；thou的宾格。

7.should thy soul indulge the generous heat：if thy soul should etc．；generous heat：狂热；heat： 指上文the fever of renown。

8.captive Science yields her last retreat：任凭你研究在你掌握之中的科学放弃了它最后的退路，意为科学的堡垒最终被你攻克；captive Science：被你抓住不放加以研究的科学。

9.pour on misty Doubt resistless day：理智以其最辉煌的光芒势不可挡地用白昼笼罩住朦胧的疑虑。意为理智能带来光明，消除怀疑，与上文德行能使人得到真理相对应。

10.Nor praise relax，nor difficulty fright：赞扬不使你松劲，困难吓不倒你。Nor ... nor ...：neither ... nor ...；relax和fright（=frighten）后似省略thee。

11.thy cell refrain：refrain thy cell，避开你的小房间；cell：学生住的单人房间；refrain：（archaic ）keep away from.此行意为不把新奇的玩意带到宿舍里去。不玩物丧志。

12.fops：花花公子。

13.lettered：有文化的。

14.life from grief or danger free：life free from grief or danger.

15.doom of man reversed for thee：人类死亡的命运为你颠倒过来，意为你可不死。

16.Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes：deign to turn thine eyes on the passing world，屈尊正视这个过往的世界。

17.ills：灾祸。

18.want：贫困；the patron：赞助人或庇护人。当时文人如有达官贵人当赞助人，则较容易成名立足。此词在第一版中为garret，屋顶楼，即穷学生苦读的栖身之所。约翰生在提出编著《英语辞典》（A Dictionary of the English Language ）时，希望得到吉士菲尔伯爵（Earl of Chesterfield）的赞助，遭冷遇，愤然独立苦干。他在后来把garret改成the patron，意为赞助人的行径亦是文人的灾难之一。事见博士威尔《约翰生传》（Boswell's Life of Johnson ）。

19.See nations slowly wise，and meanly just ... bust：此两行意为社会不能很快就赏识人材，且很势利，非要等贤人死后，才迟迟给他立塑像。

20.Lydiat：Thomes Lydiat （1572—1646），托马斯·吕达特，牛津学者，同情保皇派，死于贫困。Galileo：伽利略（1564—1642），著名的意大利天文学家，1633年被天主教宗教法庭审判为异端而下狱。

[1]朱文诺（约60—130）是伟大的罗马讽刺诗人，现存讽喻诗十六章，描写社会，力斥时弊。后来有许多英国诗人竞相仿效。

THOMAS GRAY

托马斯·格雷

（1716—1771）

【作者与作品简介】

格雷的一生，大部分消磨在剑桥大学，曾任历史和近代语言教授，但未曾讲课，只潜心读书。他是一个“散淡的人”，曾谢绝桂冠诗人的封号。写诗少而精，其中《墓园挽歌》最为著名，至今传诵。他的书信也被视为英国散文中的精品。

这首《挽歌》表达了对乡土的爱和对农民的同情，歌颂的是“淳朴”，有一种难以排遣的感伤情绪。当时英国产业革命正在开始，诗人已经感到它在破坏农村的宁静生活，造成大变，但又不明究竟，无可奈何。

《挽歌》的形式完整，结构谨严，词句都精雕细刻，值得仔细玩味。用了高雅的古典主义的艺术，所传达的却是浪漫主义感情（深刻的个人感受和浓厚的感伤情绪），这两者本来是矛盾的，然而格雷却把它们结合得完美，使这诗成为英语诗歌中最有吸引力又最耐读的名篇之一。

十八世纪英国古典主义诗歌的一个特点，是将抽象名词人格化——“雄心”、“豪华”、“荣誉”、“知识”、“贫寒”之类——在此诗也多所表现。一个现代读者可能会觉得既空洞又做作。十八世纪末流之作，确实显得空洞、做作，但这一手法也有将具体事物扩大为普遍品质的用意，这正是古典主义者力图通过典型来表达“永恒真理”的一端。后来的诗人也有用这手法的，如十九世纪的拜伦，二十世纪的奥登。在格雷诗里，这一手法也是为他的典型化、普遍化的意图服务的，从效果来看还是好的。

然而格雷精心雕琢的诗歌语言，却为紧接而来的浪漫主义者所病。华兹华斯在《抒情谣曲集》第二版（1800）的序言里，就引格雷另一首诗的一节，来说明那种十八世纪的滥调套话妨碍了诗歌表达真实的感情。正在为一种新诗歌扩清道路的浪漫主义诗人领袖对刚过去的前代诗人立论苛刻是可以理解的，但他如不带成见地再读读《挽歌》，就会发现同一个格雷写下了这样的诗行：

世界上多少晶莹皎洁的珠宝

埋在幽暗而深不可测的海底：

世界上多少花吐艳而无人知晓，

把芳香白白的散发给荒凉的空气。

正是这位充满感伤情绪的古典主义者早在十八世纪中叶就传达了后来华兹华斯、柯尔律治以及更后一点的济慈等人要大力宣泄的浪漫情调的。

王佐良

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

The curfew^1 tolls the knell of parting day，

The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea，2

The plowman homeward plods his weary way，

And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight，

And all the air a solemn stillness holds，3

Save where the beetle wheels^4 his droning flight，

And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds；5

Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower^6

The moping^7 owl does to the moon complain

Of such，as wandering near her secret bower，

Molest her ancient solitary reign.8

Beneath those rugged elms，9 that yew tree's shade，

Where heaves the turf^10 in many a moldering heap，

Each in his narrow cell^11 forever laid，

The rude forefathers of the hamlet^12 sleep.

The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn，13

The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed，

The cock's shrill clarion，or the echoing horn，14

No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.15

For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn，

Or busy housewife ply her evening care；

No children run to lisp their sire's return，

Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.16

Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield，

Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke；17

How jocund did they drive their team^18 afield！

How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke！

Let not Ambition^19 mock their useful toil，

Their homely joys，and destiny obscure；20

Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile

The short and simple annals^21 of the poor.

The boast of heraldry，the pomp of power，22

And all that beauty，all that wealth e'er^23 gave，

Awaits^24 alike the inevitable hour.

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Nor you，ye proud impute to these^25 the fault，

If Memory o'er their tomb no trophies^26 raise，

Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault^27

The pealing anthem^28 swells the note of praise.

Can storied urn or animated^29 bust

Back to its mansion^30 call the fleeting breath？

Can Honor's Voice provoke the silent dust，31

Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death？32

Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid

Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire；33

Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed，34

Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.

But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page

Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll；35

Chill Penury repressed their noble rage，36

And froze the genial^37 current of the soul.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene，38

The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear：

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen，

And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

Some village Hampden，39 that with dauntless breast

The little tyrant of his fields withstood；

Some mute inglorious Milton^40 here may rest，

Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.41

The applause of listening senates^42 to command，

The threats of pain and ruin to despise，

To scatter plenty^43 o'er a smiling land，

And read their history in a nation's eyes，

Their lot forbade：44 nor circumscribed alone

Their growing virtues，but their crimes confined；

Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne，

And shut the gates of mercy on mankind，

The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide，

To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame，45

Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride

With incense kindled at the Muse's flame.46

Far from the madding crowd's^47 ignoble strife，

Their sober wishes never learned to stray；

Along the cool sequestered^48 vale of life

They kept the noiseless tenor^49 of their way.

Yet even these bones from insult to protect^50

Some frail memorial^51 still erected nigh，

With uncouth rhymes^52 and shapeless sculpture decked，

Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.53

Their name，their years，spelt by the unlettered Muse，54

The place of fame and elegy supply：55

And many a holy text around she^56 strews，

That teach the rustic moralist to die.57

For who to dumb Forgetfulness a prey，

This pleasing anxious being e'er resigned，58

Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day，

Nor cast^59 one longing lingering look behind？

On some fond^60 breast the parting soul relies，

Some pious drops^61 the closing eye requires；

Even from the tomb the voice of Nature^62 cries，

Even in our ashes live their wonted fires.63

For thee，64 who mindful of the unhonored dead

Dost^65 in these lines their artless tale relate；

If chance，66 by lonely contemplation led，

Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate，

Haply some hoary-headed swain^67 may say，

“Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn

Brushing with hasty steps the dews away

To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.

“There at the foot of yonder nodding beech

That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high，

His listless length^68 at noontide would he stretch，

And pore upon the brook that babbles by.

“Hard by yon wood，now^69 smiling as in scorn，

Muttering his wayward fancies he would rove，

Now drooping，woeful wan，like one forlorn，

Or crazed with care，or crossed in hopeless love.70

“One morn I missed him on the customed^71 hill，

Along the heath and near his favorite tree；

Another came；nor yet beside the rill，72

Nor up the lawn，nor at the wood was he；

“The next with dirges due in sad array^73

Slow through the churchway path we saw him borne.74

Approach and read （for thou canst read） the lay，75

Graved on the stone beneath yon aged thorn.”

The Epitaph

Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth

A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown.

Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth，76

And Melancholy marked him for her own.

Large was his bounty，and his souln sincere，

Heaven did a recompense as largely send：77

He gave to Misery all he had，a tear，78

He gained from Heaven（'twas 79 all he wished） a friend.

No farther seek his merits to disclose，

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode

（There they alike in trembling hope repose），

The bosom of his Father and his God.

【注释】

Country Churchyard指白金汉郡（Buckinghamshire）斯托克·坡吉斯（Stoke Pogis）地方的乡村墓地。

1.curfew：晚钟。中世纪遗留下来的习惯，晚八点敲钟宵禁。一天结束，晚钟好比是白昼的丧钟（knell）。

2.lowing：牛叫声；o'er：over；lea：草地。

3.all the air a solemn stillness holds：a solemn stillness holds all the air.

4.Save：except，除了，同第9行；wheels：（甲虫）旋转飞舞。

5.folds：羊栏。

6.ivy-mantled tower：爬满常青藤的教堂塔楼。

7.moping：忧郁的。

8.reign：（archaic ）realm，领土。

9.rugged elms：树皮多皱的榆树。

10.turf：草皮。草皮的鼓起（heaves）说明这里是一个个坟墓。

11.cell：墓穴。

12.rude：untaught，没有文化的；hamlet：村落，常指无教堂的小村庄。

13.incense-breathing：吐出芬芳；Morn：morning.

14.horn：猎人的号角。

15.rouse：初版作wake；lowly bed：指坟墓。

16.For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn ... share：此节想象死者在生前得到妻子的精心照顾，孩子见到父亲回家高兴地迎上前去。这和诗人詹姆斯·汤姆森（James Thomson，1700—1748）的《四季诗》（The Seasons ）中《冬季》（Winter ）一章的情节颇为相似；ply her evening care：忙着料理傍晚的家务。

17.oft：often；glebe：（poetic ）土地，田地；broke：broken；broke的宾语是glebe，主语furrow似乎可作“犁”解。

18.team：套在一起拉犁的牲畜。

19.Ambition：拟人化，以下Grandeur，Memory等同。

20.destiny obscure：默默无闻的命运。

21.annals：编年史，此处指一生的历史。

22.heraldry：noble birth，贵族出身；the pomp of power：权力的显赫。

23.e'er：ever.

24.Awaits：主语为the inevitable hour。

25.ye proud：你们这些骄傲的人哪！ye：you，和名词或形容词结合时常用的形式，如： Ye gods，Ye zephyrs gay；these：埋葬于此的普通农民。

26.trophies：描绘死者生前成就的塑像等，安置在墓上。

27.fretted vault：雕刻华丽的穹形屋顶。

28.pealing anthem：嘹亮的赞美歌；往往由教堂里的管风琴（organ）奏出。比较弥尔顿（Milton）诗《幽思的人》（Il Penseroso） 161—163：“There let the pealing organ blow，/To the full-voiced choir below，/In service high，and anthems clear.”

29.storied urn：刻上墓志铭的瓮，记述生前的事迹（story）；animated：lifelike，栩栩如生的。

30.mansion：宅邸；此处指死者的躯体。

31.provoke：call forth，召唤；the silent dust：死者。《圣经》上说人是上帝用土造的。

32.Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death：甜言蜜语能否打动死神闭耳不闻的耳朵？意为让死人复活。

33.pregnant：filled；celestial fire：宗教的热情。

34.the rod of empire：象征帝国权力的王笏；rod： 初版作reigns；might have swayed：虚拟语气说明从农民中也可能出帝王将相，或者音乐家，艺术家（waked to ecstasy the living lyre）。

35.But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page ... unroll：正常结构为But knowledge did ne'er unroll to their eyes her ample page rich with the spoils of time，知识从未向他们打开书本，展示千万年来积累的宝贵经验（spoils of time）。

36.Penury：贫困；noble rage：崇高强烈的理想或欲望。

37.genial：一般意为cheerful，kindly；此处genial亦可理解为 natural。

38.Full many a：（poetic ）很多的，后接单数名词；a gem of purest ray serene：光泽纯正的宝石，把农民比喻为海底的宝石。

39.village Hampden： 指像汉普顿那样的农民；Hampden：John Hampden （1594—1643），约翰·汉普顿，曾任议员，坚定地反对查理一世的贵族政策，捍卫人民的利益。他在牛津附近的一场战斗中身负重伤。

40.mute inglorious Milton：意为农民中也有弥尔顿那样的人，不过默默无闻，亦没有他的光荣；Milton：John Milton （1604—1674），约翰·弥尔顿，英国诗人，详见本书关于他的介绍和诗歌。

41.Cromwell：Oliver Cromwell （1599—1658），奥利弗·克伦威尔，英国将军，政治家，1649年处死查理一世，成立共和国；guiltless of his country's blood：（农民中产生的克伦威尔将军）可能不会沾满同胞的鲜血。诗人对克伦威尔的评价有失公允。

42.senates：议会。

43.scatter plenty：造福。

44.forbade：宾语为to command，to despise，to scatter和（to） read。

45.The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide ... shame：to hide和to quench是Forbade的宾语。这两句意为穷人不必强忍内心的痛苦，把真情藏在心中不敢吐露，亦不必抑制羞耻的流露。换言之，农民不必撒谎，心中坦荡荡。

46.Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride ... flame：把诗神的火焰点燃的香供在荣华富贵者（Luxury and Pride）的神坛上，喻以诗歌来恭维权贵；Muse：缪斯。希腊神话中主管文艺、音乐等的九位女神。

47.the madding crowd：狂乱的人群。哈代（Thomas Hardy）的小说《远离尘嚣》（Far From the Madding Crowd ）典出此行。

48.sequestered：与世隔绝的。

49.tenor：持续的过程。

50.from insult to protect：指保护这些尸骨不受践踏。

51.frail memorial：穷人墓前薄薄的墓碑。

52.uncouth rhymes：拙劣的韵文。

53.Implores the passing tribute of a sigh：求过人给予一声叹息。主语是memorial。

54.the unlettered Muse：农村里没有学问的诗人。

55.The place of fame and elegy supply：代替（supply the place of）了碑铭（fame）和挽歌。

56.holy text：《圣经》上的经文；she：指the unlettered Muse。

57.to die：how to die，如何对待死亡。

58.For who to dumb Forgetfulness a prey ... resigned：正常结构似乎应为For whomever resigned this pleasing anxious being to become a prey to dumb Forgetfulness，谁愿意放弃这令人快活而又不安的生命（being），成为“遗忘”的牺牲品呢？

59.Nor cast：即and did not cast。

60.fond：慈爱的。

61.pious drops：孝敬的眼泪。

62.the voice of Nature：天性的呼声。

63.wonted fires：一贯燃烧的烈火，指人的精神和天性等。

64.For thee：至于你自己。诗人自谓。

65.Dost：do，主语为thou时用，此处who即代表thou。

66.chance：by chance．

67.Haply：（archaic ）perhaps；hoary-headed：白发苍苍的；swain：乡下人。

68.listless length：懒散的身躯。

69.now：和107行的now连用，表示“时而……时而”。

70.crossed in hopeless love：失恋。

71.customed：他常去的。此行设想诗人死了，人们在他常去的地方看不到他了。

72.Another：another day；rill：小溪。

73.The next：第三天；dirges：挽歌；in sad array：穿着丧服。

74.borne：即borne in his coffin，放在棺里被抬走。

75.thou canst：you can；the lay：短歌，即以下的墓志铭。

76.Science：learning；frowned not on his humble birth：不因出身微贱而瞧不起他，意为有学问。

77.Heaven did a recompense as largely send：他慷慨博爱（Large was his bounty），上苍给他同样大的补偿。

78.a tear：同情心，热泪。

79.'twas：it was．

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

奥利弗·哥尔德斯密斯

（1730？—1774）

【作者与作品简介】

哥尔德斯密斯生于爱尔兰，是圣公会教士之子，小时生天花，形成外貌丑陋，而且养成游手好闲习惯。后入都柏林三一学院，当使役减费生。毕业后找不到工作，由叔父资助上爱丁堡大学学医，半途辍学，去欧洲大陆游荡，到过很多国家。回国后，一直不得意。三十岁左右，写了一本小册子《关于欧洲纯文学现状的探讨》（1759），指出欧洲十八世纪艺术衰落是因为缺乏开明的赞助人，对学术影响也缺乏批评，从此知名。以后靠写作生活，收入很大，但因挥霍无度，经常负债，死时债务高达二千英镑。

他多才多艺，成就惊人。传世小说有《威克菲牧师传》，描写社会黑暗和生活理想，现已公认为世界名著。散文有《世界公民》，假托旅英中国人之口讽刺英国社会，说明他心中有中国人的正面形象。其文笔平易流畅，富于幽默，观察细腻，描写动人。他也写过戏剧《好脾气的人》和《她屈尊征服》，反对感伤主义，都是名作。他是约翰逊文学俱乐部的常客。俱乐部中有人说他是“具有灵感的傻瓜”、“犯错误的爱尔兰人”，但是平心而论，这种评语是不公平的。

他的诗作重要的有《旅行者》（1764）和《荒村》（1770），诗笔描写生动、语言纯朴、声韵和谐。

《荒村》全长430行，（这里选了138行），是一首田园诗，描写一个名叫“奥本”的村庄，可能是根据童年时期熟悉的爱尔兰农村的回忆写成的，也可能是根据诗人对英国农村的向往写成的。诗中描写幸福美好的农村萧条荒芜起来，客观上反映了圈地运动之后、财富集中城市、资本主义发展的结果。诗体五步仰扬，双行押韵，铿锵悦耳。

吕千飞

FromThe Deserted Village

Sweet was the sound，when oft^1 at evening's close

Up yonder hill the village murmur rose；

There，as I passed with careless steps and slow

The mingling notes came softened from below；

The swain responsive as the milk-maid sung，

The sober herd that lowed^2 to meet their young，

The noisy geese that gabbled o'er^3 the pool，

The playful children just let loose from school，4

The watch-dog's voice that bayed^5 the whispering wind，

And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind；—

These all in sweet confusion sought the shade，

And filled each pause the nightingale had made.

But now the sounds of population fail，

No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale，

No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread，

For all the bloomy flush of life is fled.

All but yon widowed，solitary thing，

That feebly bends beside the plashy spring：

She，wretched matron，forced in age，for bread，

To strip the brook with mantling cresses^6 spread，

To pick her wintry faggot^7 from the thorn，

To seek her nightly shed，and weep till morn：8

She only left of all the harmless train，

The sad historian of the pensive plain.

Near yonder copse，9 where once the garden smiled，

And still where many a garden flower grows wild；

There，where a few torn shrubs the place disclose，

The village preacher's modest mansion rose.

A man he was to all the country dear，10

And passing rich^11 with forty pounds a year，

Remote from towns he ran his godly race，12

Nor e'er had changed，nor^13 wished to change his place；

Unpractised he to fawn，14 or seek for power，

By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour；

Far other aims his heart had learned to prize，

More skilled to raise the wretched than to rise.

His house was known to all the vagrant train；15

He chid their wanderings but relieved their pain：

The long-remembered beggar was his guest，

Whose beard descending swept his aged breast；

The ruined spendthrift，now no longer proud，

Claimed kindred there，and had his claims allowed；

The broken soldier，kindly bade^16 to stay，

Sat by the fire，and talked the night away，

Wept o'er his wounds or，tales of sorrow done，

Shouldered his crutch and showed how fields were won.

Pleased with his guests，the good man learned to glow，

And quite forgot their vices in their woe；

Careless their merits or their faults to scan，

His pity gave ere^17 charity began.

Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride，

And e'en his failings leaned to virtue's side；18

But in his duty prompt at every call，

He watched and wept，he prayed and felt for all；

And as a bird each fond endearment tries

To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies，

He tried each art，19 reproved each dull delay，

Allured to brighter worlds，and led the way.

Beside the bed where parting life was laid，

And sorrow，guilt，and pain by turns dismayed，

The reverend champion stood. At his control

Dispair and anguish fled the struggling soul；

Comfort came down the trembling wretched to raise，20

And his last faltering accents whispered praise.

At church，with meek and unaffected grace，

His looks adorned the venerable place；

Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway，21

And fools，who come to scoff，22 remained to pray.

The service past，around the pious man，

With steady zeal，each honest rustic^23 ran；

Even children followed with endearing wile，

And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile.

His ready smile a parent's warmth expressed；

Their welfare pleased him，and their cares distressed：24

To them his heart，his love，his griefs were given，

But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven.

As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form，

Swells from the vale，and midway leaves the storm，

Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread，

Eternal sunshine settles on its head.

Beside you straggling fence that skirts the way，

With blossomed furze unprofitably gay，

There，in his noisy mansion，skilled to rule，

The village master taught his little school.

A man severe he was，and stern to view；25

I knew him well，and every truant knew；

Well had the boding tremblers^26 learned to trace

The day's disasters in his morning face；

Full well they laughed with counterfeited glee^27

At all his jokes，for many a joke had he；

Full well the busy whisper circling round

Conveyed the dismal tidings when he frowned.

Yet he was kind，or，if severe in aught，28

The love he bore to learning was in fault；

The village all declared how much he knew：

'Twas certain he could write，and cipher^29 too；

Lands he could measure，terms and tides presage，

And even the story ran that he could gauge；30

In arguing，too，the parson owned his skill，

For，even though vanguished，he could argue still；

While words of learned length^31 and thundering sound

Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around；

And still they gazed，and still the wonder grew，

That one small head could carry all he knew.

But past is all his fame. The very spot

Where many a time he triumphed is forgot.

Near yonder thorn that lifts its head on high

Where once the sign-post caught the passing eye，

Low lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspired，

Where graybeard mirth^32 and smiling toil retired，

Where village statesmen talked with looks profound，

And news much older than their ale went round.

Imagination fondly stoops to trace

The parlor splendors of that festive place：

The white-washed wall，the nicely sanded floor，

The varnished clock that clicked behind the door；

The chest contrived a double debt to pay，33

A bed by night，a chest of drawers by day；

The pictures placed for ornament and use，

The twelve good rules，the royal game of goose；34

The hearth，except when winter chilled the day，

With aspen boughs and flowers and fennel^35 gay；

While broken tea-cups，wisely kept for show，

Ranged o'er the chimney，glistened in a row.

Vain transitory splendors！ could not all

Reprieve the tottering mansion from its fall？

Obscure it sinds，nor shall it more impart

An hour's importance to the poor man's heart.

Thither no more the peasant shall repair^36

To sweet oblivion of his daily care；

No more the farmer's news，the barber's tale，

No more the woodman's ballad shall prevail；

No more the smith his dusky brow shall clear，

Relax his ponderous strength，and lean to hear；

The host himself no longer shall be found

Careful to see the mantling bliss^37 go round；

Nor the coy maid，half willing to be pressed，

Shall kiss the cup to pass it to the rest.

【注释】

1.oft：often.

2.lowed：牛叫声。

3.gabble：嘎嘎地叫着；o'er：over.

4.let loose from school：放学。

5.bayed：barked at，（狗）对着……吠叫。

6.cresses：小芹。

7.faggot：柴捆。

8.morn：morning.

9.copse：coppice，a thicket，grove，or growth of small trees，灌木丛。

10.A man he was to all the country dear：He was a man dear to all the country.

11.passing rich：生活还算宽裕。

12.ran his godly race：管着一批虔诚的教徒；godly：pious，devout.

13.Nor ... nor ...：neither ... nor.

14.Unpractised he to fawn：he was unpractised to fawn.

15.train：一批流动的人。

16.bade：bid的过去分词，一般以bid或bidden为常见。

17.ere：before.

18.e'en his failings leaned to virtue's side：即使不能助人于难处，也见他德行高崇；e'en：even.

19.art：策略，技巧。

20.the trembling wretched to raise：to raise the trembling wretched.

21.sway：影响，力量。

22.scoff：讥笑。

23.rustic：农民。

24.distressed：后面省略him。

25.A man severe he was，and stern to view：He was a severe man and was stern to view，他很严厉，看上去表情严峻。

26.the boding tremblers：预感灾祸临头而颤抖者。

27.counterfeited glee：假装的快活，皮笑肉不笑。

28.aught：anything.

29.cipher：计算。

30.gauge：估计容器（如barrels或hogsheads）的容积。

31.words of learned length：拼写很长的文字，一般源出于希腊或拉丁语的词汇，比较艰深。

32.graybeard mirth：老年人的快乐。

33.a double debt to pay：作两种用途。

34.twelve good rules：詹姆士一世（King James Ⅰ）制订的十二条行为准则，旅店等常贴在墙上；royal game of goose：从前的一种游戏，根据所掷骰子的点数移动位置。

35.aspen：白杨；fennel：茴香。

36.Thither：到那里；repair：to go.

37.the mantling bliss：foamy cups of ale，一杯杯泡沫四溢的啤酒。

GEORGE CRABBE

乔治·克莱普

（1754—1832）

【作者与作品简介】

克莱普生于英国萨福克沿海农村，青年时期曾跟医生当学徒，后在本村行医，不足维持生计。二十六岁去伦敦，想从事文学，求人赞助，政治家兼文学家埃德蒙·伯克欣赏其才华，给以定期支援，并帮助发表了《村庄》等诗。后来，克莱普当上牧师，生活安定，便停止了写作；过了二十多年，到五十三岁时，才又提起笔来，写了《故事诗》（1812）、《厅房的故事》（1819）等诗篇。

他的诗以双韵体和平凡的语言写普通百姓的生活，以叙述情况、描写人物见长，受到当时大诗人华兹华斯、拜伦、司各特的称赞。他认为自己的诗没有司各特的中古故事、也没有拜伦的东方色彩，是一种“缺乏气氛的诗”，也有人认为他词藻平凡、韵律马虎；但他的诗使人感到兴趣，有时有戏剧性，动人心弦。

值得提出的是他写的内容。当时传统的田园诗总把农村美化成纯朴、快乐、令人向往的圣地，汤姆逊、柯珀、哥尔德斯密斯的诗都有这种倾向。克莱普对此十分反感，通过《村庄》一诗提出了愤怒的谴责。他认为贫穷使人堕落、地主和佃农隔有鸿沟。他坚持以写实的笔触，准确生动地写出赤贫的土地和赤贫的人，开辟了揭露丑恶的诗风。

吕千飞

From The Village

Ye gentle souls，1 who dream of rural ease，

Whom the smooth stream and smoother sonnet please；

Go！ if the peaceful cot your praises share，2

Go look within，and ask if peace be there；

If peace be his — that drooping weary sire，3

Or theirs，that offspring round their feeble fire；

Or hers，that matron^4 pale，whose trembling hand

Turns on the wretched hearth th' expiring brand！5

Nor yet can Time itself obtain for these^6

Life's latest comforts，due respect and ease：

For yonder see that hoary swain，7 whose age

Can with no cares except his own engage；8

Who，propped on that rude staff，9 looks up to see

The bare arms broken from the withering tree，10

On which，a boy，11 he climbed the loftiest bough，

Then his first joy，but his sad emblem now.

He once was chief in all the rustic trade；12

His steady hand the straightest furrow made；

Full many a prize he won，and still is proud

To find the triumphs of his youth allowed.13

A transient pleasure sparkles in his eyes；

He hears and smiles，then thinks again and sighs；

For now he journeys to his grave in pain；

The rich disdain him；nay，14 the poor disdain；

Altérnate masters now their slave command，

Urge the weak efforts of his feeble hand，

And，when his age attempts its task in vain，

With ruthless taunts，of lazy poor complain.

Oft may you see him，when he tends the sheep，

His winter-charge，beneath the hillock^15 weep；

Oft hear him murmur to the winds that blow

O'er his white locks and bury them in snow，16

When，roused by rage and muttering in the morn，17

He mends the broken hedge with icy thorn：

“Why do I live，when I desire to be

At once from life and life's long labour free？

Like leaves in spring，the young are blown away，

Without the sorrows of a slow decay；

I，like yon^18 withered leaf，remain behind，

Nipped by the frost，and shivering in the wind；

There it abides till younger buds come on，

As I，now all my fellow-swains are gone；

Then，from the rising generation thrust，

It falls，like me，unnoticed to the dust.

“These fruitful fields，these numerous flocks I see，

Are others' gain，but killing cares^19 to me；

To me the children of my youth are lords，

Cool in their looks，but hasty in their words：

Wants of their own demand their care；20 and who

Feels his own want and succours^21 others too？

A lonely，wretched man，in pain I go，

None need my help，and none relieve my woe；22

Then let my bones beneath the turf be laid，

And men forget the wretch they would not aid.”

Thus groan the old，till，by disease oppressed，

They taste a final woe，and then they rest.

【题解】

读奥利弗· 哥尔德斯密斯（Oliver Goldsmith） 的《荒村》（The Deserted Village ）和乔治· 克莱普的《村庄》（Village ），可以体会到不同背景和观念的作家对现实看法的差距是如此之大。同是写英国的农村，特别是农村的困境，两位诗人的笔下所叙述的情景，有本质的差别。哥尔德斯密斯追忆以往美好的乡村风俗人情，痛惜英国工业化对农村造成的破坏。而在贫苦的海边乡村长大的克莱普却没有这么浪漫，在他看来，农村从来就不像骚人墨客想象的那么美好，至少普通劳动农民享受不到悠闲的田园生活。克莱普刻画农村真实面貌的诗歌，是对汤姆森（James Thomson）、考博（William Cowper）和哥尔德斯密斯等人的直接挑战。克莱普从头到底采用英雄排偶句（heroic couplet）诗体，似乎单调，其语言又平淡无奇，甚至有点沉闷，但是非常贴合他所描写的乡村生活场景。华兹华斯、司各特和拜伦都非常推崇克莱普。拜伦认为他是 “描摹自然最严峻的，然而也是最好的画家”（“Nature's sternest painter，yet the best”）。拜伦所说的 “自然”，当然是指克莱普的现实主义，而所谓 “严峻”，则是他对所见所闻的忠实、不加粉饰的刻画。

【注释】

1.Ye gentle souls： 指考博和哥尔德斯密斯等诗人。这些诗人的诗歌赞美农村田园胜景和悠闲生活，往往脱离现实、无视广大农民的疾苦。

2.if the peaceful cot your praises share： if the peaceful cot share your praises，如果安详的小屋也可分享你们赞美的话，（那么你们就进去看看是否有安详）；cot： cottage；share： 为虚拟式，如下面If peace be his，这是早期或较为正式的用法。

3.that drooping weary sire： 弯着腰的疲惫的老人；sire： （obsolete ）an elderly man.

4.matron： 已婚妇女，家庭主妇。

5.th' expiring brand： （壁炉里）快要熄火的木柴。

6.for these： for these people.

7.hoary swain： 白发苍苍的农夫；hoary： gray or white with age；swain： rustic，peasant，往往指小农或佃农。

8.can with no cares except his own engage： can engage with no cares except his own，意为他因年老而只能应付自己的种种忧虑，其他的都管不了了。

9.propped on that rude staff： 拄着粗糙的拐杖。

10.The bare arms broken from the withering tree： 枯树上断裂下来的光秃秃的枝干。

11.a boy： as a boy，当他是孩子时。

12.He once was chief in all the rustic trade： 当年他干任何农活都是行家里手；chief： 主要的操手，能手；trade： an occupation，职业。

13.allowed： acknowledged.

14.nay： no.

15.hillock： a small hill，mound.

16.bury them in snow： 头上盖满了雪。

17.morn： morning.

18.yon： yonder.

19.killing cares： 使人心力憔悴的操心事。

20.Wants of their own demand their care： Wants of their own： 是demand 的主语；此句意为他年轻时代的那些小孩现在成了他的主人，需要他为他们做这样那样的事情。

21.succours： helps.

22.None need my help，and none relieve my woe： If none need my help，and if none relieve my woe，此处need 和 relieve 都是虚拟式。

FromTales

From VI

［Jonas Kindred's Household］

Fixed were their habits；they arose betimes，1

Then prayed their hour，2 and sang their party-rhymes：3

Their meals were plenteous，regular and plain；

The trade of Jonas brought him constant gain；

Vender of hops and malt，4 of coals and corn —

And，like his father，he was merchant born：5

Neat was their house；each table，chair，and stool，6

Stood in its place，or moving moved by rule；

No lively print or picture graced^7 the room；

A plain brown paper lent its decent gloom；8

But here the eye，in glancing round，surveyed

A small recess that seemed for china made；9

Such pleasing pictures seemed this pencilled ware，10

That few would search for nobler objects there —

Yet，turned by chosen friends，and there appeared

His stern，strong features，whom they all revered；11

For there in lofty air was seen to stand

The bold Protector^12 of the conquered land；

Drawn in that look with which he wept and swore，

Turned out the Members，and made fast the door，13

Ridding the House of every knave and drone，14

Forced，though it grieved his soul，to rule alone.

The stern still smile each friend approving gave，

Then turned the view，and all again were grave.

There stood a clock，though small the owner's need，

For habit told when all things should proceed；15

Few their amusements，but when friends appeared，

They with the world's distress their spirits cheered；

The nation's guilt，that would not long endure

The reign of men so modest and so pure：

Their town was large，and seldom passed a day

But some had failed，16 and others gone astray；

Clerks had absconded，17 wives eloped，girls flown

To Gretna-Green，18 or sons rebellious grown；

Quarrels and fires arose；— and it was plain

The times were bad；the Saints had ceased to reign！

A few yet lived，to languish and to mourn

For good old manners never to return.

【题解】

乔治·克莱普的《韵文故事集》（Tales，or Tales in Verse） 共有21章，分别讲述不同的人物和他们的故事。此处所选的一个故事来自第六章。此章主人公乔纳斯·钦德雷（Jonas Kindred）刻板、严厉，甚至冷酷，自以为是一家之主，不容任何人挑战。他所遵循的价值观念和生活准则，反映了当时社会所普遍接受的社会现实，然而诗中所述，不无讥讽之意。

【注释】

1.rose betimes： 黎明即起；betimes： in good time，early.

2.prayed their hour： 按时祈祷。

3.sang their party-rhymes： 一起唱赞美上帝的颂诗。

4.hops and malt： 蛇麻草（能使啤酒带有苦味） 和麦芽酒；malt： 原指麦芽，此处指用麦芽做的酒 （malt liquor），可以是啤酒或威士忌酒。

5.merchant born： 天生的生意人。

6.moving moved by rule： （家具）如要移动，都得按规矩办。

7.graced： adorned，装饰。

8.lent its decent gloom： 带来一种得体的阴郁的气氛。这是由于主人不喜欢家里的装饰艳丽。

9.that seemed for china made： that seemed made for china，（一个小小的壁龛）似乎是为了安放瓷器的。

10.seemed this pencilled ware： 很适合这件手绘图案的器皿；seemed： （obsolete ） was suitable，befitted，很适合；pencilled ware： 用铅笔画上图案，然后烧制的器皿。

11.turned by chosen friends，and there appeared ... revered： 他的朋友拿起这个器皿放在手里翻转着看，就会看到他那威严的、突出的脸色；whom： 没有具体的前置词，系His所暗示。这里指下行提到的Protector，即护国公克伦威尔。

12.Protector： 护国公，指Crownwell （克伦威尔）。

13.made fast the door： 关紧大门。

14.drone： idler，parasite，懒汉。

15.For habit told when all things should proceed： 习惯规定了各种事情何时开始进行；told： took effect，确定，规定。

16.seldom passed a day ．．． failed： 几乎每天都会有人出问题。

17.absconded： to evade the legal process of a court by hiding within or secretly leaving its jurisdiction，畏罪潜逃。

18.Gretna-Green： 苏格兰一村庄，私奔者常去那里结婚。

WILLIAM BLAKE

威廉·布莱克

（1757—1827）

【作者与作品简介】

布莱克是精通几种艺术的人：刻字、雕版、绘画、写诗，而把它们贯通起来的则是他作为手工匠人对周围环境的体验。他家贫，靠雕版为活，恰好又生在产业革命和法国革命交接的历史时刻，英国时局紧张，他自己也因得罪过士兵而几乎入狱，但他仍然向往大陆上法国革命猛烈开展的局面，只不过他的思想里又有浓厚的宗教意识，把革命与反革命的搏斗看成神魔之争，把革命者追求的公正社会看成是天国在世上的重建。

这一切在他是深刻的信念，而不是理智的推论。事实上，布莱克对于作为法国革命理论基础的理性主义是深深地厌恶的。他称实验科学的哲学家培根的话为“魔鬼的劝告”，并且把卢梭和伏尔泰的学说看成是迷住人们眼睛的沙子。

把这样的深刻的信念和锐利的观察写进诗，诗却一点也不复杂，而是惊人地简单：文字简单，全是基本词汇；形式简单，不是儿歌，便是谣曲，多的是叠句和重唱，音乐性是强的；形象多数也是简单的，主要来自基督教《圣经·旧约》，如“火焰之车”，“闪亮的金弓”，“欲望之箭”，而“耶路撒冷”则成了一切地上天国的名字。

然而又常有出人意料之笔。例如：

就跑去赞美了上帝，教士和国王，

夸他们拿我们苦难造成了天堂。

短短两句，就一针见血地道出了教会、政府同孩子们的苦难之间的关系，而出现于全诗之末，就更使其谴责性如山岳一般不容动摇。他还有一些别出心裁的艺术形象，同样是着墨无多而立即揭开一整片社会背景或一整个哲理系统，例如：“放高利贷的冷手”，“心灵铸成的镣铐”，“撒旦的黑暗磨房”，“独占的街道”，“独占的泰晤士河”，等等。谁会想到，这位手工匠人竟会对“专利”一事有如此深刻的印象，如此透彻的了解，把它同雾伦敦街头上出卖肉体的青年妇女的痛苦联系起来了！

他的诗又是有发展、有变化的。同样写得简单，稍后的《经验之歌》（1794）就远比早几年的《天真之歌》（1789）要深刻沉痛，有时两集各有一首同样题目的诗，但意境不同，如本集所选的两首《扫烟囱孩子》就是。初期固然写得简单，到了后期则诗风一变，不再写儿歌似的短诗了，而写几百行、上千行的长诗，诗行本身也突然伸长，过去是七八个音节一行，后来则是十四五个音节一行，滔滔向前，形成诗的洪流，而韵律也如呼、如唱、如念符咒，内容也复杂起来，神秘的、象征性的东西大量增加，但主题则仍然是革命与反革命的神魔之争，建立天国的艰辛，失去天真的灾难，为了取得“经验”而付出的惨重代价……

这样一个不凡的诗人在当时并不受人注意，后来也被忽略（十九世纪下半叶著名的英诗选集《金库》就只选了他一首诗！），要等到十九、二十世纪之交，叶芝等人起来重编他的诗集，才使人们惊讶于他的纯真与深刻，接着又发表了他的书信和笔记，他的神启式的画也逐渐普及，于是诗人与画家布莱克的地位才确立无疑。但是要等到本世纪五十年代，更完备的布莱克诗的版本才出现，几本重要的论著（如N·费赖依的《可怕的对称》、D·欧德曼的《反帝国的先知》）也发掘了他后期诗作的意义，时至今日，不少批评家把布莱克列为英国诗史上最伟大的五六位诗人之一。这种地位的变化，表明不同时期人们对诗歌趣味的变化，但也因为布莱克确实成就卓越，经得起不断发掘——很可能，今后还会发掘出许多新的东西来。

我们所选以短诗为主，长诗只取了一个片断。短诗之中，又以《经验之歌》为主，包括了《扫烟囱孩子》、《老虎》、《伦敦》等名篇。

王佐良

FromSONGS OF INNOCENCE

The Chimney Sweeper

When my mother died I was very young，

And my father sold me while yet my tongue

Could scarcely cry “ 'weep！ 'weep！ 'weep！ 'weep！”1

So your chimneys I sweep，and in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre，who cried when his head，

That curl'd^2 like a lamb's back，was shav'd，so I said

“Hush，Tom！ never mind it，for when your head's bare

You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.”

And so he was quiet，and that very night

As Tom was a-sleeping，3 he had such a sight！

That thousands of sweepers，Dick，Joe，Ned，and Jack，

Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black.4

And by came an Angel^5 who had a bright key，

And he open'd the coffins and set them all free；

Then down a green plain^6 leaping，laughing，they run，

And wash in a river，and shine in the sun.

Then naked and white，all their bags left behind，

They rise upon clouds and sport^7 in the wind；

And the Angel told Tom，if he'd be a good boy，

He'd have God for his father，and never want joy.8

And so Tom awoke，and we rose in the dark，

And got with our bags and our brushes to work.

Tho'9 the morning was cold，Tom was happy and warm；

So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.

【题解】

布莱克的《扫烟囱孩子》同一个题目，有两首不同的诗，反映了诗人写《天真之歌》和《经验之歌》这两个不同时期的情感。这首诗刻画了扫烟囱儿童的悲惨命运，但诗人又用浪漫主义的笔法，描绘天使降临，带他们腾云驾雾，随风嬉戏。虽然这只是南柯一梦，却给那些幼小的心灵带来了希望和无穷的慰藉。

【注释】

1.'weep：sweep，扫烟囱儿童沿街叫喊，兜揽活儿，发音不准念成weep，而weep又反映了这些可怜的儿童的悲惨命运。

2.curl'd：curled；以下shav'd （shaved），lock'd （locked） 等同。

3.a-sleeping：熟睡之中；a-：表示 in the act or process of，例如 go a-hunting，这是较早期的用法，也是某些方言中的用法。

4.lock'd up in coffins of black：儿童扫烟囱，就像被关在黑暗的棺材里。

5.by came an Angel：an Angel came by.

6.down a green plain：（they run） down a green plain；down：表示从说话者为出发点，往前所指的方向或地点（to or toward a point away from the speaker or the speaker's point of reference），如go down the street。

7.sport：（archaic ） to play.

8.have God for his father，and never want joy：（这孩子的母亲死后，他还没有学会叫喊“扫烟囱”就已经被父亲卖了，而现在）上帝将成为他的父亲，他再也不会缺少欢乐；want：lack.

9.Tho'：though.

Laughing Song

When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy，1

And the dimpling stream^2 runs laughing by；

When the air does laugh with our merry wit，3

And the green hill laughs with the noise of it；

When the meadows laugh with lively green，

And the grasshopper laughs in the merry scene；

When Mary and Susan and Emily^4

With their sweet round mouths sing “Ha ha he！”

When the painted birds^5 laugh in the shade，

Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread：

Come live，and be merry，and join with me，

To sing the sweet chorus of “Ha ha he！”

【题解】

这首诗反映了布莱克的童心，他的天真和达观。诗人并非只是看到世界的阴暗面，他也看到并憧憬世界的光明面。在他看来，欢乐光明的世界是天真烂漫的年代，是自然的本质。

【注释】

1.the voice of joy：指林木随风摇摆而发出的声音。

2.the dimpling stream：河流微波起伏，犹如微笑时的酒窝。

3.our merry wit：（空中充满着）我们富有智慧的欢声笑语。

4.Mary and Susan and Emily：初稿曾作Edessa，Lyca，Emilie，改动后的名字更加大众化，更能表现民间姑娘的天真烂漫。

5.painted birds：羽毛色彩缤纷的鸟。

Holy Thursday

'Twas on a Holy Thursday，1 their innocent faces clean，2

Came children walking two and two，in read，and blue，and green：

Grey-headed beadles walked before，with wands as white as snow，3

Till into the high dome of Paul's they like Thames waters flow.4

Oh what a multitude they seemed，these flowers of London town！5

Seated in companies they sit，with radiance all their own.6

The hum of multitudes was there，but multitudes of lambs，7

Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands.

Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song，

Or like harmonious thunderings the seats of heaven among：

Beneath them sit the aged man，wise guardians of the poor.

Then cherish pity，lest you drive an angel from your door.8

【题解】

《升天日》也有两首，这是归入《天真之歌》集中的一首诗。既然是写儿童在升天节的情景，布莱克就写得极其简单，可谓妇孺皆懂。但是，他写得非常含蓄，他留在内心深处的观感，对社会和教会的批判，不是洞见底蕴，和盘突出。诗中很多意象的背后，另有别的意象若隐若现，需要读者自己体会。这里描写在升天日一批慈善院（charity-school）的孤儿在教区执事的带领下，排成双行的队伍到伦敦圣保罗大教堂去参加纪念耶稣升天活动的情景。

【注释】

1.'Twas on a Holy Thursday：'Twas：It was；Holy Thursday：即ascension day，复活节之后的第40天，以纪念耶稣升天。

2.their innocent faces clean：慈善院的孤儿们天真的脸蛋洗得很干净，和下行写他们的各种颜色的衣服，都暗示平时这些孤儿的待遇绝非如此。

3.Grey-headed beadles walked before，with wands as white as snow：头发花白的教区执事手持白色的手棒，领着他们走在前头；beadle：教区执事（a minor parish official whose duties include ushering and preserving order at services and sometimes civil functions）；wand：暗示这些孩子平时受到严厉的管束和体罚。

4.Till into the high dome of Paul's they like Thames waters flow：排成长队的儿童像泰晤士河水那样流动，一直走进了高耸着穹顶的圣保罗大教堂；Paul's：St. Paul's Cathedral，伦敦的圣保罗大教堂。

5.what a multitude they seemed，these flowers of London town：这一大批孩子看来是乱糟糟的，但是他们是花朵；what a multitude：表示人多，甚至是乱哄哄的一大群，意为不要把他们看成是社会的负担，他们是鲜花，是未来。

6.with radiance all their own：这些孩子都露出自信和欢乐的神态；radiance：the state of being radiant，marked by or expressive of love，confidence，or happiness.

7.lambs：羔羊象征耶稣。

8.Then cherish pity，lest you drive an angel from your door：要心怀仁慈，免得你把天使从自家的门里赶走了。慈善院所作的，是社会机构所为，诗人告诫大家，每个个人也应当心怀仁慈，不要把这些孩子抛弃。《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ）19：神派两天使下去，要灭掉罪恶深重的所多玛（Sodoma），罗德（Lot）把两天使接到家并保护他们不受城里居民的攻击，因而最终幸免于难。

FromSONGS OF EXPERIENCE

The Chimney Sweeper

A little black thing among the snow，

Crying “'weep！ 'weep！” in notes of woe！1

“Where are thy^2 father and mother？ say？”

“They are both gone up to the church to pray.3

Because I was happy upon the heath，4

And smil'd^5 among the winter's snow，

They clothéd me in the clothes of death，6

And taught me to sing the notes of woe.

And because I am happy and dance and sing，

They think they have done me no injury，

And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King，

Who make up a heaven of our misery.”7

【题解】

此诗作于1770—1792年，归入《经验之歌》，文字同样明白晓畅，但非常犀利，深刻揭露了英国政府和教会对童工和青少年的摧残。扫烟囱儿童的父母在教堂祈祷，却置子女于苦难之中而不顾。儿童的哀怨之声，控诉了社会的伪善，甚至残忍。此事极有讽刺意味。

【注释】

1.“'weep！'weep！” in notes of woe：以悲哀的声调喊着，“扫烟囱！扫烟囱！”儿童发音不准，sweep成了weep，儿童的喊声就是他们的哭声。

2.thy：your.

3.gone up to the church to pray：一般来说go to the church to pray 足矣，不必说go up to the church，此处有期望死后升天之意。

4.happy upon the heath：反衬上行，扫烟囱的儿童不在天堂，而是在人间，在荒原（heath）上；heath：a tract of wasteland.

5.smil'd：smiled；上行的happy 和smiled都表示儿童的天真、乐观和忍耐，却成为父母不负责任的借口。最后一节中I am happy and dance and sing与此呼应。

6.clothéd me in clothes of death：扫烟囱的儿童衣衫褴褛，又沾上了黑色的煤灰，故云clothes of death；clothéd：é表示增加一个音节。

7.make up a heaven of our misery：把天堂建立在我们的悲苦之上。这一句辛辣的抨击把教会、国王和政府一笔扫尽。

The Sick Rose

O Rose，thou art^1 sick！

The invisible worm

That flies in the night，

In the howling storm，

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy：2

And his dark secret love^3

Does thy life destroy.4

【题解】

此诗充分体现了布莱克象征性的诗歌艺术。词面意思十分明了：一朵玫瑰花在狂风暴雨之夜遭到一只害虫的伤害而夭折。它可以表示自私毁灭了爱情，经验扼杀了天真，精神之死夺去了精神之生等等。此诗的意义，在于诗人用平凡而简单的主题，从类似的主题中提炼出共同意义：自私的爱是对生命的摧残。

【注释】

1.thou art：you are.

2.crimson joy：红色的欢乐，又象征青春。玫瑰花象征形态色彩的美丽和情绪的欢快。

3.dark secret love：和上面crimson joy形成对照；爱并非都是美好和善良的，也会是自私和阴险的。

4.Does thy life destroy：does destroy thy life；thy：your.

The Tyger

Tyger！ Tyger！ burning bright

In the forests of the night，1

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry？2

In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes？

On what wings dare he^3 aspire？

What the hand dare sieze the fire？

And what shoulder，＆ what art.4

Could twist the sinews of thy heart^5？

And when thy heart began to beat，

What dread hand？ ＆ what dread feet？6

What the hammer？7 what the chain？

In what furnace was thy brain？

What the anvil？ what dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp？8

When the stars threw down their spears，

And watered heaven with their tears，9

Did he smile his work to see？

Did he who made the Lamb make thee？

Tyger！ Tyger！ burning bright

In the forests of the night，

What immortal hand or eye

Dare^10 frame thy fearful symmetry？

【题解】

此诗选自《经验之歌》，作于1793年之前。关于此诗的意思，历来聚讼而无定论。全诗以问句组成，从形式上讲，这些问句表达了创造老虎的全过程，而以首句为最重要。老虎的威力和完美的形体，来源于神的创造力和智慧（immortal hand or eye），那么，此诗是在赞美上帝还是老虎？其实这并不重要。重要的是诗人热情歌领了一种伟大的震摄一切的力量。这种力量或许就是布莱克所热情支持的法国革命的力量。其神秘性赋于此诗深刻的寓意，使读者一思再思。

【注释】

1.burning bright ...night：老虎金色的斑纹和炯炯目光象征着火，其栖居的深山密林幽暗如夜。《旧约·耶利米书》（Jeremiah ）21：12：O house of David，thus said the Lord；Execute judgment in the morning，and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor，lest my fury go out like fire，and burn that none can quench it，because of the evil of your doings.（大卫家啊，耶和华如此说：“你们每早晨，要施行公平，拯救被抢夺的脱离欺压人的手，恐怕我的愤怒因你们的恶行发作，如火起着，甚至无人能熄灭。”）又21：14：But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings，saith the Lord：and I will kindle a fire in the forest there of，and it shall devour all things round about it. （我必按你们做事的结果刑罚你们；我也必使火在耶路撒冷的林中着起，将她四围所有的尽行烧灭。）

2.What immortal hand or eye ... symmetry：谁的非凡的手或眼力能够制造或设计你这可怕的形体。此句形容老虎的创造者有神的力量和灵感；symmetry：体态匀称。注意描写老虎的创造过程由整体开始，以下逐个描绘其身体的各主要部位。

3.he：指老虎的创造者。第二节写创造老虎的眼睛。诗人想象创造者鼓起非凡鸟之翼，直上九霄云外，又以非凡人之手抓住怒火，造就了老虎炯炯发光的双眼。

4.what shoulder，＆ what art：谁有如此大的力量，以及如此高超的技巧？

5.twist the sinews of thy heart：制造你强健的心脏；twist the sinews：指用力把筋扭弯成一定的形状；sinew：常作“力量”解。

6.What dread hand？ ＆ what dread feet：此系省略句，意为你的心一旦开始跳动，谁能用可怕的手脚来控制住你；dread：dreadful，下同。

7.What the hammer：本节描写创造老虎的大脑。诗人想象老虎的大脑是经熔炉中熔炼之后在铁钻上锤打而成。

8.what dread grasp ...clasp：谁能有巨大的力量控制住可怖的老虎？

9.When the stars threw down their spears ... tears：有的注家认为，此两行暗指天使撒旦一伙反抗上帝的败绩。上帝是否看到天庭之战的胜利而微笑，并且创造了比撒旦的骄傲更加可怕的老虎？“羊和你是否皆他创造”一句，则进一步表明了此诗的寓意。羊历来是和平和基督精神的象征。《圣经》中曾把狮和羊作为自然界中的对立面。虎和狮类同。本节意为是上帝既制造暴力，又创造和平。

10.Dare：注意末节和首节仅此一字之差。上节说上帝微笑着欣赏他的创造。此处又用“dare”一词。上帝压倒了撒旦的叛乱，竟然又“敢于”创造出更加可怕的破坏力量。

Ah！ Sun-flower

Ah Sun-flower，weary of time，

Who countest the steps of the sun；1

Seeking after that sweet golden clime^2

Where the traveller's journey is done；3

Where the Youth pined away with desire，4

And the pale virgin shrouded in snow，5

Arise from their graves，and aspire

Where my Sun-flower wishes to go！6

【题解】

这是布莱克一首写得深刻而含蓄的诗，因而引发了注家和批评家对其主题的不少探求和猜想。有些注家刻意挖掘，似嫌穿凿附会，使人不敢苟同。本诗的基本意思似乎是表述生和死的周期相替，对生命的渴望和追求，同时又透露出有爱情和美好的归宿可予不可求的忧伤。

【注释】

1.weary of time...sun：此句意为向日葵终日面对太阳，数着太阳的步子，跟着太阳的步伐移动转向，似乎对漫长的日子有厌倦之感。

2.Seeking after that sweet golden clime：向日葵所向往和追求的，是温柔的、金色的美好世界，象征爱情或希望；clime：climate.

3.Where the traveller's journey is done：旅行者的终点，亦即人生旅途的终点。

4.Where the Youth pined away with desire：这是青年人梦寐以求的目标；pine away：to yearn intensely and persistently especially for something unattainable.

5.the pale virgin shrouded in snow：脸色苍白的处女，身披白色的裹尸衣；pale virgin：又表示姑娘追求爱情而未果；snow：既表示白色的裹尸衣，又暗示跟着太阳走到终点的，并不是光明灿烂的艳阳天，而是严冬。

6.Arise from their graves，and aspire ... go：严冬和坟墓是向日葵或旅行者的归宿，却又成了从坟墓里爬起来的处女向往的地方。

The Garden of Love

I laid me down^1 upon a bank，

Where Love^2 lay sleeping；

I heard among the rushes dank^3

Weeping，weeping.

Then I went to the heath and the wild，

To the thistles and thorns of the waste；4

And they told me how they were beguiled，

Driven out，and compelled to the chaste.5

I went to the Garden of Love，

And saw what I never had seen；

A Chapel was built in the midst，

Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this Chapel were shut

And “Thou shalt not，” writ over the door；6

So I turned to the Garden of Love

That so many sweet flowers bore.

And I saw it was filled with graves，

And tombstones where flowers should be；

And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds，

And binding with briars my joys and desires.7

【题解】

此诗作于1794年，归属《经验之歌》。在诗人昔日玩耍的草地上，建起了一座教堂。诗人用草地上的鲜花和墓地的石碑作对比，喻示了教会对爱的摧残。此诗有的版本只有后三节，此处是完整的五节。

【注释】

1.I laid me down：I laid down；me是与格（dative），在早期英语中和某些方言中使用。

2.Love：拟人化。

3.rushes dank：潮湿的灯芯草丛。

4.the thistles and thorns of the waste：荒野的蓟和荆棘丛；waste 和heath都是荒野的意思。

5.And they told me how they were beguiled ...chaste：此句亦是拟人化的表述。这些原生态的野生植物向诗人诉苦，它们被诱骗、驱逐，被迫“从良”。自然在教会的淫威下失去了天真和自由。

6.“Thou shalt not，” writ over the door：诗人用《圣经》中“十诫”（Ten Commandments）的语气“Thou shalt not”（你不可）；writ：written.

7.binding with briars my joys and desires：昔日美丽的花草都没有了，坟墓里只有多刺的野蔷薇，故云牧师用多刺的野蔷薇束缚了我的欢乐和希望。

London

I wander thro' each charter'd street，1

Near where the chartered Thames does flow，

And mark^2 in every face I meet，

Marks of weakness，marks of woe.3

In every cry of every man，

In every infant's cry of fear，

In every voice，in every ban，4

The mind-forg'd manacles^5 I hear：

How the chimney-sweeper's cry

Every black'ning Church appalls，6

And the hapless Soldier's sigh^7

Runs in blood down palace-walls.

But most，8 through midnight streets I hear

How the youthful Harlot's curse^9

Blasts the new-born Infant's tear，10

And blights with plagues the Marriage-hearse.11

【题解】

此诗选自《经验之歌》，作于1793年以前。这是布莱克最有名的诗歌之一，被奥利弗·厄尔顿（Oliver Elton）誉为“最强有力的短诗”（the mightest brief poem）。他通过伦敦街头凄惨阴森的景象，揭露了商业资本主义的罪恶。

【注释】

1.I wander thro' each charter'd street：漫步在伦敦街头，所见皆是被享有专利权的所占有；thro'：through；charter'd：chartered，granted or protected by a charter，privileged，licensed，享有专利权的，根据明文规定享有特权的。下行charter'd Thames表明连泰晤士河这一自然之物也为商业资产阶级所占有。

2.mark：注意到，动词；下行marks为名词。

3.marks of woe：悲苦的印记。《旧约·以西结书》（Ezekiel ） 9：4：Go through the midst of the city，through the midst of Jerusalem，and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst there of.（你去走遍耶路撒冷全城，那些因城中所行可憎之事叹息哀哭的人，画记号在额上。）

4.ban：当时伦敦毕脱（Pitt）政府所颁布的禁令，亦可作banns（结婚公告）解。

5.mind-forg'd manacles：心灵所铸成的镣铐；mind：指“理性”。布莱克对理性主义持批判态度，如他在培根《随笔》（Essays ）的批语上说：“Rational truth is not the Truth of Christ，but of Pilate.”又如其诗嘲弄伏尔泰和卢梭等启蒙主义者：“Mock on，mock on，Voltaire，Rousseau.”诗人在初稿上曾写作german-forg'd links，german指当时的英国王室，他们原籍为德国境内汉诺威（Hanover）地方，也可兼指为英国政府服务的德国雇佣军。

6.Every black'ning Church appalls：（the Chimney-sweeper's cry） appalls every black'ning Church；black'ning：blackening；appalls：appals，使震骇。

7.hapless Soldier's sigh：不幸士兵的悲叹。当时英国海外扩张正盛，穷兵黯武。伤兵回国后得不到妥当安置，许多人流落街头。

8.most：most of all.

9.Harlot's curse：妓女的诅咒；Harlot：prostitute.

10.Blasts the new-born Infant's tear：暗指婴儿因父或母的性病而先天失明。

11.blights with plagues the Marriage-hearse：卖淫现象的存在，必然会以性病和其他种种祸害毁灭婚姻的幸福；blight：残害，破坏；Marriage-hearse：新婚的灵车。

The Human Abstract

Pity^1 would be no more，

If we did not make somebody Poor；

And Mercy no more could be，2

If all were as happy as we；

And mutual fear brings peace，

Till the selfish loves increase；

Then Cruelty knits a snare，

And spreads his baits with care.3

He sits down with holy fears，

And waters the ground with tears；4

Then Humility takes its root

Underneath his foot.

Soon spreads the dismal shade

Of Mystery over his head；5

And the Caterpillar^6 and Fly

Feed on the Mystery.

And it bears the fruit of Deceit，

Ruddy^7 and sweet to eat；

And the Raven his nest has made

In its thickest shade.8

The Gods of the earth and sea，

Sought through Nature to find this Tree，

But their search was all in vain；

There grows one in the Human Brain.9

【题解】

此诗选自《经验之歌》，作于1794年以前。此诗和《天真之歌》中的“神圣形象”（The Divine Image）相对照，意义相反。“神圣形象”中的Mercy，Pity，Peace和Love现在被视为Exploitation，Cruelty，Conflict和Hypocritical humility，而这些都是“神秘之树”的人类头脑中的种子，给道德和自然罩上了阴影。

【注释】

1.Pity：拟人化用法，以下Mercy等同。

2.Mercy no more could be：Mercy could be no more.

3.Cruelty knits a snare...care：残忍编织了一张罗网，小心地布满了诱饵；his：拟人化用法。

4.He sits down with holy fears...tears：这两行说明了“残忍”的淫威，使人像对神那样敬畏（holy fears），使世界成为苦海，人们泪洒遍地。

5.Soon spreads the dismal shade...head：the dismal shade Of Mystery soon spreads over his head；Mystery：此处指神秘之树。

6.Caterpillar：毛虫。

7.Ruddy：红润的。

8.the Raven his nest has made...shade：the Raven has made his nest in its thickest shade；Raven：渡鸦，另外有劫掠者之意。

9.There grows one in the Human Brain：这棵神秘之树生长在人脑之中。

Holy Thursday

Is this a holy thing to see

In a rich and fruitful land，

Babes reduc'd^1 to misery，

Fed with cold and usurous hand？2

Is that trembling cry a song？

Can it be a song of joy？

And so many children poor？

It is a land of poverty！

And their sun does never shine，

And their fields are bleak and bare，

And their ways are fill'd with thorns：

It is eternal winter there.

For where-e'er the sun does shine，3

And where-e'er the rain does fall，

Babe can never hunger there，

Nor poverty the mind appall.4

【题解】

此诗选自《经验之歌》，文字同样极为简单，但是形象鲜明，揭露慈善家的伪善，尖锐辛辣。诗人对苦难儿童的同情，充满了真挚的感情。题目：Holy Thursday，亦称Ascension Day，庆祝耶稣升天节。十八世纪时，每逢升天节儿童排队前往教堂唱赞美诗，慈善家对饥苦儿童有所施舍。

【注释】

1.Babes：babies；reduc'd：reduced.

2.Fed with cold and usurous hand：意为慈善家的救济是冷酷无情的，他们靠高利贷攫取钱财；usurous：乃布莱克创造，一般拼法为usurious。

3.For where-e'er the sun does shine：强调真有阳光普照之地，下行the rain does fall的强调味同；where-e'er：wherever.

4.Nor poverty the mind appall：Nor can poverty appall the mind；appall：terrify，使……极为恐怖。

FromMilton a Poem in 2 Books

And did those feet in ancient time

Walk upon England's mountains green？

And was the holy Lamb of God^1

On England's pleasant pastures seen？

And did the Countenance Divine^2

Shine forth upon our clouded hills？3

And was Jerusalem^4 builded here

Among these dark Satanic Mills？5

Bring me my bow of burning gold！

Bring me my arrows of desire！6

Bring me my spear！ O clouds，unfold！

Bring me my Chariot of fire！7

I will not cease from Mental Fight，8

Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand，

Till we have built Jerusalem

In England's green and pleasant land.

【题解】

这是选自长诗《弥尔顿》（Milton ）序文部分的一个片段，上下都是散文，这几行单独成篇。诗人追忆资本主义工业化前的美丽的英国，决心同黑暗的现实作殊死的斗争。

【注释】

1.the holy Lamb of God：上帝的神圣小羊，代表善良和和平。第一节写在古代的英格兰，山坡上绿草如茵，牧场上小羊举步，一派美丽景致。

2.the Countenance Divine：指上帝，故大写。

3.clouded hills：上空阴云密布，暗示工业化造成的环境污染。

4.Jerusalem：耶路撒冷。基督教的圣地，布莱克常以此表示他所憧憬的美好社会，此处指他心中理想化的英国。

5.dark Satanic Mills：黑暗的撒旦的磨房。撒旦是魔王。磨房泛指工厂。

6.desire：欲望。工厂都是培根和牛顿以来的科学产物，是理性的产物，故必须以“欲望”破之，这欲望所代表的实是感官、想象与信仰所组成的精神世界。

7.Chariot of fire：火的战车。本节似乎表明布莱克心中的形象是阿波罗神。阿波罗坐着火的战车，冲出东方，给世界带来光明，阳光是其神箭。

8.Mental Fight：思想之战。敌方是培根、牛顿所代表的自然科学和卢梭、伏尔泰、吉明所代表的理性主义。十八世纪英国产业革命所造成的许多社会问题，使布莱克极端仇视社会现实，以及这种社会现实赖以为基础的理性主义。

FromThe Four Zoas：Song of Enion

From VALA

Night the ［Second］

What is the price of Experience do men buy it for a song^1

Or wisdom for a dance in the street？2 No，it is bought with the price

Of all that a man hath his house his wife his children

Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buy，

And in the wither'd^3 field where the farmer plows for bread in vain

It is an easy thing to triumph in the summer's sun^4

And in the vintage^5 ＆ to sing on the waggon loaded with corn.

It is an easy thing to talk of patience to the afflicted，6

To speak the laws of prudence to the houseless wanderer，7

To listen to the hungry ravens cry in wintry season^8

When the red blood is fill'd with wine ＆ with the marrow of lambs.9

It is an easy thing to laugh at wrathful elements，10

To hear the dog howl at the wintry door，the ox in the slaughter house moan；

To see a god on every wind ＆ a blessing on every blast；11

To hear sounds of love in the thunder storm that destroys our enemies' house；12

To rejoice in the blight^13 that covers his field，＆ the sickness that cuts off his children，

While our olive ＆ vine sing and laugh round our door，＆ our children bring fruits ＆ flowers.

Then the groan ＆ the dolor are quite forgotten，＆ the slave grinding at the mill，14

And the captive in chains，＆ the poor in the prison，＆ the soldier in the field

When the shatter'd bone hath laid him groaning among the happier dead.15

It is an easy thing to rejoice in the tents of prosperity：16

Thus could I sing ＆ thus rejoice：but it is not so with me.17

【题解】

本节选自长诗《四天神》 （Vala，or the Four Zoas ）。本诗体现了布莱克诗歌的不同风格，不押韵，每行音节数目不等，无拘无束，自由自在。是惠特曼式现代自由诗体的先声。

【注释】

1.buy it for a song：以一支歌为代价换取经验；for a song：very cheaply，代价很小。

2.Or wisdom for a dance in the street：or buy wisdow etc.，意思同上行相似。唱歌和跳舞都表示轻松愉快和欢乐。

3.wither'd：withered，枯萎的；省去一个音节，以下fill'd，shatter'd 等同。

4.to triumph in the summer's sun：因胜利而兴高采烈。英国的夏日气候宜人，更添欢乐情趣。

5.vintage：收获葡萄的季节。此句表示人处顺境而情绪好是很容易的，颇似“人逢喜事精神爽”。

6.talk of patience to the afflicted：劝说身受不幸的人耐心忍受。

7.To speak the laws of prudence to the houseless wanderer：对无家可归的流浪者大谈审慎之道。

8.To listen to the hungry ravens cry in wintry season：此行表示得到温饱的人听见冬季啼讥苦寒之鸟而无动于衷。

9.When the red blood is fill'd with wine ＆ with the marrow of lambs：意指酒饱饭足。

10.laugh at wrathful elements：嘲笑愤怒的自然界力量，指不怕风雨雷电等。

11.To see a god on every wind ＆ a blessing on every blast：（不仅不害怕大自然力量的打击），反而感到狂风带来了神的保佑。

12.To hear sounds of love in the thunder storm that destroys our enemies' house：因雷击毁坏了仇敌的屋宇而感到雷声在表示对自己的爱护。

13.blight：（植物的）霉病。

14.dolor：（文学用语）忧伤，悲哀；the slave grinding at the mill：一奴隶在磨房里推动磨石。此处实际上泛指一切工人在工厂做牛做马；the slave：与下行the captive，the poor和the soldier同，后都省略are quite forgotten，意为幸运者忘却了世上还有不幸的人在忍受着种种苦难。

15.the happier dead：在战场上战死，比身负重伤（the shatter'd bone） 痛苦呻吟要幸福得多。故说死者“更加幸福”。

16.the tents of prosperity：在繁荣兴旺的环境里。

17.Thus could I sing ＆ thus rejoice：but it is not so with me：我也可以这样歌唱和欢乐，但是我不愿为之。

ROBERT BURNS

罗伯特·彭斯

（1759—1796）

【作者与作品简介】

彭斯是苏格兰文学史上最伟大的诗人。1759年他生在一个穷困的农民家里，十三岁起就在田里干一个大人的活，一直干了二十年，最后因为搞农业劳动难以养活一家人而去当了税务局的小职员。不过几年，他就在贫病交加中死去，那时他才三十七岁。

彭斯从小爱好民歌。十五岁时，他在秋收劳动中听到一个农村姑娘的歌声，完全被迷住了，情不自禁地给那曲子配上了词儿。这是他第一次做诗，也是他第一次恋爱。

1786年，彭斯二十七岁，他感到在家乡实在没有前途，决心去西印度群岛谋生。为了筹集一笔旅费，他带着试试看的心情，把自己平时在劳动之余写的诗收集在一起，出版了第一个诗集。由于这个集子里的诗多数是用苏格兰方言写的，内容是反映农村青年的生活和思想的，没有文人气，读者们感到很新鲜，彭斯一下子成了名人，苏格兰首府爱丁堡城的上层人士也以能结识这位新诗人为荣，于是彭斯打消了移居海外的念头，去爱丁堡住了一阵，但是他仍然保持农民本色，不久又回乡去干农活。这中间他曾游历苏格兰高原地带，开始收集和整理民歌。由于他的努力，三百多首快要失传的古老民歌保存了下来，这是彭斯在文学上的重大功绩之一。

彭斯的许多短诗就是根据民歌改编的，因此朴实、新鲜、生动，音乐性强，几乎首首可唱。

这里面有大量的爱情诗，如《一朵红红的玫瑰》、《走过麦田来》，也有怀旧和歌颂友情的作品，如《往昔的时光》。这些都是到今天还很受欢迎的名作。是什么使得彭斯的抒情小诗这样地耐读、耐唱呢？除了音乐性强和语言的鲜明、生动以外，很重要的一个因素是彭斯的感情的真挚。而这感情虽然以爱情为主，却还有别的成分在内，例如彭斯对当时社会的态度。上面提到的《走过麦田来》是爱情诗，是唱起来非常动听的歌，其中的主要段落是这样的：

如果一个他碰见一个她

走过山间小道，

如果一个他吻了一个她，

别人哪用知道！

仔细玩味一下，我们就会听出这当中有彭斯反对当时苏格兰的教会和上层社会干涉农村青年的爱情生活的声音。“别人哪用知道！”这最后一句表明彭斯是不在乎顶撞当时的上层人士的。

而彭斯之所以能够这样，是因为他是一个民主主义者。他生活在法国大革命的时代，虽然他住在偏僻的苏格兰，却向往法国人民正在进行的革命斗争。当时英国当局用严刑峻法镇压国内的民主运动，苏格兰有不少民主主义者被监禁，被流放，而彭斯不但经常同被当局视为危险分子的人来往，而且还在1792年利用一个机会买了四门小炮，托人给法国国民议会送去，只因中途被英国当局截住才没有能够运到巴黎。正是这样的一个彭斯写下了《不管那一套》那样的名篇，其中他嘲笑贵族：

管他们这一套那一套，

什么贵人的威仪那一套，

实实在在的真理，顶天立地的品格，

才比什么爵位都高！

他还进而展望将来，慷慨激昂地唱道：

好吧，让我们来为明天祈祷，

不管怎么变化，明天一定会来到，

…………

那时候全世界所有的人

都成了兄弟，不管他们那一套！

这激越、开朗的歌声表达了自由、平等、博爱的思想，也正是当时法国革命者宣传的思想，无怪乎有人称彭斯的这首诗为人类的《马赛曲》。

同时，彭斯又是一个苏格兰民族主义者。苏格兰同英格兰原本是两个国家，但从1707年两国合并以后，苏格兰人民受着伦敦政府的统治。彭斯是反英的，他写了《苏格兰人》等诗，用历史上苏格兰人民抗击英格兰侵略军的英勇事迹，来激励他自己这一代的苏格兰人。

以上谈的都是彭斯的短诗。它们是重要的，但是它们只代表彭斯的诗才的一个方面，即抒情的方面。彭斯还善于写其他方面的诗，例如讽刺诗，其中讽刺教会的《威利长老的祷词》被称为这类作品中的顶峰；又如诗札，即用诗写的信，其中《致拉布雷克书》含有他的文学主张，例如这样的两行：

我只求大自然给我一星火种，

我所求的学问便全在此中！

这就是说：什么书本学问也比不过从大自然来的真情实感。彭斯还有一类诗特别值得一提，那就是一些篇幅较长的叙事诗，如《汤姆·奥桑特》。在这里，彭斯展示了他用诗来讲故事的本领，讲得轻松愉快而又很有气势，既是逼真、生动的民间风俗图，又是针对当时社会的讽刺画，方言和声韵的运用也更巧妙。总之，彭斯的诗路是广的，他的贡献也是多方面的。

王佐良

To a Mouse

On Turning Her up in Her Nest with the Plow，1785

Wee*，sleekit*，cow'rin'，tim'rous beastie，1

Tiny / sleek

Oh，what a panic's* in thy breastie*！

panic is / breast

Thou need na* start awa* sae* hasty，

not / away / so

Wi'* bickering* brattle！2

With / hurried

I wad* be laith* to rin* an'* chase thee，

would / loath / run / and

Wi' murd'ring pattle*！

plowstaff，paddle

I'm truly sorry man's dominion^3

Has broken Nature's social union，

An' justifies that ill opinion

Which makes thee startle

At me，4thy poor，earth-born companion

An' fellow-mortal！5

I doubt na，whiles*，but thou may thieve；

sometimes

What then？ poor beastie，thou maun* live！

must

A daimen* icker* in a thrave*6

random / corn-ear / shock

'S* a sma'* request；

Is / small

I'll get a blessin* wi' the lave*，

blessing / rest

And never miss't！7

Thy wee bit housie*，too，in ruin！

house

Its silly* wa's the win's are strewin！8

frail

An' naething*，now，to big* a new ane*，

nothing / build / one

O' foggage* green！

mosses

An' bleak December's winds ensuin*，

ensuing

Baith* snell* an' keen！

Both / bitter

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste，

An' weary winter comin* fast，

coming

An' cozie* here，beneath the blast，

cozy

Thou thought to dwell，

Till crash！ the cruel coulter* past

plowshare

Out thro' thy cell.

That wee bit heap o'leaves an' stibble*，

stubble

Has cost thee mony* a weary nibble！

many

Now thou's^9 turn'd out，for a' thy trouble，

But* house or hald*，

Without / home

To thole* the winter's sleety dribble，

endure

An' cranreuch* cauld*！

hoarfrost / cold

But，Mousie，thou art no thy lane，10

In proving foresight may be vain：

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men

Gang* aft* a-gley*，

Go / often / astray

An' lea'e* us nought but grief an' pain，

leave

For promis'd joy！

Still thou art blest，compared wi' me！

The present only toucheth* thee：

touches

But och！11 I backward cast my e'e*，

eye

On prospects drear！

An' forward，tho'* I canna* see，

though / cannot

I guess an' fear！

【题解】

彭斯在田间翻地时打破了一只田鼠的小窝，惊得这小生命躲闪奔逃。本来是招人讨厌的田鼠，在彭斯的笔下成了令人富有怜悯情感之人的同类。现代人读这首诗，可能会惊叹诗人那超前的动物保护意识。其实，彭斯看到的是更为广泛的人类社会不公，爱屋及乌。霸道的人类破坏了自然界彼此之间的关系，田鼠难免小偷小摸，可它也得活命。诗人为无意中破坏了小鼠的家而歉疚，更为人类社会的不公而哀叹。写得真挚，表出心声。

【注释】

1.cow'rin'，tim'rous beastie：cowering，timorous beast；to cower：（now dialect in England ） crouch down，身体卷缩的；beastie：（Scottish ） beast，四条腿的小动物，后缀 -ie 表示“小”，如下面breastie（breast），Mousie（mouse去-e，加-ie）。

2.Wi' bickering brattle：with headlong scamper，掉头逃跑；bickering：（Scotland ） making a quick short run，sprint；brattle：（chiefly Scotland ） a sudden forward rush，scamper.

3.man's dominion：《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ）1：28：And God bless them，and God said unto them，Be fruitful，and multiply，and replenish the earth，and subdue it：and have dominion over the fish of the sea，and over the fowl of the air，and over everything living thing that moveth upon the earth. （神就赐福给他们，又对他们说：“要生养众多，遍满地面，治理这地；也要管理海里的鱼、空中的鸟，和地上各种行动的活物。”）

4.justifies that ill opinion...me：（人类主宰一切这个现象）使我们名声不好，因此你见了我惊慌失措。

5.earth-born companion...fellow-mortal：据《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ），上帝先让各类生物从泥土里出来，然后再造人，1：24：And God said，Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind，cattle and creeping things，and beast of the earth after his kind：and it was so.（神说：“地要生出活物来，各从其类；牲畜、昆虫、野兽、各从其类。事就这样成了。”）故云人和鼠类同是泥土生成。又因亚当和夏娃违背禁令偷吃禁果而被逐出伊甸园，并不能免于死亡，故人属必死之类，其他动物亦然。

6.A daimen icker in a thrave：an occasional ear in 24 sheaves，在24捆麦子中偶然才吃掉一穗；daimen：occasional；icker：an ear of corn （corn指oats）；thrave：（dialect ） any of various units of measure for unthreshed grain used locally in Great Britain；especially ：a unit equal to 24 sheaves；24捆仅仅表示数量之多，而田鼠只是吃掉其中一个麦穗而已。

7.I'll get a blessin wi' the lave ...miss't：我有剩下的那些就已经足够享用，不会感到缺了什么。

8.Its silly wa's the win's are strewin：Its feeble walls and wings are strewn，房子脆弱的墙壁散落四方；silly：feeble；wa's：walls；win's：wings，建筑物的侧墙。

9.thou's：（northern dialect ）thou is的缩略语，一般应为thou art。

10.no thy lane：not alone；苏格兰语中thy lane，my lane，his lane等都表示alone。

11.och：哎，表示遗憾之词。

Scots Wha Hae

Scots，wha* hae* wi' Wallace bled，1

who / have

Scots，wham* Bruce^2 has aften* led，

whom / often

Welcome tae* your gory* bed，

to / bloody

Or tae Victorie*！3

victory

Now's the day，and now's the hour：

See the front o' battle lour*，4

lower

See approach proud Edward's power*5—

armed force

Chains and Slaverie*！

Slavery

Wha will be a traitor knave？

Wha will fill a coward's grave？

Wha sae* base* as be a slave？

so / debased

Let him turn and flee！

Wha，for Scotland's king and law，

Freedom's sword will strongly draw，

Freeman stand，or Freeman fa'*，6

fall

Let him follow me！

By oppression's woes and pains！7

By your sons in servile chains！

We will drain our dearest veins，8

But they shall be free！9

Lay the proud usurpers low！10

Tyrants fall in every foe！11

Liberty's in every blow！12—

Let us do or dee*！

die

【题解】

题目：Scots Wha Hae：Scots who have.原题为Robert Bruce's March to Bannockburn，诸编者采题不一，但以取第一行前三字者为多。

【注释】

1.wha hae wi' Wallace bled：who have bled with Wallace；Sir William Wallace （1272—1305），威廉·华莱士爵士，苏格兰民族英雄，在苏格兰争取独立的长期斗争中抗击英军，特别是在著名的Battle of Stirling Bridge一战中击败英军。后被奸人出卖，在Battle of Falkirk一仗中兵败，在Glasgow 附近的Robroyston 被俘。英王爱德华一世下令将他绞死，并分尸。

2.Bruce：Robert Bruce（1274—1329），罗伯特·布鲁斯，苏格兰国王，领导苏格兰人民抗击英军，争取独立，于1314年在Bannockburn地方打败英军。

3.Victorie：victory；末音节重读，与以下诸节最后一词slaverie，flee，me 和die［diː］押韵。

4.the front o' battle lour：喻天低云暗，大战即将爆发；lour：lower.

5.Edward's power：英王爱德华的武装部队。按：此处Edward指爱德华二世（Edward Ⅱ， 1284—1327），于1307年登基。爱德华执政期间表现的非常无能，政局混乱，军事失利，1327年被其妻伊萨佩拉（Isabella）废黜；power：armed force，部队。

6.Freeman stand，or Freeman fa'：生作自由人，死作自由魂。

7.By oppression's woes and pains：凭着受压迫的苦难起誓；By：I swear by，凭……起誓。

8.drain our dearest veins：流尽最宝贵的鲜血；veins：血管。

9.they shall be free：they：指sons；shall：表示诗人的意志。

10.Lay the proud usurpers low：打到高傲的篡权者；Lay：to beat or strike down with force；Lay somebody low：打到某人。

11.Tyrants fall in every foe：杀死一个敌人，少一个暴君。

12.Liberty's in every blow：自由来自一次又一次的出击。

A Man's a Man for A' That

Tune：For A' That

Is there^1 for honest Poverty

That hings* his head，2 an' a' that；

hangs

The coward slave — we pass him by，3

We dare be poor for a' that！

For a' that，an' a' that.

Our toils obscure^4 an' a' that，

The rank is but the guinea's stamp，5

The man's the gowd* for a' that.

gold

What though on hamely* fare* we dine，

homely / food

Wear hodden-grey，6 an' a that；

Gie* fools their silks，and knaves their wine；

Give

A man's a man for a' that：

For a' that，and a' that，

Their tinsel* show，an' a' that；

gaudy

The honest man，tho'* e'er* sae* poor，

though / ever / so

Is king o' men^7 for a' that.

Ye see yon* birkie*，ca'd* a lord，

yonder / fellow / called

Wha* struts，8 an' stares，an' a' that；

Who

Tho' hundreds worship at his word，9

He's but a coof* for a' that：

dolt，fool

For a' that，an' a' that，

His ribband，star，10 an' a' that：

The man o' independent mind

He looks an' laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak* a belted knight，

make

A marquis，duke，11 an' a' that；

But an honest man's aboon* his might，12

above

Gude* faith，he maunna* fa'* that！13Good / must not / claim

For a' that，an' a' that，

Their dignities an' a' that；

The pith o' sense，an' pride o' worth，14

Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may，

（As come it will for a' that，）

That Sense and Worth，o'er a' the earth，

Shall bear the gree*，15 an' a' that.

prize

For a' that，an' a' that，

It's coming yet for a' that，

That Man to Man，the world o'er，

Shall brothers be for a' that.16

【题解】

副标题“Tune：For A' That”中的“Tune”表示曲调名，相当于中国旧体诗词中的词牌名；For A' That 即in spite of that，即不管哪一套，是诗中的迭唱，带有轻蔑、反抗和不屑一顾的意味。彭斯的诗大多根据民歌改编，有曲调名，可以吟唱。

【注释】

1.Is there：后省略anyone一词。

2.That hings his head：who hangs his head，垂头丧气。此句意为有谁因为正大光明（honest）的贫困而感到羞耻，抬不起头来。

3.The coward slave — we pass him...by：对于甘为奴婢的胆小鬼，我们不屑一顾；coward：此处起形容词的作用；pass him by：disregard，ignore.

4.obscure：humble，低微的。

5.The rank is but the guinea's stamp：地位只是基尼币上的花纹；guinea：基尼，相当于21先令，今已废。

6.hodden-grey：a coarse cloth of undyed wool，未经染色的粗纺呢料，因用黑白本色羊毛织成，故呈灰色；此处指用这种料子做成的衣服。

7.king o' men：有用之人，高贵的人。

8.struts：to walk with a lofty proud gait and an erect head；especially ：to walk with pomposity or affected dignity，swagger，走路趾高气扬的模样。参见莎士比亚《麦克佩斯》5.5.24—28：Life's but a walking shadow，a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more：it is a tale / Told by an idiot，full of sound and fury，/ Signifying nothing.

9.Tho' hundreds worship at his word：虽然他一呼百诺。

10.ribband：ribbon，绶带，代表爵位；star：勋章上的星。

11.A prince can mak a belted knight...duke：国王可以封人为爵士、侯爵、公爵；prince：monarch，king，此处不是“王子”之意。

12.aboon his might：（诚实正直的人）超乎他的权力之上，比他更有力量。

13.Gude faith，he maunna fa' that：此句意为国王虽然可以给人加官封爵，但是他别想笼络正派的人，他们不吃这一套，他们有自己的尊严（their dignities）；Gude faith：赌咒语。

14.The pith o' sense，an' pride o' worth：真知灼见和高尚的人品；pith：essence；worth：moral，intellectual，or personal value.

15.That Sense and Worth，o'er a' the earth....gree：意为只有真正的情感和人品，才能赢得光荣；gree：prize，mastery，superiority.

16.That Man to Man，the world o'er...that：末两行表示普天之下的人都达到了这种境界，天下大同才有可能。

A Red，Red Rose

O my luve's* like a red，red rose，

love is

That's newly sprung in June：

O my luve's like the melodie*，

melody

That's sweetly played in tune.1

As fair art thou，2 my bonnie lass*，

pretty girl

So deep in luve am I；

And I will luve thee still*，my dear，

always，constantly

Till a'* the seas gang* dry.

all / go

Till a' the seas gang dry，my dear，

And the rocks melt wi'* the sun；3

with

And I will luve thee still，my dear，

While the sands o'* life^4 shall run.

of

And fare thee weel*，5my only luve！

well

And fare thee weel，a while！

And I will come again，my luve，

Tho'*'twere ten thousand mile！

Though

【题解】

这是彭斯一首有名的爱情诗，短小精悍，情感真挚，历来为选家所重。彭斯的许多诗从很多民歌中采集各种成分，加工升华，此诗显然也是提炼了民间爱情诗的精华，用词极为普通，意象亦是草根阶层习以为常之物。真可谓“不着一字，尽得风流”。

【注释】

1.in tune：和谐地。

2.As fair art thou：as you are fair.

3.wi' the sun：by the sun.

4.the sands o' life：古时用沙漏计时，故sands 代表时间。

5.fare thee weel：再见吧。

Auld Lang Syne

Should auld* acquaintance be forgot，

old

And never brought to mind？

Should auld acquaintance be forgot，

And auld lang* syne*！

long / ago

Chorus.1—

For auld lang syne，2 my dear，

For auld lang syne.

We'll tak * a cup o' kindness 3 yet，

take

For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be* your pint-stowp*！4

pay for / pint-cup

And surely I'll be mine！

And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet，

For auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne，my dear，

For auld lang syne.

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet，

For auld lang syne.

We twa* hae* run about the braes*，

two / have / slopes

And pou'd* the gowans* fine；5pulled / daisies

But we've wander'd mony* a weary fitt*，6

many / foot

Sin' auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne，my dear，

For auld lang syne.

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet，

For auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd* in the burn*，

waded / stream

Frae* morning sun till dine*，

From / dinner

But seas between us braid* hae roar'd

broad

Sin' auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne，my dear，

For auld lang syne.

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet，

For auld lang syne.

And there's a hand，my trusty fiere*！

friend

And gie's* a hand o' thine！

give us

And we'll tak a right gude-willie waught，

For auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne，my dear，

For auld lang syne.

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet，

For auld lang syne.

【题解】

题目：Auld Lang Syne：long long ago，times gone by，中文译为“友谊地久天长”。这首歌的雏形早在1700年之前就已经流行于苏格兰，彭斯采集了民间的多种不同的版本，加以提炼和改编，写成了这首脍炙人口的诗歌。但是，经彭斯改变的这首诗，仍然有不同的版本，诗中描绘当初朋友们在一起爬坡、采花、涉水等种种欢乐场面的诗节，先后顺序不一，节数也有多寡，不过并不影响诗意。后有人将此配上民歌曲调，遂成为世界名曲之一。这首歌是朋友离别时候的保留曲目，更是英语国家在辞旧迎新的除夕之夜必奏必唱的歌曲。

【注释】

1.Chorus ：合唱。这四行为合唱，此后每节之后均加此合唱节。有些版本合唱节只排印一次，此后每节之后只在行间加上（Chorus）一词，作为合唱节的提示，不再重复排印这四行诗行。各种版本处理方式不同。本书以斜体排印合唱节，以清眉目，但不再重复Chorus一词。

2.For auld lang syne：for the sake of old times，即“看在我们过去的情分上”，或“为了往昔的友情”。

3.tak a cup o' kindness：喝上一杯友谊的酒。

4.be your pint-stowp：付你自己的酒钱，你自己付钱买酒喝。下句And surely I will be mine，当然我也自己付账。按：朋友聚会各人自掏腰包，是西方人之间相互平等的表现。

5.pou'd the gowans fine：pulled the fine daisies.

6.mony a weary fitt：many a weary foot，走过了疲惫的旅程。

Open the Door to Me，O

Tune：Open the Door Softly

O，open the door some pity to shew*，1show

If love it may na* be，2 O：

not

Tho'* thou hast been false，I'll ever prove true，

Though

O，open the door to me，O.

Cauld* is the blast upon my pale cheek，

Cold

But caulder* thy love for me，O：

colder

The frost，that freezes the life at my heart，

Is nought* to my pains frae* thee，3 O.

nothing / from

The wan moon sets behind the white wave，

And Time is setting with me，O：

False friends，false love，farewell！ For mair*

more

I'll ne'er trouble them or thee，O.

She has open'd the door，she has open'd it wide，

She sees the pale corse* on the plain，O：

corpse

“My true love！” she cried，and sank down by his side —

Never to rise again，O.

【题解】

副标题：Tune：Open the Door Softly. 这是曲调名，参见《不管那一套》（A Man's a Man for A' That ）一诗注。

【注释】

1.some pity to shew：to show some pity；shew：（archaic ） to show.

2.If love it may na be：even if it may not be love，即使你对我无情无意。

3.Is nought to my pains frae thee：is nothing compared to my pains from you.

Comin Thro' the Rye

O，Jenny's a' weet，1 poor body*，

person

Jenny's seldom dry：2

She draigl't* a' her petticoatie*，3

draggled / petticoat

Comin* thro'* the rye！

Coming / through

Comin thro' the rye，poor body，

Comin thro' the rye，

She draigl't a' her petticoatie，

Comin thro' the rye！

Gin* a body meet a body^4

If

Comin thro' the rye，

Gin a body kiss a body，

Need a body cry？

Gin a body meet a body

Comin thro' the glen*，

a secluded narrow valley

Gin a body kiss a body，

Need the warl'* ken*？

world / know

O，Jenny's a' weet，poor body，

Jenny's seldom dry：

She draigl't a' her petticoatie，

Comin thro' the rye！

【题解】

这是一首爱情诗，但是，情调和《一朵红红的玫瑰》不同，不是男方对女方的热情表白，是那种略有一丝怨愤和一种无可奈何的惆怅。这里显然是有某种有形无形的阻力，妨碍着青年男女的结合。题目《走过麦田来》（Comin Thro' the Rye ）以及在诗中一次又一次的重复回旋，给这首诗带来了浓重的乡土气息。

【注释】

1.a' weet：all wet，哭哭啼啼。

2.seldom dry：很少不哭。

3.draigl't a' her petticoatie：draggled all her petticoat，拖曳着她的裙子；a'：all，起强调作用。

4.Gin a body meet a body：if a person meet a person；meet：为虚拟式。

Epistle to J. Lapraik

An Old Scottish Bard — April 1，1785

While briers an'* woodbines budding green，1

and

An' paitricks* scraichin* loud at e'en*，

partridges/ screeching/ evening

An' morning poussie* whiddin^2 seen，

young chicken

Inspire my Muse，3

This freedom，in an unknown frien'*

friend

I pray excuse.4

On Fasten-e'en we had a rockin，5

To ca' the crack and weave our stockin；6

And there was muckle* fun and jokin*，

mickle，great / joking

Ye^7 need na* doubt；

not

At length we had a hearty yokin，

At “sang* about”.8song

There was ae* sang，amang* the rest，

one / among

Aboon* them a' it pleas'd me best，

Above

That some kind husband had addreset^9

To some sweet wife：

It thirl'd* the heart-strings thro' the breast，

thrilled

A' to the life.

I've scarce* heard ought* describ'd sae* weel*

scarcely / nothing / so / well

What gen'rous，manly bosoms feel；

Thought I，“Can this be Pope，or Steele，

Or Beattie's wark*？”10work

They tald* me 'twas* an odd kind chiel*

told / it was / fellow

About Muirkirk.11

It pat me fidgin-fain to hear't*，12

hear it

An' sae about him there I speir't；13

Then a' that kent^14 him round declar'd

He had ingine*；

ability，genius

That nane* excell'd it，few cam* near't*，

none / came / near it

It was sae fine：

That，set him to a pint of ale，

An' either douce* or merry tale，

sweet

Or rhymes an' sangs he'd made himsel*，

himself

Or witty catches，15

'Tween* Inverness an' Teviotdale^16

Between

He had few matches.

Then up I gat*，an' swoor* an aith*，

got / swore / oath

Tho'* I should pawn my pleugh* an' graith*，

Though / plough / apparatus

Or die a cadger* pownie's* death，

peddler / pony's

At some dyke-back，

A pint an' gill* I'd gie* them baith*，

a quarter pint / give / both

To hear your crack.17

But，first an' foremost，I should tell，

Amaist* as soon as I could spell，18

Almost

I to the crambo-jingle* fell；19

doggerel

Tho' rude an' rough —

Yet crooning to a body's sel*，

self

Does weel eneugh*.20enough

I am nae*poet，in a sense；21

no

But just a rhymer^22 like by chance.

An' hae to learning nae pretence；23

Yet，what the matter？24

Whene'er my Muse does on me glance，

I jingle at her.25

Your critic-folk may cock their nose，26

And say，“How can you e'er* propose，

ever

You wha* ken* hardly verse frae* prose，27

who / know / from

To mak* a sang？”

make

But，by your leaves，28 my learned foes，

Ye're maybe wrang*.

wrong

What's a' your jargon o' your schools，

Your Latin names for horns an' stools？29

If honest Nature made you fools，

What sairs your grammars？30

Ye'd better taen* up spades and shools*，

taken / shovels

Or knappin-hammers*31knapping-hammers

A set o' dull，conceited hashes*

worthless fellow

Confuse their brains in college-classes，

They gang* in stirks*，and come out asses，32

go / young bull or cow

Plain truth to speak；

An' syne* they think to climb Parnassus

then

By dint o' Greek！33

Gie me ae spark o' Nature's fire，

That's a' the learning I desire；

Then，tho' I drudge thro' dub* an' mire

a pool of water，bog

At pleugh or cart，

My Muse，tho' hamely* in attire，

homely

May touch the heart.34

O for a spunk o' Allan's glee*，35

mirth

Or Fergusson's，the bauld* an' slee，36

bold

Or bright Lapraik's，my friend to be，37

If I can hit^38 it！

That would be lear* eneugh for me，

learning

If I could get it.

Now，sir，if ye hae friends enow*，

enough

Tho' real friends I b'lieve are few；

Yet，if your catalogue^39be fow*，

full

I'se* no insist：

I shall

But，gif* ye want ae friend that's true，

if

I'm on your list.

I winna* blaw* about myself，

will not / blow，boast

As ill I like my fauts* to tell；40

faults

But friends，an' folk that wish me well，

They^41 sometime roose* me；

praise

Tho' I maun* own，as monie* still

must / many

As far abuse me.

There's ae wee* faut they whyles* lay to me，

tiny / sometimes

I like the lasses — Gude* forgie* me！

God / forgive

For monie a plack*42they wheedle frae me

a small billon coin

At dance or fair；

Maybe some ither* thing they gie me，

other

They weel can spare.

But Mauchline Race or Mauchline Fair， 43

I should be proud to meet you there：

We'se* gie ae night's discharge to care，

We shall

If we forgather*；

come together

And hae a swap o' rhyming-ware

Wi' ane anither*.44another

The four-gill chap，we'se gar* him clatter，45

make

An' kirsen him wi' reekin water；46

Syne we'll sit down an' take our whiter*，

draught of liquor

To cheer our heart；

An' faith， 47 we'se be acquainted better

Before we part.

Awa* ye selfish，warly* race，

Away / worldly

Wha think that havins*，sense，an' grace，

good manners

Ev'n love an' friendship should give place

To Catch-the-Plack！48

I dinna* like to see your face，

do not

Nor hear your crack*.

chatter

But ye whom social pleasure charms，

Whose hearts the tide of kindness warms，

Who hold your being on the terms，

“Each aid the others，”49

Come to my bowl，50come to my arms，

My friends，my brothers！

But，to conclude my lang* epistle，

long

As my auld* pen's worn to the grissle*. 51

old / gristle

Twa* lines frae you would gar me fissle*，52

Two / commotion，fuss

Who am most fervent，

While I can either sing or whistle，

Your friend and servant.

【题解】

这是彭斯以诗的形式写给苏格兰诗人拉布雷克的书信，充分阐述了他对诗歌包括其他形式的文学创作的看法和主张。他反对学院式的、脱离实践的、无病呻吟的作品，提倡诗人应该贴近自然，接触现实生活。诗中的感情非常真挚，语言生动活泼，在苏格兰的浓重的民族风情和生活趣味的背景下，道出了他的文学主张。

【注释】

1.briers an' woodbines budding green：野蔷薇和忍冬属含苞欲放，鲜嫩翠绿；brier：wild rose；woodbine：any of several honeysuckles.

2.whiddin：whidding；to whid：（Scottish ） to move nimbly and silently，悄然无声地迅速跳跃或奔跑。

3.Muse：希腊神话中的诗神，可泛指创作诗歌的灵感。

4.This freedom，in an unknown frien'...excuse：请原谅我冒昧地把信寄给未曾相识的朋友。

5.On Fasten-e'en we had a rockin：在圣灰星期三的前夕，我们在一起聚会；Fasten-e'en：Fastens-even，Shrove Tuesday；rockin：rocking，an evening gathering，especially party，原意为众人聚在一起纺织，转指晚会。按：按基督教教规，大斋节（Lent）是复活节前为期四十天的斋戒及忏悔，以纪念耶稣在荒野禁食；Ash Wednesday圣灰星期三是大斋节的第一天，复活节前的第七个星期三，而Shrove Tuesday是忏悔星期二，即Ash Wednesday的前一天。

6.ca' the crack and weave our stockin：闲聊和织袜；crack：a friendly chat；stockin：stocking，上行提到在一起聚会，纺织（rockin）。

7.Ye：you，一般为复数，但是有时也可作单数。

8.we had a hearty yokin ...“sang about”：尽情地进行歌咏比赛；yokin：（Scottish ） yoking，contest，bout，比赛，较量；sang about：song about，歌咏比赛。

9.addreset：addressed，有“求爱”（court，woo）之意，此处指丈夫在对妻子说悄悄话。

10.Can this be Pope，or Steele ...wark：Pope：Alexander Pope （1688—1744），蒲柏，英国诗人，参见本书蒲柏的介绍和作品。Steele：Richard Steele（1672—1729），斯梯尔，英国作家，出生于爱尔兰，与艾迪生（Addison）创办小品期刊《闲谈者》（The Tatler ）和《旁观者》（The Spectator ），长于写小品文，文笔活泼，迎合中产阶级的口味。有剧本《葬礼》（The Funeral，1701），《说谎的情人》（The Lying Lover，1703），《温柔的丈夫》（The Tender Husband，1705），《自觉的情人》（The Conscious Lovers，1722）等。Beattie：James Beattie（1735—1803），詹姆斯·贝蒂，苏格兰诗人和散文家。他的《吟游诗人》（The Minstrel，1771—1774）是浪漫主义的最早作品之一，描写一位诗人的思想因受大自然的启发而深化，曾流行一时，对彭斯、司各特和拜伦等都有相当的影响。

11.Muirkirk：地名。

12.It pat me fidgin-fain to hear't：他们讲的故事使我非常激动；fidgin-fain：restless with curiosity or excitement.

13.speir't：speiret，speir的过去式，ask，inquire。

14.kent：knew；不定式是ken。

15.witty catches：机智的警句。

16.Inverness an' Teviotdale：Inverness：因弗内斯，苏格兰北部港市；Teviotdale：蒂维厄特河谷，此词由Teviot（苏格兰南部特威德河支流）和dale（溪谷）组合而成。

17.Then up I gat，an' swoor an aith ...crack：整个一节表示，为了能听到你的故事，我发誓宁可当掉我的农具，像长途贩子的小马那样累死在沟里，或买酒给你们喝；cadger：（chiefly Scotland） an itinerant huckster or street seller，长途贩运货物的贩子；dyke-back：偏僻的沟渠；gill：吉耳（液量单位），相当于1/4品脱（pint），英国方言则为半品脱。

18.Amaist as soon as I could spell：我刚学会写字时。

19.I to the crambo-jingle fell：I fell to the crambo-jingle，开始写些打油诗；crambo-jingle：crambo-clink，doggerel，拙劣的诗，打油诗。按：crambo：和诗游戏，即，一人先说出一个词或一行韵文，然后由其他人对上一个押韵的词或诗句（a game in which one player gives a word or line of verse that is to be matched in rhyme by other players）；jingle：音韵或节奏悦耳的短诗句，a short verse marked especially by catchy repetition （as of rhyme，alliterative sounds，cadences）。

20.crooning to a body's sel ...eneugh：独自低声吟唱，颇为动听；croon：to sing in a gentle murmuring manner and often wordlessly，低低地吟唱。

21.I am nae poet，in a sense：从某种意义上来说，我根本算不上诗人；I am no poet 和 I am not a poet不同，前者强调，表示根本不是，或算不上，而后者只是一般的否定。

22.rhymer：打油诗人，蹩脚诗人。

23.hae to learning nae pretence：have no pretence to learning，不自命有学问。

24.what the matter：what does it matter.

25.Whene'er my Muse does on me glance ...her：什么时候缪斯朝着我一瞥，我就对她吟诗；意为只要诗兴大发，我就写诗。

26.Your critic-folk may cock their nose：那些专爱挑毛病的人会撇嘴，嘲笑你。

27.You wha ken hardly verse frae prose：你差不多连韵文和散文都分不清。

28.by your leaves：请你原谅。

29.What's a' your jargon o' your schools ...stools：意为你们学院里的那些行话，诸如牛角和板凳之类的拉丁词，有什么用呢？

30.If honest Nature made you fools ...grammars：此句意为如果你们对大自然一窍不通，你们的语法有何用？sairs：serves.

31.knappin-hammers：a hammer for breaking stones，敲石的大锤。

32.They gang in stirks，and come out asses：他们进大学时像小牛，毕业时像驴子；stirks：一岁到二岁之间的小牛。

33.think to climb Parnassus ...Greek：彭斯嘲弄脱离现实生活的学究，以为懂一点希腊文就可以成为诗人，登上诗坛高峰；Parnassus：帕那萨斯，希腊南部山名，相传为太阳神和诗神的灵地。

34.Gie me ae spark o' Nature's fire ...heart：这整个一节表达了彭斯贴近大自然和生活，可以写出朴素而感人的诗歌；tho' hamely in attire：虽然（我的诗神）衣着朴素。

35.O for a spunk o' Allan's glee：要是能够得到艾伦·兰姆赛的激情，那有多么好啊；spunk：spark，星火，火花，炽烈之情；Allan：Allan Ramsay（1684—1758），兰姆赛，苏格兰诗人。

36.Fergusson：Robert Fergusson （1750—1774），费格生，苏格兰诗人，和兰姆赛致力于复兴苏格兰民间文学；slee：（dialectic ）sly，机智的，此处无贬义。

37.bright Lapraik's，my friend to be：彭斯投书拉布雷克，愿意向他学习，故称其为未来的朋友。

38.hit：imitate exactly.

39.catalogue：清单，名单。

40.I winna blaw about myself ...tell：我不愿吹嘘自己，因为我不喜欢谈自己的短处；此二行意为：我不爱吹牛，因为本人一无是处，没有什么好吹的。

41.They：即friends an' folks，民歌中常有的“冗言”。

42.plack：苏格兰从前的一种铜币，价值约等于当时的二分之一辨士。

43.Mauchline Race or Mauchline Fair：莫赫林赛马或赶集。按：莫赫林是苏格兰斯特拉斯克莱德行政区村庄。彭斯在1784—1788年住在附近的瑛斯吉尔农场，现村内有彭斯纪念馆。

44.hae a swap o' rhyming-ware ...anither：相互交流诗作；rhyming-ware：创造的诗歌。

45.The four-gill chap，we'se gar him clatter：容积为四及耳的酒杯；gar him clatter：碰杯；him：指酒杯。

46.kirsen him wi' reekin water：在酒杯里倒满热气腾腾的酒；kirsen：christen，原文为施洗礼，此处指倒酒；reekin：reeking，热气腾腾的；water：指酒，此义以求与上行clatter和下行whiter（draught of liquor）押韵。

47.faith：in faith，by my faith，indeed.

48.Awa ye selfish，warly race ...Catch-the-Plack：这是彭斯不点名地批判有些人为了金钱可以放弃人的尊严、理智、礼貌、爱情和友谊；Catch-the-Plack：the hunt for money，赚钱。

49.hold your being on the terms，“Each aid the others，”：以“每个人都帮助别人”的准则来处世为人。

50.Come to my bowl：和我一起来喝酒；bowl：a drinking vessel，饮酒器。

51.my auld pen's worn to the grissle：鹅毛笔已经写得只剩下羽毛杆子了；grissle：软骨，指羽毛管。

52.gar me fissle：使我激动不已；fissle：to cause a thrilling sensation.

Holy Willie's Prayer

O Thou，wha* in the heavens dost well，1

who

Wha，as it pleases best thysel'*，

thyself（yourself）

Sends ane* to heaven an' ten to hell，

one

A' for thy* glory，

your

And no for ony* guid* or ill

only / good

They've done afore* thee*！2before / you

I bless and praise thy matchless might，

Whan* thousands thou* hast* left in night，3

When / you / have

That I am here afore thy sight，

For gifts an' grace

A burnin' an' a shinin' light

To a'* this place.4all

What was I，or my generation，

That I should get sic* exaltation，5

such

I，wha deserve most just damnation

For broken laws，6

Sax* thousand years 'fore* my creation，7

Six / before

Thro' Adam's cause.8

When frae* my mither's* womb I fell，

from / mother

Thou might hae* plungéd me deep in hell，

have

To gnash my gums，9and weep and wail，

In burnin'* lakes，

burning

Where damnéd devils roar and yell，

Chained to their stakes.10

Yet I am here a chosen sample，

To show thy grace is great and ample；

I'm here a pillar o' thy temple，

Strong as a rock，

A guide，a buckler*，an example，

protector

To a' thy flock.11

O Lord，thou kens* what zeal I bear，

know

When drinkers drink，an' swearers swear，

An' singin' there，an' dancin' here，

Wi' grit* and sma'*；12great / small

For I am keepit by thy fear

Free frae them a'.13

But yet，O Lord！ confess I must，

At times I'm fashed wi' fleshly lust：14

An' sometimes，too，in worldly trust，15

Vile self^16 gets in；

But thou remembers we are dust，

Defiled in sin.17

O Lord！ yestreen*，thou kens，wi' Meg^18—

last night

Thy pardon I sincerely beg；

O！ may't* ne'er* be a livin'* plague

may it / never / living

To my dishonour，

An' I'll ne'er lift a lawless leg

Again upon her.

Besides，I farther maun* allow*，

must / confess

Wi' Lizzie's lass，three times I trow* —

believe

But Lord，that Friday I was fou*，

full （of liquor）

When I cam* near her；

came

Or else，thou kens，thy servant true

Wad* never steer* her.

Would /molest

Maybe thou lets this fleshly thorn^19

Buffet thy servant e'en* and morn*，

evening / morning

Lest he owre* proud and high should turn，

over

That he's sae* gifted：

so

If sae，thy hand maun e'en* be borne，

even

Until thou lift it.20

Lord，bless thy chosen in this place，21

For here thou hast a chosen race；

But God confound their stubborn face，22

And blast their name，23

Wha bring thy elders to disgrace

An' public shame.24

Lord，mind Gaw'n Hamilton's deserts；25

He drinks，an' swears，an' plays at cartes*，

cards

Yet has sae mony takin' arts，26

Wi' grit and sma'

Frae God's ain* priest^27 he peoples' hearts

own

He steals awa'*.

away

An' when we chastened^28 him therefor*，

therefore

Thou kens how he bred sic* a splore*，

such / row

An' set the warld* in a roar

world

O' laughin' at us；29—

Curse thou his basket and his store，

Kail* an' potatoes.30Cabbage

Lord，hear my earnest cry an' pray'r，

Against that presbytery o' Ayr；31

Thy strong right hand，Lord make it bare

Upo'* their heads；32Upon

Lord weight it down，an' dinna* spare，

do not

For their misdeeds.

O Lord，my God！ that glib-tongued Aiken，33

My very heart and flesh are quakin'*，

quaking

To think how we stood sweatin'*，shakin'*，

sweating / shaking

An' pissed wi' dread，34

While he，wi' hingin'* lip an' snakin'*，35

hanging / sneering

Held up his head.

Lord，in thy day o' vengeance try him，36

Lord，visit them wha did employ him，37

And pass not in thy mercy by them，38

Nor hear them their pray'r，

But for thy people's sake destroy them，

An' dinna spare.

But，Lord，remember me an' mine^39

Wi' mercies temporal and divine，40

That I for gear and grace may shine，

Excelled by nane，

And a' the glory shall be thine，

Amen，Amen！

【题解】

这是彭斯讽刺教会和长老威利·费希尔（William Fisher）的诗。此人乃是其家乡摩希林（Mauchline）教堂的长老，对人极为苛刻，专爱指责他人，一副道貌岸然的样子，但其本人行为却很不检点，惯于酗酒，并有偷窃教会财产之嫌疑。彭斯以长老第一人称的口吻，道出了他的虚伪和奸诈。

【注释】

1.O Thou，wha in the heavens dost well：指上帝。

2.A' for thy glory...thee：（上帝每把一人送上天堂，就会把十人送入地狱）完全是为了展示自己的权威（glory），而与这些人施善或作恶的行为无关；glory：有两层意思：（1） a state of great gratification or exaltation，an excessively intensified sense of well-being，power，or importance，处于自得其乐，十分欣赏自己身价、地位、权力等的状态；（2） worshipful praise，honor，and thanksgiving，（对上帝的）崇拜、赞美。按：开首第一节诗，即道出长老看破世事，是否蒙上帝恩典，与个人品行无关，为以下其行为铺垫。

3.Whan thousands thou hast left in night：当您将万千众生抛弃在黑暗之中。

4.For gifts an' grace ...place：由于我的天赋和品行，我成为本地的一盏耀眼的明灯；grace：此处有两层意思：（1） a special favor from God，上帝给予的恩典；（2） a charming or attractive trait or characteristic，个人的魅力。按：威利长老认为自己有才干，有德行，但是似乎也不能不表示是上帝给予的荣誉。

5.sic exaltation：如此荣光。

6.deserve most just damnation ...laws：由于（亚当）触犯天条的缘故，（我）只配受到最公正的处罚；damnation：被打入地狱。据《旧约·创世记》（Geneisis ），人类始祖亚当和夏娃违禁偷吃禁果，而被上帝逐出伊甸乐园。

7.Sax thousand years 'fore my creation：据《圣经》上记载，人类只有六千年的历史。

8.Thro' Adam's cause：因为亚当的原因。按：从基督教的教义来说，此话不错，人类一切罪过皆因亚当之原罪，但是上行长老强调发生在“在我出生六千年之前”的事情，似乎与己无关，无意中道出其心不诚。

9.Thou might hae plungéd me deep in hell ...gums：（我从母亲胎里一出来）你本该把我打入地狱，让我痛苦地咬紧牙根。诗人讽刺其从本质上说就不是好人。

10.In burnin' lakes ...stakes：彭斯借用弥尔顿《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ） I. 44—75中描绘的撒旦一伙因反叛上帝而被打入地狱，受尽煎熬的情景。

11.A guide，a buckler，an example ... flock：威利长老自认为是教区教徒的向导、护卫和楷模；buckler：有二层意思：（1） a small round shield held by a handle at arm's length，a shield worn on the left arm，作战时用于护身的盾牌；（2） one that shields and protects，转指庇护者，即教士；flock：a church congregation，同属一个牧师教区的全体教徒。

12.Wi' grit and sma'：无论长幼。

13.I am keepit by thy fear ...a'：此句意为：因为我敬畏您上帝，所以我远离他们所有这些人；keepit：kept，苏格兰语中，动词不定式加-it表示过去式或过去分词。

14.I'm fashed wi' fleshly lust：受到肉欲冲动的折磨；fashed：（chiefly Scottish ） vexed.

15.in worldly trust：沉迷于尘世之乐。

16.Vile self：罪恶本身。

17.thou remembers we are dust ...sin：据《旧约·创世记》（Geneisis ），人乃是上帝用泥土造成，因为偷食禁果而被逐出天堂，此为原罪；thou remembers：（northern dialect ）与第31行thou kens 和第55行thou lets等同。

18.wi' Meg：和美琪偷情。美琪和下节莉西的女儿（Lizzie's lass）均非实指。

19.this fleshly thorn：身上的肉刺，指生殖器。按：这一节把长老的厚颜无耻刻画得淋漓尽致，他认为自己天赋极高，故上帝特意让他早晚春心荡漾，受点肉欲的折磨，从而使感到自己亦有短处，不至于过分趾高气扬，狂妄自大。

20.thy hand maun e'en be borne ...it：此句意为既然如此，那你就要对我宽恕一点，不要太严厉责罚我。

21.thy chosen in this place：你在本地的选民；chosen：the chosen people，原指以色列人，上帝的选民。

22.confound their stubborn face：让他们丢尽脸面；confound：（archaic ） bring to ruin，damn，毁坏，诅咒。

23.blast their name：毁损他们的名誉。

24.bring thy elders ...shame：使长老们蒙受耻辱；基督教长老会中的高级神职人员。按：第61—66行威利长老的意思是：本地区的教徒本是神的选民，理应得到庇护，但是因为他们诋毁了长老，故请神狠狠地惩罚他们。

25.mind Gaw'n Hamilton's deserts：请给汉弥敦应有的惩罚；Gaw'n Hamilton：即Gavin Hamilton，彭斯之友，故意不用其真名。威利长老曾在苏格兰教会法庭上指控汉弥敦违反教规，在礼拜日派人去园中挖土豆。汉弥敦的律师罗伯特·艾肯（Robert Aiken）为其辩护，推翻原告的起诉。参见第77—78和85行。

26.sae mony takin' arts：so many taking arts，很有一套笼络人心的手段。

27.God's ain priest：指威利长老自己。言汉弥敦骗取了普通教徒的信任，从而使他们疏远了威利长老——上帝自己的牧师。

28.chastened：惩罚，管教；chasten：to correct by punishment or suffering.

29.bred sic a splore ...us：挑起一场轩然大波，招来一大帮人嘲笑我们；splore：（Scottish ） commotion，disturbance.

30.Curse thou his basket and his store ...potatoes：请上帝诅咒他的菜篮子、储藏室、白菜和土豆；store：storehouse，仓库。

31.presbytery o' Ayr：presbytery of Ary，艾尔城的全体长老会教友。

32.make it bare ...heads：猛敲他们的脑袋；bare Upo'：bear upon.

33.glib-tongued Aiken：油嘴滑舌的艾肯。按：艾肯成功地为汉弥敦进行了辩护。

34.pissed wi' dread：吓得小便失禁。

35.wi' hingin' lips an' snakin'：with hanging lips and sneering，咧着嘴向我冷笑。

36.in thy day o' vengeance try him：到报复的日子审判他。按：一般都说是末日审判（doomsday），那时一切得到清算，而此处威利长老用“复仇”（vengeance）一词，可见其凶狠，且出于私仇。

37.visit them wha did employ him：要惩罚那些利用他的人；visit：afflict，折磨，惩罚。

38.pass not in thy mercy by them：不要对他们大发慈悲。

39.mine：我的家人。

40.Wi' mercies temporal and divine：既要现世的，又要神圣的恩典。

Tam O' Shanter

A Tale

Of Brownyis and of Bogillis full is this Buke.

— Gawin Douglas.

When chapman billies leave the street，1

And drouthy* neibors* neibors meet；

thirsty / neighbors

As market-days are wearing late，

An' folk begin to tak the gate；2

While we sit bousing* at the nappy*，

boozing / strong ale

An' getting fou* and unco* happy，

full / very

We think na* on the lang* Scots miles，

not / long

The mosses*，waters，slaps* and stiles，

bogs / gaps in walls

That lie between us and our hame*，

home

Where sits our sulky，3sullen dame，

Gathering her brows like gathering storm，4

Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.5

This truth fand* honest Tam o'Shanter，6found

As he frae* Ayr ae* night did canter：7

from / one

（Auld* Ayr，wham* ne'er a town surpasses，

Old / whom

For honest men and bonnie lasses）.

O Tam！ hadst thou but been sae* wise，

so

As ta'en* thy ain* wife Kate's advice！

taken / own

She tauld* thee weel* thou was a skellum*，

told / well / good-for-nothing

A bletherin'*，blusterin'，drunken blellum*；8

babbling / windbag

That frae November till October，

Ae market-day thou was na sober；9

That ilka* melder*10 wi' the Miller，

every / meal-glinding

Thou sat as lang as thou had siller*；

silver

That every naig* was ca'd* a shoe on^11

horse / driven

The Smith and thee gat roarin' fou^12 on；

That at the Lord's house，even on Sunday，

Thou drank wi' Kirkton Jean^13 till Monday；

She prophesied^14 that late or soon，

Thou wad* be found，deep drowned in Doon，15

would

Or catched wi' warlocks in the mirk*，16

dark

By Alloway's auld，haunted kirk.17

Ah，gentle dames！ it gars* me greet*，

makes / weep

To think how mony* counsels sweet， 18

many

How mony lengthen'd，sage advices，19

The husband frae the wife despises！

But to our tale：20Ae market night，

Tam had got planted unco* right，

uncommonly

Fast by the ingle*，21 bleezing* finely，

fireplace / blazing

Wi' reaming* swats* that drank divinely；22

foaming / ale

And at his elbow，Souter* Johnie，23

Cobbler

His ancient，trusty，drouthy crony：

Tam lo'ed* him like a very brither*；

loved / brother

They had been fou for weeks thegither*.

together

The night drave* on wi' sangs* an' clatter*；

drove / songs / talk

And aye* the ale was growing better：

always

The landlady and Tam grew gracious，

Wi' favours secret，sweet and precious：24

The Souter tauld* his queerest stories；

told

The landlord's laugh was ready chorus：

The storm without* might rair* and rustle，

outside / roar

Tam did na mind the storm a whistle*.

a bit

Care，25 mad to see a man sae happy，

E'en* drown'd himsel* amang* the nappy.

Even / himself / among

As bees flee hame* wi' lades* o' treasure，

home / loads

The minutes wing'd their way wi' pleasure：

Kings may be blest，but Tam was glorious，

O'er* a'* the ills o' life victorious！

Over / all

But pleasures are like poppies spread，

You seize the flow'r*，its bloom is shed；

flower

Or like the snow falls in the river，

A moment white — then melts for ever；

Or like the borealis^26 race，

That flit ere* you can point their place；

before

Or like the rainbow's lovely form

Evanishing* amid the storm. —

Vanishing

Nae* man can tether time nor tide，27

No

The hour approaches Tam maun* ride；

must

That hour，o' night's black arch the key-stane，

That dreary hour he mounts his beast in；

And sic* a night he taks the road in，

such

As ne'er poor sinner was abroad* in.

out of doors

The wind blew as 'twad* blawn*28its last；

it would have / blown

The rattling showers rose on the blast；

The speedy gleams the darkness swallow'd；

Loud，deep，and lang the thunder bellow'd：

That night，a child might understand，

The deil* had business on his hand.

devil

Weel-mounted on his grey mare Meg，

A better never lifted a leg，29

Tam skelpit* on thro' dub* and mire，

hurried / puddle

Despising wind，and rain，and fire；

Whiles* holding fast his gude* blue bonnet，

Sometime / good

Whiles crooning* o'er some auld Scots sonnet*，

humming / song

Whiles glow'rin* round wi' prudent cares，

looking intently

Lest bogles* catch him unawares；30

hobgoblins

Kirk-Alloway^31 was drawing nigh，

Whare* ghaists* and houlets* nightly cry.

Where / ghosts / owls

By this time he was cross the ford，

Whare in the snaw* the chapman smoor'd；

snow

And past the birks^32and meikle* stane*，

big / stone

Whare drunken Charlie brak* 's* neck-bane*；

broke / his / neck-bone

And thro' the whins，33 and by the cairn，

Whare hunters fand* the murder'd bairn*；

found / child

And near the thorn，aboon* the well，

above

Whare Mungo's mither* hang'd hersel'*.

mother / herself

Before him Doon pours all his* floods，34

its

The doubling storm^35 roars thro' the woods，

The lightnings flash from pole to pole，36

Near and more near the thunders roll，

When，glimmering thro' the groaning trees，

Kirk-Alloway seem'd in a bleeze*，

blaze

Thro' ilka bore the beams were glancing，

And loud resounded mirth and dancing.

Inspiring bold John Barleycorn！37

What dangers thou canst make us scorn！

Wi' tippenny*，we fear nae evil；

ale （two pence for a quart）

Wi' usquabae*，we'll face the devil！

whisky

The swats* sae ream'd* in Tammie's noddle*，

drink / frothed / head

Fair play，he car'd na deils* a boddle*，38

devils / farthing

But Maggie^39 stood，right sair* astonish'd，

sorely

Till，by the heel and hand admonish'd，40

She ventured forward on the light；

And wow！ Tam saw an unco* sight！

uncanny，weird

Warlocks* and witches in a dance：

wizards

Nae cotillon，41 brent* new frae France，

brand

But hornpipes，jigs，strathspeys，and reels，42

Put life and mettle in their heels.

A winnock-bunker* in the east，

window-seat

There sat auld Nick，43 in shape o' beast；

A tousie* tyke*，black，grim，and large，

tousled / dog

To gie* them music was his charge.

give

He screw'd the pipes^44 and gart* them skirl*，

made /screech

Till roof and rafters a' did dirl*.

rattle

Coffins stood round，like open presses，

That shaw'd* the dead in their last dresses；

showed

And （by some devilish cantraip* sleight）

spell，charm

Each in its cauld hand held a light.

By which heroic Tam was able

To note upon the haly* table，

holy

A murderer's banes*，in gibbet-airns；45

bones

Twa span-lang，wee*，unchristened bairns*；46

little / children

A thief，new-cutted frae a rape*，

rope

Wi' his last gasp his gab* did gape；

mouth

Five tomahawks，wi' blude* red-rusted：47

blood

Five scimitars，wi' murder crusted；48

A garter which a babe had strangled：49

A knife，a father's throat had mangled，

Whom his ain son of life bereft，50

The grey hairs yet stack to the heft；51

Wi' mair* of horrible and awfu'*，

more / awful

Which even to name wad be unlawfu'*.

unlawful

As Tammie glowr'd*，amaz'd*，and curious，

gazed / shocked

The mirth and fun grew fast and furious*；

intense

The piper loud and louder blew，

The dancers quick and quicker flew，

They reel'd，they set，they cross'd，they cleekit*，

joined hands

Till ilka carlin* swat* and reekit*，

old woman/sweated /reeked

And coost* her duddies* to the wark*，52

cast / ragged clothes / work

And linkit at it in her sark*！53

shirt

Now Tam，O Tam！ had thae* been queans*，54

those / girls

A' plump and strapping* in their teens！55

robust

Their sarks，instead o' creeshie* flainen*，

greasy / flannel

Been snaw-white seventeen hunder* linen！56—

hundred

Thir* breeks* o' mine，my only pair^57

These / breeches

That aince* were plush，o' guid* blue hair，

once / good

I wad hae* gien* them off my hurdies*，

have / given / buttocks

For ae* blink o' the bonie burdies*！58

one / girls

But wither'd beldams*，auld and droll，

old woman

Rigwoodie* hags wad spean* a foal，59

Skinny / wean

Louping* an' flinging on a crummock*，60

leaping / staff

I wonder did na turn thy stomach.61

But Tam kent what was what fu'* brawlie*：62full / finely

There was ae winsome wench and waulie^63

That night enlisted in the core，64

Lang after ken'd on Carrick shore^65

（For mony a beast to dead she shot，

And perish'd mony a bonie boat，66

And shook baith* meikle* corn and bear，

both / much

And kept the country-side in fear）；

Her cutty* sark，o' Paisley harn*，67

short / yarn

That while a lassie*68 she had worn，

girl

In longitude tho' sorely scanty，69

It was her best，and she was vauntie*.

proud

Ah' little ken'd thy reverend grannie，

That sark she coft* for her wee Nannie，70

bought

Wi' twa pund* Scots （'twas a' her riches），71

pound

Wad ever grac'd a dance of witches！72

But here my Muse her wing maun cour*，

lower

Sic* flights are far beyond her power； 73

such

To sing how Nannie lap* and flang

leaped

（A souple* jade^74 she was and strang*），

supple / strong

And how Tam stood，like ane bewitch'd，

And thought his very een* enrich'd：75

eyes

Even Satan glowr'd，and fidg'd* fu' fain*，76

wriggled / happy

And hotch'd* and blew wi' might and main：

hitched （himself）

Till first ae caper，syne* anither*，

then / another

Tam tint^77 his reason a' thegither*，

altogether

And roars out，“Weel done，Cutty-sark！”78

And in an instant all was dark：

And scarcely had he Maggie rallied*，

spurred

When out the hellish legion sallied*.79

rushed out

As bees bizz* out wi' angry fyke*，

buzz / fuss

When plundering herds* assail their byke*；

herdsmen / hive

As open pussie's* mortal foes，80

hare's

When，pop！ she starts before their nose；81

As eager runs the market-crowd，

When “Catch the thief！” resounds aloud；

So Maggie runs，the witches follow，

Wi' mony an eldritch* skreich* and hollow*.

unearthly / screech / cry

Ah，Tam！ Ah，Tam！ Thou'll get thy fairin*！

deserts

In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin*！

herring

In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin*！

coming

Kate soon will be a woefu'* woman！

woeful

Now，do thy speedy utmost，Meg，

And win the key-stane* o' the brig*；82

keystone / bridge

There，at them thou thy tail may toss，83

A running stream they dare ne* cross.

not

But ere the key-stane she could make，

The fient* a tail she had to shake！84

fiend

For Nannie，far before the rest，

Hard upon noble Maggie prest*，85

pressed

And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle*；

inten

But little wist she Maggie's mettle！86

Ae spring brought off her master hale*，

whole

But left behind her ain grey tail：87

The carlin* claught* her by the rump，

witch / clutched

And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.88

Now，wha this tale o' truth shall read，

Ilk* man，and mother's son，take heed：

Every

Whene'er to drink you are inclin'd，

Or cutty-sarks rin* in your mind，89

run

Think ye may buy the joys o'er dear；90

Remember Tam o'Shanter's mare.

【题解】

这是诗人根据民间传说改写的叙事诗，应约为一本苏格兰的民间故事集而作，描写贪杯和禁不起女色引诱的汤姆险遭魔鬼伤害的故事，是其力作之一。

引诗Of Brownyis and of Bogillis full is this Buke表示本书描述的都是仙童和妖魔；brownyis （brownies）：仙童，神仙，是友善的；bogillis（bogles）：妖魔，是不友善的；buke：book.此句出自维吉尔的《埃涅阿斯纪》（Aeneid ）第六卷的引诗，由苏格兰作家加文·道格拉斯（Gavin Douglas， 1474—1522）翻译成苏格兰方言。

【注释】

1.chapman billies leave the street：小贩收摊离开街道；chapman billies：peddler fellows，小贩伙伴们。

2.tak the gate：take the road，上路。

3.sulky：sullen，脸上阴沉，愠怒不乐。第5至10行言小贩们在酒店痛饮，根本不想到家还路途遥远，家中主妇（dame）不乐。

4.Gathering her brows like gathering storm：此句极妙，皱起眉头，脸上布满阴云，大有黑云压城城欲摧之势。

5.Nursing her wrath to keep it warm：力图不使心中怒气消退。第11—12两行逼真地刻画了她们怨夫不归的恼怒，恨不得丈夫一回到家就冲着他们发一通脾气，但是明知到时会怒气全消。

6.This truth fand honest Tam o'Shanter：倒装，Honest Tam o'Shanter found this truth.

7.he frae Ayr ae night did canter：他骑着马从艾尔镇踏上归途；Ayr：彭斯家所在的小镇。

8.A bletherin'，blusterin'，drunken blellum：酒醉之后胡言乱语；注意押头韵，形成强烈的效果。

9.That frae November till October ...sober：一年到头，没有一个赶集的日子不喝醉的。

10.melder：the amount of corn processed at a single grind，一次磨面的数量称为melder。

11.ca'd a shoe on：driven a shoe on，钉进一块蹄铁。

12.gat roarin' fou：get roaring drunk，喝得烂醉，口中胡言乱语地嚷嚷。

13.Kirkton Jean：Mistress of a tavern，酒店老板娘。

14.She prophesied：她（汤姆的妻子Kate）预言。按：从第19行She tauld thee起至第28行为一整句，四个that都引起修饰blellum的定语从句。第29行回头再述Kate对其下场的预言。

15.Doon：河流名。

16.catched wi' warlocks in the mirk：caught by wizards at night；catched：（now chiefly dialect ） caught；wi'：with，by；warlocks：one given to black magic，sorcerer，wizard，觋。按：在女为巫 （witch），在男为觋（wizard）。

17.Alloway's auld，haunted kirk：The ruins of a church near Burns' home，the object of much superstitious dread；haunted kirk：闹鬼的教堂。

18.mony counsels sweet：多次温柔的劝说。

19.lengthen'd，sage advices：不厌其烦的，很明智的叮咛。

20.But to our tale：言归正传。

21.Fast by the ingle：close by the fireplace.

22.Wi' reaming swats that drank divinely：啤酒带着丰富的泡沫，喝起来味道真好。

23.Souter Johnie：皮匠约翰；Johnie：是John的昵称。按：当时苏格兰人惯以在名字前加上职业名称，以示区别。

24.The landlady and Tam grew gracious ... precious：老板娘和汤姆打得火热，私下有很多说不清的事情。

25.Care：忧虑之神，拟人化。

26.borealis：aurora borealis，北极光。

27.Nae man can tether time nor tide：No man can tether time or tide；比较：Time and tide wait for no man.

28.'twad blawn：it would have blown，省略助动词have；比较第178行Wad ever grac'd：would ever have graced.

29.A better never lifted a leg：此马的脚力独一无二。

30.catch him unawares：乘他不备时抓住他。

31.Kirk-Alloway：Alloway地方的教堂。

32.birks：birches，桦树。

33.whins：furze，荆豆，一种常青灌木。

34.Doon pours all his floods：杜（Doon）激流滚滚；his：指杜河。

35.doubling storm：加倍猛烈的暴风雨。

36.from pole to pole：从一极到一极，意为闪电划破长空。

37.Inspiring bold John Barleycorn：大麦先生，拟人化用法，指做啤酒用的大麦，此处转指啤酒。酒能使人壮胆，故云inspiring bold。

38.he car'd na deils a boddle：he didn't care a farthing about devils，他一点也不怕鬼；boddle：原指小铜钱。

39.Maggie：马的名字，昵称Meg。

40.by the heel and hand admonish'd：在汤姆的拳打脚踢下。

41.cotillion：dance，一种乡村舞蹈。

42.hornpipes，jigs，strathspeys，and reels：hornpipes：号笛；jigs：any of several lively springy dances in triple rhythm，popular in 16th and 17th century England and Scotland，快步舞；strathspeys：a Scottish dance similar to but slower than the reel，一种慢速的苏格兰舞蹈；reels：a lively dance of the Scottish Highlanders marked by circular figures and performed with gliding movements，旋转舞，一种苏格兰高地的民间舞蹈。

43.Nick：魔鬼名。

44.screw'd the pipes：用力吹笛子。

45.gibbet-airns：gallows-irons，绞刑架上的铁器；gibbet：尤指将犯人绞死后吊在其间的绞刑架。

46.Twa span-lang，wee，unchristened bairns：小小的，两个巴掌那么长的未受洗礼的婴儿；Twa span-lang：two spans-long：span：是手掌伸开时大拇指与小指之间的距离。

47.tomahawks，wi' blude red-rusted：斧子上锈迹斑斑，沾着鲜血；tomahawk：hatched，斧子。

48.scimitars，wi' murder crusted：短弯刀上死者的鲜血结成了一层硬壳；scimitar：a saber having a curved blade with the edge on the convex side that is used chiefly by Arabs and Turks，短弯刀。

49.A garter which a babe had strangled：A garter which had strangled a babe；garter：吊袜带。

50.Whom his ain son of life bereft：his own son bereft him （whom） of life，他自己的儿子夺了他的命。

51.The grey hairs yet stack to the heft：刀上沾满了老父亲的白发；heft：（archaic ） the greater part of （the knife）.

52.coost her duddies to the wark：脱了外衣准备大干一场，指狂跳一阵。

53.linkit at it in her sark：只穿着衬衣轻快地翩翩起舞；linkit：link的过去式，（Scottish ）to move nimbly，to trip along briskly，轻快地跳舞。

54.had thae been queans：if those had been girls，虚拟式，如果她们不是老太婆而是年轻姑娘。

55.A' plump and strapping in their teens：（如果她们）都体态丰满，高挑健壮，年龄不过二十；in their teens：十多岁（十三到十九岁）。

56.Their sarks，instead o' creeshie flainen...linen：接上，虚拟式，had their sarks...been etc.，如果她们的衬衣不是油渍斑斑的绒布，而是精细亚麻布料；seventeen hunder linen：very fine linen，woven on a loom with 1700 strips，1700支的织布机上织的亚麻布。

57.Thir breeks o' mine，my only pair：我唯一的一条马裤。

58.I wad hae gien them off my hurdies ... burdies：我只要能溜一眼这些漂亮的姑娘，就是把（唯一的那条）马裤从屁股上扯下来送掉也情愿。

59.But wither'd beldams，auld and droll ...foal：但是，这些都是干瘪凶悍而古怪可笑的老太婆，骨瘦如柴的女巫，连小马都不愿意吃她们的奶；hag：a female demon；foal：the young of any animal of the horse family，especially under one year，不到一岁的驹（马、驴、骡）。

60.Louping an' flinging on a crummock：拄着拐杖跳来跳去。

61.turn thy stomach：使你作呕。

62.kent what was what fu' brawlie：非常清楚地知道究竟是怎么回事；kent：ken，（past and past participle ） kenned or kent，（scottish ） know；此处显然作过去式，但是在第166行，为过去分词。

63.ae winsome wench and waulie：a charming and strapping girl；waulie：strapping，having a vigorously sturdy constitution，buxom.

64.enlisted in the core：加入了这个舞队；core：corps，company.

65.Lang after ken'd on Carrick shore：她在Carrick沿海一带早就尽人皆知；Carrick：地名。

66.perish'd mony a bonie boat：毁坏了许多好船；perish'd：destroyed，此处为及物动词。

67.o' Paisley harn：of Paisley yarn，用苏格兰佩斯利（Paisley）地方的纱线（织成的料子）。

68.while a lassie：当她年轻时。

69.In longitude tho' sorely scanty：衣服过短，几乎不蔽体；sorely：very much，severely.

70.That sark she coft for her wee Nannie：老奶奶给她那个小南尼（Nannie）买的衬衣；coft：cope （barter，以物易物）的过去式和过去分词，后根据coft创造出现在式coff；Nannie是上面提到的这位新加入舞队的女子年轻时的名字。

71.twa pund Scots （'twas a' her riches）：两个苏格兰金镑（当初她的全部家当）；riches：wealth.

72.Wad ever grac'd a dance of witches：would ever have graced a dance of witches，居然会装点女巫的舞会；grac'd：adorned.参看（第314页）第28条注释。

73.my Muse her wing maun cour...power：此行说缪斯必须收起翅膀，因为她飞不了这么高。按：十七、十八世纪的诗人喜欢模仿古希腊诗人荷马，在创作长诗之前要祈求诗神缪斯给予灵感，如弥尔顿之《失乐园》的开首。这两行是彭斯自嘲之语，喻自己诗才有限，无法高飞。亦有讽刺意味，字面意义谓要想获得描写魔鬼跳舞的灵感，实非缪斯所能赋予。

74.jade：flirtatious girl，女人，常指脾气很坏，性格乖张，或不可信赖的女人。

75.een enrich'd：大饱眼福。

76.Even Satan glowr'd，and fidg'd fu' fain：即使撒旦也睁大了眼睛盯着看，高兴得坐立不定。

77.tint：tine的过去式和过去分词，即lost。

78.Weel done，Cutty-sark：跳得好啊，短衬衫（指女巫Nannie）。

79.out the hellish legion sallied：成群的魔鬼冲了出来。

80.As open pussie's mortal foes：as pussie's mortal foes starts to bark，野兔不共戴天之仇敌刚要张口吠叫；open：bay，bark；pussie's mortal foes：指猎狗。

81.When，pop！ she starts before their nose：啪的一声，野兔就在猎狗的鼻子底下窜过。

82.win the key-stane o' the brig：抢先到达桥上的拱顶石。

83.at them thou thy tail may toss：到了拱顶石那里，你就可以向他们（魔鬼）翘尾巴了；意为戏弄他们了，因为魔鬼不敢过激流。

84.The fient a tail she had to shake：驴子（梅琪，Meg或称Meggie）先得用尾巴把这个魔鬼（指女巫Nannie）甩掉。

85.Hard upon noble Maggie prest：（Nannie）紧紧追赶着这了不起的梅琪不放。

86.little wist she Maggie's mettle：她根本不知道梅琪的气质；wist：（archaic ） to wit 的过去式，knew；mettle：vigor and strength of spirit or temperament，气概，精神气质。

87.Ae spring brought off her master hale ...tail：梅琪一个蹦跳就把主人背了过去，主人毫发未伤，但是她自己的灰色尾巴却掉了。

88.The carlin claught her by the rump ... stump：这个女巫抓住了梅琪的屁股，这匹可怜的驴子只剩下了一个溜溜的光腚。

89.cutty-sarks rin in your mind：脑子里想着“短衬衫”的邪念。

90.buy the joys o'er dear：得到享乐的代价过于昂贵；乐了一阵，却得不偿失。

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

威廉·华兹华斯

（1770—1850）

【作者与作品简介】

华兹华斯是“湖畔诗人”的领袖，在思想上有过大起大落——初期对法国大革命的热烈向往变成了后来遁迹于山水的自然崇拜，在诗艺上则实现了划时代的革新，以至有人称他为第一个现代诗人。

他是诗歌方面的大理论家，虽然主要论著只是《抒情歌谣集》第二版（1800）的序言，但那篇小文却含有能够摧毁十八世纪古典主义的炸药。他说诗必须含有强烈的情感，这就排除了一切应景、游戏之作；诗必须用平常而生动的真实语言写成，这就排除了“诗歌词藻”与陈言套语；诗的作用在于使读者获得敏锐的判别好坏高下的能力，这样就能把他们从“狂热的小说、病态而愚蠢的德国式悲剧和无聊的夸张的韵文故事的洪流”里解脱出来；他认为诗非等闲之物，而是“一切知识的开始和终结，同人心一样不朽”，而诗人则是“人性的最坚强的保卫者，是支持者和维护者，他所到之处都播下人的情谊和爱”。

这样崇高的诗歌理论过去何曾有过？但光有理论不足以服人，需要新的诗歌来体现它！

华兹华斯的天才在于：他不仅创立理论，而且本人就实践理论。他与柯尔律治合作的《抒情歌谣集》这本小书所开始的，不止是他们两人的文学生涯，而是一整个英国浪漫主义诗歌运动。

对于中国读者，华兹华斯却不是一个十分熟悉的名字。能读英文的人当然都看过他的若干小诗，如《孤独的割麦女》，但不懂英文的人却对他的诗没有多少印象，原因之一是他的诗不好译——哲理诗比叙事诗难译，而华兹华斯写得朴素、清新，也就更不好译了。原因之二是，他曾被评为“反动的浪漫主义”的代表，因此不少人未读他的作品，就已对其人有了反感。还有一个原因可能是：他那类写大自然的诗在我国并不罕见，他的思想也类似老庄，因此人们对他无新奇感。

但他是值得一读的。除了历史上的重要性之外，他有许多优点，例如写得明白如话，但是内容并不平淡，而是常有神来之笔，看似普通的道理，却是同高度的激情结合的。法国大革命就曾深深激动了他，使他后来写下这样的名句：

幸福啊，活在那个黎明之中，

年轻人更是如进天堂！

——（序曲）第十一章

他的山水诗极其灵秀，名句如：

我好似一朵孤独的流云

十分引人遐思！他的爱情诗，如这里选择的与一位名叫露西的姑娘有关的第三、四、五等首，也是极其真挚，极其动人，无一行俗笔，用清新的文字写出了高远的意境。他能将复杂深奥的思想准确地、清楚地表达出来，民歌体的小诗写得精妙，白体无韵诗的运用更在他的手里达到了新的高峰，出现了宛转说理的长长诗段。用这样的诗段他写出了长诗《丁登寺旁》，表达了大自然给他的安慰和灵感；接着又经营多年，写出了一整本诗体自传，题名《序曲——一个诗人心灵的成长》，开创了自传诗的新形式。在十四行诗方面，他将弥尔顿的豪放诗风发扬光大，用雄迈的笔调写出了高昂的激情，例如这样的呼喊：

啊，回来吧，快把我们扶挽，

给我们良风，美德，力量，自由！

你的灵魂是独立的明星

你的声音如大海的波涛，

你纯洁如天空，奔放，崇高……

这也是过去以写爱情为主的十四行诗中罕见之笔，也说明两位爱好自由的大诗人如何心心相印！

总之，华兹华斯诗路广，意境高，精辟，深刻，令人沉思，令人向上；而又一切出之于清新的文字，确是英文诗里三或四个最伟大的诗人之一。只是他后期诗才逐渐枯竭，所作变得冗长沉闷，又使人无限惋惜。

王佐良

Lines Written in Early Spring

I heard a thousand blended notes

While in a grove I sate^1 reclined，

In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts

Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link

The human soul that through me ran；2

And much it grieved my heart to think

What man has made of man.3

Through primrose tufts，in that green bower，4

The periwinkle trailed its wreaths；5

And 'tis^6 my faith that every flower

Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played，

Their thoughts I cannot measure，7—

But the least motion which they made

It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan^8

To catch the breezy air；

And I must think，do all I can，

That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent，9

If such be Nature's holy plan，

Have I not reason to lament

What man has made of man？

【注释】

1.grove：小树林；sate：sat.

2.To her fair works did Nature link ... ran：大自然把融入我体内的人类灵魂和她美好的杰作结合起来。有两层意思：其一，有灵魂的人类和世间一切美好之物都是自然的产物；其二，我有灵魂能欣赏自然界的美。此句倒装，正常结构应为：Nature did link the human soul that ran through me to her fair works.

3.What man has made of man：人如何改造了人。按：承上两行，此处诗人惋惜人使人类自身脱离了大自然。

4.primrose tufts：报春花丛；tuft：亦可指土丘；bower：（poetic ）村舍，精致的居处。

5.periwinkle：长春花；trailed its wreaths：蔓延而成花环状。

6.'tis：it is.

7.measure：测度，领悟。

8.spread out their fan：伸展枝条，状如巨扇。

9.If this belief from heaven be sent：if this belief be sent from heaven；由if引导的从句用现在虚拟式be，下行同。

The Tables Turned

An Evening Scene on the Same Subject

Up！ up！ my Friend，and quit your books；

Or surely you'll grow double：1

Up！ up！ my Friend，and clear your looks；2

Why all this toil and trouble？

The sun，above the mountain's head，

A freshening lustre mellow

Through all the long green fields has spread，

His first sweet evening yellow.3

Books！ 'tis a dull and endless strife：

Come，hear the woodland linnet，4

How sweet his music！ on my life，5

There's more of wisdom in it.

And hark！ how blithe the throstle^6 sings！

He，too，is no mean preacher：7

Come forth into the light of things，

Let Nature be your Teacher.

She has a world of ready wealth，8

Our minds and hearts^9 to bless —

Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health，

Truth breathed by cheerfulness.10

One impulse from a vernal wood^11

May teach you more of man，

Of moral evil and of good，

Than all the sages can.

Sweet is the lore^12 which Nature brings；

Our meddling intellect^13

Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things：—

We murder to dissect.14

Enough of Science and of Art；

Close up those barren leaves；15

Come forth，and bring with you a heart

That watches and receives.

【题解】

此诗体现了诗人崇尚自然，反对唯理主义的浪漫主义思想。十七、十八世纪英国整个文化界推崇理智与逻辑的经验主义，而文坛上唯理主义充斥，学究气息浓重。诗人受启蒙思想家卢梭（Rousseau）和法国大革命的影响，反对脱离现实主义的唯理主义，召唤文人学士走出书斋，汲取大自然的智慧和真理，扭转思想界的潮流，故称The Tables Turned，即“反其道而行”。

【注释】

1.grow double：变成驼背。诗人规劝大家放下书本，走出书斋，否则长期伏案会变成驼背。

2.clear your looks：舒展容颜，不要愁眉苦脸。

3.A freshening lustre mellow ... yellow：这三行的正常结构为：His first sweet evening yellow has spread a freshening lustre mellow through all the long green fields.

4.linnet：红雀。

5.on my life：意为“我敢保证”，“我敢说”。

6.hark：listen；throstle：the song-thrush，画眉。

7.no mean preacher：意为画眉鸟的歌声也焕发出青春的活力，召唤人们进入大自然，而不是干巴巴的说教。

8.She：指大自然；a world of ready wealth：无穷无尽的财富。

9.minds and hearts：minds：指理性；hearts：指感性。此句承上四节，并进一步说明离开书斋并非完全摒弃理性，大自然具备丰富的现成财富，增进我们的情感和理智。

10.Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health ... cheerfulness：健康则智慧油然而生，欢悦则悟出真理。强调智慧和真理不一定来自闭门苦读，投身于大自然，得到健康怡悦使智慧和真理如清风徐来（breathed），与书斋的窒息气氛相殊甚远。

11.One impulse from a vernal wood：春天的树林使人勃发的激情。

12.lore：teaching，doctrine，教诲，学问。

13.meddling intellect：应上句，意为人类的智慧干扰和歪曲（misshapes）自然之美。

14.We murder to dissect：我们分析和评判自然之美无异于谋杀；dissect：analyze and criticize.

15.barren leaves：内容空洞，言之无物的书页，应首行quit your books。

I Travelled among Unknown Men

I travelled among unknown men，

In lands beyond the sea；

Nor，England！ did I know till then

What love I bore to thee.1

'Tis^2 past，that melancholy dream！

Nor will I quit thy^3 shore

A second time；for still^4 I seem

To love thee more and more.

Among thy mountains did I feel

The joy of my desire；

And she I cherished turned her wheel

Beside an English fire.

Thy mornings showed，thy nights concealed

The bowers^5 where Lucy played；

And thine^6 too is the last green field

That Lucy's^7 eyes surveyed.

【注释】

1.Nor，England！ did I know till then ... thee：这是华兹华斯热爱和赞美英格兰的名句；Nor：是诗歌中或较古旧的用法，意即I did not know。

2.'Tis：it is.

3.thy：your.

4.still：always.

5.bowers：村舍。

6.thine：yours，指your green field。

7.Lucy：露茜；批评家把本诗和Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known，She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways，Three Years She Grew，A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal，I Travelled Among Unknown Men 称为“露茜诗组”（Lucy poems）。除本诗外，其他几首诗都是在德国创作的。露茜究系何人，批评家有不少猜测。但是，她显然不是Lucy Gray诗中的那位姑娘。

Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known

Strange fits of passion^1 have I known：

And I will dare to tell，

But^2 in the Lover's ear alone，

What once to me befell.

When she I loved looked every day

Fresh as a rose in June.3

I to her cottage bent my way，4

Beneath an evening moon.

Upon the moon I fixed my eye，

All over the wide lea；5

With quickening pace my horse drew nigh^6

Those paths so dear to me.

And now we reached the orchard plot；

And，as we climbed the hill，

The sinking moon to Lucy's cot^7

Came near，and nearer still.

In one of those sweet dreams I slept，

Kind Nature's gentlest boon！8

And all the while my eyes I kept^9

On the descending moon.

My horse moved on；hoof after hoof

He raised，and never stopped：

When down behind the cottage roof，

At once，the bright moon dropped.

What fond and wayward thoughts^10 will slide

Into a Lover's head！

“O mercy！” to myself I cried，

“If Lucy should be dead！”

【注释】

1.fits of passion：（archaic ）突如其来的悲哀之感。

2.But：except.

3.Fresh as a rose in June：像六月的玫瑰花一般清新。比较彭斯诗A Red，Red Rose：“O my luve's like a red，red rose，／That's newly sprung in June.”

4.bent my way：脚步转向（她的茅屋）。

5.lea：草地，牧地。

6.nigh：near.

7.Lucy's cot：露茜的茅屋；cot：指上文的cottage。关于“露茜”见前诗（第324页）注7。

8.boon：gift，favour；指进入甜美的梦乡乃是大自然赋予的恩典。

9.my eyes I kept：I kept my eyes.

10.fond and wayward thoughts：不现实的、任性的思想。

A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal

A slumber did my spirit seal；1

I had no human fears：

She^2 seemed a thing that could not feel

The touch of earthly years.

No motion has she now，no force；

She neither hears nor sees；

Rolled round in earth's diurnal course，3

With rocks，and stones，and trees.

【注释】

1.A slumber did my spirit seal：一阵昏睡封闭了我的精神。

2.She：虽然诗人未指明she为何人，许多批评家认为she即Lucy。参见I Travelled among Unknown Men 一诗（第324页）注7。

3.Rolled round in earth's diurnal course：随着地球每天的运行而旋转；diurnal：daily.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales^1 and hills，

When all at once I saw a crowd，

A host，of golden daffodils；

Beside the lake，beneath the trees，

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous^2 as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way，

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay：3

Ten thousand saw I at a glance，4

Tossing their heads^5 in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced；but they

Outdid the sparkling waves in glee；6

A poet could not but^7 be gay，

In such a jocund company；

I gazed — and gazed — but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought：8

For oft，9 when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive^10 mood，

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude；11

And then my heart with pleasure fills，

And dances with the daffodils.

【注释】

1.vales：（主要用于诗歌）溪谷，山谷。

2.Continuous：连绵不断的。

3.the margin of a bay：在湖的边上。

4.Ten thousand saw I at a glance：I saw ten thousand at a glance.

5.Tossing their heads：原指突然抬头，此处指摇摆不定。

6.in glee：欢乐。

7.could not but：不能不。

8.but little thought ... brought：但是几乎没有想到这种景象给我带来了怎样的财富。意为使诗人产生了丰富的联想。

9.oft：often.

10.vacant：茫然若失的；pensive：忧郁的。

11.They flash upon that inward eye ... solitude：水仙花突然闯入诗人的心中（inward eye），使他在孤寂中得到一种幸福。

My Heart Leaps Up

My heart leaps up^1 When I behold

A rainbow in the sky：

So was it When my life began；

So is it now I am a man；

So be it when I shall grow old，

Or let me die！

The Child is father of the Man；2

And I could wish my days to be

Bound each to each by natural piety.3

【注释】

1.leaps up：童年时代就为虹所激动，至今仍然如此，故用一般现在时。

2.The Child is father of the Man：华兹华斯名句。每人都由童年而及成年，而且成年人性格中美好的一切也来自纯洁的童心。参见弥尔顿诗Paradise RegainedIV.220：“The Childhood shows the man，／As Morning shows the day.”

3.natural piety：自然的虔诚。此处有两层意思：上帝把虹作为和诺亚及其子孙所订契约的象征，而使人们对虹怀有宗教上的情感。据《旧约·创世记》说：上帝和诺亚及其子孙订立契约，不再让洪水毁灭生灵和破坏地球。上帝把弓放在云层上，以作为契约的象征。（Genesis，9：13—14：I do set my bow in the cloud，and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.And it shall come to pass，when I bring a cloud over the earth，that the bow shall be seen in the cloud.）但华兹华斯自幼至长对虹的一贯热情不仅出于宗教上的原因，而且也表明了他对自然中神秘现象始终保持着执着的感情。

The Solitary Reaper

Behold her，single in the field，

Yon solitary Highland Lass！1

Reaping and singing by herself；

Stop here，or gently pass！

Alone she cuts and binds the grain，

And sings a melancholy strain；

O listen！ for the Vale profound^2

Is overflowing with the sound.

No Nightingale did ever chaunt^3

More welcome notes to weary bands

Of travellers in some shady haunt，

Among Arabian sands；4

A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard^5

In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird，

Breaking the silence of the seas

Among the farthest Hebrides.6

Will no one tell me what she sings？ —

Perhaps the plaintive numbers^7 flow

For old，unhappy，far-off things，And battles long ago：

Or is it some more humble lay，8

Familiar matter of to-day？

Some natural sorrow，loss，or pain，

That has been，and may be again？

Whate'er^9 the theme，the Maiden sang

As if her song could have no ending；

I saw her singing at her work，

And o'er the sickle bending；10 —

I listened，motionless and still；

And，as I mounted up the hill，

The music in my heart I bore，11

Long after it was heard no more.

【注释】

1.Yon：（poetic ）that；Highland Lass：苏格兰高地上的姑娘。

2.Vale profound：profound vale.

3.chaunt：sing.

4.Arabian sands：阿拉伯沙漠中的绿洲。

5.ne'er was heard：was never heard.

6.Hebrides：赫布里底斯群岛，在苏格兰西部。

7.plaintive numbers：哀怨的歌声；numbers：（plural ）诗歌，音乐。

8.lay：lyric，song.

9.Whate'er：whatever.

10.o'er the sickle bending：bending over the sickle.

11.The music in my heart I bore：I bore the music in my heart.

Composed upon Westminster Bridge，September 3，1802

Earth has not anything to show more fair：

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty：1

This City now doth，2 like a garment，wear

The beauty of the morning：silent，bare，

Ships，towers，domes，theatres，and temples lie

Open unto the fields，3 and to the sky：

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep^4

In his first splendour，valley，rock，or hill；

Ne'er saw I，never felt，a call so deep！

The river glideth^5 at his own sweet will：

Dear God！ the very houses seem asleep：

And all that mighty heart is lying still！

【注释】

华兹华斯所作的十四行体诗之一。

1.Dull would he be of soul who could pass by ... majesty：he who could ... in its majesty would be dull of soul，意为如果有人见到如此动人的壮丽景色而无动于衷，那么此人的灵魂可能是愚钝的。

2.This City：指伦敦；doth：does.

3.Open unto the fields：因空气清净（smokeless air），伦敦的建筑物从郊外的大地上观望也一目了然。

4.steep：浸染；披盖。

5.The river：the Thames，泰晤士河；glideth：glides.

London，1802

Milton！ thou shouldst^1 be living at this hour：

England hath^2 need of thee：she is a fen

Of stagnant waters：altar，sword，and pen，3

Fireside，the heroic wealth of hall and bower，4

Have forfeited their ancient English dower

Of inward happiness.5 We are selfish men

O！ raise us up，6 return to us again；

And give us manners，virtue，freedom，power.

Thy soul was like a Star，and dwelt apart：7

Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea，

Pure as the naked heavens，8 majestic，free；

So didst thou^9 travel on life's common way

In cheerful godliness；and yet thy heart

The lowliest duties on herself did lay.10

【注释】

另一首华兹华斯所作的十四行体诗。

1.thou shouldst：you should.

2.hath：has.

3.a fen of stagnant waters：诗人把法国革命后的英国比作一潭死水；altar：指教会；sword：指军队；pen：指文职工作。

4.Fireside：指家庭；the heroic wealth of hall and bower：富裕的贵族和贵妇人；hall：指贵族；bower：指贵妇人。

5.Have forfeited their ancient English dower ... happiness：诗人痛感英国的社会已经丧失了内涵的幸福，而这是英国古老的资产；forfeited：丧失；dower：资产。

6.raise us up：使我们振奋起来。

7.Thy soul was like a Star，and dwelt apart：弥尔顿的灵魂像星星一样高洁无邪，革命失败以后也不和王党同流合污。

8.the naked heavens：净空。

9.didst thou：did you.

10.The lowliest duties on herself did lay：did lay the lowliest duties on herself，弥尔顿愿意在生活中做最平凡的工作。

Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye During a Tour. July 13，1798 Five years have passed；1 five summers，with the length

Of five long winters！ and again I hear

These waters，rolling from their mountain-springs

With a soft inland murmur.2— Once again

Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs，

That on a wild secluded scene^3 impress

Thoughts of more deep seclusion；and connect

The landscape with the quiet of the sky.

The day is come when I again repose

Here，under this dark sycamore，4 and view

These plots of cottage-ground，these orchard-tufts，5

Which at this season，with their unripe fruits，

Are clad in one green hue，and lose themselves

'Mid groves and copses.6 Once again I see

These hedge-rows，hardly hedge-rows，little lines

Of sportive wood run wild：7these pastoral farms，

Green to the very door；and wreaths of smoke

Sent up，in silence，from among the trees！

With some uncertain notice，8 as might seem

Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods，

Or of some Hermit's cave，9 where by his fire

The Hermit sits alone.

These beauteous forms，

Through a long absence，have not been to me

As is a landscape to a blind man's eye：10

But oft，in lonely rooms，and 'mid the din

Of towns and cities，I have owed to them

In hours of weariness，sensations sweet，11

Felt in the blood，and felt along the heart；

And passing even into my purer mind，12

With tranquil restoration.13 — feeling too

Of unremembered pleasure：14 such，perhaps，

As have no slight or trivial influence

On that best portion of a good man's life，

His little，nameless，unremembered，acts

Of kindness and of love. Nor less，I trust，

To them I may have owed another gift，

Of aspect more sublime；15 that blessed mood

In which the burthen of the mystery，16

In which the heavy and the weary weight

Of all this unintelligible world，

Is lightened：— that serene and blessed mood，

In which the affections gently lead us on，—

Until，the breath of this corporeal frame^17

And even the motion of our human blood

Almost suspended，we are laid asleep

In body，and become a living soul：18

While with an eye made quiet by the power

Of harmony，and the deep power of joy，

We see into the life of things.

If this

Be^19 but a vain belief，yet，oh！ how oft —

In darkness and amid the many shapes^20—

Of joyless daylight；when the fretful stir

Unprofitable，and the fever of the world，21

Have hung upon the beatings of my heart —

How oft，in spirit，have I turned to thee

O sylvan Wye！22 thou wanderer through the woods，

How often has my spirit turned to thee！

And now，with gleams of half-extinguished thought，23

With many recognitions dim and faint，

And somewhat of a sad perplexity，24

The picture of the mind revives again；

While here I stand，not only with the sense

Of present pleasure，but with pleasing thoughts

That in this moment there is life and food

For future years. And so I dare to hope，

Though changed，no doubt，from what I was when first

I came among these hills；when like a roe^25

I bounded o'er the mountains，by the sides

Of the deep rivers，and the lonely streams，

Wherever nature led — more like a man

Flying from something that he dreads than one

Who sought the thing he loved. For nature then

（The coarser pleasures of my boyish days，26

And their glad animal movements all gone by）

To me was all in al1.27 — I cannot paint

What then I was. The sounding cataract

Haunted me like a passion；28 the tall rock，

The mountain，and the deep and gloomy^29 wood，

Their colours and their forms，were then to me

An appetite；30 a feeling and a love，

That had no need of a remoter charm，31

By thought supplied，nor any interest

Unborrowed from the eye.32 — That time is past，

And all its aching joys^33 are now no more，

And all its dizzy raptures.34 Not for this

Faint I，nor mourn nor murmur；35 other gifts

Have followed；for such loss，I would believe，

Abundant recompense. For I have learned

To look on nature，not as in the hour

Of thoughtless youth；but hearing oftentimes

The still，sad music of humanity，

Nor harsh nor grating，though of ample power

To chasten and subdue.36 And I have felt

A presence^37 that disturbs me with the joy

Of elevated thoughts；a sense sublime^38

Of something far more deeply interfused，

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns，

And the round ocean and the living air，

And the blue sky，and in the mind of man：

A motion and a spirit，that impels

All thinking things，all objects of all thought，

And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still

A lover of the meadows and the woods，

And mountains；and of all that we behold

From this green earth；of all the mighty world

Of eye，and ear，— both what they half create，

And what perceive；39 well pleased to recognize

In nature and the language of the sense^40

The anchor of my purest thoughts，the nurse，

The guide，the guardian of my heart，and soul

Of all my moral being.

Nor perchance，

If I were not thus taught，should I the more

Suffer my genial spirits to decay：41

For thou art 42 with me here upon the banks

Of this fair river：thou my dearest friend；

My dear，dear Friend；and in thy voice I catch

The language of my former heart，and read

My former pleasures in the shooting lights

Of thy wild eyes. Oh！ yet a little while

May I hehold in thee what I was once，

My dear，dear Sister！ and this prayer I make，

Knowing that Nature never did betray

The heart that loved her；43 'tis her privilege，

Through all the years of this our life，44 to lead

From joy to joy：for she can so inform

The mind that is within us，45 so impress^46

With quietness and beauty，and so feed

With lofty thoughts，that neither evil tongues，

Rash judgments，nor the sneers of selfish men，

Nor greetings where no kindness is，47 nor all

The dreary intercourse of daily life，

Shall e'er prevail against us，or disturb

Our cheerful faith，that^48 all which we behold

Is full of blessings. Therefore let the moon

Shine on thee in thy solitary walk；

And let the misty mountain-winds be free

To blow against thee：and，in after years，

When these wild ecstasies^49 shall be matured

Into a sober pleasure；when thy mind

Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms，

Thy memory be as a dwelling-place

For all sweet sounds and harmonies；oh！ then，

If solitude，or fear，or pain，or grief，

Should be thy portion，50 with what healing thoughts

Of tender joy wilt thou^51 remember me，

And these my exhortations！ Nor，perchance —

If I should be where I no more can hear

Thy voice，nor catch from thy wild eyes these gleams

Of past existence^52 — wilt thou then forget

That on the banks of this delightful stream

We stood together；and that I，so long

A worshipper of Nature，hither came

Unwearied in that service；53 rather say

With warmer love — oh！ with far deeper zeal

Of holier love. Nor wilt thou then forget，

That after many wanderings，many years

Of absence，these steep woods and lofty cliffs，

And this green pastoral landscape，were to me

More dear，both for themselves and for thy sake！

【题解】

诗人通过重游蒙茅斯郡和怀河流域，追忆当年种种情景和情感。诗人描写了他在成长过程中的三个阶段，他与大自然的关系随着每一个阶段的递进而深化。在第一阶段，童年时代对大自然的体会和感觉纯粹是感官上的反应（第73—74行）；第二阶段为青春期以后痛苦的、茫然的和怀疑的狂热情感（第62—73、75—85行）。这是他第一次来游览时的心情。从第88行以下为第三阶段，即他目前的体会和感触，一种更加深刻的思想震荡。在这个时期，他更多地体会到人生的痛苦和艰难，一方面抑制了他，另一方面又像音乐那样丰富了他。他意识到自然界的某种存在把他的心灵和大自然结为一体。

【注释】

1.Five years have passed：1793年华兹华斯在英格兰西部蒙茅斯郡 （Monmouthshire ）徒步旅行，饱览了怀河（Wye）和古老的丁登寺（Tintern Abbey）的秀丽景色。五年后与其妹多萝西（Dorothy）重游故地。华兹华斯在第115—116行称其妹为my dearest friend，my dear，dear friend，可见其对多萝西感情之深。

2.a soft inland murmur：内河的潺潺流水，如柔声低语。

3.a wild secluded scene：旷野幽静的与世隔绝的景致。

4.sycamore：榕树。

5.orchard-tufts：满栽果树的小山坡。

6.clad in one green hue，and lose themselves ... copses：果子尚未成熟，在树丛和灌木林中和绿叶色近，难于辨认，所以说lose themselves。

7.hardly hedge-rows，little lines ... wild：树木尽情伸展枝条，无拘无束，形成天然的篱笆，而又不能说是平时所见由人工编成的篱笆。

8.some uncertain notice：密林之间炊烟袅袅升起，使人摸不清究竟是来自当地的居民还是浪游者。

9.Hermit's cave：隐士的窑洞。

10.These beauteous forms ... eye：对我来说，即使在久违之时，这些美丽的景致也不是像盲人面前的风景，一点看不得。意即诗人心向往之，常常故景神游（见下第28行）；beauteous：（poetic ） 美丽的；Through：throughout，during.

11.But oft，in lonely rooms，and 'mid the din ... sweet：此句意为：I have owed sensations sweet to them （beauteous forms） etc.，即使是我孤独地在室内，在喧嚣的城镇里，正因为有了这些美好的景致 （beauteous forms），我才能在身心疲惫之时，有一种甜蜜的感觉；oft：often；'mid：amid.

12.purer mind：此处并非把mind与heart或blood相比，而是说自己的心灵变得比原来更加纯洁。

13.tranquil restoration：诗人想到这里的美好风景，常常精神为之一振，倦意顿消，心中恬静无比。华兹华斯曾说：“诗歌是强烈感情的自然流露，来自恬静中回想的事情。”（ I have said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings：it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.）见《抒情歌谣集》“序言” （Preface to Lyrical Ballads，1802）。

14.unremembered pleasure：华兹华斯长于描写往昔的情景和感触，自然界的胜景往往触发他心中忘却的欢乐。

15.Of aspect more sublime：of a higher quality. 按：这一句表示诗人从大自然美好的形态中得到了一种更加崇高的礼物，即下文所说的 the blessed mood，一种恬静而优雅的心境，区别于前面所说的激情。

16.the burthen of the mystery：人难以理解神秘的自然界，故有压力；下面提到整个不可理解的世界（all this unintelligible world） 则包括人类社会；burthen：burden.

17.this corporeal frame：指人的肉体。

18.even the motion of our human blood ... soul：在这种恬静的心境里，人的血液好像暂时停止流动，身体处于睡眠状态，因此成为一个活的灵魂；a living soul：似乎灵魂已经独立于人的肉体而存在。

19.Be：虚拟式。

20.shapes：form or condition，白日所见之事物或所经历之事情。

21.the fretful stir ... world：无益的烦恼不安和人世间的焦躁。比较莎士比亚《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet ） 1.2.133—134：How weary，stale，flat and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world！又《麦克佩斯》 （Macbeth ） 3.2.23：After life's fitful fever he sleeps well.

22.sylvan Wye：在葱郁的林木地区穿越的怀河；sylvan：abounding in woods，groves，or trees.

23.with gleams of half-extinguished thought：往事在回忆中像半灭的灰烬重又燃烧起来。

24.sad perplexity：往昔的情景若隐若现，诗人不胜茫然。

25.roe：deer，一种体形较小的欧洲鹿。

26.The coarser pleasures of my boyish days：儿童时代幼稚的游戏；coarse：primarily physical，户外的游戏。

27.To me was all in all：（大自然）我全心热爱。

28.The sounding cataract ... passion：声音震荡的瀑布梦牵魂绕，像一股激情追逐着我；cataract：waterfall，steep rapids in a river，瀑布或激流；a passion：炽烈的热情。

29.gloomy：浓荫障目而显得阴暗的。

30.An appetite：激起强烈欲望的东西。

31.a remoter charm：（思想给予的）较为模糊的魅力。

32.Unborrowed from the eye：非凭借目力所见的。

33.aching joys：因强烈的激动而产生的痛苦之感。把词义相反的词结合在一起，修辞学上称为oxymoron。

34.dizzy raptures：因激动狂喜而头晕目眩。

35.Not for this ... murmur：I become discouraged not for this，and I neither mourn nor murmur；nor ... nor：neither ... nor；下面nor harsh nor grating同。

36.The still，sad music of humanity ... subdue：人生的忧伤像低沉的音乐，虽然具有能磨炼和抑制人的巨大力量，却并不刺耳。

37.A presence：自然中出现的事物，某种存在。

38.a sense sublime：一种崇高的情感。诗人认为人与自然融为一体，宇宙间的精灵在推动着人的思想。见《序曲》（The Prelude ） 2. 401—402：I felt the sentiment of being spread / O'er all that moves and all that seems still.

39.of all the mighty world ... perceive：我们耳闻目睹的神奇世界一半是由观察所感觉到的，而人的感官不仅仅只是消极地接受自然界的景象，而且能积极地体会和预测世界的变化，因此起了一半的创造作用。诗人所述此句源出爱德华·杨（Edward Young）诗《哀怨：或夜思》（Night Thoughts）：half create the wonderous world they see.

40.the language of the sense：感官所体会到的感受。

41.Nor perchance ... decay：Perhaps，even if I had not learnt to look at Nature in the way I have just described，I would not have suffered my genial spirits to decay：也许，即使我没有学会以刚才所描述的方式来观察自然，我也不会让我的创造力衰退；perchance：perhaps；Suffer：not to forbid or hinder，allow；genial：根据genius （此处指native power） 构成的形容词；genial spirits：出自弥尔顿诗剧《力士参孙》（Samson Agonistes ） 594—595：So much I feel my genial spirits droop，/ My hopes all flat.

42.thou art：you are，指华兹华斯妹妹多萝西；他对妹妹感情很深，见下文thou my dearest friend；My dear，dear Friend.

43.and this prayer I make ... her：上文讲到，从妹妹讲话的声音里他可以捕捉到当年自己的心声，从她的眼神里他可以体会到当年自己感受到的喜悦，为此，诗人祈祷，但愿能从妹妹的身上看到当年的他，因为他知道大自然从来没有这颗热爱她的心；the heart：指诗人的心；her：指Nature。

44.this our life：指示代词和所有格连用是早期英语和诗中使用的形式，又如146行these my exhortations。

45.she can so inform ... us：大自然（she）能陶冶能够塑造我们的内心世界；inform：to form （the mind） in respect to character，disposition，or ability，train，discipline，instruct.

46.impress：affect （the mind）；和后面的feed一样，都省去the mind，避免重复。

47.greetings where no kindness is：言不由衷的问候，寒暄。

48.that：so that.

49.wild ecstasies：指诗人当年感受到的aching joys（第84行）和dizzy raptures（第85行）；此处意为，多萝西心中那些狂热的情感和他当年的感觉是一样的，但将来也会慢慢地成熟，转变为恬静的喜悦（matured into a sober pleasure）。

50.portion：命运，the share of an individual or group in human fortune or destiny，lot，fate.

51.wilt thou：will you.

52.past existence：诗人五年前的经历；existence：experience.

53.hither came ... service：来到这里，乐此不疲地欣赏和赞美自然；诗人自认为是大自然的崇拜者（worshipper of Nature）；service：即指 worshipping。

FromThe Prelude，or Growth of a Poet's Mind an Autobiographical Poem（1850）

From Book First

［The Earth Is All before Me］

O there is a blessing in this gentle breeze，1

A visitant^2 that while he fans my cheek

Doth^3 seem half-conscious of the joy he brings

From the green fields，and from yon azure^4 sky.

Whate'er his mission，5 the soft breeze can come

To none more grateful than to me；escaped

From the vast city，6 where I long had pined

A discontented sojourner：now free，

Free as a bird to settle where I will.

What dwelling shall receive me？ in what vale

Shall be my harbour？ underneath what grove

Shall I take up my home？ and what clear stream

Shall with its murmur lull me into rest？

The earth is all before me.7

【题解】

华兹华斯的《序曲》是公认的鼎力之作。这首长篇叙事诗有三个不同的版本。此处几个片段选自华兹华斯去世之后当年出版的1850年版。这个版本是诗人在1797—1799年的《两卷本序曲》稿本（The Two-Part Prelude ）和1805年稿本的基础上，穷几十年之力，不断完善而改定的，共有十四章。在这部自传体诗里，华兹华斯叙述了他作为一个诗人的成长过程，亦是体现人类心灵和大自然沟通的过程。《序曲》具有史诗般的宏伟气势，诗人有意识地在主题上和弥尔顿的《失乐园》建立相互呼应之处。华兹华斯叙述了在自己的人生道路中，曾经经历过的精神危机和精神康复，正如圣奥古斯丁的《忏悔录》（Confessions ）和但丁的《神曲》（The Divine Comedy ）所记述的那样，叙述者描述的是自己经历过的一个精神旅程。诗中记述的大地上的旅程，处处紧扣他内心深处的精神之旅。华兹华斯和前人的不同之处，在于他强调的不是宗教意义上的精神升华，而是世俗生活中的人和自然的关系。他突出阐明的是自然对人的启示和人的心灵赋予自然的意义，在今天看来，仍有非常积极的意义。

【注释】

1.there is a blessing in this gentle breeze：在和煦的风中送来一种祝福。起首即点明诗人从大自然中得到启迪。

2.visitant：指拂面的微风。

3.Doth：does.

4.azure：天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的。

5.Whate'er his mission：不管风的使命如何。

6.the vast city：主要指伦敦，但此处也表示摆脱了精神束缚。

7.The earth is all before me：借用弥尔顿在《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ）中描写亚当和夏娃被逐中天堂以后开始新的生活的诗句，12. 646：The world was all before them.

From Book Ninth

［So Great a Theme］

For myself，I fear

Now in connection with so great a theme^1

To speak （as I must be compelled to do）

Of one so unimportant；night by night

Did I frequent the formal haunts of men，

Whom，in the city，privilege of birth

Sequestered from the rest；2 societies^3

Polished in arts，and in punctilio versed；4

Whence，and from deeper causes，all discourse

Of good and evil of the time was shunned

With scrupulous care；but these restrictions soon

Proved tedious，and I gradually withdrew

Into a noisier world，and thus ere^5 long

Became a patriot；6 and my heart was all

Given to the people，and my love was theirs.

…………

Yet not the less

Hatred of absolute rule，where will of one

Is law for all，and of that barren pride^7

In them who，by immunities unjust，8

Between the sovereign and the people stand，

His helper and not theirs，9 laid stronger hold^10

Daily upon me，mixed with pity too

And love；for where hope is，there love will be

For the abject multitude.11 And when we^12 chanced

One day to meet a hunger-bitten girl，

Who crept along fitting her languid gait

Unto a heifer's^13 motion，by a cord

Tied to her arm，and picking thus from the lane

Its sustenance，14 while the girl with pallid hands

Was busy knitting in a heartless mood

Of solitude，and at the sight my friend

In agitation said，“'Tis against that

That we are fighting”，15 I with him believed

That a benignant spirit^16 was abroad

Which might not be withstood，that poverty

Abject as this would in a little time

Be found no more，that we should see the earth

Unthwarted in her wish^17 to recompense

The meek，the lowly，patient child of toil.

All institutes^18 for ever blotted out

That legalised exclusion，empty pomp^19

Abolished，sensual state and cruel power，

Whether by edict of the one or few；

And finally，as sum and crown of all，20

Should see the people having a strong hand

In framing their own laws；21 whence better days

To all mankind.

【注释】

1.so great a theme：指法国革命。

2.Whom，in the city，privilege of birth ... rest：巴黎城里的这些人因其出身名门望族而和其他人不相往来。

3.societies：上流社会。

4.in punctilio versed：versed in punctilio，善于拘泥于细节的礼节。

5.noisier world：指普通大众；ere：before.

6.patriot：诗人站在人民群众一边，支持法国革命。

7.will of one ... pride：一个人的意志成为全民的法律，极权；barren pride：虚幻的骄傲。

8.immunities unjust：非正当的豁免权。

9.His helper and not theirs：（贵族）帮助的是国王，而非人民。

10.laid stronger hold：主语是Hatred。

11.the abject multitude：悲惨的人民大众。

12.we：指华兹华斯和友人米歇尔·博比（Michel Beaupuy）；博比同情革命，其思想和性格对华兹华斯影响较大。

13.heifer：小母牛。

14.sustenance：食物。

15.'Tis against that... fighting：此句意为正是为了反对这种现象，我们才进行斗争。'Tis：it is.

16.a benignant spirit：（国外的）一种温和的思潮。

17.Unthwarted in her wish：（看到这个世界的）意志不受阻挠。

18.institutes：（plural ）principles，rules，原则，公理。

19.legalised exclusion：合法化地排斥穷人；pomp：国王的盛大典礼，排场。

20.as sum and crown of all：总的，最主要的。

21.Should see the people having a strong hand ... laws：人民应有更大的自主权来制定自己的法律。华兹华斯主张应有更大的公民权。

From Book Eleventh

［Bliss Was It in that Dawn to Be Alive］

O pleasant exercise of hope and joy！1

For mighty were the auxiliars^2 which then stood

Upon our side，we who were strong in love！

Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive，

But to be young was very Heaven！3 O times，

In which the meagre，stale，forbidding ways

Of custom，law，and statute，took at once

The attraction of a country in romance！4

When Reason seemed the most to assert her rights^5

When most intent on making of herself

A prime enchantress — to assist^6 the work，

Which then was going forward in her name！

Not favoured spots alone，but the whole Earth，

The beauty wore of promise^7 — that which sets

（As at some moments might not be unfelt

Among the bowers of Paradise^8 itself）

The budding rose above the rose full blown.9

What temper^10 at the prospect did not wake

To happiness unthought of？ The inert^11

Were roused，and lively natures rapt away！12

They who had fed their childhood upon dreams，13

The play-fellows of fancy，who had made

All powers of swiftness，subtilty，and strength

Their ministers，— who in lordly wise^14 had，stirred

Among the grandest objects of the sense，15

And dealt with whatsoever they found there

As if they had within some lurking right^16

To wield it；— they，too，who of gentle mood

Had watched all gentle motions，and to these

Had fitted their own thoughts，schemers more mild，

And in the region of their peaceful selves；17—

Now was it that bothfound，the meek and lofty

Did both find helpers to their hearts' desire，

And stuff at hand，plastic as they could wish，—

Were called upon to exercise their skill，

Not in Utopia，18 — subterranean fields，—

Or some secreted island Heaven knows where！

But in the very world，19 which is the world

Of all of us，— the place where，in the end，

We find our happiness，or not at all！

【注释】

1.O pleasant exercise of hope and joy：华兹华斯回忆起1792年夏的情景，当时他对法国革命的热情达到高潮；exercise：活动。

2.the auxiliars：盟军，同情法国革命的外国人。

3.Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive ... Heaven：能活在那个时代的是何等幸福，而处于青年时代更胜似天堂。这是华兹华斯描写当年醉心于法国革命的名句，向为人所乐道。诗人当时二十二岁，风华正茂。

4.O times ... romance：革命时代的法国，一扫旧习，好像传奇之国，突然焕发出青春。

5.Reason：理性，拟人法；assert her rights：宣称其主张。

6.making of herself ... assist：（理性）极力使自己成为首屈一指，富有魅力的女神；to assist：in order to assist.

7.Not favoured spots alone，but the whole Earth ... promise：不仅是某些优越的地方，而是整个世界都充满了美好的希望。正常结构为the whole Earth wore the beauty of promise。

8.the bowers of Paradise：伊甸乐园中人类始祖的居处。法国革命带给人们的希望犹如极乐世界。

9.The budding rose above the rose full blown：接上that which sets，玫瑰在含苞欲放时价值比盛开时更高。这是浪漫主义的一种思想，尚未完美的东西象征着一种希望，胜过达到极顶之物。

10.temper：temperament，disposition，性格，气质。

11.The inert：性格不活泼者。

12.lively natures：性格开朗活泼者；rapt away：rapt之前省略were；enraptured，carried away by enthusiasm，如痴如狂。

13.had fed their childhood upon dreams：童年时代充满种种梦想。以下数行描绘性格活泼者在大革命感召下的反应。

14.The play-fellows of fancy，who had made ... ministers：梦想是和幻想一起嬉戏的同伴。使敏捷和敏感的思想和强健的体魄都为他们服务；subtilty：subtlety；ministers：（archaic ）servants；in lordly wise：以主人的姿态；wise：（archaic ）way，manner.

15.the grandest objects of the sense：感官的各种最伟大的目标。

16.some lurking right：某种潜藏的权利。第125行至此意为性格活泼者似乎有潜藏在自己身上的某种权利，可以处理感情世界中发现的一切。

17.who of gentle mood ... selves：以下数行描绘性格温和者的反应。他们注意各种和缓的变动，使自己的思想适应这些变化；他们主张温和行动，生活在个人平静的自我之中；more mild：因韵律的关系，不用milder。

18.Utopia：乌托邦。英国托马斯·莫尔（Thomas More）描写的理想王国。

19.in the very world：诗人认为理想世界将不是建立在乌托邦，恰恰是在现实世界里。

From Book Twelfth

［Spots of Time］

There are in our existence spots of time，1

That with distinct pre-eminence retain

A renovating virtue，2 whence，depressed

By false opinion and contentious thought，

Or aught of heavier or more deadly weight，

In trivial occupations，and the round

Of ordinary intercourse，our minds

Are nourished and invisibly repaired；

A virtue，by which pleasure is enhanced，

That penetrates，enables us to mount，

When high，more high，and lifts us up when fallen.

This efficacious spirit chiefly lurks

Among those passages of life that give

Profoundest knowledge to what point，and how，

The mind is lord and master — outward sense

The obedient servant of her will.3 Such moments

Are scattered everywhere，taking their date

From our first childhood.4

【注释】

1.spots of time：诗人认为生活中某些本身平凡的时刻会因为人们观察到它的深刻意义而光彩熠熠（distinct pre-eminence）。

2.A renovating virtue：（这种时刻）有一种使人恢复青春活力的效能。诗人认为在日常工作和生活中，人们都会因各种思想和压力而心情抑郁，但是，往昔光辉时刻的回忆能滋润他们的心灵。诗人在《序曲》（The Two-part Prelude ）（1799）中，曾表达过同样的思想，诗行也极相似，但是当年豪气正盛，憧憬未来，故用A fructifying virtue（多产的效能）。五十一年以后，回首往事，追忆当年，弥补想象力的衰退，故说renovating virtue。

3.This efficacious spirit chiefly lurks ... will：在人们生命的过程中隐藏着这种有灵效的精神；这些生活经历能使我们懂得如何使心灵成为主宰，使对外界的辨别力（outward sense）成为服务于心灵的仆人。

4.Such moments ... childhood：比较The Two-part Prelude（295—296）：“Such moments chiefly seem to have their date / In our first childhood.”

From Book Fourteenth

［Higher Minds］

The Power，which all

Acknowledge when thus moved，which Natures thus

To bodily sense exhibits，is the express

Resemblance of that glorious faculty^1

That higher minds bear with them^2 as their own.

This is the very spirit in which they deal

With the whole compass of the universe：3

They from their native selves can send abroad

Kindred mutations；4 for themselves create

A like existence；and，whenev'er it dawns

Created for them，catch it，or are caught

By its inevitable mastery，

Like angles stopped upon the wing by sound

Of harmony from Heaven's remotest spheres.

Them the enduring and the transient both

Serve to exalt；5 they build up greatest things

From least suggestions；6 ever on the watch，

Willing to work and to be wrought upon，7

They need not extraordinary calls

To rouse them；in a world of life they live，

By sensible impressions not enthralled，8

But by their quickening impulse made more prompt

To hold fit converse^9 with the spiritual world，

And with the generations of mankind

Spread over time，past，present，and to come，

Age after age，till Time shall be no more.

【注释】

1.glorious faculty：imagination；华兹华斯认为人的崇高的心灵有一种辉煌的能力，即想象力。人的感官只能消极地对客观世界产生反映，而想象力却能改变或重新创造感官所接受的一切。

2.them：higher minds；下行they也是指higher minds。

3.the whole compass of the universe：整个宇宙；compass：boundary，circumference，界限，范围。

4.They from their native shelves can send abroad ... mutations：崇高的心灵从自己的天然本身发射出亲缘的变异。

5.Them the enduring and the transient both ... exalt：持久的和短暂的事物都能使崇高的心灵激发想象力。

6.least suggestions：一点点的启发。

7.Willing to work and to be wrought upon：崇高的心灵乐于积极地发挥作用和接受外界的影响。

8.By sensible impressions not enthralled：not enthralled by sensible impressions，并不因感觉到的印象而欣喜若狂。

9.To hold fit converse：进行非常投机的谈话。

WALTER SCOTT

华尔特·司各特

（1771—1832）

【作者与作品简介】

司各特生于苏格兰首府爱丁堡，在那里上大学，又在他父亲的律师事务所学习法律，1792年通过律师考试。他很小就喜欢听民谣和口头流传的边境故事，注意收集有关苏格兰历史的传闻，终于写成《末代行吟者之歌》，于1805年出版。此后他写了一系列的叙事诗，中间颇多佳作，富于浪漫情调，音韵铿锵，也善于刻画历史人物，但缺乏触动读者情感深处的力量，因此等到青年诗人拜伦崛起，出版了更有感染力的叙事诗，司各特乃改用散文写历史小说，在这个新的文学领域里取得巨大成功，不仅独步英国，而且影响了许多欧陆小说家，成为浪漫主义潮流里最有影响的作家之一。

中国读者早知司各特之名，主要是由于林琴南在清末译了他的长篇历史小说《撒克逊劫后英雄略》（即《艾凡赫》）。但是没有多少人知道他也是一个大诗人。

其实他的诗至今还值一谈。他善于用韵文说故事；正是因为他先能把叙事诗写得成功，才能后来把历史小说也写得出色。同时，他也善于抒情，若干穿插在叙事诗中的短歌小曲往往就是完美的抒情诗。

这里选了两节诗。第一节来自《末代行吟者之歌》。这名字就充满浪漫情思，而行吟者一上来就表达对祖国的热爱，对只顾自我、不爱故土的人鄙视，快人快语，如此诗人少见。第二节来自《玛密安》（1808），经常单独成篇，在各种选本出现，写得既有故事，又富气势，其用词，其韵律，都加强了气氛，提高了戏剧性，而叙事扼要，用笔精炼，又显示边境民谣的本色。

王佐良

Breathes There the Man with Soul So Dead

Breathes there the man with soul so dead，

Who never to himself hath said，

This is my own，my native land！1

Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd，2

As home his footsteps he hath turn'd

From wandering on a foreign strand！3

If such there breathe，4 go，mark him well；

For him no Minstrel raptures swell；

High though his titles，proud his name，

Boundless his wealth as wish can claim；5

Despite those titles，power，and pelf，6

The wretch，concentred all in self，

Living，shall forfeit fair renown，7

And，doubly dying，8 shall go down

To the vile dust，from whence he sprung，9

Unwept，unhonour'd，and unsung.

【注释】

1.Breathes there the man with soul so dead ... land：起首三行表示对自己的家乡和故土毫无感情的人，虽有生命而灵魂已死；hath：has.

2.ne'er：never；burn'd：burned，心中热血沸腾，燃烧着感情。

3.strand：海滨。

4.If such there breathe：if there breathe such a man；breathe：为虚拟语气。

5.as wish can claim：富足程度，如他所求。

6.pelf：（derogatory ）money，钱财，兼指劫掠来的不义之财。

7.forfeit fair renown：丧失美名。

8.doubly dying：名声与生命皆亡，故称双重死亡。

9.To the vile dust，from whence he sprung：据《圣经》上说，上帝用土创造人类祖先。由于人类始祖触犯天条而不能免于一死，回归土里；vile dust：指此人本质不好。

Lochinvar

O Young Lochinvar is come out of the west，

Through all the wide Border his steed^1 was the best；

And save^2 his good broadsword he weapons had none.

He rode all unarm'd，3 and he rode all alone，

So faithful in love，and so dauntless in war，

There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.

He staid not for brake，4 and he stopp'd not for stone，

He swam the Eske river where ford there was none；

But ere^5 he alighted at Netherby gate，

The bride had consented，6 the gallant came late：

For a laggard in love，and a dastard in war，7

Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.

So boldly he enter'd the Netherby Hall，

Among bride's-men，and kinsmen，and brothers and all：

Then spoke the bride's father，his hand on his sword，

（For the poor craven^8 bridegroom said never a word），

“O come ye in peace here，or come ye in war，9

Or to dance at our bridal，young Lord Lochinvar？”

“I long woo'd your daughter，my suit^10 you denied；—

Love swells like the Solway，11 but ebbs like its tide —

And now I am come，with this lost love of mine，

To lead but one measure，12 drink one cup of wine.

There are maidens in Scotland，more lovely by far，

That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar.”

The bride kiss'd the goblet：13 the knight took it up，

He quaff'd off^14 the wine，and he threw down the cup.

She look'd down to blush，and she look'd up to sigh，

With a smile on her lips and a tear in her eye.

He took her soft hand，ere her mother could bar，15—

“Now tread we a measure！”16 said young Lochinvar.

So stately his form，and so lovely her face，

That never a hall such a galliard did grace；17

While her mother did fret，and her father did fume，

And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume；18

And the bride-maidens whisper'd，“'twere^19 better by far

To have match'd our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.”

One touch to her hand，and one word in her ear，

When they reach'd the hall-door，and the charger^20 stood near；

So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung，21

So light to the saddle before her he sprung！

“She is won！ we are gone，over bank，bush，and scaur；22

They'll have fleet steeds that follow'，” quoth^23 young Lochinvar.

There was mounting 'mong Graemes^24 of the Netherby clan；

Forsters，Fenwicks，and Musgraves，they rode and they ran：

There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lee，

But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see.

So daring in love，and so dauntless in war，

Have ye e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar？

【注释】

1.steed：（poetic ）a horse，especiallya spirited horse，骏马。

2.save：except.

3.unarm'd：unarmed，省一音节，以下stopp'd等同。

4.staid：stayed，今已罕用；brake：丛林。

5.ere：before.

6.consented：答应嫁给他人。

7.a laggard in love：不重爱情者；a laggard：懒散者；a dastard in war：战场上的懦夫。比较第5行：faithful in love，dauntless in war.

8.craven：怯懦的。

9.come ye in peace here，or come ye in war：你此番前来是和还是战？ye：you.

10.suit：求婚。

11.Solway：即Solway Firth，索尔威湾，位于英格兰和苏格兰交界处。

12.To lead but one measure：跳一场舞蹈；measure：一种慢速的舞。

13.goblet：高脚酒杯。

14.quaff'd off：一饮而尽。

15.bar：阻止。

16.tread we a measure：让我们合着拍子跳舞。

17.galliard：十六、十七世纪常见的一种活泼的舞蹈；grace：使优美，使增光。

18.plume：作装饰用的羽毛，羽饰。

19.'twere：it were，虚拟语气。

20.charger：a war horse，战马。

21.so light to the croupe the fair lady he swung：正常结构为he swung the fair lady so light to the croupe.下行结构同。croupe：马的臀部。

22.scaur：悬岩。

23.quoth：said.

24.'mong：among；Graemes：疑是芮堡（Netherby）氏族的某一家族的人，以下Forsters，Fenwicks和Musgraves等同。

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERlDGE

塞缪尔·泰勒·柯尔律治

（1772—1834）

【作者与作品简介】

柯尔律治，英国浪漫派诗人，兼文艺理论家、批评家，生于英格兰德文郡一个乡村牧师的家中。十岁到伦敦上学，熟读希腊、罗马文学，也学习哲学。十九岁入剑桥大学学古典文学。青年时期同情法国革命，后结识罗勃特·骚塞，两人计划到美国建立乌托邦式的大同社会，没有成功。1795年柯尔律治认识了威廉·华兹华斯，两人的友谊与合作形成柯尔律治的黄金时代。1798年两人合作发表了著名的《抒情歌谣集》，柯尔律治的杰作《老水手谣》就载在这个集中，他另两篇杰作《忽必烈汗》和《克里斯特贝尔》则在前此一年已在刊物上发表了。以后他和华兹华斯一同到德国，他在那里迷上了康德的哲学，毕生受到其影响。1800年他随华兹华斯兄妹迁到英国西部湖区居住，两人时常往来。所以他们后来都被称为湖畔诗人。

柯尔律治一生患有风湿痛等多种疾病，为求镇痛而服用鸦片酊，不幸上瘾。晚年住在海格特，与吉尔曼医生住在一起。他的居室逐渐成为英美文人集中之地。他被称为“海格特的圣人”，朝圣者络绎不绝。他谈话具有很大吸引力，因为他是具有思想深度和独到见解的多才多艺的艺术家和理论家。

柯尔律治的诗作虽然不多，但不少都是脍炙人口的英诗杰作，其创造性尤为突出。他的诗具有瑰丽奇特的想象和神秘莫测的气氛，形成浪漫诗派的一个特点，他自己则是英国最著名的浪漫诗人之一。

《老水手谣》，旧译《古舟子咏》，是柯尔律治著名的代表作，也是英国诗歌的瑰宝，代表着浪漫派中神奇幻想的一支。

这诗写一个老水手杀死了一只海鸟，因而受到热爱此鸟的南极精灵的报复，不但同船二百名水手全部丧生，老水手本人也几乎死去，只是因为“死亡”和“死中生”两个幽灵打赌，“死中生”赌赢，才使他免于一死，但却要忍受二百尸体怨恨眼光的折磨，直到他祝福另一个小生物（水蛇）之后，精灵才原谅了他。后来老水手虽侥幸回到故乡，但是必须向别人讲述自己的痛苦经历，才能减轻痛苦生活下去，不啻生活于死亡之中。

作者以六百二十五行优美的诗句完整描写了一个离奇的故事，通过罪与罚的因果，宣传了一切生物皆上帝创造、应该互相爱护的说教。这和西方宠爱小动物的习惯一致，但“人为万物之灵”的信徒，读后难免要有罚不当罪的叹惋。诗中写的鬼神（鬼如南极精灵及其鬼伴、“死亡”和“死中生”两个幽灵，神如天使精灵“六翼天使”等）十分离奇，和我们的鬼神观念不符，这在欣赏本诗时，也是应当注意的。

这诗用歌谣体，语言力求简单朴素，体现了歌谣体的一个特点。每小节大多四行，一三行四音步，无韵。二四行三音步，押韵，但也并不严格。

《忽必烈汗》写的并非这位大汗，只是写了一些瑰丽奇幻的景色和人物，以及激情的诗人自己。据说有一次这位诗人读一本游记，读到“忽必烈汗下令在此建立宫殿，并在其中修筑富丽堂皇的花园，于是把十英里肥沃土地圈进围墙”之后便睡着了。他在梦中见到纷呈的幻象，随手写了几百行诗；醒来之后，记忆犹新，马上提笔记录下来，但正在写时，有客来访，客走之后再也记不起下文，只写了这五十四行梦中幻象的片断。

这首诗典型表现了浪漫派神奇瑰丽的特色和全凭幻想写作的特点。它运用形象，表现超自然内容，对以后诗风具有影响，同时，凭灵感创作，往往只写成片断，留下未完成的佳作，也是柯尔律治的特点。

吕千飞

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In Seven Parts

［Argument］

How a Ship，having first sailed to the Equator，was driven by storms to the cold Country towards the South Pole，how the Ancient Mariner cruelly and in contempt of the laws of hospitality killed a Seabird and how he was followed by many and strange Judgments；and in what manner he came back to his own Country.

Part 1

An ancient Mariner meeteth three Gallants bidden to a wedding-feast，and detaineth one.

It is an ancient^1 Mariner，

And he stoppeth one of three.2

— By thy long grey beard and glittering eye，

Now wherefore stopp'st thou me？3

The bridegroom's doors are opened wide，

And I am next of kin；4

The guests are met，the feast is set：

May'st hear the merry din.”5

He holds him with his skinny hand，

“There was a ship，” quoth^6 he.

“Hold off！ unhand me，grey-beard loon！”7

Eftsoons^8 his hand dropped he.

The Wedding-Guest is spellbound by the eye of the seafaring man，and constrained to hear his tale.

He holds him with his glittering eye^9—

The Wedding-Guest stood still，

And listens like a three years' child：

The Mariner hath his will.

The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone：

He cannot choose but hear；

And thus spake on^10 that ancient man，

The bright-eyed Mariner.

The Mariner tells how the ship sailed south-ward with a good wind and fair weather，till it reached the Line.

“The ship was cheered，the harbour cleared，11

Merrily did we drop

Below the kirk，12 below the hill，

Below the lighthouse top.

The Sun came up upon the left，

Out of the sea came he！13

And he shone bright，and on the right

Went down into the sea.

Higher and higher every day，

Till over the mast at noon—”14

The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast，

For he heard the loud bassoon.

The Wedding-Guest heareth the bridal music；but the Mariner continueth his tale.

The bride hath paced into the hall，

Red as a rose is she；

Nodding their heads before her goes

The merry minstrelsy.15

The Wedding-Guest he^16 beat his breast，

Yet he cannot choose but hear；

And thus spake on that ancient man，

The bright-eyed Mariner.

The ship driven by a storm toward the South Pole.

“And now the STORM-BLAST came，and he^17

Was tyrannous and strong：

He struck with his o'ertaking wings，

And chased us south along.

With sloping masts and dipping prow，18

As who pursued with yell and blow

Still^19 treads the shadow of his foe，

And foward bends his head，

The ship drove fast，loud roared the blast，

And southward aye^20 we fled.

And now there came both mist and snow，

And it grew wondrous cold：21

And ice，22 mast-high，came floating by，

As green as emerald.

The land of ice，and of fearful sounds where no living thing was to be seen.

And through the drifts the snowy clifts

Did send a dismal sheen：23

Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken^24—

The ice was all between.

The ice was here，the ice was there，

The ice was all around：

It cracked and growled，and roared and howled，

Like noises in a swound！25

Till a great sea-bird，called the Albatross，came through the snow-fog and was received with great joy and hospitality.

At length did cross an Albatross，26

Thorough^27 the fog it came；

As it had been a Christian soul，28

We hailed it in God's name.

It ate the food it ne'er had eat，29

And round and round it flew.

The ice did split with a thunder-fit；30

The helmsman steered us through！31

And lo！ the Albatross proveth a bird of good omen，and followeth the ship as it returned northward through fog and floating ice.

And a good south wind sprung up behind；32

The Albatross did follow，

And every day，for food or play，

Came to the mariners' hollo！33

In mist or cloud，on mast or shroud，34

It perched for vespers nine；35

Whiles^36 all the night，through fog-smoke white，

Glimmered the white Moonshine.”

The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen.

“God save thee，ancient Mariner，

From the fiends that plague thee thus！—

Why look'st thou so？” — With my crossbow

I shot the ALBATROSS.”37

Part 2

”The Sun now rose upon the right：1

Out of the sea came he，

Still hid^2 in mist，and on the left

Went down into the sea.

And the good south wind still blew behind，

But no sweet bird did follow，

Nor any day for food or play

Came to the mariners' hollo！

His shipmates cry out against the ancient Mariner，for killing the bird of good luck.

And I had done a hellish thing，3

And it would work 'em woe：4

For all averred，5 I had killed the bird

That made the breeze to blow.6

Ah wretch！7 said they，the bird to slay，

That made the breeze to blow！

But when the fog cleared off，they justify the same，andthus make themselvesaccomplices in the crime.

Nor dim nor red，like God's own head，

The glorious Sun uprist：8

Then all averred，I had killed the bird

That brought the fog and mist.9

'Twas^10 right，said they，such birds to slay，

That bring the fog and mist.

The fair breeze con-tinues；the ship entersthe Pacific Ocean，and sails northward，even till it reaches the Line.

The fair breeze blew，the white foam flew，

The furrow followed free；11

We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea.12

The ship hath been suddenly becalmed.

Down dropped the breeze，the sails dropped down，13

'Twas sad as sad could be；

And we did speak only to break

The silence of the sea！

All in a hot and copper^14 sky，

The bloody Sun，at noon，

Right up above the mast did stand，15

No bigger than the Moon.

Day after day，day after day，

We stuck，nor breath nor motion；

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.16

And the Albatross begins to be avenged.

Water，water，every where，

And all the boards did shrink；17

Water，water，every where，

Nor any drop to drink.

The very deep^18 did rot：O Christ！

That ever this should be！

Yea，slimy things did crawl with legs

Upon the slimy sea.19

About，about，in reel and rout^20

The death-fires^21 danced at night；

The water，like a witch's oils，22

Burnt green，and blue，and white.

A Spirit had followed them；one of the invisible inhabitants of this planet，neither departed souls nor angels；concerning

And some in dreams assuréd were

Of the Spirit^23 that plagued us so；

Nine fathom^24 deep he had followed us

From the land of mist and snow.

whom the learned Jew，Josephus，and the Pla-tonic Constantinopolitan，Michael Psellus，may be consulted. They are very numerous，and there is no climate or element without one or more.

And every tongue，through utter drought，25

Was withered at the root；

We could not speak，no more than if

We had been choked with soot.

The shipmates in their sore distress，would fain throw the whole guilt on the ancient Mariner：in sign of which they hang the dead sea-bird round his neck.

Ah！ well-a-day！26 what evil looks^27

Had I from old and young！

Instead of the cross，the Albatross

About my neck was hung.”28

Part 3

The ancient Mariner beholdeth a sign in the element afar off.

There passed a weary time. Each throat

Was parched，and glazed each eye.1

A weary time！ a weary time！

How glazed each weary eye —

When looking westward，I beheld

A something in the sky.

At first it seemed a little speck，

And then it seemed a mist；

It moved and moved，and took at last

A certain shape，I wist.2

A speck，a mist，a shape，I wist！

And still it neared and neared：

As if it dodged a water sprite，3

It plunged and tack'd^4 and veered.

At its nearer approach，it seemeth him to be a ship；and at a dear ransom he freeth his speech from the bonds of thirst.

With throats unslaked，5 with black lips baked，

We could nor laugh nor wail；

Through utter drought all dumb we stood！

I bit my arm，I sucked the blood，6

And cried，A sail！ a sail！

A flash of joy；

With throats unslaked，with black lips baked，

Agape^7 they heard me call：

Gramercy！ they for joy did grin，8

And all at once their breath drew in，

As they were drinking all.

And horror follows. For can it be a ship that comes onward without wind or tide？

See！ see！ （I cried） she tacks no more！9

Hither to work us weal；10

Without a breeze，without a tide，

She steadies with upright keel！11

The western wave was all a-flame，

The day was well nigh done！

Almost upon the western wave

Rested the broad bright sun；

When that strange shape drove suddenly

Betwixt^12 us and the Sun.

It seemeth him but the skeleton of a ship.

And straight the Sun was flecked with bars，13

（Heaven's Mother send us grace！）

As if through a dungeon-grate he peered^14

With broad and burning face.

Alas！ （thought I，and my heart beat loud）

How fast she nears and nears！

Are those her sails that glance in the Sun，

Like restless gossameres？15

And its ribs are seen as bars on the face of the setting Sun. The Spectre-Woman and her Death-mate，and no other on board the skeleton-ship.

Are those her ribs through which the Sun

Did peer，as through a grate？

And is that Woman all her crew？16

Is that a DEATH？ and are there two？

Is DEATH that Woman's mate？

Like vessel，like crew！

Her lips were red，her looks were free，17

Her locks^18 were yellow as gold：

Her skin was as white as leprosy，19

The Nightmare LIFE-IN-DEATH^20 was she，

Who thicks^21 man's blood with cold.

Death and Life-in-Death have diced for the ship's crew，and she （the latter） winneth the ancient Mariner.

The naked hulk^22 alongside came，

And the twain were casting dice；23

“The game is done！ I've won！ I've won！”

Quoth she，and whistles thrice.

No twilight within the courts of the Sun.

The Sun's rim dips；the stars rush out：

At one stride comes the dark；

With far-heard whisper o'er the sea，

Off shot the spectre-bark.

At the rising of the Moon.

The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white；

From the sails the dew did drip —

Till clomb^26 above the eastern bar

The horned Moon，with one bright star

Within the nether tip.27

One after another，

One after one，by the star-dogged Moon，28

Too quick for groan or sigh，

Each turned his face with a ghastly pang，

And cursed me with his eye.

His shipmates drop down dead.

Four times fifty living men，

（And I heard nor sigh nor groan）

With heavy thump，a lifeless lump，

They dropped down one by one.

But Life-in-Death begins her work on the ancient mariner.

The souls did from their bodies fly，—

They fled to bliss or woe！

And every soul it passed me by，

Like the whizz of my crossbow！

Part 4

The Wedding-Guest feareth that a Spirit is talking to him.

“I fear thee，ancient Mariner！

I fear thy skinny hand！

And thou art long，and lank，1 and brown，

As is the ribbed sea-sand.2

But the ancient Mariner assures him of his bodily life，and proceedeth to relate his horrible penance.

I fear thee and thy glittering eye，

And thy skinny hand，so brown.”—

“Fear not，fear not，thou Wedding-Guest！

This body dropped not down.

Alone，alone，all，all alone，

Alone on a wide wide sea！

And never a saint took pity on

My soul in agony.

He despiseth the creatures of the calm.

The many men，so beautiful！

And they all dead did lie；

And a thousand thousand slimy things^3

Lived on；and so did I.

And envieth that they should live，and so many lie dead.

I looked upon the rotting sea，4

And drew my eyes away；

I looked upon the rotting deck，

And there the dead men lay.

I looked to heaven，and tried to pray；

But or ever^5 a prayer had gushed，

A wicked whisper came and made

My heart as dry as dust.

I closed my lids，and kept them close，

And the balls^6 like pulses beat；

For the sky and the sea，and the sea and the sky，

Lay like a load on my weary eye，

And the dead were at my feet.

But the curse liveth for him in the eyes of the dead men.

The cold sweat melted from their limbs，

Nor rot nor reek did they：

The look with which they looked on me

Had never passed away.7

An orphan's curse would drag to hell

A spirit from on high；

But oh！ more horrible than that

Is the curse in a dead man's eye！

Seven days，seven nights，8 I saw that curse，

And yet I could not die.

In his loneliness and fixedness he yearneth towards the journeying Moon，and the stars，that still sojourn，yet still move onward；and everywhere the blue sky belongs to them，and is their native country and their own natural homes，which they enter unannounced，as lords that are certainly expected and yet there is a silent joy at their arrival.

The moving Moon went up the sky，

And nowhere did abide：9

Softly she was going up，

And a star or two beside^10—

Her beams bemocked the sultry main，

Like April hoar-frost spread；11

But^12 where the ship's huge shadow lay，

The charméd water burnt alway^13

A still^14 and awful red.

By the light of the Moon he beholdeth God's creatures of the great calm.

Beyond the shadow of the ship

I watched the water-snakes：

They moved in tracks of shining white，15

And when they reared，the elfish light

Fell off in hoary flakes.16

Within the shadow of the ship

I watched their rich attire：17

Blue，glossy green，and velvet black，

They coiled and swam；and every track

Was a flash of golden fire.

Their beauty and their happiness.

O happy living things！ no tongue

Their beauty might declare：

A spring of love gushed from my heart，18

He blesseth them in his heart.

And I blessed them unaware：

Sure my kind saint took pity on me，

And I blessed them unaware.

The spell begins to break.

The selfsame moment^19 I could pray；

And from my neck so free^20

The Albatross fell off，and sank

Like lead^21 into the sea.”

Part 5

“Oh sleep！ it is a gentle thing，

Beloved from pole to pole！1

To Mary Queen^2 the praise be given！

She sent the gentle sleep from heaven，

That slid into my soul.

By grace of the holy Mother，the ancient Mariner is refreshed with rain.

The silly buckets on the deck，

That had so long remained，3

I dreamt that they were filled with dew；

And when I awoke，it rained.

My lips were wet，my throat was cold，

My garments all were dank；4

Sure I had drunken^5 in my dreams，

And still my body drank.

I moved，and could not feel my limbs：

I was so light — almost

I thought that I had died in sleep，

And was a blesséd ghost.

He heareth sounds and seeth strange sights and commotions in the sky and in the element.

And soon I heard a roaring wind：

It did not come anear；6

But with its sound it shook the sails，

That were so thin and sere.7

The upper air burst into life！

And a hundred fire-flags sheen，8

To and fro they were hurried about！

And to and fro，and in and out，

The wan^9 stars danced between.

And the coming wind did roar more loud，

And the sails did sigh like sedge；10

And the rain poured down from one black cloud；

The Moon was at its edge.11

The thick black cloud was cleft，and still

The Moon was at its side：

Like waters shot from some high crag，

The lightning fell with never a jag，

A river steep and wide.12

The bodies of the ship's crew are inspired，and the ship moves on.

The loud wind never reached the ship，

Yet now the ship moved on！

Beneath the lightning and the Moon

The dead men gave a groan.

They groaned，they stirred，they all uprose，

Nor spake，nor moved their eyes；

It had been strange，13 even in a dream，

To have seen those dead men rise.

The helmsman steered，the ship moved on；

Yet never a breeze up blew；14

The mariners all 'gan work the ropes，15

Where they were wont to do；16

They raised their limbs like lifeless tools —

We were a ghastly crew.

The body of my brothe's son

Stood by me，knee to knee：17

The body^18 and I pulled at one rope，

But he said nought^19 to me”

But not by the souls of the men，nor by demons of earth or middle air，but by a blesséd troupe of angelic spirits，sent down by the invocation of the guardian saint.

“I fear thee，ancient Mariner！”

Be calm，thou Wedding-Guest！

'Twas not those souls that fled in pain，

Which to their corses^20 came again，

But a troop of spirits blest：

For when it dawned — they dropped their arms，

And clustered round the mast；

Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths，

And from their bodies passed.

Around，around，flew each sweet sound，

Then darted to the Sun；

Slowly the sounds came back again，

Now mixed，now one by one.21

Sometimes a-dropping^22 from the sky

I heard the skylark sing；

Sometimes all little birds that are，

How they seemed to fill the sea and air

With their sweet jargoning！23

And now 'twas like all instruments，

Now like a lonely flute；

And now it is an angel's song，

That makes the heavens be mute.

It ceased；yet still the sails made on

A pleasant noise till noon，

A noise like of^24 a hidden brook

In the leafy month of June，

That to the sleeping woods all night

Singeth a quiet tune.

Till noon we quietly sailed on，

Yet never a breeze did breathe；

Slowly and smoothly went the ship，

Moved onward from beneath.

The lonesome Spirit from the South Pole carries on the ship as far as the Line，in obedience to the angelic troop，but still requirethvengance.

Under the keel nine fathom deep，

From the land of mist and snow，

The Spirit slid：25 and it was he

That made the ship to go.

The sails at noon left off their tune，

And the ship stood still also.

The Sun，right up above the mast，

Had fixed her to the ocean：

But in a minute she 'gan stir，26

With a short uneasy motion —

Backwards and forwards half her length^27

With a short uneasy motion.

Then like a pawing^28 horse let go，

She made a sudden bound：

It flung the blood into my head，

And I fell down in a swound.

The Polar Spirit's fellow demons，the invisible inhabitants of the element，take part in his wrong，and two of them relate，one to the other，that penance long and heavy hath been accorded to the Polar Spirit，who returneth southward.

How long in that same fit^29 I lay，

I have not^30 to declare；

But ere^31 my living life returned，

I heard and in my soul discerned

Two voices^32 in the air.

“Is it he？” quoth one，“Is this the man？

By him who died on cross，33

With his cruel bow he laid full low^34

The harmless Albatross.

The spirit who bideth^35 by himself

In the land of mist and snow，

He loved the bird that loved the man

Who shot him with his bow.”36

The other was a softer voice，

As soft as honey-dew：

Quoth he，“The man hath penance done，

And penance more will do.”37

Part 6

FIRST VOICE

“But tell me，tell me！ speak again，

Thy soft response renewing —

What makes that ship drive on so fast？

What is the ocean doing？”

SECOND VOICE

“Still as a slave before his lord，1

The ocean hath no blast；

His great bright eye most silently

Up to the Moon is cast —

If he may know which way to go；2

For she guides him smooth or grim.3

See，brother，see！ how graciously

She looketh down on him.”

FIRST VOICE

The Mariner hath been cast into a trance；for the angelic power causeth the vessel to drive northward faster than human life could endure.

But why drives on that ship so fast，

“Without or wave or wind？”4

SECOND VOICE

“The air is cut away before，

And closes from behind.

Fly，brother，fly！ more high，more high！

Or we shall be belated：5

For slow and slow that ship will go，

When the Mariner's trance is abated.”6

The supernatural motion is retarded；the Mariner awakes，and his penance begins anew.

I woke，and we were sailing on

As in a gentle weather：7

'Twas night，calm night，the Moon was high；

The dead men stood together.

All stood together on the deck，

For a charnel-dungeon fitter：8

All fixed on me their stony eyes，

That in the Moon did glitter.

The pang，the curse，with which they died，

Had never passed away：

I could not draw my eyes from theirs，

Nor turn them up to pray.9

The curse is finally expiated.

And now this spell was snapped：10 once more

I viewed the ocean green，

And looked far forth，yet little saw

Of what had else been seen^11—

Like one that on a lonesome road

Doth walk in fear and dread，

And having once turned round walks on，

And turns no more his head；

Because he knows a frightful fiend

Doth close behind him tread.

But soon there breathed a wind on me，

Nor sound nor motion made：

Its path was not upon the sea，12

In ripple or in shade.13

It raised my hair，it fanned my cheek

Like a meadow-gale of spring^14—

It mingled strangely with my fears，

Yet it felt like a welcoming.

Swiftly，swiftly flew the ship，

Yet she sailed softly too：

Sweetly，sweetly blew the breeze —

On me alone it blew.

And the ancient Mariner beholdeth his native country.

Oh！ dream of joy！ is this indeed

The lighthouse top I see？

Is this the hill？ is this the kirk？15

Is this mine own countree？16

We drifted o'er the harbour-bar，17

And I with sobs did pray —

O let me be awake，my God！

Or let me sleep alway.

The harbour-bay was clear as glass，

So smoothly it was strewn！

And on the bay the Moonlight lay，

And the shadow of the Moon.

The rock shone bright，the kirk no less，

That stands above the rock：

The Moonlight steeped in silentness

The steady weathercock.

The angelic spirits leave the dead bodies，

And the bay was white with silent light，

Till rising from the same，

Full many shapes，that shadows^18 were，

In crimson colours came.

And appear in their own forms of light.

A little distance from the prow

Those crimson shadows were：

I turned my eyes upon the deck —

Oh，Christ！ what saw I there！

Each corse lay flat，lifeless and flat，

And，by the holy rood！19

A man all light，a seraph^20-man，

On every corse there stood.

This seraph-band，21 each waved his hand：

It was a heavenly sight！

They stood as signals to the land，

Each one a lovely light；

This seraph-band，each waved his hand，

No voice did they impart^22 —

No voice；but oh！ the silence sank

Like music on my heart.

But soon I heard the dash of oars，

I heard the Pilot's cheer；

My head was turned perforce^23 away，

And I saw a boat appear.

The Pilot and the Pilot's boy，

I heard them coming fast：

Dear Lord in heaven！ it was a joy

The dead men could not blast.24

I saw a third —I heard his voice：

It is the Hermit good！25

He singeth loud his godly hymns

That he makes in the wood.

He'll shrieve^26 my soul，he'll wash away

The Albatross's blood.

Part 7

The Hermit of the wood.

This Hermit good lives in that wood

Which slopes down to the sea.

How loudly his sweet voice he rears！1

He loves to talk with marineers

That come from a far country.

He kneels^2 at morn，and noon，and eve —

He hath a cushion plump：3

It is the moss that wholly hides

The rotted old oak-stump.

The skiff-boat^4 neared：I heard them talk，

“Why，this is strange，I trow！5

Where are those lights so many and fair，

That signal made but now？”6

Approacheth the ship with wonder.

“Strange，by my faith！” the Hermit said —

“And they answered not our cheer！

The planks looked warped！7 and see those sails，

How thin they are and sere！

I never saw aught like to them，8

Unless perchance^9 it were

Brown skeletons of leaves that lag^10

My forest-brook along；

When the ivy-tod^11 is heavy with snow，

And the owlet whoops to the wolf below，

That eats the she-wolf's young.”

“Dear Lord！ it hath a fiendish look”

（The Pilot made reply）

“I am afeared”12 — “Push on，push on！”

Said the Hermit cheerily.

The boat came closer to the ship，

But I nor spake nor stirred；

The boat came close beneath the ship，

And straight^13 a sound was heard.

The ship suddenly sinketh.

Under the water it rumbled on，

Still louder and more dread：14

It reached the ship，it split the bay；15

The ship went down like lead.

The ancient Mariner is saved in the Pilot's boat.

Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound，

Which sky and ocean smote，

Like one that hath been seven days^16 drowned

My body lay afloat；

But swift as dreams，myself I found

Within the Pilot's boat.

Upon the whirl where sank the ship

The boat spun round and round；

And all was still，save^17 that the hill

Was telling of the sound.18

I moved my lips — the Pilot shrieked^19

And fell down in a fit；

The holy Hermit raised his eyes，

And prayed where he did sit.

I took the oars：the Pilot's boy，

Who now doth crazy go，

Laughed loud and long，and all the while

His eyes went to and fro.

“Ha！ ha！” quoth he，“full plain I see，

The Devil knows how to row.”

And now，all in my own country，

I stood on the firm land！

The Hermit stepped forth from the boat，

And scarcely he could stand.

The ancient Mariner earnestly entreateth the Hermit to shrieve him；and the penanceof life falls on him.

“O shrieve me，shrieve me，holy man！”

The Hermit crossed his brow.

“Say quick，” quoth he “I bid thee say —

What manner of man art thou？”20

Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched^21

With a woeful agony，

Which forced me to begin my tale；

And then it left me free.

And ever and anon throughout his future life an agony constraineth him to travel from land to land.

Since then，at an uncertain hour，

That agony returns；

And till my ghastly tale is told，

This heart within me burns.

I pass，like night，from land to land；

I have strange power of speech；

That moment that his face I see，

I know the man that must hear me：

To him my tale I teach.

What loud uproar bursts from that door！

The wedding-guests are there：

But in the garden-bower the bride

And bride-maids singing are；

And hark the little vesper bell，22

Which biddeth me to prayer！

O Wedding-Guest！ this soul hath been

Alone on a wide wide sea：

So lonely 'twas，that God himself

Scarce^23 seemed there to be.

O sweeter than the marriage-feast，

'Tis sweeter far to me，

To walk together to the kirk

With a goodly^24 company！ —

To walk together to the kirk，

And all together pray，

While each to his great Father bends，

Old men，and babes，and loving friends，

And youths and maidens gay！

And to teach by his own example，love and reverence to all things that God made and loveth.

Farewell，farewell！ but this I tell

To thee，thou Wedding-Guest！

He prayeth well，who loveth well^25

Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best，who loveth best

All things both great and small；

For the dear God who loveth us，

He made and loveth all.

The Mariner，whose eye is bright，

Whose beard with age is hoar，26

Is gone；and now the Wedding-Guest

Turned from the bridegroom's door.27

He went like one that hath been stunned，

And is of sense forlorn：28

A sadder and a wiser man

He rose the morrow morn.29

【题解】

《老水手谣》这首长诗是浪漫派诗歌中的另类，充满着神秘的色彩。老水手打死了一只和水手们亲近的信天翁，因而遭到热爱此鸟的南极精灵的惩罚。老水手回到故土之后，拦住去参加婚礼的嘉宾，执意要讲述这个故事，以警来者，其寓意是新的生命因婚姻而即将到来，要珍惜生命，人和动物的生命同样珍贵。旁注乃柯尔律治自己所加。卷首Argument 意为“概要”，如弥尔顿的《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ） 共分为12卷，每卷开首都有Argument，叙述本卷内容梗概。柯尔律治模仿弥尔顿，用此古语意在增加古风的韵味。

【注释】

Part 1

1.ancient：having the qualities of age or long existence，年长而且经验丰富的。

2.he stoppeth one of the three：stoppeth：stops，早期英语中动词第三人称单数的形式，动词不定式后加 -eth；one of the three：one of the three Gallants bidden to a wedding feast，指去参加婚礼的三个嘉宾中的一人，见诗人自己添加的旁注（glosses）；Gallants：a man of fashion，young blood. 按：本诗中多次出现数字，以求写实效果。此外，三、五、七、九等奇数被认为具有神秘的魔力。

3.By thy long grey beard and glittering eye ... me：你这垂着长长白胡子，目光炯炯的老者，为何要拦住我；By：凭着，这里只是口头语；wherefore：for what reason；stopp'st：stoppest，和thou 配合。

4.next of kin：近亲；kin：one's immediate family，relative.

5.May'st hear the merry din：你可以听得见婚礼欢乐的喧闹声；May'st：thou may'st，you may；din：a loud noise.

6.quoth：said；不定式是to quote：（obsolete ） to say.

7.loon：rascal，a crazy person.

8.Eftsoons：straightway，quickly.

9.He holds him with his glittering eye：老水手虽然放开手，但其炯炯目光似有魔法，仍能留住嘉宾。参见旁注。

10.spake on：spoke continuously，without break.

11.The ship was cheered，the harbour cleared：岸上的人们欢呼相送，船离开码头。

12.drop ... kirk：驶过教堂；drop：to leave behind （as in sailing），船驶过某一个地点；kirk：教堂，本系苏格兰语。按：水手们驶过熟悉的地标，教堂位置最低，首先消失，接着是小山，最后消失的是山巅上的灯塔（lighthouse atop）。

13.The Sun came upon the left ... he：太阳在他们的左边，从海面上升起，可见船往南驶向赤道（旁注中的Line）；he：指太阳。

14.Higher and higher every day ... noon：越是接近赤道，太阳的运行越是接近顶空，到赤道时，太阳在正午位于船的正上方，此时万物俱无影子。

15.minstrelsy：a body of minstrels，一队吟咏歌手。

16.The Wedding-Guest he：he：重复主语，修辞学上称为冗言（pleonasm），民谣中常见，往往由于音韵的需要。

17.the STORM-BLAST came，and he：STORM-BLAST：风暴，用大写，有拟人化效果，下文DEATH，LIFE-IN-DEATH 亦均用大写；he：指风暴。

18.sloping masts and dipping prow：船桅杆倾斜，船头低垂。

19.Still：constantly.

20.aye：always，ever.

21.wondrous cold：extremely cold.

22.ice：iceberg，海里漂移着的冰山。

23.through the drifts the snowy clifts...sheen：在一片浓雾和模糊的大雪中，积雪的冰川发出惨淡的光芒；drifts：雾团和雪团；clifts：cliffs；sheen：brightness，glitter.

24.Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken：Neither shapes of men nor shape of beast we could see；nor ... nor：neither ... nor，较古的用法，本诗中很多，以下不再一一注释；ken：（archaic ） to see and recognize；此处显然省去了助动词，如could，ken 的过去式为kenned，or kend。

25.swound：（archaic ） swoon.

26.Albatross：信天翁，南半球一种大型海鸟，翼展极大，能长途飞行；现转指难题、困境等（something that causes persistent deep concern or anxiety），如he has an albatross around his neck，典出此诗。

27.Thorough：through.

28.a Christian soul：一位基督徒；soul：human being.

29.ne'er had eat：never had eaten.

30.thunder-fit：（冰山） 啪啪地裂开。

31.The helmsman steered us through：此行意为这只信天翁是吉祥之鸟，冰山裂开，舵手就能驾驶着船穿过冰川。

32.a good south wind sprung up behind：此行意为起了南风，吹舟北上，表明船已经绕过南美洲合恩角（Cape Horn）。

33.Came to the mariners' hollo：信天翁每天随船飞翔，来听水手们和它打招呼。

34.shroud：（船桅的）左右支索。

35.vespers nine：九个傍晚；奇数九暗示魔力；vesper：（archaic ） evening，另有晚祷之意。

36.Whiles：while.

37.God save thee，ancient Mariner ... ALBATROSS：老水手叙述至此，青年嘉宾突然发现他像被魔法缠身，神态失常，故作如是之问；而老水手一句话道出犯下的罪孽，与前面的详细叙述形成强烈的对照。

Part 2

1.The Sun now rose upon the right：船已经绕过合恩角，进入太平洋，回头北上。

2.Still hid：always hidden；信天翁被杀之前阳光灿烂，而现在太阳被笼罩在浓雾之中，预示报应。

3.hellish thing：指犯下弥天大罪。

4.work 'em woe：给他们带来灾难；'em：them，指mariners，水手们。

5.For all averred：大家都坚持认为；aver red：aver的过去式，to assert，affirm，declare。

6.made the breeze to blow：made the breeze blow，系民谣中古体用法，现代英语中该结构中的动词不定式已不需要加“to”。

7.wretch：a worthless or despicable person.

8.Nor dim nor red，like God's own head ... uprist：这两行意为太阳升起来，刺破浓雾，不再只是模模糊糊，一团红色，而是像上帝的头一样光芒四射；Nor dim nor red：neither dim nor red，浓雾中的太阳呈现出红色，没有光芒；uprist：uprose；这是柯尔律治特有的用法，uprist实际上是uprisesth古体，误作过去式和过去分词。

9.Then all averred，I had killed the bird ... mist：太阳重又出现之后，大家都认为原来是信天翁带来的浓雾，而老水手理应把它射杀，从而都成为同案犯，日后也将受到惩罚。参见旁注。

10.'Twas：It was.

11.The fair breeze blew，the white foam flew ... free：注意押头韵；foam：船驶过之后舟迹里泛起的白浪；furrow：原指翻过地之后的犁沟，船后的舟迹像耕过的田地。

12.that silent sea：指太平洋。

13.Down dropped the breeze ... down：继续押头韵，诗行中停顿，强烈地表现出中古英语头韵体诗的特点；Down dropped：倒装结构，表示风突然停止。

14.copper：铜黄色，天色阴沉。

15.Right up above the mast did stand：（中午时分，血红色的太阳）正好垂直在桅杆的顶上；说明船重又回到了赤道。

16.As idle as a painted ship ... ocean：海洋和船纹丝不动，犹如画中之景，此系柯尔律治名句。

17.all the boards did shrink：船板在烈日的烤灼下干裂收缩。按：此节用浩瀚茫茫的海水和船板收缩、没有饮水的情景形成强烈对比。

18.The very deep：大海。

19.slimy things did crawl with legs ... sea：此处说一切都已经干枯而死，唯有海里那些可憎可恶的虫豸在海里爬行。见下文第238行a thousand thousand slimy things，水手们都死了之后，活着的只是这些东西。

20.in reel and rout：飞舞盘旋。

21.death-fires：海面上呈现的磷光，水手们称之为St. Elmo's fire，迷信认为此火预示死亡，故称死火。

22.witch's oils：迷信认为女巫作法时要在大锅里煮蚊、蝎、蟾蜍等毒虫毒物，熬出毒油。

23.the Spirit：为信天翁复仇而折磨水手的精灵。

24.Nine fathom：九英寻；fathom：不用复数，一英寻约等于6英尺（1.829米）。

25.drought：thirst，口渴。

26.well-a-day：（interjection ） wellaway，alas，used to express sorrow or lamentation.

27.evil looks：怒目而视。

28.Instead of the cross，the Albatross ... hung：背上十字架是犯罪受罚的象征，现在水手们归罪与老水手，把死鸟绕在他的脖子上。现代英语中the Albatross round one's neck喻某人因其责任或过错而受罚，典处于此。

Part 3

1.glazed each eye：each eye was glazed，眼睛都像上了一层釉，模糊不清。

2.wist：knew，是动词wit 的过去式和过去分词。

3.a water sprite：水妖。

4.tack'd：tacked，顺风向转舵。此处指出现的东西在海面上转来转去。

5.unslaked：unquenched，干渴的。

6.I bit my arm，I sucked the blood：老水手为了能喊出声，咬破手臂，吮吸己血，以湿润喉咙。

7.Agape：wide open，因惊讶而张开口，瞠目结舌。

8.Gramercy！they for joy did grin：谢天谢地！ 他们快乐得咧着嘴笑；咧着嘴笑因唇焦口燥所致；Gramercy：来自法语grand-merci，非常感谢；did：因音韵需要而加的填词，并不一定起强调作用。

9.she tacks no more：船不再抢风行驶。按：帆船可以把帆来回调到左舷和右舷，逆风行驶，称为抢风行驶。这里说没有风，也没有潮流，这条船是怎么往前行驶的。

10.Hither to work us weal：到这里来给我们带来幸运；weal：benefit.

11.She steadies with upright keel：keel：船的龙骨；无风无浪时船体的龙骨应成水平，而竟然稳稳地竖立起来（upright），非常奇怪。

12.Betwixt：between.

13.And straight the Sun was flecked with bars：这是太阳上立刻布满了条条黑影；straight：in a straight manner，immediately.

14.As if through a dungeon-grate he peered：太阳好像从地牢的铁窗格子里往外张望；he：指太阳。上节说这奇怪的船舶位于夕阳和水手们之间，故阳光透过船的骨架照过来，太阳像是从地牢的铁窗里张望一样。

15.restless gossamers：a film of cobwebs floating in air in calm clear weather，飘动不定的游丝。

16.is that Woman all her crew：这条船的全部船员是否就是这一个女人呢；her：指船。

17.her looks were free：她的脸色显得妖娆，放荡；free：overly familiar or forward in action or attitude，licentious.

18.locks：（plural ） the hair of the head.

19.as white as leprosy：出自《旧约·出埃及记》（Exodus ） 4：6：And he （Moses） put his hand into his bosom；and when he took it out，behold，his hand was leprous as snow（他［摩西］就把手放在怀里，及至抽出来，不料，手长了大麻风，有雪那样白。）leprosy：麻风病。

20.The Nightmare LIFE-IN-DEATH：梦魇死神。

21.thicks：（archaic ） thickens.

22.naked hulk：没有任何设备的光脱脱的空船；hulk：a dismantled ship，拆卸了所有设备的船，故称naked。

23.the twain were casting dice：twain：指DEATH 和Nightmare LIFE-IN-DEATH；casting dice：扔骰子打赌。

24.looked sideways up：因恐惧而不敢正视。

25.Fear at my heart as at a cup ... sip：Fear at my heart seemed to sip my life-blood as at a cup；Fear：拟人化。

26.clomb：climbed.

27.Within the nether tip：新月（horned Moon）下钩处有星被认为是不祥之兆。

28.the star-dogged Moon：被众星追逐的月亮。柯尔律治自注：it is a common superstition among sailors that something evil is about to happen when a star dogs the Moon.

Part 4

1.lank：细长的。

2.the ribbed sea-sand：被潮水冲成的条条沙沟似的。

3.And a thousand thousand slimy things：老水手哀叹水手们都死了，而他和其他许多可鄙的生物却活着。诗人旁注：He despiseth the creatures of the calm，老水手鄙视生存于风平浪静的环境里的生物；a thousand thousand：强调数量之多；slimy things：things vile，offensive，vulgar，参见第125—126行。

4.the rotting sea：和下面的rotting deck都表示海上和甲板上一片死亡景象，并不是说死去的水手在腐烂，见下注7。

5.or ever：before ever，before even.

6.balls：眼球。

7.The look with which they looked on me ... away：见Part III倒数第三节Each turned his face with a ghastly pang，/ And cursed me with his eye. 水手们在临死之前诅咒老人的眼神一直没有消失，因为这些尸体既不腐烂，也不发臭（nor rot nor reek），见上注4。

8.Seven days，seven nights：注意用奇数七。

9.abide：to dwell or stay，滞留。

10.beside：besides.

11.Her beams bemocked the sultry main ... spread：月光如四月的霜铺撒在海面上，而大海却炎炎如火，故云月光嘲笑大海；bemock：to mock or mock at；main：（short for obsolete ） main sea，high sea.

12.But：except.

13.The charméd water burnt alway：charméd：着魔的，此处为双音节词；alway：always.

14.still：constant，持久不变的。

15.in tracks of shining white：海蛇结队而行，磷光闪闪。按：月色星光下，鱼类成群游动时，常发出白色的磷光。

16.when they reared，the elfish light ... flakes：当海蛇抬起头，竖起身子时，像精灵那样的磷光犹如点点霜花，纷纷撒落下来。

17.rich attire：富丽的衣服，指海蛇的斑纹。

18.A spring of love gushed from my heart：老水手对海蛇的爱犹如泉涌。按：这是本诗的转折点，由无缘无故地残杀海鸟信天翁到祝福海蛇，说明老水手从受到的惩罚中得到感悟，油然产生爱心，这种爱心将洗涤其罪恶，战胜罪恶。这是本诗的寓意所在。

19.The selfsame moment：就在（他祝福的）这时刻。

20.free：freely.

21.lead：铅，喻沉重。按：死信天翁从他的脖子上滑落下来，说明爱的力量使符咒开始消退。

Part 5

1.from pole to pole：从南极到北极，普天之下。

2.Mary Queen：圣母玛利亚。

3.The silly buckets on the deck ... remained：i.e.，The helpless buckets on the deck that had so long remained so （helpless），船上的水桶好久承不到雨水，空空如也；silly：（archaic ） helpless，weak，水桶接不到雨水，一点办法也没有。

4.dank：wet.

5.drunken：drunk.

6.anear：near.

7.sere：dry and withered，干枯的，此处指帆干燥陈旧状；sere一词在诗歌中颇为多见，如弥尔顿诗Lycidas：with ivy never sere.

8.a hundred fire-flags sheen：空中无数道光芒在飞舞，状如火焰的旗帜；sheen：shone. 按：有的注家认为是指南极光，但根据上文Part II叙述的情况，以及其中第五节诗人的旁注，此时当船在赤道附近，不可能看到极光。即使描写的像是南极光，也只是诗人运用浪漫主义笔法，极尽想象之能事，不必当真。

9.wan：pale and sickly，惨淡的。

10.the sails did sigh like sedge：帆在风暴中沙沙响，犹如蓑衣草在风中的声音；sedge：只是取其适合本行头韵效果而已，并不表示这种草在风中摆动真的和帆的声音一样。

11.The Moon was at its edge：月亮处于黑云的边上；its：指one black cloud。

12.Like waters shot from some high crag ... wide：这三行的意思是，闪电从空中劈下来，就像瀑布从高耸的巉岩上飞流直下那样，从来没有这么猛烈，电光像一条又深又宽的大河；waters：（plural ）指特定的一股水流；jag：spree，形容猛烈。

13.It had been strange：it would have been strange.

14.up blew：（风）吹起来了。

15.'gan work the ropes：began to work the ropes，开始整理（帆的）绳索。

16.Where they were wont to do：水手们现在就像过去那样，各就各位，各司其职。

17.knee to knee：side by side.

18.The body：死尸因有天使附身而能活动，但并非复生。

19.nought：nothing.

20.corses：（archaic ） corpses，尸体。

21.Now mixed，now one by one：天使的歌声在天地间回旋，时而形成和声，时而以单音上下震荡；now ... now：时而……时而。

22.a-dropping：前缀 a- 表示动作正在进行之中。

23.jargoning：warbling，取中古英语的jargon 之意，即twitter，warble。

24.like of：as of，like.

25.From the land of mist and snow ... slid：此句语义含混，当指来自南极的精灵（ the spirit from the land of mist and snow），而非南极精灵把船从风雪弥漫的南极推过来（the spirit slid from the land of mist and snow），到达赤道。按：船经过合恩角北上的时候，还是有南风的，似乎那时并非靠精灵推船前进。

26.she 'gan stir：she began to stir；she：和上行的her 都是指船。

27.half her length：船来回移动的幅度相当于船体的一半长度。

28.pawing：马用蹄刨地；paw：to scrape or beat with or as if with a hoof.

29.fit：一阵昏迷。

30.have not：have not the knowledge.

31.ere：before.

32.Two voices：指跟随南极精灵的另外两个精灵，一个要求惩治，一个主张给予宽恕。

33.By him who died on cross：凭着基督的名义起誓；him：指 Jesus Christ。

34.laid full low：射杀。

35.bideth：abides，dwells.

36.He loved the bird that loved the man ... bow：注意此句叠用定语从句，强调老水手以怨报德；He：指the spirit，诗句中因音韵需要而添加的词；him：指海鸟。

37.penance more will do：下文老水手并未再受惩罚，这也是本诗结构上的漏洞。但也可以认为他在此后必须经常向人复述自己的经历，以警示后人，也可视为penance。

Part 6

1.Still as a slave before his lord：像奴隶在主人面前那样顺从安静，不随便言语；Still：uttering no sound，quiet，subdued，muted.

2.His great bright eye most silently ... go：这三行意为海洋犹如巨大明亮的眼睛，默默地仰视着月亮，听候月亮指引它往何处流动。

3.For she guides him smooth or grim：月亮指引着海洋的涨落；she：指月亮；him：指大海。

4.Without or wave or wind：without wave or wind；第一个or，因音节的需要而加。

5.Or we shall be belated：or else we shall be belated.

6.When the Mariner's trance is abated：因天使驱使，船速之快使人无法忍受，故人处于昏迷状态，船速放慢之后，老水手将会逐步苏醒过来。

7.As in a gentle weather：As if in a gentle weather，指船速已经放慢，像轻风推进那样温和。

8.For a charnel-dungeon fitter：fitter for a charnel-dungeon，倒是更像地下陈尸室；charnel：a building or chamber in which bodies or bones are deposited，called also charnel house；dungeon：a dark usually underground prison or vault.

9.turn them up to pray：抬起眼睛向天祈祷；them：eyes，指老水手自己的眼睛。

10.this spell was snapped：魔咒突然解除。

11.little saw ... seen：saw little of what would otherwise have been seen.

12.Its path was not upon the sea：这阵风没有在海面上留下痕迹。

13.in shade：风吹起浪时波涛的颜色有深有浅，深色的即为shade。

14.meadow-gale of spring：拂过草地的春风；此词系柯尔律治独创。

15.The lighthouse top I see ... kirk：老水手又回到家乡，先看到山巅上的灯塔；lighthouse，hill 和kirk出现的顺序刚好和当初出航时相反。

16.countree：country，尾音重读，和see押韵。

17.harbour-bar：a shoal at a harbor，港口的浅滩。

18.shadows：天使们在海面上的倒影。天使已经离开水手的尸体飞到高空，故有倒影。

19.by the holy rood：凭着圣十字架起誓；rood：Christ's cross.

20.seraph：六翼天使。按希伯来传说，天使分为九个等级，seraph 为最高等级。

21.seraph-band：天使队伍；上行说每个尸体上都站着一个天使。

22.impart：发出声音。

23.perforce：by force，of necessity，不由自主地。

24.it was a joy ... blast：船上虽有死人，也不能破坏老水手心中的快乐；blast：destroy.

25.Hermit good：虔诚隐修士；Hermit：隐修士，凭宗教热情而隐居修行者。

26.shrieve：（archaic ） shrive，set free from sin，听忏悔而赦免罪愆。

Part 7

1.rears：raises.

2.kneels：跪下祈祷。

3.cushion plump：一个厚厚松软的垫子，指下面所说的长满了苔藓的已经烂了的橡树树根。

4.skiff-boat：any of various small boats，especially a flat-bottomed rowboat，领航员常用此小船。

5.trow：（obsolete ） believe，（archaic ） think.

6.but now：刚才。

7.The planks looked warped：船板变得翘曲变形了。

8.saw aught like to them：saw nothing like them；like to：like，较为古老的用法。

9.perchance：by chance，perhaps.

10.Brown skeletons of leaves that lag：枯黄的树叶在水面上漂浮。

11.ivy-tod：chump of ivy，常春藤丛；tod：a bushy clump （as of ivy）.

12.afeared：afraid.

13.straight：immediately.

14.dread：dreadful.

15.split the bay：（声音） 把港湾一劈为二。

16.seven days：注意奇数。

17.save：except.

18.telling of the sound：声音在山里回响。

19.I moved my lips — the Pilot shrieked：老水手嘴唇一动，领航员吓得尖叫，立刻晕倒，隐修士不敢正视，仰头祈祷。暗示老水手经过苦难，状如魔鬼 （The Devil，第569行），一举一动十分可怕。又如他举浆时领航员副手的神态和言语，间接地描绘了他的可怖之状。可谓“不着一字，全得风流。”

20.What manner of man art thou：what sort of man are you，你是何许人也。

21.Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched：老水手感到自己罪孽深重，听到隐修士发问：“你是何许人也？”立刻感到全身痉挛，如被撕裂；Forthwith：immediately；wrenched：不定式是to wrench，to wring or pull with a twist，扭，撕拉。

22.vesper bell：晚祷的钟声。

23.Scarce：scarcely.

24.goodly：fine，excellent.

25.He prayeth well，who loveth well：只有爱得深，才能祈祷得真。老水手对嘉宾的临别赠言。按：此系仿《圣经》文体。此行中loveth 的宾语man and bird and beast 暗示《旧约·创世记》中叙述的上帝所创造的天地万物。

26.hoar：white or grayish white.

27.Turned from the bridegroom's door：嘉宾听完老水手的故事后，想避开欢闹喧嚣之地，静静深思。

28.is of sense forlorn：茫然若失。

29.morrow morn：the next morning.

Kubla Khan

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree：1

Where Alph，2 the sacred river，ran

Through caverns measureless to man^3

Down to a sunless sea.4

So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round：5

And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills，6

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing^7 tree；

And here were forests ancient as the hills，

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.8

But oh！ that deep romantic chasm^9 which slanted

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover！10

A savage^11 place！ as holy and enchanted

As e'er^12 beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover！13

And from this chasm，with ceaseless turmoil seething，

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing，14

A mighty fountain momently was forced：15

Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst^16

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail，17

Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail：18

And 'mid these dancing rocks^19 at once and ever

It flung up momently the sacred river.

Five miles meandering with a mazy motion

Through wood and dale the sacred river ran，

Then reached the caverns measureless to man，

And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean：

And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

Ancestral voices prophesying war！20

The shadow of the dome of pleasure

Floated midway on the waves；

Where was heard the mingled measure^21

From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device，

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice！

A damsel with a dulcimer^22

In a vision once I saw：

It was an Abyssinian maid，23

And on her dulcimer she played，

Singing of Mount Abora.24

Could I revive^25 within me

Her symphony and song，

To such a deep delight 'twould win me^26

That with music loud and long

I would build that dome in air，27

That sunny dome！ those caves of ice！

And all who heard should see them there，

And all should cry，Beware！ Beware！

His flashing eyes，his floating hair！28

Weave a circle round him thrice，29

And close your eyes with holy dread，

For he on honey-dew hath fed

And drunk the milk of Paradise.30

【题解】

柯尔律治此诗虽然以忽必烈为题，却并不是写这位蒙古大汗，也不在意他所下令建造的行乐宫，而是表达了他因此题材而得到的艺术灵感。诗人创造此诗，一说是在鸦片的作用之下，在梦幻中文思泉涌，醒来后立即提笔录下，但惜未能完整记录下来。也有研究者认为，这是一首完整的诗，并非录自梦中所忆片段。这首诗确实不像有充分完整的构思，给人戛然而止，言犹未尽的感觉。但是，诗人的想象犹如诗中圣河的流淌和泉水的迸发，自然而富有激情，没有雕饰的斧凿痕迹，倒有信手写来，未及润色的粗糙之处，如诗人重复momently，sacred river，measureless to man等，在不算太长的诗里，这种比较松散的重复并不合乎诗歌结构上强调的需要。当然也可以说是诗人故意如此而为。无论如何，这是一首充满激情的浪漫诗作。

【注释】

1.In Xanadu did Kubla Khan ... decree：关于忽必烈下令在Xanadu ［′zænədjuː］ 建造行乐宫之事，并无可靠记录。Xanadu：关于该地名的考证，尚无定论，一说为元上都，即今内蒙古自治区正蓝旗东约二十公里，系元朝始祖忽必烈登基所在地，时称开平府，至元五年改称元上都。忽必烈定都北京后，上都仍为行宫。另一说为元大都，即北京。Kubla Khan：忽必烈（1215？—1294），成吉思汗之孙，公元1279年灭宋，建立元朝，称世祖。Khan：音译为汗（hán）或可汗（kè hán），蒙古帝王的称号；pleasure-dome：行乐宫；dome：a great or stately building；decree：下令建造。

2.Alph：诗人杜撰的河流名，或许受希腊阿尔斐俄斯（Alpheus）河的启发，该河流入爱奥尼亚（Ionian）海，据说在西西里岛（Sicily）冒出来，变为阿瑞托莎（Arethusa）泉水。参见弥尔顿诗《利西达斯》（Lycidas ）：O fountain Arethuse，and thou honored flood，/ Smooth-sliding Mincius （第85—86行）；Return，Alpheus，the dread voice is past，/ That shrunk thy streams （第132—133行）。诗人把东方的历史和古希腊、罗马的文化融合成一体。

3.caverns measureless to man：巨大而深不可测的洞穴；caverns：cave，especially one of large or indefinite extent.

4.a sunless sea：形容这条圣河流入大海深处，阳光不见的海底。这里形容圣河从高处流下来，而第28行 a lifeless ocean则反映湍急的水流和平静的大海的对比。

5.So twice five miles of fertile ground ... round：方圆五英里的土地周边围着高墙和堡垒；tower：a towering citadel，fortress；girdle：to encircle with or as if with a girdle；由名词girdle（腰带）引申而来。

6.sinuous rills：曲折的小河；sinuous：wavy，winding；rill：a very small brook，小溪，诗歌中常用。

7.incense-bearing：开出香花的。

8.greenery：老树林在阳光下展现的片片新绿。

9.romantic chasm：充满浪漫情调的断层；romantic：此处表示隐含着神秘的色彩和爱情故事；chasm：断层，裂口。

10.the green hill athwart a cedarn cover：（这个断层） 沿着郁郁葱葱的山斜插下来，山坡上覆盖着雪松；athwart：across；cedarn cover：密密的雪松形成的帷幕。

11.savage：原始荒野的，形容这个地方符合忽必烈的性格。

12.e'er：ever.

13.woman wailing for her demon-lover：（在下弦月光下）女人悲呼其魔鬼情人，骚扰着这个神圣和迷人的地方。这个女人的身份，似无确指，疑是诗人想象。但是，人魔结合，则暗示在此处遭到诅咒，建造行宫有不祥预兆。注意第14—16行中waning和wailing的对照，以及很多含有m音的词语，造成了一种神秘而略带恐怖的气氛。

14.And from this chasm，with ceaseless turmoil seething ... breathing：在这个断层里，永无休止地咆哮奔腾着团团激流，似乎大地在急促地大声喘气；ceaseless turmoil seething：形容山间激流；fast thick pants：急促地大声喘气。按：这里反映了忽必烈心中出现的战争景象，比较注释19。

15.A mighty fountain momently was forced：不时地形成一股又一股汹涌的泉水；momently：from moment to moment.

16.whose swift half-intermitted burst：（泉水）急速的、几乎没有间断的水花；whose：指fountain。

17.Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail：大团水花往空中反弹，犹如冰雹，描绘泉水在山间奔腾的景象。

18.chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail：泉水的水珠又像打谷机里飞出来的谷粒；flail：打谷机。

19.'mid these dancing rocks：因泉水冲击，岩石跳动，似乎在跳舞；'mid：amid.

20.And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far ... war：联系第16—17行，忽必烈作为马背上强悍的民族的大汗，惯于在草原上驰骋，这和在崇山密林中的行乐宫中生活是多么的格格不入，也暗示行宫终将毁于兵燹。这是本诗画龙点睛之处。

21.mingled measure：和谐的音律，出自威廉·考林斯（William Collins），1721—1759） 诗《热情：音乐颂》（The Passions：An Ode for Music ）：Through glades and glooms the mingled measure stole （第64行）。

22.dulcimer：一种古老的乐器，状如洋琴，也是一种犹太乐器。

23.Abyssinian maid：阿比西尼亚少女。阿比西尼亚即今埃塞俄比亚。但是，传说中阿比西尼亚被视为伊甸乐园的所在地。见下行注释。

24.Mount Abora：注家认为可能出自弥尔顿《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ） 中描写的Mount Amara，阿比西尼亚王将女儿安置在山中，以避外界侵扰：Nor Where Abassin Kings their issue guard，/ Mount Amara，though this by some supposed / True Paradise under the Ethiop line / By Nilus head （Book Ⅳ.280—283）.按：Ethiop line指赤道，传说天堂即在此处。

25.Could I revive：if I could revive.

26.To such a deep delight 'twould win me：it would bring me such a deep delight，将给我带来深沉的快乐。

27.I would build that dome in air：诗人要在想象中建造忽必烈的行乐宫。

28.His flashing eyes，his floating hair：当诗人充满灵感，在想象中建造行乐宫时就像神话中的狂女，目光炯炯，长发飞舞。从第42行起，诗人抱恨自己缺乏灵感，否则将能在其诗中再现忽必烈汗的行乐宫。按：有的评论家认为，这里所说的疯狂之人是诗人创造的幻象中的人，不是指他本人。此说稍嫌勉强。

29.Weave a circle round him thrice：一种迷信的魔法，以防止神灵附体的诗人被外界打扰。

30.For he on honey-dew hath fed ... Paradise：柏拉图 （Plato） 在论诗的灵感的《伊安篇》 （Ion ）中说“有了灵感的诗人就像酒神的女信徒，从诗神的河水中汲取乳蜜。” （like Bacchi maidens who draw milk and honey from the rivers when they are under the influence of Dionysus，but not when they are in their right mind.）按：第53—54行谓诗人吸过蜜汁和甘露，喝过天堂的牛奶，定有灵感创造想象中的行乐宫，且不同于忽必烈那早已不存的宫殿。

WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR

华尔特·萨维其·兰陀

（1775—1864）

【作者与作品简介】

兰陀是十九世纪浪漫派散文大家，所作《想象的会话》至今有名。他也写诗，有几首小诗写得十分简洁而又余音不绝，这里选择的三首就是。第一首《七五生辰有感》表示“不与人争”，实际上他常卷入争端；一看“无人值得我争”就知道口气仍是骄傲的。“生命之火前我把双手烤烘”则更近实况，因为他既爱自然，又爱艺术，确是热烈地生活过的。结句表示年纪已老，死而无怨，有一种古希腊式的宁静。

王佐良

On His Seventy-fifth Birthday

I strove with none，1 for none was worth my strife：

Nature I loved，and next to Nature，Art：

I warmed both hands before the fire of Life；

It sinks；2 and I am ready to depart.

【注释】

1.I strove with none：兰陀一生蔑视权贵，不断争斗，但他自认与世无争。

2.sinks：（火）渐渐熄灭。

On Death

Death stands above me，whispering low

I know not what into my ear：

Of his strange language all I know

Is，there is not a word of fear.

Why

Why do our joys depart

For cares^1 to seize the heart？

I know not. Nature says，

Obey；and Man obeys.

I see，and know not why，

Thorns live and roses die.

【注释】

1.cares：忧虑，烦恼。

GEORGE GORDON，LORD BYRON

乔治·戈登·拜伦

（1788—1824）

【作者与作品简介】

拜伦是贵族，但不是当权派，倒是有正义感，反对暴政，初入上议院即替破坏机器的手工业者辩护，后因个人婚姻上的纠纷不见容于英国上层社会，出走意大利，在那里参加烧炭党的抗奥活动，等到希腊人民起而反抗土耳其异族统治，又驰去援助他们，积劳成疾，死于一小岛上，年仅三十六。这样的经历使他的歌颂自由、讽刺伪善的诗篇具有特别的说服力，它们恰好宣泄了当时欧洲有志青年的共同情绪，于是拜伦主义成为一种澎湃于全大陆的情感力量。一个诗人而有如此广大的外国青年引为同志，竞相效法，在世界文学史上实不多见。

这当中，拜伦的诗艺也起了作用。他是一个说故事的能手，又是一个卓越的讽刺家，在这两方面都留下了大部头作品，而两者的结合则产生了长达十六章、一万六千行的讽刺史诗《唐璜》。他又善于抒情，特别善于将抒情糅入叙事与讽刺，因此凡他所作，都具有强大的感染力。

过去人们对拜伦的批评集中于两点：一、情感有些浮泛，有明显的自我戏剧化；二、诗艺不够精湛，经常依赖修辞术。自我戏剧化是有其事的，从而产生了“拜伦式英雄”，但不能据此而引申出他的情感一律浮泛的结论，因为事实上他的多数作品说明他是有深刻的爱憎以至悲剧感的。修辞术则是许多诗人所共用，只是有用得高低之别，拜伦是运用的高手，在《哀希腊》等诗内取得了巨大的效果。但是重要的是，他的文字效果主要来自他的真情实感，其强烈实是感情的强烈，而且他不拘成法，妙语泉涌，不断有新的意象和情景使人惊讶，这一切合起来所造成的正是当时浪漫主义所追求的艺术效果。

与别的浪漫主义者不同的是，拜伦还有古典主义的文雅与节制。他所服膺的大师是十八世纪的蒲柏，而蒲柏是诗艺完美的楷模。同蒲柏一样，拜伦在写诗时注意提炼口语体文字的精粹，这一点随着他艺术的成熟而愈显，《审判的幻景》、《唐璜》中许多段落是用绝好的口语写成的绝好的闲谈。

我们这里选的是抒情小诗两首，都是久为选家所收的名篇。《恰尔德·哈罗尔德游记》的一二章是拜伦的成名之作，但是更成熟的却是写于四五年后的三四两章。我们从第三章选了描写滑铁卢战役前夕舞会的一大段和品评几位启蒙主义大师——卢梭、伏尔泰、吉朋——的几个片断，前者固然是名篇，后者也是极其珍贵的诗体的人物写照，要言不烦而每行都有警句，表明拜伦抓住了他们思想的灵魂。

《哀希腊》是必选之作，特别是由于它同中国思想界、翻译界的密切联系。它曾起了帮助唤醒中国民族主义精神的作用。

《唐璜》是一部内容丰富的奇书，有众多成分：叙事、抒情、写景、品文、发议论，无不出色。任何摘选都是一种伤害。我们经过考虑，才以叙事为重点，选取了海黛之死一大段。

王佐良

When We Two Parted

When we two parted

In silence and tears，

Half broken-hearted

To sever for years，

Pale grew thy cheek and cold，1

Colder thy kiss；

Truly that hour foretold

Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning

Sunk chill on my brow —

It felt like the warning

Of what I feel now.

Thy vows are all broken，

And light is thy fame；2

I hear thy name spoken，

And share in its shame.

They name thee before me，

A knell to mine ear；3

A shudder comes o'er me —

Why wert thou^4 so dear？

They know not^5 I knew thee，

Who^6 knew thee too well —

Long，long shall I rue^7 thee，

Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met —

In silence I grieve，

That thy heart could forget，

Thy spirit deceive.8

If I should meet thee

After long years，

How should I greet thee？ —

With silence and tears.

【注释】

1.Pale grew thy cheek and cold：此句倒装，正常结构为your cheek grew pale and cold；thy：your.

2.light is thy fame：你的名声不佳。

3.A knell to mine ear：（人们提起你的名字）犹如在我的耳中响起丧钟。因ear的第一个字母是元音，故不用my而用mine。

4.wert thou：were you.

5.They know not：they do not know.

6.Who：先行词是上行的I。

7.rue：（archaic ）（为你感到）惋惜。

8.Thy spirit deceive：Thy spirit could deceive.

So We'll Go No More A-Roving

1

So we'll go no more a-roving^1

So late into the night，

Though the heart be still as loving，2

And the moon be still as bright.

2

For the sword outwears its sheath，3

And the soul wears out the breast，

And the heart must pause to breathe，

And love itself have rest.

3

Though the night was made for loving，

And the day returns too soon，

Yet we'll go no more a-roving

By the light of the moon.

【注释】

题目取自苏格兰民歌《快乐的乞丐》（The Jolly Beggars ）的重唱部分：And we'll gang nae mair a roving／Sae late into the nicht.

1.a-roving：徘徊。前缀a-表示动作正在进行之中。

2.Though the heart be still as loving：由though引起的让步从句中动词用虚拟式，是较为古旧的用法；still：constantly.

3.the sword outwears its sheath：利剑把剑鞘磨损。欧洲人常以剑喻灵魂，以鞘比躯体。拜伦在威尼斯度过四旬斋狂欢节，放浪形骸，尔后反思，于1817年2月28日写信给托马斯·穆尔（Thomas Moore），说：“I find‘the sword wearing out the Scabbard，’ though I have just turned the corner of twenty-nine.”

FromCHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE

From Canto 3

［Waterloo］

16

Self-exiled Harold^1 wanders forth again，

With nought^2 of hope left，but with less of gloom；

The very knowledge that he lived in vain，

That all was over on this side the tomb，3

Had made Despair a smilingness assume，4

Which，though 'twere^5 wild — as on the plundered wreck

When mariners would madly meet their doom

With draughts intemperate^6 on the sinking deck —

Did yet inspire a cheer，which he forebore to check.

17

Stop！ — for thy tread is on an Empire's dust！7

An Earthquake's spoil is sepulchered below！

Is the spot marked with no colossal bust，8

Nor column trophied for triumphal show？9

None；but the moral's truth tells simpler so，10

As the ground was before，thus let it be；—

How that red rain hath made the harvest grow！

And is this all the world has gained by thee，

Thou first and last of fields！ king-making Victory？11

18

And Harold stands upon this place of skulls，

The grave of France，the deadly Waterloo！

How in an hour the power which gave annuls

Its gifts，transferring fame as fleeting too！

In “pride of place” here last the eagle flew，12

Then tore with bloody talon the rent plain，13

Pierced by the shaft of banded nations through；14

Ambition's life and labors all were vain；

He wears the shattered links of the world's broken chain.15

19

Fit retribution！ Gaul may champ the bit^16

And foam in fetters — but is Earth more free？17

Did nations combat to make Onesubmit；

Or league to teach all kings true sovereignty？

What！ shall reviving Thralldom^18 again be

The patched-up idol of enlightened days？

Shall we，who struck the Lion down，shall we

Pay the Wolf homage？ proffering lowly gaze

And servile knees to thrones？ No；prove 19 before ye praise！

20

If not，o'er one fallen despot boast no more！

In vain fair cheeks were furrowed with hot tears

For Europe's flowers long rooted up before

The trampler of her vineyards；in vain years

Of death，depopulation，bondage，fears，

Have all been borne，and broken by the accord

Of roused-up millions：all that most endears

Glory is when the myrtle wreathes a sword

Such as Harmodius drew on Athens' tyrant lord.20

21

There was a sound of revelry by night，

And Belgium's capital had gathered then

Her Beauty and her Chivalry，and bright

The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men；21

A thousand hearts beat happily；and when

Music arose with its voluptuous swell，

Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again，22

And all went merry as a marriage bell；

But hush！ hark！23 a deep sound strikes like a rising knell！

22

Did ye not hear it？ — No；'twas^24 but the wind，

Or the car rattling o'er the stony street；

On with the dance！ let joy be unconfined；25

No sleep till morn，26 when Youth and Pleasure meet

To chase the glowing Hours^27 with flying feet —

But hark！ — that heavy sound breaks in once more，

As if the clouds its echo would repeat；28

And nearer，clearer，deadlier than before！

Arm！ Arm！ it is — it is — the cannon's opening roar！

23

Within a windowed niche of that high hall

Sate Brunswick's fated chieftain；29 he did hear

That sound the first amidst the festival，

And caught its tone with Death's prophetic ear；

And when they smiled because he deemed it near，

His heart more truly knew that peal^30 too well

Which stretched his father on a bloody bier，31

And roused the vengeance blood alone could quell：

He rushed into the field，and，foremost fighting，fell.

24

Ah！ then and there was hurrying to and fro，32

And gathering tears，and tremblings of distress，

And cheeks all pale，which but an hour ago

Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness；

And there were sudden partings，such as press

The life from out young hearts，and choking sighs

Which ne'er might be repeated；who could guess

If ever more should meet those mutual eyes，

Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise！

25

And there was mounting in hot haste：the steed，33

The mustering squadron，and the clattering car，

Went pouring forward with impetuous speed，

And swiftly forming in the ranks of war；

And the deep thunder peal on peal afar；

And near，the beat of the alarming drum

Roused up the soldier ere^34 the morning star；

While thronged the citizens with terror dumb，35

Or whispering，with white lips — “The foe！ They come！ they come！”

26

And wild and high the “Comeron's gathering”36 rose！

The war-note of Lochiel，which Albyn's^37 hills

Have heard，and heard，too，have her Saxon foes；38 —

How in the noon of night that pibroch^39 thrills，

Savage and shrill！ But with the breath which fills

Their mountainpipe，so fill the mountaineers

With the fierce native daring which instills

The stirring memory of a thousand years，

And Evan's，Donald's fame^40 rings in each clansman's ears！

27

And Ardennes^41 waves above them her green leaves，

Dewy with nature's teardrops，as they pass，

Grieving，if aught inanimate e'er^42 grieves，

Over the unreturning brave，43 — alas！

Ere evening to be trodden like the grass

Which now beneath them，but above shall grow

In its next verdure，when this fiery mass

Of living valor，rolling on the foe

And burning with high hope，shall molder cold and low.

28

Last noon beheld them full of lusty life，

Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gay，

The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife，

The morn^44 the marshaling in arms，— the day

Battle's magnificently-stern array！45

The thunderclouds close o'er it，which when rent

The earth is covered thick with other clay，46

Which her own clay shall cover，heaped and pent，47

Rider and horse，— friend，foe，— in one red burial blent！

［Switzerland］

76

But this is not my theme；and I return

To that which is immediate，and require

Those who find contemplation in the urn，1

To look on One，whose dust was once all fire，

A native of the land where I respire

The clear air for a while — a passing guest，

Where he became a being，— whose desire

Was to be glorious；'twas a foolish quest，

The which to gain and keep he sacrificed all rest.2

77

Here the self-torturing sophist，3 wild Rousseau，

The apostle of affliction，4 he who threw

Enchantment over passion，and from woe

Wrung overwhelming eloquence，first drew

The breath which made him wretched；yet he knew

How to make madness beautiful，and cast

O'er erring deeds and thoughts，a heavenly hue

Of words，like sunbeams，dazzling as they past

The eyes，which o'er them shed tears feelingly and fast.

78

His love was passion's essence — as a tree

On fire by lightning；with ethereal flame

Kindled he was，5 and blasted；for to be

Thus，and enamored，were in him the same.

But his was not the love of living dame，6

Nor of the dead who rise upon our dreams，

But of ideal beauty，which became

In him existence，and o'erflowing teems

Along his burning page，distempered^7 though it seems.

［Switzerland and France］

105

Lausanne！ and Ferney！1 ye have been the abodes

Of names which unto you bequeath'd a name；2

Mortals，who sought and found，by dangerous roads，

A path to perpetuity of fame：

They were gigantic minds，and their steep aim^3

Was，Titan-like，4 on daring doubts to pile

Thoughts which should call down thunder，and the flame

Of Heaven again assail'd，if Heaven the while

On man and man's research could deign do more than smile.

106

The one^5 was fire and fickleness，a child

Most mutable in wishes，but in mind

A wit as various，— gay，grow，sage，or wild，—

Historian，bard，6 philosopher，combined；

He multiplied himself among mankind，7

The Proteus of their talents：8 But his own

Breathed most in ridicule，— which，as the wind，

Blew where it listed，9 laying all things frone，—

Now to o'erthrow a fool，and now to shake a throne.10

107

The other，deep and slow，exhausting^11 thought，

And hiving^12 wisdom with each studious year，

In meditation dwelt，with learning wrought，13

And shaped his weapon with an edge severe，

Sapping a solemn creed with solemn sneer；14

The lord of irony，— that master-spell，15

Which stung his foes to wrath，which grew from fear，

And doom'd him to the zealot's ready Hell，

Which answers to all doubts so eloquently well.

【题解】

拜伦采用“斯宾塞诗体”（Spenserian stanza），每节九行，一至八行为五音步，第九行为六音步，韵脚安排为ababbcbcc。他在第一章中半似严肃，半似戏谑地模仿斯宾塞的古风笔法。如childe一词本身除了暗示child of imagination以外，另有古义为期待得到骑士身份的贵族青年。但是，拜伦很快就抛弃了陈旧的风格，代之以个人狂放夸张的笔调，并写得挥洒自如。

【注释】

Waterloo

（滑铁卢）

1.Self-exiled Harold：哈罗尔德立志周游历国，犹如自我流放，故称self-exiled。

2.nought：nothing.

3.on this side the tomb：on this side of the tomb，在坟墓的这一边，在世上。

4.Had made Despair a smilingness assume：had made Despair assume a smilingness，使绝望也摆出一副笑容；Despair：大写，拟人化用法；smilingness：the quality or state of exhibiting a smile.

5.though 'twere：though it were；though引导的从句中动词用虚拟语气。

6.draughts intemperate：狂饮。

7.Empire's dust：帝王的废墟，指拿破仑第一帝国。

8.colossal bust：巨大的半身雕像，常塑在墓穴上。

9.Nor column trophied for triumphal show：柱子上也未刻上战利品的图案；trophy：原指古希腊、罗马战场上或公共场地上竖立的胜利纪念碑，此处作动词用。

10.None；but the moral's truth tells simpler so：此承上147—148两行，谓在诗人创作本诗的前一年，即1815年，拿破仑在布鲁塞尔附近滑铁卢（Waterloo）惨败，故无胜利纪念碑可言，而历史的教训却说得非常明白；moral's truth：指从经验教训中得出了真理；simpler so：so simpler.

11. How that red rain ... king-making Victory：此三行谓拿破仑在滑铁卢失败之后，这场血腥的战役只是使欧洲的王政获得丰收。拜伦感慨地发问：难道这与世界从你这场空前绝后的战役中得到的就是这一点吗？盟国打败了拿破仑之后，欧洲王政得以复辟，故称king-making Victory。red rain：当年恶战，血流如注。

12.In “pride of place” here last the eagle flew：pride of place：是猎鹰术语，指鹰飞到最高点；eagle：是拿破仑的旗帜，旗标。此句喻拿破仑的旗帜曾高高飘扬，显赫一时。比较莎氏《麦克佩斯》（Macbeth ）2.4.14—15：A falcon，towering in her pride of place，／Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd.

13.tore with bloody talon the rent plain：用猛禽的血淋淋的爪子把旗帜撕得粉碎；rent：此处指旗帜上的裂缝、裂口。

14.Pierced by the shaft of banded nations through：pierced through by etc.；shaft：箭；banded nations：盟国，指英国和普鲁士。

15.He wears the shattered links of the world's broken chain：当时拿破仑已被囚禁在圣·赫伦拿岛上。

16.Gaul：高卢，即法国；champ the bit：马咬口中嚼子，喻跃跃欲试。

17.foam：马口吐白沫。以上喻拿破仑身陷囹圄，虽然不肯罢休，但无可奈何；is Earth more free：拜伦和雪莱等自由主义者认为拿破仑专制的覆灭意味着欧洲其他暴君和反动势力的胜利。

18.Thralldom：奴役。

19.prove ：await the test of experience，先予以证实。

20.the myrtle wreathes a sword ... lord：公元前154年，哈莫狄奥斯（Harmodius）和阿里斯托吉顿（Aristogeiton）把匕首藏在象征爱情的长春花（myrtle）环里，杀死了雅典暴君希帕尔科斯（Hipparchus）。

21.There was a sound of revelry by night ... men：这里描写卡特勒布拉（Quatre Bra）战斗之前的狂欢。当时里奇蒙公爵举行盛大舞会，招待英国将领及夫人们。英国军队正在布鲁塞尔待命，准备向南挺进，与拿破仑交锋。但是，拿破仑北上的速度之快出乎意料，炮声震耳欲聋，扰乱了狂欢之夜。萨克雷（W.M.Thackenay）在《名利场》（Vanity Fair ）第29—30章中也描绘了当时的情景；Her Beauty and her Chivalry：参加舞会的美人和军官。

22.spake：spoke；again：in response；此行写双目对视，脉脉含情。

23.hark：listen.

24.'twas：it was.

25.On with the dance！ let joy be unconfined：继续跳舞吧，尽情欢乐。

26.morn：morning.

27.glowing Hours：清晨阳光灿烂的时刻。

28.its echo would repeat：would repeat its echo.

29.Sate Brunswick's fated chieftain：布伦雪克公爵，英王乔治三世的侄子，在卡特勒布拉战役中阵亡，而其父也在1806年率普鲁士兵与拿破仑交战时身亡；Sate：sat；chieftain：（poetic ）将领。

30.peal：隆隆炮声。

31.bier：棺架，尸架。

32.to and fro：来来回回。

33.steed：（poetic ）骏马。

34.ere：before.

35.While thronged the citizens with terror dumb：while the citizens thronged dumb with terror.

36.Comeron's gathering：苏格兰卡梅伦氏族歌，氏族长按其庄园名称叫“洛希尔”（Lochiel）。

37.Albyn's：Scotland's.

38.Saxon foes：此处实指盎格鲁—撒克逊人（Anglo-Saxon），他们在四至五世纪就侵入苏格兰，以后与之发生连年战争。

39.pibroch：苏格兰高地人的双笛曲，常作战号。

40.Evan's，Donald's fame：埃文·卡梅伦和唐纳德·卡梅伦分别是十七世纪和十八世纪时斯图亚王朝的著名将领。

41.Ardennes：包括比利时，法国和卢森堡部分地区的森林。在第一次、第二次世界大战中重又成为战场。

42.aught：anything；e'er：ever.

43.the unreturning brave：一去不复返的勇士，即阵亡官兵。

44.The morn：和the day后面均省去brought一词。

45.magnificently-stern array：庄严威武的阵容。

46.other clay：指战场上的死尸。

47.pent：封闭起来，指死尸被压在底下；pent是pen（监禁）的过去分词。

Switzerland

（瑞士）

1.Those who find contemplation in the urn：能从骨灰盒中找到冥思遐想素材的人。

2.The which to gain and keep he sacrificed all rest：to gain and keep which etc.

3.sophist：诡辩家，指Wild Rousseau，即Jean Jacques Rousseau（1712—1778）（让·雅克·卢梭），法国启蒙思想家、哲学家、教育家和天文学家，其思想积极影响了法国革命。拜伦对卢梭品性的描述是依据其小说《新爱洛绮丝》（La Nouvelle Héloise ）和《忏悔录》（Confessions ）。雪莱在《生命的胜利》（Triumph of Life，1822）中对卢梭的描绘深受拜伦的影响。

4.The apostle of affliction：困苦的鼓吹者；apostle：原是《圣经》中的传道者。

5.with ethereal flame ... was：he was kindled with ethereal flame，他身上燃烧着天灵之气。

6.dame：（poetic ）woman.

7.distempered：失调的，失常的。

Switzerland and France

（瑞士与法国）

1.Lausanne：洛桑，瑞士城市，吉朋曾居地；Ferney：费尔纳，法国城市，靠近瑞士边境，伏尔泰（Voltaire，1694—1778）在1759—1778年居住在此，并对该城市的发展产生了很大的影响。

2.which unto you bequeath'd a name：使你们（这两个地方）闻名传迩。

3.steep aim：崇高的目标；steep：（archaic ）lofty.

4.Titan：希腊神话中的泰坦巨神。

5.The one：指法国启蒙主义思想家伏尔泰。

6.bard：原指古代的行吟诗人，此处泛指诗人。

7.He multiplied himself among mankind：意为他发挥各方面的才能在人类中造成广泛的影响。

8.Proteus of their talents：意为各种人才都源出于他一人；Proteus：希腊神话中变幻无常的海神，变化多端的人。

9.listed：chose.

10.Now to o'erthrow a fool，and now to shake a throne：时而吹倒一个傻瓜，时而震撼一个国王。

11.The other：指英国历史学家吉朋（Edward Gibbon，1737—1794），《罗马帝国衰亡史》的作者；exhausting：穷极本原的，刨根究底的。

12.hiving：collecting，收集，积累。

13.In meditation dwelt：dwelt in meditation，耽于冥想；with learning wrought：wrought with learning，（思想）用学问凝练而成。

14.Sapping a solemn creed with solemn sneer：名句，意为用冷嘲打倒了基督教。

15.master-spell：高超的符咒，指讽刺的具有符咒般的力量。

FromDON JUAN

From Canto 3

［The Isles of Greece］

1

The isles of Greece，the isles of Greece！

Where burning Sappho loved and sung，1

Where grew the arts of war and peace，2

Where Delos rose，and Phæbus sprung！3

Eternal summer gilds them yet，

But all，except their sun，is set.

2

The Scian and the Teian Muse，4

The hero's harp，the lover's lute，5

Have found the fame your shores refuse；6

Their place of birth alone is mute

To sounds which echo further west

Than your sires' ‘Islands of the Blest.’7

3

The mountains look on Marathon^8 —

And Marathon looks on the sea；

And musing there an hour alone，

I dream'd that Greece might still be free；

For standing on the Persians' grave，9

I could not deem myself a slave.

4

A king sate on the rocky brow^10

Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis；11

And ships，by thousands，lay below，

And men in nations^12 — all were his！

He counted them at break of day

And when the sun set where were they？13

5

And where are they？ And where art thou，

My country？14 On thy voiceless shore

The heroic lay^15 is tuneless now，

The heroic bosom beats no more！

And must thy lyre，so long divine，

Degenerate into hands like mine？16

6

'Tis something in the dearth of fame，17

Though linked among a fettered race，18

To feel at least a patriot's shame，

Even as I sing，suffuse my face；

For what is left the poet here？

For Greeks a blush，for Greece a tear.19

7

Must we but weep o'er days more blest？

Must we but blush？ Our fathers bled.20

Earth！ Render back from out thy breast

A remnant of our Spartan dead！

Of the three hundred grant but three，

To make a new Thermopylae！21

8

What，silent still？ And silent all？

Ah no！ the voices of the dead

Sound like a distant torrent's fall，

And answer，22 ‘Let one living head，

But one arise，— we come，we come！’

'Tis but the living who are dumb.

9

In vain — in vain — strike other chords.

Fill high the cup with Samian wine！23

Leave battles to the Turkish hordes.

And shed the blood of Scio's vine！24

Hark！ rising to the ignoble call^25 —

How answers each bold Bacchanal！26

10

You have the Pyrrhic dance^27 as yet；

Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx^28 gone？

Of two such lessons，why forget

The nobler and the manlier one？

You have the letters Cadmus^29 gave —

Think ye he meant them for a slave？

11

Fill high the bowl with Samian wine！

We will not think of themes like these.

It made Anacreon's song divine；30

He served，but served Polycrates，31

A tyrant；32 but our masters then

Were still，at least，our countrymen.

12

The tyrant of the Chersonese^33

Was freedom's best and bravest friend.

That tyrant was Miltiades！34

Oh！ that the present hour would lend

Another despot of the kind！35

Such chains as his were sure to bind.36

13

Fill high the bowl with Samian wine！

On Suli's rock，and Parga's shore，37

Exists the remnant of a line

Such as the Doric mothers bore.38

And there，perhaps，some seed is sown，

The Heracleidan blood^39 might own.

14

Trust not for freedom to the Franks；40

They have a king who buys and sells；

In native swords and native ranks，41

The only hope of courage dwells，

But Turkish force，and Latin fraud，

Would break your shield，however broad.

15

Fill high the bowl with Samian wine！

Our virgins dance beneath the shade —

I see their glorious black eyes shine，

But gazing on each glowing maid，

My own the burning teardrop laves，42

To think such breasts must suckle slaves.

16

Place me on Sunium's marbled steep.43

Where nothing，save^44 the waves and I，

May hear our mutual murmurs sweep；

There，swan-like，let me sing and die.45

A land of slaves shall ne'er be mine —

Dash down yon^46 cup of Samian wine！

— Don Juan，Canto Ⅲ，1821

【题解】

拜伦的《哀希腊》是《唐璜》第三章中的一首独立的诗歌，与原诗的情节没有关系。拜伦喜爱希腊，但不像西欧人只是欣赏古希腊的文明，而是更加关心当代希腊人民的反抗斗争，争取摆脱土耳其人的统治。这首诗写得慷慨激昂，忆古希腊往昔之光荣，哀今日之衰落，激励希腊人民英勇斗争。本诗历来是英国诗集必选之作。

【注释】

1.Sappho：萨福，公元前七世纪末至六世纪初古希腊杰出的女抒情诗人，其作品热情奔放，炽烈如火（burning）；sung：sang.

2.the arts of war and peace：文治武功；arts：技巧，本领。

3.Delos：爱琴海中的得洛斯岛；Phæbus：即太阳神阿波罗（Apollo），相传生在得洛斯岛；sprung：sprang.

4.The Scian and the Teian Muse：the Scian Muse：指荷马，史诗《伊利亚特》（Illiad ）和《奥德修纪》（Odyssey ）的作者；the Teian Muse：指古希腊诗人阿那克里昂（Anacreon，公元前六世纪）；Muse：缪斯，希腊神话中掌管文艺、音乐等的九位女神，转指诗神。

5.The hero's harp，the lover's lute：诗人以大型乐器竖琴喻创作英雄史诗的荷马，以小巧的鲁特琴喻写爱情诗的阿那克里昂。

6.Have found the fame your shores refuse：他们的名声却被希腊故土忘却了。

7.your sires'‘Islands of the Blest’：你们祖先的宝岛，古希腊诗人以此称现代的佛得角群岛（Cape Verde）或加那利群岛（the Canaries）。此处意为古希腊诗人的名声已远远超越了他们同代人所知的地理范围；Blest：blessed；据说宙斯（Zeus）让他所宠爱的人住在大地边缘的忘忧之岛，无人生之苦，故曰blest。

8.Marathon：马拉松，位于雅典的东北。公元前490年雅典人在此处击败入侵的波斯军。

9.Persians' grave：入侵的波斯军葬身于此。

10.A king sate on the rocky brow：据埃斯库罗斯（Aeschylus）在悲剧《波斯人》（Persian ）中说，波斯王薛西斯一世（Xerxes，519？—465BC）曾在公元前480年9月9日坐在山上观察萨拉米斯（Salamis）岛旁的海战，原以为强大的波斯舰队必胜，不料被希腊海军一举全歼；sate：sat；rocky brow：悬崖。实际上当时薛西斯一世坐在埃嘉勒山上（Aegaleos）。

11.Salamis：萨拉米斯，希腊阿蒂卡州岛屿，位于爱琴海萨罗尼克湾（Saronic Gulf）内。

12.men in nations：薛西斯一世军中的士兵有些来自他所征服的亚非各国的部队。

13.And when the sun set where were they：日暮时波斯人全军覆没。

14.And where are they？ And where art thou ... country：诗人调转笔锋，从古代波斯人的败绩转到今日被奴役的希腊。拜伦假托一位希腊人在怀古讽今，故曰my country。

15.The heroic lay：英雄之歌。

16.And must thy lyre，so long divine ... mine：古希腊出过多少杰出的诗人，难道竟沦落到要由我这样的人来歌咏她么；lyre：七弦琴，古希腊人作为伴唱诗歌的乐器，此处转指诗歌。

17.in the dearth of fame：在这屈辱的时候。

18.linked among a fettered race：被锁在一个被奴役的民族之内。

19.For Greeks a blush，for Greece a tear：希腊的不幸催人泪下，但希腊当为之羞愧。

20.Must we but blush？ Our fathers bled：拜伦仿古老的头韵体诗以but，blush，bled押头韵，句中略作停顿，造成强烈的效果。我们的祖先洒下热血，难道我们仅仅脸红？

21.Earth！ Render back from out thy breast ... Thermopylae：公元前480年，斯巴达王莱奥尼达斯（Leonidas［lɪ（ː）′nɪdæs］）率领三百名斯巴达勇士，在通往希腊东部的关隘温泉关（Thermopylae［θə′mpəliː］）和薛西斯一世率领的波斯侵略军血战。后因一希腊奸细给波斯人示路，莱奥尼达斯及部下腹背受敌，全部阵亡。斯巴达勇士的英勇业迹使诗人呼吁，只要有三名勇士能复活，我们就可以在温泉关再来一次壮烈的战役。

22.And answer：拜伦为鼓动希腊人奋起反抗，想象死难勇士的回答：“只要有一个活人站起来，我们死者将立即响应。”

23.Samian wine：萨摩斯岛（Samos）所产之酒；萨摩斯是爱琴海中距小亚细亚大陆最近的希腊岛屿。

24.Leave battles to the Turkish hordes ... vine：打仗让土耳其人去管吧，我们且饮酒作乐。当时希腊人正遭土耳其“蛮人”（hordes）的奴役，但是希腊人不去战场流血，而只饮葡萄之血（即葡萄酒）。

25.the ignoble call：号召大家饮酒作乐，而不是备起反抗，故称ignoble。

26.bold Bacchanal：勇敢的酒徒，意含讽刺；Bacchanal：来源于Bacchus（巴科斯），希腊神话中的酒神，亦称狄奥尼索斯（Dionysus）。

27.Pyrrhic dance：古希腊战舞，源出于塞萨利南部多里斯（Doris），是斯巴达士兵的部分训练内容，舞者身穿盔甲。后在希腊的节日里流行这种舞蹈，以急速的笛子伴奏，舞者作各种进攻和防守状。这种风俗一直流传至罗马时代的后期。

28.Pyrrhic phalanx：步兵的方阵。据传说希腊西北部伊庇鲁斯（Epirus）国王皮洛士（Pyrrhus）曾在公元前三世纪以这种方阵多次击败罗马军队。

29.Cadmus：腓尼基国王阿革诺尔（Agenor）之子，建立了底比斯城（Thebes），并从腓尼基将字母传入希腊。

30.It made Anacreon's song divine：It：指Samian wine；它使阿那克里昂的诗歌成为天上之曲。阿那克里昂是公元前六世纪的希腊诗人，歌颂醇酒和爱情，诗风壮丽，可谓神化所主，不似人间来者。

31.Polycrates：波利克拉特斯，公元前六世纪希腊萨摩斯岛的僭主，在东爱琴海上建立霸权，后被波斯人钉死在十字架上。他崇尚文艺，诗人阿那克里昂曾避居他宫廷。

32.tyrant：按古希腊语原义，此词指拥有绝对权力的统治者，或者不是由宪法赋予权力的统治者（an absolute ruler，or one whose power has not been constitutionally arrived at），现往往作“暴君”解；波利克拉特斯建立起强大的海军，与波斯对抗，又重文艺，尊贤人，颇有美名。

33.the Chersonese［′kзːsəniːs］：（poetic ）半岛，此处大写，特指格拉里珀黎（Grallipoli），位于达达尼尔海峡（Dardanelles）北面。

34.Miltiades［mɪl′taɪədiːz］：米太亚德，在马拉松战役中击败波斯军的名将之一。公元前五世纪初，米太亚德成为色雷斯半岛（Thracian Chersonese）（今达达尼亚半岛）的君主。他曾和波斯王大流士一起和锡西厄人（Scythians）作战，后脱离波斯人，逃到雅典。虽曾招致专制罪指控，但获开释。公元前480年波斯人全面入侵阿提卡（Attica）时，他被任命为十大元帅之一，率军抵抗侵略者。他鼓动希腊人奋起御敌，并在马拉松战役中击败波斯侵略军。

35.Oh！ that the present hour would lend ... kind：意为但愿现在能有像Miltiades这样一位专制的君主，他能鼓动人们起来斗争。

36.Such chains as his were sure to bind：他的锁链一定能把希腊人团结起来；用chains一词，说明Miltiades既是独裁者，又有团结人民的组织才干。

37.On Suli's rock，and Parga's shore：Suli：是地区名；Parga：是其中一城，在今日阿尔巴尼亚南部。拜伦在《恰尔德·哈罗尔德游记》（Childe Harold's Pilgrimage ）（Canto Ⅱ.42）中说：“Morn downs：and with it stern Albania's hills，Dark Suli's rocks ...”现在当地的人民正在抗击土耳其侵略军，故他认为爱好自由的古希腊人的后代（a line）当在那里战斗。

38.Such as the Doric mothers bore：多利安母亲所生的人，指斯巴达勇士；Doric mothers：指古希腊最早的居民多利安人（Dorians）；这个种族后来进入埃夫罗塔斯（Evrótas，又作Eurotas）河谷，改称为拉塞达埃蒙尼人（Lacedaemonians），建立了斯巴达城。

39.The Heracleidan［′herə′klaɪdən］blood：即古希腊人的血统；Heracleidan来自Heraclidae，传说为希腊神话中大力神海克勒斯（Hercules）的后代。

40.Franks：地中海东部诸国和岛屿（包括叙利亚、黎巴嫩等在内的自希腊至埃及的地区）的人们对西欧人的统称。第83行Latin fraud亦转指西欧人的欺诈。拜伦认为希腊人要获得自由，只能依靠自己。三年后，他在《青铜世纪》（The Age of Bronze ）第289—299行中说：“Greeks should only free Greece，／ Not the barbarians，with his mask of peace.”（只能是希腊人来解放希腊，而不是靠戴着和平假面具的蛮人。）此处the barbarian不仅指西欧人，犹指俄国人和亚历山大一世。

41.In native swords and native ranks：只有依靠自己的武装，只有依靠自己的队伍。

42.laves：washes.

43.Sunium's marbled steep：指雅典保护神雅典娜（Athena）之庙，建在森纽（Sunium），即今天的开普柯罗尼（Cape Coloni），此处位于雅典东南，相距约五十公里。

44.save：except.

45.swan-like，let me sing and die：传说天鹅将死时会唱起悲歌。又诗人被比作天鹅，如以the Swan of Avon喻莎士比亚，以the Mantuan swan喻维吉尔。

46.yon：yonder.

From Canto 4

［Haidée's Death］

33

The dream changed. In a cave she stood，its walls

Were hung with marble icicles，the work

Of ages on its water-fretted halls，1

Where waves might wash，and seals might breed and lurk.2

Her hair was dripping，and the very balls

Of her black eyes seemed turned to tears，and murk

The sharp rocks looked^3 below each drop they caught，

Which froze to marble as it fell，4 she thought.

34

And wet and cold and lifeless at her feet，

Pale as the foam that frothed on his dead brow，

Which she essayed in vain^5 to clear （how sweet

Were once her cares，how idle seemed they^6 now），

Lay Juan，7 nor could aught renew the beat

Of his quenched heart. And the sea dirges low^8

Rang in her sad ears like a mermaid's song，9

And that brief dream appeared a life too long.10

35

And gazing on the dead，she thought his face

Faded，or altered into something new，

Like to^11 her father's features，till each trace

More like and like to Lambro's aspect^12 grew

With all his keen worn look and Grecian grace.13

And starting，the awoke，and what to view？

Oh！ Powers of Heaven！14 What dark eye meets she there？

'Tis — 'tis her father's — fixed upon the pair！15

36

Then shrieking，she arose，and shrieking fell，

With joy and sorrow，hope and fear，to see

Him whom she deemed a habitant where dwell

The ocean-buried，risen from death，16 to be

Perchance the death of one she loved too well.17

Dear as her father had been to Haidée，

It was a moment of that awful kind —

I have seen such，but must not call to mind.

37

Up Juan sprung to Haidée's bitter shriek，

And caught her falling，18 and from off the wall，

Snatched down his saber^19 in hot haste to wreak

Vengeance on him who was the cause of all.20

Then Lambro，who till now forebore to speak，

Smiled scornfully and said，“Within my call，

A thousand scimitars await the word；21

Put up，young man，put up your silly sword.”

38

And Haidée clung around him. “Juan，'tis —

'Tis Lambro — 'tis my father！ Kneel with me —

He will forgive us — yes — it must be — yes.

Oh！ dearest father，in his agony

Of pleasure and of pain，even while I kiss

Thy garment's hem with transport，22 can it be

That doubt should mingle with my filial joy？

Deal with me as thou wilt，but spare this boy.”23

39

High and inscrutable the old man stood，

Calm in his voice and calm within his eye，

Not always signs with him of calmest mood.24

He looked upon her，but gave no reply，

Then turned to Juan，in whose cheek the blood

Oft came and went，25 as there resolved to die.

In arms，at least，he stood，in act to spring

On^26 the first foe whom Lambro's call might bring.

40

“Young man，your sword，” so Lambro once more said.

Juan replied，“Not while this arm is free.”

The old man's cheek grew pale，but not with dread，

And drawing from his belt a pistol，he

Replied，“Your blood be then on your own head.”27

Then looked close at the flint，28 as if to see

'Twas fresh — for he had lately used the lock^29—

And next proceded quietly to cock.30

41

It has a strange quick jar upon the ear，

That cocking of a pistol，when you know

A moment more will bring the sight to bear

Upon your person，31 twelve yards off or so；

A gentlemanly distance，32 not too near，

If you have got a former friend for foe，

But after being fired at once or twice，

The ear becomes more Irish，and less nice.33

42

Lambro presented，34 and one instant more

Had stopped this Canto，and Don Juan's breath，35

When Haidée threw herself her boy before；

Stern as her sire.36 “On me，” she cried，“let death

Descend，the fault is mine. This fatal shore

He found，but sought not.37 I have pledged my faith.

I love him，I will die with him. I knew

Your nature's firmness — know your daughter's too.”

43

A minute past，and she had been all tears，

And tenderness and infancy，38 but now

She stood as one who championed human fears.

Pale，statue-like，and stern，she wooed the blow；39

And tall beyond her sex and their compeers，40

She drew up to her height，as if to show

A fairer mark，41 and with a fixed eye scanned

Her father's face，but never stopped his hand.

44

He gazed on her，and she on him：'twas strange

How like they looked！ the expression was the same，

Serenely^42 savage，with a little change

In the large dark eye's mutual-darted flame，43

For she，too，was as one who could avenge，

If cause should be^44 — a lioness，though tame.

Her father's blood before her father's face

Boiled up，and proved her truly of his race.

45

I said they were alike，their features and

Their stature differing but in sex and years；

Even to the delicacy of their hand

There was resemblance，such as true blood wears.45

And now to see them，thus divided，stand

In fixed ferocity，when joyous tears，

And sweet sensations should have welcomed both，46

Show what the passions are in their full growth.47

46

The father paused a moment，then withdrew

His weapon，and replaced it，but stood still，

And looking on her，as to look her through，

“Not I，”he said，“have sought this stranger's ill；48

Not Ihave made this desolation. Few

Would bear such outrage and forbear to kill，

But I must do my duty. How thou hast

Done thine，the present vouches for the past.49

47

“Let him disarm，or by my father's head，50

His own shall roll before you like a ball.”

He raised his whistle，as the word he said，

And blew. Another answered to the call，

And rushing in disorderly，though led，

And armed from boot to turban，51 one and all，

Some twenty of his train^52 came rank on rank；

He gave the word，“Arrest or slay the Frank.”53

48

Then with a sudden movement，he withdrew

His daughter，while compressed within his clasp.

'Twixt her and Juan^54 interposed the crew.

In vain she struggled in her father's grasp；

His arms were like a serpent's coil. Then flew

Upon their prey，as darts an angry asp，55

The file of pirates，save the foremost，56 who

Had fallen，with his right shoulder half cut through.

49

The second had his cheek laid open，57 but

The third，a wary，cool old sworder，58 took

The blows upon his cutlass，and then put

His own well in，so well ere you could look，59

His man was floored^60 and helpless at his foot，

With the blood running like a little brook

From two smart saber gashes，deep and red —

One on the arm，the other on the head.

50

And then they bound him where he fell and bore

Juan from the apartment. With a sign

Old Lambro bade them take him to the shore，

Where lay some ships which were to sail at nine.

They laid him in a boat and plied the oar

Until they reached some galliots，61 placed in line.

On board of one of these and under hatches^62

They stowed him with strict orders to the watches.63

51

The world is full of strange vicissitudes，

And here was one exceedingly unpleasant：

A gentleman so rich in the world's goods，

Handsome and young，enjoying all the present，

Just at the very time when he least broods

On such a thing is suddenly to sea sent，64

Wounded and chained，so that he cannot move，

And all because a lady fell in love.

【题解】

题目：Haidée，海黛。唐璜在海上遇险后，游到一个小岛，被海盗头子兰勃洛的独生女儿海黛搭救。两人在岛上发生爱情。

【注释】

1.the work ... water-fretted halls：这个名词词组是对its walls/Were hung with marble icicles作的解释，石钟乳（marble icicles）是溶洞里千百年水滴所形成的；water-fretted：经水侵蚀的。

2.seals might breed and lurk：海豹会在此繁衍和藏匿。

3.murk ... looked：The sharp rocks looked murk，尖石显得阴沉沉的。

4.froze to marble as it fell：眼泪在落下时凝结成云石。

5.essayed in vain：徒劳地设法（擦干唐璜眉毛上的海水泡沫）。

6.how idle seemed they：她对唐璜的照顾似乎毫无用处了；they：指cares。

7.Lay Juan：倒装，即Juan lay wet and cold etc.。

8.the sea dirges low：大海低吟的挽歌。

9.a mermaid's song：美人鱼的歌声。

10.that brief dream appeared a life too long：这短短的一梦比一生还长。

11.Like to：like，较为古旧的用法。

12.Lambro's aspect：（海黛之父）兰勃洛的脸。

13.Grecian grace：希腊人的优雅。

14.Powers of Heaven：天哪！

15.the pair：指海黛和唐璜。

16.whom she deemed a habitant where dwell ... death：她认为父亲已葬身海底了，居然死而复生。

17.Perchance the death of one she loved too well：（她父亲）说不定是来向她心爱的人索命的；Perchance：perhaps.

18.caught her falling：一把扶住她。

19.saber：长剑，马刀。

20.him who was the cause of all：造成这一切的人。

21.A thousand scimitars await the word：只要我一开口，成千手持短刀的武士就会动手。

22.kiss ...transport：怀着狂喜吻你的衣襟；garment's hem：参见《新约·马太福音》（Mattew ）14：36：And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment：and as many as touch were made perfectly whole.（只求耶稣准他们摸他的衣裳子；摸着的人就都好了。） transport：ecstasy.

23.Deal with me as thou wilt ...boy：只要你饶了这小伙子一命，你随便怎么处置我都行；thou wilt：you will；boy：指唐璜。

24.Not always signs with him of calmest mood：他表面上平静并不总是说明他内心平静。

25.Oft came and went：（唐璜脸上）红一阵，白一阵；Oft：often.

26.spring On：扑向。

27.Your blood be then on your own head：你丧命就别怪旁人。

28.flint：打火石（旧式枪要靠打火石发火）。

29.lock：flintlock，旧式枪上的燧发机。

30.to cock：扳起枪上的燧击铁。

31.bring the sight to bear ...person：向你瞄准；sight：瞄准器。

32.A gentlemanly distance：相距十二码是西方绅士们决斗的距离。

33.more Irish，and less nice：爱尔兰人易于冲动好斗，朋友之间也常反目成仇（got a former friend for foe），故经过数次决斗以后，听到枪声也就不在乎了；nice：delicate.

34.presented：举枪瞄准。

35.Had stopped this Canto，and Don Juan's breath：（一瞬间）就要结束本章和唐璜的生命；had stopped：would have stopped，较为古旧的形式，此处也有音节上的需要。

36.sire：father.

37.this fatal shore ...not：这个倒霉的地方是他偶尔闯上的，不是有意找来的。

38.infancy：孩子气。

39.she wooed the blow：自愿招打。

40.tall beyond her sex and their compeers：她比一般的女子和男子都高。

41.A fairer mark：一个更加美丽的靶子。

42.Serenely：怒而不形于色。

43.mutual-darted flame：彼此对视的愤怒的目光。

44.If cause should be：如果有理由。

45.There was resemblance，such as true blood wears：血缘相亲所表现的那种相似。

46.when joyous tears ...both：（父女俩）本应该流着欢乐的眼泪和怀着甜蜜的情感来彼此欢迎。

47.Show what the passions are in their full growth：表现出处于高潮的感情是如何热烈。

48.Not I ...have sought this stranger's ill：我也不是故意来找他的麻烦。

49.how thou hast ...past：至于你是怎样尽你的本分的，看看你现在的行为就知道了；thou hast：you have；thine：yours；vouches for：证明。

50.by my father's head：凭我父亲的头起誓。

51.armed from boot to turban：全副武装；turban：海盗往往用布包头。

52.train：随从，兰勃洛手下的一帮海盗。

53.the Frank：这个西欧人；Frank：并非一定是法兰西人。参见［The Isles of Greece］（第415页）注40。

54.'Twixt her and Juan：between Haidée and Juan.

55.asp：非洲和欧洲的一种毒蛇。

56.save the foremost：除了第一个以外。第一个冲上去的海盗当即被唐璜砍倒，削去半个右臂。

57.had his cheek laid open：脸颊被劈开。

58.sworder：击剑手。

59.put ...in：先架住唐璜的来剑；ere you could look：你还没来得及看清；ere：before.

60.His man was floored：老剑手的对手（即唐璜）倒在地上。

61.galliots：以前地中海的平底小船。

62.under hatches：被关在船舱内。

63.watches：看守人。

64.Just at the very time when he least broods ...sent：他根本没想到此事，而突然被送到海上；to sea sent：sent to sea.

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

波西·别希·雪莱

（1792—1822）

【作者与作品简介】

雪莱是浪漫派大诗人，与拜伦并称。由于他的理想主义和正义感，很早就与家庭、学校、教会不合，被牛津大学开除之后又因私生活为社会不容，远走意大利，不久在海上遇难身亡，年方三十，但已写下了大量优秀作品，成为英国最重要的诗人之一。

他的诗有一些特点。

首先，他写诗十分严肃，绝少游戏笔墨。他认为诗人是“未受承认的人类的立法者”。这就是说，凡人类社会的大事，都要由诗人来决策。这似乎有点像古希腊柏拉图主张要由哲学家来统治国家一样地迂阔（而雪莱受柏拉图哲学影响是不少的），但他是认真说这话的，也是身体力行的。他小时反教会，后来反暴政，向往理想社会，鼓吹革命。这一切，都表现在他的诗里，诗就是他的武器。就以我们在下面选的几首诗来说，《奥西曼提斯》的反暴政的主题是十分明显的。奥西曼提斯即公元前十三世纪的埃及王雷米西斯二世，他在平沙无垠的大漠之上树起了庞大的狮身人面像，来纪念自己的威权和业绩。然而雪莱却描写他的所谓盖世功业早为时间所吞没，倒是迫于他的淫威不得不为他刻像的匠人的艺术传了下来。一切写得很具体，没有一句评论而评论自在，而且有对照和讽刺，最后的两行则又使我们感到无尽的回味。

这是一首卓越的十四行诗。另一首十四行诗《一八一九年的英国》则几乎是那一年英国现状的鸟瞰图。画面极广（从国王、贵族、大臣到受苦受难的人民，又从军队、法律、宗教到议会政治），涉及到具体事件（整个一八一九年是英国历史上极为动荡的一年，特别是由于发生了军警在曼彻斯特城屠杀和平集会的群众的“比德卢”惨案，第七行指的就是这个），然而又透视历史，指出：

把这些埋葬了，将有神灵跳出坟头，

一身光芒，来照耀这暴风雨的时候！

这是雪莱的预言，也是雪莱对革命的憧憬。

《致——》是一首爱情诗，但起句却一扫普通爱情诗的俗气：

有一个被人经常亵渎的字，

我无心再来亵渎；

有一种被人假意鄙薄的感情，

你不会也来鄙薄。

结语把爱情同高远的理想结合在一起：

犹如飞蛾扑向星星，

又如黑夜追求黎明。

雪莱也曾放声悲歌。以“啊，世界！啊，人生！啊，时间！”为起句的《悲歌》就是十分有名的例子，几乎可以在所有英国浪漫派诗选里遇见。在这里，有对于时间易逝的感喟，而且诗人力求扩大意境，把世界、人生、时间联在一起；诗句的音乐性也很感人。

另一首《哀歌》更出色。它只有短短八行，前七行写各种风声：粗暴的风，狂野的风，摇撼着森林和大海的狂飙，都在发出声音，而在这一番描写之后，却来了这样出人意料的最末一行：

号哭吧，来为天下鸣不平！

它把自然界的风声同人间的不平之鸣连在一起了。诗人不是在抒发个人的哀叹，而是在最关键的位置上点出了诗的主题：要求伸张社会正义。

同样善于运用结语的例子还有《悼万尼·戈特温》一诗。如果说前四行是一种在中外诗歌里都常见到的男女离别的场面，那么最后的两行却又是在柳永式或彭斯式的离别诗里所难于找到的：

苦难啊，苦难，

这广阔的世界里，竟处处碰到你！

这是一种自然的，却又饱含深意的联系，把一个姑娘的不幸（万尼是自杀的）同世界上的众多苦难连在一起，这就使个人的遭遇获得了更加深远的社会意义。

雪莱诗的音乐效果也起了重大作用。他的诗几乎首首可诵，可歌；他是一个歌唱的诗人，而不是像他的好朋友拜伦那样，常常以口语入诗。有一首情诗《致琪恩》，特别显示了雪莱在创造诗的音乐美方面的非凡成就。

高远的理想，鲜明的自然的形象，随着诗情变化的音乐效果，在有名的《西风颂》里得到了和谐的统一，而此外还得加上一个因素，即严谨的格律。雪莱诗有时不尽协律，但在《西风颂》里，他又一度驾驭了一个对诗人提出了十分严格要求的诗体。单从押韵来说，这诗的每一大节的脚韵安排是：aba，bcb，cbc，ded，ee，也就是说前后的诗行之间有呼应，有推进，最后又有小结。五个大节都如此，于是全诗形式完整而又逐步推进，首尾形成一种很有戏剧性的向前的运动。雪莱遵守了这个韵脚安排，然而却又在另外一方面突破了这诗体的束缚，即为了要写出西风的非凡威力，他的诗句不仅跨行，而且越节。这不止是因为写诗的高手总是要从束缚中找自由，还因为雪莱要充分利用这诗体的特点来表达他的主题，那就是：西风摧枯拉朽，有着巨大的破坏力，但又到处促进新生，因此它既是“破坏者”，又是“保护者”。在前面三大节中，雪莱写西风首先猛扫地球，接着激荡长空，最后摇撼大海，而在作了这一番地、空、海的大翻腾之后，诗调忽然一变——诗人自己出来向西风诉说自己的心情了：

如果我能是一片落叶随你飘腾，

如果我能是一朵流云伴你飞行，

啊，卷走我吧，像卷落叶，波浪，流云！

我跌在人生的刺树上，我血流遍体！

这是来自灵魂深处的痛苦呼声，而把这种迫切心情毫不掩饰地表达出来，并且进而把个人同大自然打成一片，这正是浪漫主义诗人的本色。然而雪莱的呼喊并不是为了自己，他是要执行诗人作为“人类立法者”的崇高职责，要在这旧物还未尽摧、新芽已经出现的大变革关头，做一把号角，将一个预言传布在人群之中：

……啊，西风，

如果冬天已到，难道春天还用久等？

一百多年来，当革命者在旧社会的黑暗深渊里感到心情沉重，不少人是吟咏着这两句诗而又重新抬起头来的。

除抒情诗外，雪莱还写了大量叙事诗，哲理诗，时事讽刺诗，两个重要的多幕诗剧，一个以《希腊》为题的“抒情诗剧”，等等。在这类长诗里，雪莱更多地写反抗，写起义，写理想社会，开辟了新境界。在《解放了的普鲁米修斯》这个诗剧里，就有一段有名的关于未来共产主义式的社会的描绘。在《希腊》一剧里，他也纵观古今，写出了这样富于感情的合唱曲：

伟大时代在世界重现，

黄金岁月再来。……

啊，如果人间终须有死亡，

切莫重演特洛伊的故事！……

且住！难道恨和死定要重来？

且住！难道定要人杀人？

且住！莫把那预言的苦酒

定要喝个一滴不剩。

世界已经对过去厌弃，

让它就从此安息！

这里出现了一种新的沉痛之感，那最后一节里的几个“且住！”比《西风颂》里的“我跌在人生的刺树上”的呼喊更震撼我们，因为那里毕竟只是一个孤独灵魂的叫声，而这里却有从古希腊以来的人世沧桑的大背景，对几千年历史的沉思给了诗人以更成熟的智慧，因此当他展望新的黄金时代的时候，他也更加脚踏实地，更加沉着了。

王佐良

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land^1

Who said：“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone^2

Stand in the desert ...Near them，on the sand.

Half sunk，a shattered visage^3 lies，whose frown，

And wrinkled lip，and sneer of cold command，4

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read^5

Which yet survive，stamped on these lifeless things，

The hand that mocked them，and the heart that fed；6

And on the pedestal^7 these words appear：

‘My name is Ozymandias，King of Kings；8

Look on my Works，ye Mighty，and despair！’9

Nothing beside remains.Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck.10 boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

【题解】

Ozymandias是拉默西斯二世（RamesesⅡ）的希腊名字。拉默西斯二世是埃及尼罗河上古都底比斯（Thebes［θiːbz］）的古埃及国王，在位六十七年（1292—1225BC）。他穷兵黩武，与邻国频频开战。他还命人建造了几座庙宇和本人的陵墓。其陵墓如今只剩他本人残破的黑花岗石坐像。

【注释】

1.an antique land：指埃及。

2.trunkless legs of stone：只有两条石雕的腿，没有躯体。

3.a shattered visage：破碎的脸。

4.sneer of cold command：冷酷威严的轻蔑表情。

5.Tell that its sculptor well those passions read：（双眉紧皱和冷酷威严的轻蔑表情）说明雕塑家十分理解那样的情绪。正常结构应为read well those passions；passions：指皱眉和轻蔑的表情；read：“揣摩”之意。

6.Which yet survive，stamped on these lifeless things ...fed：这些激情深深地印在毫无生命的破损石雕上。survive的宾语为the hand和the heart，意为这些激情依然存在，而当年雕塑家的手和拉默西斯二世孕育（fed）这些激情的心都早已消失了。mocked：imitated and derided；fed：省去宾语them，即those passions。

7.pedestal：雕像的基座。

8.My name is Ozymandias，King of Kings：据公元前一世纪希腊历史学家狄奥多罗斯（Diodorus Siculus）记载，拉默西斯二世陵墓上有以下铭文，英译文如下：“I am Ozymandias，king of kings；if anyone wishes to know what I am and where I lie，let him surpass me in some of my exploits.”

9.Look on my works，ye Mighty，and despair：雪莱根据上述原铭文“if anyone ...”这一分句略作改动，既简洁又抓住了原意；works：暗指exploits（业绩）。此句意为如有强者想和我比比高低，只要看看我的业绩就望洋兴叹了。

10.colossal wreck：巨大的破碎雕像。

Song：To the Men of England

1

Men of England，wherefore^1 plough

For the lords who lay ye low？2

Wherefore weave with toil and care

The rich robes your tyrants wear？

2

Wherefore feed，and clothe，and save，

From the cradle to the grave.

Those ungrateful drones^3 who would

Drain your sweat — nay，drink your blood？

3

Wherefore.Bees of England，4 forge

Many a weapon，chain，and scourge.

That these stingless drones may spoil

The forced produce^5 of your toil？

4

Have ye leisure，comfort，calm，

Shelter，food，love's gentle balm？6

Or what is it ye buy so dear

With your pain and with your fear？

5

The seed ye sow，another reaps；

The wealth ye find，another keeps；

The robes ye weave，another wears；

The arms ye forge，another bears.

6

Sow seed，— but let no tyrant reap；

Find wealth，— let no impostor heap；7

Weave robes，— let not the idle wear；

Forge arms，— in your defence to bear.

7

Shrink to your cellars，holes，and cells；

In halls ye deck another dwells.8

Why shake the chains ye wrought？ Ye see

The steel，ye tempered glance on ye.9

8

With plough and spade，and hoe and loom，

Trace your grave，and build your tomb，

And weave your winding-sheet，till fair

England be your sepulchre.10

【注释】

1.wherefore：for which or what reason，why.

2.the lords who lay ye low：压迫你们的地主；ye：you.

3.drones：雄蜂。雄蜂不采蜜，坐享其成。

4.Bees of England：指英国的工蜂，即劳动人民。

5.forced produce：被迫劳动的收获。

6.love's gentle balm：爱情的温存安抚。

7.heap：聚敛。

8.Shrink to your cellars，holes，and cells ...dwells：意为如果你们畏缩不进，躲进陋室，那么你们造的房子将成为他人的寓所。

9.Why shake the chains ye wrought？ Ye see ...ye：你们为何要挣脱自己制的枷锁呢？（因为）你们炼的钢铁正寒光闪闪地监视着你们。

10.With plough and spade，and hoe and loom ... sepulchre：本节大意为如果你们不奋起反抗，那只能苦劳终生，自掘坟墓。winding-sheet：裹尸布；sepulchre：坟场。

England in 1819

An old，mad，blind，despised，and dying King^1 —

Princes，the dregs of their dull race，2 who flow

Through public scorn — mud from a muddy spring；3

Rulers who neither see，nor feel，nor know，

But leechlike to their fainting country cling，4

Till they drop，blind in blood，without a blow.5

A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field^6 —

An army，which liberticide and prey^7

Makes as a two-edged sword^8 to all who wield；

Golden and sanguine laws which tempt^9 and slay；

Religion Christless，Godless — a book sealed；10

A Senate — Time's worst statute unrepealed^11 —

Are graves，12 from which a glorious Phantom may

Burst，to illumine our tempestuous day.

【题解】

雪莱在诗中无情地鞭挞了当时的英国统治者，深切地表达了对英国人民的同情，并预言革命风暴的到来。

【注释】

1.An old，mad，blind，despised，and dying King：指英王乔治三世（1738—1820）。他于1811年精神失常，由太子摄政，死于1820年。

2.dregs of their dull race：他们愚顽种族的渣滓。

3.mud from a muddy spring：出之于浊流的污泥。意为这批王公贵人在国人的蔑视之下世世代代混下去。

4.leechlike to their fainting country cling：leechlike cling to their fainting country，像水蛭一般附在奄奄一息的国家之上吸血。

5.Till they drop，blind in blood，without a blow：水蛭吸足血后，迷迷糊糊自己掉下来，不打自倒。喻皇亲国戚总有一天会垮台。

6.A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field：国民在荒废的土地上挨饿，遭杀戮。此行影射1819年8月16日在曼彻斯特（Manchester）的圣彼得广场（St. Peter's Field）上发生的惨案。那天约有六万人举行和平集会，要求普选权，要求议会每年开会，反对“谷物法案”等。当局命令武装骑警冲散集会者，打死十余人，打伤数百人。这一惨案被称彼得卢大屠杀（Peterloo Massacre），即Waterloo和St. Peter两词的结合，颇有讥讽意义。untilled：未耕作的。

7.liberticide and prey：扼杀自由，劫掠民众。

8.Makes：主语为liberticide and prey。这两个词作为一个整体概念，故用makes；a two-edged sword：双刃刀，军队扼杀自由，劫掠人民，故称双刃刀。

9.Golden and sanguine laws which tempt：用黄金收买和屠杀人的法律；sanguine：血色的；tempt：收买。

10.Religion Christless，Godless — a book sealed：不信耶稣和不信上帝的宗教令人不可理解。

11.A Senate — Time's worst statute unrepealed：议会连最坏的法律也不废除。这个法律规定不信奉英国国教者和天主教徒不得担任公职。

12.Are graves：主语为King，princes，rulers，people，army，laws，Religion和Senate等。把这些集中起来，就成为一座座坟墓。从中将产生一个“光荣的幽灵”（a glorious Phantom），即革命。

Ode to the West Wind

1

O wild West Wind，thou breath of Autumn's being，1

Thou from whose unseen presence^2 the leaves dead

Are driven，like ghosts from an enchanter^3 fleeing，

Yellow，and black，and pale，and hectic red，4

Pestilence-stricken multitudes：5 O thou.

Who chariotest^6 to their dark wintry bed

The wingèd seeds，7 where they lie cold and low，

Each like a corpse within its grave，until

Thine azure sister of the Spring^8 shall blow

Her clarion o'er^9 the dreaming earth，and fill

（Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air）10

With living hues and odours plain and hill：

Wild Spirit，which art^11 moving everywhere；

Destroyer and preserver；hear，O，hear！

2

Thou on whose stream，mid the steep sky's commotion，12

Loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed，

Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean，13

Angels^14 of rain and lightning：there are spread

On the blue surface of thine aëry surge，

Like the bright hair uplifed from the head

Of some fierce Maenad，even^15 from the dim verge

Of the horizon to the zenith's height，

The locks of the approaching storm.16 Thou dirge^17

Of the dying year，to which this closing night

Will be the dome of a vast sepulchre，

Vaulted with all thy congregated might

Of vapours，18 from whose solid atmosphere

Black rain，and fire，and hail will burst：O，hear！

3

Thou who didst^19 waken from his summer dreams

The blue Mediterranean，where he lay，

Lulled by the coil of his crystàlline streams，20

Beside a pumice isle in Baiae's bay，21

And saw in sleep old palaces and towers

Quivering within the wave's intenser day，22

All overgrown with azure moss and flowers

So sweet，the sense faints picturing them！23 Thou

For whose path the Atlantic's level powers

Cleave themselves into chasms，24 while far below

The sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear

The sapless foliage of the ocean，know

Thy voice，and suddenly grow gray with fear，

And tremble and despoil themselves：25 O，hear！

4

If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear；

If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee；

A wave to pant beneath thy power，and share

The impulse of thy strength，only less free

Than thou，26 O Uncontrollable！ If even

I were as in my boyhood，and could be

The comrade of thy wanderings over Heaven，

As then，when to outstrip thy skiey speed

Scarce seemed a vision；I would ne'er have striven

As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.27

Oh，lift me as a wave，a leaf，a cloud！

I fall upon the thorns of life！ I bleed！28

A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowed

One too like thee：tameless，and swift，and proud.29

5

Make me thy lyre，30 even as the forest is：

What if^31 my leaves are falling like its own！

The tumult of thy mighty harmonies

Will take from both^32 a deep，autumnal tone，

Sweet though in sadness. Be thou，Spirit fierce，

My spirit！ Be thou me，impetuous one！33

Drive my dead thoughts over the universe

Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth！

And，by the incantation of this verse，34

Scatter，as from an unextinguished hearth

Ashes and sparks，my words among mankind！

Be through my lips to unawakened Earth

The trumpet of a prophecy！35 O Wind，

If Winter comes，can Spring be far behind？

【题解】

这首《西风颂》是雪莱著名的政治性诗歌，历来为革命者广为传颂，激励斗志。雪莱自诠说，他在1819年秋季的一天傍晚，在意大利佛罗伦萨附近的河边的树林中，遇到风暴、雨雹交加，有感而作。

本诗的格律是但丁《神曲》所用的三行诗节（Terze Rima）和莎士比亚十四行诗体的结合。每一段共十四行，前四节为三行诗，末节为双行排偶句（couplet）；每行均为五步抑扬格（iambic pentameter），韵脚安排为aba，bcb，cdc，ded，ee。雪莱采用跨行、跨节（run-on line）的诗行，热情奔放，气势磅礴。

【注释】

1.thou breath of Antumn's being：秋之生命的呼吸；thou：you；Autumn：大写，拟人化用法；being：existence，life.

2.unseen presence：无形的存在。

3.enchanter：魔师。枯叶被秋风吹散，犹如鬼魂见了魔师匆匆逃跑。

4.hectic red：肺病患者面颊通红，此指树叶的颜色。

5.Pestilence-stricken multitudes：枯叶被西风吹散，好像是害怕瘟疫而逃离；multitudes：成团的枯叶。

6.chariotest：配合thou的谓语动词，在现代英语中应为chariot。原为名词，作“战车”解，此处意为“驱车送往”。

7.wingèd seeds：轻盈飘飞的种子如同长了翅膀。

8.Thine azure sister of the Spring：指春天吹的西风；Thine：此处不用thy（your）是因为后面接以元音字母开首的词“azure”，与第19行thine aëry surge同；地中海的天空呈蔚蓝色，故说azure；Spring：大写亦为拟人化用法。按：意大利所在的阿尔卑斯山以南终年刮西风，雪莱描写的是秋末冬初的西风，摧枯拉朽，并把种子送到冬眠的床上（如第6行），而春天的西风则将唤醒它们。所以把春季的西风称作“你蔚蓝色的姐妹”。

9.clarion：号角，一种音调很高的喇叭；o'er：over.

10.Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air：春天的蓓蕾好比羊群，西风像牧羊人放羊吃草那样赶着蓓蕾呼吸新鲜空气。

11.Spirit：在希伯来语、拉丁语、希腊语和其他许多语言中，wind，breath，soul和inspiration的意义都很相近。雪莱歌颂的西风乃是一种“精灵”，象征在秋季摧枯拉朽，在来年春天勃发新生的力量。下行Destroyer and preserver即是此意；art：are，和thou相配合。

12.stream：气流；mid：amid；the steep sky's commotion：高空中一片混乱。

13.Loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed ... Ocean：零碎的云像枯死的树叶，被风从更大更高的云团上（boughs）吹散下来；Shook：shaken；tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean：天与海的交叉的枝桠，指海面上蒸腾起来的水气和空中的云团凝在一起。

14.Angels：（archaic ）messengers，harbingers，使者，先行者。乱云是大雨和闪电的先行者。

15.Maenad ［′miːnαːd］：迈娜得，希腊神话中酒神巴科斯（Bacchus）的女祭司，举动疯狂。这几行诗形容乱云像狂女上冲的头发；even：just.

16.The locks of the approaching storm：即将来临的风暴的卷发；“卷发”指乱云像狂女的头发。

17.Thou dirge：西风是残年的挽歌。

18.to which this closing night ... vapours：残年的最后之夜（closing night）像是巨大墓穴的拱顶，笼罩在密集的蒸汽之中。

19.didst：did.

20.the coil of his crystàlline streams：地中海的水流常呈现出不同的颜色，所以能看出曲折的波漩（coil）。

21.pumice isle：白色浮石构成的岛；Baiae's bay：意大利那不勒斯（Naples）西部的休假地，古代罗马国王在此建造了许多行宫。

22.Quivering within the wave's intenser day：（地中海从夏梦中醒来，看到古宫殿和城堡的倒影）在水波中颤动，光彩浓烈。雪莱曾说，色彩经水折射后更加鲜艳和和谐。

23.the sense faints picturing them：香得连感官也醉倒了。

24.For whose path the Atlantic's level powers ... chasms：大西洋的波涛被西风吹开，好像被劈成了巨壑；level powers：平流的波涛。

25.far below ... themselves：雪莱自注：“The phenomenon alluded to at the conclusion of the third stanza is well known to naturalists. The vegetation at the bottom of the sea，of rivers，and of lakes，sympathizes with that of the land in the change of seasons，and is consequently influenced by the winds which announce it.”海底的植物也受到西风威力的影响，战栗变色，纷纷落叶。

26.A wave to pant beneath thy power，and share ... thou：像波浪那样在西风的巨大威力下喘息。虽然不像西风那样自由自在，但是也能与它猛烈的冲劲共鸣。

27.If even ... need：雪莱认为童年时代充满天真的幻想，能自由地随风遨游长空，那时要超过急速的风暴似乎并非幻想，而现在却只能向西风祈求了。

28.I fall upon the thorns of life！ I bleed：诗人祈求西风把他高高吹起，但是，却跌落到人生的荆棘之上，鲜血淋漓。

29.A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowed ... proud：岁月的重轭束缚了我，而我原来也像你一样狂放不羁，迅猛高傲。

30.lyre：Eolian lyre，风鸣琴；西风吹得树林飒飒作响，诗人愿作风鸣琴，在西风的吹动下演奏。

31.What if：即使……又有何妨？

32.both：指树木和风声。

33.Be thou，Spirit fierce ... one：诗人希望和西风合而为一。

34.by the incantation of this verse：凭借这首诗的法力；incantation：符咒。

35.The trumpet of a prophecy：呼应第10行的clarion。《新约·启示录》（Revelation ） 11：15：And the seventh angel sounded；and there were great voices in heaven，saying，The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdomsof our Lord，and of his Christ；and he shall reign for ever and ever.（第七位天使吹号，天上就有大声音说：世上的国成了我主和主基督的国；他要作王，直到永永远远。）

On Fanny Godwin

Her voice did^1 quiver as we parted，

Yet knew I not^2 that heart was broken

From which it^3 came，and I departed

Heeding not the words then spoken.

Misery — O Misery，

This world is all too Wide for thee.4

【题解】

范妮·葛德汶是雪莱的妻妹，因长期忧郁而自杀。她的死给雪莱以很大的震动。

【注释】

1.did：垫韵，并非一定强调。

2.knew I not：I did not know.

3.it：指voice，此句意为我不知道她的话来自破碎的心。

4.thee：you，thou的宾格，指Misery。

To —

1

One word is too often profaned^1

For me to profane it，

One feeling^2 too falsely disdained

For thee to disdain it；

One hope is too like despair

For prudence to smother，3

And pity from thee more dear

Than that from another.

2

I can give not what men call love，

But wilt thou^4 accept not

The worship the heart lifts above^5

And the Heavens reject not，—

The desire of the moth for the star，

Of the night for the morrow，

The devotion to something afar

From the sphere of our sorrow？6

【注释】

1.word：指love；profaned：亵渎。

2.feeling：爱慕之情。

3.One hope is too like despair ... smother：意为获得对方爱情的希望极小，几乎像绝望，不能再因考虑世俗的礼法（prudence）而扼杀（smother）这一点点希望。

4.wilt thou：will you.

5.lifts above：奉献的。

6.The devotion to something afar ... sorrow：从我们痛苦的尘寰，对遥远的事物倾心。

The Cloud

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers，

From the seas and the streams；

I bear light shade for the leaves^1 when laid

In their noon-day dreams.

From my wings are shaken the dews that waken

The sweet buds every one，

When rocked to rest on their mother's^2 breast，

As she dances about the Sun.3

I wield the flail of the lashing hail，4

And whiten the green plains under，

And then again I dissolve it in rain，5

And laugh as I pass in thunder.

I sift the snow on the mountains below，

And their great pines groan aghast；6

And all the night 'tis^7 my pillow white，

While I sleep in the arms of the blast.

Sublime on the towers of my skiey bowers，8

Lightning my pilot sits；9

In a cavern under is fettered the thunder，10

It struggles and howls at fits；11

Over Earth and Ocean，with gentle motion，

This pilot is guiding me，

Lured by the love of the genii^12 that move

In the depths of the purple sea；

Over the rills，and the crags，13 and the hills，

Over the lakes and the plains，

Wherever he dream，under mountain or stream，

The Spirit he loves remains；

And I all the while bask in Heaven's blue smile，14

Whilst he is dissolving in rains.

The sanguine Sunrise，with his meteor eyes，15

And his burning plumes outspread，

Leaps on the back of my sailing rack，16

When the morning star shines dead；17

As on the jag of a mountain crag，

Which an earthquake rocks and swings，

An eagle alit^18 one moment may sit

In the light of its golden wings.

And when Sunset may breathe，from the lit Sea^19 beneath，

Its ardours of rest and of love，

And the crimson pall^20 of eve may fall

From the depth of Heaven above，

With wings folded I rest，on mine aëry nest，21

As still as a brooding dove.22

That orbed maiden with white fire laden^23

Whom mortals call the Moon，

Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor，24

By the midnight breezes strewn；

And wherever the beat of her unseen feet，

Which only the angels hear，

May have broken the woof，of my tent's thin roof，

The stars peep behind her，and peer：25

And I laugh to see them whirl and flee，

Like a swarm of golden bees，

When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent，26

Till the calm rivers，lakes，and seas，

Like strips of the sky fallen through me on high，

Are each paved with the moon and these.27

I bind the Sun's throne with a burning zone^28

And the Moon's with a girdle of pearl；29

The volcanos are dim and the stars reel and swim

When the whirlwinds my banner unfurl.

From cape to cape，30 with a bridge-like shape，

Over a torrent sea，

Sunbeam-proof，31 I hang like a roof —

The mountains its columns be！

The triumphal arch，through which I march

With hurricane，fire，and snow，

When the Powers of the Air，32 are chained to my chair，

Is the million-coloured Bow；33

The sphere-fire^34 above its soft colours wove

While the moist Earth was laughing below.

I am the daughter of Earth and Water，

And the nursling of the Sky；35

I pass through the pores，of the ocean and shores；

I change，but I cannot die —

For after the rain，when with never a stain

The pavilion of Heaven is bare，

And the winds and sunbeams，with their convex gleams，

Build up the blue dome of Air^36—

I silently laugh at my own cenotaph，37

And out of the caverns of rain，

Like a child from the womb，like a ghost from the tomb，

I arise，and unbuild it again.38

【注释】

1.bear light shade for the leaves：给树叶披上淡淡的阴翳。

2.mother's：大地的。

3.As she dances about the Sun：指大地绕太阳旋转。

4.I wield the flail of the lashing hail：我把冰雹当作打谷禾的连枷。

5.dissolve it in rain：用雨浸透绿色的原野。

6.groan aghast：惊恐地呻吟。

7.'tis：it is.

8.skiey bowers：空中楼阁；skiey：of or like the sky；bowers：诗歌用语，原指精致的村舍，卧室。弥尔顿在《失乐园》中用此词表示亚当和夏娃的住处。

9.Lightning my pilot sits：my pilot：是lightening的同位语，闪电是我的驭手，它高高地坐在我的空中楼阁中。

10.In a cavern under is fettered the thunder：the thunder is fettered under in a cavern，霹雷被锁在下面的洞穴中。洞穴指云团之间的空隙。

11.howls at fits：howls fitfully，阵阵嗥叫。

12.genii：genie的复数，阿拉伯神话中的妖怪。以上数行意为闪电是云的驭手，受到异性电的吸引，发生放电现象。

13.rills：溪流；crags：巉崖。

14.bask in Heaven's blue smile：云的上层暴露在阳光之下。

15.sanguine：blood-red；meteor eyes：像流星一样闪亮的眼睛。

16.And his burning plumes outspread ...rack：太阳伸展火红的羽毛，跳在我飞行的云雾背上；burning plumes：指日冕；rack：被风吹散的流云。

17.shines dead：（晨星）消失。

18.alit：alight的过去式和过去分词，（鸟）飞落。

19.the lit Sea：被夕阳照亮的大海。

20.pall：coverlet of rich material，（黄昏）帷幕。

21.mine aëry nest：因aëry（空中的）为元音字母起头，故用mine，不用my，诗歌式古旧用法。

22.As still as a brooding dove：参见《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ）3：16：And Jesus，when he was baptized，went up straight way out of the water：and，lo，the heavens were opened unto him，and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove，and lighting upon him.（耶稣受了洗，即从水里上来。天忽然为他开了，他就看见神的灵，仿佛鸽子降下，落在他身上。）又弥尔顿《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ）1. 19—22：thou from the first／ Wast present，and with mighty wings outspread，／Dove-like sat'st brooding on the vast abyss／And mad'st it pregnant；又12.235：His brooding wings the spirit of God outspread，etc.

23.orbed：圆形的；with white fire laden：laden with white fire，月亮是白色的，故说white fire。

24.fleece-like floor：羊毛般的地毯（地板），形容月夜的云彩纤细，洁白。

25.May have broken the woof，of my tent's thin roof ... peer：月夜的云彩如轻罗织成的帐篷，云中出现缝隙时，星星就会露出来；woof：texture，织物，喻云彩如练。

26.rent：裂缝；wind-built tent：云经风吹动而形成帐篷状。

27.the calm rivers，lakes，and seas ... these：此三行描绘云彩被风吹开以后，缀在天幕之上的星星，倒映于江河湖海的水波之中，犹如块块天幕，从空中降临至地上。

28.zone：girdle，belt，阳光照耀下的云彩犹如燃烧的腰带。

29.a girdle of pearl：月光下的云彩如珠光束腰。

30.From cape to cape：从海岬至海岬，指跨越大洋。

31.Sunbeam-proof：不透阳光。

32.the Powers of the Air：大气的威力，指风。

33.million-coloured Bow：百色弓，指虹。

34.sphere-fire：指阳光。

35.the nursling of the Sky：天空的婴儿；水汽上升在天空形成云，故云如婴儿躺在天空的怀里。

36.the blue dome of Air：苍穹。雪莱认为阳光（sunbeams）经过大气层的折射，使天空变成蓝色。

37.cenotaph：衣冠冢。云既不死，万里晴空便成了云的衣冠冢。

38.unbuild it again：云重新出现，再次拆毁了衣冠冢。

To a Sky-Lark

Hail to thee，blithe Spirit！1

Bird thou never wert^2 —

That from Heaven，or near it，3

Pourest thy full heart

In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.4

Higher still and higher

From the earth thou springest^5

Like a cloud of fire；

The blue deep thou wingest，

And singing still dost^6 soar，and soaring ever singest.

In the golden lightning

Of the sunken Sun —

O'er^7 which clouds are brightning，

Thou dost float and run；

Like an unbodied joy^8 whose race is just begun.

The pale purple even

Melts around thy flight，

Like a star of Heaven

In the broad day-light

Thou art unseen，— but yet I hear thy shrill delight.

Keen as are the arrows

Of that silver sphere，9

Whose intense lamp narrows

In the white dawn clear

Until we hardly see — we feel that it is there.

All the earth and air

With thy voice is loud，

As when Night is bare

From one lonely cloud

The moon rains out her beams — and Heaven is overflowed.10

What thou art we know not；

What is most like thee？

From rainbow clouds there flow not

Drops so bright to see

As from thy presence showers a rain of melody.11

Like a Poet hidden

In the light of thought，

Singing hymns unbidden，

Till the world is wrought

To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not：12

Like a high-born^13 maiden

In a palace-tower，

Soothing her love-laden

Soul in secret hour，

With music sweet as love — which overflows her bower：

Like a glow-worm^14 golden

In a dell of dew，

Scattering unbeholden

Its aerial hue

Among the flowers and grass which screen it from the view：

Like a rose embowered

In its own green leaves —

By warm winds deflowered —

Till the scent it gives

Makes faint with too much sweet heavy-winged thieves：15

Sound of vernal showers

On the twinkling grass，

Rain-awakened flowers，

All that ever was

Joyous，and clear and fresh，thy music doth surpass.

Teach us，Sprite^16 or Bird，

What sweet thoughts are thine：

I have never heard

Praise of love or wine

That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine：

Chorus Hymeneal^17

Or triumphal chaunt

Matched with thine would be all

But an empty vaunt，

A thing wherein we feel there is some hidden want.

What objects are the fountains

Of thy happy strain？

What fields or waves or mountains？

What shapes of sky or plain？

What love of thine own kind？ what ignorance of pain？

With thy clear keen joyance

Languor cannot be —

Shadow of annoyance

Never came near thee；

Thou lovest — but ne'er knew love's sad satiety.18

Waking or asleep，

Thou of death must deem

Things more true and deep

Than we mortals dream，

Or how could thy notes flow in such a chrystal stream？

We look before and after，

And pine for what is not —

Our sincerest laughter

With some pain is fraught^19 —

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Yet if we could scorn

Hate and pride and fear；

If we were things born

Not to shed a tear，

I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.

Better than all measures

Of delightful sound —

Better than all treasures

That in books are found —

Thy skill to poet were，thou Scorner of the ground！20

Teach me half the gladness

That thy brain must know，

Such harmonious madness

From my lips would flow

The world should listen then — as I am listening now.

【注释】

1.Hail to thee：向你欢呼；blithe Spirit：云雀被喻为欢乐的精灵，在英国诗歌中屡见不鲜，如莎士比亚称之为merry larks，参见Sonnet 29：Like to the lark at break of day arising／From sullen earth，sings hymns at heaven's gate；Spirit：精灵，参见《西风颂》（第436页）注11。

2.Bird thou never wert：你似乎从来就不是飞禽，承上行blithe Spirit。

3.from Heaven，or near it：云雀能高升入云，边飞边鸣。

4.In profuse strains of unpremeditated art：云雀放开歌喉，酣畅淋漓（profuse），即兴而发（unpremeditated）。

5.thou springest：you spring；“-est”是配合thou的动词词尾，以下wingest，singest等同。

6.dost：do.

7.O'er：over.

8.unbodied joy：不具形态的喜悦。云雀摆脱大地束缚，扶摇而上，在高空欢唱。但闻其声，不见其形，犹如脱离物体形骸的欢乐的象征。如第20行所言。但亦有批评家认为unbodied应为embodied，具有形体的，意思刚好相反，两种意象各有千秋。

9.Keen as are the arrows ... sphere：晨星的利箭。云雀欢乐的歌声尖厉如星光。

10.The moon rains out her beams — and Heaven is overflowed：月亮洒下银光，清辉充满宇宙。

11.From rainbow clouds there flow not ... melody：此三行喻云雀婉转的歌声胜过彩虹降下的闪光的雨滴。

12.Like a Poet hidden ... not：雪莱认为诗人应该主动地唱起诗歌，以世人未予注意的希望和关注来唤醒全人类的同情。

13.high-born：出身于名门望族。

14.glow-worm：萤火虫。

15.heavy-winged thieves：指第53行的warm winds。玫瑰的芳香被暖风吹散。花气袭人，连暖风这“偷香者”也为之陶醉。

16.Sprite：Spirit.

17.Chorus Hymeneal：婚礼合唱；Hymen：希腊神话中的婚姻之神。

18.love's sad satiety：意为爱情一旦餍足反成悲伤。

19.With some pain is fraught：is fraught with some pain.

20.Scorner of the ground：云雀蔑视大地。

A Lament

1

O world！ O life！ O time！1

On whose last steps^2 I climb，

Trembling at that where I has stood before；

When will return the glory of your prime？3

No more — Oh，never more！

2

Out of the day and night

A joy has taken flight；

Fresh spring，and summer，and winter hoar，4

Move my faint heart with grief，but with delight

No more — Oh，never more！

【注释】

1.time：时光。

2.whose last steps：指世界、人生和时光的最后阶段。

3.the glory of your prime：风华正茂的少年时期。按：雪莱此时年仅二十八岁，但似乎已历尽人间沧桑，不复有少年的心境，乃至回忆往事，不禁颤抖。

4.hoar：white or greyish white，苍白色，形容冬天。

A Dirge

Rough wind，that moanest^1 loud

Grief too sad for song；

Wild wind，when sullen cloud

Knells^2 all the night long；

Sad storm，whose tears are vain，3

Bare woods，whose branches strain，4

Deep caves and dreary main，5 —

Wail，for the world's wrong！6

【注释】

1.moanest：moan和thou配合的动词形式，诗人在直接和狂风（Rough wind）对话。

2.Knells：发出哀伤之声，如敲丧钟。

3.vain：futile，无用的。

4.strain：伸展（枝条）。

5.main：既可指大地（mainland），亦可指大海（the high sea）。

6.wrong：wrong-doing，含有tyranny的意思。雪莱对暴政深恶痛疾，诗中大自然发出的不仅是痛苦的哀歌，而且在为暴政敲响丧钟。

Chorus from Hellas

The world's great age^1 begins anew，

The golden years return，2

The earth doth^3 like a snake renew

Her winter weeds outworn；4

Heaven smiles，and faiths^5 and empires gleam

Like wrecks of a dissolving dream.6

A brighter Hellas^7 rears its mountains

From waves serener far；

A new Peneus^8 rolls his fountains

Against the morning star.

Where fairer Tempes^9 bloom，there sleep

Young Cyclads^10 on a sunnier deep.

A loftier Argo^11 cleaves the main，

Fraught with a later prize；12

Another Orpheus^13 sings again，

And loves，and weeps，and dies.

A new Ulysses^14 leaves once more

Calypso^15 for his native shore.

O，write no more the tale of Troy，

If earth Death's scroll must be！

Nor mix with Laian rage^16 the joy

Which dawns upon the free；

Although a subtler Sphinx renew

Riddles of death Thebes^17 never knew.

Another Athens shall arise，

And to remoter time

Bequeath，like sunset to the skies，

The splendour of its prime，

And leave，if nought so bright may live，

All earth can take or Heaven can give.

Saturn and Love their long repose

Shall burst，more bright and good

Than all who fell，than One who rose，

Than many unsubdued；18

Not gold，not blood，their altar dowers，

But votive tears and symbol flowers.19

O，cease！ must hate and death return？

Cease！ must men kill and die？

Cease！ drain not to its dregs the urn

Of bitter prophecy.20

The world is weary of the past，

O，might it die or rest at last！

【注释】

1.The world's great age：雪莱自注：任何时代的诗人或预言家都能较有把握地预言战争或制造战争的谣言，但是，即使是含糊地预示新生和幸福的时代的到来，也是诗人在危险地运用他们所具有或希冀的能力。这可以使读者回想起以赛亚和维吉尔，他们炽烈的精神看到一个可能的，并且也许正在到来的社会，那时狮子和羔羊可以在一起卧伏。“大地将产生一切”，“让这些伟大的名字成为我的权威和辩解。”

2.The golden years return：希腊神话中农神萨杜恩（Saturn，拉丁文Saturnus）统治的时代为“黄金时代”。

3.doth：does.

4.winter weeds outworn：冬天的枯草，如穿布的衣服；weeds：亦可指寡妇的丧服（a widow's mourning apparel）。

5.faiths：宗教信仰。

6.wrecks of a dissolving dream：残梦中的遗迹。

7.Hellas：（poetic ）希腊。

8.Peneus：（希腊的）比尼阿斯河。

9.Tempes：敦波，希腊的山谷，以景色幽雅著称。

10.Cyclads：爱琴海中的赛克莱群岛。

11.Argo：（希腊神话）伊阿宋（Jason，一译贾森）率领勇士乘坐的船。他们坐着“亚尔古舟”去海外寻找金羊毛（golden fleece）。

12.a later prize：指新剪回来的金羊毛。

13.Orpheus：俄耳甫斯。希腊神话中的诗人兼音乐家，其琴声能使草木点头，禽兽驯服。他曾参加亚尔古舟的远征，以神异的音乐帮助同伴。俄耳甫斯的爱妻欧律狄斯（Eurydice）被毒蛇咬伤致死。为了救妻子，他亲身至冥界，用音乐驯服了冥界女王佩尔塞福涅。她允许俄耳甫斯带回妻子，但是规定他在走出冥界之前不能回头，或同她交谈。由于俄耳甫斯爱妻心切，尚未走出冥界就回头一望，因而永远失去了妻子。关于他的死，说法不一：一说他因拒绝参加犹俄倪索斯（即酒神巴科斯）举行的秘密仪式而被酒神的女祭司迈娜得斯杀死，另一说他在悼念亡妻时被特赖刻（Thracian）妇女撕碎而死。

14.Ulysses：尤利西斯，希腊神话中的英雄。在罗马神话中他叫奥德修斯（Odysseus），参加过特洛伊战争。他出主意制造了特洛伊木马，攻陷了特洛伊城。战争结束后，他在海上漂流十年，终于回到家乡。荷马的史诗《奥德修纪》（Odyssey ）即以他为中心人物。

15.Calypso：女仙卡吕普索。奥德修斯翻船后，飘到卡吕普索的岛上。她许他长生不老，并愿嫁他为妻。奥德修斯在岛上住了七年，但仍怀念家乡而离岛返家。

16.Laian rage：据希腊神话传说，底比斯王拉伊俄斯（Laius of Thebes）生下儿子俄狄浦斯（Oedipus）后，因神喻说此子将来要杀父娶母，便命人把他扔掉。俄狄浦斯被人救出，长大后路遇生父，两人因抢路而发生争斗，俄狄浦斯将父亲杀死。他到达底比斯城后，正遇人面狮身怪物斯芬克斯（Sphinx）以谜语捉弄众人，谁猜不出他的谜语，就被他杀死。俄狄浦斯猜出了他的谜语，他即跳崖而死。

17.Thebes：底比斯，埃及尼罗河畔的古城。

18.Saturn and Love their long repose ... unsubdued：雪莱自注：Saturn and Love were among the deities of a real or imaginary state of innocence and happiness. ‘All’those‘who fell’［are］ the Gods of Greece，Asia，and Egypt；the‘One who rose’［is］ Jesus Christ ... and‘many unsubdued’［are］ the monstrous objects of the idolatry of China，India，the Antarctic islands，and the native tribes of America.按：农神萨杜恩和爱情象征纯真和幸福：“泯灭的众神”指希腊、亚洲和埃及的众神；“复活的一个”指耶稣；“未被征服的同辈”指中国、印度、南太平洋群岛和美洲土人的崇拜的神。

19.Not gold ... flowers：供在他们（即农神和爱情）祭坛上的祭品，不是黄金、鲜血，而是信誓旦旦的眼泪和富有象征意义的鲜花；dowers：endows，presents，其宾语是their altar；votive：expressing a vow or wish，表示誓言或愿望的。

20.drain not to its dregs ... prophecy：不要把预示不幸的杯中之酒一饮而尽；意为不要对未来作极度悲观的预言。

With a Guitar，to Jane

Ariel to Miranda：1 — Take

This slave of Music，2 for the sake

Of him who is the slave of thee，

And teach it all the harmony

In which thou canst，3 and only thou，

Make the delighted spirit glow，

Till joy denies itself again，

And，too intense，is turned to pain；

For by permission and command

Of thine own Prince Ferdinand，4

Poor Ariel sends this silent token

Of more than ever can be spoken；

Your guardian spirit，Ariel，who，

From life to life，must still^5 pursue

Your happiness；— for thus alone

Can Ariel ever find his own.

From Prosphero's enchanted cell，6

As the mighty verses tell，

To the throne of Naples，he

Lit^7 you o'er the trackless sea，

Flitting on，8 your prow before，

Like a living meteor.

When you die，the silent Moon，

In her interlunar swoon，9

Is not sadder in her cell

Than deserted Ariel.

When you live again on earth，

Like an unseen star of birth，

Ariel guides you o'er the sea

Of life from your nativity.

Many changes have been run

Since Ferdinand and you begun

Your course of love，and Ariel still

Has tracked your steps，and served your will；

Now，in humbler，happier lot，

This is all remembered not；

And now，alas！ the poor sprite^10 is

Imprisoned，for some fault of his，

In a body like a grave；—

From you he only dares to crave，

For his service and his sorrow，

A smile to-day，a song to-morrow.

The artist who this idol wrought，11

To echo all harmonious thought，

Felled a tree，while on the steep

The woods were in their winter sleep，

Rocked in that repose divine

On the wind-swept Apennine；12

And dreaming，some of Autumn past，

And some of Spring approaching fast，

And some of April buds and showers，

And some of songs in July bowers，

And all of love；and so this tree，—

O that such our death may be！—

Died in sleep，and felt no pain，

To live in happier form again：

From which，beneath Heaven's fairest star，

The artist wrought this loved Guitar，

And taught it justly to reply，

To all who question skilfully，

In language gentle as thine own；

Whispering in enamoured tone

Sweet oracles of woods and dells，

And summer winds in sylvan cells；

For it had learned all harmonies

Of the plains and of the skies，

Of the forests and the mountains，

And the many-voicèd fountains；

The clearest echoes of the hills，

The softest notes of falling rills，

The melodies of birds and bees，

The murmuring of summer seas，

And pattering rain，and breathing dew，

And airs of evening；and it knew

That seldom-heard mysterious sound，

Which，driven on its diurnal round，13

As it floats through boundless day，

Our world enkindles on its way. —

All this it knows，but will not tell

To those who cannot question well

The Spirit that inhabits it；

It talks according to the wit

Of its companions；and no more

Is heard than has been felt before，

By those who tempt it to betray

These secrets of an elder day：

But，sweetly as its answers will

Flatter hands of perfect skill，

It keeps its highest，holiest tone

For our belovèd Jane alone.

【注释】

1.Ariel to Miranda：借莎士比亚《暴风雨》（Tempest ）中的故事创造的对话。阿丽尔（Ariel）被妖魔拘于一海岛的松林之中，米兰公爵普洛斯伯（Prospero）带着女儿米兰达（Miranda）流落到该岛，将阿丽尔释放。阿丽尔遂为普洛斯伯效劳。后米兰达和漂流来岛的菲迪南王子（Prince Ferdinand）相爱。

2.This slave of Music：指吉他。据神话传说乐器中有乐灵（the delighted spirit），能发和谐之音（harmony）。

3.thou canst：you can.

4.thine own：your own；Prince Ferdinand：此处指Jane的丈夫。

5.still：always，constantly.

6.Prospero's enchanted cell：普洛斯伯居住在孤岛上的洞穴里，他有魔法。

7.Lit：light的过去式和过去分词。

8.Flitting on：（像一颗流星那样）飞来飞去。

9.interlunar swoon：残月后与新月之间有四天看不见月亮。

10.sprite：spirit.

11.idol：精灵，乐灵；wrought：made.

12.Apennine：亚平宁山脉。

13.diurnal round：（地球）每日的旋转。

FromPrometheus Unbound

From Act 3，Scene 4

And behold！ thrones were kingless，and men walked

One with the other even as spirits do，

None fawned，none trampled；hate，disdain or fear，

Self-love or self-contempt on human brows

No more inscribed.

And women，too，frank，beautiful and kind

As the free Heaven which rains fresh light and dew

On the wide earth，past：gentle radiant forms，

From custom's evil taint exempt and pure；

Speaking the wisdom once they could not think.

Looking emotions^1 once they feared to feel

And changed to all which once they dared not be，

Yet being now，made Earth like Heaven — nor pride^2

Nor jealousy nor envy nor ill shame，

The bitterest of those drops of treasured gall，

Spoilt the sweet taste of the nepenthe，3 love.

The loathsome mask has fallen，the man remains

Sceptreless，4 free，uncircumscribed — but man：

Equal，unclassed，tribeless，and nationless，

Exempt from awe，worship，degree，— the King

Over himself；5 just，gentle，wise — but man：

Passionless？ no — yet free from guilt or pain

Which were，for his will made，or suffered them，

Nor yet exempt，though ruling them^6 like slaves，

From chance and death and mutability，

The clogs^7 of that which else might oversoar

The loftiest star of unascended Heaven

Pinnacled dim in the intense inane.8

【注释】

1.Looking emotions：用眼色表示感情。

2.nor pride：（archaic，poetic ）neither pride.

3.nepenthe：（poetic ）古希腊传说中的忘忧药；亦可能是鸦片。

4.Sceptreless：摆脱了君主的节杖；sceptre：节杖，君王权力的象征。

5.the King ... himself：每人都当自己的国王。

6.them：指下行的chance and death and mutability.

7.clogs：阻碍。

8.inane：无限空间。这七行的大意是：如果新生的人能摆脱人间的和生理上的限制（clogs），那么可能超过天上最高的星星，成为真正纯粹的理想的人。

Table of Contents

- 版权信息

- 序

- 原序

- 体例示意图

- ANONYMOUS POET 佚名诗人

- GEOFFREY CHAUCER 杰弗雷·乔叟 （CA.1343—1400）

- WILLIAM LANGLAND 威廉·兰格伦 （1330？—1400？）

- EARLY MODERN ENGLISH BALLADS 早期现代英语时期民谣

- EDMUND SPENSER 爱德蒙·斯宾塞 （1552？—1599）

- CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE 克里斯托弗·马娄 （1564—1593）

- WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 威廉·莎士比亚 （1564—1616）

- THOMAS NASHE 托马斯·纳什 （1567—1601）

- JOHN DONNE 约翰·多恩 （1572—1631）

- BEN JONSON 本·琼生 （1572—1637）

- ROBERT HERRICK 罗伯特·赫里克 （1591—1674）

- GEORGE HERBERT 乔治·赫伯特 （1593—1633）

- JOHN MILTON 约翰·弥尔顿 （1608—1674）

- SIR JOHN SUCKLING 约翰·萨克令 （1609—1642）

- RICHARD LOVELACE 理查德·勒夫莱斯 （1618—1657）

- ANDREW MARVELL 安德鲁·马韦尔 （1621—1678）

- JOHN DRYDEN 约翰·德莱顿 （1631—1700）

- JONATHAN SWIFT 乔纳森·斯威夫特 （1667—1745）

- ALEXANDER POPE 亚历山大·蒲柏 （1688—1744）

- SAMUEL JOHNSON 塞缪尔·约翰逊 （1709—1784）

- THOMAS GRAY 托马斯·格雷 （1716—1771）

- OLIVER GOLDSMITH 奥利弗·哥尔德斯密斯 （1730？—1774）

- GEORGE CRABBE 乔治·克莱普 （1754—1832）

- WILLIAM BLAKE 威廉·布莱克 （1757—1827）

- ROBERT BURNS 罗伯特·彭斯 （1759—1796）

- WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 威廉·华兹华斯 （1770—1850）

- WALTER SCOTT 华尔特·司各特 （1771—1832）

- SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERlDGE 塞缪尔·泰勒·柯尔律治 （1772—1834）

- WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR 华尔特·萨维其·兰陀 （1775—1864）

- GEORGE GORDON，LORD BYRON 乔治·戈登·拜伦 （1788—1824）

- PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY 波西·别希·雪莱 （1792—1822）

版权信息

COPYRIGHT

书名：英国诗歌选集（珍藏版）（下册）

作者：王佐良；金立群

出版社：上海译文出版社

出版时间：2016年6月

ISBN：9787532772384

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JOHN KEATS

约翰·济慈

（1795—1821）

【作者与作品简介】

诗人济慈只活了二十六岁，就因肺病而早逝。他出身中下层人家，学过医，候诊室里的凄惨景象是他熟悉的。也许是作为一种补偿，他特别地向往“美”——美丽的人，夜莺，花草，田园，古诗，艺术品，整个想象世界。他自己写下的诗行也美：意境，音韵，形象，无一不美——有时美得有点艳丽了。因此，他曾被人看成是“唯美”，甚至是“颓废”。

其实他两者都不是。他追求的“美”不是表面的东西，也不只是官感享受，而是有深刻的含义的，用他自己的话说：

美即是真，真即是美。

而所谓真，又是人的“想象力所捕捉住的美”。然而当时的英国正处于产业革命和法国革命的双重激荡之下，处处有人间苦难。济慈对此也是有深刻感受的，而且还认为人生的最高境界必须有世界的苦难感：

谁也夺取不了这个高峰，

除了那些把世界的苦难

当作苦难，而且日夜不安的人。

——《海披里安之亡》

正是这种“日夜不安”的苦难感使得济慈最明丽的诗行也有阴影，最甜美的音乐里也有不吉祥的敲击声——一边是夜莺唱歌，一边是“饥饿的世代”践踏大地的脚步声。他是一个头脑清醒，有强烈是非感的人，任何人只须一看他写给弟妹和朋友们的信就知道他是一个民主派。他的艺术观——他的美学——也是重真情实感，认为诗人要有一种深入万物、了解万物的“反面接受力”，不是自以为是，而是像事物本身的性质那样，“能够停留在不肯定、神秘感、怀疑之中，而不是令人生厌地追求事实和道理。”换言之，要化入事物：

如果一只麻雀来到我的窗前，我就参与它的存在，同它一起啄着地上的砂石。

他又说：

如果诗不是像叶子长到树上那样自然地来临，那就干脆别来了。

把诗看成像树那样能自行生长的植物，这是浪漫主义诗学的重要论点之一。而要使那样的诗能够出现，诗人必须运用想象力。他认为即使哲学的真理也不是单凭逻辑推论所能达到，而必须依靠想象力；有了想象力，人才能真正得到世上的快乐，而且是一种“格调更高”的快乐，非庸俗的享受可比。

这些话并非引自他的论著——他从未写过皇皇大文——而出于他的书信，总是一二句普通的话，一二个普通的比喻，然而生动，深刻，使人惊讶，道出了浪漫主义诗歌的中心秘密，所以近年来西方搞文学理论的人都纷纷在他的书信里进行发掘，而“反面接受力”一词已经成了文学家们经常琢磨的题目了。

济慈之所以能说这些话，是因为他有写诗的经验。他把自己一生献给了诗歌艺术，全力以赴，甘苦自知，经历过试验，失败，达到了抒情诗的高峰，但不以为足，还要向更高的意境进发，却不料死亡突然夺走了他的诗笔。虽然如此，他在1819年夏天创作能力特别旺盛，四五个星期之中写出了除《秋颂》之外的全部颂歌：《心灵颂》、《夜莺颂》、《希腊古瓮颂》、《忧郁颂》、《懒颂》。现在人们公认，济慈即使没写任何别的作品，这几个颂歌就足以使他不朽了。

我们这里选了三个颂歌。

《夜莺颂》有一个中心的矛盾，即夜莺所代表的想象世界和诗人所处的现实世界的矛盾：前者处处是音乐、美酒、朦胧光影下的宁静；后者充满纷扰、病痛、焦灼不安。诗人听到夜莺的歌声，随着进入了想象世界，然而在最神往的时候，一声“凄凉”就把他赶回现实世界，这时候韵律直泻而下，最后以一问结束，留下了余音。在几个颂歌中，此颂最实，“世界的苦难”也最显。

《希腊古瓮颂》从一个古瓮上彩绘的画面出发，探索艺术的不朽。主要的画面有三：一景是群众狂欢，二景是青年男子追逐一位姑娘，三景是一群人牵着一匹牛在街道上走，准备去宰牛祭天。这些人都在动，然而他们的动态却被雕刻家的手捕捉住了，凝固成为静止的艺术品，从此而不朽。诗人面对这样的艺术品，一方面惊叹古希腊文明的伟大，一方面思索着艺术和智慧的关系。夜莺歌来自自然世界，这里却是人的创造。这当中有灵感，但也有智慧。诗人的探索也进入一个更高的境界。人世的苦难还略有反响——“老年将使这一代朽化”，“与我们不同的苦难”——但主要的情调是高度的宁静。这也就带来了语言上的变化。夜莺歌里多的是情感性和描述性的形容词，是感叹式的调子，而这里则增加了一个新的成分：思辨式或命题式的陈述，其最显著的例子也就是末节的名言：

“美即是真，真即是美，”这就包括

你们所知道、和该知道的一切。

《秋颂》被不少评论者认为是几首颂歌里最完美的一首，它的主题是秋季的温暖和丰硕。人皆颂春天的美丽，而济慈则感到秋天的成熟更可爱。1819年9月一个星期天，诗人漫游乡野，感到空气清爽，收割过的田地显得特别温暖，边走边吟，回来就写成此诗。

诗的第一节用一系列的水果的形象，点出秋天是丰收的季节。第二节写人在秋天劳动、休息、榨果酿酒的快乐。第三节写秋天的各种声音，诗的音乐美发挥无遗。这样，从秋景、秋收，写到秋声，诗本身也像秋天一样丰满了。

最后一个选目《伊莎贝拉》是一首叙事诗。它的情节取自卜伽丘的《十日谈》（第四日第五篇），是说两个哥哥谋杀了他们妹妹的情人的故事。这首诗表现了济慈叙事的能力，写青年男女的爱情向往颇富于感染力，而对于破坏他们幸福的两个哥哥的谴责又很有思想的深度。原来这两人都是商人，其财富是从殖民地人民掠夺来的。诗中有这样的描述，并非卜伽丘的原作所有，完全是济慈自己加的：

锡兰的潜水者为他们屏住呼吸，

赤裸着全身走近饥饿的鳄鱼；

他的耳朵为他们涌着血；为他们，

海豹死在冰层上，全身悲惨地

射满了箭；成千的人只为了他们

而煎熬在幽暗无边的困苦里：

他们悠游着岁月，自己还不甚清楚：

他们是在开动绞盘，把人们剥皮割骨。

然后诗人问了好几个“他们何必骄傲？”其中有一问是：

他们何必骄傲？可是因为有红格账本

比希腊时代的诗歌更动听？

只有济慈这样一个敏感又深思的诗人才会用这样鲜明的形象——红格账本和古希腊诗歌——来加以对照，说明两种思想、两种意境的截然不同。他把那对商人兄弟称为“算账的人们”。二十世纪的萧伯纳谈到这首诗，认为在这里济慈实际上是在点明这些商人是剥削者，他虽没有用一个政治经济学的名词，所讲的实际上就是《资本论》的道理。萧的话可能夸张了，但这也说明济慈诗里思想的丰富与深刻是超出了历来评论家所意识到的。

王佐良

SONNETS

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer

Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold，1

And many goodly states and kingdoms^2 seen；

Round many western islands have I been

Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.3

Oft of one wide expanse^4 had I been told

That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne；5

Yet did I never breathe its pure serene^6

Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold：

Then felt I like some watcher of the skies^7

When a new planet swims into his ken；8

Or like stout Cortéz when with eagle eyes^9

He star'd at the Pacific — and all his men

Look'd at each other with a wild surmise^10 —

Silent，upon a peak in Darien.11

【题解】

Chapman's Homer：荷马史诗的查普曼译本。George Chapman（1559？—1634）：乔治·查普曼，英国伊丽莎白时代的诗人兼剧作家，其译荷马诗作雄瑰壮丽。1816年某一夏日，济慈以前的老师查尔斯·考顿·克拉克（Charles Cowden Clarke）请他来同读查普曼翻译的荷马诗作。他俩秉烛夜读，通宵不眠，拂晓时济慈才踏上晨雾回家。但犹余兴未尽，遂成一诗，当天早上10时，济慈即把此诗寄到克拉克手里。

【注释】

1.Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold：济慈自喻为探险家，探索过充满黄金的宝地；the realms of gold：意为珍贵如黄金的文学领域。

2.goodly states and kingdoms：仍指伟大的文学作品；goodly：beautiful.

3.Round many western islands have I been ... hold：“到过许多西方的岛屿”指济慈曾涉猎过许多希腊文学作品。古希腊的许多岛屿以及岛上的诗人都向诗神阿波罗效忠，漫游希腊群岛意即领略希腊文学；bards：诗人；in fealty：（臣仆对封建主的）效忠。

4.Oft：often；one wide expanse：广袤的领域。

5.deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne：浓眉的荷马作为他的领地统治着；demesne［dɪ′meɪn］：（领主的）领地。

6.never breathe its pure serene：从未呼吸到这个领域里的沉静的空气；pure serene：喻荷马的诗风纯真深沉；serene：此处为名词，serenity。

7.watcher of the skies：观星家，天文家。

8.ken：range of sight or knowledge，知识的范围或视野。

9.Cortéz：即Hernando Cortés（1485—1547），科尔特斯，西班牙探险家，墨西哥的发现者。济慈误记，实际上第一个发现太平洋的西方人是另一位西班牙人：Vasco Nuñez de Balboa（1475—1517），巴尔沃亚，他在达连湾（Darien）的山上第一次看到太平洋；eagle eyes：原稿为wond'ring eyes；据济慈朋友雷·亨特（Leigh Hunt）在回忆录中说，济慈曾见过意大利文艺复兴时著名画家提香（Titian，1477—1576）绘的科尔特斯肖像，他的双眼似鹰目。

10.a wild surmise：纵情恣意的猜测。

11.Darien：加勒比海的达连湾，在巴拿马和哥伦比亚之间。

On Sitting Down to Read King LearOnce Again

O golden-tongued Romance with serene lute！1

Fair plumèd Syren！2 Queen of far away！

Leave melodizing on this wintry day，3

Shut up thine olden pages，4 and be mute：

Adieu！5 for once again the fierce dispute，

Betwixt damnation and impassioned clay^6

Must I burn through；7 once more humbly assay^8

The bitter-sweet^9 of this Shakespearian fruit.

Chief Poet！10 and ye clouds of Albion，11

Begetters of our deep eternal theme！12

When through the old oak forest^13 I am gone，

Let me not wander in a barren dream：

But，when I am consumed in the fire，

Give me new phoenix^14 wings to fly at my desire.

【题解】

此诗作于1819年，表达的情感非常复杂。当时，济慈正在创作长诗《恩底弥翁》（Endymion：A Poetic Romance ），但是，预感自己生命短暂，情绪忧郁。这时，他重读莎士比亚的悲剧《李尔王》，受到强烈的震撼，不免要向浪漫派文学乃至自己的人生道出告别的心声。事实上，此时他一生的创作尚未过半，大部分优秀的作品蓄势待发。《李尔王》一剧之所以对济慈有猛烈的冲击力，是因为在莎士比亚的所有悲剧人物中，唯有李尔王的遭遇和最终的死亡，是一个缓慢的、可以预见的因而也是最纠结人心的过程。这也使济慈对人生悲剧作更多的思索。他在致 John Hamilton Renolds 信中说，《李尔王》剧中的一句话（4.6.4） “Do you not hear the sea？ ” 缠绕在他的心头，挥之不去。

【注释】

1.golden-tongued Romance with serene lute：声调优美迷人的传奇故事； golden：mellow，resonant； lute：竖琴，浪漫派抒情诗歌的象征。按：Romance 是指所谓浪漫派文学或传奇文学作品，如表现中世纪骑士的冒险或爱情故事，其主题和风格与莎士比亚的悲剧相去甚远。

2.Fair plumèd Syren：浪漫派文学又被喻为斯宾塞诗中的女主角； Syren：一作Siren，希腊神话中的海妖，善于以美妙的歌声吸引过往的水手，使他们不顾一切地将船驶近她们而触礁沉没。此处表示济慈感到浪漫派文学对他有很大的诱惑力，像海妖的歌声一样。

3.Leave melodizing on this wintry day：不要吟唱旋律优美、声音悦耳的浪漫派诗歌，这和寒冷的冬天很不相称。换言之，冬天更像是李尔王所处的环境。

4.thine olden pages：your old pages； thine：thy，在元音字母开头的字前面用thine； olden：of or relating to a bygone era.

5.Adieu：farewell，often used interjectionally； 济慈表示要告别浪漫派文学，恰恰表明英国历史上这种文学对他的巨大诱惑力，同时也透露出他预感自己将不久于人世，无法创作浪漫主义诗作的心情。

6.the fierce dispute ... clay：指李尔王把国土分给两个花言巧语、背信弃义的女儿，结果自己遭到羞辱，陷入贫无立锥之地的困境，直至被逼疯。李尔王的遭遇无异于地狱的惩罚（damnation），冲击着他那情绪激动的“泥土之身” （impassioned clay）； clay：按《圣经》说法，人是上帝用泥土做的。

7.burn through：谓读李尔王的悲剧，自己的情绪也很难平静，为第13行consumed in fire作铺垫。

8.assay：test，make trial of，尝试，原意为测试金属的纯度。

9.bitter-sweet：莎士比亚的悲剧表现人生的悲苦，又有巨大的艺术感染力，故云。

10.Chief Poet：指莎士比亚。

11.Albion：（Celtic ）英格兰；《李尔王》的背景是凯尔特时代。

12.Begetters of our deep eternal theme：英国是深刻的永恒主题的创造者； eternal theme：指发生在这块土地上的悲欢离合和死亡的主题。

13.the old oak forest：指李尔王或《恩底弥翁》（Endymion ）长诗中主人公归宿的世界。

14.phoenix：传说中的凤凰，周而复始地烧死自身，以便从灰烬中再生。

When I Have Fears

When I have fears that I may cease to be^1

Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain，2

Before high-piled books，in charactery，3

Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain；4

When I behold，upon the night's starr'd face，5

Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance，6

And think that I may never live to trace

Their shadows，with the magic hand of chance；7

And when I feel，fair creature of an hour，8

That I shall never look upon thee^9 more，

Never have relish in the faery power^10

Of unreflecting love；11— then on the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone，and think

Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.12

【注释】

1.cease to be：不复存在，即死亡。

2.Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain：在我把蕴藏在丰富的脑海中的诗歌笔录下来之前；teeming brain：丰富的脑海，喻诗才。

3.in charactery：用文字表示。

4.garners：谷仓；the full ripen'd grain：成熟饱满的谷物，喻自己成熟的作品。

5.the night's starr'd face：星罗棋布的夜空。

6.Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance：崇高的浪漫诗篇那巨大的隐约可见的象征。

7.trace ... chance：如绘画那样用神来之笔（the magic hand of chance）描摹出“巨大的隐约可见的象征”；正因为是symbol，所以非magic hand of chance而不能为。

8.fair creature of an hour：诗人热恋的范尼·布朗（Fanny Brawne）。诗人在1818年陪伴患肺病的弟弟汤姆，直至他在年底去世。诗人本人亦患肺病，担心不能久驻人间，来不及完成杰出的诗作，再也看不见心爱的范尼。并由此想到美貌也不能长久（of an hour）。

9.thee：you，thou的宾格。

10.the faery power：（爱情的）神奇魅力。

11.unreflecting love：无思无虑的爱情。

12.Till love and fame to nothingness do sink：济慈担心爱情泯灭，诗名不立。1820年，济慈吐血后，写信给范尼·布朗：“If I should die，” said I to myself，“I have left no immortal work behind me — nothing to make my friends proud of my memory — but I have lov'd the principie of beauty in all things，and if I had had time I would have made myself remembered，” Thoughts like these came very feebly when I was in health and every pulse beat for you — now you divide with this （may I say it？）“last infirmity of noble minds” all my reflection.

Bright Star

Bright star，would I were stedfast as thou art^1 —

Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night^2

And watching，with eternal lids apart，3

Like nature's patient，sleepless Eremite，4

The moving waters at their priestlike task

Of pure ablution round earth's human shores，5

Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask

Of snow upon the mountains and the moors —

No — yet still^6 stedfast，still unchangeable，

Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast，

To feel for ever its soft fall and swell，

Awake for ever in a sweet unrest，7

Still，still to hear her tender-taken breath，8

And so live ever — or else swoon to death.

【题解】

济慈在1818年游览了大湖区（Lake Country）的自然风光，后写信给其弟弟Tom说，大湖区质朴的景色“净化了人的视觉，使之像北极星那样永远睁开眼睛，凝视着至高无上的威力所创造的奇迹”（refines one's sensual vision into a sort of north star which can never cease to be open lidded and steadfast over the wonders of the great power）。本诗即因此感而发，初稿写于1819年，并在1820年九月去意大利的途中抄写于莎士比亚诗集的空白页上。后不久在意大利病逝。后人因此疑为诗人的绝笔十四行诗。

【注释】

1.Bright star：指北极星，故以下说但愿自己像北极星那样稳定不变：“would I were stedfast as thou art”；stedfast：steadfast；thou art：you are.

2.Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night：不是孤独地在夜光中高悬。

3.with eternal lids apart：永不合上的眼睑。

4.Eremite：hermit，隐修士。北极星像是大自然的苦行夜祷的修士。

5.The moving waters at their priestlike task ... shores：海水冲刷着人类的海岸，就像宗教上的沐浴仪式那样荡涤人间的污秽；waters：（plural ）浩瀚的海水；ablution：沐浴仪式。

6.No：和第2行“Not”呼应。诗人并非不愿具有第2—8行中的描写的北极星的美德，而是心中另有寄托，即是后六行中的意境。still：always.

7.a sweet unrest：永远清醒地躺在美人的胸膛上，既甜蜜，又不安；unrest：心情不平静。

8.tender-taken breath：轻柔的呼吸。

Ode to a Nightingale

1

My heart aches，and a drowsy numbness^1 pains

My sense，as though of hemlock^2 I had drunk，

Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains^3

One minute past，and Lethe-wards^4 had sunk：

'Tis^5 not through envy of thy happy lot，

But being too happy in thine happiness，6 —

That thou，light wingèd Dryad^7 of the trees，

In some melodious plot^8

Of beechen green，and shadows numberless，

Singest of summer in full-throated ease.9

2

O，for a draught of vintage！10 that hath been

Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth，11

Tasting of Flora and the country green，12

Dance，and Provençal song，and sunburnt mirth！13

O，for a beaker full of the warm South，14

Full of the true，the blushful Hippocrene，15

With beaded bubbles winking at the brim，16

And purple-stained mouth；17

That I might drink，and leave the world unseen，

And with thee fade away into the forest dim：18

3

Fade far away，dissolve，and quite forget

What thou among the leaves hast^19 never known，

The weariness，the fever，and the fret^20

Here，where men sit and hear each other groan；

Where palsy^21 shakes a few，sad，last grey hairs，

Where youth grows pale，and spectre-thin，and dies；22

Where but to think is to be full of sorrow

And leaden-eyed despairs，23

Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes，

Or new Love pine at them^24 beyond tomorrow.

4

Away！ away！ for I will fly to thee，

Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards，25

But on the viewless^26 wings of Poesy，

Though the dull brain perplexes and retards：

Already with thee！27 tender is the night，

And haply^28 the Queen-Moon is on her throne，

Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays；29

But here there is no light，

Save^30 what from heaven is with the breezes blown

Through verdurous glooms^31 and winding mossy ways.

5

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet，

Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs，

But，in embalmèd darkness，guess each sweet^32

Wherewith the seasonable month^33 endows

The grass，the thicket，and the fruit-tree wild；

White hawthorn，and the pastoral eglantine；34

Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves；

And mid-May's eldest child，

The coming musk-rose，full of dewy wine，

The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.

6

Darkling^35 I listen； and，for many a time

I have been half in love with easeful Death，

Call'd him soft names in many a musèd rhyme，36

To take into the air my quiet breath；37

Now more than ever seems it rich to die，

To cease upon the midnight with no pain，

While thou art pouring forth thy soul^38 abroad

In such an ecstasy！

Still^39 wouldst thou sing，and I have ears in vain —

To thy high requiem become a sod.40

7

Thou wast not born for death，41 immortal Bird！

No hungry generations tread thee down；42

The voice I hear this passing night was heard

In ancient days by emperor and clown：43

Perhaps the self-same song that found a path

Through the sad heart of Ruth，44 when，sick for home，

She stood in tears amid the alien corn；

The same that oft-times hath

Charm'd magic casements，opening on the foam

Of perilous seas，in faery lands forlorn.45

8

Forlorn！46 the very word is like a bell

To toll me back from thee to my sole self！47

Adieu！ the fancy^48 cannot cheat so well

As she is famed to do，deceiving elf.49

Adieu！ adieu！ thy plaintive anthem fades

Past the near meadows，over the still stream，

Up the hill-side；and now 'tis buried deep

In the next valley-glades：

Was it a vision，or a waking dream？

Fled is that music：— Do I wake or sleep？

【题解】

此诗作于1819年，乃是济慈创作的巅峰时期。据他的朋友查尔斯·阿米迪奇·布朗（Charles Armitage Brown）说，一只夜莺在他家附近的树上做了个窝，有一天济慈坐在一棵李子树下，写了这首诗歌。《夜莺颂》的情调说明他脱离了前期诗歌中的乐观情绪和对愉悦的憧憬，转向探索诸如自然、瞬息、死亡等主题。夜莺生活在林间，远离人世忧患，以其世代经久不息的歌声，成为永生的象征。同时，夜莺又有希腊神话色彩（见本书马修·安诺德（Matthew Arnold）诗 Philomela 和艾略特诗Sweeney Among the Nightingales 的有关注释），其歌声一向被视为带有忧郁的情调。人生极其短暂，悲伤充斥其间。济慈当时正值弟弟汤姆去世不久，自己病魔缠身，又有对范尼·布朗热恋的困扰，遂因夜莺之歌而一气呵成，写下这首颂诗，寄托一腔愁意。其情调颇似李商隐《流莺》诗句“巧转岂能本无意，良辰未必有佳期。”

【注释】

1.drowsy numbness：似困倦般的麻木。

2.hemlock：一种毒药，服后全身麻木而死。古代雅典人用这种毒药处死犯人。苏格拉底（Socrates）即服此毒药而死。

3.opiate：加有鸦片的麻醉剂，饮后使人麻木，故称dull opiate；to the drains：to the dregs，饮尽。

4.Lethe-wards：希腊神话中Lethe［′liːθiː］是冥间的一条河流，死人的鬼魂喝了河中之水便忘却过去的一切。

5.'Tis：it is.

6.thine happiness：your happiness；因happiness以“h”起首，故不用thy而用thine。

7.That：in the thought that；Dryad：希腊神话中的木仙（Woodnymph），此处指夜莺。

8.melodious plot：夜莺发出优美歌声的地方。

9.Singest：即sing，和主语thou配合的动词形式；in full-throated ease：放开歌喉纵情歌唱；ease：表示唱得轻松自如，从容不迫。

10.O，for a draught of vintage：呵，要是能喝上一口美酒！ vintage：酒，尤指某年产的佳酿酒，美酒，即vintage wine。

11.deep-delved earth：地窖。

12.Tasting of：（美酒）意即尝之令人想起……，散发着……香味；Flora：罗马神话中的春和花神；country green：绿色的田野。

13.Provençal song：法国南部地中海边的普罗旺斯（Provence）是中古时期一批行吟诗人（troubadours）的故乡，这些诗歌的创作者和歌手以爱情诗歌著称于世；sunburnt mirth：阳光明媚的南国的欢怡，生活在阳光地带的人们心情开朗、欢快。

14.beaker：a large drinking-bowl or cup，大酒杯；the warm South：温暖的南国美酒。

15.blushful：面红；Hippocrene ［］：希腊神话中赫利孔山（Mount Helicon）上的缪斯（the Muses）的灵泉，传说是由神马佩伽索斯的蹄踩出来的，泉水能给诗人以灵感。

16.beaded bubbles winking at the brim：酒杯边上珠子般的酒泡在闪闪发光。

17.mouth：the lip of the beaker，大酒杯的边沿。

18.with thee fade away into the forest dim：诗人希望借酒的力量和夜莺一起遁入密林。

19.thou ... hast：you have.

20.The weariness，the fever，and the fret：人世间的疲惫、热病和焦躁；泛指种种痛苦和烦恼。

21.palsy：瘫痪，麻痹。

22.Where youth grows pale，and spectre-thin，and dies：济慈的弟弟汤姆不久前死于肺病，他本人亦患肺病，故弟弟之死对他触动很深，由此联想到前几行讲的人世的不幸。

23.leaden-eyed despairs：目光呆滞的绝望神色。

24.new Love：初恋的爱人；them：eyes.

25.Bacchus and his pards：希腊神话中的酒神狄俄倪索斯（Dionysus），在罗马神话中称为巴科斯（Bacchus），经常坐着狮子（Pards）拉的车子。此处意为不想借神的威力来逃避人间的烦恼。

26.viewless：invisible，看不见的。

27.Already with thee：表明诗人借诗的力量终于达到了夜莺的欢乐境界。

28.haply：perhaps.

29.Cluster'd around：（群星）簇拥着（月后）；starry Fays：众星；Fays：fairies.

30.Save：except.

31.verdurous glooms：月光下隐隐约约的绿阴。

32.each sweet：每种香味，每种花。

33.the seasonable month：当前的月份。

34.eglantine：多花蔷薇。

35.Darkling：in the darkness，副词。

36.musèd rhyme：long thought-on verse，深思熟虑吟出的诗句。

37.To take into the air my quiet breath：把我的生命撒入空中。

38.pouring forth thy soul：倾吐心声。

39.Still：always.

40.requiem：安魂曲；sod：坟土和草。

41.Thou wast not born for death：你是生而不死之鸟；Thou wast：you were.

42.No hungry generations tread thee down：夜莺世代相传，不会因为饥饿使其歌声泯灭。

43.by emperor and clown：帝王和小丑，即无论贵贱都能听到夜莺的歌声。

44.Ruth：据《旧约·路得记》（Ruth ）记载，摩押（Moab）女子路德嫁给一个以色列人，丈夫死后，离开家乡和婆婆一起生活，曾在亲戚波阿斯（Boaz）的田里拾麦穗，后嫁给波阿斯，成为大卫王的曾祖母。

45.The same that oft-times hath ... forlorn：这三行被批评家公认为代表济慈浪漫主义思想的名句。在欧洲中世纪的传奇文学里，常有大海中孤岛上的城堡，里边囚着美丽的公主，因受魔法控制而不得脱身。勇敢的骑士来到城堡，解除魔法，便能赢得公主的爱情。诗人指类似这种城堡中被囚的公主听到夜莺的歌声，而被吸引住，打开窗户倾听；Charm'd magic casements：意为吸引住站在受魔法控制的城堡的窗边的人。

46.Forlorn：此词的声音犹如钟声，所以说the very word is like a bell。

47.my sole self：我孤身一人。

48.the fancy：奇异的想法。

49.deceiving elf：指the fancy。

Ode on a Grecian Urn

Thou still unravished bride of quietness，

Thou foster-child of silence and slow time，1

Sylvan historian，2 who canst thus express

A flowery tale more sweetly than our rime：

What leaf-fringed legend haunts^3 about thy shape

Of deities or mortals，or of both，

In Tempe or the dales of Arcady？4

What men or gods are these？ What maidens loath？

What mad pursuit？ What struggle to escape？

What pipes and timbrels？ What wild ecstasy？

Heard melodies are sweet，but those unheard

Are sweeter；5 therefore，ye soft pipes，play on；

Not to the sensual ear，but，more endeared，

Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone：

Fair youth，beneath the trees，thou canst not leave

Thy song，nor ever can those trees be bare；

Bold Lover，never，never canst thou kiss，

Though winning near the goal^6 — yet，do not grieve；

She cannot fade，though thou hast not thy bliss，7

For ever wilt thou love，and she be fair！

Ah，happy，happy boughs！ that cannot shed

Your leaves，nor ever bid the Spring adieu；

And，happy melodist，unwearied，

For ever piping songs for ever new；

More happy love！ more happy，happy love！

For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd，

For ever panting^8 and for ever young；

All breathing human passion far above，

That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd，

A burning forehead，and a parching tongue.9

Who are these coming to the sacrifice？

To what green altar，O mysterious priest，

Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies，

And all her silken flanks^10 with garlands drest？

What little town by river or sea-shore，

Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel，

Is emptied of its folk，this pious morn？

And，little town，thy streets for evermore

Will silent be； and not a soul to tell

Why thou art desolate can e'er return.11

O Attic shape！ Fair attitude！ with brede^12

Of marble men and maidens overwrought，13

With forest branches and the trodden weed；

Thou，silent form，dost tease us out of thought

As doth eternity：Cold Pastoral！

When old age shall this generation waste，14

Thou shalt remain，in midst of other woe

Than ours，15 a friend to man，to whom thou say'st，

“Beauty is truth，truth beauty！”16 — that is all

Ye know on earth，and all ye need to know.

【题解】

此诗作于 1819年5月。济慈向来倾心于古希腊的艺术，并有相当的了解，但是，读了英国艺术家和作家本杰明·海顿（Benjamin Haydon）的两篇文章之后，对古希腊的艺术精华和璀璨的文明，有了更深的体会。《希腊古瓮颂》从一只古瓮表面上每一幅画面所展示的情景，挖掘创作者的意图和内涵。此诗具体描述了两个场景：一是一位青年热烈追求一位姑娘，爱情近在咫尺而终不可得； 二是一群村民虔诚地牵着一头牛去祭祀。希腊古瓮将人生的两大追求，即爱情和信仰，以极其完美的艺术形式固定下来，永不消逝。《希腊古瓮颂》表现的是一种永恒——理想的追求和现实的缺憾之间这道鸿沟的永恒性，但恰恰是理想不能成真，信仰难有回应的缺憾，使这种追求的永恒性更为可贵。末节中的名句 “美即真理，真理即美” 紧扣了中心意旨，而并不像有些评论家说的那样偏离了主题。

【注释】

1.Thou still unravished bride of quietness ... time：这两行比喻这一只希腊古瓮历史悠久。在静默中度过了数千年而未遭破坏（unravished）。因为制作者早已死亡，所以这古瓮成了寂静和时间的继儿。关于对still一词的理解，历来聚讼，有的人作as yet解，亦有人认为指motionless。

2.Sylvan historian：林野的史家；喻古瓮描绘发生在林野的历史事件。以下描绘古瓮上各个浮雕表现的情景：祭祀酒神狄俄倪索斯的狂喜式的游行（Dionysian ecstasies），一对恋人在追逐，春天的绿阴下牧羊人吹起笛子，以及村民的虔诚祭祀仪式。

3.leaf-fringed legend：“绿叶为缘的传说”表示故事发生在林野。haunts：表示这个故事犹如梦魂萦绕，经久不息。诗人以不同的方式刻画出古瓮上的画面抓住了人间瞬间即逝的良辰美景，暗示这一切在人间不能久驻。

4.Tempe：敦陂，古希腊西沙里的山谷，以景色秀丽著称；Arcady：阿卡狄山谷，古希腊的一个地区，常被描绘为田园式的乐园。

5.Heard melodies are sweet but those unheard ... sweeter：济慈的名句。牧羊人的笛曲虽然无法听见，但这并不是吹奏给感官的耳朵（the sensual ear）听的，而是要心领神会（to the spirit），因而这种乐曲也更美。比较白居易《琵琶行》“此时无声胜有声。”

6.Though winning near the goal：虽然你已经和爱人挨得很近了。

7.thou hast not thy bliss：你不能如愿以偿。

8.panting：（恋爱时因激动而）心跳气喘。

9.All breathing human passion far above ... tongue：这三行形容这一切都是超乎人间的情态，不会使心灵餍足和悲伤，亦不会有炽热的头脑，唇焦口燥。

10.silken flanks：小牛的身腰光滑如丝绸。

11.not a soul to tell ... return：此句正常结构应为not a soul can e'er return to tell why thou art desolate，小镇上的人都出去祭祀了，不可能有人回来告诉你为何全镇人一起出动。

12.Attic：古希腊城邦雅典式的，希腊的；brede：braid，an interwoven pattern，交织在一起的画面。

13.overwrought：ornamented all over.

14.When old age shall this generation waste：等到这一代终其灭绝。

15.in midst of other woe ... ours：意为到下一代又会有我们这一代所不知的悲哀。注意：全诗仅此一句吐露出济慈无限感慨人间不可能有艺术世界中的快感和幸福。

16.“Beauty is truth，truth beauty！”：“美即真理，真理即美”，济慈的名句。这一句的引子首见于济慈于1820年的版本；但在同年出版的Annals of the Fine Arts 中或在其朋友的四份手抄稿中均未见引号。这一引号使批评家对最后几行的解释，产生了分歧：是否引语系古瓮所言，而以下是济慈或假托的诗人所言？最后一行的ye是指诗人？读者？古瓮？或是古瓮上的人物？“all ye know”是指“美即真理，真理即美”，还是应包括46—48行，等等。所有这些疑问都难定论，但是这也使济慈的这首诗余味无穷而百读不厌。

Ode on Melancholy

NO，no，go not to Lethe，1 neither twist

Wolf's-bane，2 tight-rooted，for its poisonous wine；

Nor suffer^3 thy pale forehead to be kissed

By nightshade，4 ruby grape of Proserpine；5

Make not your rosary of yew-berries，6

Nor let the beetle，nor the death-moth be

Your mournful Psyche，7 nor the downy owl^8

A partner in your sorrow's mysteries；9

For shade to shade will come too drowsily，10

And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.11

But when the melancholy fit shall fall

Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud，

That fosters the droop-headed flowers all，12

And hides the green hill in an April shroud；13

Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose，14

Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave，

Or on the wealth of globed peonies；15

Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows，16

Emprison her soft hand，and let her rave，17

And feed deep，deep upon her peerless eyes.18

She dwells with Beauty^19 — Beauty that must die；

And Joy，whose hand is ever at his lips

Bidding adieu；20 and aching Pleasure nigh，

Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips：

Ay，in the very temple of Delight

Veiled Melancholy has her sovran^21 shrine，

Though seen of none save^22 him whose strenuous tongue

Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine；23

His soul shalt^24 taste the sadness of her might，

And be among her cloudy trophies hung.25

【题解】

这首诗习惯上译为《忧郁颂》，可能作《忧郁感怀》更为确切。所谓Ode，按英语原意是 a poem intended to be sung； an elaborate lyric，often of some length，generally addressed to somebody or something （The Chambers Dictionary ），亦即就某一题材写的吟唱的诗歌，并无“颂” 的意思。这是济慈创作的所有 Ode中最短的一首诗，也是唯一没有用第一人称表达的。这首诗或多或少地综合了之前创作的其他所谓 “颂诗” 的一些语言和思想，探索了忧郁和愉悦的关系，揭示了忧存于乐，乐寓于忧的实质。应对忧郁是人生中更具挑战性的难题，诗中所反映的情感，显然不同于《希腊古瓮颂》中洋溢的美学欣赏情操，亦有别于《懒惰感怀》（Ode on Indolence ） 和《夜莺颂》中渲染的昏沉、惰性、烦恼和麻木。

【注释】

1.Lethe：冥界的忘川，人死后饮其水即忘却过去。按：第一节诗人讲忧郁者不应该去做或祈求的各种事情。以下所提到的各种植物和动物都象征死亡或悲伤。

2.Wolf's-bane：也拼写为wolfsbane，any of several monkshoods，乌头属植物，尤指狼毒乌头，有毒。此句意为不要去挤压 （twist ） 狼毒乌头取其毒液 （poisonous wine）。

3.suffer：allow.

4.nightshade：包括龙葵、颠茄、天仙子等的茄属植物，有毒。所结之果为红色浆果 （berry），故称ruby grape。

5.Proserpine：普洛塞尔皮娜，冥王普罗托之妻。她原是宙斯和大地母亲 （Ceres） 所生之女，被普罗托劫持到冥界当冥界王后。大地母亲向宙斯哭诉，但是，宙斯的权力不涉冥界，后经与普罗托协商，普洛塞尔皮娜半年在地下，其母悲，则为秋和冬，半年回到地上，其母喜，则为春和夏。

6.rosary of yew-berries：紫衫浆果的念珠，死亡的象征。

7.Nor let the beetle，nor the death-moth be ... Psyche：欧洲古代传说中，灵魂 （Psyche） 的象征是死人口中飞出来的蝴蝶或飞蛾； beetle：古代人在墓里放上大的黑甲虫的复制品，象征再生。

8.downy owl：绒羽柔软度猫头鹰。

9.A partner in your sorrow's mysteries：在你悲伤的仪式中，猫头鹰是个合伙者。按：“忧郁” 被视为女神，对她的供奉要有一定的仪礼 （mysteries）； mysteries：secret religious rites，秘密的宗教仪式。

10.shade to shade will come too drowsily：从阴影走向阴影使人昏昏欲睡；shade：一语双关，兼有shadow 和spirit，ghost之义； drowsily：heavily and sleepily.

11.drown the wakeful anguish of the soul：使灵魂本来十分警觉的苦恼沉沉睡去。按：第一节最后两行说明为什么不应忘却忧郁，或沉溺于忧郁之中，而是应该始终保持对忧郁的痛感。

12.fosters the droop-headed flowers all：雨水滋养花草，使花朵沉甸甸的。

13.hides the green hill in an April shroud：四月份的阴霾如裹尸布，遮盖了绿色的山体； hill：1820年的版本为单数，可能是济慈的疏忽，以后的版本都是复数。但是，单数的hill自有特殊的意境，犹如诗人面前的一座实实在在的山，而不只是想象之中的群山。

14.glut thy sorrow on a morning rose：面对早晨的玫瑰花尽情地吐露或发泄你的悲哀； glut ... on：take one's fill of thinking，gazing，etc.，on something.

15.globed peonies：圆状的牡丹花。

16.if thy mistress some rich anger shows：thy mistress：指忧郁，也可能是某个女人； rich：strong.

17.Emprison her soft hand，and let her rave：握住她的手，让她发泄；rave：to rage，to talk as if mad，发怒，愤怒地宣泄。

18.feed deep，deep upon her peerless eyes：深深地，深深地凝视着她举世无双的眼睛。

19.She dwells with Beauty：她和美丽一起相处；以下Beauty，Joy，Pleasure都和Beauty并列。这些抽象名词的概念等都作拟人化处理。“忧郁”女神的神龛就在愉悦的神庙之中（“the very temple of Delight”，第25行）。

20.Joy，whose hand is ever at his lips ... adieu：欢乐总是要和人告别，让人沉默，不要出声。

21.sovran：sovereign.

22.seen of none save：seen by none except.

23.palate fine：十分敏感的味觉。

24.shalt：shall.

25.be among her cloudy trophies hung：古代希腊和罗马的习俗，把战利品挂在神庙里。

To Autumn

1

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness，

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun；1

Conspiring with him^2 how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run；

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees，

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core；3

To swell the gourd，and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel；4 to set budding more，

And still more，later flowers for the bees，

Until they think warm days will never cease，

For Summer has o'er-brimm'd^5 their clammy cells.

2

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store？6

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad^7 may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor，

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind；8

Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep，

Drows'd with the fume of poppies，while thy hook^9

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers：10

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook；

Or by a cyder-press，11 with patient look，

Thou watchest the last oozings^12 hours by hours.

3

Where are the songs of Spring？ Ay，where are they？

Think not of them，thou hast thy music too，—

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day，13

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue；

Then in a wailful choir^14 the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows，15 borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies；

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn；16

Hedge-crickets sing； and now with treble^17 soft

The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft；18

And gathering swallows^19 twitter in the skies.

【题解】

此诗作于 1819年9月。济慈在9月21日给朋友John Hamilton Reynolds 的信中说：How beautiful the season is now — How fine the air. A Dian skies — I never lik'd stubble fields so much as now — Aye，better than the chilly green of the spring. Somehow a stubble plain looks warm — in the same way that some pictures look warm — this struck me so much in my Sunday's walk that I composed upon it. 《秋颂》把秋天作了很多拟人化的处理，通过一系列的意象浓墨重彩地描绘了秋天有别于春天的特色。这首诗对秋之颂是隐含而非明示的赞美，诗的每一节像移动的镜头，对秋之成熟、壮丽、色彩和音乐作了一番音频和视频的录制。《秋颂》被视为济慈最为完美的一首诗。

【注释】

1.Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun：秋天是成熟的季节，和催熟万物（maturing）的太阳的作用是一样的，故称其为太阳的挚友。

2.Conspiring with him：和太阳共同安排（使果实充实）；Conspiring：devising.

3.And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core：使各种水果都成熟到心子里。

4.To swell the gourd，and plump the hazel shells ... kernel：使葫芦腹大（长得鼓鼓的），榛子壳挤满了甜美的榛子仁。

5.o'er-brimm'd：over-brimmed，（夏天）使蜂房的蜜多得溢了出来。

6.Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store：此节诗人描写了秋收季节中劳动者的形象，以各种具体的形象来体现“秋”，虚实结合，想象驰骋，笔落实处。

7.seeks abroad：goes out of one's home.

8.winnowing wind：簸谷的风；扬场所借之风。

9.Drows'd with the fume of poppies：在罂粟花香味的熏陶下沉沉入睡；Drows'd：made drowsy；hook：镰月。

10.Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers：留着未割下（spares）后面的一行庄稼（swath）和缠绕在上面的野花。

11.cyder-press：榨果架，挤压果汁的架子。

12.oozings：榨出的汁水。

13.barred clouds bloomed the soft-dying day：波状的云朵使傍晚的天空发出一片红光；bloom：lend a glow to.

14.a wailful choir：哀鸣。

15.sallows：willows.

16.hilly bourn：山区。

17.treble：尖音。

18.red-breast：知更鸟；garden-croft：园地。

19.gathering swallews：归巢的燕子。

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNlNG

伊丽莎白·巴莱特·布朗宁

（1806—1861）

【作者与作品简介】

布朗宁夫人大概是我国读者最熟悉的一位维多利亚诗人了。她的诗如其人，诗与人是难以分开的。

伊丽莎白小时候是个爱自然、爱诗歌的天真活泼的姑娘，十五岁时不幸坠马伤了脊椎，从此长期卧病，但她仍以坚强的毅力创作和翻译诗歌。1844年她出版的诗集使她成为当时著名诗人。这本诗集包含着她最重要的代表作《孩子们的哭声》。此诗揭发和控诉了资本家对童工的残酷剥削，与胡德的《衬衫之歌》同为批判现实主义的名篇。同时，因她慧眼识诗人，在诗集中赞美了布朗宁的诗，引起布朗宁来访，从互相敬慕发展到爱情。

伊丽莎白起初以病残之身不敢奢望爱情的幸福，后来却情感如春汛爆发，而健康也因爱情的力量而增进。她违背父命与布朗宁结婚并同赴意大利。她的真挚感人的《葡萄牙十四行诗》（1850）便反映了这一段心理历程。

布朗宁夫人还作有表现她的社会观点而带感伤性质的诗体小说《奥萝拉·黎》以及支持意大利解放运动的作品。

飞白

The Cry of the Children

Do ye hear the children weeping，O my brothers，

Ere the sorrow comes with years？1

They are leaning their young heads against their mothers，

And that cannot stop their tears.

The young lambs are bleating^2 in the meadows，

The young birds are chirping in the nest，

The young fawns are playing with the shadows，3

The young flowers are blowing toward the west —

But the young，young children，O my brothers，

They are weeping bitterly！

They are weeping in the playtime of the others，

In the country of the free.

Do you question the young children in the sorrow

Why their tears are falling so？

The old man may weep for his tomorrow

Which is lost in Long Ago.

The old tree is leafless in the forest，

The old year is ending in the frost，

The old wound，if stricken，is the sorest，

The old hope is hardest to be lost：

But the young，young children，O my brothers，

Do you ask them why they stand

Weeping sore before the bosoms of their mothers，

In our happy Fatherland？

They look up with their pale and sunken faces，4

And their looks are sad to see，

For the man's hoary anguish draws and presses

Down the cheeks of infancy；5

“Your old earth” they say，“is very dreary，”

“Our young feet，” they say，“are very weak；

Few paces have we taken，yet are weary —

Our grave-rest is very far to seek：6

Ask the aged why they weep，and not the children，

For the outside earth is cold，

And we young ones stand without，in our bewildering，

And the graves are for the old.7”

“True，” say the children，“it may happen

That we die before our time：8

Little Alice died last year，her grave is shapen

Like a snowball，in the rime.9

We looked into the pit^10 prepared to take her：

Was no room for any work in the close clay！11

From the sleep wherein she lieth none will wake her，

Crying，‘Get up，little Alice！ it is day.’

If you listen by that grave，in sun and shower，

With your ear down，little Alice never cries；

Could we see her face，12 be sure we should not know her，

For the smile has time for growing in her eyes：

And merry go her moments，13 lulled and stilled in

The shroud by the kirk-chime！14

It is good when it happens，” say the children，

“That we die before our time.”

Alas，alas，the children！ they are seeking

Death in life，as best to have：

They are binding up their hearts away from breaking，

With a cerement from the grave.15

Go out，children，from the mine and from the city，

Sing out，children，as the little thrushes^16 do.

Pluck you handfuls of the meadow-cowslips pretty.

Laugh aloud，to feel your fingers let them through！

But they answer，“Are your cowslips^17 of the meadows

Like our weeds anear^18 the mine？

Leave us quiet in the dark of the coal-shadows，

From your pleasure fair and fine！

“For oh，” say the children，“we are weary，

And we cannot run or leap；

If we cared for any meadows，it were merely

To drop in them and sleep.

Our knees tremble sorely in the stooping，19

We fall on our faces，trying to go；

And，underneath our heavy eyelids drooping，

The reddest flower would look as pale as snow.

For，all day，we drag our burden tiring

Through the coal-dark，underground；

Or，all day，we drive the wheels of iron

In the factories，round and round.

“For all day the wheels are droning，turning；

Their wind^20 comes in our faces，

Till our hearts turn，our heads^21 with pulses burning，

And the walls turn in their places：

Turns the sky^22 in the high window blank and reeling，

Turns the long light that drops adown the wall，

Turn the black flies that crawl along the ceiling，

All are turning，all the day，and we with all.

And all day the iron wheels are droning，

And sometimes we could pray，

‘O ye wheels’ （breaking out in a mad moaning）23

‘Stop！ be silent for to-day！’”

Ay！ be silent！ Let them hear each other breathing

For a moment，mouth to mouth！

Let them touch each other's hands，in a fresh wreathing

Of their tender human youth！24

Let them feel that this cold metallic motion^25

Is not all the life God fashions or reveals：

Let them prove their living souls against the notion

That they live in you，or under you，26 O wheels！

Still，all day，the iron wheels go onward，

Grinding life down from its mark；

And the children's souls，which God is calling sunward，

Spin on blindly in the dark.27

Now tell the poor young children； O my brothers，

To look up to Him^28 and pray；

So the blessèd One^29 who blesseth all the others，

Will bless them another day.

They answer，“Who is God that He should hear us，

While the rushing of the iron wheels is stirred？

When we sob aloud，the human creatures near us

Pass by，hearing not，or answer not a word.

And wehear not （for the wheels in their resounding）

Strangers speaking at the door.

Is it likely God，with angels singing round Him，

Hears our weeping any more？

Two words，indeed，of praying we remember，

And at midnight's hour of harm，

“Our Father，” looking upward in the chamber，

We know no other words except “Our Father，”30

And we think that，in some pause of angels' song，

We say softly for a charm.31

God may pluck them with the silence sweet to gather，

And hold both within His right hand which is strong.

“Our Father！” If He heard us，He would surely

（For they call Him good and mild）

Answer，smiling down the steep world^32 very purely，

“Come rest with me my child.”

“But，no！” say the children，weeping faster，

“He is speechless as a stone：

And they tell us，of His image is the master

Who commands us to work on.

Go to！”33 say children，—“up in Heaven，

Dark，wheel-like，turning clouds are all we find.

Do not mock us； grief has made us unbelieving：

We look up of God，but tears have made us blind.”

Do you hear the children weeping and disproving，

O my brothers，what ye preach？34

For God's possible is taught by His world's loving，35

And the children doubt of each.

And well may the children weep before you！

They are weary ere they run.

They have never seen the sunshine，nor the glory^36

Which is brighter than the sun.

They know the grief of man，without his wisdom.37

They sink in man's despair，without its calm；38

Are slaves，without the liberty in Christdom，

Are martyrs，by the pang without the palm：39

Are worn，40 as if with age，yet unretrievingly

The harvest of its memories cannot reap，—

Are orphans of the earthly love and heavenly.41

Let them weep！ let them weep！

They look up with their pale and sunken faces，

And their look is dread to see，

For they mind^42 you of the angels in high places，

With eyes turned on Deity.

“How long，” they say，“how long，O cruel nation，

Will you stand，to move the world，on a child's heart，—

Stifle down with a mailed heel^43 its palpitation，

And tread onward to your throne amid the mart？44

Our blood splashes upward，O gold-heaper，45

And your purple shows your path！

But the child's sob in the silence curses deeper

Than the strong man in his wrath.”

【题解】

布朗宁夫人的诗代表了维多利亚时期英国诗歌的风格和艺术水准：结构的严谨平衡，音韵的优美和遣词的精准。也正是这些特点，她遭到了二十世纪现代主义的贬斥。但是，艺术欣赏标准一时的变化却不能动摇她在英国诗坛上永久的地位。其实，布朗宁夫人关心的不只是诗艺和技巧，她更关心社会问题，以时弊作为她诗歌创作的题材。1843年，英国议会了解到煤矿和其他工矿企业残酷地剥削和压榨童工，委托何恩（R.H. Horne）写了一份调查报告。布朗宁夫人读了这份报告之后，义愤填膺，写下了《孩子们的哭声》这首诗。诗中许多内容都来自她的朋友何恩的这份调查报告。

【注释】

1.Ere the sorrow comes with years：与年老俱来的悲哀尚未到来之前； Ere：before.

2.bleating：making the natural cry of a sheep or goat，羊咩咩地叫。第5—8行描写大自然中幼小的花草鸟兽尽情享受生活的乐趣，反衬独有儿童在悲伤地哭泣。

3.fawns are playing with the shadows：幼鹿因好奇而试图捕捉阴影；fawn：（未满一岁的）幼鹿。

4.sunken faces：瘦削凹陷的脸。

5.the man's hoary anguish draws and presses ... infancy：此句意为本来是老年人遭受的苦恼，而现在已经折磨儿童了。

6.Our grave-rest is very far to seek：意为儿童离死亡还很远。

7.Ask the aged why they weep，and not the children ... old：老年人很快就可以进入坟墓，避开寒冷的世界，所以，应该问问他们为什么还要哭呢； the outside earth：（相对于坟墓内的）外面的大地； stand without：stand outside，站在坟墓外面的地上。

8.die before our time：夭折。

9.rime：frost.

10.the pit：墓穴。

11.Was no room for any work in the close clay：there was no room etc.，在这狭窄的土坑里没有干活的余地，指Alice死后不必再干苦役了。

12.Could we see her face：if we could see her face.

13.merry go her moments：她日子过得很快活。

14.kirk-chime：教堂的钟声； kirk：（Scottish ） church.

15.They are binding up their hearts away from breaking ... grave：他们用坟墓中的寿衣把心包起来，免得破碎；cerement：shroud.

16.thrushes：画眉鸟，歌喉优美 （any of numerous small or medium-sized birds of an oscine family which are mostly of a plain color often with spotted underparts and many of which are excellent singers）。

17.cowslips：a common European primrose with fragrant yellow flowers，玄金花。

18.anear：near.

19.knees tremble sorely in the stooping：因在矿里弯腰屈背劳动而双膝颤抖。

20.Their wind：轮子转动时发出的风。

21.our hearts turn，our heads：心跳头晕。

22.Turns the sky：the sky turns，以下两行的结构相同。

23.breaking out in a mad moaning：疯狂痛苦地喊叫起来。

24.touch each other's hands，in a fresh wreathing ... youth：让他们携起手来，使幼弱的青春结合成鲜艳的花环。

25.this cold metallic motion：冰冷的机器的转动。

26.prove their living souls against the notion ... you：证明他们活生生的灵魂并不是要生活在机器轮子之中，或被压在底下。

27.Spin on blindly in the dark：（儿童的灵魂）在黑暗中随着机器盲目地转动。

28.Him：指上帝。

29.the blessèd One：神圣者，亦指上帝。

30.Father：上帝，（三位一体中的）圣父。

31.for a charm：（呼吁上帝）作为消除痛苦的符咒。

32.the steep world：陡峭的世界，喻人世道路巉岩，难以登天。

33.Go to：（archaic ）去你的！

34.what ye preach：what do you preach.

35.God's possible is taught by His world's loving：that God's possible is taught etc.，上帝的世界赐以的仁爱，使人们相信上帝的存在是可能的。换言之，儿童既得不到爱，也就自然而然地怀疑上帝的存在。

36.the glory：the presence of God，the manifestation of God to the blessed in heaven，上帝的显形，天国之福。此句为儿童在矿井里劳动见不到阳光，更得不到比太阳更光彩夺目的上帝的赐福了。

37.They know the grief of man，without his wisdom：他们懂得成人的悲哀，却没有应对哀伤的智慧； his：指grief。儿童不知道如何经受和减轻他们的悲哀。

38.They sink in man's despair，without its calm：他们陷于成人的绝望之中，却没有真正绝望时的那种平静； its：指despair。

39.by the pang without the palm：殉道者遭受苦难，却没有荣誉； palm：象征胜利或荣誉的棕榈叶。

40.Are worn：（they are） worn out.

41.Are orphans of the earthly love and heavenly：they are orphans of the earthly love and heavenly love，他们是人间之爱和天堂之爱的孤儿。

42.mind：remind.

43.a mailed heel：戴上铠甲的脚跟。

44.tread onward to your throne amid the mart：在商业市场上独霸一切。

45.gold-heaper：黄金的积聚者，和上文cruel nation同指剥削压迫童工的统治阶级。

FromSONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE

1

I thought once how Theocritus^1 had sung

Of the sweet years，the dear and wished-for years，

Who each one in a gracious hand appears

To bear a gift for mortals，old or young：

And，as I mused it in his antique tongue，2

I saw，in gradual vision through my tears，3

The sweet，sad years，the melancholy years，

Those of my own life，4 who by turns had flung

A shadow across me. Straightway I was 'ware，5

So weeping，how a mystic Shape^6 did move

Behind me，and drew me backward by the hair；

And a voice said in mastery，7 while I strove，—

“Guess now who holds thee？”— “Death，” I said. But，there，

The silver answer rang，— “Not Death，but Love.”8

10

Yet，love，mere love，is beautiful indeed

And worthy of acceptation. Fire is bright，

Let temple burn，or flax；1 and equal light

Leaps in the flame from cedar-plank or weed：2

And love is fire. And when I say at need^3

I love thee... mark！ ... I love thee — in thy sight

I stand transfigured，glorified aright，

With conscience of the new rays that proceed

Out of my face toward thine.4 There's nothing low

In love，when love the lowest：5 meanest creatures

Who love God，God accepts^6 while loving so.

And what I feel，across the inferior features

Of what I am，7 doth flash itself，and show

How that great work of Love enhances Nature's.8

21

Say over again，and yet once over again，

That thou dost love me.1 Though the word repeated

Should seem “a cuckoo song”，2 as thou dost treat it，

Remember，never to the hill or plain，

Valley and wood，without her cuckoo-strain

Comes the fresh Spring in all her green completed.3

Belovèd，I，amid the darkness greeted

By a doubtful spirit-voice，in that doubt's pain，

Cry，“Speak once more — thou lovest！”4 Who can fear

Too many stars，though each in heaven shall roll，5

Too many flowers，though each shall crown the year？

Say thou dost love me，love me，love me — toll

The silver iterance！6— only minding，Dear，

To love me also in silence with thy soul.

43

How do I love thee？ Let me count the ways.1

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach，when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.2

I love thee to the level of everyday's

Most quiet need，by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely，as men strive for Right；3

I love thee purely，as they turn from Praise.4

I love thee with a passion put to use

In my old griefs，5 and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints，— I love thee with the breath，

Smiles，tears，of all my life！ — and，if God choose，

I shall but love thee better after death.6

【题解】

《葡萄牙十四行诗》是布朗宁夫人假托从葡萄牙文翻译过来的，其实是她真正心灵的写照。在这四十四首诗中，她倾注了全部感情，记录了她和罗伯特·布朗宁历久弥深的爱情。布朗宁夫人从小受过良好的教育，但是，得不到真情。其父过于严酷，死死地看护着他的十一个孩子，都不让他们结婚。伊莉莎白·巴莱特·布朗宁从小体弱，久病在家，对爱情本无指望。爱情的突然到来，她始料未及，她甚至误认为是死亡将她拖离人世（第1首）。病体使她多少有一点自卑感，故她安慰自己只要是火焰，不管来自何种燃烧物，都是光辉耀眼的（第10首）。爱的表示虽然显得单调而重复，但是催成春满人间的杜鹃，其歌声岂不也是如此（第21首）。她表达爱的八种方式，是她感情最强烈的表露（第43首）。也许只有久病不愈而突然枯木逢春的心灵才会有这样炽烈的情感。布朗宁夫人不见得是唯一有此经历的人，但她是绝无仅有的诗才，能将深切的体会和迸发的爱情诉诸笔端，留给后人。

【注释】

第1首

1.Theocritus：忒奥克托斯（310？—250BC），古希腊诗人，流传下来的诗作中最主要的有三十首《田园诗》（Idylls ），带有自然主义的倾向。《田园诗》第十五首的第103—104行的英译文为：Tardiest of Immortals are the beloved Hours，but eagerly looked — for do they come，ever bringing some gift to all mortals. 在希腊神话中，Hours是三位女神，司一年四季之变迁，守护并给人的劳动带来成果。本诗中the years即为三女神，故用who 作为years的关系代词。

2.mused it in his antique tongue：沉思于忒奥克托斯古老的原著之中。

3.in gradual vision through my tears：泪眼朦胧中逐渐看清。

4.Those of my own life：即以上所说的the sweet，sad years，the melancholy years不同于那位古希腊人所描绘的years，而是诗人自己生活的岁月。

5.'ware：aware.

6.a mystic Shape：一个神秘的幽灵。此处暗示诗人早年生活不幸福，而现在又感到一种神秘的力量要把她拖回到当年。

7.And a voice said in mastery：一个威严的声音说。

8.The silver answer rang，—“Not Death，but Love”：诗人以为是死神揪住她的头发，把她拖离人世，但是，原来是爱情要让她恢复青春；The silver answer和a voice said in mastery恰成对比。

第10首

1.Let temple burn，or flax：Let temple or flax burn，不管是神圣的殿堂，还是平凡的亚麻，都让它们烧吧！

2.and equal light ... weed：雪松板或杂草，价值不同，但燃烧时的火焰是一样的。

3.at need：at thy need，in answer to thy urgings，应你的要求。

4.I stand transfigured，glorified aright ... thine：此三行意为我一旦说出 “I love thee”，我在你的心目中立刻出现了一种光辉的形象，意识到自己脸上发出新的光芒射向你的脸上； aright：rightly； conscience：consciousness.

5.when love the lowest：even when the lowest love，此处 love为动词，主语是the lowest。

6.God accepts：宾语是meanest creatures.

7.what I feel，the inferior features ... am ：诗人自惭形秽，认为自己容貌平平，但自己的情感炽烈。

8.that great work of Love enhances Nature's：爱情的伟力使大自然给予的容貌变得更加美丽。

第21首

1.thou dost love me：you do love me.

2.a cuckoo song：杜鹊的歌声，重复单调的声音。

3.never to the hill or plain ... completed：the fresh Spring in all her green completed neven comes to the hill or plain，valley or wood，without her cuckoo strain； strain：曲调；in all her green completed：通体披上绿装。

4.thou lovest：you love.

5.roll：（星星的）循环运行。

6.toll ... iterance：用银铃般的噪音再说一遍； silver：表示声音如银铃般清脆，如上面第1首 The silver answer rang。

第43首

1.Let me count the ways：让我来点数爱你的各种方式。以下列举八种I love thee的方式，感情炽烈。

2.feeling out of sight ... Being：groping into infinity to find the purpose of the Universe，在冥冥之中探求宇宙的目标； out of sight：在视程之外； the ends of Being：宇宙存在的目的； ideal Grace：理想（上天的）的恩惠。

3.I love thee freely，as men strive for Right：据惠勒（C.B. Wheeler）注：the efforts of those who are working “to make the crooked straight” are prompted by no outside compulsion，but are the service freely given at the dictates of their own hearts. 意为人们追求正直是出于内心自发的力量，布朗宁夫人的爱情也不是来自任何外力。

4.I love thee purely，as they turn from Praise：爱得纯洁，因而不求得到对方的赞扬，不求报酬。

5.with a passion put to use griefs：用我过去悲伤时所发泄的那种强烈的感情（来爱你）；put to use：使用。此行意为爱情和悲伤的强烈程度是一样的。

6.I shall but love thee better after death：此行总结以上八个I love thee，表明布朗宁夫人死而爱情弥坚的强烈感情。

ALFRED，LORD TENNYSON

阿尔弗雷德·丁尼生

（1809—1892）

【作者与作品简介】

丁尼生是英国维多利亚朝中期的著名诗人。维多利亚时代（1837—1901）是英国资本主义大发展的时代。当时英国对内迅速实现工业化，对外大肆扩张，称霸世界。丁尼生代表了当时的这样一类文人：他们不是一味为英帝国的强盛与扩张而欢欣鼓舞，相反，他们较多地感受到了英国在工业化过程中社会的激烈动荡和价值标准的变换，他们已经开始在为经济繁荣和技术进步所付出的道德代价感到不安。他们的作品中较少见到对帝国的歌功颂德，较多地关注于伦理和人生，不时地流露出对旧时代旧秩序的追思和怀念。

除了时代的因素之外，丁尼生早年还曾遭受过巨大的精神创伤，即他在剑桥大学的同学、他最好的朋友哈勒姆在二十二岁时就因病突然去世，这也是造成他的诗歌多带有感伤情调的一个原因。这一不幸深深地影响了丁尼生对人生的看法，怀旧、悼亡、对生死问题的探索从此成为他诗歌中经常出现的主题。

丁尼生生前诗名甚著。他四十一岁时继华兹华斯成为英国桂冠诗人。他的诗字雕句琢，特别讲求语言形式和音律声韵之美。

陈维杭

Ulysses

It little profits^1 that an idle king，

By this still hearth，among these barren crags，2

Matched with an aged wife，3 I mete and dole

Unequal laws unto a savage race，4

That hoard，and sleep，and feed，5 and know not me.6

I cannot rest from travel； I will drink

Life to the lees.7 All times I have enjoyed

Greatly，have suffered greatly，both with those

That loved me，and alone； on shore，and when

Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades

Vexed the dim sea.8 I am become a name；9

For always roaming with a hungry heart

Much have I seen and known — cities of men

And manners，climates，councils，governments，

Myself not least，but honored of them all^10 —

And drunk delight of battle with my peers，11

Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.12

I am part of all that I have met；13

Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough

Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades

Forever and forever when I move.14

How dull it is to pause，to make an end.

To rust unburnished，not to shine in use！15

As though to breathe were life！ Life piled on life

Were all too little，and of one to me

Little remains；16 but every hour is saved

From that eternal silence，something more，

A bringer of new things；17 and vile it were

For some three suns to store and hoard myself，18

And this gray spirit yearning in desire^19

To follow knowledge like a sinking star，

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

This is my son，mine own Telemachus，20

To whom I leave the scepter and the isle^21 —

Well-loved of me，22 discerning to fulfill

This labor，by slow prudence to make mild

A rugged people，and through soft degrees

Subdue them to the useful and the good.23

Most blameless is he，centered in the sphere

Of common duties，decent not to fail

In offices of tenderness，24 and pay

Meet adoration to my household gods，25

When I am gone. He works his work，I mine.

There lies the port； the vessel puffs her sail；

There gloom the dark，broad seas. My mariners，

Souls^26 that have toiled，and wrought，27 and thought with me —

That ever with a frolic welcome took

The thunder and the sunshine，28 and opposed

Free hearts，free foreheads^29 — you and I are old；

Old age hath yet his honor and his toil.

Death closes all；30 but something ere^31 the end，

Some work of noble note，32 may yet be done，

Not unbecoming men that strove with gods.33

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks；

The long day wanes； the slow moon climbs； the deep^34

Moans round with many voices. Come，my friends.

'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Push off，and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows；35 for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset，and the baths

Of all the western stars，36 until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down；

It may be that we shall touch the Happy Isles，37

And see the great Achilles，38 whom we knew.

Though much is taken，much abides； and though

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven，that which we are，we are^39 —

One equal temper of heroic hearts，40

Made weak by time and fate，but strong in will

To strive，to seek，to find，and not to yield.

【题解】

丁尼生此诗取材于但丁的《神曲·地狱篇》（The Divine Comedy：The Inferno ）第二十六节。但丁在这诗篇中描述尤利西斯（即希腊神话中的奥德修斯）因在特洛伊战争中所犯的罪愆而在熊熊烈火中烧烤，以及他的自述。据但丁所编的故事，特洛伊战争结束之后，尤利西斯始终没有回到他的故乡伊萨卡岛（Ithaca），他动员一些部下和他一起到直布罗陀海峡以西的海域去探险。他鼓动手下将士说：“Consider your origin：you were not made to live as brutes，but to pursue virtue and knowledge.” 丁尼生对但丁的故事略作改动，结合荷马《奥德修纪》（Odyssey ）第12—24章的内容，编了不同于两者的故事。在这里，尤利西斯回到伊萨卡，和妻子珀涅罗庇、儿子堤莱莫克斯团聚，并重新掌管他的王国的事务。但是，他很快就感到百无聊赖，又想重返冒险生涯。本诗叙述他号召和他一起战斗过的部下，再次出去干一番惊天动地的事业。丁尼生曾说明，在好友亚瑟·哈勒姆（Arthur Hallam）不幸亡故之后，他本身也“需要向前进，直面人生的斗争” （need to going forward and braving the struggle of life）。

【注释】

1.It little profits：这样的情况几乎毫无意义；It：是that an idle king etc. 这个从句的先行词。

2.By this still hearth，among these barren crags：在这草木不长的巉岩之中，坐在家里这安静的壁炉旁边； hearth：常表示安逸舒适的家庭生活； barren crags：伊萨卡岛上尽是巨大的岩石。

3.Matched with an aged wife：一个是百无聊赖的国王（an idle king），守着一个年迈的妻子，正好是一对。

4.I mete and dole ... race：I measure out rewards and punishment，我赏罚岛上未开化的土著居民； mete和dole都表示 to give out by measure，而且都和out组成动词短语，但mete out指处罚 （to mete out punishment），而 dole out指给予或施舍（ to give or distribute as a charity）； unequal laws：不同的法律，指惩罚或奖赏。

5.That hoard，and sleep，and feed：这里表露了尤利西斯对未开化民族的鄙视；hoard：囤积吃的和用的东西。按：比较莎士比亚《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet）4.4.33—35：What is a man，/ If his chief good and market of his time / Be but to sleep and feed？ A beast，no more.

6.know not me：do not know me.

7.drink ... lees：意为不愿如此消磨时光，而要把生命之酒一饮而尽；lees：the sediment or dregs of liquor （as wine） during fermentation and aging，dregs，酒滓；注意，此词为复数，单数lee很少用。

8.All times I have enjoyed ... sea：第7—11行这一句意为：尤利西斯在家时，既和家人一起享受天伦之乐，又独自忍受煎熬；而他在海上经历惊涛骇浪时，则是完全独自在享受生活，同时又经受磨难；on shore，and when：and连接两个状语结构，即on shore 和when ... sea。按：Hyades是金牛宫的毕星团，据说该星团在日出时出现，天就会下雨，故云rainy Hyades； scudding drifts：driving showers of spray and rain.

9.I am become a name：我已经徒有虚名；am become：have become； 一些特殊联系动词的完成时态不用have 而用be作助动词，是英语较早期的用法。

10.Myself not least，but honored of them all：我虽然不是最微不足道的，但是颇受大家尊重； Myself 与cities of men And manners 等并列； of：by； 参看第35行：Well-loved of me.

11.drunk delight of battle with my peers：和我的同僚们共享战斗的愉悦；和第6—7行I will drink Life to the lees相呼应； peers：companions.

12.ringing plains of windy Troy：烽火连天、干戈震耳的特洛伊平原上；ringing：干戈四起之声；windy：特洛伊城并不见得风特别大，只是表示战火连天的意思。特洛伊王子帕里斯在希腊斯巴达王麦尼劳斯宫中看上其妻海伦之后，将海伦拐走，麦尼劳斯和其兄弟迈西尼国王阿迦门侬兴师讨伐，包围特洛伊城，这一仗打了十年，最后尤利西斯用木马计将城攻陷。在但丁的《神曲·地狱篇》（The Divine Comedy：The Inferno ）第二十六节中，尤利西斯因使用木马计而遭受烈火焚烧。

13.I am part of all that I have met：我和大家同甘苦，共患难。

14.Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough ... move：经验就像一座拱门，通过这道门，我可以看见那个未曾涉足的世界在闪光，而这个世界的边际，却随着我往前移动而永远不停地消退；wherethrough Gleams that untraveled world：through which that untraveled world gleams； whose margin fades Forever and forever when I move：比喻探索的世界永无止境。

15.How dull it is to pause，to make an end ... use：比较莎士比亚《特洛伊斯和克里斯达》（Troilus and Cressida ）中尤利西斯的演说，3.3.150—153：Perseverance，dear my lord，/ Keeps honor bright； to have done，is to hang / Quite out of fashion，like a rusty mail / in monumental mockery.

16.Life piled on life ... remains：人生即使有多次生命也是短暂的，更何况我的一次生命已经剩下不多了。

17.every hour is saved ... things：只要有一些新的动态，带来新东西，那么，每个小时都会得到利用，而不是消失在永久的沉寂之中；eternal silence：指人死后永远沉寂； something more：with something more.

18.vile it were ... myself：第五行鄙视未开化的土著人只知道藏吃的东西（hoard），吃、喝、睡，而此处谴责自己“藏”着三年的岁月不加以利用；vile it were：it would be vile； three suns：三年，一般作三天解。

19.And this gray spirit yearning in desire：with this gray spirit etc.，尤利西斯已经年老，故曰“白头”（gray spirit），颇有“老当益壮，宁移白首之心”的精神。

20.mine own Telemachus：尤利西斯的儿子堤莱莫克斯； mine：my，以元音起首的词前面用mine，不用my。

21.To whom I leave the scepter and the isle：尤利西斯准备把统治伊萨卡的权力交给儿子； scepter：节杖，象征国王的权力。

22.Well-loved of me：well-loved by me； 参看第十五行：honored of them all.

23.discerning to fulfill ... good：堤莱莫克斯非常精明，懂得如何来管理好这个地方（to fulfill This labor），知道要耐心谨慎地（slow prudence）改造这一个粗野的民族（make mild A rugged people）的性格，要用温和的方式，逐步地 （through soft degrees） 教育和约束（Subdue）他们，使他们成为有用之人和好人。

24.In offices of tenderness：温和地处事； offices：an assigned or assumed duty，task，or role.

25.pay ... gods：非常懂规矩地供奉家里敬的保护神； Meet：adj. fitting.

26.Souls：persons，指mariners.

27.wrought：worked.

28.with a frolic welcome took ... sunshine：以欢愉的心情迎接风雷和烈日。

29.opposed ... foreheads：反对空虚的心灵和头脑。下行说，即使年老，也应该有其尊严和劳作；free：having no obligations or commitment，没有任务的或责任的。按：另有解释为opposed 和took并列，其宾语为the thunder and the sunshine，但是，从句子结构来看，关系代词that （i.e. my mariners） 是这个插入语的主语，took和opposed都是其谓语动词，free hearts and free forehead应该是opposed的宾语，如果理解为opposed 的主语，似乎勉强；free这个词，习惯上都作为褒义词，这里更可能是贬义词，谓心灵空虚，无所事事。

30.Death closes all：死亡封闭了一切，即做什么事情都不可能了。

31.ere：before.

32.Some work of noble note：宏伟大业；note：importance，significance.

33.Not unbecoming men that strove with gods：（这种宏伟大业） 和那些敢于和诸神一争高低的人是很相称的。按：古希腊的宗教是泛神论，奥林帕斯山上有很多神，彼此之间斗争不断，人和神也会发生冲突。这和基督教的一神论是不同的，基督教的神是不可挑战的。

34.the deep：the sea.

35.smite ... furrows：在惊涛骇浪中击浆； furrows：原指犁翻过的地，船在水上航行时留下的波痕。

36.the baths ... stars：古希腊人认为平地的外面都是一片汪洋，西下的星星都沉入海底。

37.the Happy Isles：极乐岛，即Elysium，希腊神话中人死之后去的地方（the abode of the blessed dead），又称the Islands of the Blessed，据说在世界尽头以西的大洋里。

38.Achilles：阿基里斯和尤利西斯一起参加特洛伊战争。他死于帕里斯（Paris）手中。根据希腊人的信念，阿基里斯死后应该住在极乐岛。

39.We are not now that strength which in old days ... are：我们已经不像当年那样如此英勇神武，可以移山填海，可是我们毕竟还是我们。

40.One equal temper of heroic hearts：同样气质的英雄胆略。

Tithonus

The woods decay，the woods decay and fall，

The vapors weep their burthen to the ground，1

Man comes and tills the field and lies beneath，2

And after many a summer dies the swan.3

Me only cruel immortality

Consumes：4 I wither slowly in thine arms，5

Here at the quiet limit of the world，6

A white-haired shadow^7 roaming like a dream

The ever-silent spaces of the East，

Far-folded mists，8 and gleaming halls of morn.9

Alas！ for this gray shadow，once a man^10 —

So glorious in his beauty and thy choice，11

Who madest him thy chosen，that he seemed^12

To his great heart none other than a God！

I asked thee，“Give me immortality.”13

Then didst thou grant mine asking with a smile，14

Like wealthy men who care not how they give.

But thy strong Hours indignant^15 worked their wills，

And beat me down and marred and wasted me，

And tho'16 they could not end me，left me maimed

To dwell in presence of immortal youth，17

Immortal age beside immortal youth，

And all I was，in ashes.18 Can thy love，

Thy beauty，make amends，tho' even now，

Close over us，the silver star，thy guide，

Shines in those tremulous eyes^19 that fill with tears

To hear me？ Let me go：take back thy gift：

Why should a man desire in any way

To vary from the kindly race of men，20

Or pass beyond the goal of ordinance^21

Where all should pause，as is most meet^22 for all？

A soft air fans the cloud apart； there comes

A glimpse of that dark world^23 where I was born.

Once more the old mysterious glimmer steals

From thy pure brows，24 and from thy shoulders pure，

And bosom beating with a heart renewed.25

Thy cheek begins to redden thro' the gloom，

Thy sweet eyes brighten slowly close to mine，

Ere yet they blind the stars，26 and the wild team^27

Which love thee，yearning for thy yoke，arise，

And shake the darkness from their loosened manes，

And beat the twilight into flakes of fire.

Lo！ ever thus thou growest beautiful

In silence，then before thine answer given

Departest，28 and thy tears are on my cheek.

Why wilt^29 thou ever scare me with thy tears，

And make me tremble lest a saying learnt，

In days far-off，on that dark earth，be true？

“The Gods themselves cannot recall their gifts.”

Ay me！30 ay me！ with what another heart

In days far-off，and with what other eyes

I used to watch — if I be he that watched^31 —

The lucid outline forming round thee； saw

The dim curls kindle into sunny rings；

Changed with thy mystic change，and felt my blood

Glow with the glow that slowly crimsoned all

Thy presence and thy portals，while I lay，

Mouth，forehead，eyelids，growing dewy-warm

With kisses balmier than half-opening buds

Of April，and could hear the lips that kissed

Whispering I knew not what of wild and sweet，32

Like that strange song I heard Apollo sing，33

While Ilion like a mist rose into towers.

Yet hold me not for ever in thine East：

How can my nature longer mix with thine？

Coldly thy rosy shadows bathe me，cold

Are all thy lights，and cold my wrinkled feet

Upon thy glimmering thresholds，when the steam

Floats up from those dim fields about the homes

Of happy men that have the power to die，

And grassy barrows of the happier dead.34

Release me，and restore me to the ground；

Thou seest all things，thou wilt see my grave：

Thou wilt renew thy beauty morn by morn；

I earth in earth forget these empty courts，35

And thee returning on thy silver wheels.

【题解】

Tithonus，提托诺斯，特洛伊王子，为黎明女神爱欧斯 （Eos，亦称Aurora）所爱。爱欧斯求天神宙斯赐长生于提托诺斯，但因一时疏忽，忘了请求赐予永远年轻。提托诺斯日渐衰老，虽居于天神之宫，却因不能经历正常的由生至死的途径而感到苦恼乏味。他感到只有 “万寿无疆”，而不是死亡，才是 “残酷”的。

【注释】

1.The vapors weep their burthen to the ground：意为水气化为露水而消亡。

2.lies beneath：死后入土。

3.after many a summer dies the swan：有些种类的天鹅至少可以活五十年。

4.Me only cruel immortality Consumes：only cruel immortality consumes me，只有残酷的长生在消耗着我。

5.I wither slowly in thine arms：我在你的怀抱里枯萎； thine：thy，后接以元音起首的名词，如下mine asking。

6.the quiet limit of the world：黎明女神之宫殿。

7.A white-haired shadow：白发苍苍的影子，指年老衰弱的提托诺斯。

8.Far-folded mists：弥漫远近的雾。

9.gleaming halls of morn：早晨的天宫一片光明； morn：morning. 按：第9—10两行都是roaming的宾语。

10.once a man：曾经是一个年轻的男子。

11.thy choice：你的意中人。

12.Who madest him thy chosen，that he seemed：who的先行词为thy （你的）所暗示的 thou （你），这种结构比较古旧； madest是与thou配合的动词形式； thy chosen：你的意中人； that he seemed：that和上行的so呼应。

13.I asked thee，“Give me immortality”：此处诗人把赐予长生的天神宙斯改为黎明神爱欧斯。

14.didst thou grant mine asking with a smile：你微笑着答应了我的请求； didst：did； mine asking：my asking.

15.thy strong Hours indignant：你那威力强大的 “时间” 在一怒之下； indignant：being indignant.

16.tho'：though.

17.immortal youth：指黎明女神。

18.in ashes：指衰弱的身体如灰烬一般。

19.those tremulous eyes：指黎明女神的眼光。

20.To vary from the kindly race of men：和常人不同； kindly：（archaic ） natural，belong to the kind or race，自然的，正常的。

21.beyond the goal of ordinance：超过人类天定的寿数；the goal of ordinance：what is decreed or ordained as human destiny.

22.meet：fitting，合适的；此行意为到了天定的限度（goal），一切都得终止（pause），这是顺理成章的。

23.that dark world：指地球，尘世。

24.the old mysterious glimmer steals ... brows：指曙光从黎明女神的身上散发出来，此处的brows 和 下行的shoulders，bosom都表示女神发光的部位。

25.with a heart renewed：黎明女神每天都有一颗新的心，意为每天都有新生。

26.Ere yet they blind the stars：直到群星在你的光芒下黯然失色； Ere：before.

27.the wild team：the horses that draw Eos's Chariots into the sky at daybreak.

28.Departest：黎明女神不回答我的请求就走了；“请求”指Let me go； take back thy gift.

29.wilt：will.

30.Ay me：alas.

31.if I be he that watched：但愿我还是当年的那位守望者； 虚拟式。

32.I knew not what of wild and sweet：我不知是哪种狂热和甜蜜的语言。

33.that strange song I heard Apollo sing：传说特洛伊城是在阿波罗的音乐的伴奏声中建筑起来的。

34.grassy barrows：长满草的坟墓；barrow：an ancient earth-built grave-mound； happier dead：活人能死 （have the power to die） 是幸福的，死后则更加幸福。

35.I earth in earth forget these empty courts：我这出于土而入于土之人，将会忘记这空虚的宫殿； these empty courts：指黎明女神之宫。《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ）3：19：In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread，till thou return unto the ground； for out of it wast thou taken； for thou art dust，and unto dust shalt thou return. （你必汗流满面才得糊口，直到你归了土，因为你是从土而出的。你本是尘土，仍要归于尘土。）

Break，Break，Break

Break，break，break，

On thy cold gray stones，O Sea！

And I would^1 that my tongue could utter

The thoughts that arise in me.

O，well for^2 the fisherman's boy，

That he shouts with his sister at play！

O，well for the sailor lad，

That he sings in his boat on the bay！

And the stately ships go on

To their haven under the hill；

But O for the touch of a vanished hand，3

And the sound of a voice^4 that is still！

Break，break，break，

At the foot of thy crags，O Sea！

But the tender grace of a day^5 that is dead

Will never come back to me.

【题解】

丁尼生的好友亚瑟·哈勒姆（Arthur Hallam）英年早逝，给他造成很大的心理冲击。这首诗表达了他对朋友的怀念，他对世界和生活的看法。诗写得非常简单，然而感情强烈，题目Break，Break，Break 呼唤海浪猛烈地冲撞海岸边的岩石，就像他自己心中涌起的无数思绪那样。他所描写的海上渔民的孩子的嬉戏，以及青年水手的歌唱未必一定是当时当地的实际情景，可能更多是他的想象，是他所创造的一种意象。一个生命的不幸终止，使他无限惋惜，但悲痛之中，他还是看到了世界的生命力，希望纯朴而美好的生活能够继续。

【注释】

1.would：wish.

2.O，well for：感叹语，意为 “好啊！” 或是 “为……感到高兴”。

3.But O for the touch of a vanished hand：要是能摸到一只消失的手，那多么好啊！诗人哀悼亡友亚瑟·哈勒姆，但愿再次握到他的手。

4.And the sound of a voice：And for the sound of voice etc..

5.the tender grace of a day：意为美好的日子。

Sonnet

How thought you that this thing could captivate？1

What are those graces that could make her dear，2

Who is not worth the notice of a sneer，

To rouse the vapid devil of her hate？3

A speech conventional，so void of weight，4

That after it has buzzed about one's ear，

'Twere rich refreshment for a week to hear

The dentist babble or the barber prate；5

A hand displayed with many a little art；

An eye that glances on her neighbor's dress；

A foot too often shown for my regard；6

An angel's form — a waiting-woman's heart；7

A perfect-featured face，expressionless，

Insipid，as the Queen upon a card.8

【题解】

丁尼生曾经爱上一位名叫罗沙·巴林（Rosa Baring）的美丽而高贵的年轻姑娘。后不久即对她失望，此诗疑与这段纠葛有关。

【注释】

1.How thought you that this thing could captivate：how could you think that etc.； this thing：所指不确，或许指这位女士的容貌，或许指下面所述的种种行为。大意是：你怎能以为这种样子可以使人对你入迷呢？

2.What are those graces that could make her dear：她有哪些风采和特点使她高贵呢； grace：a charming or attractive trait or characteristic，a pleasing appearance or effect，charm； dear：highly valued，precious.

3.Who is not worth the notice of a sneer ... hate：此句意为谁都会遭到她的嘲笑和蔑视，使她大动肝火，引发她的刻薄和憎恨；vapid devil of her hate：指她的仇恨心态像一个潜伏的魔鬼，动不动就会被挑逗起来；vapid：lacking liveliness，dull.

4.weight：importance，分量。

5.'Twere rich refreshment for a week to hear ... prate：听了她陈词滥调，言之无物的讲话之后，即使整整一个星期听牙医和理发师喋喋不休地吹牛，也会感到是一种莫大的享受；'Twere：it were，it would be，虚拟式。

6.A hand displayed with many a little art ... regard：这三行描写的情形都说明了姑娘的浅薄。

7.a waiting-woman's heart：女佣的心态；和天使的形体（angel's form） 形成对比，女佣的心无非是平常人的心，并无突出之处。

8.the Queen upon a card：扑克牌上的王后。

FromTHE PRINCESS

Tears，Idle Tears

Tears，idle tears，I know not what they mean，

Tears from the depth of some divine despair

Rise in the heart，and gather to the eyes，

In looking on the happy Autumn-fields，

And thinking of the days that are no more.

Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail，

That brings our friends up from the underworld，

Sad as the last^1 which reddens over one

That sinks with all we love below the verge；

So sad，so fresh，the days that are no more.

Ah，sad and strange as in dark summer dawns

The earliest pipe^2 of half-awakened birds

To dying ears，when unto dying eyes

The casement^3 slowly grows a glimmering square；

So sad，so strange，the days that are no more.

Dear as remembered kisses after death，

And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned

On lips that are for others； deep as love，

Deep as first love，and wild with all regret；

O Death in Life，the days that are no more.

【题解】

选自长篇叙事诗《公主》（The Princess ）中的若干插曲短歌之一。诗人自注：“This song came to me on the yellowing autumntide at Tintern Abbey，full for me of its bygone memories.” （我在丁登寺的金黄色的秋景中想起忘却的往事，命笔成诗。） 又云：“It is what I have always felt even from a boy，and what as a boy I called the ‘passion of the past.’ And it is so always with me now； it is the distance that charms me in the landscape，the picture and the past，and not the immediate today in which I move.” （ 即使我在少年时代，都曾有此感受，并在当时称为 “往昔的热情”。我现在依然如故。使我醉心的是风景、图画和往事中的距离，而不是我活动于其中的当今。） 丁尼生在此处可能联想到华兹华斯的诗《丁登寺旁》（Tintern Abbey），以及葬在布里斯托尔（Bristol） 海峡对面的亡友亚瑟·哈勒姆（Arthur Hallam）。

【注释】

1.the last：the last beam.

2.pipe：鸟鸣声。

3.casement：（poetic ） window，窗扉。按：此节关于仲夏鸟鸣，幽暗阴郁，以及将死的感官（dying ears，dying eyes） 等等的描写，颇受济慈《夜莺颂》（Ode to a Nightingale ） 的影响。尤其是casement一词，与济慈该诗中的浪漫主义名句有关：The same that oft-times hath / Charm'd magic casements，opening on the foam / Of perilous seas，in faery lands forlorn. 参见本书关于这首诗的注释。

The Woman's Cause Is Man's

“Blame not thyself too much，”I said，“nor blame

Too much the sons of men and barbarous laws；

These were the rough ways of the world till now.

Henceforth thou hast^1 a helper，me，that know

The woman's cause is man's：they rise or sink

Together，dwarfed or godlike，bond or free：

For she that out of Lethe scales with man

The shining steps of Nature，2 shares with man

His nights，his days，moves with him to one goal，

Stays all the fair young planet in her hands^3 —

If she be small，slight-natured，4 miserable，

How shall men grow？ but work no more alone！

Our place is much：as far as in us lies

We two will serve them both in aiding her^5 —

Will clear away the parasitic forms

That seem to keep her up but drag her down^6 —

Will leave her space to burgeon out of all

Within her — let her make herself her own

To give or keep，to live and learn and be

All that not harms distinctive womanhood.

For woman is not undevelopt^7 man，

But diverse：could we make her as the man，

Sweet Love were slain：8 his dearest bond is this，

Not like to like，but like in difference.9

Yet in the long years liker must they grow；10

The man be more of woman，she of man；11

He gain in sweetness and in moral height，

Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world；12

She mental breadth，nor fail in childward care，13

Nor lose the childlike in the larger mind；14

Till at the last she set herself to man，

Like perfect music unto noble words；15

And so these twain，upon the skirts of Time，16

Sit side by side，full-summed in all their powers，17

Dispensing harvest，sowing the To-be，18

Self-reverent each and reverencing each，19

Distinct in individualities，

But like each other even as those who love.

Then comes the statelier Eden back to men：20

Then reign the world's great bridals，chaste and calm：

Then springs the crowning race of humankind.

May these things be！”21

Sighing she spoke “I fear

They will not.”

“Dear，but let us type them now

In our own lives，22 and this proud watchword^23 rest

Of equal； seeing either sex alone

Is half itself，and in true marriage lies

Nor equal，nor unequal：24 each fulfils

Defect in each，and always thought in thought，

Purpose in purpose，will in will，they grow，25

The single pure and perfect animal，

The two-celled heart^26 beating，with one full stroke，

Life.”

And again sighing she spoke：“A dream

That once was mind！ what woman taught you this？”

【题解】

长篇叙事诗《公主》（The Princess ） 描写一位王子追求美丽的公主艾达（Ida），但是艾达另有追求，办了一所女子大学，男生不得介入。她还发誓终身不嫁。最后，她不得不承认她这场女性运动的实验归于失败。王子努力劝她相信，建立男女之间一种完美理想关系，是有可能的。此处选自第七章中王子劝慰艾达的一段关键的话。

【注释】

1.thou hast：you have.

2.she that out of Lethe scales with man ... Nature：女人和男人一起沿着自然界闪光的阶梯从冥间来到人间； Lethe：冥间一条河，人在出生之前饮其水则忘却过去的一切； scales：mounts，攀登。

3.Stays all the fair young planet in her hands：在她的手中呵护着所有幼小美丽的星球；指生儿育女，把他们抚养大； planet：形式是单数，但有复数之意。

4.slight-natured：心胸狭窄。

5.Our place is much：as far as in us lies ... her：意为我们的天地很广阔，只要我们之间有这块天地，我们就可以通过帮助女性来帮助男女双方。

6.the parasitic forms ...down：这里似乎指缠绕在树上的各种寄生植物，似乎在扶着大树，其实是在拖累它；同样，女性在社会上也受到各种牵制，看起来是在扶持她们，其实是在限制她们。

7.undevelopt：undeveloped.

8.could we make her as the man ... slain：如果我们把女人变成男人，那么甜蜜的爱情就会被扼杀。

9.Not like to like，but like in difference：意为男人和女人不是完全相同的，而是在不同之中有相似之处。

10.liker must they grow：他们必将变得更加相似。

11.The man be more of woman，she of man：The man would be more of woman，she would be more of man，男人将会具有更多的女人的特性，女人亦将具有更多的男人的特性。以下一系列动词前均省去would。

12.Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world：也不会失去摔跤手那种强健的征服世界的力量； thews：muscle，sinew，usually used in plural，肌肉，筋腱； throw：摔跤比赛中把对方摔倒在地，此处意为征服。

13.She mental breadth，nor fail in childward care：她的心胸和精神境界将变得更加开阔，而在照料孩子方面却毫不逊色； She mental breadth：she would gain mental breadth.

14.Nor lose the childlike in the larger mind：心胸宽广却又不失赤子之心。

15.she set herself to man ... words：她和男人密切地配合，犹如为崇高的词语配上乐曲。

16.twain：一对男女； the skirts of Time：时间的裙边，喻良辰美景。

17.full-summed in all their powers：他们所有的力量都结合在一起。

18.Dispensing harvest，sowing the To-be：分享收获，播种未来； To-be：future.

19.Self-reverent each and reverencing each：各人都尊重自己，各人都尊重对方； reverence：动词，即revere。

20.Then comes the statelier Eden back to men：更加雄伟庄严的伊甸乐园回到了人间。Eden：《圣经》所载人类始祖居住的乐园。

21.May these things be：但愿这一切成为现实。

22.let us type them now ... lives：让我们在自己的生活中先做出表率； type：to symbolize，to exemplify.

23.this proud watchword：即 “let us type them now In our own lives” 这句话。

24.in true marriage lies ... unequal：在真正的婚姻中无所谓平等或不平等，意为双方各有的都只是互相补充对方之不足。

25.thought in thought ... grow：男女在成长过程中的思想、目标和意志都是相同的。

26.The two-celled heart：意为男女两颗结合在一起的心脏。

FromIN MEMORIAM A. H. H.

8

A happy lover who has come

To look on her that loves him well，

Who 'lights^1 and rings the gateway bell，

And learns her gone and far from home；

He saddens，all the magic light

Dies off at once from bower and hall，

And all the place is dark，and all

The chambers emptied of delight：

So find I every pleasant spot

In which we two were wont to meet，

The field，the chamber，and the street，

For all is dark where thou art^2 not.

Yet as that other，wandering there

In those deserted walks，may find

A flower beat with^3 rainand wind，

Which once she fostered up with care；

So seems it in my deep regret，

O my forsaken heart，with thee

And this poor flower of poesy

Which little cared for fades not yet.

But since it pleased a vanished eye，

I go to plant it on his tomb，

That if it can it there may bloom，

Or，dying，there at least may die.

11

Calm is the morn without a sound，

Calm as to suit a calmer grief，

And only thro' the faded leaf

The chestnut pattering to the ground：

Calm and deep peace on this high world，1

And on these dews that drench the furze，2

And all the silvery gossamers^3

That twinkle into green and gold：

Calm and still light on yon great plain

That sweeps with all its autumn bowers，

And crowded farms and lessening towers，

To mingle with the bounding main：

Calm and deep peace in this wide air，

These leaves that redden to the fall；

And in my heart，if calm at all，

If any calm，a calm despair：

Calm on the seas，and silver sleep，

And waves that sway themselves in rest，

And dead calm in that noble breast

Which heaves but with the heaving deep.4

19

The Danube to the Severn gave

The darkened heart that beat no more；1

They laid him by the pleasant shore，

And in the hearing of the wave.

There twice a day the Severn fills；2

The salt sea-water passes by，

And hushes half the babbling Wye，3

And makes a silence in the hills.

The Wye is hushed nor moved along，

And hushed my deepest grief of all，

When filled with tears that cannot fall，

I brim with sorrow drowning song.

The tide flows down，the wave again

Is vocal in its wooded walls；

My deeper anguish also falls，

And I can speak a little then.

27

I envy not in any moods

The captive void of noble rage，1

The linnet^2 born within the cage，

That never knew the summer woods：

I envy not the beast that takes

His license in the field of time，3

Unfettered by the sense of crime，

To whom a conscience never wakes；

Nor，what may count itself as blest，

The heart that never plighted troth^4

But stagnates in the weeds of sloth；

Nor any want-begotten rest.5

I hold it true，whate'er befall；

I feel it，when I sorrow most；

'Tis^6 better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.

54

O，yet we trust that^1 somehow good

Will be the final goal of ill，2

To pangs of nature，sins of will，

Defects of doubt，and taints of blood；

That nothing walks with aimless feet；

That not one life shall be destroyed，

Or cast as rubbish to the void，

When God hath made the pile complete；3

That not a worm is cloven in vain；

That not a moth with vain desire

Is shriveled in a fruitless fire，

Or but subserves another's gain.4

Behold，we know not anything；

I can but trust that good shall fall

At last — far off — at last，to all，

And every winter change to spring.

So runs my dream：but what am I？

An infant crying in the night：

An infant crying for the light：

And with no language but a cry.

55

The wish，that of the living whole

No life may fail beyond the grave，1

Derives it not from what we have

The likest God within the soul？2

Are God and Nature then at strife，3

That Nature lends such evil dreams？

So careful of the type she seems，4

So careless of the single life；

That I，considering everywhere

Her secret meaning in her deeds，

And finding that of fifty seeds

She often brings but one to bear，

I falter where I firmly trod，

And falling with my weight of cares

Upon the great world's altar-stairs

That slope thro' darkness up to God，5

I stretch lame hands of faith，and grope，6

And gather dust and chaff，and call

To what I feel is Lord of all，

And faintly trust the larger hope.7

56

“So careful of the type？”but no.

From scarped cliff and quarried stone^1

She^2 cries，“A thousand types are gone：

I care for nothing，all shall go.

“Thou makest thine appeal to me：

I bring to life，I bring to death：

The spirit does but mean the breath：3

I know no more.” And he，shall he，4

Man，her last work，who seemed so fair，

Such splendid purpose in his eyes，

Who rolled the psalm to wintry skies，5

Who built him fanes^6 of fruitless prayer，

Who trusted God was love indeed

And love Creation's final law^7 —

Tho' Nature，red in tooth and claw

With ravine，shrieked against his creed^8 —

Who loved，who suffered countless ills，

Who battled for the True，the Just，

Be blown about the desert dust，

Or sealed within the iron hills？9

No more？ A monster then，a dream，

A discord. Dragons of the prime，

That tare each other in their slime，10

Were mellow music matched with^11 him.

O life as futile，then，as frail！

O for thy voice to soothe and bless！

What hope of answer，or redress？

Behind the veil，behind the veil.

118

Contèmplate all this work of Time，

The giant labouring in his youth；1

Nor dream of human love and truth，

As dying Nature's earth and lime；

But trust that those we call the dead

Are breathers of an ampler day

For ever nobler ends. They^2 say，

The solid earth whereon we tread

In tracts of fluent heat began，

And grew to seeming-random forms，

The seeming prey of cyclic storms，

Till at the last arose the man；

Who throve and branch'd from clime to clime，3

The herald of a higher race，

And of himself in higher place，

If so he type this work of time

Within himself，from more to more；4

Or，crown'd with attributes of woe

Like glories，5 move his course，and show

That life is not as idle ore，

But iron dug from central gloom，

And heated hot with burning fears，

And dipt in baths of hissing tears，

And batter'd with the shocks of doom

To shape and use. Arise and fly

The reeling Faun，6 the sensual feast；

Move upward，working out the beast，7

And let the ape and tiger die.

123

There rolls the deep where grew the tree.1

O earth，what changes hast thou seen！2

There where the long street roars，hath been

The stillness of^3 the central sea.

The hills are shadows，and they flow

From form to form，and nothing stands；

They melt like mist，the solid lands，

Like clouds they shape themselves and go.

But in my spirit will I dwell，

And dream my dream，and hold it true；

For tho' my lips may breathe adieu，

I cannot think the thing farewell.

130

Thy voice is on the rolling air；1

I hear thee where the waters run；

Thou standest in the rising sun，2

And in the setting^3 thou art fair.

What art thou then？ I cannot guess；

But tho'4 I seem in star and flower

To feel thee some diffusive power，

I do not therefore love thee less：

My love involves the love before；

My love is vaster passion now；

Tho' mix'd with God and Nature thou，

I seem to love thee more and more.

Far off thou art，but ever nigh；5

I have thee still，and I rejoice；

I prosper，circled with thy voice；

I shall not lose thee tho' I die.

【题解】

丁尼生的《悼念集》是怀念亡友亚瑟·哈勒姆 （Arthur Hallam） 的一部长篇诗组，共131首，诗情深沉庄重。诗中表达的对亡友的深切情谊升华为对人类的博爱，对生命和苦难的疑问，以及对来世的憧憬。诗人缅怀男友的情感，无疑受到莎士比亚《十四行诗》的影响。而作为挽歌，《悼念集》也继承了弥尔顿《利西达斯》（Lycidas ） 和雪莱《阿多尼斯》（Adonais ） 的传统。诗的结构则像抒情民歌，富有清醒和质朴的气息。

【注释】

第8首

1.'lights：alights，下马或下车等。

2.thou art：you are.

3.beat with：beaten，今罕用； with：by.

第11首

1.high world：high and open countryside，地势高而开阔的农村。

2.furze：荆豆。

3.gossamers：蛛丝，游丝。

4.Calm on the seas，and silver sleep ... deep：诗人想象哈勒姆的遗体从海上运回英国。此节描写的是秋天的景色，实际死者是在年底运回国内的。

第19首

1.The Danube to the Severn gave ... more：哈勒姆死于多瑙河流经的维也纳，葬在英格兰西南部的塞汶河 （Severn）畔，故称多瑙河把停止跳动的失色的心脏送到塞汶河。

2.twice a day the Severn fills：塞汶河是一条潮水河，一日涨潮两次 （fills），故云。

3.Wye：怀河，这是塞汶河的支流。当潮水上涨时，怀河被阻，流水声咽 （hushes half the babbling Wye，又第9行The Wye is hushed nor moved along）； 退潮时，怀河再次浪起，流水哗哗 （第13—14行）。

第27首

1.The captive void of noble rage：字面意思为因受束缚而无法表达的高昂的悲愤； 意为悲愤而无法发泄。

2.linnet：红雀。

3.takes ... time：在时间的田野里有特许权，意为能活得自由自在。

4.plighted troth：订立山盟海誓。

5.want-begotten rest：由于某种缺陷 （want，deficiency） 引起的自满情绪； rest在此处意为complacency。

6.'Tis：it is.

第54首

1.we trust that：以下两节that所引导的都是we trust 的宾语从句。

2.good ... ill：“好事”是“坏事”的最终目标；以下所列举的都是所谓“坏事”：人性易受的痛苦（pangs of nature，如嫉妒），用心不良 （sins of will），多疑（defects of doubt），血液污染 （taints of blood，如疾病）。

3.not one life shall be destroyed ... complete：一旦上帝要摧毁的都已经摧毁（when the pile is complete），那就不会再毁灭任何一个生命，把它像废物那样丢弃。

4.Or but subserves another's gain：除非为了服务于另类的利益；Or but：except.

第55首

1.that of the living whole ... grave：that no life of the living whole may fail beyond the grave是The wish的同位语；此句意为希望生命有来生，而不是进入坟墓便算告终。

2.Derives it not from what we have ... soul：Does it （the wish） not derives from etc.，产生这种愿望是因为我们心中似乎有上帝存在？

3.Are God and Nature then at strife：上帝希望生命的存在而自然将其扼杀。

4.So careful of the type she seems：自然（she） 十分关心 （保持） 物种（type），而毫不在乎单一生命（的存亡）； type：species，物种。

5.Upon the great world's altar-stairs ... God：此句意为自己在黑暗中逐级攀登通向上帝的祭坛的阶梯。

6.I stretch lame hands of faith，and grope：表示自己的信仰并不坚定。这是因为他对发生的很多事情感到迷茫。

7.larger hope：即第1—2两行The wish，that of the living whole etc.

第56首

1.scarped cliff and quarried stone：垂直向下劈削而成的峭壁和开采的石块； 前者是自然形成，而后者是人为造成的。

2.She：Nature.

3.The spirit does but mean the breath：精神只不过是呼吸而已；does but mean：only means.

4.And he，shall he：下接Be blown about the desert dust，Or sealed within the iron hills，中间都是修饰he的定语从句。

5.Who rolled the psalm to wintry skies：对着冬天的天空唱起雅歌；roll：to sound with a full reverberating tone.

6.fanes：temples.

7.love Creation's final law：love was Creation's final law.

8.Tho' Nature，red in tooth and claw ... creed：此处形容大自然和上帝创造万物成对比，牙齿和爪子鲜血淋淋，大地上划出深沟险壑；shrieked against his creed：大声尖利地反对上帝的训令；his：指God；creed：指Creation's final law。

9.sealed within the iron hills：preserved like fossils in rock，像化石那样僵化其中。

10.Dragons of the prime ... slime：精力充沛的巨龙，互相厮打，黏液满身； tare：（archaic ） tore； slime：爬行类动物身上分泌的黏液。

11.matched with：in comparison with.

第118首

1.The giant labouring in his youth：“时间”这个巨人在他年轻时的劳作；his：Time.

2.They：指地质学家和天文学家。

3.Who throve and branch'd from clime to clime：人类努力奋斗，移居到各种不同的气候条件下；clime：climate.

4.If so he type this work of time ... more：虚拟式； 意为：（“时间”使地球上形成千姿百态）人也随着年月的推移不断在内心塑造自己； type：emulate，prefigure as a type.

5.crown'd with attributes of woe ... glories：比喻人一生的成就其实是各种苦难和磨练造就的，和荣耀一样，组成人的冠冕。

6.Faun：古代罗马传说中半人半羊的农牧神。

7.working out the beast：这个半人半羊的农牧神要把体内的兽性剔出去，（就像矿要经过提炼，才能成为金属）。

第123首

1.There rolls the deep where grew the tree：昔日是森林，今日是波涛汹涌的大海； the deep：大海。

2.hast thou seen：have you seen.

3.There where the long street roars，hath been ... of：昔日沉寂的大海现在成了喧闹的马路，即苍海桑田之变。丁尼生十分熟悉查尔斯·赖尔爵士（Sir Charles Lyell）的《地质学原理》 （The Principles of Geology，1832） 一书，其中有一段话：“In the Mediterranean alone，many flourishing inland towns and a still greater number of ports now stand where the sea rolled its waves since the era when civilized nations first grew in Europe.” （参见Norton Anthology of English Literature，II，1979，p. 1170）

第130首

1.Thy voice is on the rolling air：比较雪莱诗《阿多尼斯》（Adonais ） 第370—371行：He is made one with Nature：there is heard / His voice in all her music. （他和自然结为一体，在她的音乐中可听到他的声音。）

2.Thou standest in the rising sun：比较《新约·启示录》（Revelations ） 19：17：And I saw an angel sanding in the sun. （我又看见一位天使站在日头中。）

3.in the setting：i.e. in the setting of the sun.

4.tho'：though.

5.nigh：（archaic ） near in place，time or relationship，靠近。

ROBERT BROWNING

罗伯特·布朗宁

（1812—1889）

【作者与作品简介】

布朗宁在英国文学史上与丁尼生齐名，同为维多利亚时期的代表诗人。布朗宁进行创作的时期，英国浪漫主义已经衰落。他的倾向属于非正统的自由主义。

布朗宁对英国诗歌的贡献主要在于他发展了一种特别的诗歌体裁，即所谓“戏剧性的独白”。他运用这一体裁写出了不少十分成功的作品。本书入选的《我已故的公爵夫人》即其中之一。这些作品通过人物自己的语言（独白），对于人物的行为动机进行深入细致的内省和剖析，从而揭示出人物的错综复杂的性格。布朗宁的这一创新对于英美后来的诗人如叶芝、艾略特、庞德等都有很大的影响。

布朗宁的诗歌往往有晦涩的毛病。但他有些抒情短诗却清丽明快，得到广泛的流传。本书入选的几首小诗即属于这一类。

陈维杭

My Last Duchess

That's my last Duchess painted on the wall，

Looking as if she were alive. I call

That piece a wonder，now：Frà Pandolf's hands^1

Worked busily a day，and there she stands.2

Will't please you sit and look at her？3 I said

“Frà Pandolf by design，4 for never read

Strangers like you that pictured countenance，5

The depth and passion of its earnest glance，6

But to myself they turned^7（since none puts by

The curtain I have drawn for you，but I）8

And seemed as they would ask me，if they durst，9

How such a glance came there； so，not the first

Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir，'twas not

Her husband's presence only，called that spot

Of joy into the Duchess' cheek：10 perhaps

Frà Pandolf chanced to say，“Her mantle laps

Over my lady's wrist too much，”11 or “Paint

Must never hope to reproduce the faint

Half-flush that dies along her throat：”12 such stuff

Was courtesy，she thought，and cause enough

For calling up that spot of joy.13 She had

A heart — how shall I say？ — too soon made glad，14

Too easily impressed； she liked whate'er

She looked on，and her looks went everywhere.15

Sir，'twas all one！16 my favor at her breast，17

The dropping of the daylight in the West，

The bough of cherries some officious fool^18

Broke in the orchard for her，the white mule

She rode with round the terrace — all and each

Would draw from her alike the approving speech，

Or blush，at least. She thanked men，— good！19 but thanked

Somehow — I know not how — as if she ranked

my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name^20

With anybody's gift. Who'd stoop to blame

This sort of trifling？21 Even had you skill

In speech — （which I have not） — to make your will

Quite clear to such an one，22 and say，“Just this

Or that in you disgusts me； here you miss，

Or there exceed the mark”23 — and if she let

Herself be lessoned so，nor plainly set

Her wits to yours，forsooth，and made excuse，24

— E'en then would be some stooping；25 and I choose

Never to stoop. Oh，sir，she smiled，no doubt，

Whene'er I passed her； but who passed without

Much the same smile？ This grew； I gave commands；26

Then all smiles stopped together.27 There she stands

As if alive. Will't please you rise？28 We'll meet

The company below^29 then. I repeat，

The Count your master's known munificence

Is ample warrant that no just pretence

Of mine for dowry will be disallowed；30

Though his fair daughter's self，as I avowed

At starting，is my object.31 Nay，we'll go

Together down，sir. Notice Neptune，though，

Taming a sea-horse，thought a rarity，32

Which Claus of Innsbruck^33 cast in bronze for me！

【题解】

布朗宁这首《戏剧独白诗》取材于意大利奥尔丰素二世、费拉拉公爵（Alfonso II，Duke of Ferrara）的私生活。费拉拉公爵第一任妻子卢克利齐娅 （Lucrezia）结婚三年后，于1561年死亡。此后，费拉拉公爵通过代理人协商，娶了提洛尔伯爵（Count of Tyrol）的侄女。布朗宁在诗中以公爵的口气向代理人介绍他的情况。诗中暗示的杀妻一事，未必是真事。但是，公爵的冷酷无情和专注于金钱交易的特性，则表露无遗。

【注释】

1.Frà Pandolf's hands：（这幅画） 出自Pandolf之手；Frà Pandolf：an imaginery painter，诗人虚构的画家；Frà：意为 “教兄”，当时许多画家均为教士，故称。

2.there she stands：这幅画现在就挂在这里。

3.Will't please you sit and look at her：Will it please you to sit and look at her.

4.by design：有意识地； 意为知你必然要问画家是谁，故不等你发问，事先告诉你。

5.never read ... countenance：Strangers like you never read that pictured countenance； read：理解，领会； pictured countenance：画像上的面容。

6.The depth and passion of its earnest glance：its：指countenance，面容上的目光所流露的那深沉的情意。

7.But to myself they turned：意为客人们总是不能理解画像的表情，而总是转过身来问我。

8.since none puts by ... but I：因为除我以外，无人可以为客人拉开遮盖画像的帷幕。暗示公爵爱护此画是因为它是一件艺术品而不是对夫人的怀念。

9.if they durst：如果他们有勇气（问我）； durst：dare的过去式，主要用于虚拟式中，现已不常用。

10.'twas not ... cheek：it was not her husband's presence only which called etc.，公爵夫人脸上之所以露出那片喜悦的红晕，不只是因为有丈夫在旁； 'twas：it was； called：唤起，使露出，前面省略that （关系代词）。

11.Her mantle laps ... much：夫人的外套将她的手盖得太多了； 这是假想画家在为公爵夫人画像时对她说的话； Her和my lady均是画家对公爵夫人的称呼，用第三人称来称呼表示尊敬。

12.dies along her throat：（那片淡淡的红晕） 沿着喉部逐渐消失； die在此有暗示公爵杀妻。

13.such stuff ... joy：公爵夫人以为画家的那番话是礼貌的表示，因而值得为之（cause enough） 感到高兴。此处讲夫人脸上红晕的来历，公爵认为她大可不必为这种恭维话激动，似乎有失尊严。

14.how shall I say：我该怎么说才好； too soon made glad：要使她心里高兴十分容易。

15.she liked whate'er ... everywhere：她什么都爱看，看到了什么都喜欢。

16.'twas all one：指以下列举的一切在写公爵夫人的眼中都是同等之物。

17.my favor at her breast：我送给她的胸饰； favor：a thing given or worn as a token of favor.

18.some officious fool：某个多事的蠢才； officious：volunteering one's services where they are neither asked nor needed，meddlesome.

19.She thanked men，— good：她向人道谢——那好啊！ 语含讽刺。

20.a nine-hundred-years-old name：公爵家系有九百年的光荣历史。公爵不满意他夫人把普通人（anybody）的礼品和他名门望族的悠久历史的荣誉同等看待。

21.Who'd stoop to blame ... trifling：谁能降低身份去指责这种鸡毛蒜皮的小事呢？

22.such an one：指公爵夫人。

23.here you miss ... mark：这儿你做得不够，那儿你又太过分； mark：是miss和exceed的宾语。

24.be lessoned so，nor plainly set ... excuse：要是她能够听从教训，也不公然和你顶嘴，一争高低，找个台阶下，那倒也罢了； forsooth：in truth，certainly，“真是！”

25.E'en then would be some stooping：即便如此，（对我来说） 也有点屈尊降格； E'en：even.

26.This grew：这种情况变本加厉，愈来愈严重； I gave commands：我下了命令。

27.Then all smiles stopped together：一般认为这是暗示公爵下令将其妻杀掉。布朗宁在答Corson问时说：“Yes，I meant that the commands were that she be put to death.” 停了会又说：“Or he might have had her shut up in a convent.” 但是，这是布朗宁的发挥，并不是真事。

28.Will't please you rise：Will it please you to rise； 结构和第5行一样。

29.We'll meet ... below：公爵转过话题，提示应该到楼下去和代理人的公司进行谈判了。

30.The Count your master's known munificence ... disallowed：你主人伯爵大人素以慷慨闻名 （munificence），这可以保证（ample warrant） 他不会拒绝我对于嫁妆的正当要求 （just pretence）； 刚说完杀死前妻之事，即对来客提出嫁妆的要求； Count：the Count of Tyrol.

31.Though his fair daughter's self，as I avowed ... object：虽然如我一开始就已申明，我所追求的是他美丽的女儿本人。公爵要娶的原是提洛尔伯爵的侄女，这里改为他的女儿。

32.Notice Neptune，though ... rarity：不过，请你看看海神驯服海马的铜像，据说是绝世的杰作； thought：which is thought.

33.Claus of Innsbruck：Innsbruck地方的艺术家Claus，也是虚构的雕塑家； Innsbruck：在今奥地利境内，为当时提洛尔邦的首府，以当雕刻家著称。

Meeting at Night

1

The grey sea and the long black land；

And the yellow half-moon large and low；

And the startled^1 little waves that leap

In fiery ringlets from their sleep，

As I gain the cove with pushing prow，2

And quench its speed I' the slushy sand.3

2

Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach；

Three fields to cross till a farm appears；

A tap at the pane，the quick sharp scratch

And blue spurt of a lighted match，4

And a voice less loud，thro' its joys and fears，5

Than the two hearts beating each to each！

【注释】

1.startled：惊醒的；因为即将见到爱人，故浪花也似乎从睡眠中惊醒。诗中的叙述者系一男子。

2.gain the cove with pushing prow：我驾驶着飞快的船到达海湾； prow：船头。

3.quench its speed I' the slushy sand：在海岸的泥沙里把船停下来。

4.A tap at the pane，the quick sharp scratch ... match：在窗户上轻轻一敲，里边只听到擦着一根火柴，接着亮出了蓝色的火焰。

5.thro' its joys and fears：意为室内的爱人又惊又喜，发出低低的声音，声音还不及两颗紧贴在一起的心脏的跳动声 （the two hearts beating each to each）。

Parting at Morning

Round the cape of a sudden came the sea，1

And the sun looked over the mountain's rim：

And straight was a path of gold for him，2

And the need of a world of men for me.3

【题解】

前一首诗写黑夜相会，此诗叙述清晨离别之情。

【注释】

1.Round the cape of a sudden came the sea：转过海岬，忽见大海。

2.And straight was a path of gold for him：大海上一抹阳光，就像铺上了黄金； him：指太阳。

3.And the need of a world of men for me：我需要在一个男人的世界里处理各种事情，意为不能光沉溺于儿女之情。诗人本人说明 “我” 指男人。

Home-Thoughts，from Abroad

Oh，to be in England

Now that April's there，1

And whoever wakes in England

Sees，some morning，unaware，

That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf

Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf，2

While the chaffinch^3 sings on the orchard bough

In England — now！

And after April，when May follows，

And the whitethroat^4 builds，and all the swallows！

Hark，5 where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge

Leans to the field and scatters on the clover^6

Blossoms and dewdrops^7 — at the bent spray's edge^8—

That's the wise thrush；9 he sings each song twice over，

Lest you should think he never could recapture

The first fine careless rapture！10

And though the fields look rough with hoary dew，

All will be gay when noontide wakes anew

The buttercups，the little children's dower^11

—Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower！12

【题解】

这是一首浓墨重彩的思乡曲。诗人旅居意大利，想到祖国美好的四月风光，眼前出现一片绚丽的英国乡村景色。当时，随着英国的海外扩张，越来越多的英国人移居海外，或暂住或久住，都难免会有思乡之情。这首诗从一个角度反映了人们的情感：也许只有到了海外，才会梦系魂绕，真正体会家乡的迷人之处。

【注释】

1.Oh，to be in England ... there：四月的英国何其美好，要是此时在那儿该有多好；此时诗人正在意大利，怀念故乡，溢于言表。

2.the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf ... leaf：在榆树的最低的枝干和树干周边，一丛丛的灌木都长出了嫩芽；bough：a branch of a tree，树木的枝干； bole：trunk，树木的主干； in tiny leaf：刚长出嫩叶。

3.chaffinch：a common European finch of which the male has a pinkish-brown breast，花鸡，苍头燕雀。

4.whitethroat：灰莺。

5.Hark：听，诗歌用语。

6.clover：红花草。

7.dewdrops：露珠。

8.at the bent spray's edge：在弯曲的小枝干的枝头。

9.thrush：鸫，歌鸫。

10.recapture ... rapture：要再次抓住（回味）一开始那种漫不经意的狂欢。

11.The buttercups，the little children's dower：金凤花是小孩子的财宝。

12.Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower：比这种俗气的意大利瓜花要漂亮得多。

The Lost Leader

1

Just for a handful of silver he left us，

Just for a riband to stick in his coat^1 —

Found the one gift of which fortune bereft us，2

Lost all the others^3 she lets us devote；

They，with the gold to give，doled him out silver，4

So much was theirs who so little allowed：5

How all our copper had gone for his service！6

Rags — were they purple，his heart had been proud！7

We that had loved him so，8 followed him，honoured him，

Lived in his mild and magnificent eye，9

Learned his great language，caught his clear accents，10

Made him our pattern to live and to die！11

Shakespeare was of us，Milton was for us，

Burns，Shelley，were with us，12— they watch from their graves！

He alone breaks from the van^13 and the free-men，

— He alone sinks to the rear and the slaves！

2

We shall march prospering，— not thro'14 his presence；

Songs may inspirit us，— not from his lyre；

Deeds will be done，— while he boasts his quiescence，15

Still bidding crouch whom the rest bade aspire：16

Blot out his name，17 then，record one lost soul more，

One task more declined，one more foot-path untrod，

One more devils'-triumph and sorrow for angels，

One wrong more to man，one more insult to God！

Life's night begins：let him never come back to us！

There would be doubt，hesitation and pain，

Forced praise on our part^18 — the glimmer of twilight，

Never glad confident morning again！19

Best fight on well，for we taught him^20 — strike gallantly，

Menace our heart ere we master his own；21

Then let him receive the new knowledge^22 and wait us，

Pardoned in heaven，the first by the throne！23

【题解】

《迷途的领袖》 指英国诗人华兹华斯（William Wordsworth）。华兹华斯在青年时代十分激进，同情法国革命，晚年成为保守党人。布朗宁在政治上属自由党，此处所谓 “迷途的领袖”，即是对华兹华斯变节的批判。这首诗以极其激烈和犀利的语言，表达了布朗宁对华兹华斯晚节不保，脱离先锋队伍的愤慨。

【注释】

1.Just for a handful of silver he left us ... coat：华兹华斯在1813年接受英国政府给他的一份干薪，1842年领受政府颁发的养老金每年三百镑 （a handful of silver）； 1843年，他被授于桂冠诗人的称号 （a riband to stick in his coat）。布朗宁指责华兹华斯为了英国政府给予的金钱和荣誉而脱离了激进派。布朗宁这起首两行真是犀利无比，定会令当事人汗颜。

2.the one gift of which fortune bereft us：命运之神剥夺我们的那件礼物，指金钱。

3.all the others：命运之神（she）让我们献身的其他一切。意为华兹华斯得到了金钱，但是失去了其他的事业。

4.They，with the gold to give，doled him out silver：那些拿得出金子的人只施舍给他一点点银子； They：指英国统治者； dole：to give or distribute as a charity，usually used with out .

5.So much was theirs who so little allowed：他们占有如此之多，却如此吝啬。批评华兹华斯连这点小钱也要。

6.How all our copper had gone for his service：他们把从我们身上搜刮去的铜钱都用来酬谢他的效劳了。

7.Rags — were they purple，his heart had been proud：破烂衣衫 —— 只要是贵族穿过的破烂衣衫，他也会感到骄傲； purple：古代西欧各国君主穿的深红色的大袍，故象征君王和贵族； had been proud：would have been proud.

8.We that had loved him so：第9—12行是由we和that引起的定语从句组成的名词词组，起强调的作用，十分有力，和上面的they形成强烈对比。

9.Lived in his mild and magnificent eye：这是赞美华兹华斯当年对青年诗人的影响，他们当时似乎在他温和而庄严的目光下生活。

10.Learned his great language，caught his clear accents：华兹华斯的诗艺曾经为青年诗人所钦佩，所模仿。

11.Made him our pattern to live and to die：把他作为我们的榜样，像他那样生和死。

12.Shakespeare was of us，Milton was for us ... us：莎士比亚属于我们中的一员，弥尔顿为我们声张正义，彭斯、雪莱和我们站在一起。

13.the van：the vanguard，先锋。

14.thro'：through.

15.while he boasts his quiescence：华兹华斯标榜自己清静无为。

16.Still bidding crouch whom the rest bade aspire：他总是叫人们退缩，而其余的人则叫他们向前进； Still：always.

17.Blot out his name：抹掉他的名字。以下数行强烈谴责华兹华斯； 他背弃了进步事业（one lost soul more，One task more declined，one more foot-path untrod），这是魔鬼的胜利和天使的悲哀（devils'-triumph and sorrow for angels），这是对人类的又一罪行（One wrong more to man），对上帝的又一侮辱 （one more insult to God）。

18.There would be doubt，hesitation and pain ... part：由于华兹华斯名声和影响大，在我们这批人中难免会感到疑虑，对他的批评犹豫不决，感到痛苦，也不得不佩服他的诗才。

19.the glimmer of twilight ... again：华兹华斯只是黄昏的余光，再也不是令人兴奋的、鼓舞人心的朝晖。

20.for we taught him：我们曾教会他战斗。

21.Menace our heart ere we master his own：直逼我们的胸膛来，否则我们将直逼他的胸膛； ere：before.

22.receive the new knowledge：意为让他知道我们将决意同他斗争到底。

23.Pardoned in heaven，the first by the throne：在天堂得到宽恕，位于上帝之侧。诗人仍然希望宽恕华兹华斯。

Memorabilia

1

Ah，did you once see Shelley plain，1

And did he stop and speak to you

And did you speak to him again？2

How strange it seems and new！

2

But you were living before that，3

And also you are living after；

And the memory I started at^4 —

My starting moves your laughter.5

3

I crossed a moor，6 with a name of its own

And a certain use in the world no doubt，

Yet a hand's-breadth^7 of it shines alone

'Mid^8 the blank miles round about：

4

For there I picked up on the heather^9

And there I put inside my breast

A moulted feather，10 an eagle-feather！

Well，I forget the rest.

【题解】

题目：Memorabilia：things worth remembering，值得回忆之事。据布朗宁说，有一次他在一家书店遇到一个人说，他曾和雪莱交谈过。布朗宁听后惊奇得脸色都变了，那人看到他的神情哈哈大笑。曾经见过雪莱的人使布朗宁控制不住自己感情的情景，使他自己终生难忘。

【注释】

1.see Shelley plain：亲眼目睹雪莱； plain：clearly.

2.speak to him again：向他答话； again：in response.

3.before that：指和雪莱交谈这件事之前。

4.And the memory I started at：你记忆中的这件事使我大为惊奇； the memory指那位陌生人记得见过雪莱的往事。

5.moves your laughter：使你哈哈大笑。

6.moor：（chiefly British ） an expanse of open rolling infertile land，or a boggy area，especially，one that is peaty and dominated by grasses and sedges，荒野，尤指英国的荒野，沼泽地。

7.a hand's-breadth：一掌之地。

8.'Mid：amid. 第11—12两行把自己的记忆喻为一片荒原，随着岁月的流逝其他事情都变得淡漠了（blank miles round about），而见过雪莱之人使他惊讶的这件小小的事情（a hand's-breadth） 却特别清晰 （shines alone）。

9.heather：石南属植物。

10.A moulted feather：一根换下的羽毛； moult：（chiefly British ） molt，to shed hair，feather，shell，horn，etc. periodically.

EMILY BRONTË

爱米丽·勃朗特

（1818—1848）

【作者与作品简介】

有些读者也许还不知道，著名女作家爱米丽·勃朗特也是一位杰出的诗人。她的代表作《呼啸山庄》就是一本诗化的小说；而她的抒情诗和诗中的背景——作者家乡约克郡的野性而粗犷的荒原，也使我们联想起《呼啸山庄》。她的爱情诗情浓意真，抒情主人公（有时是女性，有时是男性）常常表现出蔑视死亡而萦绕不散的强烈感情，气质与《呼啸山庄》的主人公希克厉和卡瑟琳相似。

勃朗特三姐妹曾于1846年用笔名合出过一本诗集，但无人注意。不久，还很年轻的爱米丽就死于肺病。一个世纪后，人们才承认爱米丽·勃朗特是英国三大女诗人之一（另二人是布朗宁夫人和克里丝蒂娜·罗塞蒂）。

飞白

Remembrance

Cold in the earth — and the deep snow piled above thee，

Far，far removed，cold in the dreary grave！

Have I forgot，my only Love，to love thee，

Severed at last by Time's all-severing wave？1

Now，when alone，do my thoughts no longer hover^2

Over the mountains，on that northern shore，

Resting their wings where heath and fern leaves cover

Thy noble heart forever，ever more？

Cold in the earth — and fifteen wild Decembers，

From those brown hills，3 have melted into spring；

Faithful，indeed，is the spirit that remembers

After such years of change and suffering！4

Sweet Love of youth，5 forgive，if I forget thee，

While the world's tide is bearing me along；6

Other desires and other hopes beset me，

Hopes which obscure，but cannot do thee wrong！7

No later light has lightened up my heaven，

No second morn has ever shone for me；

All my life's bliss from thy dear life was given，

All my life's bliss is in the grave with thee.

But，when the days of golden dreams had perished，

And even Despair was powerless to destroy，8

Then did I learn how existence could be cherished，

Strengthened，and fed without the aid of joy.9

Then did I check the tears of useless passion —

Weaned my young soul from yearning after thine；10

Sternly denied its burning wish to hasten

Down to that tomb already more than mine.11

And，even yet，I dare not let it languish，

Dare not indulge in memory's rapturous pain；

Once drinking deep of that divinest anguish，12

How could I seek the empty world again？

【注释】

1.Severed at last by Time's all-severing wave：终于被隔绝一切的“时间”的波浪所隔开。

2.hover：（思想）徘徊；此词原指鸟翱翔、盘旋，诗人把怀念爱人的情思喻为鸟儿，停在（Resting their wings）远方埋葬着爱人崇高心灵的山上。

3.brown hills：树木黄褐色的山林。

4.Faithful，indeed，is the spirit that remembers ... suffering：冬去春来，整整十五年，期间多少变迁，多少辛酸，此情可谓至真至切。

5.Sweet Love of youth：指青少年时代的恋人。

6.the world's tide is bearing me along：世界的潮流推着我往前走，喻世事繁多，或许对你有所淡忘。

7.Hopes which obscure，but cannot do thee wrong：（人生有种种欲望和希望）这些希望会使往事淡薄，但是不会伤害你、对不起你。

8.even Despair was powerless to destroy：“绝望”都无力去破坏业已破灭的一切。意为一切美梦都已破灭，无复存在。

9.Then did I learn how existence could be cherished ... joy：美梦破灭之后，我才懂得即使不开心，也要珍爱、强化和哺育我们的生存。

10.Weaned my young soul from yearning after thine：断绝念头，使我这青春灵魂不再追念你的灵魂；young soul：保持着年轻的心灵；前面提到爱人离开人世已有十五年，即使当初自己再年少，现在也不可能年轻了，见下行； thine：your soul.

11.that tomb already more than mine：你的坟墓早就和我自己的坟墓无异。

12.Once drinking deep of that divinest anguish：一旦饮过那杯最神圣的苦酒；divinest anguish：喻神圣的爱情带来的最大的痛苦。

Song

The linnet in the rocky dells，1

The moor-lark in the air，

The bee among the heather bells^2

That hide my lady fair：3

The wild deer browse above her breast；4

The wild birds raise their brood；5

And they，6 her smiles of love caressed，

Have left her solitude！

I ween，7 that when the grave's dark wall

Did first her form retain，8

They thought their hearts could ne'er recall

The light of joy again.

They thought the tide of grief would flow

Unchecked through future years；

But where is all their anguish now，

And where are all their tears？

Well，let them fight for honor's breath，9

Or pleasure's shade pursue^10—

The dweller in the land of death

Is changed and careless too.

And，if their eyes should watch and weep

Till sorrow's source were dry，11

She would not，in her tranquil sleep，

Return a single sigh！

Blow，west-wind，by the lonely mound，12

And murmur，summer-streams—

There is no need of other sound

To soothe my lady's dreams.

【题解】

爱米丽·勃朗特这首诗似乎有两个人在说话，第一个人是死者的爱人，第二个人是旁观者，是局外人。透过这个局外人的观察和体会，读者看到了现实：生者自有追求，悲伤总有尽头，而死者也不会在乎。唯有百草、鸟兽、清风和潺潺流水，来陪伴地下长眠之人。这就是现实，悲哀之中，亦有自慰。

【注释】

1.The linnet in the rocky dells：linnet：a common small brownish Old World finch of which the male has red on the breast and crown during，红雀；dell：a secluded hollow or small valley usually covered with trees or turf，小山谷。按：第一节以三个名词词组构成。

2.the heather bells：石楠属植物的花，状如喇叭。

3.That hide my lady fair：这些鲜花覆盖着我爱人，指她在坟墓里。

4.The wild deer browse above her breast；野鹿在（长眠于地下的）她的胸部上面吃草。

5.raise their brood：抚养它们的一窝小鸟。

6.they：指为她送葬的亲属和朋友。

7.ween：（archaic ） believe.

8.when the grave's dark wall ... retain：当墓穴的黑暗的四壁开始把她包围起来的时候。

9.fight for honor's breath：活着的人还要在世上奋斗，争口气。

10.pleasure's shade pursue：（let them） pursue pleasure's shade，追求虚幻的享乐。

11.Till sorrow's source were dry：虚拟式，直到悲伤的源头已经枯竭。

12.mound：坟堆。

MATTHEW ARNOLD

马修·安诺德

（1822—1888）

【作者与作品简介】

安诺德诞生于泰晤士河谷农村，在河畔长大。父亲是拉格比公学校长，后来成为著名教育家。安诺德自幼受到父亲的影响，牛津大学毕业后，曾任辉格党领袖的秘书，二十九岁结婚，改任教育督学之职，达三十五年之久。在此期间曾被选担任牛津大学英诗讲座教授，历时十年（1851—1861），后曾两次到美国讲学，归国后不久突发心脏病致死。

他的文学生涯大致可以分为四个阶段：十九世纪五十年代主要写诗，发表了大部分诗作，六十到八十年代分别致力于文学、社会、宗教、教育各方面的评论文章。至于他的诗歌和论文何者更胜一筹，素来争论不休。一般看来，他在维多利亚时期的诗人中是较为突出的。

他的诗作著名的有《色希斯》、《学者吉普赛》、《多佛滩》、《拉格比教堂》、《夜莺》、《被遗弃的人鱼》等抒情诗和《邵莱布和罗斯托》等叙事诗。他早年主张诗歌带给读者快乐，帮他们忍受生活的苦难。但他自觉在这方面成就并不理想，所以1860年后不再写诗，而转向评论文章。但他的诗作如《学者吉普赛》、《多佛滩》、《色希斯》都受到英国的称赞。他的诗着重内容，1869年在给母亲的信中他认为自己的诗“表现了人们过去二十五年间的思想活动”。他是描写自然景色的能手，当代人认为他大体可以和格雷媲美；他是大理论家，主张以诗歌代替宗教，文艺有教化作用，能藉以反对市侩作风；他的诗文一再重复的主题是如何在现代工业化社会中生活得愉快、圆满。作为批评家，直至今天，他也还具有一定的影响。

这里选了他的三首诗。[1]

十七世纪英国教职人员格兰威尔在其著作中提到一个故事，说牛津大学有个学生家贫辍学，后来加入了流浪的吉普赛群，学习他们的神秘知识，说一旦学会，就要离开他们，去向全世界宣扬他学到的本领。安诺德根据这故事写了《学者吉普赛》一诗。他幻想在牛津附近乡间仍能遇到这位学者，因为他已学会法术、修成长生不老之身，能躲避现代生活的烦恼和干扰。他在诗中写了泰晤士河谷魅人的美景（回忆了儿时在河谷漫游的愉快情景），同时也写了学者吉普赛的精神追求和现代生活的矛盾。这首诗是作者主要代表作之一。全诗共分二十五节，每节十行，韵脚按abcbcadeed排列，格律严整。

《多佛滩》的中心内容表现了当时知识界的思想情况。维多利亚时期，英国工业有长足的发展，1859年达尔文提出了进化论，传统的宗教思想受到双重打击，形成社会思想一度混乱，这首小诗反映了这种情况，也反映了安诺德和有些文人一样，在时代转变的时候，一时还不能完全适应。但这种思想有一定代表性，所以有人把这首小诗称为当时知识界思想困惑情况的“简明公式”。原诗近自由体，韵脚参差复杂。

吕千飞

Memorial Verses

Goethe in Weimar sleeps，1 and Greece，

Long since，saw Byron's struggle cease.2

But one such death remained to come；3

The last poetic voice is dumb —

We stand to-day by Wordsworth's tomb.

When Byron's eyes were shut in death，

We bowed our head and held our breath.

He taught us little； but our soul

Had felthim like the thunder's roll.4

With shivering heart the strife we saw

Of passion with eternal law；5

And yet with reverential awe^6

We watched the fount of fiery life

Which served for that Titanic strife.7

When Goethe's death was told，we said：

Sunk，then，is Europe's sagest head.8

Physician of the iron age，9

Goethe has done his pilgrimage.

He took the suffering human race，

He read each wound，each weakness clear；

And struck his finger on the place，

And said：Thou ailest here，and here！10

He looked on Europe's dying hour

Of fitful dream and feverish power；11

His eye plunged down the weltering strife，12

The turmoil of expiring life —

He said：The end is everywhere，

Art still has truth，take refuge there！13

And he was happy，if to know

Causes of things，and far below

His feet to see the lurid flow

Of terror，and insane distress，

And headlong fate，be happiness.14

And Wordsworth！— Ah，pale ghosts，rejoice！15

For never has such soothing voice

Been to your shadowy world conveyed，

Since erst，at morn，some wandering shade

Heard the clear song of Orpheus come

Through Hades，and the mournful gloom.16

Wordsworth has gone from us — and ye，17

Ah，may ye feel his voice as we！

He too upon a wintry clime

Had fallen — on this iron time

Of doubts，disputes，distractions，fears.18

He found us when the age had bound

Our souls in its benumbing round；19

He spoke，and loosed our heart in tears.

He laid us as we lay at birth

On the cool flowery lap of earth，

Smiles broke from us and we had ease；

The hills were round us，and the breeze

Went o'er the sun-lit fields again；

Our foreheads felt the wind andrain.

Our youth returned； for there was shed

On spirits that had long been dead，

Spirits dried up and closely furled，

The freshness of the early world.20

Ah！ since dark days still bring to light

Man's prudence and man's fiery might，

Time may restore us in his course

Goethe's sage mind and Byron's force；

Butwhere will Europe's latter hour

Again find Wordsworth's healing power？

Others will teach us how to dare，

And against fear our breast to steel；21

Others will strengthen us to bear —

But who，ah！ who，will make us feel？

The cloud of mortal destiny，

Others will front it fearlessly —

Butwho，like him，will put it by？

Keepfresh the grass upon his grave，

O Rotha，22 with thy living wave！

Sing him thy best！ for few or none

Hears thy voice right，now he is gone.

【题解】

这首挽歌作于1850年，是在华兹华斯于当年4月去世之后不久创作的。安诺德和华兹华斯很早就认识，对他非常了解和钦佩。他在这首诗里，以及后来写的题为Wordsworth一文中，对华兹华斯的崇敬表露无遗。他在本诗中分别对歌德、拜伦和华兹华斯的成就和贡献作了评价和论述，而对华兹华斯的评价更是具有他作为诗人独到的见地。读者可以比较布朗宁在《迷途的领袖》（The Lost Leader ）中对华兹华斯的评价。

【注释】

1.Goethe in Weimar sleeps：歌德于1832年死于魏玛。安诺德将歌德视为伟大的哲学诗人，十九世纪初期最重要的文人。

2.Greece ... cease：拜伦于1824年死于希腊。拜伦投身于希腊的民族独立战争（War of Independence），反抗土耳其奥斯曼帝国（Ottoman Empire）的独立战争，其长篇叙事诗《唐璜》（Don Juan ）和《恰尔德·哈罗尔德历险记》（ThePilgrimage of Childe Harold ） 气势宏大，故有“泰坦尼克” （Titanic） 诗行之称，对青年安诺德影响很大。但是，安诺德后来感到拜伦的诗气势有余而沉静不足，他对拜伦的最终评价可见于其文《评论二集》（Essays in Criticism：Second Series ）。

3.But one such death remained to come：歌德和拜伦死而影响弥深，安诺德相信华兹华斯之死将同样如此，但他刚离开人世，其欲知其影响如何，尚需假于时日，故云。

4.He taught us little； but our soul ... roll：在安诺德看来，拜伦并非长于传授智慧，但是他的激情和风雷般的一生，确实震撼人心。

5.the strife we saw ... law：we saw the strife of passion with eternal law，指为自由而战的热情；eternal law：永久的法则，指自由。

6.with reverential awe：高山仰止，心存敬畏。

7.the fount of fiery life ... strife：拜伦炽烈的生命的源泉，服务于他那“泰坦尼克”式的斗争，其诗也具有同样宏大的规模。

8.Europe's sagest head：安诺德认为歌德代表了欧洲的最高智慧。

9.Physician of the iron age：歌德是那个铁血时代的医生。

10.Thou ailest here，and here ：you ail here，etc.，说明歌德是那个时代的医生，看到它的病灶所在。

11.Europe's dying hour ... power：欧洲垂暮之际，梦幻不定，大肆炫耀其权威。

12.His eye plunged down the weltering strife：歌德一眼看透激烈而错综复杂的斗争。

13.Art still has truth，take refuge there ：意为：虽然一切都已到尽头，但是，艺术仍有真理，在艺术中寻求庇护。

14.if to know ... happiness：虚拟式； 如果能知道事情的原委，看到脚下恐怖的肆虐、恐惧和直面相撞的命运等等是幸福的话；此句言歌德是幸福的，因为他能洞察一切。

15.pale ghosts，rejoice：华兹华斯离开人间，苍白的鬼魂应该为此高兴，因为他的抚慰之声从未传到那个冥冥幽暗的世界 （never ... to your shadowy world conveyed）。

16.Since erst，at morn，some wandering shade ... gloom：这一句接上，自从俄耳甫斯 （Orpheus） 美妙的音乐来到地狱之后，再未听到这样的声音。俄耳甫斯是希腊神话中有名的诗人和歌手，其歌声能使猛兽俯首、顽石点头。为了拯救死去的妻子欧律狄斯 （Eurydice），他一路歌唱来到冥间，被其歌声感动的冥王（Hades） 和冥后（Persephone）答应让欧律狄斯返回人间。但俄耳甫斯在将近地面时忘记了冥王设定的条件，因心切而回顾其妻，导致她重回阴间，永远失去欧律狄斯，于是终身不娶。关于俄耳甫斯的神话故事是西方文学艺术中很多作品的主题，如奥芬巴赫（Jacques Offenbach）的轻歌剧《地狱中的俄耳甫斯序曲》 （Orpheus in the Underworld ），管弦乐曲，作于1858年，同年在巴黎首演，轰动一时。

17.ye：you.

18.this iron time ... fears：当时欧洲的政治和社会状况，诗人笔下高度概括。

19.the age had bound ... round：这个时代使人麻木，束缚着我们的灵魂；in its benumbing round：又一轮令人麻木。

20.there was shed ... world：there was the freshness of the early world shed on spirits etc. 按：安诺德认为当今社会抛弃了宗教信仰，商业性和世俗化侵蚀了人的灵魂（spirits that had long been dead）。

21.against fear our breast to steel：to steel our breast against fear，鼓舞我们树立斗志，无所畏惧； steel：to fill with resolution or determination.

22.Rotha：A river near Wordsworth's burial ground.

Philomela

Hark！ah，the Nightingale —

The tawny-throated！1

Hark！ from that moonlit cedar what a burst！

What triumph！hark — what pain！2

O wanderer from a Grecian shore，3

Still，after many years，in distant lands，

Still nourishing in thy bewildered brain

That wild，unquenched，deep-sunken，old-world pain^4 —

Say，will it never heal？

And can this fragrant lawn

With its cool trees，and night，

And the sweet，tranquilThames，

And moonshine，and the dew，

To thy racked heart and brain

Afford no balm？5

Dost thou^6 to-night behold

Here，through the moonlight on this English grass，

The unfriendly palace in the Thracian wild？7

Dost thou again peruse

With hot cheeks and seared eyes

The too clear web，8 and thy dumb Sister's shame？

Dost thou once more assay

Thy flight，and feel come over thee，

Poor fugitive，the feathery change

Once more，and once more seem to make resound

With love and hate，triumph and agony，

Lone Daulis，and the high Cephissian vale？9

Listen，Eugenia^10 —

How thick the bursts come crowding through the leaves！

Again—thou hearest！

Eternal Passion！

Eternal Pain！

【题解】

希腊神话中，雅典公主普洛克涅（Procne）的丈夫，色雷斯国王蒂留斯（Tereus of Thrace）强奸了她的妹妹菲洛米拉 （Philomela），并割掉了她的舌头。菲洛米拉把她的不幸遭遇绣在毯子上，一说绣在裙子上，送给她姐姐。普洛克涅闻讯大怒，亲手杀了她和蒂留斯生的儿子，煮给丈夫吃。蒂留斯得知此事后，试图杀死姐妹俩，最后三人都被奥林匹斯神变成了鸟。菲洛米拉和普洛克涅变成了夜莺，而蒂留斯则变成了乌鸦。安诺德在这首诗里颠倒了姐妹俩的关系。

【注释】

1.The tawny-throated：夜莺的脖子带有一点棕色。

2.What triumph！hark — whatpain：菲洛米拉杀子复仇，又逃脱了蒂留斯的追杀，故称triumph，但毕竟是个悲剧，故云pain。按：安诺德颠倒了姐妹的关系，传说中普洛克涅是姐姐，嫁给了蒂留斯国王。

3.wanderer from a Grecian shore：Philomela来自希腊，故云。

4.nourishing in thy bewildered brain ... pain：仍然难以抚平昔日的极度的、不可消除的、刻骨的、发生在故土上的痛苦；bewildered brain：指脑子极度困惑，发生这种事情不可想象，无法理解；old-world pain：相对于英国来说，古希腊是old world。

5.balm：a soothing restorative agency，（治疗或镇痛用的）香树脂。

6.Dost thou：do you.

7.The unfriendly palace in the Thracian wild：蒂留斯国土原野上的邪恶的宫殿。

8.The too clear web：交代得一清二楚的图案；普洛克涅被割掉舌头，只能把她受辱的情况绣成图案，说明真相。按：传说中是菲洛米拉被强奸、割舌。

9.Lone Daulis，and the high Cephissian vale：Daulis：道里斯，是古希腊中部福基斯地区（Phocis）的一个城市，菲洛米拉在此变成夜莺；Cephissian vale：凯菲锡安河谷，也在福基斯地区。

10.Eugenia：此人不详。

The Scholar Gipsy

Go，for they call you，shepherd，from the hill；

Go，shepherd，and untie the wattled cotes！1

No longer leave thy wistful flock^2 unfed，

Nor let thy bawling^3 fellows rack their throats，4

Nor the cropped grasses shoot another head.5

But when the fields are still，

And the tired men and dogs all gone to rest，

And only the white sheep are sometimes seen

Cross and recross the strips of moon-blanched green.6

Come，Shepherd，and again begin the quest！7

Here，where the reaper was at work of late —

In this high field's dark corner，where he leaves

His coat，his basket，and his earthen cruse，8

And in the sun all morning binds the sheaves，9

Then here，at noon，comes back his stores to use；10

Here will I sit and wait，

While to my ear from uplands far away

The bleating of the folded flocks^11 is borne，

With distant cries of reapers in the corn^12 —

All the live murmur of a summer's day.13

Screened is this nook^14 o'er the high，half-reaped field，

And here till sun-down，Shepherd！ will I be.

Through the thick corn the scarlet poppies peep，

And round green roots and yellowing stalks I see

Pale pink convolvulus in tendrils creep；15

And air-swept lindens^16 yield

Their scent，and rustle down their perfumed showers

Of bloom on the bent grass^17 where I am laid，

And bower^18 me from the August sun with shade；

And the eye travels down to Oxford's towers：

And near me on the grass lies Glanvill's book^19 —

Come，let me read the oft-read tale again！

The story of the Oxford scholar poor，

Of pregnant parts^20 and quick inventive brain，

Who，tired of knocking at Preferment's door，21

One summer-morn^22 forsook

His friends，and went to learn the Gipsy-lore，23

And roamed the world with that wild brotherhood，24

And came，as most men deemed，to little good，

But came to Oxford and his friends no more.

But once，years after，in the country-lanes，

Two scholars，whom at college erst^25 he knew，

Met him，and of his way of life inquired.

Whereat he answered，that the Gipsy-crew，26

His mates，had arts to rule as they desired

The workings of men's brains：27

And they can bind them^28 to what thoughts they will：

“And I，” he said，“the secret of their art，

When fully learned，will to the world impart：

But it needs heaven-sent moments for this skill！”29

This said，he left them，and returned no more. —

But rumours hung about the country-side^30

That the lost Scholar long was seen to stray，

Seen by rare glimpses，pensive and tongue-tied，

In hat of antique shape，and cloak of grey，

The same the gipsies wore.

Shepherds had met him on the Hurst^31 in spring；

At some lone alehouse in the Berkshire moors，

On the warm ingle-bench，32 the smock-frocked boors^33

Had found him seated at their entering，

But，'mid^34 their drink and clatter，he would fly：

And I myself seem half to know thy looks，35

And put the shepherds，Wanderer！ on thy trace；

And boys who in lone wheatfields scare the rooks^36

I ask if thou hast^37 passed their quiet place；

Or in my boat I lie

Moored to the cool bank in the summer-heats，

'Mid wide grass meadows which the sunshine fills，

And watch the warm，green-muffled Cumner hills，

And wonder if thou haunt'st their shy retreats.38

For most，I know，thou lov'st retired^39 ground.

Thee，40 at the ferry，Oxford riders blithe，

Returning home on summer-nights，have met

Crossing the stripling Thames at Bab-lock-hithe，41

Trailing in the cool stream thy fingers wet，

As the punt's rope chops round；42

And leaning backwards in a pensive dream，

And fostering in thy lap a heap of flowers

Plucked in shy fields and distant Wychwood bowers，43

And thine eyes^44 resting on the moonlit stream.

And then they land，and thou art seen no more！—

Maidens，who from the distant hamlets^45 come

To dance around the Fyfield elm^46 in May，

Oft through the darkening fields have seen thee roam，

Or cross a stile into the public way.

Oft thou hast given them store

Of flowers—the frail-leafed，white anemone，47

Dark bluebells^48 drenched with dews of summer eves，

And purple orchises^49 with spotted leaves —

But none hath words she can report of thee.

And，above Godstow Bridge，50 when hay-time's here^51

In June，and many a scythe in sunshine flames，

Men who through those wide fields of breezy grass

Where black-winged swallows haunt the glittering Thames，

To bathe in the abandoned lasher pass，52

Have often passed thee near

Sitting upon the river bank o'ergrown；

Marked thine outlandish garb，thy figure spare，53

Thy dark vague eyes，and soft abstracted air^54 —

But，when they came from bathing，thou wast gone！55

At some lone homestead^56 in the Cumner hills，

Where at her open door the housewife darns，

Thou hast been seen，or hanging on a gate

To watch the threshers in the mossy barns.

Children，who early range these slopes and late

For cresses from the rills，57

Have known thee eyeing，all an April-day，

The springing pasture and the feeding kine；58

And marked thee，when the stars come out and shine，

Through the long dewy grass move slow away.

In autumn，on the skirts of Bagley Wood^59 —

Where most the gipsies^60 by the turf-edged way

Pitch their smoked tents，and every bush you see

With scarlet patches tagged and shreds of grey，61

Above the forest-ground called Thessaly^62 —

The blackbird，picking food，

Sees thee，nor stops his meal，nor fears at all；63

So often has he known thee past him stray，

Rapt，twirling in thy hand a withered spray，

And waiting for the spark^64 from heaven to fall.

And once，in winter，on the causeway^65 chill

Where home through flooded fields foot-travellers go，

Have I not passed thee on the wooden bridge，

Wrapt in thy cloak and battling with the snow，

Thy face tow'rd Hinksey^66 and its wintry ridge？

And thou has climbed the hill，

And gained the white brow of the Cumner range；67

Turned once to watch，while thick the snowflakes fall，

The line of festal light in Christ-Church hall^68 —

Then sought thy straw in some sequestered grange.69

But what — I dream！ Two hundred years are flown

Since first thy story ran through Oxford halls，

And the grave Glanvil did the tale inscribe

That thou wert wandered^70 from the studious walls

To learn strange arts，and join a gipsy-tribe；

And thou from earth art gone^71

Long since，and in some quiet churchyard laid —

Some country-nook，where o'er thy unknown grave

Tall grasses and white flowering nettles wave，

Under a dark，red-fruited yew-tree's shade.

— No，no，thou hast not felt the lapse of hours！

For what wears out the life of mortal men？

'Tis that from change to change their being rolls；

'Tis that repeated shocks，again，again，

Exhaust the energy of strongest souls

And numb the elastic powers.

Till having used our nerves with bliss and teen，72

And tired upon a thousand schemes our wit，

To the just-pausing Genius we remit

Our worn-out life，73 and are — what we have been.

Thou hast not lived，why should'st thou perish，so？

Thou hadst oneaim，one business，onedesire；

Else wert thou long since numbered with the dead！74

Else hadst thou spent，like other men，thy fire！75

The generations of thy peers^76 are fled，

And we ourselves shall go；

But thou possessest an immortal lot，77

And we imagine thee exempt from age^78

And living as thou liv'st on Glanvil's page，

Because thou hadst — what we，alas！ have not.

For early didst thou leave the world，with powers

Fresh，undiverted to the world without，79

Firm to their mark，80 not spent on other things；

Free from the sick fatigue，the languid doubt，

Which much to have tried，in much been baffled，brings.

O life unlike to ours！

Who fluctuate idly without term^81 or scope，

Of whom each strives，nor knows for what he strives，

And each half^82 lives a hundred different lives；

Who wait like thee，but not，like thee，in hope.

Thou waitest for the spark from heaven！83 and we，

Light half-believers of our casual creeds，84

Who never deeply felt，nor clearly will'd，

Whose insight never has borne fruit in deeds，

Whose vague resolves never have been fulfilled；

For whom each year we see

Breeds new beginnings，disappointments new；

Who hesitate and falter life away，

And lose tomorrow the ground won today —

Ah！ do not we，wanderer！ await it too？

Yes，we await it！ — but it still delays，

And then we suffer！ and amongst us one，

Who most has suffered，takes dejectedly

His seat upon the intellectual throne；85

And all his store of sad experience he

Lays bare of wretched days；

Tells us his misery's birth and growth and signs，

And how the dying spark of hope was fed，

And how the breast was soothed，and how the head，

And all his hourly varied anodynes.86

This for our wisest！ and we others pine，

And wish the long unhappy dream would end，

And waive all claim to bliss，and try to bear；87

With close-lipped patience for our only friend，

Sad patience，too near neighbour to despair^88 —

But none has hope like thine！

Thou through the fields and through the woods dost stray，89

Roaming the country-side，a truant boy，

Nursing thy project^90 in unclouded joy，

And every doubt long blown by time away.

O born in days when wits were fresh and clear，

And life ran gaily as the sparkling Thames；

Before this strange disease of modern life，

With its sick hurry，its divided aims，

Its heads o'ertaxed，its palsied hearts，was rife^91 —

Fly hence，our contact fear！

Still fly，plunge deeper in the bowering wood！

Averse^92，as Dido^93 did with gesture stern

From her false friend's approach in Hades turn，

Wave us away，and keep thy solitude！

Still nursing the unconquerable hope，

Still clutching the inviolable shade，

With a free，onward impulse brushing through，94

By night，the silvered branches of the glade^95 —

Far on the forest-skirts，where none pursue，

On some mild pastoral slope

Emerge，and resting on the moonlit pales^96

Freshen thy flowers as in former years

With dew，or listen with enchanted ears，

From the dark tingles，to the nightingales！97

But fly our paths，our feverish contact fly！98

For strong the infection of our mental strife，

Which，though it gives no bliss，yet spoils for rest；

And we should win thee from thy own fair life，

Like us distracted，and like us unblest.

Soon，soon thy cheer would die，

Thy hopes grow timorous，and unfixed thy powers，

And thy clear aims be cross and shifting made；

And then thy glad perennial youth^99 would fade，

Fade and grow old at last，and die like ours.

Then fly our greetings，fly our speech and smiles！

— As some grave Tyrian^100 trader，from the sea，

Descried at sunrise an emerging prow

Lifting the cool-haired creepers stealthily，101

The fringes of a southward-facing brow

Among the Aegean Isles；102

And saw the merry Grecian coaster^103 come，

Freighted with amber grapes，and Chian wine，104

Green，bursting figs，and tunnies steep'd in brine^105 —

And knew the intruders on his ancient home，106

The young light-hearted masters of the waves —

And snatched his rudder，and shook out^107 more sail；

And day and night held on indignantly

O'er the blue Midland^108 waters with the gale，

Betwixt the Syrtes^109 and soft Sicily，110

To where the Atlantic raves^111

Outside the western straits； and unbent sails^112

There，where down cloudy cliffs，through sheets of foam，

Shy traffickers，the dark Iberians^113 come；

And on the beach undid his corded bales.

【题解】

这首长诗的主题源自约瑟夫·格兰威尔（Joseph Glanvill）所记载的一位牛津学生放弃书本，与吉卜赛人为伍，去探求生活真谛的故事。诗歌中反映了学者吉卜赛对自然和原始生活的追求，表达了诗人对现实世界的失望，探求精神的寄托。

【注释】

1.the wattled cotes：sheepfolds woven from sticks，用枝条编的羊栏篱笆，羊圈。

2.wistful flock：渴望着到羊栏外面去吃草和自由活动的羊群。

3.bawling：crying out loudly and unrestrainedly.

4.rack their throats：直着嗓子大声喊叫。

5.Nor the cropped grasses shoot another head：Nor let the cropped herbage etc.； herbage：herbaceous vegetation （as grass） especially when used for grazing，羊群在放牧时啃食的草，区别于割下来的干草； shoot another head：长出新芽。

6.Cross and recross the strips of moon-blanched green：（the white sheep are sometimes seen）to cross and recross etc.； 注意语法现象：to see somebody dosomething，不定式to do 不加to，但是在被动语态的情况下，要加to：somebody is seen to dosomething，如第103—104行：Thou hast been seen ... To watch the threshers in the mossy barns； moon-blanched green：披上银白色月光的绿草地；green：此处为名词。

7.the quest：指寻找那位学者。

8.earthen cruse：pot or jug for carrying his drink，陶器水罐。

9.sheaves：sheaf的复数，（割下的）麦子。

10.comes back his stores to use：comes back to use his stores，回到放篮子和水罐的地方吃饭喝水。

11.The bleating of the folded flocks：关在羊栏里的羊群咩咩的叫声；folded：penned up.

12.in the corn：在麦地里；corn：grain or wheat.

13.All the live murmur of a summer's day：夏日里万物活跃，轻声低语。

14.Screened is this nook：这个角落非常安静，没有人打搅。

15.Pale pink convolvulus in tendrils creep：淡淡的粉色的牵牛花伸展着卷须，四处蔓延。

16.lindens：欧锻，落叶乔木，花香，是良好的蜜源植物。

17.the bent grass：a stiff kind of grass，一种茎叶很坚挺的草。

18.bower：embower，如凉亭那样遮蔽。

19.Glanvill's book：即约瑟夫·格兰威尔（Joseph Glanvill）的《教条主义的虚荣》（Vanity of Dogmatizing ）。

20.Of pregnant parts：teaming with ideas，思想十分丰富； parts：（plural ） talent，如 a man of many parts，多才多艺者。

21.tired of knocking at Preferment's door：厌倦于走门子，钻营； Preferment：a position or office of honor or profit.

22.morn：morning.

23.the Gipsy-lore：吉卜赛人世代相传的本领和知识。

24.that wild brotherhood：指吉卜赛人。吉卜赛人拒绝接受所在国的文化，以免遭同化，因而往往以宗族为团体，四处浪游。

25.erst：（archaic ） erstwhile，从前。

26.the Gipsy-crew：一帮吉卜赛人。

27.had arts to rule as they desired ... brains：有本领随心所欲地控制人们头脑的思维活动；brains：（plural ） intelligence.

28.them：the workings of men's brains.

29.But it needs heaven-sent moments for this skill：但是，需要天赐良机才能学到这种本领。

30.hung about the country-side：（谣言） 在牛津附近的乡村流传。

31.Hurst：位于牛津附近的小山。本诗除最后两节里的地名外，所有的地名都指牛津附近的乡村，以下随文说明。

32.ingle-bench：fireside bench.

33.the smock-frocked boors：穿着宽大的劳动服装的庄稼汉； smock-frock：a loose outer garment worn by workmen especially in Europe，欧洲农民劳动时穿的长罩衫； boors：rustics，注意是单数，一个农夫。

34.'mid：amid.

35.thy looks：指学者吉卜赛。按：从此行起，诗人谈话的对象从牧羊人转向学者吉卜赛。

36.boys who in lone wheatfields scare the rooks：受雇在麦地里赶走乌鸦等鸟的男孩；rooks：秃鼻乌鸦。

37.thou hast：you have.

38.thou haunt'st their shy retreats：you haunt etc.，常去山中幽秘的地方； their：指Cumner hills（卡姆那山脉）； shy：secluded，hidden.

39.retired：secluded.

40.Thee：下行have met 的宾语。

41.the stripling Thames at Bab-lock-hithe：流经Bab-lock-hithe村庄的狭窄的泰晤士河； the stripling Thames：the narrow upper reaches of the river before it broadens out to its full width，泰晤士河上游狭窄的河段； stripling：原意为幼小的； Bab-lock-hithe：村庄名，正式的名字为Bablock Hythe（巴布洛赫斯村），牛津以西5英里处的小村庄，1974年划归属伯克郡（Berkshire）。

42.the punt's rope chops round：学者的平底船（punt）用缆绳栓在河边。

43.Wychwood bowers：即Wychwood Forest（韦奇伍树林），在威特尼（Witney） 北部，其边缘与牛津相距14英里。

44.thine eyes：your eyes； thine 后面是以元音起首的名词，否则用thy，以下第98行thine outlandish garb同。

45.hamlets：村庄，往往指没有教堂的小村庄。

46.Fyfield elm：Fyfield（菲费尔德）村子里的大榆树。按：当地有村民在五月节日围着这棵大榆树跳舞的传统，这棵树因安诺德此诗而出名，据说现已枯死。菲费尔德（Fyfield）是阿平顿（Arbington）西边4.5英里的一个小村庄，原属伯克郡管辖，1974年行政区域重新划定时归属牛津郡（Oxfordshire）。

47.anemone：银莲花。

48.bluebells：风信子草。

49.orchises：兰花，尤指红门兰。

50.Godstow Bridge：此桥建在牛津附近的戈斯托（Godstow）村庄里，因以为名。

51.when hay-time's here：当到了割草晒干的时候。

52.lasher pass：water that spills over a dam or weir，经过水坝下溢的流水。

53.thy figure spare：你瘦削的身材；spare：healthily lean.

54.soft abstracted air：温和而心不在焉的神态； abstracted：absent-minded.

55.thou wast gone：you were gone.

56.homestead：家宅（包括房屋及其周围的田地）。

57.cresses from the rills：小河里长的水芹。

58.The springing pasture and the feeding kine：抽出新芽的牧场和哺乳的母牛； kine：（archaic plural ） cows.

59.skirts of Bagley Wood：Bagley Wood（贝格列林苑）是牛津大学圣约翰学院的地产，这片树林有500英亩，内有橡树、针叶树和其他树木；skirts：边缘。

60.most the gipsies：most of the gipsies.

61.With scarlet patches tagged and shreds of gray：（树丛里） 挂着红色的和灰色的破布片。

62.Thessaly：塞萨利，原是希腊东部的一个地区，这里把贝格列林苑里的一块林地戏称为塞萨利。

63.nor stops his meal，nor fears at all：既不停止吃食，也不感到害怕； nor ... nor：neither ... nor.

64.the spark：天上的流星，偶然出现的情景。如痴如狂地玩弄枯枝条和等待天上的流星都表明他对生活充满着信心和希望。比较以下第171行：Thou waitest for the spark from heaven！

65.causeway：a raised way through a marsh or water，（穿过湿地的） 堤道。

66.Hinksey：牛津附近的村庄，分为北欣克塞（North Hinksey）和南欣克塞（South Hinksey），1974年划归伯克郡。

67.the white brow of the Cumner range：卡姆那山脉的悬崖； brow：the edge of a hill.

68.Christ-Church hall：牛津大学基督堂学院的食堂。

69.sequestered grange：隐蔽幽静的农舍； grange：farm，especially a farmhouse with outbuildings.

70.thou wert wandered：you had wandered； thou wert：you were； 在较为早期的英语中，某些表示行动的动词，如 come，go 等，组成完成时用be，而不是have作助动词，如下面thou are gone。

71.thou from earth art gone：你已经离开人世。

72.teen：vexation，苦恼。

73.To the just-pausing Genius we remit ... life：意为我们把耗尽的生命交还给宇宙的精灵；the just-pausing Genius：指宇宙的精灵，他会略略停下来收回给予人类的生命。

74.Else wert thou long since numbered with the dead：otherwise you would have long since been numbered with the dead，否则你早就与死人为伍了； Else：otherwise； wert：此处为虚拟语气，即wouldst have been。

75.Else hadst thou spent，like other men，thy fire：otherwise you would have spent，like other men，your fire，否则你也会向他人一样燃尽了你的那把火。

76.The generations of thy peers：你的同辈。

77.thou possessest an immortal lot：你有不死的命运；thou possessest：you possess； lot：fate，fortune.

78.exempt from age：长生不老。

79.undiverted to the world without：没有转移到外部世界去。

80.Firm to their mark：目标坚定。

81.term：限度，尤指时间上的限度。

82.half：修饰动词lives，作副词。

83.Thou waitest for the spark from heaven：比较注释64。

84.Light half-believers of our casual creeds：对于偶尔接受的信条自己也半信半疑； Light：不严肃的，不笃信的； casual creeds：不是由自己去选择，而是在生活环境中偶然出现而随便接受的信条。

85.amongst us one ... throne：“我们之中的一个人”可能指丁尼生，他的《悼念集》（In Memoriam ） 发表于1850年； 或许指德国诗人歌德。丁尼生为桂冠诗人，名噪一时，歌德久负盛名，他们都可以被称为知识界宝座上的泰斗（intellectual throne），但是，对于得此殊荣却情绪压抑（takes dejectedly His seat），似乎没有根据。

86.anodynes：止痛剂。

87.bear：bear up，忍痛抑悲。

88.Sad patience，too near neighbour to despair：悲伤的 “耐心”和 “绝望”相差无几。

89.Thou through the fields and through the woods dost stray：you do stray through the fields etc.； Thou dost：you do.

90.Nursing thy project：指从事自己的追求。

91.Before this strange disease of modern life ... rife：Before this strange disease of modern life was rife with its sick hurry etc.； 此处Before引导的从句和上文when引导的从句属并列成分。

92.Averse：turn away.

93.Dido：狄多是传说中的迦太基（Carthage）女王和建国者。她爱上了特洛伊城被攻陷后逃到她国土的英雄埃涅阿斯（Aeneas），因遭到他拒绝而自杀。后埃涅阿斯在冥间（Hades）和狄多相遇，她坚决不予理睬。维吉尔（Virgil）的《埃涅阿斯记》（Aeneid ） 第六章中有关英译文为：Turning away，she kept her eyes fixed on the ground ... At last she gave a quick start and fled from him indignant.

94.brushing through：身体擦着旁边的东西穿过。

95.glade：林间的通道。

96.pales：栅栏的桩。

97.listen with enchanted ears ... nightingales：暗示这位牛津学者想象济慈在《夜莺颂》（Ode to Nightingale ） 中所描写的那样逃避纷乱的人世，第21—23行：Fade far way，dissolve，and quite forget / What thou among the leaves hast never known，/ The weariness，the fever，and the fret. 参见本书济慈的Ode to a Nightingale 一诗（第466页）。

98.our feverish contact fly：fly our feverish contact； fly：逃避。

99.perennial youth：永久不衰的青春。

100.Tyrian：Tyre是古代腓尼基的海港，即今黎巴嫩的苏尔（Sur）城，公元前12至8世纪是重要的贸易中心。

101.Lifting the cool-haired creepers stealthily：船出海时，船头拨开海岸边的蔓草。

102.the Aegean Isles：爱琴海群岛。

103.coaster：沿海贸易的商船或经商者。

104.Chian wine：Chois 所产的葡萄酒。按：开俄斯（Chois）为希腊所属的岛屿，位于土耳其西海岸以外的爱琴海中。

105.bursting figs，and tunnies steep'd in brine：绽开的无花果和咸金枪鱼干； tunnies：tuna fish，金枪鱼可重达千磅，盛产于地中海，咸金枪鱼干是当地沿海居民喜爱的食品。

106.knew the intruders on his ancient home：此节大意为蒂尔（Tyre）港的商人透过遮盖他们藏身之地的树丛绿叶（fringes），看到外地人吵吵嚷嚷地进入他们的海港而感到仓皇失措。学者吉卜赛也像蒂尔港的商人那样，不愿让外人打破恬静的生活而逃离尘世。

107.shook out：张开（帆）。

108.Midland：Mediterranean.

109.Syrtes：北非海岸外的浅滩。

110.Sicily：意大利的西西里岛。

111.To where the Atlantic raves：接上第3行的held on，坚持航行在海面上；raves：大海的咆哮。

112.unbent sails：卸下帆篷。

113.the dark Iberians：指伊比伊亚半岛（西班牙和葡萄牙所属）上肤色黝黑的居民，可能借指吉卜赛人。此处把他们称为“胆怯的商人”。据肯尼思（Kenneth Alott）说，这里所说的贸易方式，出自于希罗多德（Herodotus）的《历史》（History ） 第四章。书中描写迦太基人独特的买卖方式，他们常渡过直布罗陀海峡去和西非沿海的居民做买卖。迦太基人把捆成大包的商品（corded bales） 摆在海滩上，不等顾客到来即返船上。这时，当地胆怯的居民从内陆上下来，把金子放在要买的商品旁边，然后回到原地。迦太基人再次上岸，看对方的出价是否可以接受，如此反复多次方才成交。在大西洋沿岸，这种方式一直持续到十九世纪。希罗多德此书的译者威廉·勃罗（William Beloe）说 “买卖双方从不面晤而能成交，双方均无欺诈行为。”

Dover Beach

The sea is calm to-night.

The tide is full，the moon lies fair

Upon the straits；1—on the French coast the light

Gleams and is gone； the cliffs ofEngland stand，

Glimmering and vast，out in the tranquil bay.

Come to the window，sweet is the night air！

Only，from the long line of spray^2

Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land，3

Listen！ you hear the grating roar^4

Of pebbles whichthe waves draw back，and fling，

At their return，up the high strand，

Begin，and cease，and then again begin，

With tremulous cadence slow，and bring

The eternal note of sadness^5 in.

Sophocles^6 long ago

Heard iton the Aegean，7 and it brought

Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow

Of human misery；8 we

Find also in the sound a thought，

Hearing it by this distant northern sea.

The Sea of Faith^9

Was once，too，at the full，and round earth's shore

Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.10

But now I only hear

Its melancholy，long，withdrawing roar，

Retreating，to the breath

Of the night-wind，down the vast edges drear

And naked shingles of the world.11

Ah，love，let us be true

To one another！ for the world，which seems

To he before us like a land of dreams，

So various，12 so beautiful，so new，

Hath really neither joy，nor love，nor light，

Nor certitude，nor peace，nor help for pain；

And we are here as on a darkling plain^13

Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight，

Where ignorant armies clash by night.14

【题解】

马修·安诺德曾于1851年到多佛海滩来度蜜月。他的《多佛滩》作于1867年，是英国传统的浪漫主义诗歌哲学的转向，代表了工业革命时期愤世嫉俗的现代主义思潮。他是处于浪漫主义和现代主义过渡时期的诗人，他的象征性意象是典型的浪漫主义，而他的悲观主义和怀疑心态又是现代主义的特点。在基督教教义遭到挑战，而现代工业化社会又未能真正填补人们灵魂的空白，反而更加使人彷徨时，英国当时知识分子的困惑也许会在诗歌中得到最强烈的宣泄。《多佛滩》 吐露了诗人的忧伤，为当今世界现代文明的不确定性和社会骚动感到焦虑。马修·安诺德的这首诗有其独特的时代性，因此被认为是“现代情感”（Modern Sensibility）诗歌的先驱。

【注释】

1.The sea is calm to-night ... straits：评论家认为开首一节描绘了诗人在度蜜月时看到的窗外景致； the straits：the Straits of Dover，是英吉利海峡的窄口，法国海岸上的灯光与英国海岸仅二十英里之遥。

2.the long line of spray：浪花飞溅的长长的海岸线。

3.the moon-blanched land：披上银白色月光的沙滩。

4.the grating roar：海滩上鹅卵石在海浪冲击下互相碰撞的声响。

5.The eternal note of sadness：永久的悲哀之音。按：前两节是典型的浪漫派诗歌的风情：多佛海滩宁静的夜晚，月光下涛声低语，鹅卵石在海浪的拍打下嘎嘎作响，但是诗人着意在最后两行，此情此景远非现实，这种节奏悠缓，似怨似诉的声响中，有着永久的悲伤的声调。

6.Sophocles：索福克勒斯（496？—406BC），古希腊悲剧诗人，与埃斯库罗斯（Aeschylus） 和欧里庇德斯 （Euripides） 齐名的古希腊悲剧作家。其主要作品有悲剧《埃阿斯》（Ajax ）、《安提戈涅》（Antigone ） 和《奥狄浦斯王》（Oedipus the King ）。详见本书本·琼生论莎士比亚的诗（第127页）。

7.the Aegean：爱琴海。关于索福克勒斯听到海潮涨落之声想到人类悲苦的事，见《安提戈涅》（Antigone ） 第583—591行，合唱队把奥狄浦斯一家的命运变迁比作大海的波浪。

8.the turbid ebb and flow ... misery：人类命途多舛，犹如浑浊的海水，潮涨潮落；turbid：thick or opaque with or as if with roiled sediment，浑浊的。

9.The Sea of Faith：信仰之海，即对宗教的热忱和献身，浩瀚如大海，曾经处于高潮（at the full）。

10.round earth's shore ... furled：lay round earth's shore etc.； 此句以大海作比喻，信仰拥抱着大地；主语仍然是The Sea of Faith，大海把陆地紧紧地包围住，就像收紧的闪光的腰带的褶子 （the folds of a bright girdle furled）。

11.But now I only hear ... world：此句意为：宗教的热忱在消退，而世俗的准则和理性开始起主导作用； the breath of the night-wind：象征理性；shingles：beaches covered with pebbles，铺满鹅卵石的海滩。

12.various：千姿百态。

13.we are here as on a darkling plain：诗人哀叹英国社会放弃了对上帝的信仰，坠入了世俗准则的黑暗的境地。他曾写信给William Wordsworth 称：we are here as on a darkling plain，to convey how we stand in the darkness of our contemporary lifestyle and must now suffer with our realization of secular doctrine and the destruction of God.

14.ignorant armies clash by night：也许指1848年革命，或许指法国。

The Last Word

Creep into thy narrow bed，1

Creep，and let no more be said！

Vain thy onset！2 all stands fast.3

Thou thyself must break at last.

Let the long contention cease！

Geese are swans，and swans are geese.4

Let them have it how they will！

Thou art tired：best be still.5

They out-talked thee，hissed thee，tore thee？6

Better men fared thus before thee；7

Fired their ringing shot and passed，

Hotly charged — and sank at last.

Charge once more，then，and be dumb！

Let the victors，when they come，

When the forts of folly^8 fall，

Find thy body by the wall！

【题解】

这首诗所论述的纷争，可以是学术界的，也可以是社会上普遍的现象。The last word的意思是最新的、最有权威的观点。在安诺德看来，他的时代已经到了一个令人失望的、没有真理的时代，良莠不分，只有口舌之争。

【注释】

1.Creep in to thy narrow bed：意为你该躲起来，不要再多说什么了。

2.Vain thy onset：你的攻击毫无用处。

3.all stands fast：谁也不肯让步； fast：in a firm，fixed manner.

4.Geese are swans，and swans are geese：鹅即天鹅，天鹅即鹅，两者实无差别。一般总认为天鹅更加珍贵，如All his geese are swans有夸大事实，言过其实之意。

5.best be still：it would be best to be still.

6.They out-talked thee，hissed thee，tore thee：他们比你更加雄辩，对你发出嘘声，或者把你批得体无完肤。

7.Better men fared thus before thee：比你强的人以前也有此遭遇。

8.the forts of folly：愚昧的堡垒。

[1]这次修订增加了二首，共五首。

DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI

但丁·加布里耶尔·罗塞蒂

（1828—1882）

【作者与作品简介】

这位画家兼诗人在美术史上、文学史上都很著名。他的画像诗，诗像画，都表现出同样的风味——自然，真挚，强调音、色、光的官能美，同时又带一点神秘而朦胧的象征意味。他的意大利血统（他的父亲是意大利烧炭党人，因反抗奥地利统治，流亡到英国）给予了他南方人的热情和艺术型的个性。

罗塞蒂曾在英国皇家美术院学画，但他反对学院派，而于1848年组织了先拉斐尔派，同时也写了他早期诗歌的代表作《天女》（写的是升入天堂的少女思念尘世的爱人）和《我的妹妹睡了》，于1850年发表在先拉斐尔派的《萌芽》杂志上。

这一年，罗塞蒂爱上了一个能诗善画的姑娘伊丽莎白·西德尔，因为她的美色带有一种梦幻的、非凡世的神韵，于是成了罗塞蒂作画不可或缺的模特儿。因经济困难，他们十年后才结婚，而婚后一年多伊丽莎白就死了。从此罗塞蒂再也无法得到安慰，他以自己的全部诗稿给他的妻子殉葬。

过了七年，在友人们的极力劝说下，罗塞蒂才掘出诗稿，于1870年出版《罗塞蒂诗集》。这些诗具有浓厚的唯美主义色彩，以其魅力震动了诗坛。罗塞蒂后期的主要作品有带神秘主义的爱情和哀悼诗集《生命之屋》。此外，罗塞蒂还是一个诗歌翻译家。

飞白

The Woodspurge

The wind flapped loose，the wind was still，

Shaken out dead from tree and hill：1

I had walked on at the wind's will，—

I sat now，for the wind was still.

Between my knees my forehead was，2 —

Mylips，drawn in，3 said not Alas！

My hair was over in the grass，

My naked ears heard the day pass.

My eyes，wide open，had the run

Of some ten weeds to fix upon；4

Among those few，out of the sun，

The woodspurge flowered，three cups in one.5

From perfect grief there need not be

Wisdom or even memory：6

One thing then learnt remains to me，7 —

The woodspurge has a cup of three.8

【题解】

这是一首悼亡诗，表达了失去爱人的凄凉心情。诗歌中的“我”随风而行，风静而止，茫然自失，悲不自胜。最后一节在哀伤中似有所悟。

【注释】

题目：Woodspurge：欧洲的一种大戟属植物。

1.Shaken out dead from tree and hill：从树丛和山林里吹出来，风势已平。

2.Between my knees my forehead was：（因为悲伤） 头垂在两膝中间。

3.drawn in：嘴唇紧抿。

4.had the run ... upon：眼睛紧盯着一大片野草地； ten weeds：未必实指十片野草地。

5.three cups in one：欧大戟每一朵花有三个花萼。

6.From perfect grief there need not be ... memory：人在极度悲伤之中，头脑一片空白，什么也记不住。

7.One thing then learnt remains to me：意为人在这种情况下什么都想不起来，却会记得当年在学校里曾经学过的简单的常识。

8.The woodspurge has a cup of three：突然想起欧大戟一花三萼。按：此处有两层意思：其一，极度悲痛之中，茫然自失，奇怪的是居然会想到一些简单的事情；其二，一花三萼象征圣父、圣子、圣灵三位一体，诗人有所感悟，得到慰藉。

Barren Spring

So now the changed year's turning wheel returns

And as a girl sails balanced in the wind，1

And now before and now again behind^2

Stoops as it swoops，3 with cheek that laughs and burns，4 —

So Spring comes merry towards me now，but earns

No answering smile from me，whose life is twin'd

With the dead boughs that winter still must bind，

And whom to-day the Spring no more concerns.

Behold，this crocus is a withering flame；5

This snowdrop，snow； this apple-blossom's part

To breed the fruit that breeds the serpent's art.6

Nay，7 for these Spring-flowers，turn thy face from them，

Nor gaze till on the year's last lily-stem^8

The white cup shrivels round the golden heart.9

【题解】

和赞美春天的很多诗不同，《荒春》表达的是诗人透过盎然的春意窥见盛衰交替的现实。

【注释】

1.as a girl sails balanced in the wind：犹如姑娘在风中走动，步履稳健； sail：to move or proceed easily，gracefully，nonchalantly，or without resistance，此处形容姑娘行走仪态万方。

2.now before and now again behind：时而在前，时而在后。

3.Stoops as it swoops：当一阵风吹来时，姑娘稍稍弯腰。

4.with cheek that laughs and burns：姑娘脸颊上露出笑容，脸色红润；这是形容春天的鲜花盛开的景色。

5.this crocus is a withering flame：这朵藏红花已经在开败，色泽消退。

6.this apple-blossom's part ... art：暗示花中藏有毒蛇，即诱使夏娃偷食禁果的撒旦。通常认为结禁果的树是苹果树。蛇和花的意象为许多作家所应用，如莎士比亚《罗密欧与朱丽叶》（Romeo and Juliet ） 3.2.73：O serpent heart，hid with a flowering heart！ 又《马克佩斯》（Macbeth ） 1.5.65：Look like the innocent flower，/ But be the serpent under't.

7.Nay：no.

8.lily-stem：百合花梗。

9.The white cup shrivels round the golden heart：百合花的花萼在金色的花心周围逐渐枯萎。

A Little While

A little while a little love^1

The hour yet bears for thee and me^2

Who have not drawn the veil to see

If still our heaven be lit above.3

Thou merely，at the day's last sigh，

Hast felt thy soul prolong the tone；4

And I have heard the night-wind cry

And deemed its speech mine own.5

A little while a little love

The scattering autumn hoards for us^6

Whose bower is not yet ruinous^7

Nor quite unleaved our songless grove.8

Only across the shaken boughs

We hear the flood-tides seek the sea，

And deep in both our hearts they rouse

One wail for thee and me.

A little while a little love

May yet be ours who have not said

The word it makes our eyes afraid

To know that each is thinking of.9

Not yet the end：be our lips dumb

In smiles a little season yet：10

I'll tell thee，when the end is come，

How we may best forget.

【题解】

此诗写得紧凑，基本都是单音节和双音节词，朗朗上口，直抒胸臆，不是一首软绵绵的爱情失意之作，虽然不无怨愤，但是表达得含而不露，哀而不伤。

【注释】

1.A little while a little love：是下行bears的宾语。

2.The hour yet bears for thee and me：时光还给我们留下了那么一刻，那么一点爱；hour：指时间，但也表示这点时间不算太长； bears：sustains，allows.

3.Who have not drawn the veil to see ... above：我们还没有拉开窗帘看看我们的天是否还有星光；意为我们尚不敢正视现实，不想知道到底我们俩的爱情是否还有希望；veil：curtain； our heaven：实指我们俩心中的世界。

4.Thou merely，at the day's last sigh ... tone：意为你实际上是在哀叹此情已了，只是感到你的心灵还想再延长一点这种哀叹；the day's last sigh：落日之际的声响似乎是哀叹之声，表明事实上已是 “无可奈何花落去”； Thou Hast； you have.

5.And I have heard the night-wind cry ... own：接上两行，从日暮之际一下就转到黑夜，诗中之人已听到黑夜狂风的怒号，亦即他心中的悲叹。

6.The scattering autumn hoards for us：虽然秋风把花朵和树叶吹得四散飘零，但秋天还是给我们留下了一点时间和一点爱； hoard：囤积。

7.Whose bower is not yet ruinous：我们的栖息之地尚未被彻底破坏，故尚有继续相处的余地。

8.Nor quite unleaved our songless grove：nor is our songless grove unleaved，小树林亦无歌声，但尚未掉光树叶；unleaved：树叶落尽，此词来自动词leave，to produce or grow leaves.

9.May yet be ours who have not said ... of：我们还没有说出使我们了解对方真实心态的话，意为还没有把分手的话捅破。和第一节前四行呼应。按：ours who：严格地说，ours指的是a little while a little love，因此who 不能作为ours的关系代词，但是诗歌中允许不符合语法的自由度，即所谓poetic license。

10.be our lips dumb ... yet：let our lips be dumb in smiles a little season yet，意为双方都有分手的预感，但是且别说话，只是微笑，再将就一段时间。

The Day Dream

The thronged boughs of the shadowy sycamore^1

Still bear young leaflets half the summer through；2

From when the robin 'gainst the unhidden blue

Perched dark，3 till now，deep in the leafy core，

The embowered throstle's urgent wood-notes soar^4

Through summer silence. Still the leaves come new；5

Yet never rosy-sheathed as those which drew

Their spiral tongues from spring-buds heretofore.6

Within the branching shade of Reverie^7

Dreams even may spring till autumn；8 yet none be

Like woman's budding day-dream spirit-fann'd.9

Lo！ Tow'rd^10 deep skies，not deeper than her look，

She dreams； till now on her forgotten book

Drops the forgotten blossom from her hand.

【题解】

罗塞蒂于1880年以威廉·莫里斯（William Morris）的夫人简（Jane）为模特，创作了一幅油画，题为《白日梦》。画中一位漂亮的女士衣裙宽松，不束圈撑（hoop），坐在枝叶浓密的榕树下，一手拉着枝条，一手松松地握着一朵忍冬花 （honeysuckle），搭在翻开的书上，双眼微微仰视，神态自怡，若有所思。随后，他为自己这副画写了这首十四行诗。这幅画和诗是受丁尼生的同名诗 The Day Dream 启发而创作的。

【注释】

1.The thronged boughs of the shadowy sycamore：榕树浓密的枝条。

2.Still bear young leaflets half the summer through：已过仲夏，却仍然长着嫩叶； young leaflets：leaflets本身就是新抽出的叶子。

3.the robin 'gainst the unhidden blue ... dark：知更鸟躲在暗处，背靠着未被完全遮住的蓝天。

4.The embowered throstle's urgent wood-notes soar：藏在绿阴中的画眉鸟迫切地引颈高歌。

5.Still the leaves come new：新叶依然长出来。

6.Yet never rosy-sheathed as those which drew ... heretofore：然而毕竟不同于春天那种玫瑰色的叶鞘的叶子，螺旋状的花蕊从蓓蕾中伸展出来。

7.Within the branching shade of Reverie：白日梦幻，胡思乱想，犹如枝叶那样伸展开来。

8.Dreams even may spring till autumn：梦幻不断产生，直至秋天； spring：作动词。

9.yet none be ... spirit-fann'd：yet none would be etc.，然而没有什么梦幻会像女人的白日梦那样，含苞欲放，神思舒展；spirit-fann'd：精神催动，如扇形那样散开。

10.Tow'rd：toward，指画中的女人双眼微微仰视。

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

克里丝蒂娜·罗塞蒂

（1830—1894）

【作者与作品简介】

她是前者的妹妹，也是先拉斐尔派诗人，她的诗受其兄影响，但不像其兄的诗那么浓艳，而自有朴实、哀婉、清新的特色。

克里丝蒂娜起初在《萌芽》杂志上发表诗作，1862年出版了《小妖精的集市和其他的诗》，这是她第一本诗集，也是她最有名的诗集。克里丝蒂娜从小虔诚，热爱自然，并能在自然中感觉到象征的境界，这都在她的代表作《小妖精的集市》中得到表现。这首童话诗中虽有“禁果”与“诱惑”的宗教思想，但其中的禁果并非智慧树之果；诗中的象征意义和心理内容都很丰富。

克里丝蒂娜的两次恋爱，都因宗教信仰上的分歧而破裂了，后来她就把一生用在侍奉父母和为别人做好事上。但爱情的破灭在她的诗中留下了深深的烙印，使她的抒情诗带有较浓厚的悲观情调。

二十世纪英国著名的意识流女作家弗吉尼亚·沃尔芙认为“在英国女诗人中克里丝蒂娜·罗塞蒂名列第一位，她的歌唱得好像知更鸟，有时又像夜莺。”

飞白

The Bourne

Underneath the growing grass，

Underneath the living flowers，

Deeper than the sound of showers：1

There we shall not count the hours

By the shadows as they pass.2

Youth and health will be but vain，

Beauty reckoned of no worth：3

There a very little girth

Can hold round what once the earth

Seemed too narrow to contain.4

【题解】

此处The Bourne（终点）不仅是指人生的终结，实际上是指死亡象征人生越过一个极点，进入另一个世界，语出莎士比亚。此诗的主旨是，人们一旦长眠于地下，就不再有时辰的逼迫，故可静静反思人生，有所感悟。终点是极点，是界限，不仅是生命的极点，也是认识所能到达的制高点。诗写得非常清醒、质朴，体现了拉斐尔前派的诗风。

【注释】

题目：The Bourne：or bourn，a boundary，limit，or goal； 此处喻越过人生的终点，就到了死亡的另一个世界，比较莎士比亚《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet ）3.1.78—80：But that the dread of something after death，/ The undiscovered country，from whose bourn / No traveler returns.

1.Deeper than the sound of showers：深埋于地下，非雨声所及。

2.shall not count the hours ... pass：（在地下就）不用看着树影的移动，计算过了多少时间。

3.Beauty reckoned of no worth：Beauty is reckoned etc.，美颜被视为毫无价值。

4.There a very little girth ... contain：在那里，一个小小的腰带，就可以兜住连地球都曾经显得太小而不能包罗的东西。喻在尘世人们欲望太多，死后就无所欲求。

Remember

Remember me when I am gone away，

Gone far away into the silent land；1

When you can no more hold me by the hand，

Nor I half turn to go，yet turning stay.2

Remember me when no more day by day

You tell me of our future that you planned：

Only remember me； you understand

It will be late to counsel then or pray.3

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember，do not grieve：

For if the darkness and corruption^4 leave

A vestige of the thoughts that once I had，

Better by far you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad.

【注释】

1.the silent land：冥界。

2.Nor I half turn to go，yet turning stay：我也不能半转身要走，可又回转身子停留。

3.It will be late to counsel then or pray：接上行，当时你一再为未来作打算，乃是因为担心，否则到时来不及磋商或祈祷。

4.corruption：腐烂。

Song

When I am dead，my dearest，

Sing no sad songs for me；

Plant thou no roses at my head，1

Nor shady cypress tree：2

Be the green grass above me^3

With showers and dewdrops wet；

And if thou wilt，4 remember，

And if thou wilt，forget.

I shall not see the shadows，

I shall not feel the rain；

I shall not hear the nightingale

Sing on，as if in pain：5

And dreaming through the twilight

That doth not rise nor set，

Haply^6 I may remember，

And haply may forget.

【注释】

1.Plant thou no roses at my head：you plant no roses etc.，祈使句。

2.cypress tree：柏树； 常种植于墓地，中国人种柏树取其长青，而西方人则以柏枝放在墓上表示哀悼，象征意义不同。莎士比亚《第十二夜》（Twelfth Night ）2.4. 51—52：Come away，come away，death，/ And in sad cypress let me be laid.

3.Be the green grass above me：May the green grass be above me，虚拟式。

4.if thou wilt：if you will.

5.the nightingale ... pain：夜莺歌声哀婉，似有痛楚。据希腊传说，色雷斯国王蒂留斯（Tereus of Thrace） 强奸了其妻普洛克涅（ Procne）的妹妹菲洛米拉 （Philomela），并割掉了她的舌头。事发后，蒂留斯追杀普洛克涅和菲洛米拉，姊妹俩变成了夜莺。详见本书Mathew Arnold 诗 Philomela 的题解和注释（第544页）。

6.Haply：（archaic ） perhaps.

After Death

The curtains were half drawn，the floor was swept

And strewn with rushes；1 rosemary and may^2

Lay thick upon the bed on which I lay，

Where through the lattice ivy-shadows crept.3

He leaned above me，thinking that I slept

And could not hear him； but I heard him say：

“Poor child，poor child”：and as he turned away

Came a deep silence，and I knew he wept.

He did not touch the shroud，4 or raise the fold

That hid my face，or take my hand in his，

Or ruffle the smooth pillows for my head：

He did not love me living； but once dead

He pitied me； and very sweet it is

To know he still is warm^5 though I am cold.

【注释】

1.strewn with rushes：（地上）撒满了灯芯草。

2.rosemary and may：迷迭香和山楂花。

3.through the lattice ivy-shadows crept：常春藤的影子穿过花格窗慢慢移动。

4.shroud：裹尸布，寿衣。

5.he still is warm：他心中还有温暖的情意。

An Apple Gathering

I plucked pink blossoms from mine apple tree^1

And wore them all that evening in my hair：

Then in due season^2 when I went to see

I found no apples there.

With dangling basket all along the grass

As I had come I went the selfsame track：3

My neighbors mocked me while they saw me pass

So empty-handed back.

Lilian and Lilias smiled in trudging by，4

Their heaped-up basket teased me like a jeer；

Sweet-voiced they sang beneath the sunset sky，5

Their mother's home was near.

Plump Gertrude^6 passed me with her basket full，

A stronger hand than hers helped it along；7

A voice talked with her thro' the shadows cool

More sweet to me than song.8

Ah Willie，9 Willie，was my love less worth

Than apples with their green leaves piled above？10

I counted rosiest apples on the earth

Of far less worth than love.

So once it was with me you stooped to talk

Laughing and listening in this very lane：

To think that by this way we used to walk

We shall not walk again！

I let my neighbors pass me，ones and twos^11

And groups； the latest said the night grew chill，

And hastened：but I loitered，while the dews

Fell fast I loitered still.12

【题解】

《摘苹果》一诗所表达的爱的背弃或爱的缺失，是罗塞蒂很多诗歌中常见的主题，如前面After Death 一诗，只是此诗写得更加含蓄，寓意更深。诗中之我采摘苹果花，急于想得到美好的鲜花，没有让它们结果，才落到收获季节时一无所获的地步，成为邻里的笑柄。

【注释】

1.I plucked pink blossoms from mine apple tree：从我自己的苹果树上采摘苹果花； 注意from mine apple tree，既然是自己的苹果树，采摘花朵似乎是理所当然；mine apple tree：在早期英语中，元音字母前用mine，不用my。此句押头韵，P音具有采摘声响的效果。

2.in due season：到了一定的季节，指该收获苹果的季节。

3.I went the selfsame track：在原路上返回。

4.Lilian and Lilias smiled in trudging by：这两个人名均非特指；trudging：walking or plodding heavily or wearily.

5.Sweet-voiced they sang beneath the sunset sky：注意押头韵，S音形象地表达了邻里姑娘采摘到苹果一路回家轻歌低吟的情景。

6.Plump Gertrude：体态丰满的格特鲁特（Gertrude）； 亦非特指。

7.A stronger hand than hers helped it along：暗示格特鲁特有男友在帮她提着装满苹果的篮子。

8.A voice talked with her thro' the shadows cool ... song：进一步说明她的男友在和她谈笑风生。

9.Willie：威利，当指诗中之我的男友。第16行you同。

10.was my love less worth ... above：找不到威利，自己也没有摘到苹果。

11.ones and twos：三三两两。

12.I loitered，while the dews ... still：天色已晚，寒露下降，然 “我” 逡巡不前，颇为失意；dews：暗示掉下眼泪。

In an Artist's Studio

One face looks out from all his canvases，1

One selfsame^2 figure sits or walks or leans：

We found her hidden just behind those screens，3

That mirror^4 gave back all her loveliness.

A queen in opal or in ruby dress，5

A nameless girl in freshest summer-greens，

A saint，an angel^6 — every canvas means

The same one meaning，neither more or less.

He feeds upon her face^7 by day and night，

And she with true kind eyes looks back on him，

Fair as the moon and joyful as the light：

Not wan with waiting，not with sorrow dim；8

Not as she is，but was when hope shone bright；

Not as she is，but as she fills his dream.

【题解】

画家指的是克里丝蒂娜的哥哥但丁·加布里埃尔·罗塞蒂（Dante Gabriel Rossetti）。其弟威廉·米歇尔·罗塞蒂（William Michael Rossetti）说：“The reference is apparently to our brother's studio，and to his constantly repeated head of the lady whom he afterwards married，Miss Siddal.” 画中女士的表情和态度也体现了维多利亚时代英国妇女的忍耐、消极和牺牲精神。

【注释】

1.One face looks out from all his canvases：他所有的画上都画着同一张脸。

2.selfsame：即same，但是语气更为强烈。此行指画中人的各种姿态。

3.screens：canvasses，即油画，

4.That mirror：画像逼真，犹如反映真实面貌的镜子那样，故称。

5.A queen in opal or in ruby dress：画中人如王后般高贵，身穿乳白色或红宝石色衣服。

6.A saint，an angel：由王后的比喻延伸到圣人、天使，描绘这位女士千姿百态。

7.He feeds upon her face：画家以她的脸为营养，喻取得创造的灵感。

8.Not wan with waiting，not with sorrow dim：不因等待而憔悴，不因忧伤而脸色无光。

WILLIAM MORRIS

威廉·莫里斯

（1834—1896）

【作者与作品简介】

一个巨人在十九世纪后半叶崛起于英国，他一身而兼北欧古语言学者、诗人、小说家、翻译家、家具制作者、室内装饰家、书法家、印刷字体设计者、特殊精装本出版者、杂志主编、社会主义活动家。而且不管什么行业，几乎凡他手指所触，都造就第一流的成绩。以诗而论，主要作品之一《地上乐园》（1868—1870）就是长达四卷的巨制。这当中，抒发情感，描写风物，讲述故事，无一不精，就连卷首那段“歉词”，也为人引用至今，半因其措词洒脱，半因其韵律带有中古的行吟余音：

我无法歌唱天堂或地狱，

我无法减轻压在你心头的恐惧，

无法驱除那迅将来临的死神，

无法招回那过去岁月的欢乐，

我的诗无法使你忘却伤心的往事，

无法使你对未来重新生起希望，

我只是个空虚时代的无用诗人。

（朱次榴译文）

当然，这只是在做诗，事实上，这位诗人一点也不是“无用”的，他关心实际，而且随着时间的推移，越来越多地参加各种活动，大量的文艺创作和工艺制作之外，又卷入了政治斗争。一开头是自由主义民主派，从1883年起又变成社会主义者，1885年第一次因政治活动被捕，1887年“血腥的礼拜天”事件中他同失业工人并肩游行，遭到警察镇压，幸免于难。

他的诗歌创作也有相应的发展。

前期，他主要写叙事诗，神往于中古的英雄美人，成名之作《为吉尼维亚辩护及其它》（1858）写的是亚瑟王的王后同他部下一个武士恋爱的历史故事；接着而来的《地上乐园》是古代故事和中古传奇的大合集，一共二十四篇，颇多动人之作，而在故事与故事之间作为插曲的每个月份的赞歌则是优美的抒情诗。稍后，他又出版了《西格特与尼布龙根族的败亡》（1877），诗风一变，用古朴、刚劲的句子写北欧英雄的悲壮故事，叙事艺术达到了新的高峰。

我们这里选的《洪水中的干草堆》就是叙事诗。它篇幅不长，然而充满了戏剧性，三个主要人物的性格都鲜明突出。过去蒲柏曾纯熟地运用来写社会讽刺诗的双韵体现在居然也能用来写战斗，而且脚韵虽双双连续出现而不使人感到机械或刺耳，故事一直在迅捷开展，就现出莫里斯的功力。

后期，他主要写以工人斗争为主要题材的短诗，如《为社会主义者唱的歌》（1884—1885），其中不少是在街头游行示威或与警察冲突后立即下笔的，笔锋还带着热腾腾的斗争气息；也有用中古民歌为底本的仿作，如《我的与你的》：

世乱盖源于两字，

无非你我各为私。

所宣传的仍然是社会主义的道理。在这等地方，莫里斯继承了宪章派诗歌的传统，但克服了他们的标语口号化，由于他诗才更高，更会运用语言，特别在韵律方面远比他们丰富而多变化。即使他写失败，写死亡，气氛也是悲壮而不凄惨：

是谁在行进——从西向东来到此地？

是谁的队伍迈着严峻缓慢的脚步？

是我们，抬着富人送回来的信息——

人家叫他们醒悟，他们却如此答复。

别说杀一人，杀一千一万也杀不绝，

杀不绝，就别想把白昼之光扑灭。

——《死之歌》（飞白译文）

除了短诗，莫里斯后期也有一个较大作品，即一千二百行的长诗《希望的香客》（1886），主题是巴黎公社的斗争。在当时的著名诗人中，没有另一个曾花这样的大力，用这样多的篇幅去写巴黎公社。在艺术上，此诗也有特色，仍然是两行一韵的双韵体，但是每行长达十四五个音节，有一种奔腾向前的气势，语言则是略带古朴的口语体，素净而亲切，写得实在，又写得充满激情，例如描述初听公社已经建立时的心情：

终于来了那盼而又盼的一天，我知道了生命的价值，

因为我看到了从未见过的景象——一整个民族人人欢欣，

我这才知道我们常说的未来前景，

自己曾在悲伤和痛苦中宣传过的，但心里也曾怀疑，

不知道这是产生于对当今的绝望还是对将来的希冀——

而现在我亲眼看到了，实实在在，就在身边。

可惜的是，这首诗没有最后完成，有些地方还需加工。但是无论如何，我们已经看到一个有共产主义理想又有卓越诗才的第一流诗人出现在英国诗坛之上了。

斗争和对将来共产主义式社会的展望也使他在后期写了两部长篇散文幻想故事，即《约翰·波尔之梦》（1888）和《乌有乡消息》（1891）。它们也是至今有人爱读的优秀作品。

但是不论前后期，有一些东西又是贯穿始终的。莫里斯自称是“梦幻者”，此话并不错，只不过他梦的是一个能够产生真正艺术品的安乐而有创造性的社会。他在牛津上学的时候，受到老师罗斯金的影响，后来又参加了先拉斐尔派的活动，曾经研究十四世纪的教堂建筑，为它们的朴实坚固而又很美的石工所吸引。中古的日常用品也是十分耐用，而在造型上又是十分的美。回头来看十九世纪下半叶的英国，他发现环境恶化了，日常用品质地单薄、造型庸俗，建筑和建筑的内部装饰都表现出低级趣味。他不明白：为什么同样是一个匠人，在十四世纪能创造美的物品，到了十九世纪就不能？在读了马克思的《资本论》之后，莫里斯找到了一个答案，那就是：因为现代工人是雇佣劳动者，受资本家的剥削，劳动只是一种苦役，从中得不到愉快，哪里谈得上尽心去创造美？他提出过一个有名的定义，说“艺术者，人在劳动中的愉快之表现也”（《人民的艺术》，1891）。同时，他认为艺术制成品应对全社会有用，人们在使用中也感到愉快。他也曾想凭几个人的努力去同商业化的工艺制作抗衡，为此组织了一个公司，自己动手来设计和制作墙纸、挂毯、纺织品、家具等等，也得到了成功，但是很快他的图案就为资本家的工厂模仿了，在模仿的过程中又庸俗化了。所以最后他断定了一点，即必须改革整个社会制度，才能有真正的艺术。他追求的是美，而结果找到了社会主义。这是发展，也是连续，前后是一贯的。

而他所谓美，也不是那种娇弱的阴柔之美——尽管他初期诗作里的花月描写也是十分出色的——而是一种北欧勇士式的阳刚之美：高大、英挺、勇敢、坚决，有至死不改的信念，又有动手干实事的本领。

他崇拜十四世纪的汉子、北欧的森林及海边的英雄，都因为他们是这种抗拒命运的不屈者；而到了十九世纪末期，人们似乎都缩小了软弱了，但他仍在斗争的人们——伦敦街头示威的工人、巴黎公社里的战士——当中寻找新一代的英雄。其实，他自己就是这样的一个英雄人物，在外表上也是昂藏六尺的丈夫，美髯公，行动敏捷，目光如炬。他的工作、斗争和人品赢得了萧伯纳那样一个不轻易赞许别人的青年改革家的衷心佩服；十九世纪八十年代后期，萧曾同他一起在伦敦街头游行过；十年以后莫里斯逝世了，萧作了这样的悼词：

一想起莫里斯，我就满心愉快。我同他的交往使我完全满意；如更有所求的话，那就是太不知道感恩了。他虽死犹生；只有你自己死了，才会真正失去他。在此之前，让我们庆幸能有他的存在吧。

王佐良

The Haystack in the Floods

Had she^1 come all the way for this，

To part at last without a kiss？

Yea，had she borne the dirt and rain^2

That^3 her own eyes might see him slain

Beside the haystack in the floods？

Along the dripping leafless woods，

The stirrup^4 touching either shoe，

She rode astride as troopers do；

With kirtle kilted to her knee，5

To which the mud splashed wretchedly；6

And the wet^7 dripped from every tree

Upon her head and heavy hair，

And on her eyelids broad and fair；

The tears and rain ran down her face.

By fits and starts^8 they rode apace，

And very often was his place

Far off from her； he had to ride

Ahead，to see what might betide

When the roads crossed； and sometimes，when

There rose a murmuring from his men，

Had to turn back with promises；

Ah me！ she had but little ease；9

And often for pure doubt and dread

She sobbed，made giddy in the head^10

By the swift riding； while，for cold，11

Her slender fingers scarce could hold^12

The wet reins； yea，and scarcely，too，

She felt the foot within her shoe

Against the stirrup：all for this，13

To part at last without a kiss

Beside the haystack in the floods.

For when they neared that old soaked hay，

They saw across the only way

That Judas，Godmar，and the three.

Red running lions dismally

Grinned from his pennon，14 under which，

In one straight line along the ditch，

They counted thirty heads.

So then，

While Robert turned round to his men，

She saw at once the wretched end，

And，stooping down，tried hard to rend

Her coif the wrong way from her head，15

And hid her eyes； while Robert said：

“ Nay，love，'tis scarcely two to one，16

At Poitiers where we made them run

So fast^17 — why，sweet my love，good cheer，

The Gascon frontier^18 is so near，

Nought after this.”19

But，“O，” she said，

“My God！ my God！ I have to tread

The long way back without you； then

The court at Paris； those six men；20

The gratings of the Chatelet；21

The swift Seine on some rainy day

Like this，and people standing by，

And laughing，while my weak hands try

To recollect how strong men swim.22

All this，or else a life with him，

For which I should be damned at last，

Would God that^23 this next hour were past！”

He answered not，but cried his cry，

“St. George for Marny！”24 cheerily；

And laid his hand upon her rein

Alas！ no man of all his train^25

Gave back that cheery cry again；

And，while for rage his thumb beat fast

Upon his sword-hilts，some one cast

About his neck a kerchief long，

And bound him.

Then they went along

To Godmar； who said：“Now，Jehane，

Your lover's life is on the wane

So fast，that，if this very hour

You yield not as my paramour，26

He will not see the rain leave off^27 —

Nay，keep your tongue from gibe and scoff，

Sir Robert，or I slay you now.”

She laid her hand upon her brow，

Then gazed upon the palm，as though

She thought her forehead bled，and — “No.”

She said，and turned her head away，

As there were nothing else to say，

And everything were settled：red

Grew Godmar's face from chin to head：

“Jehane，on yonder hill there stands

My castle，guarding well my lands：

What hinders me from taking you，

And doing that I list^28 to do

To your fair willful body，29 while

Your knight lies dead？”

A wicked smile

Wrinkled her face，her lips grew thin，

A long way out she thrust her chin：30

“You know that I should strangle you

While you were sleeping； or bite through

Your throat，by God's help — ah！” she said，

“Lord Jesus，pity your poor maid！

For in such wise^31 they hem me in，

I cannot choose but sin and sin，

Whatever happens：yet I think

They could not make me eat or drink，

And so should I just reach my rest.”

“Nay，if you do not my behest，32

O Jehane！ though I love you well，”

Said Godmar，“would I fail to tell

All that I know.” “Foul lies，” she said.

“Eh？ lies my Jehane？ by God's head，33

AtParis folks would deem them true！

Do you know，Jehane，they cry for you，

“Jehane the brown！ Jehane the brown！

Give us Jehane to burn or drown！” —

Eh — gag me Robert！34 — sweet my friend，

This were indeed a piteous end^35

For those long fingers，and long feet，

And long neck，and smooth shoulders sweet；

An end that few men would forget

That saw it — So，an hour yet：

Consider，Jehane，which to take

Of life or death！”

So，scarce^36 awake，

Dismounting，did she leave that place，

And totter some yards：with her face

Turned upward to the sky she lay，

Her head on a wet heap of hay，

And fell asleep：and while she slept，

And did not dream，the minutes crept

Round to the twelve again； but she，

Being waked at last，sighed quietly，

And strangely childlike came，and said：

‘I will not.’ Straightway Godmar's head，

As though it hung on strong wires，37 turned

Most sharply round，and his face burned.

For Robert — both his eyes were dry，

He could not weep，but gloomily

He seemed to watch the rain； yea，too，

His lips were firm； he tried once more

To touch her lips； she reached out，sore

And vain desire so tortured them，

The poor grey lips，andnow the hem

Of his sleeve brushed them.

With a start

Up Godmar rose，thrust them apart；

From Robert's throat he loosed the bands

Of silk and mail；38 with empty hands

Held out，she stood and gazed，and saw，

The long bright blade without a flaw

Glide out from Godmar's sheath，his hand

In Robert's hair； she saw him bend

Back Robert's head； she saw him send

The thin steel down； the blow told well，39

Right backward the knight Robert fell，

And moaned as dogs do，being half dead，born

Unwitting，as I deem：so then

Godmar turned grinning to his men，

Who ran，some five or six，and beat

His head to pieces at their feet.

Then Godmar turn'd again and said：

“So，Jehane，the first fitte^40 is read！

Take note，my lady，that your way

Lies backward to the Chatelet！”

She shook her head and gazed awhile

At her cold hands with a rueful smile，

As though this thing had made her mad.

This was the parting that they had

Beside the haystack in the floods.

【题解】

在英法百年战争中，英军于1356年在普瓦捷（Poitiers）镇大破法军。曾经参战的英国骑士罗伯特·德·玛尼（Robert de Marny）爵士带着为数不多的一支人马，携着情妇琼海娜（Jehane）前往法国境内被英军占领的加斯科涅（Gascony），不期遭到法国歌德玛（Godmar）骑士的伏击。歌德玛企图杀死罗伯特，抓走其情妇。罗伯特手底下的人不愿和法国人交战，将他捆绑起来送交歌德玛。本诗即叙述在这以后发生的情况。

【注释】

1.she：指Jahane.

2.borne the dirt and rain：忍受风雨之苦，风尘仆仆。

3.That：so that.

4.stirrup：马蹬。

5.kirtle kilted to her knee：长袍卷起到膝上； kirtle：a long gown or dress worn by women，女子穿的长袍。按：贵族女子悠闲骑马都是双腿合并，侧坐在马鞍上，故不必卷起裙袍。此处被迫如军士骑马，有伤雅观。

6.To which the mud splashed wretchedly：长袍上溅满了污泥。

7.the wet：雨水。

8.By fits and starts：一阵一阵地，间歇地。

9.Ah me！ she had but little ease：哎！ 她很不自在，很难受。

10.made giddy in the head：因骑得太快而头晕目眩。

11.for cold：因为太冷。

12.scarce could hold：could scarcely hold.

13.all for this：遭受这一切苦楚都是为这个结局。

14.That Judas，Godmar，and the three ... pennon：歌德玛骑士三角旗上绣着三只龇牙咧嘴，奔跑着的红狮子； Judas：出卖耶稣的犹大，坏人。

15.to rend ... head：琼海娜不愿看到罗伯特被杀，因此把头上的帽子拉下来遮住眼睛； rend：扯； 脱帽子应是往上拉，所以把帽子拉下来是rend ... the wrong way from her head； coif：a close-fitting cap tied under the chin，一种戴在头上很紧的帽子。

16.'tis scarcely two to one：这几乎还不到二个对一个。

17.At Poitiers where we made them run ... fast：此话未说完，罗伯特想说，在普瓦捷时，法军兵力五倍于英军，但仍未免于败绩。

18.The Gascon frontier：在英王爱德华三世（Edward III）时，吉耶纳（Guienne）和加斯科涅属英国领土； Gascon是形容词； 加斯科涅原是法国西南部一省。

19.Nought after this：过了这里就平安了。

20.those six men：六位审判官；他们将把她作女巫审判。

21.The gratings of the Chatelet：巴黎沙特莱（Chatelet）监狱的铁格栅；意为将被投入监狱。巴黎的大沙特莱（Grand Chatelet）是当时最可怕的监狱，1802年被拆毁。

22.The swift Seine on some rainy day ... swim：她将被作为女巫审问以后，关进监狱，并且还要被扔在塞纳河中去证明她是不是女巫。如果她被捆住双手以后还能游泳，则证明是女巫； 那她就要被烧死； 只有她沉下去淹死，才能证明她是无辜的。无论如何总难逃一死。

23.Would God that：但愿。

24.St. George for Marny：但愿圣乔治保佑德·玛尼，即保佑罗伯特； 圣乔治是英国的守护神。

25.train：随行人员，随从。

26.paramour：（archaic ） 爱人，现多指情夫或情妇，贬义。

27.He will not see the rain leave off：他就活不到看到雨停的时候了。

28.list：desire，意欲。

29.fair willful body：你这漂亮而固执的身体；willful：obstinately and often perversely self-willed，willful说的是Jehane这个人，不是body，此处显然是调戏她的口吻。

30.A long way out she thrust her chin：伸出下巴，撅着嘴，表示轻蔑。

31.in such wise：in such way.

32.if you do not my behest：如果你不执行我的命令； do not：do not do.

33.by God's head：凭着上帝起誓。

34.gag me Robert：给我掐死罗伯特； Robert是gag的宾语，me是泛指的人称的与格（ethic dative），意为at my bidding； 罗伯特听到歌德玛要杀死琼海娜，因此发出抗议声。歌德玛听到后就插入这一句话。

35.This were indeed a piteous end：虚拟式，这确实是一个可怜的结局。

36.scarce：scarcely.

37.hung on strong wires：（脑袋好像）装在坚硬的金属丝上（所以转起来硬挺挺的，sharply）。

38.mail：盔甲。

39.the blow told well：这一刀真奏效。

40.fitte：section or canto of a poem，长诗的 “章”，此词今已废。

Mine and Thine

Froma Flemish Poem of the Fourteenth Century

Two words about the world we see，

And nought but Mine and Thine they be.1

Ah！ might we drive them forth and wide

With us should rest and peace abide；2

All free，nought owned of goods and gear，

By men and women though it were

Common to all all wheat and wine

Over the seas and up the Rhine.3

No manslayer^4 then the wide world o'er^5

When Mine and Thine are known no more.

Yea，God，well counseled for our health，6

Gave all this fleeting earthly wealth^7

A common heritage to all，

That men might feed them therewithal，8

And clothe their limbs and shoe^9 their feet

And live a simple life and sweet.10

But now so rageth greediness^11

That each desireth^12 nothing less

Than all the world，and all his own，

And all for him and him alone.

【题解】

副标题：From a Flemish Poem of the Fourteenth Century：Flemish：of，relating to，or characteristic of Flanders or the Flemings or their language. Flanders是位于现今比利时及邻近的法国和荷兰部分地区的一个中世纪古国；Fleming是比利时北部和法国北部一小部分地区的一支日耳曼民族。这首十四世纪的诗揭示了对私有财富的贪婪和占有欲望造成了谋财害命等许多社会问题，反映了莫里斯的社会主义思想。

【注释】

1.nought but Mine and Thine they be：这两个字无非是 “我的” 和 “你的”； nought：nothing，亦可拼写为naught； Thine：（archaic ） yours.

2.might we drive them forth and wide ... abide：if we might drive them forth and wide，rest and peace should abide with us，如果我们能驱散这两个字，那么宁静和和平就会久驻人间。

3.All free，nought owned of goods and gear ... Rhine：All free，and nought of goods and gear owned by men and women，thought it were common to all — all wheat and wine over the seas and up the Rhine； goods and gear：泛指一切财物，家当； gear：goods，paraphernalia，clothing，尤指生活中常用的一整套设备和器具等，有点类似于“坛坛罐罐”；the Rhine：莱茵河； 佛兰芒人生活在莱茵河一带。

4.manslayer：杀人者。

5.o'er：over.

6.well counseled for our health：对我们的健康情况了解的非常清楚，即人不可能长生； counseled：warned.

7.this fleeting earthly wealth：意为人间财富如浮云。

8.therewithal：with that.

9.shoe：给……穿上鞋。

10.a simple life and sweet：a simple and sweet life.

11.so rageth greediness：greediness rageth so，贪婪之心肆虐； rageth：rages.

12.desireth：desires.

FromThe Earthly Paradise：An Apology

Of Heaven or Hell I have no power to sing，

I cannot ease the burden of your fears，

Or make quick-coming death a little thing，1

Or bring again the pleasure of past years，

Nor for my words shall ye^2 forget your tears，

Or hope again for aught^3 that I can say，

The idle singer of an empty day.4

But rather，when aweary of your mirth，5

From full hearts^6 still unsatisfied ye sigh，

And，feeling kindly unto all the earth，

Grudge every minute as it passes by，7

Made the more mindful^8 that the sweet days die —

— Remember me a little then I pray，

The idle singer of an empty day.

The heavy trouble，the bewildering care

That weighs us down who live and earn our bread，

These idle verses have no power to bear；9

So let me sing of names remembered，

Because they，living not，can ne'er^10 be dead，

Or long time take their memory quite away

From us poor singers of an empty day.

Dreamer of dreams，born out of my due time，11

Why should I strive to set the crooked straight？12

Let it suffice me that my murmuring rhyme

Beats with light wing against the ivory gate，13

Telling a tale not too importunate

To those who in the sleepy region stay，

Lulled by the singer of an empty day.

Folk say，a wizard to a northern king

At Christmas-tide such wondrous things did show，14

That through one window men beheld the spring，

And through another saw the summer glow，

And through a third the fruited vines a-row，15

While still，unheard，but in its wonted way，

Piped the drear wind of that December day.

So with this Earthly Paradise it is，

If ye will read aright，16 and pardon me，

Who strive to build a shadowy isle of bliss

Midmost the beating of the steely sea，17

Where tossed about all hearts of men must be；18

Whose ravening monsters mighty men shall slay，19

Not the poor singer of an empty day.

【题解】

《地上的天堂》是史诗般的长诗集，其结构似乔叟的《坎特布雷故事集》，松散地由一些独立的故事组成。其主题是一些中世纪的浪游者外出寻找长生不老之地，经过一番周折和失望之后，他们发现了幸存下来的一批希腊人的殖民地，彼此讲述故事。这里所选的An Apology 是这部诗集的开首部分。莫里斯歉意地承认，作为诗人他的作用是有限的，无法减轻人们的痛苦或带来希望，但是，他可以像传说中的觋师（wizard）在圣诞节期间同时展示春夏秋冬的奇观那样，为读者建立一个影子至福岛。这部诗集里讲述的故事大都是源于北欧和日耳曼民族的民间传说，用当代口语，娓娓道来，间或用一些古旧的词语，增加古朴的效果。这部诗集发表之后，莫里斯名声大振。

【注释】

1.make quick-coming death a little thing：把很快来临的死亡看成小事一桩。

2.ye：you.

3.aught：anything.

4.The idle singer of an empty day：上行I can say中 “I” 的同位语。

5.aweary of your mirth：厌倦了你的欢乐。

6.full hearts：激动兴奋。

7.Grudge every minute as it passes by：不愿让每一分钟过去。

8.Made the more mindful：被提醒更加注意。

9.The heavy trouble，the bewildering care ... bear：These idle verses have no power to bear the heavy trouble etc.

10.ne'er：never.

11.born out of my due time：生不逢时。

12.Why should I strive to set the crooked straight：1856年，莫里斯在大学读书时，在一封信中说：“我对从事政治社会课题的探讨实无兴趣，因为总的说来我发现事情搞得一团糟。我没有力量或义务来哪怕稍稍地纠正一下这种局面。我做的只是以某种形式来体现梦想。”（I can't enter into politico-social subjects with any interest，for on the whole I see that things are in a muddle，and I have no power or vocation to set them right ever so little a degree. My work is the embodiment of dreams in one form or another.）

13.Let it suffice me that my murmuring rhyme ... gate：我只愿这低吟的诗歌鼓起轻盈的翅膀，拍打象牙之门。按：在睡梦之神莫菲斯（Morpheus）的洞口，有两扇门，通过兽角之门 （gate of horn） 出来的是预言之梦，通过象牙之门 （the ivory gate）出来的是虚构之梦。

14.Folk say，a wizard to a northern king ... show：folk say a wizard did show such wondrous things at Christmastide to a northern king； folk say：or folks say； wizard：男巫，觋；Christmas-tide：圣诞节节期（12月24日至1月6日）。

15.a-row：in a row，一串串（葡萄）。

16.aright：in a right way，rightly.

17.Midmost the beating of the steely sea：在大海猛烈如钢铁的冲击中；Midmost：innermost，in the very middle of； steely sea：形容大海波浪之汹涌。

18.Where tossed about all hearts of men must be：where all hearts of men must be tossed about.

19.Whose ravening monsters mighty men shall slay：whose ravening monsters shall slay mighty men； ravening monsters：大海里贪吃的魔鬼。

FromCHANTS FOR SOCIALISTS

The Voice of Toil

I heard men saying，Leave hope and praying，1

All days shall be as all have been；2

To-day and to-morrow bring fear and sorrow，

The never-ending toil between.3

When Earth was younger mid toil and hunger，4

In hope we strove，and our hands were strong；

Then great men led us，with words they fed us，5

And bade us right the earthly wrong.6

Go read in story their deeds and glory，

Their names amidst the nameless dead；

Turn then from lying to us slow-dying

In that good world to which they led；7

Where fast and faster our iron master，8

The thing we made，9 for ever drives，

Bids us grind treasure and fashion pleasure

For other hopes and other lives.10

Where home is a hovel^11 and dull we grovel，

Forgetting that the world is fair；

Where no babe we cherish，lest its very soul perish；

Where mirth is crime，and love a snare.

Who now shall lead us，what God shall heed us

As we lie in the hell our hands have won？12

For us are no rulers but fools and befoolers，

The great are fallen，the wise men gone.

I heard men saying，Leave tears and praying，

The sharp knife heedeth not the sheep；13

Are we not stronger than the rich and the wronger，14

When day breaks over dreams and sleep？

Come，shoulder to shoulder ere^15 the world grows older！

Help lies in nought^16 but thee and me；

Hope is before us，the long years that bore us

Bore leaders more than men may be.

Let dead hearts tarry and trade and marry，

And trembling nurse their dreams of mirth，

While we the living our lives are giving

To bring the bright new world to birth.

Come，shoulder to shoulder ere Earth grows older！

The Cause spreads over land and sea；

Now the world shaketh，and fear awaketh，17

And joy at last for thee and me.

【题解】

选自《社会主义者之歌》（Chants for Socialists ） 第二章。作为一个社会主义者，莫里斯希望受压迫的人们不要寄希望于祈祷，也不要等待伟人来指引大家，而应该并肩作战，创造一个新的世界。

【注释】

1.Leave hope and praying：不要去希望和祈祷。

2.All days shall be as all have been：岁月将一仍其故，不会改变；shall：表示说话者的看法。

3.The never-ending toil between：每天都有无穷尽的劳役； between：in between，一天和一天之间。

4.When Earth was younger mid toil and hunger：意为在很久以前，在人类历史的最初阶段； mid：amid.

5.with words they fed us：用语言来鼓动我们。

6.right the earthly wrong：矫正人间的不平。

7.Turn then from lying to us slow-dying ... led：从死者那儿转过身来看看我们，我们正在他们引导的那个美好世界中慢慢死去。意为从前的伟大人物指引的、我们奋力争取的、无非就是今天这样的世界，还在希望什么呢？

8.iron master：残忍的老爷，铁血老爷，统治者。

9.The thing we made：our iron master的同位语；铁血老爷也是我们造就的。

10.Bids us grind treasure and fashion pleasure ... lives：命令我们为别人的希望和生活去创造财富和享乐的生活； grind treasure：以苦力挖掘宝藏。

11.hovel：陋室。

12.we lie in the hell our hands have won：我们躺在自己赢得的地狱里；自作自受。

13.The sharp knife heedeth not the sheep：尖刀并不理会羊群的眼泪和祷告。

14.wronger：肆虐者，做坏事的人。

15.ere：（archaic ）before.

16.nought：nothing.

17.shaketh：shakes； awaketh：awakes.

No Master

Air：“The Hardy Norseman”

Saith man to man，1 we've heard and known

That we no master need

To live upon this earth，our own，

In fair and manly deed.2

The grief of slaves long passed away

For us hath forged the chain，3

Till now each worker's patient day

Builds up the House of Pain.4

And we，shall we too，crouch and quail，5

Ashamed，afraid of strife，

And lest our lives untimely fail

Embrace the Death in Life？

Nay，6 cry aloud，and have no fear，

We few against the world；

Awake，arise！ the hope we bear

Against the curse is hurled.7

It grows and grows^8 — are we the same，

The feeble band，the few？

Or what are these with eyes aflame，

And hands to deal and do？

This is the host that bears the word，

NO MASTER HIGH OR LOW —

A lightning flame，a shearing sword，9

A storm to overthrow.

【题解】

题目：Air：主调，曲调； The Hardy Norseman 是曲调名。Norseman是古代斯堪的纳维亚人，以强悍著称。这首诗选自《社会主义者之歌》（Chants for Socialist ）第三章。

【注释】

1.Saith man to man：人们彼此之间这么说；Saith：（archaic ） says.

2.In fair and manly deed：堂堂正正地、中规中矩地处事。

3.The grief of slaves long passed away ... chain：此句意为我们和过去的奴隶一样，宁可忍受苦难，也不敢起来反抗； hath：has.

4.Builds up the House of Pain：本诗中用了一些大写字或词语，起强调作用。

5.crouch and quail：卑躬屈膝，畏惧退缩； crouch：to bend or bow servilely，cringe； quail：to recoil in dread or terror，cower.

6.Nay：no.

7.the hope we bear ... hurled：我们将希望来对抗诅咒。

8.It grows and grows：希望越来越大； It：指希望。

9.a shearing sword：锋利之剑。

A Death Song

What cometh here from west to east a-wending？1

And who are these，the marchers stern and slow？

We bear the message that the rich are sending

Aback^2 to those who bade them wake and know.

Not one，not one，nor thousands must they slay，

But one and all if they would dusk the day.3

We asked them for a life of toilsome earning，4

They bade us bide their leisure for our bread；5

We craved to speak to tell our woeful learning；6

We come back speechless，bearing back our dead.

Not one，not one，nor thousands must they slay，

But one and all if they would dusk the day.

They will not learn； they have no ears to hearken.7

They turn their faces from the eyes of fate；8

Their gay-lit halls shut out the skies that darken.

But，lo！ this dead man knocking at the gate.

Not one，not one，nor thousands must they slay，

But one and all if they would dusk the day.

Here lies the sign that we shall break our prison；

Amidst the storm he won a prisoner's rest；

But in the cloudy dawn the sun arisen

Brings us our day of work to win the best.

Not one，not one，nor thousands must they slay，

But one and all if they would dusk the day.

【题解】

选自《社会主义者之歌》（Chants for Socialists ） 第七章。1887年，莫里斯参加了社会主义者的游行，他的朋友Alfred Linnell 被警察打伤致死。莫里斯把此诗印成小册子，为死者的家属筹款。

【注释】

1.cometh：comes； a-wending：a-表示动作在进行之中。

2.Aback：（archaic ） backward，back.

3.But one and all if they would dusk the day：如果他们想搞得天昏地暗，那就把所有的人都杀掉。

4.We asked them for a life of toilsome earning：我们要求的生活，无非是通过辛勤劳动能有所得。

5.They bade us bide their leisure for our bread：他们命令我们，要想得到面包，就得供他们享乐； bade us bide：bade us to bide； bide：to tolerate，put up with.

6.to tell our woeful learning：承上文，讲述我们悲惨的经历，弄明白的道理。

7.They will not learn； they have no ears to hearken：他们不想知道我们的意思；他们也不想听。此处learn和hearken的宾语即Not one，not one，nor thousands ... dusk the day； hearken：to listen，to give respectful attention.

8.They turn their faces from the eyes of the fate：他们拒绝正视死神的双眼，即无视我们的呼声，对他们将有灾难； fate：disaster，death.

FromTHE PILGRIMS OF HOPE

From 10. Ready to Depart

Thus passed day after day，

And grieved I grew，and I pondered：till at last one eve we sat

In the fire-lit room together，and talked of this and that，

But chiefly indeed of the war and what would come of it；

For Paris drew near to its fall，and wild hopes 'gan to flit^1

Amidst us Communist folk； and we talked of what might be done

When the Germans had gone their ways^2 and the two^3 were left alone，

Betrayers and betrayed in war-worn wasted France.

As folk in a dream we washed and we ate，and in all detail，

Oft told and in many a fashion，did we have all yesterday's tale：

How while we were threading our tangle of trouble in London there，

And I for my part，let me say it，within but a step of despair.

From 11. A Glimpse of the Coming Day

In Paris the day of days had betid；4 for the vile dwarf's stroke，

To madden Paris and crush her，5 had been struck and the dull sword broke；

There was now no foe and no fool in the city，and Paris was free；

And e'en as she is this morning，to-morrow all France will be.

We heard，and our hearts were saying，“In a little while all the earth —”

And that day at last of all days I knew what life was worth；

For I saw what few have beheld，a folk^6 with all hearts gay.

Then at last I knew indeed that our word of the coming day，

That so oft^7 in grief and in sorrow I had preached，and scarcely knew

If it was but despair of the present or the hope of the day that was due —

I say that I saw it now，real，solid and at hand.

*　*　*　*　*

Yea，fair were those hours indeed，whatever hereafter might come，

And they swept over all my sorrow，and all thought of my wildered home.

But not for dreams of rejoicing had we come across the sea：

That day we delivered the letters that our friends had given to me，

And we craved for some work for the cause. And what work was thereindeed，

But to learn the business of battle and the manner of dying at need？

We three could think of none other，and we wrought^8 our best therein；

And both of us made a shift the sergeant's stripes to win，9

For diligent were we indeed：and he，as in all he did，

Showed a cheerful ready talent that nowise^10 might be hid，

And yet hurt the pride of no man that he needs must step before.11

But as for my wife，the brancard 12 of the ambulance-women she wore，

And gently and bravely would serve us； and to all as a sister to be —

A sister amidst of the strangers—and，alas！ a sister to me.

【题解】

《希望的香客》（The Pilgrims of Hope ） 是描写巴黎公社斗争的长诗，共有13章。此处几节选自第10章 Ready to Depart 和第11章 A Glimpse of the Coming Day，叙述一对英国夫妇和他们的朋友听到起义消息之后，奔赴法国，投入战斗的情况。

【注释】

1.'gan：began； flit：to move in an erratic fluttering manner，闪动。

2.the Germans had gone their ways：德国人已经自谋出路了。德国人先是战败了法国，后又配合梯也尔镇压巴黎公社。

3.the two：即betrayers and betrayed.

4.betid：betide，降临；（past participle ） bid，to happen especially as if by fate.

5.the vile dwarf's stroke ... her：那个邪恶的侏儒重拳出击，企图逼疯和摧毁巴黎。按：the vile dwarf：“邪恶的侏儒” 指梯也尔（Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers，1797—1877），法国政客、历史学家，在法国路易-菲力普国王统治时期担任总理。第二帝国被推翻之后，他在法国政治舞台上掌握了大权，作为临时政府首脑，镇压了巴黎公社。马克思在《法兰西内战》中如此评论梯也尔：“梯也尔这个侏儒怪物，将近半个世纪以来一直受法国资产阶级的倾心崇拜，因为他是这个资产阶级的阶级腐败的最完备的思想代表。还在他成为国家要人之前，他作为一个历史学家就已经显露出说谎才能了。他的政治生涯的记录就是一部法国灾难史。” （《马克思恩格斯选集》第三卷，人民出版社，1996年第二版，第37页）

6.a folk：一个民族。

7.oft：often.

8.wrought：worked.

9.made a shift the sergeant's stripes to win：尽力设法当上中士；stripes：军队制服表示等级的条纹。

10.nowise：not at all.

11.he needs must step before：他不得不超越别人； needs：necessarily，必须； needs must 或must needs两种形式都可以。

12.brancard ：臂章。

ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE

阿尔杰农·查尔斯·斯温伯恩

（1837—1909）

【作者与作品简介】

斯温伯恩是诗人兼评论家，出身名门，曾在伊顿公学和牛津大学巴利奥学院受教育，1860年未获学位即离校。他年轻时思想相当激进，无论在宗教、政治和个人行为等方面都表现出明显的叛逆精神。

他的诗技巧成熟、色彩丰富、音韵优美。在遣词造句上，有时他不是根据意思上的需要，而是按照韵律上的需要来确定的。

他的主要作品有著名诗剧《阿塔兰忒在卡吕登》（1865）、关于苏格兰玛丽女王的三部曲、《日出前的歌》以及《诗与谣》等。

黄杲炘

FromAtalanta in Calydon

Chorus：When the Hounds of Spring Are on Winter's Traces

When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces，

The mother of months^1 in meadow or plain

Fills the shadows and windy places

With lisp of leaves^2 and ripple of rain；

And the brown bright nightingale^3 amorous

Is half assuaged for Itylus，4

For the Thracian ships^5 and the foreign faces，

The tongueless vigil，and all the pain.

Come with bows bent and with emptying of quivers，6

Maiden^7 most perfect，lady of light，

With a noise of winds and many rivers，

With a clamour of waters，and with might；

Bind on thy sandals，O thou most fleet，

Over the splendour and speed of thy feet；

For the faint east quickens，the wan west shivers，

Round the feet of the day and the feet of the night.

Where shall we find her，how shall we sing to her，

Fold our hands round her knees，and cling？

O that man's heart were as fire and could spring to her，8

Fire，or the strength of the streams that spring！

For the stars and the winds are unto her

As raiment，9 as songs of the harp-player；

For the risen stars and the fallen cling to her，

And the southwest-wind and the west-wind sing.

For winter's rains and ruins are over，

And all the season of snows and sins；

The days dividing lover and lover，

The light that loses，the night that wins；

And time remembered is grief forgotten，

And frosts are slain^10 and flowers begotten，

And in green underwood and cover^11

Blossom by blossom the spring begins.

The full streams feed on flower of rushes，12

Ripe grasses trammel a travelling foot，13

The faint fresh flame of the young year flushes

From leaf to flower and flower to fruit；14

And fruit and leaf are as gold and fire，

And the oat is heard above the lyre，15

And the hoofèd heel of a satyr^16 crushes

The chestnut-husk at the chestnut-root.

And Pan by noon and Bacchus^17 by night，

Fleeter of foot^18 than the fleet-foot kid，

Follows with dancing and fills with delight

The Mænad and the Bassarid；19

And soft as lips that laugh and hide

The laughing leaves of the trees divide，

And screen from seeing and leave in sight

The god pursuing，the maiden hid.

The ivy falls with the Bacchanal's hair^20

Over her eyebrows hiding her eyes；

The wild vine slipping down leaves bare

Her bright breast shortening into sigh；

The wild vine slips with the weight of its leaves，

But the berried ivy catches and cleaves

To the limbs that glitter，the feet that scare

The wolf that follows，the fawn that flies.

【题解】

题目：斯温伯恩的悲剧《阿塔兰忒在卡吕登》以这一首合唱曲揭开序幕。此曲致月亮神和狩猎女神阿耳特弥斯（Artemis），即罗马神话中的狄安娜（Diana）。

【注释】

1.The mother of months：月神影响季节变化，故称“月份之母”。

2.lisp of leaves：树叶的沙沙声。

3.And the brown bright nightingale：菲洛米拉（Philomela）被姐姐普洛克涅（Procne）之夫蒂留斯（Tereus）奸污，并被割去舌头，但是她设法把发生的事情编织在衣服上送给姐姐。普洛克涅闻之大怒，当即杀死儿子伊梯斯（Itylus），把他的肉给丈夫蒂留斯吃。之后，姐妹俩逃跑，蒂留斯穷追不舍。快被追上时，姐妹俩祈求神把她们变成飞鸟。于是菲洛米拉化成夜莺，其姐化为燕子。一说菲洛米拉变为燕子，普洛克涅变为夜莺。索福克勒斯的悲剧《蒂留斯进餐》（今存残篇）即以此故事为基础。奥维德的《变形记》亦有此故事。

4.Is half assuaged for Itylus：这时，夜莺因伊梯斯之死的痛苦略有减轻。

5.the Thracian ships：色雷斯国王的船队。蒂留斯是色雷斯国王。

6.quivers：箭筒。

7.Maiden：指月亮和狩猎神阿耳特弥斯。她是贞操的守护神。

8.O that man's heart were as fire and could spring to her：呵，但愿人心似火，能跳跃到她身边！

9.raiment：（总称）衣服。星星无论是升是落，始终紧紧围绕月亮，故如衣服。

10.frosts are slain：霜已消融。

11.cover：覆盖地面的草木。

12.The full streams feed on flower of rushes：灯心草长在沼泽潮湿之地，小溪在草丛中流过，如饮花蜜，潺潺而流。

13.trammel a travelling foot：百草繁盛，使人行路艰难。

14.The faint fresh flame of the young years flushes ... fruit：注意此两行押头韵，以连续出现“f”音表现了新春欣欣向荣的景象，展现出如火如荼的新生。

15.the oat：用燕麦秆做的风笛。above the lyre：风笛音调音高，故能盖过里拉（古希腊一种七弦琴）的声音。

16.satyr：（希腊神话）森林之神萨梯里。其表征物是酒神手杖、风笛、毛皮或酒杯。其形象是半人半羊，长着山羊耳、蹄（hooféd heel），山羊尾巴，披散着头发。性好欢娱，耽于淫欲，常在森林里游逛。

17.Pan：潘，希腊神话中的森林之神和蛇神，天性快乐，吹奏自己发明的笛子。Bacchus：希腊神话中的酒神巴科斯，又名狄俄倪索斯（Dionysus）。祭祀巴科斯的游行是有许多女神参加的狂欢活动。

18.Fleeter of foot：走得比……更快。

19.Mænad：巴科斯的女祭司。Bassarid：巴萨里得，亦是巴科斯的女祭司。

20.The ivy falls with the Bacchanal's hair：参加祭祀巴科斯游行的狂女（Bacchanal）头戴着春藤冠，所以说长春藤和她的头发一起披下来。

THOMAS HARDY

托马斯·哈代

（1840—1928）

【作者与作品简介】

哈代是大小说家，其名因《苔丝》与《卡斯特桥市长》等作品制成影片而愈彰；中国读者容易忽略的是，他也是一个诗人，而且是一个大诗人。

诗是他最初的文学试笔，等到后来他的小说受到社会上正人君子的非议，他又愤而掉转笔头，重新写起诗来。这一写也就丰富了英国诗史。他完成了一部大作品，即历史诗剧《群王》（1904—1908），长达十九幕一百三十场，把拿破仑从1805年计划入侵英国到1815年战败于滑铁卢的欧洲历史都包括在内。此外，他写了几百首抒情诗。

我们在这里选了他的抒情诗十首。除了第三首和最后两首，都是情诗，所咏的对象是他的前妻埃玛，是悼亡之作，但与一般悼亡之作不同，没有美化死者，而是如实写出，当初如何地爱，后来又怎样让时间冲蚀了感情，到末了则更是眷恋。这一种讲真话的态度，和对过往的时与地的深思，都是哈代的特点。他的感情极为真挚深厚，诗中无滥调，也无丽词，而是用乡下人本质的语言，有时掺加几个僻词，甚至自造的词，但决不走浮艳的路，读起来反而使人低徊不已。

第九首《写在“万国破裂”时》用乡间常见的形象——老马耕地，茅根起火，少女恋爱——来同战争对照，表明屠杀瞬将消失，而人生却是永恒的。诗只三节，每节只一个中心形象，语言极为简洁，只到最后两行才略点题——写得何等朴素，又何等深刻！

最后一首《身后》是中外诗歌中罕见之作。对死亡感兴趣的诗人多矣，种种抽象的玄思表达了不少，唯有哈代写得如此实在，用邻居们的几句闲谈来写出对死者的淡淡的然而真挚的怀念，而不是议论声名不朽、灵魂不灭之类的大题目。这样实实在在的悬想身后之事，看似平常，意极清新，道人所未道，开辟了英国诗的新意境。

哈代的诗还有一个特点，即形式上的完整，往往每节起句或末句相同，造成一种回旋式的前后呼应，在听觉上有音乐美，在视觉上有建筑美。

以上这些特点使得哈代突出于二十世纪初年的英国诗坛。他比当时的后浪漫派要朴素、深刻，而他的土生土长的气质和英国传统的艺术手法又使他截然不同于当时正在风靡西方世界的现代派诗人如艾略特。事实上，后者是攻击哈代所作的，而且颇有附和者。然而时间是公正的评判者。到了今天，人们越来越多地看出哈代诗作的内在优点，而艾略特等人炫奇的手法则已过时，以致有的论者认为现代主义诗歌只是一种旁支，哈代才代表了英国诗歌的主流。

王佐良

A Broken Appointment

You did not come，

And marching Time drew on，and wore me numb，1—

Yet less for loss of your dear presence there

Than that I thus found lacking in your make

That high compassion which can overbear

Reluctance for pure lovingkindness' sake

Grieved I，2 when，as the hope-hour stroked its sum，3

You did not come.

You love not me，

And love alone can lend you loyalty；4

— I know and knew it. But，unto the store

Of human deeds divine in all but name，5

Was it not worth a little hour or more

To add yet this：Once you，a woman，came

To soothe a time-torn man；6 even though it be

You love not me？7

【题解】

《失约》表达了受到冷遇一方的反应和态度。诗人认为只有爱情才能使人忠诚，但人世间并不需要勉强的爱情，更重要的是善意和同情心。应该在务实而非虚名的人类神圣的善行宝库，增加同情和关爱。

【注释】

1.marching Time drew on，and wore me numb：时光流逝，使我变得麻木不仁。

2.Yet less for loss of your dear presence there ... I：Yet I grieved less for loss of your dear presence，etc. 我伤心的与其说是不见你的影踪，到不如说是你根本就没有一点怜悯，因而不会出于纯粹的善意去克服你那勉强的心情； make：作名词，性格，品性。

3.the hope-hour stroked its sum：希望之钟敲完了钟声，即一切都已结束。

4.love alone can lend you loyalty：只有爱情能赋予你忠诚。

5.unto the store ... name：在务实而非虚名的人类神圣善行的宝库里。

6.a time-torn man：饱经风霜之人。

7.even though it be ... me：even though it is that you do not love me； though：后面引起虚拟式。

The Self-Unseeing

Here is the ancient floor，1

Footworn and hollowed and thin，2

Here was the former door

Where the dead feet walked in.3

She sat here in her chair，

Smiling into the fire；4

He who played stood there，

Bowing it higher and higher.5

Childlike，I danced in a dream；6

Blessings emblazoned that day；7

Everything glowed with a gleam；

Yet we were looking away！

【题解】

《不见自我》收入哈代在1902年出版的第二部诗集《今昔诗歌集》（Poems of the Past and the Present ），其主题是关于“过去”和“现在”。诗人在父亲去世后不久，重访故居，回忆起自己童年时期生活中的一幕一景：当时他的父亲拉琴，母亲微笑着欣赏美妙的音乐，壁炉中炉火熊熊，一派天伦之乐的景象，令他无限感慨。诗人在最后一节中遗憾地坦露，当年他们这些孩子都心不在焉，似乎不以为然。

【注释】

1.Here is the ancient floor：哈代不写旧居的外表，直入室内，干净利落，因为往事发生在室内；首先感觉到的是地板，为第三节写到在地板上跳舞作铺垫。

2.Footworn and hollowed and thin：踩踏磨损的地板，下陷，变薄。

3.Where the dead feet walked in：此句说明父亲已经离开人世。

4.She sat here in her chair ... fire：写哈代母亲坐在壁炉边，欣赏他父亲拉琴。哈代父母婚后最初几年，经常这样度过傍晚。

5.Bowing it higher and higher：琴声拉得越来越高；bow：to play a stringed musical instrument with a bow，用弓拉出曲调。

6.Childlike，I danced in a dream：父亲拉琴，哈代跳舞，天真烂漫，犹如梦中。按：注意此句不是说他在梦中跳舞。保罗·特纳（Paul Turner）在 The Life of Thomas Hardy一书中谈到，他们一家经常在晚上同乐，哈代父亲拉各种曲子，哈代则随曲独舞，且深有感悟：He was of ecstatic temperament，extraordinarily sensitive to music，and among the endless jig，hornpipes，reels，waltzes and country-dances that his father played of an evening in his early married years，and to which the boy danced a pas seulin the middle of he room，there were three or four that always moved the child to tears，though he strenuously tried to hide them .... He was not over four years of age at this date. （ page. 15）

7.Blessings emblazoned that day：那天充满了幸福；emblazon：to celebrate，extol.

In Tenebris

Wintertime nighs；1

But my bereavement-pain^2

It cannot bring again：

Twice no one dies.3

Flower-petals flee；

But since it once hath been，

No more that severing scene^4

Can harrow^5 me.

Birds faint in dread：

I shall not lose old strength

In the lone frost's black length：6

Strength long since fled！

Leaves freeze to dun；7

But friends cannot turn cold^8

This season as of old

For him with none.9

Tempests may scath；10

But love cannot make smart^11

Again this year his heart

Who no heart hath.12

Black is night's cope；13

But death will not appal

One，who past doubtings all，14

Waits in unhope.15

【题解】

此诗另有副标题 “Percussus sum sicut foenum，et aruit cor meum.” 语出《旧约·诗篇》（Psalm ）102：4：My heart is smitten and withered like grass．（我的心被伤，如草枯干。）诗人结合各种自然现象来谈人对失去自己珍视的至爱至情的感受，感叹物之不能再现，情之不能再生。

【注释】

题目：In Tenebris：（Latin ） In darkness，In shadows.

1.nighs：（archaic ）作动词，approaches，draws near，接近，到来。

2.bereavement-pain：失去亲人之痛苦。

3.Twice no one dies：no one dies twice，没人会死两次，故不会再经历一次失去亲人的痛苦。

4.severing scene：花瓣和花茎分离，象征别离的情景。

5.harrow：折磨。

6.In the lone frost's black length：在孤寂黑暗的漫长霜冻时期。

7.Leaves freeze to dun：树叶冰冻成暗褐色； dun：dark brownish-grey.

8.turn cold：变得冷淡。

9.For him with none：对没有朋友的人来说。

10.scath：scathe，损害，破坏。

11.make smart：使（他的心）刺痛； make的宾语为his heart。

12.Who no heart hath：who hath no heart.

13.night's cope：夜幕； cope：garment covering from head to foot.

14.past doubtings all：无所疑虑，无所恐惧。

15.unhope：前缀un- 加名词或动词组成的词一般都作动词，此处显然是名词。

Shut out that Moon

Close up the casement，1 draw the blind，2

Shut out that stealing^3 moon，

She wears too much the guise^4 she wore

Before our lutes were strewn

With years-deep dust，5 and names we read

On a white stone were hewn.6

Step not forth^7 on the dew-dashed lawn^8

To view the Lady's Chair，9

Immense Orion's^10 glittering form，

The Less and Greater Bear；11

Stay in； to such sights we were drawn

When faded ones were fair.12

Brush not the bough for midnight scent^13

That come forth lingeringly，14

And wake the same sweet sentiments

They breathed to you and me

When living seemed a laugh，a love

All it was said to be.15

Within the common lamp-lit room

Prison my eyes and thought；16

Let dingy details crudely loom，17

Mechanic speech be wrought：18

Too fragrant was Life's early bloom，

Too tart the fruit it brought！19

【题解】

哈代在这首诗里探讨的是时间和变迁。月光是跨越时代的永恒的力量，记录着过往的一切，能勾起人们幸福和痛苦相互交杂的回忆。在这首诗中，哈代似乎在对其已故夫人诉说。哈代和第一任妻子艾玛·拉维尼亚·吉福特（Emma Lavinia Gifford）在1874年结婚，直至1912年艾玛去世，长达38年，虽然他们俩并不幸福，但不无令哈代梦系魂绕的经历。诗的情调是忧伤的，阻挡月光入室，因为往事不堪回首。

【注释】

1.casement：a window sash that opens on hinges at the side； also：a window with such a sash，窗框，窗户。在英国的诗歌中，casement一词具有特殊的浪漫情调。参见本书所选约翰·济慈（John Keats）的诗《夜莺颂》（Ode to a Nightingale ）：The same that oft-times hath / Charmed magic casements，opening on the foam of perilous seas，in faery lands forlorn.

2.draw the blind：拉上窗帘，特别是指百叶窗的遮光片。

3.stealing：喻月光泻进室内；不让月光进入室内是因为她勾起了诗人对往事的回忆。

4.guise：（archaic ） 衣服，服饰。

5.our lutes were strewn ... dust：鲁特琴上布满了多年积聚的灰尘； lute：十四至十七世纪时流行的一种弹拨乐器，因为中世纪吟游诗人和民歌手常用来吟唱浪漫歌曲，故象征爱情的倾诉。此句言月光如故，而鲁特琴已经多年无人弹拨。

6.On a white stone were hewn：（名字）镌刻在基碑上，当时这些墓碑上还没有刻上现已去世的家人的名字； stone：tomb-stone.

7.Step not forth：do not step out，别走出去。

8.dew-dashed lawn：白露沾湿的草地。

9.Lady's Chair：仙后座 （Cassiopeia）有几颗亮星组成椅状，故名。

10.Orion：猎户座，四颗最亮的星，列成长方形，如人站立状，腰间有小星，状如腰带，带上挂短剑，故称immense glittering form。

11.The Less and Greater Bear：小熊座和大熊座；The Less：the Lesser Bear.

12.to such sights we were drawn ... fair：这两行指出不要走到室外去的原因，因为这将勾起当年一起观看天上星座的回忆，当时的美颜已经衰颓 （when faded ones were fair）。

13.Brush not the bough for midnight scent：不要拨动树枝去感受午夜的芬芳。

14.That come forth lingeringly：（午夜的芬芳） 悠悠荡荡，弥散在空气中。

15.When living seemed a laugh，a love ... be：当初生活似乎是那样轻松自如，而爱情也就是如此而已；a laugh：lightheartedness，轻松自如，无忧无虑； a love All it was said to be：a love seemed All it was etc..

16. Within the common lamp-lit room ... thought：排斥月光，而让自己的眼睛和思想幽禁在烛光照亮的室内；Prison：（poetic ） to shut in prison，enclose，监禁 （诗歌用语）。

17.Let dingy details crudely loom：让室内家具的雕琢和形状模糊呈现出来； details：指家具的雕琢细节； crudely loom：因灯光暗淡而模模糊糊地显现出来。

18.Mechanic speech be wrought：精工雕制工艺品； speech：喻工艺品表现出制作者的风格，这里指具体的工艺品，故用wrought； wrought：worked. 这两行说明诗人只愿关注眼前的琐碎之物，以便忘却过去。

19.Too fragrant was Life's early bloom ... brought：生活的青春之花弥香，尔后结果，其味弥苦；tart：acid，sharp-tasted，辛酸，辛辣。往事不堪回首，点出不让月光入室的主题。

After the Visit

Come again to the place

Where your presence was as a leaf that skims

Down a drouthy way^1 whose ascent bedims

The bloom on the farer's face.2

Come again，with the feet

That were light on the green as a thistledown ball，3

And those mute ministrations to one and to all^4

Beyond a man's saying sweet.

Until then the faint scent

Of the bordering flowers^5 swam unheeded away，6

And I marked not the charm in the changes of day

As the cloud-colours^7 came and went.

Through the dark corridors^8

Your walk was so soundless I did not know

Your form from a phantom's^9 of long ago

Said to pass on the ancient floors，10

Till you drew from the shade，11

And I saw the large luminous living eyes

Regard me in fixed inquiring-wise^12

As those of a soul that weighed，

Scarce consciously，13

The eternal question of what Life was，

And why we were there，and by whose strange laws

That which mattered most could not be.14

【题解】

这是客人来访之后的遐想和沉思。起首之句，即呼唤访客再次来访，回忆当初客人来访时的种种情景，并第一次感受到自己家园树木花草的芳香，早晚彩霞的美丽。诗人笔下幽暗清净的环境，客人出现和行走的状态，及其真人和幽灵难辨的感觉，都烘托出人生的神秘性，使人产生生命究竟是什么的疑问。

【注释】

1.Where your presence was as a leaf that skims ... way：你的到来，像一片树叶，贴着干燥的小路飘动； skims：glides or skips along，above，or near a surface，贴着一个平面滑动，擦过； drouthy：dry，arid.

2.whose ascent bedims ... face：小路往上延伸，使来客粉红色的脸显得模糊； bloom：a rosy appearance of the cheeks，粉红的脸色； farer：traveler，指来访者；farer一般和其他词组合，不独立成词（used especially in combination），如seafarer，wayfarer等。

3.a thistledown ball：蓟花的冠毛，圆球状，故称ball。

4.those mute ministrations to one and to all：默默地给每个人带来的帮助和安慰； ministration：the action of giving aid，service，or comfort，对人的帮助，服务或慰藉。

5.bordering flowers：花坛里的花卉； border：花园里沿走道两边的花坛。

6.swam unheeded away：（在你来访之前） 香溢飘散无人闻。

7.the cloud-colours：朝霞和晚霞。

8.Through the dark corridors：注意从这里开始，这最后三节为一个完整的句子。

9.I did not know ... phantom's：我无法辨别你的身形和幽灵的身形。

10.Said to pass on the ancient floors：据说这个幽灵很久之前在这块地上游荡。

11.you drew from the shade：你从树阴里走出来。

12.in fixed inquiring-wise：目不转睛，以询问的眼光（打量着我）。

13.As those of a soul that weighed ... consciously：像一个人的目光，几乎是无意识地琢磨着（这个问题）； soul：人，兼有灵魂之意； Scarce：scarcely. 按：其实这是诗人自己在发问。

14.by whose strange laws ... be：是由于依据哪种奇怪的法则，使那最重要的东西反而不是生命呢？

The Voice

Woman much missed，how you call to me，call to me，

Saying that now you are not as you were

When you had changed from the one who was all to me，1

But as at first，when our day was fair.2

Can it be you that I hear？ Let me view you，then，

Standing as when I drew near to the town

Where you would wait for me：yes，as I knew you then，

Even to the original air-blue gown！3

Or is it only the breeze，in its listlessness^4

Travelling across the wet mead^5 to me here，

You being ever dissolved to wan wistlessness，6

Heard no more again far or near？

Thus I； faltering forward，

Leaves around me falling，7

Wind oozing thin through the thorn from norward，8

And the woman calling.

【题解】

此诗是哈代为悼念第一任夫人艾玛·拉维尼亚·吉福特去世而作。哈代结婚以后，夫妻感情不太融洽。哈代在文学事业上日益成功，社交频频，友人如云，而其夫人则愈加感到孤独和抑郁，乃至精神失常。但是，夫人去世以后，哈代不胜悲伤，悼念之诗，如实写来，愈见情深。

【注释】

1.you had changed from the one who was all to me：你一度变了，不再是我心中的一切。

2.But as at first，when our day was fair：却像最初我们的生活美好时一般。

3.Even to the original air-blue gown：甚至还知道你当初穿着天蓝色裙子； air-blue：azurite blue，天蓝色。

4.listlessness：倦怠，此处指微风轻飘。

5.mead：（poetic ） meadow，草地，尤指河边潮湿低洼的草地。

6.You being ever dissolved to wan wistlessness：你已经消失，漠然无知觉； You being：是独立主格结构；wistlessness：（archaic ） heedlessness.

7.Leaves around me falling：leaves falling around me.

8.Wind oozing thin through the thorn：风一丝丝地穿过荆棘丛； oozing：渗出，冒出； norward：northward.

After a Journey

Hereto I come to interview a ghost；1

Whither，O whither will its whim now draw me？2

Up the cliff，down，till I'm lonely，lost，

And the unseen waters' ejaculations awe me.

Where you will next be there's no knowing，

Facing round about me everywhere，

With your nut-coloured^3 hair，

And gray eyes，and rose-flush coming and going.4

Yes：I have re-entered your olden haunts^5 at last；

Through the years，through the dead scenes^6 I have tracked you；

What have you now found to say of our past —

Viewed across the dark space wherein I have lacked you？7

Summer gave us sweets，but autumn wrought division？8

Things were not lastly as firstly well

With us twain，you tell？

But all's closed now，despite Time's derision.

I see what you are doing：you are leading me on

To the spots we knew when we haunted here together，

The waterfall，above which the mist-bow^9 shone

At the then fair hour in the then fair weather，

And the cave just under，with a voice still so hollow

That it seems to call out to me from forty years ago，10

When you were all aglow，11

And not the thin ghost that I now frailly follow！

Ignorant of what there is flitting^12 here to see，

The waked birds preen^13 and the seals flop lazily，

Soon you will have，Dear，to vanish from me，

For the stars close their shutters and the dawn whitens hazily.14

Trust me，I mind not，though Life lours，15

The bringing me here； nay，bring me here again！

I am just the same as when

Our days were a joy，and our paths through flowers.16

【题解】

此诗亦是哈代怀念其第一任妻子艾玛所作。诗中描写了他们曾经常去的地方，并联想到当初的悲欢离合。After a Journey 既可以表示他的夫人已经走完了一生，也可以表示哈代在梦中会见了亡妻。

【注释】

1.Hereto I come to interview a ghost：我到此地来和鬼魂相会；hereto：to this，到这里； ghost：指哈代已故夫人。

2.Whither，O whither will its whim now draw me：鬼魂怪癖的念头要把我带到何处； whim：a capricious or eccentric idea，notion，or vagary usually occurring suddenly or spontaneously，caprice，fancy，怪念头，突发奇想，心血来潮。

3.nut-coloured：栗色，深棕色。

4.rose-flush coming and going：脸上玫瑰色的红晕时现时隐。

5.olden haunts：以往经常喜欢去的地方；olden：（archaic ） 往昔的。

6.dead scenes：消逝的情景。

7.Viewed across the dark space wherein I have lacked you：我思念你，你透过那黑暗的世界来观察我们的过去，你又是怎么想的；lacked：missed.

8.Summer gave us sweets，but autumn wrought division：春天给予我们甜蜜的生活，而秋天造成我们离散；意为春天和秋天象征他们生活的开端和终结； sweets：the sweets of life； wrought：created； division：separation.

9.mist-bow：彩虹。

10.forty years ago：哈代和其第一任夫人于1870年初次相遇，1874年结婚，夫人于1912 年病故，共同生活了38年。

11.aglow：in a glow，容光焕发。

12.flitting：飞来飞去。

13.preen：（鸟用嘴） 整理羽毛。

14.For the stars close their shutters and the dawn whitens hazily：星星消失了（指关上了百叶窗），东方欲晓，天空泛白； 说明哈代所述的乃是梦中所见所思； hazily：雾蒙蒙状。

15.lours：looks sullen or threatening，露出忧愁、阴沉或险恶的神色。

16.our paths through flowers：our paths were through flowers.

At Castle Boterel

As I drive to the junction of lane and highway，1

And the drizzle bedrenches the waggonette，2

I look behind at the fading byway，3

And see on its slope，4 now glistening wet，5

Distinctly yet

Myself and a girlish form benighted^6

In dry March weather. We climb the road^7

Beside a chaise. We had just alighted

To ease the sturdy pony's load

When he sighed^8 and slowed.

What we did as we climbed，and what we talked of^9

Matters not much，nor to what it led，10 —

Something that life will not be balked of

Without rude reason till hope is dead，

And feeling fled.11

It filled but a minute. But was there ever

A time of such quality，12 since or before，

In that hill's story？13 To one mind never，

Though it has been climbed，foot-swift，14 foot-sore，

By thousands more.

Primaeval rocks form the road's steep border，

And much have they faced there，first and last，

Of the transitory in Earth's long order；15

But what they record in color and cast

Is — that we two passed.16

And to me，though Time's unflinching rigor，17

In mindless rote，18 has ruled from sight

The substance now，19 one phantom figure

Remains on the slope，as when that night

Saw us alight.

I look and see it there，shrinking，shrinking，

I look back at it amid the rain

For the very last time； for my sand is sinking，20

And I shall traverse old love's domain^21

Never again.

【题解】

哈代早年学习建筑，1870年到康沃尔郡 （Cornwall） 去修缮圣朱利奥特教堂 （St.Juliot），与原配夫人艾玛首次相遇，并于1874年结婚。此诗写婚前同游之地Castle Boterel，这是哈代杜撰的地名，实际是Boscastle，即波斯卡斯尔渔港，在英格兰西南部康沃尔郡（Cornwall ） 东北角，有小河通海。哈代夫人于1912年病故，次年哈代重游故地，凭吊遗踪。

【注释】

1.lane：小路，两旁有树篱； highway：大路，路旁无树篱。

2.the drizzle bedrenches the waggonette：蒙蒙细雨淋湿了马车；bedrench：淋湿； waggonette：供游览用的四轮单马或双马马车。

3.I look behind at the fading byway：说明哈代是从小路走到大路的交叉路口。

4.slope：Cornwall一带地势不平，属山区。

5.glistening wet：地面被水打湿而反射着光。

6.benighted：overtaken by night，笼罩在夜色之中。

7.We climb the road：哈代回头看山路，追忆往事，历历在目，故用现在时。

8.he sighed：小马累得喘气。

9.What we did as we climbed，and what we talked of：含蓄地描绘一路上亲热爱抚，倾吐衷肠的情景。

10.nor to what it led：指一路上亲热和谈笑导致他们喜结良缘。

11.Something that life will not be balked of ... fled：他们俩那天的所作所为，是生活不会平白无故地拒绝的东西，直到希望破灭，感情消退；balk：ignore，reject； rude reason：粗暴的理由，不成理由之理由。暗示了哈代和夫人后来感情上的波折。

12.A time of such quality：良辰美景。

13.In that hill's story：在这座山曾经经历过的情景中； 在当地的历史中。

14.foot-swift：swift of foot，飞快地，敏捷地。

15.the transitory in Earth's long order：在大地亘古恒长的序列中即刻消逝的事物。

16.what they record in color and cast ... passed：这些原始时期就形成的石头用颜色和色泽纪录——我们曾经在这里经过；cast：an overspread of a color or modification of the appearance of a substance by a trace of some added hue，shade，不同于物体本身颜色的、呈现在物体表面上的色泽。

17.unflinching rigor：喻时光消逝，不肯让人分寸。

18.In mindless rote：不加思索，机械行事。

19.ruled from sight ... now：（一丝不苟，严格行事的时间） 使实体从眼前消失； The substance：此处指人的实体，即哈代的妻子，相对于哈代现在只能在心中想象的“虚幻的形象” （phantom figure）。

20.my sand is sinking：我的生命也将终结； sand：是古人计时用的沙漏 （sand-glass或hour-glass） 中的砂粒，故沙漏光常被喻为生命耗尽。

21.traverse old love's domain：重游恋情之地。哈代感叹自己已不能久留人世，再游故地，同时也有追忆往事，不堪回首的惆怅之情。

In Time of “The Breaking of Nations”

Jeremiah51：20

1

Only a man harrowing clods

In a slow silent walk

With an old horse that stumbles and nods

Half asleep as they stalk.1

2

Only thin smoke without flame^2

From the heaps of couch-grass；3

Yet this will go onward the same

Though Dynasties pass.4

3

Yonder a maid and her wight^5

Come whispering by：

War's annals will cloud into night

Ere their story die.6

【题解】

题目：The Breaking of Nations语出 《旧约· 耶利米书》（Jeremiah ） 51：20：Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war：for with thee will I break in pieces the nations； and with thee will I destroy kingdoms. （你是我战争的斧子和打仗的兵器。我要用你打碎列国，用你毁灭列邦。）1870年，正值普法战争期间，哈代在康沃尔的山谷里看到农夫赶着老马耕地的情景，深有感触。但是，他的感想一直埋藏在心中，直到1914年第一次世界大战期间，他才落笔成诗。昏昏欲睡的农夫和老马慢慢地犁地，千古皆然。

【注释】

1.Only a man harrowing clods ... stalk：第一节一句话，高度概括了当时欧洲老迈昏沉的情景； harrowing clods：平整耕地的表土，或者把泥块压碎，覆盖好种子等；stalk：to walk with a stiff ungainly stride，脚步僵硬地走路。

2.thin smoke without flame：没有火焰的淡淡的烟雾。此处thin smoke象征着弱者的力量。

3.couch-grass：茅根，麦制草。类似麦子的杂草，根系发达。农民将草扎堆烧毁肥田。这亦是农事中常见的情形。

4.Yet this will go onward the same ... pass：农事年复一年，收割之后烧掉秸秆，缕缕青烟不绝，而列代王朝难逃更迭 （Dynasties pass）。哈代的历史诗剧《列王》（Dynasty，1904—1908 ） 描写的也正是拿破伦从1805年计划侵占英国至1815年在滑铁卢结束政治生涯的历史。此处Dynasties pass的思想，与他在《列王》中表述的思想是一致的。

5.wight：man，creature，此处指情人（lover）。

6.War's annals will cloud into night ... die：未及他们的故事失传，战史在夜空中消失； cloud：一作fade； Ere：before，引起的从句为虚拟式；此处Ere their story die亦有before their love dies之意。

Afterwards

When the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay，1

And the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings，2

Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk，3 will the neighbors say，

“He was a man who used to notice such things”？4

If it be in the dusk^5 when，like an eyelid's soundless blink，

The dewfall-hawk^6 comes crossing the shades to alight

Upon the wind-warped^7 upland thorn，a gazer may think，

“To him this must have been a familiar sight.”

If I pass during some nocturnal blackness，mothy^8 and warm，

When the hedgehog travels furtively over the lawn，9

One may say，“He strove that such innocent creatures should

come to no harm^10

But he could do little for them； and now he is gone.”

If，when hearing that I have been stilled^11 at last，they stand at the door

Watching the full-starred heavens that winter sees，12

Will this thought rise on those who will meet my face no more，

“He was one who had an eye for such mysteries”？13

And will any say when my bell of quittance^14 is heard in the gloom，

And a crossing breeze cuts a pause in its outrollings，15

Till they rise again，as they were a new bell's boom，

“He hears it not now，but used to notice such things”？

【题解】

哈代预感自己将不久于人世，猜想自己死后人们是否会记得他的许多特点，夹杂着担心人们对他的评价是否公允。诗中提到的许多自然现象，固然是哈代敏感、熟悉、喜爱的事物，但也反衬出永恒的大自然和人类死亡的对比。

【注释】

1.When the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay：在我战战兢兢的一生结束之后，今世把我那扇隐蔽的小门关闭； the Present：今世，拟人化用法； postern：a back door or gate，a private or side entrance or way，诗人担心自己悄悄离开人世，无人知晓；behind my tremulous stay：喻我战战兢兢地活在世上（tremulous stay），死后，“现在” 就把门锁上。

2.May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings：五月充满生气，轻轻拍动着葳蕤的绿叶，就像拍动着翅膀。注意押头韵连续三组：May month，glad green，leaves like.

3.Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk：娇嫩的薄叶，犹如新抽出来的细丝一般。

4.He was a man who used to notice such things：哈代很在乎人们是否留心他关注这些事情。

5.If it be in the dusk：虚拟式。

6.dewfall-hawk：夜幕降临后出动的夜鹰； dewfall：the time when dew begins to fall. 按：这种hawk实际上在当地是为大家所熟悉的nightjar，叫起来很吵闹，但飞起来速度很快，悄然无声。按：这一节有象征意义，哈代的诗歌和小说引起轰动，也不乏批评噪音，但是他会像夜鹰那样悄然离去。

7.wind-warped：被风吹得倾倒的。

8.nocturnal blackness：漆黑的夜幕； mothy：when moths are active，飞蛾乱舞之状。

9.the hedgehog travels furtively over the lawn：刺猬偷偷地在草地上活动。哈代似乎自比刺猬。

10.He strove that such innocent creatures should come to no harm：哈代十分爱护动物。担任 “防止残害动物皇家协会 （The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals）” 会员。曾写诗反对残害动物，如Dynasts，Part Ⅲ，Act Ⅵ，Scene Ⅷ.

11.stilled：死了。

12.the full-starred heavens that winter sees：冬夜繁星密布。猎户座、大犬座、小犬座都在冬季出现，大熊座、小熊座更为常见； heavens：常用复数。

13.He was one who had an eye for such mysteries：哈代熟悉星星，在《远离尘嚣》（Far from the Madding Crowd ） 第二章中有出色的描写。

14.my bell of quittance：我的丧钟； quittance：离别人世。

15.a crossing breeze：侧面吹来之风； outrollings：丧钟之声 （the spreading of he sound waves）。

GERARD MANLEY HOPKlNS

吉拉德·曼莱·霍普金斯

（1844—1889）

【作者与作品简介】

霍普金斯生于英国东南部艾赛克斯，父母都虔诚信奉英国国教并酷好文学、艺术、音乐。他在中学时已显示出过人的文学才能。1863年入牛津大学，结识了许多朋友，包括后来成为著名诗人的罗伯特·布里吉斯（1844—1930）。这时他写了不少诗，并以成绩头等毕业。1866年皈依天主教，1868年又成为耶稣会士。为了表示虔诚，他烧掉了自己的诗稿，可又把副本交给了布里吉斯保存。以后几年他专心于宗教活动，学习神学，写诗甚少，但已在发展他诗论中的重要概念，如“内质”（inscape，指诗的特殊或主要质量）和“内力”（instress，指支持内质的诗力）以及试验他独有的“跳跃韵律”（sprung rhythm），也就是说不依音节多少而依重音节的安排形成的韵律，这样一个音步就可以由一个重音节加一个、两个或三个轻音节组成，音步与音步的音节数目不必一致。他认为这是口语的自然韵律，也是英国古代诗习用的。1875年在泰晤士河口沉了一条叫“德国号”的船，死者里面有五名因信仰而被驱逐出德国的方济各会修女，霍普金斯听到了很受触动，在他所在的神学院院长的鼓励下写了一首悼念的诗，试用了依他说已长期在他耳边响着的那种“跳跃韵律”。诗稿送到了一家耶稣会刊物却被退回，理由是太晦涩，读者不会懂。但他仍继续努力，1877年一边准备考神职，一边写了许多他后来因之著称的诗。在获得神职之后他先后在伦敦、牛津等地任职，后来在许多工业地区任牧师，看到那些地方的罪恶和凄惨的状况，以自己未能尽到牧师的职责深感内疚，《菲力克斯·朗代》等诗是这时写的。然后他在苏格兰工作了一段时间，1884年到爱尔兰任都柏林大学希腊拉丁文教授，因工作过重健康受损，精神忧郁，写了被称为“黑色十四行诗”的诗作和其他诗。1889年因伤寒逝世。

霍普金斯死后遗稿都交给了好友布里吉斯。他生前除了有几首诗选入一些选集外几乎没有发表过什么诗。他的遗诗直到1918年他去世几乎三十年后才由布里吉斯整理出版。最初以为读者还难以接受，但经过一段时间后声望不断上升，到了二三十年代英美现代派诗出现后更为当时青年一代诗人所欣赏，所以他实际上是属于二十世纪的一位主要先驱诗人。

霍普金斯一方面是一位十分敏感，能体物入微，常带赞美惊诧眼光观察、歌咏自然之美的诗人，一方面又是一位自愿的戒律谨严的耶稣会士，而他对美的感觉又常和颂神的诚心结合在一起，这就使他的诗有独特的风格。《斑驳之美》和《春》很能表现这特点。另一方面他也是一位经受着痛苦的精神斗争的人。他努力克尽教士厥职，但经常觉得失败多成功少，又加上健康状况不佳，因之陷入孤独、沮丧乃至绝望的境地，可是他从来没有放弃精神上的斗争。反映到诗里就是前述的那些“黑色十四行诗”，这里选了《不能更糟，不能》一首。

霍普金斯对诗的技巧也十分注意。他向希腊、拉丁、威尔士和英国诗的音调和语言学习。他给友人布里吉斯的信中曾说：“写诗应当用一种提炼了的当代口语，它同一般口语有所不同，但并不古老。莎士比亚、弥尔顿都是如此。”他有高度运用语言的技巧，当发现语言不足以达意时就创新字、创新用法，特别在声调上创新甚多。他对读他的诗的读者建议说：“吸一口气，高声朗读，你就能体会了。我认为我的诗就应如此读。”

周珏良

The Windhover

To Christ Our Lord

I caught this morning morning's minion，1 king-

dom of daylight's dauphin，2 dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon，3 in his riding

Of the rolling level underneath him steady air，and striding

High there，how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing^4

In his ecstasy！ then off，off forth on swing，5

As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend：6 the hurl and gliding

Rebuffed the big wind.7 My heart in hiding

Stirred for a bird，8 — the achieve of，the mastery of the thing！9

Brute beauty and valour and act，oh，air，pride，plume，here

Buckle！10 AND the fire that breaks from thee then，a billion

Times told lovelier，more dangerous，11O my chevalier！12

No wonder of it：shéer plód makes plough down sillion

Shine，13 and blue-bleak embers，14ah my dear，

Fall，gall themselves，and gash gold-vermillion.15

【题解】

霍普金斯在北威尔士圣博诺神学院（St. Beuno's College）修道时，面对广阔的大自然，看到红隼搏击长空，自由奋飞，有所感悟而于1877年5月30日写下这首十四行诗。他从雄鹰高超的飞翔技巧和姿态，联想到上帝在人间的活动。他本人认为这是他最好的一首诗，他人也都认同。霍普金斯是一位虔诚的信徒，总是从大自然的生息变化中看到上帝的存在和力量，特别是上帝的意志。他的诗又写得十分含蓄，其宗教含义，可谓不着一字，尽得风流，本诗如无副标题揭示，我国读者恐难理解其真谛。尽管如此，读者仍然可以领会他对自然界生灵的赞美，对自然生态的歌颂。这就是为什么很多人都爱读他的诗。

【注释】

题目：Windhover：红隼，一种体形较小的鹰，因为喜爱迎风滑翔而被称为“windhover”（a name for the kestrel ［a species of small hawk］，from its habit of hovering or hanging with its head to the wind）。

1.morning's minion：红隼一早就飞翔觅食，故称为“早晨的宠儿”； minion：darling，favourite.

2.kingdom of daylight's dauphin：日光世界的继承者（heir to a splendid，kingly condition）。按：法国国王的长子称为“dauphin”，即crown prince，相当于中国古代的“太子”。

3.dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon：色彩斑驳的晨曦呼唤出来的鹰；dapple：在此处也描绘清晨红隼身上映衬着鲜艳缤纷的色彩。诗人喜欢用dapple这个词，如Pied Beauty 中开首即言“Glory be to God for dappled things.”注意开首两行押头韵。

4.rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing：拍动着翅膀在空中盘旋；rung是to ring的过去式； to ring upon the rein：是驯马用语，指人紧紧地拉住缰绳，马在缰绳的另一端以人为中心作圆周运动；wimpling：rippling.

5.off forth on swing：腾空而起，在空中摆动，就像打秋千那样。

6.As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend：就像冰鞋的底一样沿着弯道（bow-bend）平稳地滑动。

7.the hurl and gliding ... wind：红隼在空中冲刺和滑翔，完全不把狂风放在眼里。

8.My heart in hiding ... bird：我藏匿着的心为这只鹰而怦怦跳动。按：对于诗人为何将心“藏匿”的原因，有不同的理解：一是表示诗人惭愧地感到，自己没有完全坦诚面对上帝，此时看到上帝赋予鹰的这种超凡表演，显出其巨大的威力，才心有感悟而砰砰跳动；二是作为牧师，他的心应该远离尘嚣，归于宁静，唯以上帝为念，现看到鹰如此神奇的表演而不禁心情激动。

9.the achieve of，the mastery of the thing：游刃有余，轻松驾驭这种技巧；the thing：表示飞行技巧。按：动词achieve在the achieve of这种结构中不是规范的用法，应为the achieving of，此系诗人杜撰。在写诗时偶尔可以破格，称为poetic license。霍普金斯打破语法常规的现象很多。

10.Buckle：看到红隼那种狂放粗豪之美（brute beauty），那种雄姿英武（valour and act），翩翩风度（air），昂然自得（pride）和漂亮的羽毛（plume），诗人不由得惊呼：“Buckle！” 意为“让我束装相随！”从本诗的副标题来看，诗人在赞美红隼飞翔的雄姿时，似乎看到隐藏在这一切背后的耶稣。

11.AND the fire that breaks from thee then，a billion ... dangerous：AND大写，强烈表现意思的转折，从鹰联想到耶稣。这里的thee指的不是鹰，而是后面的my chevalier，即耶稣。红隼的活力似乎是在喷射着火焰，但是和耶稣的生命之火比它要强烈几万倍； told：tell的过去式，count，计数； dangerous：看到鹰如此勃发英姿，从而体会到耶稣的这种品质，其实这是很危险的，因为人们应该更深地看到耶稣的谦卑和苦难。

12.O my chevalier：在中世纪，耶稣的形象是马背上的骑士。

13.shéer plód makes plough down sillion Shine：在翻土的时候，锄头狠狠往土里扎，其金属就会变得光亮；sillion：furrow，犁沟。锄头扎到土里表示耶稣来到人间为人类赎罪。此句也说明任何东西都有其光亮的一面，要经过磨练才能显现出来。按：shéer plód是诗人自己加的重音，他对诗歌有独特的看法，认为韵律不应死板，而应当灵活多变，又如áll-tráde （Pied Beauty ），wórld-sorrow（Sonnet ） 等等。

14.blue-bleak embers：字面意思是燃烧将尽的余火；embers：（plural ） red-hot ashes，smoldering remains of a fire，余火之中仍然有发热发光的炭。

15.Fall，gall themselves，and gash gold-vermillion：让这些燃烧的炭互相摩擦（gall themselves），迸出火花，喷出金色的、鲜红的光彩。意为耶稣降临人间（fall），被钉死在十字架上，流着殷红的血。

Spring

Nothing is so beautiful as spring —

When weeds，in wheels，1 shoot long and lovely and lush；

Thrush's eggs look little low heavens，and thrush^2

Through the echoing timber^3 does so rinse and wring^4

The ear，it strikes like lightning's^5 to hear him sing；

The glassy^6 peartree leaves and blooms，they brush

The descending blue；7 that blue is all in a rush

With richness； the racing lambs too have fair their fling.8

What is all this juice^9 and all this joy？

A strain of the earth's sweet being in the beginning^10

In Eden^11 garden，— Have，get，before it cloy，12

Before it cloud，Christ，lord，and sour with sinning，

Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy，13

Most，O maid's child，14 thy choice and worthy the winning.15

【题解】

在霍普金斯吟赞自然之美的诗中，这首《春》之诗别具意境和风格。起句“如论美者无与春天相比”似乎平平，甚至俗套。但是，此后的描述和发挥，词语和音韵的运用，都新意迭出，结束之句更是出人意表。注意本诗的押韵以“-ing”为主，和spring一词的音韵相一致。

【注释】

1.weeds，in wheels：长成圆圈状的野草。按：英国人将草（grass）和杂草（weeds）严格区分，而此处诗人赞美杂草，表示其崇尚自然。

2.Thrush's eggs look little low heavens，and thrush：画眉鸟的蛋像小小的、低低的天穹；thrush：鸫，画眉；又thrush作动词用，表示冲刺。按：thrush作为动词查无出处，疑是诗人为求修辞效果以及押韵的需要，将thrust的含义用thrush来表示，颇有莎士比亚随意造字的遗风。

3.timber：wooded area，树林。

4.rinse and wring：（洗衣服时）冲洗和拧干，此处指画眉的叫声令人耳目一新。

5.it strikes like lightning's：颇似汉语中“如雷贯耳”（虽然该成语的意思与此不同）的味道。

6.glassy：（梨树的）叶子和花像玻璃那样平滑和透明。

7.brush ... blue：梨的树叶和花好像和蓝色的天空相交汇；the blue：蓝天，苍穹自天顶倾斜而下，和大地相连，故称descending，又有耶稣下凡的含义。

8.have fair their fling：（小羊羔）尽情欢乐嬉戏； fair：fairly； fling：a period of self-indulgence.按：此处有耶稣死后再生的含义，耶稣是上帝的lamb，春天到来，万物萌发，象征着耶稣的复活。

9.juice：strength，vigor，vitality，生气勃勃的活力。

10.A strain of the earth's sweet being in the beginning：此句有两层含义，其一，strain表示后代，子女（offspring，children，lineage），世界初创时期美好的生命（sweet being）的后代； 其二，strain表示遗传的特性（inherited or inherent character，quality，or disposition），此处指春天里美好的一切都继承了创世之时美好事物的特点。

11.Eden：《圣经》中所说的伊甸乐园，人类始祖亚当和夏娃居住之地，他们后因为违反上帝的意志，偷吃了智慧之果而被逐出此地。这就是原罪（original sin），即下行提到的sinning。

12.Have，get，before it cloy：这两个动词的主语为thy choice； cloy：厌烦，餍足，此处为虚拟式。

13.Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy：指亚当和夏娃未受到诱惑之前天真烂漫的情景。

14.maid's child：耶稣为处女玛丽所生，故云“处女之子”。

15.thy choice and worthy the winning：此处实是大胆之笔，从伊甸写到人间，天衣无缝。亚当夏娃偷吃禁果，被逐出伊甸，乃是他们自己的选择，而且值得。

Pied Beauty

Glory be to God for dappled things^1 —

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow；2

For rose-moles all in stipple！3 upon trout that swim；

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls；4 finches' wings；

Landscape plotted and pieced^5— fold，fallow，and plough；6

And áll trádes，7 their gear and tackle and trim.8

All things counter，9 original，spare，10 strange；

Whatever is fickle，freckled^11（who knows how？）

With swift，slow； sweet，sour； adazzle，12 dim；

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change：13

Praise him.

【题解】

霍普金斯常从独到的视角观察大自然，非常仔细，联想丰富，且其比喻不落窠臼。其诗色调明朗，形象突出，有“诗中有画”的效果。他喜欢押头韵，打破诗歌的既定格律，英语词汇的运用得心应手，其诗声调节律优美。此诗可谓一例。

【注释】

题目：Pied：斑驳的，杂色的。如莎士比亚诗：when daisies pied and violets blue.

1.Glory be to God for dappled things：虚拟式；dappled：色彩斑驳的（marked with small spots，patches，or dots contrasting in color or shade with the background），如Windhover 诗中“dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon”，又如Thomas Gray：“warm and a fine dappled sky.”

2.couple-colour as a brinded cow：犹如花纹斑驳的奶牛身上的双重颜色； brinded：（archaic ） brindled，底色呈灰色或浅黄色，表面呈黑色条纹或斑纹的花纹（having obscure dark streaks or flecks on a usually gray or tawny ground），通常指奶牛皮毛的花色。

3.rose-moles all in stipple：（鳟鱼身上）斑斑驳驳的玫瑰色花斑（rose-coloured dots or flecks）；mole：原指人皮肤上的色痣（a congenital spot，mark，or small permanent protuberance on the human body）。

4.Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls：此语有歧解，一说是经炭火烤后外壳剥落的栗子（chestnuts stripped of their husks after being roasted in “fresh-charcoal”）显出斑驳的颜色； 另一说是从树上掉下的栗子有着炭火的颜色。

5.Landscape plotted and pieced：被划成矩形状，显出种种色彩的原野。这是英国田野的特点。

6.fold，fallow，and plough：fold：饲养牲畜的圈（enclosures for animals）； fallow：休耕的农田（a field plowed but left unsown for a season）； plough：翻耕的农田（plowed land）。按：霍普金斯颇爱拟古风格，此两行模仿古英语的头韵诗体，中间略作停顿。

7.áll trádes：诗人自己加的重音，参看Windhover 一诗注。

8.their gear and tackle and trim：这三个词意思略略相近，都表示从事某种行业的人穿的服装，使用的工具和设备； gear：clothing，garments，personal belongings or equipment； tackle：a collection，set，or complement of the equipment，apparatus，or materials designed for use in a particular activity，和gear意思相近； trim：equipment.

9.All things counter：世界上万物千姿百态，五光十色； counter：contrary，in contrasted patterns or colours.

10.spare：rare，稀有的。

11.Whatever is fickle，freckled：注意Whatver引导的该从句结构不完整，实际上是whatever is，is fickle，freckled etc.

12.adazzle：dazzling，gleaming，shining.

13.He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change：He fathers forth anything whose beauty is past change，上帝创造的一切美不胜收，美艳永驻。

Felix Randal

Felix Randal the farrier，1 O is he dead then？ my duty all ended，2

Who have watched his mould of man，big-boned and hardy-handsome

Pining，pining，3 till time when reason rambled in it^4 and some

Fatal four disorders，fleshed there，all contended？5

Sickness broke him. Impatient，he cursed at first，but mended^6

Being anointed and all；7 though a heavenlier heart began^8 some

Months earlier，since I had our sweet reprieve and ransom

Tendered to him.9 Ah well，God rest him all road ever^10 he offended！

This seeing the sick endears them to us，us too it endears.11

My tongue had taught thee comfort，touch had quenched thy tears，

Thy tears that touched my heart，child，12 Felix，poor Felix Randal；

How far from then forethought of，all thy more boisterous years，13

When thou at the random grim forge，14 powerful amidst peers，15

Didst fettle for the great grey drayhorse his bright and battering sandal！16

【题解】

这首诗反映了霍普金斯把注意力从大自然转向城市贫民，看到社会生活的另外一面，通过一位铁匠的病苦来反映下层人民的疾苦。诗人深切关注着这位铁匠长期的病痛，实践了他作为牧师——精神医疗者——应尽的责任。他以心灵的交流（tongue）和诚挚的关切（touch）抚慰了病人，直至他离开人世。诗写得真切感人，技巧也十分娴熟。从诗体来说，这是非常严格的意大利体十四行诗，前八行（the octave）分两节，每节四行（quatrain），韵脚安排为a-b-b-a，后六行（the sestet）也是两节，每节三行，韵脚安排为c-c-d，写得流畅而深沉。

【注释】

1.farrier：（chiefly Britain ） blacksmith，铁匠，尤其是指打马蹄铁的铁匠（a person who shoes horses）。

2.my duty all ended：作为牧师，教徒死后，对其责任也就终结了。注意，此句直到 “all contended？”才结束，继 “O is he dead then？” 之后的又一个疑问句：“难道他死了，我的所有责任都没有了吗？” 诗人作为牧师，扪心自问，颇有愧疚。

3.Who have watched his mould of man ... pinging：这句表示，诗人其实一直在关注着他，看着他骨骼硕大，结实粗狂而英俊的身躯日渐消瘦。按：Who显然指 “我”，但是，在语法结构上，who并没有先行词，my duty暗示 I who have etc。

4.reason rambled in it：理智在他体内失去了控制。意为因为长期疾病，苦不堪言，有点不太理性了，即下文说到“he cursed at first”。

5.Fatal four disorders，fleshed there，all contended：体现在肉体上的四种致命的紊乱，互相冲撞。按：西方中古时代的人认为，人的性格和心情受体内四种体液（blood，phlegm，choler，melancholy）的影响，一旦失调，人就会失去常态，甚至丧命。

6.Impatient，he cursed at first，but mended：（因为受到疾病的折磨） 忍耐不住而诅咒（上帝），但是又改过自新。按：对基督教徒来说，诅咒命运或上帝是大逆不道的。

7.Being anointed and all：接受涂油的仪式，宣布绝对忠于上帝。

8.a heavenlier heart began：（几个月之前他）开始有了一颗更加宁静的、虔诚的心。

9.I had our sweet reprieve and ransom ... him：I had heard his confessions and given him absolution，听了他的忏悔以后给予赦罪；reprieve：宽恕，缓刑（giving relief or deliverance to for a time）；ransom：宗教上的赦罪（delivery especially from sin or its penalty）；Tendered：offered.

10.all road ever：in whatever way.

11.This seeing the sick endears them to us，us too it endears：此句的意思是，由于这样关怀和照看病人，无形中我们觉得他们可亲，更加喜欢他们，同样也使他们觉得我们很亲近。注意endear的用法，其意是 to cause to become beloved or admired，例如，her generosity has endeared her to the public，她的慷慨大度使得公众非常喜欢她。按：This起强调的作用，“this seeing the sick”这个名词词组作为主语，语法上完全正确，但是，在一般情况下这么说有点别扭，而在这里恰恰起到强调的作用，而且简洁，音韵更好。这句是诗人的体会，并不专指对铁匠的关照，them指病人，不是特指。

12.child：牧师对其教区教徒的称呼，因为牧师是代表上帝在说话。

13.How far from then forethought of，all thy more boisterous years：当初在力旺气盛的年代 （boisterous years），你又何曾想到这些呢？

14.at the random grim forge：在这个凌乱的、工作艰苦的铁匠铺子里。

15.powerful amidst peers：同行中很厉害的人。

16.Didst fettle for the great grey drayhorse his bright and battering sandal：为拉车的大灰马装上闪亮的、经久的铁蹄；Didst：did，和thou 相配合； fettle：to make neat or orderly，arrange，此处指为马打造和安装铁蹄；drayhorse：draft horse，拉车的马； battering：此处指不断撞击地面的（马的铁蹄）。

Sonnet

No worst，there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief，1

More pangs will，schooled at forepangs，wilder wring.2

Comforter，3 where，where is your comforting？

Mary，4 mother of us，where is your relief？

My cries heave，herds-long；5 huddle in a main，a chief

Woe，wórld-sorrow；6 on an age-old anvil wince and sing^7 —

Then lull，then leave off.8 Fury^9 had shrieked “No lingering！

Let me be fell：10 force I must be brief.”

O the mind，mind has mountains； cliffs of fall

Frightful，sheer，11 no-man-fathomed.12 Hold them cheap

May who ne'er hung there.13 Nor does long our small

Durance^14 deal with that steep or deep. Here！ creep，

Wretch，under a comfort serves in a whirlwind：15 all

Life death does end and each day dies with sleep.

【题解】

诗人后期身体状况不好，精神焦虑，又常感到自己未能履行好作为牧师的职责，因而自责，这在Felix Randal 诗中也有所反映。这首十四行诗道出了他的痛苦、自责和自勉的复杂心理。

【注释】

1.Pitched past pitch of grief：悲不自胜哀，无以复加；pitch：（vi.） 使之达到某一高度或质量，或音乐上定音高（to cause to be at a particular level or of a particular quality；to set in a particular musical key）；（archaic，n.）顶点，顶峰 （top，zenith，culminating point）。

2.More pangs will，schooled at forepangs，wilder wring：痛苦经受过以前的锻炼（schooled）之后，折磨人的范围更大； wring：挤压，拧干（to squeeze or twist especially so as to make dry or to extract moisture or liquid），引申为折磨（to affect painfully as if by wringing，torment）。

3.Comforter：Holy Sprint，圣灵，one that gives comfort，安慰者。

4.Mary：圣母玛利亚，耶稣之母，故云mother of us。

5.My cries heave：我不断痛苦地呼喊着； herds-long：coming in large numbers and in a long series，like herds of cattle following each other.

6.huddle in a main，a chief ... wórld-sorrow：主语My cries，从修辞学上讲，也转指“我”本人，意为自己处于一种巨大的、极度的苦难之中；huddle：to draw oneself together，crouch，身子蜷缩着； wórld-sorrow：是Woe的同位语，wórld兼有尘世和巨大双重含义，其重音乃诗人自己所加，参看Windhover 注。

7.on an age-old anvil wince and sing：主语仍然是转指“我”的my cries，在铁砧上被捶打，磨练或噪声折磨是当时常用的比喻；wince：to shrink back involuntarily as from pain，flinch，因痛苦而退缩； sing：to make a shrill whining or whistling sound，发出尖利的叫声。

8.leave off：stop，cease.

9.Fury：狂怒，拟人化用法。

10.fell：fierce，cruel，terrible.

11.sheer：marked by great and unrelieved steepness，precipitous，陡峭的。

12.no-man-fathomed：无人测量过的； fathom：原指伸出双手丈量，或用干枝或带有槌子的线测量水深。

13.Hold them cheap ... there：whoever hold them cheap may never hung there，此句意为：把这千仞峭壁不当回事的人，可能就永远不会被悬挂在那里；cheap：contemptible.

14.Durance：（archaic ） duration，endurance，此处指忍受能力或忍耐力。

15.Wretch，under a comfort serves in a whirlwind：这是诗人在对自己说，在圣灵的抚慰下，要在艰难困苦中（旋风中）履行自己的天职；serve：牧师履行天职。

ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN

阿尔弗莱德·爱德华·霍斯曼

（1859—1936）

【作者与作品简介】

霍斯曼是严谨的古典文学学者，同时又是抒情诗人。他的诗数量不多，主要的集子是《西罗普郡少年》（1896）。

霍斯曼的诗的第一个特点是简洁，简洁得有如格言，但不枯燥，因为简洁的形式之下有着动人的内容，主要是人生的悲剧感：爱情的不能持久，命运的捉弄，死亡的无所不在，例如引用民间谚语来写青年之受绞刑：

从前常有个无忧虑的牧童

在那边月下牧羊，

（第九首）

这“月下牧羊”便是民间对吊在绞架上的俗称。诗的背景也是英国的农村，但很少写老人，着重写的是二十岁左右的青年人的感情。青年人应该是朝气蓬勃的，然而霍斯曼却写他们的夭折，凋谢，其主要情调可以用下列一节诗所传达的作为代表：

矫健的少年安卧在

无从飞越的溪边；

在春花凋谢的田野里，

沉睡着花颜的女儿。

（第五十四首）

这是一个充满了回忆和感喟的静态的世界，其吸引力在于英国式的伤感同拉丁式的典雅的结合，用笔极为经济，一字一字像是刻在石上那样整齐，感情的范围虽然比较窄狭，却常能从个人的不幸联系到亘古以来的宇宙的不公，有点哈代的味道，而哈代正是霍斯曼所喜欢的少数英国的作家之一。

王佐良

FromA Shropshire Lad

9

On moonlit heath and lonesome bank

The sheep beside me graze；

And yon^1 the gallows used to clank

Fast by the four cross ways.2

A careless shepherd once would keep

The flocks by moonlight there，3

And high amongst the glimmering sheep

The dead man stood on air.4

They hang us now in Shrewsbury jail：

The whistles blow forlorn，

And trains all night groan on the rail

To men that die at morn.5

There sleeps in Shrewsbury jail to-night，

Or wakes，as may betide，6

A better lad，if things went right，

Than most that sleep outside.

And naked to the hangman's noose

The morning clocks will ring

A neck^7 God made for other use

Than strangling in a string.

And sharp the link of life will snap，8

And dead on air will stand

Heels that held up as straight a chap

As treads upon the land.

So here I'll watch the night and wait

To see the morning shine，

When he will hear the stroke of eight

And not the stroke of nine；9

And wish my friend as sound a sleep

As lads' I did not know，

That shepherded the moonlit sheep^10

A hundred years ago.

11

On your midnight pallet^1 lying，

Listen，and undo the door：2

Lads that waste the light in sighing

In the dark should sigh no more；

Night should ease a lover's sorrow；

Therefore，since I go to-morrow，

Pity me before.

In the land to which I travel，

The far dwelling，let me say —

Once，if here the couch^3 is gravel，

In a kinder bed I lay，

And the breast the darnel smothers^4

Rested once upon another's

When it was not clay.5

19

To an Athlete Dying Young

The time you won your town the race^1

We chaired you through the market-place；2

Man and boy stood cheering by，

And home we brought you shoulder-high.

To-day，the road all runners come，

Shoulder-high we bring you home，

And set you at your threshold down，

Townsman of a stiller town.3

Smart lad，to slip betimes away^4

From fields where glory does not stay

And early though the laurel^5 grows

It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut

Cannot see the record cut，6

And silence sounds no worse than cheers

After earth has stopped the ears：

Now you will not swell the rout

Of lads that wore their honours out，7

Runners whom renown outran^8

And the name died before the man.

So set，before its echoes fade，

The fleet foot on the sill of shade，9

And hold to the low lintel up

The still-defended challenge-cup.10

And round that early-laurelled head

Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead，

And find unwithered on its curls

The garland briefer than a girl's.

26

Along the field as we came by

A year ago，my love and I，

The aspen over stile and stone^1

Was talking to itself alone.

‘Oh who are these that kiss and pass？

A country lover and his lass；2

Two lovers looking to be wed；

And time shall put them both to bed，

But she shall lie with earth above，3

And he beside another love.'

And sure enough^4 beneath the tree

There walks another love with me，

And overhead the aspen heaves

Its rainy-sounding silver leaves；

And I spell nothing in their stir，5

But now perhaps they speak to her，

And plain for her to understand^6

They talk about a time at hand^7

When I shall sleep with clover clad，8

And she beside another lad.9

54

With rue my heart is laden^1

For golden friends^2 I had，

For many a rose-lipt maiden^3

And many a lightfoot^4 lad.

By brooks too broad for leaping

The lightfoot boys are laid；5

The rose-lipt girls are sleeping

In fields where roses fade.

【注释】

第9首

1.yon：（archaic，dialectic ）yonder，在那儿，在这处。

2.Fast：（archaic ）贴近，靠近。cross ways：十字路。

3.keep ... there：吊死在绞架上，俗称月下牧羊。

4.stood on air：吊在空中。

5.morn：morning.

6.as may betide：可能出现或发生。

7.naked to the hangman's noose ... neck：早晨的钟声将为一个上绞索的脖子敲响丧钟。naked to the hangman's noose：修饰A neck；noose：绞索。

8.And sharp the link of life will snap：生命的联系啪的一声断了； snap sharp：突然绷断了。

9.not the stroke of nine：意为他活不到九点就会被绞死。

10.That shepherded the moonlip sheep：和上文keep the flocks by moonlight同义，亦指被绞死。

第11首

1.pallet：草荐，地铺。

2.undo the door：打开门。

3.couch：（poetic ）床，寝处。

4.the breast the darnel smothers：毒麦扼杀的胸膛。

5.When it was not clay：在未变泥土之时，即还活着的时候。

第19首

1.won your town the race：为你的家乡赢了这场赛跑。

2.We chaired you through the market-place：我们把你抬在肩上走过市场；市场（market-place）是城里最热闹的地方，故人们常把优胜者抬过市场。

3.And set you at your threshold down ... town：此两行喻运动员已死。threshold：即threshold of death； a stiller town：表示沉寂的墓地。

4.slip betimes away：及时退出了（运动场）。因为不能在运动场上永远立于不败之地（glory does not stay），所以及早告辞（死去）乃是明智之举（smart）；betimes：quickly，promptly.

5.laurel：桂冠。古希腊人用月桂树叶编成的冠冕，授予优胜者，后成为战争、运动、艺术等方面的最高荣誉的象征。

6.Eyes the shady night has shut ... cut：意为死后就看不到纪录被人打破了； the shady night：阴暗之夜，喻死亡。

7.Now you will not swell the rout ... out：许多青年人的荣誉逐渐丧失（wore their honours out），而你既然已死，就不会成为他们中的一员而使这批人数增加；swell the rout：become one of a large crowd，此处指生前就荣消誉亡的运动员。

8.Runners whom renown outran：赶不上名声的运动员，意为名声很快消亡的运动员。

9.the sill of shade：阴影的门槛，喻踏进死亡之界，即the threshold of death。

10.hold to the low lintel up ... challenge-cup：此两行意为在踏进死亡的门槛时，手里还托着优胜杯，差不多要碰着低矮的过梁；hold to the low lintel up：hold up to the low lintel； the low lintel：喻冥界之门很低；lintel：门或窗上的过梁，转指archway，entrance； still-defended challenge-cup：还在为保持优胜杯而在运动中角逐。

第26首

1.aspen：白杨，欧州山杨；stile：篱（或墙）两边供人越过的阶梯；stone：石墙。

2.lass：girl，sweetheart.

3.lie with earth above：长眠地下，身上覆盖着泥土。

4.sure enough：说明上节白杨低语姑娘会死，小伙子将另有新欢，不幸言中。

5.spell nothing in their stir：琢磨不透树叶飒飒作响的意思； spell：understand.

6.plain for her to understand：她很容易理解。此时小伙子担心白杨这回要预言他死，而姑娘另有新欢了。

7.a time at hand：不久的将来。

8.sleep with clover clad：身上覆盖着苜蓿草，长眠地下； clover clad：clothed with clover.

9.she beside another lad：she shall sleep beside another lad.

第54首

1.rue：sorrow，悲伤；laden：filled，burdened with.

2.golden friends：金玉良朋，亲密的朋友。

3.rose-lipt maiden：红颜朱唇的处女；rose-lipt：嘴唇像玫瑰花似的。

4.lightfoot：脚步轻快的，轻盈的。

5.laid：指死后长眠，以下sleeping之意同。

They Say My Verse Is Sad：No Wonder

They say my verse is sad：no wonder；

Its narrow measure spans

Tears of eternity，1 and sorrow，

Not mine，but man's.

This is for all ill-treated fellows

Unborn and unbegot，2

For them to read when they're in trouble

And I am not.

【注释】

1.Its narrow measure spans ... eternity：诗歌的韵律是很狭窄的，但它所描写的却是永恒的悲伤。

2.unbegot：未出生的。父亲生子女用beget。

Here Dead Lie We

Here dead lie we because we did not choose

To live and shame the land from which we sprung.1

Life，to be sure，is nothing much to lose；

But young men think it is，and we were young.

【注释】

1.shame the land from which we sprung：使我们出生的这块土地感到羞愧。

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

威廉·巴特勒·叶芝

（1865—1939）

【作者与作品简介】

诗人总是有所发展的，叶芝的特别之处在于，他不仅从象征主义发展到现代主义，而且还超越现代主义，年纪老了，仍然写出很有劲头的好诗。

有两样东西一明一暗地闪现在叶芝的诗里，一个是爱尔兰民族解放运动，一个是他个人的一套神秘主义体系。他同两者都有微妙的关系。简单地说，前者使他的诗增加了英雄主义的色彩，而这在现代英语诗里是少见的——虽然他本人对民族解放运动，特别是武装斗争有保留；后者是叶芝本人用心构筑的，但却没有毁了叶芝的诗，其情况有如叶芝本人所服膺的布莱克。

在这些之上，有叶芝的诗才吸收一切，溶化一切。他的理想世界是脱去了人间生死哀乐，只有永恒的艺术的拜占廷之类的地方。这是虚幻的，然而他能写出追求这样一个世界的实际的人的心情，他们的忧虑和憧憬是实在的。他在《二次圣临》这首诗里所写的现代西方文明的绝境：

万物崩散，中心难再维系；

世界上遍布着一派狼藉，

也是第一次世界大战以后的欧洲的写照。当他写爱尔兰解放运动的时候，他的诗进入另一种境界。一方面他不讳言自己平时对运动中某些人的厌恶和鄙视，但又能够写出起义虽失败，却使每个参加者都变得崇高了：

但一切变了，彻底变了：

一种可怕的美已经诞生。

——《一九一六年复活节》

这一种悲壮心情使他的诗行也带上英雄光泽，同时表现出诗人有高度的诚实，没有浮泛的感伤情绪。

叶芝初期的诗作是写得绝美的：朦胧，甜美而略带忧郁，充满了美丽的词藻，但他很快就学会写得实在、硬朗，而同时仍然保留了许多美丽的东西。他的诗歌语言既明白如话，又比一般白话更高一层，做到了透亮而又深刻。就像《外衣》那样不过八行的小诗，也是在优美的比喻之后来了清醒的现实感，最后归纳成为既有形象又有哲理的两行：

因为需有更大勇气

才敢于赤身行走。

可惜的是，这一点他在语言上做到了，但在思想上没有做到，神秘主义是比任何神话更沉重的外衣。《驶向拜占廷》整诗是一大象征，然而其中有极为普通的道理，用最实在的普通语言点明：

一个老人不过是废而无用，

像一根竹竿上的褴褛衣衫，

第一行是很少入诗的陈述句，第二行是来自日常生活的普通话，但两者合在一起就产生了神奇的效果：前者变成警句，后者变成确切的比喻。叶芝诗才的力量于此可见。

叶芝还写过诗剧，他同格里高利夫人一起主持的阿贝戏院在爱尔兰文艺复兴中起了重要作用。

与叶芝同时或稍后的诗人，大多佩服他的诗才。他于1923年获诺贝尔文学奖金。1939年正是欧洲双方准备大打的时候，他在战云笼罩下的法国悄然去世。然而悼念他的诗陆续出现，其著者如奥登所作。三十年代之初，在编《牛津现代英诗选》时，叶芝曾说他自己的诗不及奥登等青年诗人那样有时代感，当时奥登他们所师法的艾略特更是风靡一时，但是今天多数的批评家则认为叶芝的成就远远超过他们，他才是二十世纪上半叶最重要的英语诗人。

王佐良

When You Are Old

When you are old and grey and full of sleep，

And nodding by the fire，take down this book，1

And slowly read，and dream of the soft look

Your eyes had once，and of their shadows deep；2

How many loved your moments of glad grace，3

And loved your beauty with love false or true，

But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you，4

And loved the sorrows of your changing face；5

And bending down beside the glowing bars，6

Murmur，a little sadly，how Love fled

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

【题解】

此诗受法国十六世纪诗人皮埃尔·德·龙桑（Pierre de Ronsand，1524—1585） 的一首十四行诗的启发。龙桑诗起首即言：Quand vous serez bien vieille，au soir，à la chandelle（when you are quite old，in the evening by candle-light），但叶芝此诗的结尾却颇为不同。叶芝写此诗是献给他所热恋的女演员、爱尔兰民族主义者莫德·高纳 （Maud Gonne），他在1889 年初次遇到莫德，一见倾心，但是始终未能赢得其爱情。

【注释】

1.nodding by the fire，take down this book：fire：指壁炉之火； this book：叶芝献给莫德·高纳的诗集。

2.their shadows deep：喻双目深邃。

3.How many loved your moments of glad grace：许多人爱你那时时展现的优雅体态。

4.But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you：与第5—6两行对比，表明叶芝（one man）爱的不是对方一时的妩媚和一般的美丽，而是追求真理的精神（pilgrim soul）。按：莫德·高纳投身于爱尔兰民族解放运动，热诚不亚于宗教的朝圣者，故称pilgrim soul，但是，叶芝和莫德在爱尔兰独立问题上的政治主张并不相同。

5.the sorrows of your changing face：意为隐藏在面部神态变化下的深沉的感情； the sorrows：此处表示严肃而深沉的感情。

6.the glowing bars：在炉火照耀下闪光的铁篦； bars：壁炉前的铁制护栏。

No Second Troy

Why should I blame her that she filled my days

With misery，1or that she would of late

Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways，2

Or hurled the little streets upon the great.3

Had they but courage equal to desire？4

What could have made her peaceful with a mind

That nobleness made simple as a fire，5

With beauty like a tightened bow，a kind

That is not natural in an age like this，6

Being high and solitary and most stern？

Why，what could she have done，being what she is？

Was there another Troy for her to burn？7

【题解】

题目：Troy：特洛伊城。古希腊美人海伦 （Helen） 被特洛伊王子帕里斯 （Paris） 拐走，从而引发历时十年的特洛伊战争。叶芝此诗写的是他所钟情的莫德·高纳 （Maud Gonne），把她比作海伦。参阅以下Among School Children 一诗。莫德·高纳主张以暴力赢得爱尔兰的独立，故与叶芝的政见不合。

【注释】

1.she filled my days ... misery：叶芝热情追求莫德·高纳，却不能得到她的爱情，而且他对争取民族独立的手段和她意见分歧，因此感到痛苦。

2.she would of late ... ways：莫德·高纳向不明真相的普通群众宣传通过极端暴力行动达到目的； of late：指直到最近一段时期，因为她和丈夫约翰·麦克伯莱德少校（John McBride）离婚之后，就退出了政治舞台。按：莫德·高纳在婚前积极参与反英活动，建立爱尔兰秘密革命组织 “爱尔兰共和兄弟会” （Irish Republican Brotherhood，I.R.B.） 和法国军事情报署的联系，她还组织爆炸输送英国军人的船只。关于莫德和丈夫约翰·麦克伯莱德的关系，参见Easter 1916注16（第657页）。

3.hurled the little streets upon the great：指莫德·高纳从事的暴力革命活动，鼓动一些小型组织进行斗争； the little streets：指一些半文学性质、半政治性质的俱乐部和社团组织，叶芝和他们分歧很大，经常争论； the great：the powerful，指当权者。

4.Had they but courage equal to desire：他们会有那么一点勇气，和欲望相当？那倒好了！按：叶芝认为这些人欲望强烈，但是勇气不够； Had they but：这是他对当时从事独立运动的政治活动积极分子的看法，认为他们虽然超脱了爱尔兰人的传统，但是并没有能够学会和开创有教养的生活的传统，也没有提高修养，且由于他们的贫困、无知和迷信，总是处于各种各样的担心和害怕之中。叶芝对这些政治同僚的看法，是非常典型的爱尔兰新教徒对新兴的爱尔兰天主教中产阶级的看法。

5.That nobleness made simple as a fire：崇高的精神使她的心灵像烈火一样朴实（simple）。

6.With beauty like a tightened bow，a kind ... this：莫德·高纳热情从事革命活动，因此她的美貌变得像绷紧的弓，严峻而不温婉，这种美丽和这个时代很不相称。叶芝在《自传》 （Autobiography ） 中说，她看上去似乎是生活在古代文明之中 （ looking as if she lived in an ancient civilization），她的脸像某些希腊雕像（her face was “like the face of some Greek statue” ）。What could have made her peaceful ... stern？ 这个问句反映了叶芝心中的惆怅和疑问：她崇高的追求使她的心灵如火燃烧得那样直截了当，她的美丽像紧绷的弓那样，高傲、孤独、严峻，和这个时代格格不入，究竟是什么才有可能使她更加平和呢？

7.Was there another Troy for her to burn：海伦被帕里斯拐至特洛伊，使特洛伊毁于兵燹。马洛 （Christopher Marlowe） 在《浮士德博士》 （Dr. Faustus ） 一剧中有名句：Was this the face that launched a thousand ships，/ And burned the topless tower of Ilium. （竟是此脸催征帆，巍巍伊城化灰烬。）叶芝眼中的莫德·高纳如海伦一样美丽，但是不希望她像海伦那样，再烧掉一个特洛伊，钦佩和批评之意兼而有之。这种情绪在叶芝创作的关于这位女革命家的许多诗中均有流露。

September 1913

What need you，being come to sense，

But fumble in a greasy till^1

And add the halfpence to the pence

And prayer to shivering prayer，until

You have dried the marrow from the bone？2

For men were born to pray and save：

Romantic Ireland's dead and gone，3

It's with O'Leary^4 in the grave.

Yet they were of a different kind，

The names that stilled your childish play，

They have gone about the world like wind，

But little time had they to pray

For whom the hangman's rope was spun，

And what，God help us，could they save？

Romantic Ireland's dead and gone，

It's with O'Leary in the grave.

Was it for this the wild geese^5 spread

The grey wing upon every tide；

For this that all that blood was shed，

For this Edward Fitzgerald^6 died，

And Robert Emmet^7 and Wolfe Tone，8

All that delirium of the brave？

Romantic Ireland's dead and gone，

It's with O'Leary in the grave.

Yet could we turn the years again，9

And call those exiles as they were

In all their loneliness and pain，

You'd cry，“Some woman's yellow hair

Has maddened every mother's son”：

They weighed so lightly what they gave.

But let them be，they're dead and gone，

They're with O'Leary in the grave.

【题解】

此诗原题为《爱尔兰浪漫曲：读反对建立美术馆通信有感》（Romance in Ireland：On Reading Much of the Correspondence against the Art Gallery ），发表于1913年9月8日出版的《爱尔兰时报》（Irish Times ）。休·珀西·莱恩（Sir Percy Hugh Lane，1875—1915）爵士表示愿把他珍藏的法国印象派画家的作品献给都柏林，但要求都柏林能建立一个像样的美术馆，不意遭到反对，因此撤消捐献的打算。但是，后来根据未经证人签署的遗嘱附录，这批赠品最终献给了都柏林。

【注释】

1.What need you，being come to sense ... till：you：泛指爱尔兰人，尤其指当时崛起的新一代天主教中产阶级，叶芝在此讽刺这些人缺乏高尚的精神，贪婪而鄙微； greasy till：a box，drawer，or tray in a receptacle （as a cabinet or chest） used especially for valuables，沾满油污的钱柜。

2.dried the marrow from the bone：吸干了骨髓。

3.Romantic Ireland's dead and gone：浪漫爱尔兰，形容有崇高理想，敢于冒险和追求的爱尔兰人，而不是那些点点滴滴积聚钱财，战战兢兢地为自己祈祷 （shivering prayer）的市侩。

4.O'Leary：John O'Leary（1830—1907），约翰·奥利尔利，爱尔兰著名的民族主义者。他在被监禁五年，流放十五年以后，于1885年返回都柏林。当时叶芝二十岁，和团结在他周围的许多青年从事爱尔兰独立运动。而现在“浪漫爱尔兰”似乎已经和奥利尔利同在坟墓。

5.the wild geese：指在詹姆士二世 （James II） 退位后，因避教祸而逃到欧洲大陆去的爱尔兰人。“天主教解放法” （Catholic Emancipation Act，1892）颁布后，天主教徒才得以重返故土。

6.Edward Fitzgerald：Lord Edward Fitzgerald（1763—1798），爱德华·费兹吉拉德勋爵，爱尔兰爱国主义者，参加爱尔兰联合组织 （United Irishmen），因组织起义而被捕，受重伤，死于狱中。

7.Robert Emmet：罗伯特·艾梅特 （1778—1803），爱尔兰爱国主义者，亦是爱尔兰联合组织成员。1802年组织起义失败，以 “叛国罪” 被处死。

8.Wolfe Tone：Theobald Wolfe Tone（1763—1798），提尔博得·沃尔夫·特恩，他带领一支法国武装队伍到爱尔兰，被捕后死于狱中，可能是自杀； 他是爱尔兰人联合组织的建立者之一。

9.could we turn the years again：if we could turn the years back.

A Coat

I made my song a coat^1

Covered with embroideries

Out of old mythologies^2

From heel to throat；

But the fools caught it，

Wore it in the world's eyes

As though they'd wrought^3 it.

Song，let them take it，

For there's more enterprise

In walking naked.4

【题解】

叶芝蜚声诗坛后，效颦者蜂起。此诗作于1912年，即是讽刺他们拙劣可笑的行径，同时也表示了他对自己早年的风格的否定。

【注释】

1.I made my song a coat：此句有歧义，叶芝在手稿中修改此诗时，此后还有两行：And gave it to my song / and my song wore it —，意思非常明确：I made a coat for my song.

2.Covered with embroideries ... mythologies：叶芝爱用神话传说的典故，这里的old mythologies主要是指奥格拉蒂（O'Grady）翻译的凯尔特传说，以及其他来源的凯尔特神话和传说。叶芝认为，引用典故和神话传说只是一种形式，“一件外套” 而已，关键是内容和实质。

3.wrought：work的过去式和过去分词，现在主要用以表示锻造，精心制作，装饰等意义。模仿者则把他的这种艺术形式接过来套在自己身上，炫耀于世 （wore it in the world's eyes），东施效颦，非常可笑。

4.there's more enterprise ... naked：意为只要有创新，就不需要表面的形式。

A Song

I thought^1 no more was needed

Youth to prolong^2

Than dumb-bell and foil^3

To keep the body young.

Oh，who could have foretold

That the heart grows old？

Though I have many words，

What woman's satisfied，

I am no longer faint

Because at her side？4

Oh，who could have foretold

That the heart grows old？

I have not lost desire

But the heart that I had，

I thought 'twould^5 burn my body

Laid on the death-bed.

But who could have foretold

That the heart grows old？

【题解】

叶芝在这首诗中感叹的，不是肉体的衰老，而是心的衰老，即一个人的青春和热情的消退。

【注释】

1.I thought：“我原以为” 和下面的 “谁又会预见到”（ who could have foretold） 形成对照。

2.Youth to prolong：to prolong youth.

3.dumb-bell and foil：哑铃和 （练剑术用的） 钝头剑。按：叶芝练过哑铃，并在1912—1913年期间向庞德（Ezra Pound ） 学过击剑。

4.Though I have many words ... side：这一句很容易误解，如有的中文本译文为：我能说会道，什么样的女人又确信只因在她身边我就不再会眩晕？这句的正确意思是：尽管我巧于辞令，但是，我不再会因有女人挨近身边而激动得晕倒，又有哪个女人会对此感到满意呢？

5.'twould：it would； it：指desire，情欲。这句意为：我失去了心，但是没有失去情欲，原以为即使我在弥留之际，情欲依然能使我的身体激动不已，但是，谁知道心已经老了，其他一切皆无可能，亦无意义。

Easter 1916

I have met them^1 at close of day

Coming with vivid faces

From counter or desk^2 among grey

Eighteenth-century houses.3

I have passed with a nod of the head

Or polite meaningless words，4

Or have lingered awhile and said

Polite meaningless words，

And thought before I had done

Of a mocking tale or a gibe

To please a companion

Around the fire at the club，5

Being certain that they and I

But lived where motley is worn：6

All changed，changed utterly：7

A terrible beauty is born.8

That woman's^9 days were spent

In ignorant good-will，10

Her nights in argument^11

Until her voice grew shrill.

What voice more sweet^12 than hers

When，young and beautiful，

She rode to harriers？13

This man had kept a school

And rode our winged horse；14

This other^15 his helper and friend

Was coming into his force；

He might have won fame in the end，

So sensitive his nature seemed，

So daring and sweet his thought.

This other man I had dreamed

A drunken，vainglorious lout.16

He had done most bitter wrong

To some who are near my heart，17

Yet I number him in the song；18

He，too，has resigned his part

In the casual comedy；19

He，too，has been changed in his turn，

Transformed utterly：

A terrible beauty is born.

Hearts with one purpose alone

Through summer and winter seem

Enchanted to a stone

To trouble the living stream.20

The horse that comes from the road，

The rider，the birds that range

From cloud to tumbling cloud，

Minute by minute they change；21

A shadow of cloud on the stream

Changes minute by minute；

A horse-hoof slides on the brim，22

And a horse plashes within it；

The long-legged moor-hens dive，23

And hens to moor-cocks call；

Minute by minute they live：

The stone's in the midst of all.24

Too long a sacrifice

Can make a stone of the heart.

O when may it suffice？25

That is Heaven's part，26 our part

To murmur name upon name，27

As a mother names her child

When sleep at last has come

On limbs that had run wild.28

What is it but nightfall？29

No，no，not night but death；

Was it needless death after all？30

For England may keep faith

For all that is done and said.31

We know their dream； enough

To know they dreamed and are dead；

And what if excess of love

Bewildered them till they died？32

I write it out in a verse —

MacDonagh and MacBride

And Connolly^33 and Pearse

Now and in time to be，

Wherever green is worn，

Are changed，changed utterly：

A terrible beauty is born.

【题解】

1916年4月24日（复活节），爱尔兰共和兄弟会（Irish Republican Brotherhood） 在詹姆斯·康诺利 （James Connolly） 和帕特里克·皮尔斯（Pádraic Pearce）以及另外15名骨干的领导下，组织起义，反对英国统治，宣布成立爱尔兰共和国。英政府立即镇压，斗争一周后，4月29日不幸失败。起义组织者有的当场被枪杀，有的遭监禁，并于5月5日被处决。这一周的巷战被称为“复活节起义” （Easter Rebellion）。在这次起义中，三百多人遇难，两千多人被投入监狱。

【注释】

1.them：起义的组织者和领导人。

2.From counter or desk：这些人职业不同，或站店堂柜台，或坐办公室。

3.Eighteenth-century house：十八世纪英国式的灰砖房子，当时都柏林的建筑普遍如此。

4.I have passed with a nod of the head ... words：意为诗人和这些人只是一般的关系，见面时点点头或客套几句 （polite meaningless words），最多也只是停下来（lingered a while）客套寒喧一番。

5.And thought before I had done ...club：还未客套完 （before I had done），就已经动脑筋想在俱乐部的炉火旁聊天时拿他们开心（thought ... of a mocking tale and jibe），逗人乐一下； gibe：jibe，an insulting or mocking remark，逗趣，调侃，此处为名词，亦可作动词； club：可能指Art Club，叶芝是会员，迪更生（P.L. Dickinson）在其《昨日都伯林》（Dublin of Yesterday ）（1929） 一书中对这个艺术俱乐部有详细的描述，还提到叶芝曾有一次一个晚上吃了两顿饭。

6.lived where motley is worn：在宫廷或贵族家中供主子取乐的丑角所穿的花衣服。此处意为叶芝和他们生活的爱尔兰是个常开玩笑的地方，彼此打趣寻开心是常事。

7.All changed，changed utterly：以上第5—14行叙述叶芝和起义领导人的关系，原来不过是一般熟人，而且彼此之间互相取笑，但是，复活节起义之后，一切都变了。

8.A terrible beauty is born：叶芝名句，是他对这次起义的评价。A terrible beauty：说明起义是不幸的，但又是英勇壮丽的。叶芝本人已经脱离爱尔兰独立运动多年，并且他一向反对暴力行动，故terrible一字还暗示他不赞成这次起义。但是，他毕竟又被人民的壮举所感动，故采用了这一矛盾修饰法 （oxymoron），而且还以born一字点出这次起义刚好选择在耶稣复活升天节，起义失败了，但又 “降生了”。

9.That woman：指康丝坦丝· 高尔-布斯 （Constance Gore-Booth，1868 — 1927）； 她出生于斯莱戈（Sligo）的名门望族，嫁给波兰公爵后改称马凯维兹公爵夫人（Countess Markievicz）。她是激进的民族主义者，起义失败后被判处死刑，后改为无期徒刑，1917年大赦时获释。叶芝On a Political Prisoner 和In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz 两首诗即是为她而作。按：叶芝在其诗中将Markievicz拼写为Markiewicz，和波兰文原名略有不同。

10.In ignorant good-will：叶芝认为她参加革命运动虽然出于善意，但不免无知。他在纪念高尔-布斯姐妹俩的诗In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz 中描写她：“condemned to death，I Pardoned，drags out lonely years，I Conspiring among the ignorant”.叶芝的这种看法在其他诗中亦有表露，如在No Second Troy 中说莫德·高纳（Maud Gonne）鼓动无知者采用暴力：“Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways.”

11.Her nights in argument：可以认为nights后省去were spent两字。

12.more sweet：sweeter，较为古旧的用法。

13.rode to harriers：骑马携猎犬打猎； harrier是一种猎兔犬。叶芝在咏康丝坦丝· 高尔-布斯的诗On a Political Prisoner 中叶写到她骑马的形象：When long ago I saw her ride / Under Ben Bulben to the meet，/ The beauty of her countryside / With all youth's lonely wildness stirred，/ She seemed to have grown clean and sweet / Like any rock-bred，sea-borne bird. 按：Ben Bulben 是County Sligo 附近的一座山，离她家不远。

14.This man had kept a school ... horse：This man：即帕特里克·皮尔斯（Pádraic Pearce，1878—1916），起义的主要组织者之一，在复活节起义中任总指挥（Commander-General） 和临时政府总统，失败后被英军枪杀； had kept a school：指他曾在都柏林附近的Rathfarnham地方创办圣埃得那男子学校（St. Edna's School for Boys）； rode our winged horse：喻皮尔斯和叶芝同是诗人； winged horse：（飞马） 指希腊神活中的Pegasus，其足踩过之处即有灵泉涌出，诗人饮之可获灵感。按：皮尔斯还领导了在爱尔兰复兴盖尓特语的运动，出版过用盖尔特语和英语写的诗歌和散文。

15.This other：指托马斯·麦克多诺（Thomas MacDonagh，1878—1916 ）都柏林大学学院的英文教授、诗人、剧作家和文学批评家。以下第28行的He亦指麦克多诺。

16.This other man I had dreamed ... lout：指约翰·麦克伯莱德少校（Major John McBride），莫德·高纳的丈夫，他曾经在布尔战争（Boer War） 中反抗英军。莫德·高纳嫁给这位少校，使热心追求她的叶芝十分伤心。但是，由于少校酣酒，对莫德不好，两人不久即分居；此句意为：叶芝向来对少校没有好感，一直认为（I had dreamed） 他是个醉鬼，自命不凡的粗暴之徒（vainglorious lout），谁知他也脱胎换骨了（transformed utterly）。

17.He had done most bitter wrong ... heart：少校对莫德不好，“最对不起她的事” 可能指和莫德离婚。莫德虽然始终不接受叶芝的爱，最终和少校结婚，但叶芝仍然惦念着她一如既往 （near my heart）。

18.Yet I number him in the song：然而我在诗歌中也要提到他； number：算上，列入。

19.has resigned his part ... comedy：他在这个漫不经意的喜剧里走过场； resigned his part：放弃了他演的角色，走过场；复活节起义未经周密准备，仓促行事，故说casual comedy。

20.Hearts with one purpose alone ... stream：意为如果心中终年只有一个目标，那就像被河流中的顽石迷住那样，搅乱活跃的生命流水； Hearts ... Enchanted to a stone：叶芝指那些投身于事业而不顾个人安危的人。顽石是叶芝的一个意象，表示政治如何影响特别是像莫德这样的革命志士。

21.The horse that comes from the road ... change：路上的奔马、骑士、鸟和云彩等均表现了瞬间变化的意象 （minute by minute they change）。

22.brim：the margin or brink of a river or lake，河滩，湖滩。

23.moor-hens dive：母红松鸡从高处往下猛扑。

24.Minute by minute they live ... all：马和红松鸡等生活在运动之中，而石头却在这生命的运动之中僵化不动，两者形成鲜明对比。

25.when may it suffice：承上两行，意为长期的牺牲会使人心如石头，这种情况何时了结？按：第57—80行叙述了叶芝对整个事件的迷茫心理：世上的一切都在不断变动之中，唯有爱尔兰政局和自由斗士为此作出的多次无谓的牺牲使人感到麻木。

26.That is Heaven's part：这是上天的事情。

27.our part ... name：（我们的本分） 只是喃喃念叨死者的名字； part后省略is。

28.As a mother names her child ... wild：犹如孩子玩闹够了疲惫地入睡之后，母亲在喃喃地念着孩子的名字。

29.What is it but nightfall：难道这只是夜晚的梦寐呓语吗？指上文所说一再失败和牺牲使人心如木石，人们只是喃喃梦语，此外别无所为。

30.Was it needless death after all：这次起义的失败使很多人如此发问，更是叶芝本人的疑问。

31.For England may keep faith ... said：尽管英国政府的所为和所说，它仍然可能会信守诺言，允许爱尔兰自治。按：英政府在1914年就已通过爱尔兰自治法案（Home Rule Act），但是因第一次世界大战而推迟实行自治法案 （即all that is done）； 另一方面，也有谣传说可能撤消该法案 （即all that is said）。

32.We know their dream； enough ... died：我们知道他们的梦想，知道他们梦想并已死了，那就够了； 狂热之爱使他们迷惑不堪，直至死去，那又怎么办呢？ 这里表现了叶芝的迷茫心情。

33.Connolly：James Connolly （1870—1916），詹姆斯·康诺利，爱尔兰工人领袖，这次武装起义的主要组织者，负伤后被英军用轮椅拉到刑场枪杀。临死时对枪杀他的英军说：“You can shoot me if you like but I am dying for my country.”

An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

I know that I shall meet my fate^1

Somewhere among the clouds above；2

Those that I fight I do not hate，

Those that I guard I do not love；3

My country is Kiltartan Cross，4

My countrymen Kiltartan's poor，

No likely end could bring them loss

Or leave them happier than before.5

Nor law，nor duty^6 bade me fight，

Nor public men，nor cheering crowds，7

A lonely impulse of delight

Drove to this tumult in the clouds；8

I balanced all，brought all to mind，9

The years to come seemed waste of breath，

A waste of breath the years behind

In balance with this life，this death.10

【题解】

叶芝的好朋友格雷戈利夫人（Lady Gregory）的儿子罗伯特·格雷戈利少校（Robert Gregory）于1918年1月23日在意大利前线阵亡。除此之外，叶芝还有纪念他的其他若干诗作，如In Memory of Major Robert Gregory 等。在此诗中，叶芝以英国空军中一位爱尔兰飞行员的口吻，叙述了他对这场战争的看法。作为一个受压迫民族的军人，去参加一场毫无意义的战争，保卫的不是他爱的英国，打击的不是他恨的德国，但之所以还要去参战，无非是寻求一点刺激而已。

【注释】

1.meet my fate：丧命。

2.among the clouds above：空军飞行员会在高空中丧命，故说在云层。

3.Those that I fight I do not hate ... love：这两行写得直截了当，道出了英国空军中的爱尔兰飞行员的心态。叶芝的诗行有时简单如白话，但切中要害。

4.My country is Kiltartan Cross：Kiltartan Cross 是地名，离格雷戈利家 Coole Park 不远的一个地方。此处my country 谓“我的故乡”。

5.No likely end could bring them loss ... before：战争的任何结局都不可能使他家乡的穷人遭受什么损失，也不会使他们得到好处，这场战争与他们无甚关系。

6.Nor law，nor duty：neither law nor duty； nor ... nor...是较为古旧的用法，常用于诗歌。

7.Nor public men，nor cheering crowds：不是政界和社会上的知名人士或欢呼的群众使我上前线； 后面省略bade me fight。

8.A lonely impulse of delight ... clouds：参军上前线的 “愉快的冲动” 促使他加入了空中的混战 （tumult）； lonely：表现了爱尔兰军人在英国军队中的孤寂，与这场战争毫不相干。

9.I balanced all，brought all to mind：我全面考虑和权衡了这一切。

10.The years to come seemed waste of breath ... death：与这种生死不定的生活权衡一下，无论是 “将来” （The years to come），还是 “过去” （the years behind） 都是一句空话 （waste of breath）。

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer；1

Things fall apart； the centre cannot hold；2

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world，3

The blood-dimmed tide^4 is loosed，and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned；5

The best lack all conviction，while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.6

Surely some revelation is at hand；7

Surely the Second Coming^8 is at hand.

The Second Coming！ Hardly are those words out^9

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi 10

Troubles my sight：somewhere in sands of the desert；11

A shape with lion body and the head of a man，12

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun，13

Is moving its slow thighs，while all about it

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.14

The darkness drops again but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle，

And what rough beast，its hour come round at last，

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born？15

【题解】

此诗作于1919年1月，反映了叶芝对英政府派警备队镇压爱尔兰共和党人的态度。“The Second Coming” 一语出自《圣经》，这里有两层意思。在《新约·马太福音》 （Matthew ） 中耶稣预言他将重临人间，带来太平盛世。另在《新约·约翰一书》（I John ）中第二章十八节里则预言有个行凶的 “伪基督” （Antichrist） 在世界末日之前到来。本诗把这两者结合起来，说明新世纪的到来孕育着一种危机，就是伪基督到来引起的天下大乱。叶芝在1938年的一信中提到此诗，证明他对法西斯主义的抬头并非麻木不仁。他说 “欧洲发生的情况使人全身毛骨悚然”（Every nerve trembles with horror at what is happening in Europe），“纯洁无邪的礼仪遭到灭顶之灾”（The ceremony of innocence is drowned ）。

【注释】

1.Turning and turning in the widening gyre ... falconer：猎鹰在空中盘旋的圈子越来越大，越飞越远，因此听不见驯猎鹰者的声音； gyre：a circular or spiral turn，or movement，盘旋，圆锥形螺旋。叶芝也曾用逆向交叉的螺旋形来象征人生中互相冲突的力量。在本诗中，他用的是单一的螺旋。它向外旋转，不断扩大，达到极限以后，一个时代就会终结，而新的时代将在暴力和动乱中诞生。他认为每两千年循环一次，当时爱尔兰的民族危机使他感到新的纪元即将开始。螺旋圈的扩大也说明猎鹰失去了主人的控制。

2.Things fall apart； the centre cannot hold：世界分崩离析，中心无法控制整体。这是叶芝对第一次世界大战之后的世界的看法，用他的圆锥形螺旋意象来说，本来盘旋的圆锥形完全散了架子。

3.Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world：无政府状态在全世界泛滥。

4.The blood-dimmed tide：鲜血染红的潮流。叶芝可能想到刚刚结束的世界大战，他也承认不自觉地预言了法西斯主义的兴起。

5.The ceremony of innocence is drowned：天真纯洁的礼仪遭到淹没。叶芝认为礼仪是文化生活的基础。

6.The best lack all conviction，while the worst ... intensity：最好的人缺乏信念，而最坏的人却狂热绝顶。在混乱的世界中善人和恶人的不同反应。

7.some revelation is at hand：某种启示即将到来。以下描绘伪基督 （敌基督） 降临的情景。如《新约 ·约翰一书》（I John ） 2：18：Little children，it is the last time：and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come，even now are there many antichrists； whereby we know that it is the last time. （小子们哪，如今是末时了。你们曾听见说，那敌基督的要来。现在已经有好些敌基督的出来了，从此我们就知道如今是末时了。）

8.the Second Coming：《圣经》中多次提到耶稣再到人世，如《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ） 24：44：Therefore be ye also ready：for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. （所以，你们也要预备，因为你们想不到的时候，人子就来了。）

9.Hardly are those words out：这句话还没说完，话音未落。

10.Spiritus Mundi：the spirit or soul of the Universe，宇宙之灵。叶芝以此词表示“一个公共而不属于任何个人的意象仓库”（A general storehouse of images which have ceased to be the property of any personality or spirit）； 亦称 “大记忆”（the Great Memory）。

11.somewhere in sands of the desert：有的版本作a waste of desert land。

12.A shape with lion body and the head of a man：即斯芬克斯，埃及的狮身人面形像是男性，不同于希腊的狮身人面怪兽是女性。

13.A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun：（这人面狮身的怪物）目光呆滞，像（炽烈的）太阳那样无情。

14.Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds：Reel：有的版本作wind，都表示盘旋之意，即沙漠上空激烈翻飞的鸟旋转的影子； indignant：形容鸟的奋飞，比较《庄子·逍遥游》 第一：北冥有鱼，其名为鲲。鲲之大，不知其几千里也。化而为鸟，其名为鹏。鹏之大，不知其几千里也；怒而飞，其翼若垂天之云。

15.but now I know... born：第18—22行描绘耶稣诞生后两千年以来，人类经历着一场恶梦，而伪基督像人面狮身的怪物将来到人间； stony sleep：人类两千年在摇篮里的沉睡；slouches towards Bethlehem：伪基督这个怪兽缓缓地迈向伯利恒，即耶稣诞生地。《新约》里多次提到怪兽的出现，如《新约·启示录》（Revelation ）13：1：And I stood upon the sand of the sea，and saw a beast rise up out of the sea，having seven heads and ten horns，and upon his horns ten crowns，and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. （我又看见一个兽从海中上来，有十角七头，在十角上戴着十个冠冕，七头上有亵渎的名号。）又15：7：And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God，who liveth for ever and ever. （四活物中有一个把盛满了活到永永远远之神大怒的七个金碗给了那七个天使。）

Sailing to Byzantium

1

That is no country for old men. The young

In one another's arms，1 birds in the trees

— Those dying generations^2 — at their song，

The salmon-falls，the mackerel-crowded seas，3

Fish，flesh，or fowl，commend all summer long

Whatever is begotten，born，and dies.

Caught in that sensual music all neglect

Monuments of unageing intellect.4

2

An aged man is but a paltry thing，

A tattered coat upon a stick，5 unless

Soul clap its hands and sing，6 and louder sing

For every tatter in its mortal dress，7

Nor is there singing school but studying

Monuments of its own magnificence；8

And therefore I have sailed the seas and come

To the holy city of Byzantium.

3

O sages standing in God's holy fire^9

As in the gold mosaic of a wall，10

Come from the holy fire，perne in a gyre，11

And be the singing-masters of my soul.

Consume my heart away；12 sick with desire

And fastened to a dying animal

It knows not what it is；13 and gather me

Into the artifice of eternity.14

4

Once out of nature I shall never take

My bodily form from any natural thing，15

But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make

Of hammered gold and gold enameling

To keep a drowsy Emperor awake；16

Or set upon a golden bough^17 to sing

To lords and ladies of Byzantium

Of what is past，or passing，or to come.18

【题解】

《驶向拜占庭》可以说是另一诗《拜占庭》的姐妹篇。叶芝把拜占庭视为艺术和智慧技能的象征，与生物活动的自然世界相区别。随着年事的增高，诗人逐渐厌弃代表尘世生死的感官世界，向往永无止境的艺术世界，虽然在后期他又重新回复到感官世界。叶芝在其《视野》（A Vision ） 一文中说：“I think that if I could be given a month of antiquity and leave to spend it where I chose，I would spend it in Byzantium （modern Istanbul） a little before Justinian opened St. Sophia and closed the Academy of Plato （i.e. ca. 535 C.E.） ... I think that in early Byzantium，maybe never before or since in recorded history，religious，aesthetic，and practical life were one，that architects and artificers ... spoke to the multitude in gold and silver. The painter，the mosaic worker，the worker in gold and silver，the illuminator of sacred books were almost impersonal，almost perhaps without the consciousness of individual design，absorbed in their subject matter and the vision of a whole people.”（我想，如果我能在上古时代生活一个月，并能自由选择去处，我将愿意在拜占庭度过这段时光，这段时间略略在杰斯丁那开设圣索菲亚教堂，关闭柏拉图学院之前（即大约为公元 535年）。我认为，自有史记载以来，在早期的拜占庭，既非在此之前亦非之后，宗教、美学和实际生活浑然一体，建筑师和艺术技师是用金银在向大众表达思想。画家、雕刻家和金银匠几乎都不具人格，几乎都未意识到个人的设计，因为他们完全沉浸在他们的主题和整个民族的想象力之中。）按：拜占庭最初为古希腊殖民城市，位于博斯普罗斯海峡两岸。公元395年，罗马帝国分裂后，成为东罗马帝国（拜占庭帝国）都城。拜占庭工商业和艺术均很发达，建筑雄伟，圣索菲亚教堂闻名于世。1453年被奥斯曼土耳其人占领以后，改名为伊斯坦布尔。

【注释】

1.The young ... arms：青年人拥抱在一起。以下都说明 “这不是老年人的国家”。

2.Those dying generations：年轻活泼的一代又一代都难免衰老死亡。

3.The salmon-falls，the mackerel-crowded seas：那大马哈鱼冲刺的瀑布，那鲭鱼云集的深海。大马哈鱼产子时逆江河而上； 鲭鱼则在深海中下子。此处描绘万物孳生繁殖。

4.Caught in that sensual music all neglect ... intellect：沉溺在感官享乐之中年轻人都忽视了永不衰老的精神产品； sensual music：象征感官的享乐。

5.An aged man is but a paltry thing ... stick：老年人只不过是不中用的东西，像是挂在竹竿上的破衣衫。

6.unless ... sing：unless后引起虚拟式，意为除非精神愉怡。

7.and louder sing ... dress：and unless louder sing etc.； 凡人的衣衫（mortal dress）象征人生，破布条的撕落象征衰老。灵魂只有为肉体的衰亡更加大声歌唱，才能摆脱老年的悲凉境地。

8.Nor is there singing school but studying ... magnificence：意为没有音乐学院教灵魂（为减轻衰老的痛苦而） 歌唱，而只能通过研究灵魂自身的杰作来做到这一点； its：of the soul.

9.sages：哲人。叶芝故意把saints （圣人） 改为哲人，以增加尘世的形象； God's holy fire：上帝的圣火。

10.As in the gold mosaic of a wall：like the mosaic figures on the walls of the church of Hagia Sophia （“Holy Wisdom”） in Byzantium，拜占庭圣索菲亚教堂镶嵌在墙壁上的圣像。

11.perne in a gyre：whirl round a spinal motion，作螺旋形旋转； perne：pirn，即线轴，纺纱用的筒管。叶芝喜将此词作动词用，作to spin round解； gyre：是螺旋，亦是叶芝爱用之词，表示历史的一个周期，参阅The Second Coming 一诗注。此几行意为老人请求哲人从没有止境和生死的神圣境界降临下来，开导和启发他。

12.Consume my heart away：请哲人消除这颗凡夫俗子的心。

13.sick with desire ... what it is：从句法结构上讲，sick应修饰heart，以下的it亦指heart，但从意义上看，修饰my soul更贴切。这里说由于灵魂遭欲念的折磨，并且被束缚在濒死的肉体上（a dying animal），故不能认识自我。

14.the artifice of eternity：叶芝曾在 The Tables of the Law中提到：“that supreme art which is to win us from life and gather us into eternity like doves into their dove-cots.” （那种最高境界的艺术将会使我们超凡脱俗，引入永恒的殿堂，犹如鸽子进入鸽舍。）

15.Once out of nature I shall never take ... thing：一旦脱离了自然界，即摆脱了肉体的束缚，再也不要从自然界得到肉体的形态。

16.But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make ... awake：But take such a form etc.； Grecian：拜占庭最初为古希腊殖民城市，故此处称希腊金匠。叶芝自注：“I have read somewhere that in the Emperor's palace at Byzantium was a tree made of gold and silver，and artificial birds that sang.”（我记得在什么地方读到，在拜占庭的王宫里有一棵金银铸成的树，树上有会唱歌的人造鸟。）

17.a golden bough：在维吉尔的《埃涅阿斯纪》（Aeneid ） 第四卷中，女巫告诉埃涅阿斯，他必须从附近的树上摘一根金枝，才能进入冥间。树上只有一枝这样的树枝，并且摘掉后立即又长出一枝。

18.what is past，or passing，or to come：最后一行象征老人只有达到这一境界，才能不为死亡所扰，而在永恒的艺术世界永远歌唱。这行和上面第6行Whatever is begotten，born，and dies相呼应。

Leda and the Swan

A sudden blow：the great wings beating still

Above the staggering girl，her thighs caressed

By the dark webs，her nape caught in his bill，

He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.1

How can those terrified vague fingers^2 push

The feathered glory from her loosening thighs？3

And how can body，laid in that white rush，4

But feel the strange heart beating where it lies？

A shudder in the loins engenders there

The broken wall，the burning roof and tower

And Agamemnon dead.5

Being so caught up，

So mastered by the brute blood of the air，6

Did she put on his knowledge with his power

Before the indifferent beak could let her drop？7

【题解】

谈到这首诗的创作，叶芝解释说，政治评论杂志《爱尔兰政治家》（Irish Statesman ）的编辑请他写一首诗。叶芝说：“I thought ‘after the individualist，demagogic movement，founded by Hobbes and popularized by the Encyclopaedists and the French Revolution，we have a soil so exhausted that it cannot grow that crop again for centuries.’”（“我想：‘经过了由霍布斯创建，并经百科全书学家传播的个人主义的、蛊惑民心运动和法国革命之后，我们的土壤已经彻底贫瘠，那种庄稼今后几千年也不可能再生长了。’”）“Then I thought ‘Nothing is now possible but some movement，or birth from above，preceded by some violent annunciation.’ My fancy began to play with Leda and the Swan for metaphor and I began this poem； but as I wrote，bird and lady took such possession of the scene that all politics went out of it，and my friend tells me that ‘his conservative readers would misunderstand the poem.”（“然后我又想：‘除了某些运动，或者是从上而来的新生命，并且还要有狂暴的先导，其他都不可能产生。’于是，我就想到了以丽达和天鹅作为比喻，并开始创作这首诗。但是，随着我的落笔，鸟和女人占据了整个场面，以至于所有的政治问题都出局了，我的朋友对我说‘他那些保守的读者会误解这首诗’。”） 一般认为，叶芝创作这首诗，依据的是保存在威尼斯的米开朗基罗关于这个主题的一幅名画，叶芝有这幅画的彩色复制品。但是也有人认为，大英博物馆里藏的意大利古国伊特鲁利亚浅浮雕（Etruscan bas-relief） 更加接近叶芝所描述的情景。《丽达和天鹅》象征一种生命的诞生，而这种生命的形成本身首先是暴力的表达。

【注释】

1.A sudden blow：the great wings beating still ... breast：这四行诗充分体现了叶芝的诗歌创作才能，可以说是一笔不漏，高度概括和描绘了朱庇特 （Jupiter） 化作天鹅，抱住丽达强行求爱的情景。无论是米开朗基罗的画还是伊特鲁利亚浅浮雕上的艺术形象，都被叶芝完整地化作诗歌的语言，堪称一绝。

2.those terrified vague fingers：丽达在天鹅的怀里惊恐万端、半推半就； vague fingers：这两个词用得精妙，丽达只是用“手指”来推开天鹅，显然不够坚决，而且其拒绝又是忸怩作态，意思非常含糊。

3.The feathered glory from her loosening thighs：承上行：丽达怎么可能把丰满的羽毛从她逐渐松开的大腿中推开呢？说明她实际上并不诚心抵抗； glory：形容天鹅浓密的羽毛，又表示朱庇特至高无上的荣耀。

4.that white rush：形容朱庇特化作天鹅，披着一身白色的羽毛扑到丽达身上的情景。参见本书斯宾塞《贺婚曲》（Prothalamion，39—45）：Two fairer birds I yet did never see； / The snow which doth the top of Pindus strew / Did never whiter shew，/ Nor Jove himself，when he a swan would be / For love of Leda，whiter did appear； / Yet Leda was，they say，as white as he，/ Yet not so white as these，nor nothing near.

5.A shudder in the loins engenders there ... dead：丽达胯下一阵冲动，造成 （engenders，产生）了断壁残垣，阿伽门农（Agamemnon）死于非命。按：朱庇特“强暴”丽达，生下了两个女儿，即绝代佳人海伦（Helen）和克里蒂莫讷斯特拉（Clytemnestra）。特洛伊王子帕里斯到希腊拐走海伦，引起长达十年的特洛伊战争，最后特洛伊城陷落，被大火烧毁。阿伽门农和梅涅劳斯（Menelaus）是兄弟俩，海伦嫁给梅涅劳斯，克里蒂莫讷斯特拉嫁给阿伽门农。阿伽门农是攻打特洛伊的希腊军统帅，战争结束后回国，被其妻克里蒂莫讷斯特拉的情人埃癸斯托斯（Aegisthus）谋杀。参见《奥德修纪》第二卷（OdesseyBook II ）。叶芝仅用了一行诗就把这段历史高度概括了，正如他在Easter 1916一诗中的名句 “A terrible beauty is born” 概括和描绘了爱尔兰革命派的复活节起义。按：并非是这一次事件（A sudden blow 和a shudder in the loins）使丽达生下两个女儿。海伦和克里蒂莫讷斯特拉不是孪生姐妹。

6.mastered by the brute blood of the air：朱庇特从天上下凡，且以暴力为之，故云。

7.Did she put on his knowledge with his power ... drop：和第3行天鹅咬着她后脖子（her nape caught in her bill）呼应。天鹅既已达到目的，现在已经无所谓了（indifferent），咬住她后脖子的喙放开她，这时候，她是否在获得他的力量同时，也获得了他的智慧？意为丽达根本不知道此事的后果如何。

Among School Children

1

I walk through the long schoolroom questioning；1

A kind old nun in a white hood^2 replies；

The children learn to cipher^3 and to sing，

To study reading-books and histories，

To cut and sew，be neat in everything^4

In the best modern way — the children's eyes

In momentary wonder stare upon

A sixty-year-old smiling public man.5

2

I dream of a Ledaean body，6 bent

Above a sinking fire，a tale that she

Told of a harsh reproof，or trivial event

That changed some childish day to tragedy^7 —

Told，and it seemed that our two natures blent

Into a sphere from youthful sympathy，8

Or else，to alter Plato's parable，

Into the yolk and white of the one shell.9

3

And thinking of that fit of grief or rage^10

I look upon one child or t'other^11 there

And wonder if she stood so at that age —

For even daughters of the swan can share

Something of every paddler's heritage^12—

And had that color upon cheek or hair，

And thereupon my heart is driven wild：

She stands before me as a living child.

4

Her present image^13 floats into the mind —

Did Quattrocento^14 finger fashion it

Hollow of cheek as though it drank the wind

And took a mess of shadows for its meat？15

And I though never of Ledaean kind

Had pretty plumage once^16— enough of that，

Better to smile on all that smile，and show

There is a comfortable kind of old scarecrow.

5

What youthful mother，17 a shape upon her lap

Honey of generation had betrayed，

And that must sleep，shriek，struggle to escape

As recollection or the drug decide，18

Would think her son，did she but see that shape

With sixty or more winters on its head，19

A compensation for the pang of his birth，

Or the uncertainty of his setting forth？

6

Plato thought nature but a spume that plays

Upon a ghostly paradigm of things；

Solider Aristotle played the taws

Upon the bottom of a king of kings；20

World-famous golden-thighed Pythagoras^21

Fingered upon a fiddle-stick or strings

What a star sang and careless Muses^22 heard：

Old clothes upon old sticks to scare a bird.23

7

Both nuns and mothers worship images，24

But those the candles light are not as those

That animate a mother's reveries，

But keep a marble or a bronze repose.25

And yet they too break hearts — O Presences

That passion，piety or affection knows，26

And that all heavenly glory symbolize —

O self-born mockers of man's enterprise；27

8

Labor is blossoming or dancing where

The body is not bruised to pleasure soul.

Nor beauty born out of its own despair，

Nor blear-eyed wisdom out of midnight oil.28

O chestnut-tree，great-rooted blossomer，

Are you the leaf，the blossom or the bole？29

O body swayed to music，30 O brightening glance，

How can we know the dancer from the dance？31

【题解】

叶芝在1925 年60岁时任爱尔兰自由州参议员，常去学校视察。这首诗是他在1926年2月考察了东南部港市沃特福特（Waterford）的圣奥特莱学校（St. Otteran School）之后有感而作。这个学校按照意大利女教育家玛利亚·蒙台梭利（Maria Montessori，1870—1952） 的教育原则办学，叶芝非常赞赏。叶芝从参观学校，联想到人生不能久驻，自然规律不可抗拒，但是最为令人失落的则是一生的追求和目标不能得以实现。诗人提出一些富于哲理的问题，探求人生的真正含义。有些批评家认为这是叶芝最好的一首诗。

【注释】

1.I walk through the long schoolroom questioning：叶芝到学校视察，询问和了解情况； the long schoolroom：并非教室特别长，而是象征漫长的人生。

2.A kind old nun in a white hood：A kind old nun：指校长菲洛米娜修道院长、教士（Reverend Mother Philomena）； hood：头巾，修女头上的兜帽。

3.cipher：计算。

4.be neat in everything：（学会） 把任何事情都做得十分妥帖； neat：adroit，deft，熟练。

5.In momentary wonder stare upon ... man：A sixty-year-old smiling public man 是诗人自谓，当时担任公职，而且获得诺贝尔文学奖，名声很大，学生听得他到来，自然充满惊异。

6.I dream of a Ledaean body：我心中浮现出海伦的身形； a Leadean body：a Helen-like body； Ledaean一词来自Leda （丽达），参见上一首诗Leda and the Swan 。叶芝所谓a Ledaean body实指他终生爱慕的爱尔兰民族主义者莫德·高纳 （Maud Gonne），参阅前面No Second Troy 一诗。按原义，a Ledaean body当指a Leda's body。

7.bent ... tragedy：这四行写得极其含蓄，可有不同的诠释：从字面上看，可以理解为诗人想象到一个像海伦那样的人，俯身看着那熄灭的火焰，给他讲述学校里发生的必须严厉责罚的事情，或是一件微不足道的小事，把儿童的日子变成了悲剧。海伦是特洛伊城被毁灭的缘由，她俯身看着被烧毁的一片废墟——这个意象本身就是由她所造成严重后果的故事。

8.our two natures blent ... sympathy：意为我们俩浑然成为一体，皆因年轻时互相同情；sphere：一个球状的整体，和下面的one shell 相对照；“我们俩”指诗人和他所想象的海伦。

9.to alter Plato's parable ... shell：改变柏拉图的道德寓言，（我俩的天性） 结合成同一蛋壳里的蛋黄和蛋白。柏拉图在哲学对话《会饮篇》（Symposium ） 中提到，古希腊喜剧诗人阿里斯托芬（Aristophanes）和苏格拉底讨论爱情起源问题时假设，原始人都是圆的，有四手四足，背和两侧成圆形，一个头两个脸，后来被宙斯劈为两半，成一男一女。被劈开的这两部分为爱情驱使，互相抱住，希望结合为一体。海伦为丽达和宙斯化成的天鹅所生，应该生于蛋，故叶芝想象这样一种结合。

10.fit of grief or rage：一阵悲哀或愤怒。

11.t'other：the other.

12.paddler's heritage：天鹅脚趾间有膜，浮水时可以拨水，故称paddler； 其遗产指因遗传而得的洁白如羽毛的肤色。

13.Her present image：莫德·高纳晚年身体很瘦弱。见第27—28行的描述。

14.Quattrocento：十五世纪； 此处指该时期的意大利画家，尤其是指波提切利（Botticelli，1444—1550）。此行说她的形象是否由波提切利这样的画家所描绘的。

15.Hollow of cheek as though it drank the wind ... meat：营养不良，双颊深陷，好像喝的是风，吃的食品是影子。

16.I thought never of Ledaean kind ... once：Ledaean kind that had pretty plumage once； 诗人从不认为海伦的身材是丰满的； pretty plumage：羽毛丰满，指海伦是化作天鹅的朱庇特和丽达所生。

17.What youthful mother：宾语是第37行的Would think her son。

18.a shape upon her lap ... decide：叶芝自注：“I have taken the ‘honey of generation’ from Porphyry's essay on The cave of the Nymphs，but find no warrant in Porphyry for considering it the ‘drug’ that destroys the ‘recollection’ of prenatal freedom.”（“我此处的 ‘生育之蜜’ 出自波菲利（Porphyry）的《仙女之洞穴》一文，但没有在他的作品中找到证据可以认为生育之蜜是破坏出生前记忆的麻醉药。”）按：波菲利是古希腊三世纪的新柏拉图哲学家。他的所谓 “生育之蜜”，即男女交媾之乐。“生育之蜜” 通过消除出生前幸福的记忆，诱使婴儿来到人世 （a shape upon her lap / Honey of generation had betrayed）； 婴孩或者沉睡或者想极力逃离这个世界（struggle to escape），这取决于麻药的效力，或者出生前的幸福的回忆能否压倒麻药造成的健忘 （As recollection or the drug decide）。

19.did she but see that shape that plays ... head：在年轻的母亲看来，她怀里的婴儿（a shape upon her lap） 会不会是一个两鬓斑白、年逾花甲的老人（With sixty or more winters on its head）？此句含义是：如果母亲的一场辛劳换来的只是耄耋之人，是否值得？

20.Plato thought nature but a spume... kings：这四行说明柏拉图和亚里士多德对自然世界的不同看法。柏拉图认为自然世界（nature）只是掩盖终极精神世界或数学现实的表象（a mere appearance veiling the ultimate spiritual and mathematical reality），而亚里士多德则更加扎实（solider），因为他强调自然世界的现实性，形式存在于物质之中； spume：frothy matter on liquids，foam，scum，水面上的泡沫，此处有appearance之意； a ghostly paradigm of things：表示精神和数学的现实，区别于自然世界。亚历山大大帝是众王之王 （a king of kings），亚里士多德是他的老师，曾用皮鞭揍他的屁股来管教他 （played the taws Upon the bottom of a king of kings）。

21.Pythagoras：毕达哥拉斯（公元前六世纪初），古希腊哲学家，热心于数学、声学和音乐的数学研究。他发现了音阶。他的门徒发展了一种数学关系的神秘哲学，并用天体音乐的理论把天文学和数学关系的概念结合起来。毕达哥拉斯的门徒对他十分崇敬，把他视为具有黄金大腿的神。这里说他拨动弓弦，奏出星星唱的歌，连漫不经心的缪斯也在欣赏，表示他相信天体存在着一种和声关系。

22.Muses：是希腊神话中掌管文艺、音乐和天文等的九位女神。

23.Old clothes upon old sticks to scare a bird：意为柏拉图、亚里士多德和毕达哥拉斯等像挂在棍子上的破衣服，不过是吓唬鸟的稻草人。比较Sailing to Byzantium：An aged man is but a paltry thing.

24.Both nuns and mothers worship images：修女崇拜耶稣或圣母的偶像，而母亲则崇拜她们内心的孩子的形象。

25.But those the candles light are not as those ... repose：但是，烛光照耀的那些偶像 （指修女心中的偶像）却不同于能够激起母亲梦幻的那些形象，而只是保持着大理石像或铜像的沉寂。

26.And yet they too break hearts — O Presences ... knows：那些偶像也能触动人心，它们是热情、虔敬和钟爱所能体会到的偶像 （Presences）； Presences：大写，拟人化，指形象或偶像，是情人（passion）、修女（piety） 和母亲 （affection）的偶像。

27.O self-born mockers of man's enterprise：人类冒险事业的自身生长的嘲笑者。

28.Labor is blossoming or dancing where ... oil：这四行意为如果肉体不遭苦楚而能使精神快乐，美丽不是因为对自己绝望而竭力打扮出来的，智慧也不是靠秉烛夜读，熬红眼睛才得到的，那么，这种辛劳 （labor） 便像鲜花开放或翩翩起舞那样轻松自如；pleasure：（archaic ） to give pleasure to.

29.bole：trunk，树干。

30.swayed to music：随着音乐摆动。

31.How can we know the dancer from the dance：叶芝把生活视为一种有秩序的舞蹈，人体的每种器官都必须协调配合。人体各部分的活动都形成一个整体，以致跳舞者和舞蹈两者难以区分，正像根深叶茂的栗子树，树叶、花和树身都是不能割裂开来的那样。

Byzantium

The unpurged images of day recede；1

The Emperor's drunken soldiery^2 are abed；

Night resonance recedes，night walkers' song

After great cathedral gong；3

A starlit or a moonlit dome disdains

All that man is，4

All mere complexities，

The fury and the mire of human veins.5

Before me floats an image，man or shade，

Shade more than man，more image than a shade；6

For Hades' bobbin bound in mummy-cloth

May unwind the winding path；7

A mouth that has no moisture and no breath

Breathless mouths may summon；8

I hail the superhuman；

I call it death-in-life and life-in-death.9

Miracle，bird or golden handiwork，

More miracle than bird or handiwork，

Planted on the starlit golden bough，10

Can like the cocks of Hades^11 crow，

Or，by the moon embittered，12 scorn aloud

In glory of changeless metal

Common bird or petal

And all complexities of mire or blood.

At midnight on the Emperor's pavement flit

Flames that no faggot feeds，nor steel has lit，

Nor storm disturbs，flames begotten of flame，13

Where blood-begotten spirits come

And all complexities of fury leave，14

Dying into a dance，15

An agony of trance，

An agony of flame that cannot singe a sleeve.16

Astraddle on the dolphin's mire and blood，

Spirit after Spirit！17 The smithies break the flood.18

The golden smithies of the Emperor！

Marbles of the dancing floor

Break bitter furies of complexity，19

Those images^20 that yet

Fresh images beget，

That dolphin-torn，that gong-tormented sea.21

【题解】

在《驶向拜占庭》（Sailing to Byzantium ） 一诗中，诗人把拜占庭视为超越时间限制的艺术世界。而在《拜占庭》这首诗中，拜占庭则被诗人视为排除污秽的血肉之体，实现灵魂净化的冥界。1930年4月30日，叶芝草拟了 “一首诗的主题” （subject for a poem），写道：“Describe Byzantium as it is in the system towards the end of the first Christian Millennium. A walking mummy. Flames at the street corners where the soul is purified，birds of hammered gold singing in the golden trees，in the harbor ［dolphins］ offering their back to the wailing dead that they may carry them to Paradise.”（“如实地把拜占庭描绘为处于第一个耶稣至福千年期终结时的体系。一个行走的木乃伊。在灵魂净化的街角上，烈火熊熊燃烧，黄金树上金箔制成的小鸟喈喈而啼，海豚在港口主动地让哭哭啼啼的死者乘坐在它们背上，把他们送往乐园。”）叶芝在这首诗里表达的思想和情感，是相当复杂的，人要追求灵魂的净化，摆脱污秽的血肉之体，来到精美的理想世界，但是，人间的真正的生活和艺术又具有永久的魅力。

【注释】

1.The unpurged images of day recede：白昼代表的是形形色色、未经净化的各种形象。

2.The Emperor's drunken soldiery：拜占庭古国国王那些喝得烂醉的士兵； soldiery：a body of soldiers，一批士兵。

3.Night resonance recedes，night walkers' song ... gong：教堂的钟声响过之后，黑夜开始宁静，夜行者歌声沉寂。按：教堂钟声象征死亡的召唤，这里描写的情景是：白昼遁去，黑夜降临，各种杂音消除之后，教堂的钟声响起，清除血肉之体污秽的净化过程随之开始。

4.A starlit or a moonlit dome disdains ... is：星光或月光照亮的教堂的圆顶藐视与人类相关的一切； dome：指拜占庭著名的圣索菲亚教堂 （Church of St. Sophia）。按：叶芝认为月相 （the phases of the moon） 与人类的心理有关。月亮有28相，在第一相时（即 “朔”），只有星光可见 （starlit），此时身体完全沉浸在超自然的环境之中 （the body is “completely absorbed in its supernatural environment”）； 至第15相 （即“望”），空中月圆明亮 （moon-lit），此时心灵完全沉浸在存在之中 （the mind is “completely absorbed in being”）。这两种月相都表示一种存在（being），排斥 “成长和变化” （becoming and changing） 的世界。星光或月光照耀下的教堂象征经过净化的心灵本体。

5.All mere complexities ... veins：这两行可以被视为对all that man is的解释：一切都无非是乱糟糟的，是人类天性中的暴躁和污浊的方面； human veins：人的静脉，转指人的特性； 静脉里浑浊的血液象征着人性中需要净化之物。

6.Before me floats an image，man or shade ... shade：一个形象在诗人的前面游荡，他感觉到的，首先是形象，其次是影子，最后才是人。第二节描绘灵魂摆脱了尘世生活中形体的束缚之后，在一个精灵的带领下，奔赴永恒的纯净世界。

7.For Hades' bobbin bound in mummy-cloth ... path：冥间的筒管 （Hades' bobbin） 象征人类的命运。筒管以木乃伊裹布缠绕 （bound in mummy-cloth），裹布松散开来即指引灵魂来到纯净之地； the winding path：蜿蜒曲折的道路 （或台阶） 是叶芝喜爱的形象。收入本诗的书名即为The Winding Stair and Other Poems，书中还有许多类似的形象。叶芝说：“In this book and elsewhere I have used towers，and one tower in particular，as symbols and have compared their winding stairs to the philosophical gyres，but it is hardly necessary to interpret what comes from the main track of thought and expression. Shelley uses towers constantly as symbols，and there are gyres in Swedenborg，and in Thomas Aquinas and certain classical authors.” （在本书和其他地方，我用堡垒，特别是某一座堡垒，作为象征，把它们盘旋的台阶比作哲学上的螺旋，但是几乎不必解释从这主要的思想和表达流派中产生出什么东西。雪莱总是用堡垒作象征，而斯威敦保、托姆斯·阿奎那和某些古典作家都采用过螺旋的象征。）叶芝把人类历史的每一个纪元称为gyre （参阅The Second Coming ），在Sailing to Byzantium 中又借老人之口祈求圣索菲亚教堂墙壁上的圣者从无生死、无时间的螺旋上飘飞下来 （见该诗注11）。故此处盘旋曲折之路象征通往永恒世界的道路。按：斯威敦保（Emanuel Swedenborg，1688 — 1772）瑞典哲学家和神学家； 托姆斯·阿奎那（Thomas Aquinas，1225—1274）意大利神学家和哲学家。

8.A mouth that has no moisture and no breath ... summon：这些艺术精品是没有生命的，然而使人惊讶得瞠目结舌。

9.death-in-life and life-in-death：死生相互交叉，难于区分。

10.Miracle，bird or golden handiwork ... bough：第三节描绘诗人来到艺术和永恒的死亡世界，赞赏黄金铸成的艺术精品； starlit golden bough：是艺术和永恒的死亡世界中的一部分，区别于阳光或月光照耀下的真正的、有生命的树枝。此处的bough还暗示希伯来神秘哲学的学说中的神秘树，鸟儿在神秘树上歇息和筑巢，象征天使或灵魂的住地。

11.the cocks of Hades：是站在时间之外的公鸡，其啼声宣布死者的再生。

12.by the moon embittered：（栖息在黄金树上的精致的金铸鸟儿）被月光所激怒，以其 “永恒的金属的光辉” （in glory of changeless metal） 嘲笑平凡的花鸟 （scorn aloud ... common bird or petal），以及人生的芜杂和污秽 （all complexities of mire or blood），和第一节的末二行相呼应。

13.At midnight on the Emperor's pavement flit ... flame：深夜象征净化灵魂的世界；这里的净火在烧毁血肉之命的芜杂，但是这净火不是由柴薪作燃料的 （Flames that no faggot feeds），也不是由打火镰 （steel） 在燧石上击打迸发出来的，也不是雷电形成的（Nor storm disturbs），而是火中生成之火 （flames begotten of flame）。

14.Where blood-begotten spirits come ... leave：从血肉中分离出来的灵魂在火中诞生，而人生狂暴情感的芜杂 （all complexities of fury） 在火中统统消失。

15.Dying into a dance：好像火焰在跳动，然后慢慢熄灭。

16.An agony of trance ... sleeve：净化是处于昏睡状态下的痛苦过程； cannot singe a sleeve：净火不同于凡火，故不会烧焦衣袖。

17.Astraddle on the dolphin's mire and blood ... Spirit：一个又一个的灵魂骑在血肉之躯的海豚背上。按：虽然海豚本身也是未经净化的血肉之躯 （mire and blood），海豚把死亡后进入冥间的人驮到天堂，因此在古代艺术中被作为是灵魂变迁的象征。

18.The smithies break the flood：制造这些精美的艺术品的金匠们极力挡住浑浊污秽的潮水。

19.Marbles of the dancing floor ... complexity：净化之后永恒的生命在石板上的舞蹈也在抵挡芜杂情感的浊流的冲击。以上这些都是柏拉图和新柏拉图主义的意象。

20.Those images：break的宾语。

21.That dolphin-torn，that gong-tormented sea：喻无法摆脱血肉之体的人类感情的大海。按：最后三行说明艺术的纯净世界并不能挡住世俗生活的侵袭，人类的形象终于冲破金匠和净化灵魂的守卫，又产生新的形象。艺术是由生活来培育的，又回归生活。在这里，钟声在唤醒诗人回到人生，而不是召唤他去冥间。叶芝说他在一场重病之后写了此诗以温暖身心，得以康复（to warm myself back to life），云云。

What Then

His chosen comrades^1 thought at school

He must grow a famous man；

He thought the same and lived by rule，2

All his twenties crammed with toil；3

“What then？” sang Plato's ghost.4 “What then？”

Everything he wrote was read，

After certain years he won

Sufficient money for his need，

Friends that have been friends indeed；5

“What then？” sang Plato's ghost. “What then？”

All his happier dreams came true —

A small old house，wife，daughter，son，

Grounds where plum and cabbage grew，

Poets and Wits about him drew；6

“What then？” sang Plato's ghost. “What then？”

“The work is done，” grown old he thought，

“According to my boyish plan；

Let the fools rage，I swerved in naught，7

Something to perfection brought”；

But louder sang that ghost，“What then？”

【题解】

此诗作于1936年，收入他的《最后的诗》（Last Poems ）诗集，可以被视为叶芝成名之后对自己成就的反思。他在致艾迪斯·沙克尔顿·希尔德（Edith Shackleton Heald）的信中说这是 “一首忧伤的自传诗” （a melancholy biographical poem）。和他的另一首诗《一亩绿草》（An Acre of Grass）一样，是他重读尼采后有感而发。尼采在《日之启明》（The Dawn of the Day ） 提到：人的奋斗像鸟飞翔一样，终有一刻会精疲力竭，不得不停在树上休息，而且为这种不得已而为之的举动感到欣慰。我们的先驱和前辈大师都有止步不前的一天。我们同样会有此境遇。但是那又怎么样呢？ 其他鸟会飞得更远。尼采最后的提问是：我们的目标究竟该是什么？叶芝在这首诗里表达的思想，反映了一些有成就的人在暮年回顾一生的感受，虽无虚度年华的伤悲，仍难免有遗憾和困惑。

【注释】

1.chosen comrades：挚友。

2.lived by rule：刻板地生活，指严格要求自己。

3.All his twenties crammed with toil：在二十多岁时拼命苦学。

4.Plato's ghost ：柏拉图的灵魂。柏拉图认为单靠专业技术知识创造不出文艺作品，艺术创作离不开灵感，故此处柏拉图的灵魂嘲笑有些人仅凭苦学而无灵感。

5.Friends that have been friends indeed：此处借用谚语 A friend in need is a friend indeed.

6.Poets and Wits about him drew：相当于中文所谓 “群贤毕至，高朋满座”；Poets 和Wits大写，代表这批族群。

7.swerved in naught：矢志不渝； swerved：deviated，turn aside，转向； naught：nothing.

DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE

戴维·赫伯特·劳伦斯

（1885—1930）

【作者与作品简介】

多少年来，提起他的名字，人们总会想到天才的小说家，想到充满激情和作家对英国工业革命时期以后出现的社会、政治、道德危机的厌恶、恐惧的《儿子与情人》、《虹》、《恋爱中的女人》等小说名篇。然而，劳伦斯不仅是小说家，他那近五十卷的作品中还包括诗歌、戏剧和评论。其中诗歌就有千余首。近年来，人们逐渐认识到劳伦斯诗歌的价值。有些评论家说，仅靠这些诗作，劳伦斯就可在英国文学史中占有一席重要位置。

劳伦斯一生都在写诗。还是六岁的时候，劳伦斯就对他的同学说：“长大了我要写诗……”可见小说家从小就有对诗歌的偏爱。对诗歌创作，劳伦斯也有自己的见解。他曾写道：“在这个充满裸露与丑恶现实的时代，我们诗歌的本质应是裸露无遮掩的，任何地方都不应有一句谎话、一点偏差。什么都可以不要，但不可不要这赤裸裸的、岩石般直率的文字，它独自就能造就今天的诗歌。”劳伦斯对现实的关注，对诗与现实的联系也表现在对诗歌形式的选择上。虽然他一生写过不少韵体诗，但他最出色的诗多数是用自由体写成。他认为，对表现现实的诗歌，“任何来自外界的法则只能是桎梏与死亡”。

《蛇》写于1920年。不难看出，这些诗写的都是动植物。劳伦斯一生对大自然的向往具体表现在对动植物的酷爱。但要真正理解这些诗歌，我们必须像诗人一样把人类与自然放在一个对立面上。在1917年，劳伦斯就说过：“我发觉人太没意思了，可没有人你就写不了小说。因此我对小说根本不再感兴趣了。”从这番话，我们一方面可以理解为什么劳伦斯的后期诗作优于前期；另一方面也可以看出他写动植物绝非仅出于对自然的爱。

《蛇》之所以是一首好诗，最重要的是它描述的不仅是一条蛇，而是一条蛇与一个人的相遇，从而使它能从多角度来理解。表面上，它讲的是诗人的一次亲身经历（当时劳伦斯旅居在西西里岛埃特纳火山脚下的道厄米纳），但诗中的“我”可以是任何人，任何受过“人类教育”的人。因此，在更深的一层，这首诗表现了诗人对人类、人类文明的看法。诗中人物意识到自己的“心地窄小”，它不仅表现在打蛇的具体行动中，还表现在从始至终展现在我们面前的人与蛇的对照。相比之下，蛇高贵、典雅，与自然和谐；而人则相形见绌。他瞻前顾后，毫无主见，动作笨拙，手段卑劣。

那么，蛇究竟代表什么呢？说法不一。但它无疑象征人性与自然暗藏的黑暗力量，是自然最原本的势力之一。诗人称它为“神灵”，来自“黑暗的洞穴”、“神秘大地的黑暗之门”，不得不让我们想到撒旦。虽然他是黑暗与死亡的化身，但毕竟它是古老的自然与人的一部分。在劳伦斯看来，生活在人性受压抑的大机器生产时代，人们需要从原始的自然中寻求生命。诗中人物打蛇后，良心受谴责，想到柯尔律治的长诗《老水手谣》中的信天翁。因此，劳伦斯称那蛇为“又一生命之君王”。人的精神与思想有各自的统治者；人的情感和欲望也应有其君主，这便是劳伦斯想表达的思想。

此外，蛇与水塘是两性的象征，这一点在阅读劳伦斯的作品时不能避而不谈。劳伦斯认为两性的结合使人在精神上真正回到自然，而现代人是无力做到这一点的。另外，围绕两性结合还有那古老的禁忌与恐惧。因此当诗中人物见蛇就要爬回大地深处时，感到非常恐慌。

还需一提的是这首诗的语言。诗的前半部表现了宁静和平与炎热的天气给人带来的倦怠的气氛。诗人用散文般自然流畅的文字和重复某些词汇的手法（如：“那天好热、好热……”、“却只好等候，只好站立等候……”）烘托出这种气氛。对蛇的动作的描述准确生动。此时，没有丝毫迹象表明会出现戏剧性的场面。从人物听到人类文明的教诲时起，倦怠的情绪变得紧张了，宁静和平的气氛打破了，空气中充满了危机感，炎热的正午变成电光闪闪的黑夜（“……像劈开的夜，好黑”）。总的说来，这是一首自由体诗，然而劳伦斯在某些诗节里有目的地用了脚韵。如第五节的头两行和整个第九节。前者表现了那条蛇安详友善的样子；后者则强调了人物矛盾、混乱、无可适从的内心活动。由此可见劳伦斯对英诗的形式有很深的见解。《蛇》是劳伦斯最优秀的诗作之一，值得细读。

王军

Piano

Softly，in the dusk，1 a woman is singing to me

Taking me back down the vista of years，2 till I see^3

A child sitting under the piano，in the boom of the tingling strings^4

Pressing the little poised feet of a mother^5 who smiles as she sings.

In spite of myself，the insidious mastery of song

Betrays me back，6 till the heart of me weeps to belong

To the old Sunday evenings at home，with winter outside

And hymns in the cosy parlor，the tinkling piano our guide.7

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour

With the great black piano appassionato.8 The glamour

Of Childish days is upon me，my manhood is cast

Down in the flood of remembrance，9 I weep like a child for the past.

【题解】

劳伦斯《钢琴》写得深刻，不落窠臼，一气呵成，由今及往，由往及今，在每节诗里，前两行回首往事，后两行叙述此景此情，短短的十二行诗中镶嵌了很多意象，高度浓缩个人经历和情感。钢琴和音乐引导“我”回到童年，母亲唱着歌，他趴在地上摸弄母亲的脚，而今已成年、有着阳刚之气（manhood）的“我”也难于不被卷入往事的漩涡。

【注释】

1.in the dusk：烘托出往事悠悠的气氛。

2.the vista of years：a distant view through or along an avenue or opening，an extensive mental view as over a stretch of time or a series of events，对往事的连绵的回忆。

3.till I see：因这个女人的歌唱而想起自己的童年。

4.in the boom of the tingling strings：在钢琴的琴弦颤动的隆隆声响中。

5.Pressing the little poised feet of a mother：母亲唱歌时脚摆的姿势表示她的自信、高傲、稳健，暗示对他成长的影响。修辞学上称为synecdoche （a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole），举隅法。

6.the insidious mastery of song ... back：歌声逐步凝聚的控制力，使我不由自主地回到当年； insidious：having a gradual and cumulative effect，subtle； Betrays me：暗示有阳刚之气的成年之“我”本不应该如此多愁善感。

7.hymns in the cosy parlor，the tinkling piano our guide：在温馨的客厅里唱赞美诗，动人心弦的钢琴是我们的向导；hymns和guide 显然有宗教的含义，音乐和钢琴代表了神圣的心灵的向导。

8.So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour ... appassionato：当黑色的大钢琴正以“热情”的方式弹奏的时候，歌唱者引颈高歌也没法盖过琴声； appassionato：“热情地”（乐谱上演奏方式的提示）；又，贝多芬有以Appassionata 为题的Sonata，Op 57（钢琴奏鸣曲《热情》，作品57号）。

9.my manhood is cast ... remembrance：堂堂男子汉一下子被冲到回忆的洪水之中。

Snake

A snake came to my water-trough^1

On a hot，hot day，and I in pyjamas for the heat，2

To drink there.

In the deep，strange-scented shade of the great dark carob tree^3

I came down the steps with my pitcher^4

And must wait，must stand and wait，for there he was at the trough before me.

He reached down from a fissure^5 in the earth-wall in the gloom

And trailed his yellow-brown slackness^6 soft-bellied down，over the edge of the stone trough

And rested his throat upon the stone bottom，

And where the water had dripped from the tap，in a small clearness，

He sipped with his straight mouth，

Softly drank through his straight gums，into his slack long body，

Silently.

Someone was before me at my water-trough，

And I，like a second comer，waiting.

He lifted his head from his drinking，as cattle do，7

And looked at me vaguely，8 as drinking cattle do，

And flickered his two-forked tongue^9 from his lips，and mused a moment，

And stooped and drank a little more，

Being earth-brown，earth-golden from the burning bowels of the earth^10

On the day of Sicilian July，with Etna smoking.11

The voice of my education^12 said to me

He must be killed，

For in Sicily the black，black snakes are innocent，the gold are venomous.

And voices in me said，If you were a man^13

You would take a stick and break him now，and finish him off.14

But must I confess how I liked him，

How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet，to drink at my water-trough

And depart peaceful，pacified，and thankless，

Into the burning bowels of this earth？

Was it cowardice，that I dared not kill him？

Was it perversity，that I longed to talk to him？

Was it humility，to feel so honoured？15

I felt so honoured.

And yet those voices：

If you were not afraid，you would kill him！

And truly I was afraid，I was most afraid，

But even so，honoured still more

That he should seek my hospitality

From out the dark door of the secret earth.

He drank enough

And lifted his head，dreamily，as one who has drunken，

And flickered his tongue like a forked night on the air，16 so black，

Seeming to lick his lips，

And looked around like a god，17 unseeing，into the air，

And slowly turned his head，

And slowly，very slowly，as if thrice adream，18

Proceeded to draw his slow length curving round

And climb again the broken bank of my wall-face.

And as he put his head into that dreadful hole，

And as he slowly drew up，snake-easing his shoulders，and entered farther，

A sort of horror，a sort of protest against his withdrawing into that horrid black hole，

Deliberately going into the blackness，and slowly drawing himself after，

Overcame me now his back was turned.19

I looked round，I put down my pitcher，

I picked up a clumsy log

And threw it at the water-trough with a clatter.

I think it did not hit him，

But suddenly that part of him that was left behind convulsed in undignified haste.

Writhed like lightning，and was gone

Into the black hole，the earth-lipped fissure in the wall-front，

At which，in the intense still noon，I stared with fascination.

And immediately I regretted it.

I thought how paltry，20 how vulgar，what a mean act！

I despised myself and the voices of my accursed human education.

And I thought of the albatross^21

And I wished he would come back，my snake.

For he seemed to me again like a king，

Like a king in exile，uncrowned in the underworld，22

Now due to be crowned again.

And so，I missed my chance with one of the lords

Of life.

And I have something to expiate：23

A pettiness.24

【题解】

劳伦斯创作《蛇》的灵感，来自和妻子弗利达（Frieda）在西西里道厄米纳（Taormina，Sicily）生活时的一段亲身经历。他用近乎散文体的风格，描绘了和一条蛇不期相遇，从喜欢蛇、打蛇到懊悔伤害无辜的过程。诗中始终以人称代词“He”来指蛇。“性”是劳伦斯作品中无法回避的问题。“蛇”是自然界的一个物种，但被赋予“性”的象征意义，是上帝，喜爱“蛇”是人的本性。按照弗洛伊德的心理分析理论，由于传统文明教育，理性处于主导地位，本性受到压抑。在这首诗里，喜爱“蛇”的本性始终自然表露，而厌恶“蛇”的理性只是在瞬间才占据上风，克服本性，并使人做出乖张的举动。劳伦斯不仅颠覆了伊甸园神话，把可鄙之蛇尊为可敬之神，而且也颠覆了理性主宰人性、本性受到压制的人伦常道。诗中意象迭出，表达了诗人复杂的心理变化。这场不应有的冲突，不仅是人和自然界其他物种的冲突，也反映了传统及教育对人性的影响。本诗收入Birds，Beasts and Flowers （1923）。

【注释】

1.water-trough：水槽。

2.in pyjamas for the heat：因天热而穿着睡衣；后省略came to my water-trough，蛇和我同来饮水。

3.carob tree：角豆树。

4.pitcher：有柄的大水罐。

5.fissure：裂缝。

6.his yellow-brown slackness：蛇黄褐色的身体；slackness：表示蛇行动呆滞懒散。

7.He lifted his head from his drinking，as cattle do：像牛一样，蛇饮水需仰脖下咽。

8.vaguely：毫无表情地。

9.flickered his two-forked tongue：蛇快速地吐缩着叉开的舌头。

10.the burning bowels of the earth：灼热的地球深处。

11.On the day of Sicilian July，with Etna smoking：当时正是西西里岛的七月盛夏，而且岛上的Etna火山在冒烟，故天气格外炎热。

12.The voice of my education：我学到的知识开口（告诉我），即以下所述黑色的蛇无毒（innocent），金色的蛇有毒（venomous）的知识。按：此处未明言，但很显然，劳伦斯故意拿生物学的知识掩盖了宗教上的信条。此处“education”也隐含基督教徒所熟悉的故事，即蛇诱惑夏娃偷食禁果之后，上帝让人和蛇互为仇敌。《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ）3：15：And I will put enmity between thee and the woman，and between thy seed and her see； it shall bruise thy head，and thou shalt bruise his heel.（我又要叫你和女人彼此为仇；你的后裔和女人的后裔也彼此为仇。女人的后裔要伤你的头；你要伤他的脚跟。）

13.man：男子汉大丈夫，有勇气的人。

14.finish him off：把他杀死。

15.Was it humility，to feel so honored：见蛇来喝水而感到荣幸，说明自己谦恭，对蛇尊重。这是和自己受到的教育相违背的。

16.like a forked night on the air：就像雷电闪光的夜晚那样；蛇的舌头分叉，像闪电。

17.looked around like a god：像上帝那样昂视四周。视蛇为上帝，这是对基督教传统教育颠覆性的念头。

18.thrice adream：沉睡于梦中； thrice：to a high degree； adream：dreaming.

19.And as he put his head into that dreadful hole ... turned：从第50—54行，“我”对蛇的态度突然发生转变，作出这种“非理性”的举动，是因为可敬的上帝居然会遁入可怖的黑洞，从而产生一种不可思议的恐怖的感觉（a sort of horror），同时也由于“我”对被视为客人的蛇执意（deliberately）要钻入黑洞而愤怒（protest against his withdrawing into that horrid black hole），所以，打蛇并不是完全乖张的行为，是传统概念中美好的形象突然和现实发生强烈冲撞的结果。从另外一个意义上看，也反映了社会习俗上对“性”的可爱和可憎的两重观念。

20.paltry：mean，despicable，卑劣的，卑鄙的。

21.albatross：信天翁。参见本书柯尔律治（Samuel Taylor Coleridge）著名的长诗《老水手谣》（The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ）。诗中叙述老水手误杀信天翁而遭惩罚，“信天翁”遂成为象征引起忧患的事物。

22.Like a king in exile，uncrowned in the underworld：像一个被流放的国王，在下界被废黜。诗人先把蛇视为上帝，又视为国王，还视为生活中的领主，这些都和传统教育和社会信念相抵牾。

23.expiate：to make amends for，抵偿，赎罪。

24.pettiness：narrow-mindedness，心胸狭窄。

SIEGFRIED SASSOON

齐格菲·沙逊

（1886—1967）

【作者与作品简介】

任何一个凭纯粹经验创作的诗人，都不免缺乏精深和博大。往往当经验沦为历史时，人们不难发现作品的生命力并没有洒上思想和艺术的光辉，而只是源于一种感人的记实性。客观地评价，沙逊在英国文学史上便是位纯粹经验的诗人。其文学创作的高峰是现实的战争残酷和痛苦的自我反省所馈赠的。无论是在他创作高峰期间，还是在他晚期冥想着超脱，寻求灵魂的安宁时，沙逊都没能调和好感性与理性的关系，总是摆脱不了纯粹经验所造成的平淡。

沙逊生于伦敦，幼年时生性活泼，在舒雅的田间度过童年“非常缓慢的时光”。也许是由于秉承了母亲的犹太血性，沙逊自称在幼年便赋有“先知般的洞察力”和一股争强的豪气。第一次世界大战爆发后，争强的豪气戏谑地暗淡了他“先知般的洞察力”，在法国前线的战壕里写出了不少狂热的战争诗句：

“战争使我们聪慧

为自由而战，我们是自由的。”

然而，战争毕竟不是儿时的游戏，战争的天性是残酷的，面对现实，沙逊开始经历一场痛苦的自我反省。

1917年出版的《老猎手集》和翌年出版的《反击》集中了他最优秀的反战作品。

《梦幻者》和《进攻》是两首典型的反战作品。前者借战前和战时的比较，渲染战争的残酷，后者纯以白描的笔法烘托出一种纯粹的经验，通过形象的语言，追求图像效果。诗中所表现出的战争从根本上摧毁了，而非发展了，人类的崇高性，是非人性的野蛮表现。这两首诗流露出诗人非常模糊的自然主义倾向和尚不成熟的浪漫主义特征。

《对战争经验的抑制》，也许是由于距离所造成的空间感的原因，较前两首纯粹经验的描写读来更为感人：

……多么愚蠢的乞丐

竟以荣耀、柔和的火焰灼焦自己的双翅

语言辛辣、形象，有一定的讽刺效果。

早期受沙逊影响的另一位战争诗人欧文认为沙逊的诗歌没有把强烈可怖的时刻与人类的情感紧密相连，然而作为一个时期的发言人，沙逊对战争的控诉，具有长久的生命力。

周强

Dreamers

Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land，1

Drawing no dividend from time's to-morrows.2

In the great hour of destiny^3 they stand，

Each with his feuds，and jealousies，and sorrows.4

Soldiers are sworn to action；5 they must win

Some flaming，fatal climax^6 with their lives.

Soldiers are dreamers； when the guns begin

They think of firelit homes，clean beds，and wives.7

I see them in foul dug-outs，8 gnawed by rats，

And in the ruined trenches，lashed with rain，

Dreaming of things they did with balls and bats，9

And mocked by hopeless longing to regain

Bank-holidays，and picture shows，and spats，10

And going to the office in the train.

【题解】

军人都有驰骋沙场，立功扬名的理想，尤其是热血方刚的青年战士。但是，一旦投身于一场对他们来说毫无意义的战争，之后马上发现理想和现实之间的巨大差距，在硝烟弥漫的战场上梦想的一切，竟是平常生活中理所当然应该得到的普通的东西。

【注释】

1.death's grey land：死亡的灰色地域；grey：此处有悲惨、阴沉之意，也表示战死沙场并不见得一定是无上荣光的事。

2.Drawing no dividend from time's to-morrows：得不到时间的明天的红利。意为处于死亡线上的士兵没有未来可言。

3.In the great hour of destiny：在命运的关键时刻。

4.Each with his feuds，and jealousies，and sorrows：在面临生死关头，士兵的感情是非常复杂的，也许一心想杀敌（feuds），嫉妒别人立功（jealousies），离别亲人的痛苦（sorrows）等等。

5.are sworn to action：宣誓尽职。

6.flaming，fatal climax：赢得光辉炽烈的、甚至是以生命为代价的高潮。

7.Soldiers are dreamers； when the guns begin ... wives：士兵们是梦幻者（想象的是功勋卓著），但是炮声一想，他们想到的却是温馨的家、干净的床和妻子；when这一句转得突然，和第5—6两行形成鲜明的对比，强调了理想和现实的冲突。

8.foul dug-outs：肮脏的地下掩蔽所，猫耳洞。

9.things they did with balls and bats：指球类运动；bats：棒球、板球等的球拍。

10.Bank-holidays，and picture shows，and spats：法定假日、看电影、吃牡蛎； Bank-holidays：a holiday on which banks are closed by law，legal holiday，英国的法定假日； picture shows：当时已有黑白电影；spats：young oysters，生牡蛎是西方人爱吃的美食。

Attack

At dawn the ridge emerges massed and dun^1

In the wild purple of the glow'ring sun，2

Smouldering through spouts of drifting smoke that shroud

The menacing scarred slope；3 and，one by one，

Tanks creep and topple forward to the wire.4

The barrage^5 roars and lifts. Then，clumsily bowed^6

With bombs and guns and shovels and battle-gear，7

Men jostle and climb to，meet the bristling fire.

Lines of grey，muttering faces，masked with fear，8

They leave their trenches，going over the top，

While time ticks blank^9 and busy on their wrists，

And hope，with furtive eyes and grappling fists，

Flounders in mud.10 O Jesus，11 make it stop！12

【题解】

沙逊运用形象化的语言，对第一次世界大战的现代机械化战争的摧毁性作了鞭辟入里的描写。诗人通篇运用拟人化手法，把客观事物和人的遭遇都糅合在一起，创造出一种事物人格化，而人却失去生存希望的反衬效果，深刻揭示了现代战争的残酷程度。

【注释】

1.At dawn the ridge emerges massed and dun：黎明时，群山叠显，一片阴沉；ridge：a range of hills and mountains； massed：形容山峦重叠；dun：brownish dark gray，dark，gloomy.

2.the glow'ring sun：怒目而视的太阳；glow'ring：glowering； glower：to look or stare with sullen brooding annoyance or anger. 按：the ridge emerges和 the glowering sun都把山冈和太阳作拟人化处理。

3.that shroud ... slope：（四处弥漫的硝烟）覆盖着恐怖的、伤痕累累的山坡；shroud：to cover with shroud，用裹尸布覆盖，象征死亡；menacing scarred slope：对山冈的拟人化处理；menacing：形容一个遍体鳞伤、杀红了眼的士兵临死前还要一搏。

4.Tanks creep and topple forward to the wire：坦克车往前爬行，颠颠仆仆地向铁丝网开过去；Tanks creep：又是拟人化笔法。

5.barrage：掩护友军的炮火。

6.clumsily bowed：士兵们背负着枪支弹药等各种东西，也象征承受着巨大的精神压力。

7.battle-gear：打仗的装备。

8.masked with fear：带着恐怖的脸色。

9.time ticks blank：手表只管滴答滴答地走着； blank：intense.

10.hope，with furtive eyes and grappling fists ... mud：“希望”两眼偷偷地张望，紧紧攥住拳头，在污泥中破灭。

11.O Jesus：天哪。

12.make it stop：让这一切停止吧；it：诗人故意不具体说明让什么停止，让读者自己去体会，it当然可以指战争，但也可以指与战争有关的各种不幸和灾难。

Repression of War Experience

Now light the candles；1 one； two； there's a moth；

What silly beggars they are to blunder in

And scorch their wings with glory，liquid flame^2 —

No，no，not that，— it's bad to think of war，3

When thoughts you've gagged all day^4 come back to scare you；

And it's been proved that soldiers don't go mad

Unless they lose control of ugly thoughts

That drive them out to jabber among the trees.5

Now light your pipe； look，what a steady hand.

Draw a deep breath； stop thinking； count fifteen，

And you're as right as rain^6...

Why won't it rain？...

I wish there'd be a thunder-storm to-night，

With bucketsful of water to sluice the dark，7

And make the roses hang their dripping heads.

Books； what a jolly company they are，8

Standing so quiet and patient on their shelves，

Dressed^9 in dim brown，and black，and white，and green，

And every kind of color. Which will you read？

Come on； O do read something； they're so wise.

I tell you all the wisdom of the world

Is waiting for you on those shelves； and yet

You sit and gnaw your nails，and let your pipe out，

And listen to the silence：10 on the ceiling

There's one big，dizzy moth that bumps and flutters；11

And in the breathless air^12 outside the house

The garden waits for something that delays.

There must be crowds of ghosts among the trees，—

Not people killed in battle，— they're in France，13 —

But horrible shapes in shrouds^14 — old men who died

Slow，natural deaths，— old men with ugly souls，

Who wore their bodies out with nasty sins.15

You're quiet and peaceful，summering safe at home；16

You'd never think there was a bloody war on！...

O yes，you would ... why，you can hear the guns.

Hark！17 Thud，18 thud，thud，— quite soft ... they never cease —

Those whispering guns^19 — O Christ，I want to go out

And screech at them to stop — I'm going crazy；

I'm going stark，20 staring mad because of the guns.

【题解】

Repression of War Experience的实际含义是“莫提战争经历”，表现的是诗人的内心独白。这首诗和前面一首《进攻》（Attack ）不同，烽火连天的战场已成往事，但是当年的战火梦系魂绕，挥之不去。沙逊获得英雄勋章，但是他在1917年写了《普通一兵的宣言》（A Soldier's Declaration ），在报上发表，并被送到议会宣读。为此，他被视为精神失常，送到Craiglockhart War Hospital接受心理医生治疗。“莫提战争经历”也反映了诗人不愿意回想战事，而欲罢不能的心态。

【注释】

1.Now light the candles：诗人自语。整首诗似乎是沙逊的内心独白。

2.What silly beggars they are to blunder in ... flame：飞蛾扑火，愚蠢地乞讨火光，错误地让飘忽的火焰烧焦翅膀；glory：指燃耗的火焰；liquid flame：是其同位语，形容火焰飘忽不定，似流水一般，故云。

3.it's bad to think of war：由飞蛾扑火，追求荣光而被烧焦翅膀，联想到军人同样为了功勋而上战场，诗人赶紧告诫自己不要去想到战争。

4.thoughts you've gagged all day：你整天压制住的念头；gag：原意为塞住嘴巴不让说话，引申为压制。

5.And it's been proved that soldiers don't go mad ... trees：这三行充分说明士兵们精神压抑，一旦控制不住胡思乱想，就会跑到树林里瞎聊，一发不可收拾而发疯；jabber：to utter gibberish or nonsense，chatter，闲聊。

6.stop thinking； count fifteen ... rain：这里诗人告诫自己不要去想，数到十五，就不会有问题了；“十五”并无特殊的意义，只是表示要稍稍数一阵，但也不必数得太多；as right as rain：并非习语，诗人自创，形容心态平和，不想战事。

7.With bucketsful of water to sluice the dark：倾盆大雨，洗刷黑暗；bucketsful：满桶的。

8.Books； what a jolly company they are：从要求自己什么都不去想，到希望大雨冲刷一切，再突然转到书的主题，说明诗人不是不想，而是浮想联翩。

9.Dressed：指书的装帧。

10.You sit and gnaw your nails，and let your pipe out ... silence：百无聊赖，无可奈何之状，极力想摆脱脑子里战争场面的纷扰。

11.There's one big，dizzy moth that bumps and flutters：又看到一只大飞蛾，只见它晕头转向，乱蹦乱跳，恰如诗人纷繁杂乱的思绪。

12.breathless air：令人窒息的空气。

13.they're in France：指军队在法国打仗，故花园里出现的死人不是士兵。

14.horrible shapes in shrouds：包着裹尸布的死人，形形色色，非常可怖。

15.old men with ugly souls ... sins：此句反衬大批阵亡将士死得无辜。

16.You：诗人自谓；summering：避暑，度假。

17.Hark：（archaic ） to give ear to，listen to.

18.Thud：啪啪的枪声。

19.Those whispering guns：战争已经结束多年，而在诗人的脑子里，仍有枪炮低语。

20.going stark：going stark mad.

EDWIN MUIR

艾特温·缪亚

（1887—1959）

【作者与作品简介】

缪亚，苏格兰人，是英国二十世纪的重要作家，做了许多工作，例如介绍过卡夫卡的作品，写过有关小说结构的颇有见地的专著，但主要是一个诗人。他爱苏格兰，但认为时至二十世纪，不宜于再用苏格兰方言写作，因此而与休·麦克迪儿米德有过一场很激烈的争论。他本人的诗是完全用英语写的。

他的诗采用传统的形式，但在内容上有所扩展，例如对于时间问题、善恶问题、现代世界上的流亡和隔离等现象等等都有新的探讨。《格斗》一诗中含有对现代残酷战争的比喻，然而又指出真正失败的未必是显然居于劣势的弱者；而《马》这首被誉为“原子时代的伟大而可怕的诗篇”（T.S.艾略特语），更是通过一群马的重来表明在一场核战的浩劫过后人也许能从归真返璞中得到希望。

在写法上他着重准确，即要写出真情实感，恰如其分，不夸张，不浮泛。他似乎写得很“实”，但又常有一种梦幻式的气氛，往往实笔只是一种比喻，一种象征，背后还有更大更深厚的东西。显然，他受到了他所翻译的卡夫卡作品的影响；所不同的，是他并不给人阴郁的印象。

在这个意义上，他是一个没有现代派外表的真正的现代派。在他的传统式的明白晓畅后面有着现代的敏感和深刻。他似乎简单易懂，但又经得起一再重读。没有几个二十世纪的诗人具备这两重品质，即既有可读性，又有可发掘性。

王佐良

The Castle

All through that summer at ease we lay，

And daily from the turret wall

We watched the mowers in the hay

And the enemy^1 half a mile away

They seemed no threat to us at all.

For what，we thought，had we to fear

With our arms and provender，2 load on load，

Our towering battlements，3 tier on tier，

And friendly allies drawing near

On every leafy^4 summer road.

Our gates were strong，our walls were thick，

So smooth and high，no man could win

A foothold there，no clever trick

Could take us，have us dead or quick.5

Only a bird could have got in.

What could they offer us for bait？

Our captain was brave and we were true^6 ...

There was a little private gate，

A little wicked wicket gate.7

The wizened warder^8 let them through.

Oh then our maze of tunneled stone

Grew thin and treacherous as air.9

The cause was lost without a groan，10

The famous citadel overthrown，

And all its secret galleries bare.11

How can this shameful tale be told？

I will maintain^12 until my death

We could do nothing，being sold；13

Our only enemy was gold，

And we had no arms to fight it with.14

【题解】

这首诗讲的是苏格兰有人为了金钱而出卖自己人，从而被英军攻破城堡。苏格兰为争取独立而与英国的斗争连续几百年，诗中所述未知具体哪一事件。为金钱而出卖民族和国家利益的事并不罕见，此诗最后两句揭示了为金钱而出卖民族和国家利益的问题具有普遍性，因而此诗的立意超出了这个具体事件。

【注释】

1.the enemy：指英军。

2.provender：dry food for domestic animals，家畜的干饲料，粮秣。

3.towering battlements：高耸的城垛。

4.leafy：绿叶遮盖的，绿阴的。

5.have us dead or quick：把我们打死或生擒；quick：not dead，living or alive.

6.true：loyal，steadfast，忠诚，坚定。

7.wicked wicket gate：险恶的小门；wicked：险恶的不是门，而是开门放敌人进来的坏人，修辞学上称为“移就格”（hypallage）；wicket gate：one forming part of or placed near a larger gate or door，从正门里再做的一个小门，或在正门边上的小门。

8.wizened warder：干瘪的看门人；wizened：dried，shrunken，and wrinkled often as a result of aging or of failing vitality.注意这两行押头韵。

9.maze of tunneled stone ... air：石头隧道形成的迷宫变得像空气一样稀薄，不可信赖；treacherous：likely to betray trust，unreliable，石头地下迷宫本应具有很好的防御性，结果像空气一样，一点都不牢固，所以说是treacherous；又如treacherous ice，指看上去很厚很结实，但是一踩上去就会使人陷下去的冰。

10.lost without a groan：还没有来得及吭一声就输掉了。

11.all its secret galleries bare：所有的秘密通道都暴露无遗；gallery：a subterranean passageway in a cave or military mining system；bare：open to view，exposed.

12.maintain：assert，坚持认为。

13.being sold：被出卖了。

14.Our only enemy was gold ... with：意为看门人为了金钱而出卖了苏格兰，而我们没有武器可以战胜金钱。

Confirmation

Yes，yours，my love，is the right human face.1

I in my mind had waited for this long，2

Seeing the false and searching for the true，

Then found you as a traveler finds a place

Of welcome suddenly amid the wrong

Valleys and rocks and twisting roads.3 But you，

What shall I call you？ A fountain in a waste，4

A well of water in a country dry，

Or anything that's honest and good，an eye

That makes the whole world seem bright. Your open heart，

Simple with giving，gives the primal deed，5

The first good world，the blossom，the blowing seed，

The hearth，the steadfast land，the wandering sea.6

Not beautiful or rare in every part.7

But like yourself，as they were meant to be.8

【题解】

这是一首爱情诗，写得直爽、坦率、热情，极尽溢美之词。但是，末两行出人意表，却反而更加真诚。

【注释】

1.the right human face：（我要找的）正是这张充满人性的脸。

2.waited for this long：等得这么久。

3.amid the wrong ... roads：一路漫无目标，翻山越岭，穿过崎岖曲折的道路；wrong：表示找错了去处，与第一行的right形成对照。

4.A fountain in a waste：荒漠中的甘泉；waste：a sparsely settled or barren region，desert.

5.Simple with giving，gives the primal deed：心无杂念，只是奉献，而且奉献是最重要的一切；the primal deed：最实际的重要行动。

6.The first good world，the blossom，the blowing seed ... sea：诗人用这一系列的意象来赞美诗中的“你”，这位女子所奉献的爱情：这是诗人第一次来到的美好世界，鲜花盛开，种子飘飞，象征着他们的爱情会开花结果；这种爱情将给他们带来家庭的温暖（the hearth），并且坚实如大地，奔放如大海。

7.Not beautiful or rare in every part：并非十全十美或每一部分都很希罕；与第一行human呼应，人是不可能完美的。

8.as they were meant to be：本来如此，（像你那样）不可能完美无缺；they：前面没有明确的先行词，实际上是every part的集合。

In Love for Long

I've been in love for long

With what I cannot tell

And will contrive a song^1

For the intangible

That has no mould or shape，

From which there's no escape.2

It is not even a name，

Yet is all constancy；3

Tried or untried，the same，4

It cannot part from me；

A breath，yet as still

As the established hill.5

It is not any thing，

And yet all being is；6

Being，being，being，

Its burden and its bliss.

How can I ever prove

What it is I love？

This happy happy love

Is sieged with crying sorrows，

Crushed beneath and above

Between to-days and morrows；7

A little paradise

Held in the world's vice.8

And there it is content

And careless as a child，

And in imprisonment

Flourishes sweet and wild；

In wrong，beyond wrong，9

All the world's day long.10

This love a moment known

For what I do not know

And in a moment gone

Is like the happy doe

That keeps its perfect laws

Between the tiger's paws

And vindicates its cause.11

【题解】

生活中充满了矛盾，诗人所追求的爱是一种无形、无踪、不可名状，然而又无法摆脱的东西。悲喜难辨，稍纵即逝。末节点出全诗的主题。

【注释】

1.contrive a song：精心创作一首歌； contrive：to form or create in an artistic or ingenious manner.

2.the intangible ... escape：诗人所爱的对象不具形态，因而也难于摆脱。

3.constancy：坚贞。

4.Tried or untried，the same：考验或未经考验，都一样。

5.A breath，yet as still ... hill：所爱的东西像呼吸，但又像高山一样稳定。

6.yet all being is：yet is all being，（所爱的）是一切存在。

7.morrows：tomorrows.

8.A little paradise ... vice：小小的天堂被世界的钳子夹住；vice：一语双关：（1） or vise，any of various tools with two jaws for holding work that close usually by a screw，lever，or cam； （2） moral depravity or corruption，wickedness.

9.In wrong，beyond wrong：受到冤屈，但又超脱了冤屈。

10.All the world's day long：all day long 的强调形式。

11.This love a moment known ... cause：末节字面意思说：在瞬间懂的是我不懂的，而又在瞬间消逝的爱，就像在虎爪里的一只快活的雌鹿，它保持着爱的完美的规则，证明了爱的事业。处于虎爪里的雌鹿居然不知危险，还很快乐，这正好说明了爱的完美的法则——爱处于危机之中却丝毫不觉，也声明了爱的目的就是如此；doe：the adult female of various mammals （as a deer，rabbit，or kangaroo）； its perfect laws：this love's perfect laws.

The Combat

It was not meant for human eyes，1

That combat on the shabby patch

Of clods and trampled turf^2 that lies

Somewhere beneath the sodden skies

For eye of toad or adder to catch.3

And having seen it I accuse

The crested animal^4 in his pride，

Arrayed in all the royal hues^5

Which hide the claws he well can use

To tear the heart out of the side.6

Body of leopard，eagle's head

And whetted beak，and lion's mane，7

And frost-grey hedge of feathers^8 spread

Behind — he seemed of all things bred.

I shall not see his like again.

As for his enemy there came in

A soft round beast as brown as clay；

All rent and patched his wretched skin；9

A battered bag^10 he might have been，

Some old used thing to throw away.

Yet he awaited face to face

The furious beast and the swift attack.

Soon over and done. That was no place

Or time for chivalry or for grace.

The fury had him on his back.11

And two small paws like hands flew out

To right and left as the trees stood by.

One would have said beyond a doubt

That was the very end of the bout，12

But that the creature would not die.

For ere^13 the death-stroke he was gone，

Writhed，whirled，into his den，

Safe somehow there. The fight was done，

And he had lost who had all but won.14

But oh his deadly fury then.

A while the place lay blank，forlorn，

Drowsing as in relief from pain.

The cricket chirped，the grating thorn^15

Stirred，and a little sound was born.

The champions took their posts again.

And all began. The stealthy paw

Slashed out and in. Could nothing save

These rags and tatters^16 from the claw？

Nothing. And yet I never saw

A beast so helpless and so brave.

And now，while the trees stand watching，still

The unequal battle rages there.17

The killing beast that cannot kill

Swells and swells^18 in his fury till

You'd almost think it was despair.

【题解】

《格斗》未及明言什么东西在斗，但是，可以看出是禽和兽之斗。作者的用意正在于说明这种残酷的斗争可以发生在任何动物之间，包括人。

【注释】

1.It was not meant for human eyes：先言这场格斗不是让人看的，恰好说明人与人之间的争斗正是如此。

2.the shabby patch ... turf：格斗的场地是一块不雅的泥地，被践踏得凌乱不堪的草地。

3.For eye of toad or adder to catch：格斗场地很低，只有癞蛤蟆和毒蛇看得到，含有趣味很低极低之意，和首行对照。

4.The crested animal：当指鸡。鸡喜好格斗，抑或其他禽类，诗人未及明言。

5.Arrayed in all the royal hues：身上披着王者气势的色彩鲜艳的羽毛；array：to dress or decorate especially in splendid or impressive attire，adorn.

6.To tear the heart out of the side：把心脏从肋肉里撕出来； the side：身侧，肋肉。

7.Body of leopard，eagle's head ... mane：这只格斗的鸡兼有各种凶残动物的特征，有像豹那样灵活的身躯，有像鹰那样锋利的喙，有像雄狮那样的鬃毛。

8.hedge of feathers：羽毛展开如篱笆，斗鸡示威或表示愤怒时会张开脖子的羽毛。

9.All rent and patched his wretched skin：his wretched skin all rent and patched，皮肤撕烂，伤疤累累。

10.A battered bag：（被打伤的对方像）破烂的口袋。上面说格斗的另一方是一只身体圆圆的小兽。

11.The fury had him on his back：指鸡跳到它的背上。

12.the bout：一个回合。

13.ere：before.

14.had all but won：差一点就赢了。

15.the grating thorn：枝叶摩擦簌簌作响的荆棘。

16.These rags and tatters：指小兽被撕破的皮肤。

17.The unequal battle rages there：力量悬殊的双方在鏖战。

18.Swells and swells：愈来愈激怒。

One Foot in Eden

One foot in Eden still，I stand

And look across the other land.1

The world's great day is growing late，2

Yet strange these fields that we have planted

So long with crops of love and hate.3

Time's handiworks by time are haunted，4

And nothing now can separate

The corn and tares compactly grown.5

The armorial weed^6 in stillness bound

About the stalk；7 these are our own.

Evil and good stand thick around

In fields of charity and sin

Where we shall lead our harvest in.

Yet still from Eden springs the root

As clean as on the starting day.

Time takes the foliage and the fruit

And burns the archetypal^8 leaf

To shapes of terror and of grief

Scattered along the winter way.

But famished field and blackened tree^9

Bear flowers in Eden never known.

Blossoms of grief and charity

Bloom in these darkened fields alone.

What had Eden ever to say

Of hope and faith and pity and love

Until was buried all its day

And memory found its treasure trove？10

Strange blessings never in Paradise

Fall from these beclouded skies.

【题解】

缪亚从《一只脚在天堂》的角度来观望和考察人类被逐出伊甸园以后的生活的世界，看到在人类历史的长河中形成的种种对立面，如爱和恨，善和恶，但最终是人类收割自己播种的果实。

【注释】

题目：Eden：伊甸乐园，基督教《圣经》中所说的人类祖先居住的天堂。

1.the other land：指人类被逐出伊甸园之后现在生活的世界，所谓the fallen world.

2.The world's great day is growing late：这个世界辉煌的一天已经暮色苍茫。

3.crops of love and hate：（在这块土地上播种着）爱和恨的作物。

4.Time's handiworks by time are haunted：时间的制作品遭到时间的胁迫。呼应第3行世界的辉煌日子已临近末日（The world's great day is growing late），时间所创造的一切将面临着被毁灭的前途。

5.The corn and tares compactly grown：庄稼和稗子紧紧地生长在一起。喻良莠交织，善恶并存；corn：在英国指谷类植物，常指小麦；tares：《圣经》中指莠草、稗子，如《新约· 马太福音》（Matthew ）13：25—26：But while men slept，his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat，and went his way. But when the blade sprung up，and brought forth fruit，then appeared the tares also.（及至人睡觉的时候，有仇敌来，将稗子撒在麦子里就走了。到长苗吐穗的时候，稗子也显出来。）

6.The armorial weed：纹章的莠草。喻莠草长得很茂盛。

7.the stalk：指麦子的秸秆。莠草绕在秸秆上。

8.archetypal：原始模型的，原型的。

9.blackened tree：被烧焦发黑的树。

10.trove：被收藏的东西。

The Horses

Barely a twelvemonth after

The seven days war that put the world to sleep，

Late in the evening the strange horses came.1

By then we had made our covenant with silence，2

But in the first few days it was so still

We listened to our breathing and were afraid.

On the second day

The radios failed； we turned the knobs； no answer.3

On the third day a warship passed us，heading north，

Dead bodies piled on the deck. On the sixth day

A plane plunged over us into the sea. Thereafter

Nothing. The radios dumb；

And still they stand in corners of our kitchens，

And stand，perhaps，turned on，in a million rooms

All over the world. But now if they should speak，

If on a sudden they should speak again，

If on the stroke of noon^4 a voice should speak，

We would not listen，we would not let it bring

That old bad world that swallowed its children quick^5

At one great gulp.6 We would not have it again.

Sometimes we think of the nations lying asleep，

Curled blindly in impenetrable sorrow，7

And then the thought confounds us with its strangeness.

The tractors lie about our fields； at evening

They look like dank sea-monsters^8 couched and waiting.

We leave them where they are and let them rust：

‘They'll molder away and be like other loam.’9

We make our oxen drag our rusty plows，

Long laid aside. We have gone back

Far past our fathers' land.10

And then，that evening

Late in the summer the strange horses came.

We heard a distant tapping on the road，

A deepening drumming； it stopped，went on again

And at the corner changed to hollow thunder^11

We saw the heads

Like a wild wave charging and were afraid.12

We had sold our horses in our fathers' time

To buy new tractors. Now they were strange to us

As fabulous steeds set on an ancient shield.

Or illustrations in a book of knights.13

We did not dare go near them. Yet they waited，

Stubborn and shy，as if they had been sent

By an old command to find our whereabouts

And that long-lost archaic companionship.14

In the first moment we had never a thought

That they were creatures to be owned and used.

Among them were some half a dozen colts^15

Dropped^16 in some wilderness of the broken world，

Yet new as if they had come from their own Eden.

Since then they have pulled our plows and borne our loads

But that free servitude still can pierce our hearts.17

Our life is changed； their coming our beginning.18

【题解】

《马》的主题是高技术的进步导致人类文明的退步和环境的毁灭。艾略特认为《马》是一首“了不起的、令人恐怖的原子能时代的诗。”（that great，that terrifying poem of the ‘atomic age’.）缪亚没有直接描绘诗中那场虚构的核战争，只是揭示这场战争给人类带来的毁灭性的打击，但是，他那冷峻、含蓄的语言，特别是对马的突然出现的描述，更加反衬了核战争的灾难，强调了劫后余生者对这个世界的再认识。缪亚不是一个悲观主义者，机械化的、非人道的“文明”遭到毁灭之后，人类和自然世界的重建，又透露出他的希望。

【注释】

1.Barely a twelvemonth after ... came：起首三行一句概括世界的毁灭和马的到来。不说“一年”，而说“十二个月”，带有《圣经》的味道；The seven days war：暗示上帝创造世界用了七天，而现代人毁灭世界也只用了七天；put the world to sleep：这一场（假想的）核战争使得整个世界都一片死寂。

2.we had made our covenant with silence：和寂静订立了契约；承上put the world to sleep，说明世界遭到毁灭性的打击，死寂无声。

3.The radios failed； we turned the knobs； no answer：收音机收不到任何音讯，谓技术已经失去了作用；现代科技毁灭了科技。

4.on the stroke of noon：在十二点钟声敲响时。

5.That old bad world that swallowed its children quick：万恶的旧世界吞噬的儿童，不一定是指孩子，实际是指整个人类。

6.At one great gulp：一大口吞下。

7.Curled blindly in impenetrable sorrow：蜷缩在那里，双眼失明，悲痛欲绝；impenetrable：inaccessible to knowledge，reason，or sympathy，impervious，任何安慰和同情的表示都无法减轻的痛苦。

8.dank sea-monsters：拖拉机像阴湿的海怪。按：拖拉机虽然不是武器，但也是现代机械化的象征和产物；dank：unpleasantly moist，wet.

9.molder away and be like other loam：烂掉，像其他泥土一样；loam：soil，specifically a soil consisting of a friable mixture of varying proportions of clay，silt，and sand.

10.We have gone back ... land：我们在这块祖祖辈辈耕作的土地上又回到很早的年代。

11.And then，that evening ... thunder：第31—35行描写马的到来，诗人用几组词来突出马奔来的马蹄声（a distant tapping，a deepening drumming，hollow thunder），和前面描写的死寂形成鲜明的对照。

12.We saw the heads ... afraid：我们看到马群的头像汹涌的浪潮那样奔腾而来。按：也许是这两行诗，使一位学生在论文中认为这些是野马，在惊恐地狂奔。P.H.Butter在Edwin Muir 一书中提到1958年，缪亚在给这位学生的回信中解释说：“I think you have gone wrong in thinking of the horses as wild horses，or as stampeding. It is less than a year since the seven days' war happened. So the horses are good plough-horses and still have a memory of the world before the war. ... As for the ‘tapping’：have you eve listened，on a still evening，to horses trotting in the distance？ The sound is really a pretty tapping. The drumming sound indicated that they were drawing nearer； the hollow thunder when they turned the corner meant that they say the village or farmstead and found their home ....The horses are seeking the long lost archaic companionship，accepted in former times by men as an obvious right，so that it never occurred to them that there was anything surprising in using and owning horses. It is the surprise of their return that makes them realize the beauty of that free servitude.” （The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry，edited by Richard Ellmann and Robert o'Clair，1973，p.409）

13.As fabulous steeds set on an ancient shield ... knights：这些马就像古盾上刻的神话中的马，或者像骑士书里插图上的马；steed：horse，especially a spirited horse as for war.

14.as if they had been sent ... companionship：这些马似乎是听从以前的主人的指挥来寻找我们的下落和失去了很久的古老的情谊；archaic companionship：不仅指父辈和马的情谊，而且暗示可以追溯到更远的上古时代的情谊。

15.colts：小马，驹。

16.Dropped：（动物）出生，落草。

17.But that free servitude still can pierce our hearts：现代机械化和核战争使人更加感到人和马之间这种传统友谊的珍贵，从而对马无偿的劳役感到深深的愧疚。

18.their coming our beginning：their coming is our beginning，马的到来是人类新的开始，是人类对所处环境和应该如何与其他物种相处的新的认识。

EDITH SITWELL

伊迪斯·席特维尔

（1887—1964）

【作者与作品简介】

女诗人席特维尔生在一个贵族家庭。她的教育正像她自己所说“是在秘密中”进行的。但她和她的两个弟弟萨其维瑞和奥斯伯特都成为二十世纪英国的重要诗人，而且她比她的两个受过伊顿学校贵族教育的弟弟还享有更大的声誉。在1916至1921年间她成为《轮》的六套组诗的编辑和主要撰稿人。她除了发表《小丑之家》、《木飞马》、《门面》和《农村的喜剧》等诗集之外还撰写评论文。

作为诗人，席特维尔的最大特点是对诗的语言的运用有着特殊的才能。评论家勒·温特迈尔说她的语言能发出木琴和玻璃器的声音，极富音乐性。她的诗有的在情调上异常优美如“插曲”，有的反映了她对人的尖锐观察，如在《奥贝德》中她描写一个来自农村的女佣在主人家里时所感受到的半睡眠状态的单调生活。她又善于创造糅现实情景与幻想为一体的意象，如“纸的天空”，“羊毛的海洋”，世界是“一个由羽毛似的大气生下的光滑的蛋”。她这种嬉戏于真实和荒诞幻境之间的爱好使她的诗具有某些超现实主义的特色。在写一位阔亲戚的家时她说：

太阳光打着醉嗝，苍白如粉垩，

因为空洞的谈话而昏醉

沉默发出蛇的嘘气声

软体动物的无力和格格响着的疼痛……

《耳聋器的独唱》

又如将风的温和宜人说成“小马似的风嗅着手”，树木“发出嘘声像绿鹅”，静寂如“漏水的水龙头”。

进入四十年代后，由于人类又一次经受灾难的考验，伦敦遭受纳粹通宵达旦的空袭，轰炸的震波摇撼了席特维尔的艺术世界。这里所选的《雨，还在下》就是这一时期的代表作之一。它反映了女诗人在这个历史转折点时的思想感情。她透过她的冷色的艺术深思来写战争给人类命运带来的问题。她对战争的思考给她的诗一种早期所没有的社会意义和现实深度，今天对我们有一种特殊吸引力。

《雨，还在下》是一首富有立体感的诗。席特维尔将伦敦空袭这一在一定时间地点发生的事置于宗教象征主义的投射中，从而使历史事件超出了它的有限时空而获得立体的多层次的意义。在这首诗里很多普通的日用词汇由于上下文的象征联系而获得多层的内涵。譬如“雨”，这个词在诗里至少有着两重意义。它既是弹落如雨的“雨”，又是《圣经》中所说的“雨”。《马太福音》中曾提到建立在岩石上的房屋不会被雨冲垮，而建在沙上的房屋会在雨中倒塌。在第二次世界大战初期，希特勒自恃空军优势，妄想在短期的空袭中击垮英国，达到拿破仑所没有达到的侵略效果。当时英国孤立无援，皇家空军在浴血迎战中阻拦了纳粹的闪电战。因此这是英国的存亡受到历史的考验的一个关键时刻。英国究竟是岩石上的建筑，还是沙滩上的堡垒？在《雨，还在下》一诗中是一个主题思想。诗中一共六次重复地提到“雨，还在下”这行发人深省的诗。每次都加深了读者对这句诗的深意的领会。诗中除了明显地运用《圣经》中关于人的与生俱来的弱点和过失的说法之外，还借用《圣经》中关于最后审判日的描写。据说在这一天人世沉没于黑暗，直至人子降临，耶稣为人赎罪的宗教故事也成为这首诗的一部分结构。所谓“光”、“火花”是指宗教信仰而言。席特维尔成功地运用这些宗教神话和隐喻，加深了这首诗的历史深度。它涉及人类在社会发展中所遇到的自相残杀、野心贪婪的角逐、善恶不分等重大的问题。但作者没有能跳出自己的文化宗教背景来看问题，因此只能提出问题，并抒发了自己在沉思这些问题时的沉痛心情。全诗的感情色调是肃穆而冷静的，没有十七世纪玄学诗的强烈感情，也没有十九世纪浪漫主义的激情，而是倾向于古典主义的凝重。诗中不乏诗人所擅长的行内韵和双声的技巧。如第一节第一二行中的叠韵和二三行中的双声都组成诗行间的交错音乐，读起来很富乐感。有的评论家认为席特维尔的早期作品在词句音乐性方面的贡献突出，并能做到内容和形式和谐，后期社会性较强的作品似乎没有能找到同等成功的表达形式。必须承认诗人并没有涉入世纪初英美新诗的革新运动，但她后期诗的深刻性仍对今天的读者有很大的吸引力。

郑敏

Still Falls the Rain

The Raids，1940：Night and Dawn

Still falls the Rain —

Dark as the world of man，black as our loss —

Blind as the nineteen hundred and forty nails

Upon the Cross.1

Still falls the Rain

With a sound like the pulse of the heart that is changed to the hammer-beat

In the Potter's Field，2 and the sound of the impious feet^3

On the Tomb：

Still falls the Rain

In the Field of Blood where the small hopes breed and the human brain

Nurtures its greed，that worm with the brow of Cain.4

Still falls the Rain

At the feet of the Starved Man^5 hung upon the Cross.

Christ that each day，each night，nails there，have mercy on us —

On Dives and on Lazarus：6

Under the Rain the sore and the gold are as one.7

Still falls the Rain —

Still falls the Blood from the Starved Man's wounded Side：8

He bears in His Heart all wounds，— those of the light that died，

The last faint spark

In the self-murdered heart，the wounds of the sad uncomprehending dark，

The wounds of the baited bear^9 —

The blind and weeping bear whom the keepers beat

On his helpless flesh ... the tears of the hunted hare.

Still falls the Rain —

Then — O Ile leape up to my God：who pulles me doune —

See，see where Christ's blood streames in the firmament：10

It flows from the Brow we nailed upon the tree

Deep to the dying，to the thirsting heart

That holds the fires of the world，— dark-smirched^11 with pain

As Caesar's laurel crown.12

Then sounds the voice of One who like the heart of man

Was once a child who among beasts has lain —

“Still do I love，still shed my innocent light，my Blood，for thee.”

【题解】

《雨，还在下》一诗从第二次世界大战期间德国对英国的轰炸，联想到人类社会的灾难和不幸。全诗三十四行，共分为七节，象征上帝七天创造的世界遇到了前所未有的灾难，而雨则代表炸弹。席特维尔是虔诚的基督徒，在诗中融入了很多基督教意象。她这首诗的基调是悲伤的，但是并不消沉，透出乐观的展望。

【注释】

副标题The Raids，1940：Night and Dawn，点出第二次世界大战中德国空军空袭英国，昼夜不息，扔下大量炸弹。

1.the nineteen hundred and forty nails ... Cross：共有1940颗钉子钉在十字架上。1940颗钉象征1940年的这场战争。

2.Potter's Field：耶路撒冷附近安葬外乡人的墓地。犹大出卖耶稣后得三十元钱，耶稣被钉死在十字架上以后，犹大因悔恨而把这笔血腥钱（blood money）退还给司祭长和长老，上吊而死。后来用这笔钱买的墓地又称血田（Filed of Blood）。事见《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ）27：7所载。

3.the sound of the impious feet：不敬者的脚步。墓地里的锤子敲打声和狂轰滥炸都是敲响地狱大门的锤子，与死亡相联系。

4.that worm with the brow of Cain：意为人的贪婪是使人产生杀心的蠕虫；the brow of Cain：据《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ），亚当的长子该隐（Cain）杀死弟弟亚伯（Abel）后，上帝在他脸上打上烙印，即Brand of Cain，杀人的印记。

5.the Starved Man：象征一切饿死的人。但是，这里显然借用耶稣被钉死在十字架上的形象，耶稣死而复活，the Starved Man 同样也代表了希望。

6.On Dives and on Lazarus：愿耶稣对富人和穷人都能给予宽恕。《新约·路加福音》（Luke ）16：19—31中说，富翁（Dives）死后进入地狱，而浑身生疮的拉撒路（Lazarus）升入天堂。

7.the sore and the gold are as one：脓疮和黄金（在象征灾难的大雨下）没有什么差别。穷富都会遭灾。

8.Side：身体的侧面，肋。

9.the baited bear：被捉弄的熊。欧洲中世纪的一种非常残忍的娱乐活动，用锁链把熊拴在柱子上，驱使群狗去撕咬。

10.O Ile leape up to my God：who pulles me doune ... firmament：这是马娄的《浮士德博士》（Dr. Faustus ）一剧结束时，浮士德发出的绝望的呼声。此处引用时保留了古旧的拼写；Ile leape：I'll leap； pulles me doune：pulls me down.

11.dark-smirched：黑污的，弄脏变黑的。

12.Caesar's laurel crown：罗马皇帝凯撒的桂冠，胜利者的象征。

THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT

托马斯·斯登斯·艾略特

（1888—1965）

【作者与作品简介】

艾略特也许不是二十世纪最伟大的英语诗人，但毫无疑问是最有影响的英语诗人。通过他自己的诗，也通过他的一整套文论，艾略特把他的现代主义传播到了世界上一切对诗歌革新有憧憬、有实践的地方，在整整半个世纪之内使人们读他、谈他、学他，也骂他、反对他，至今余波未息。

然而这是一种奇怪的现代主义，因为伴随而来的是一种正统的传统观——不仅仍然要传统，而且是要以罗马天主教、英国国教为中心的传统，只不过传统连续不断，时时更新，古今优秀文学是同时并存的。在实践里，当然艾略特泄露了他的偏爱，他的美国出身（因而比欧洲文人更倾倒于欧洲文化），他也有过浮华、气盛的青年时期（因而故作惊人之言，说什么《哈姆雷特》是一个艺术上的失败，弥尔顿是破坏了英语表达力的罪魁等等），同时也确实有效地改变了高雅社会的一部分文学趣味，使他们放下浪漫派，拿起玄学派、法国后象征派和詹姆士一世时期的诗剧。

艾略特的诗里也有着一些和更多的文学作品的“同时存在”，因为摘引别人作品是他写诗的手法之一。不止摘引，他还借用神话、传说、哲学和心理学的新学说、人类学和社会学的新成果，等等，因此他最著名的作品《荒原》看起来就像是大量引语的拼贴画。这样的引语识者不多，于是他又加了大量注释，使得读诗又变成了做学问。

没有任何人能只靠摘引和注释写出好诗来，艾略特除了掉书袋之外，是有真实诗才的。首先，他敏锐地看出了第一次世界大战前后欧洲所遭遇的文明危机，他对这危机的严重性的认识也远比一般时事观察家要深得多，而危机范围之大则他认为从“不真实的城市”一直伸展到每人的灵魂之中。

其次，他运用了一种技巧，既能传达这样一个复杂的主题，又能把读者卷入新的诗风。他不容许他的读者——当然也不容许他自己——堕入甜美的、感伤的抒情调子，因为那样的调子引不出危机感，这就是为什么他在理论和实践上都要大力反对浪漫主义。针对浪漫派的优美音调，他选择了无韵的自由诗作为主要形式，其风格特点是散文化、口语化。针对浪漫派的黄昏、月亮、玫瑰之类，他用新的形象去震惊读者。

今天，读者当然不再感到震惊了。但在《阿尔弗瑞德·普鲁弗洛克的情歌》发表之初（1917年），人们是不习惯艾略特的这类形象的：

朝天空慢慢铺展着黄昏

好似病人麻醉在手术桌上

…………

街连着街，好像一场讨厌的争议

带有阴险的意图

要把你引向一个重大的问题……

这些形象里既有现代城市生活，又有现代知识分子的心智活动，都传达了尖锐的现实感。艾略特的匠心，还见于更切近日常生活的形象：

我是用咖啡匙子量走了我的生命

…………

那我怎么能开始吐出

我的生活和习惯的全部剩烟头？

特别是读者容易忽略过去的：

啊，我变老了……我变老了……

我将要卷起我的长裤的裤脚。

一个简单的动作，然而代表了一片心情：只有心情上衰老的人才那样小心保护裤脚，才为了方便而放弃雅观。这一形象也就起了“客观关联物”的作用——这一理论，连同它的名词，都是艾略特提出的。

至于《荒原》，那么整诗就笼罩在一大形象之内：二十世纪的西方是一片荒原，没有水来滋润，不能生产，需要渔王回来，需要雷声震鸣——而实际上水又所在都是，河流和海洋，真实的和想象的，都在通过韵律、形象、联想，通过音乐和画面，形成了一条意义的潜流。在这等地方，我们又看出艾略特的丰富和深刻，看出他从现代艺术学到的作曲和构图的新原理。他完全可以写得很美，只不过这是一种节奏和色彩组成的美，例如：

有时我能听见

在下泰晤士街的酒吧间旁，

一只四弦琴的悦耳的怨诉，

而酒吧间内渔贩子们正在歇午，

发出嘈杂的喧声，还有殉道堂：

在它那壁上是说不尽的

爱奥尼亚的皎洁与金色的辉煌。

四弦琴的悦耳的怨诉，渔贩子的嘈杂的喧声，带来了生命力，而最后则是建筑美和“它那壁上说不尽的……皎洁与金色的辉煌”。这样一段含有脚韵的诗出现在两个小职员有欲无情的幽会的描绘之后，就显得分外美丽，荒原的枯燥和寂寞也就暂时被打破了。

艾略特并不停顿在原地。在发展的路上，他有成功，也有失败。所谓失败，是指他在诗剧上的试验。他想在二十世纪的条件下复兴十七世纪型的诗剧。他写出了不少好台词，像《大教堂谋杀案》里借用宗教仪式来作的形式试验也是成功的，但是尽管他在五十年代下了很大力气一连写了五六个剧本，其中多数还曾上演，甚至盛大上演，并且博得好评，现在我们看得清楚：《元老政治家》之类的剧本已被遗忘，诗剧也没有复兴。

倒是在大写诗剧之前，艾略特已经发表了另一部大作品：《四个四重奏》。真正的成功是在这里。艾略特本人说过他羡慕贝多芬后期写的几个四重奏，认为在那里音乐进入了更高级的纯粹的境界。《四个四重奏》也进入了纯粹的境界，大段的回旋式的陈述里包含着对人生的沉思，对乡村景物的感应，自我反省，自我辩论，以及对诗歌语言的关注：

去年的话属于去年的语言，

而明年的话等待另外一个声音。

但同时，诗又满载着历史的记忆和今天的现实：

黑色的鸽子吐着闪亮的舌头

在他归途的地平线下经过

轰炸机出现了，英国的命运同时间和历史交叉在一点，这又是真正的战争诗。艾略特立在战争的黑夜里，想起了曾居斯土的祖先，想起了英国的将来。这时他早已脱去了炫奇的外衣，沉静下来，只靠深刻的思考、近乎透明的语言、余响不绝的音韵，写下了他最好的诗。

王佐良

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse

A persona che mai tornasse al mondo，

Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.

Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo

Non torno vivo alcun，s'i'odo il vero，

Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Let us go then，you and I，1

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like a patient etherized upon a table；2

Let us go，through certain half-deserted streets，

The muttering retreats

Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels

And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells：

Streets that follow like a tedious argument

Of insidious intent

To lead you to an overwhelming question^3 ...

Oh，do not ask，“What is it？”

Let us go and make our visit.

In the room the women come and go

Talking of Michelangelo.4

The yellow fog that rubs its back^5 upon the window-panes，

The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes

Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening，

Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains，6

Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys，

Slipped by the terrace，made a sudden leap，

And seeing that it was a soft October night，

Curled once about the house，and fell asleep.7

And indeed there will be time^8

For the yellow smoke that slides along the street，

Rubbing its back upon the window-panes；

There will be time，there will be time

To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet；

There will be time to murder and create，

And time for all the works and days^9 of hands

That lift and drop a question on your plate；

Time for you and time for me，

And time yet for a hundred indecisions，10

And for a hundred visions and revisions，11

Before the taking of a toast and tea.

In the room the women come and go

Talking of Michelangelo.

And indeed there will be time

To wonder，“Do I dare？” and，“Do I dare？”

Time to turn back and descend the stair，

With a bald spot in the middle of my hair —

（They will say：“How his hair is growing thin！”）

My morning coat，my collar mounting firmly to the chin，12

My necktie rich and modest，but asserted by a simple pin^13 —

（They will say：“But how his arms and legs are thin！”）

Do I dare

Disturb the universe？14

In a minute there is time

For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

For I have known them all already，known them all —

Have known the evenings，mornings，afternoons，

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons；15

I know the voices dying with a dying fall^16

Beneath the music from a farther room.

So how should I presume？17

And I have known the eyes already，known them all —

The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase，18

And when I am formulated，sprawling on a pin，

When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall，19

Then how should I begin

To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways？20

And how should I presume？21

And I have known the arms already，known them all —

Arms that are braceleted and white and bare

（But in the lamplight，downed with light brown hair！22）

Is it perfume from a dress

That makes me so digress？

Arms that lie along a table，or wrap about a shawl.23

And should I then presume？24

And how should I begin？

……

Shall I say，I have gone at dusk through narrow streets

And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes

Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves，leaning out of windows？ ...

I should have been a pair of ragged claws

Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.25

……

And the afternoon，the evening，sleeps so peacefully！

Smoothed by long fingers，

Asleep ... tired ... or it malingers，26

Stretched on the floor，here beside you and me.

Should I，after tea and cakes and ices，

Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis？

But though I have wept and fasted，wept and prayed，

Though I have seen my head （grown slightly bald） brought in upon a platter，27

I am no prophet — and here's no great matter；

I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker，

And I have seen the eternal Footman^28 hold my coat，and snicker，29

And in short，I was afraid.

And would it have been worth it，after all，30

After the cups，the marmalade，the tea，

Among the porcelain，among some talk of you and me，

Would it have been worth while，

To have bitten off the matter with a smile，

To have squeezed the universe into a ball^31

To roll it toward some overwhelming question，

To say：“I am Lazarus，32 come from the dead

Come back to tell you all，I shall tell you all”—

If one，33 settling a pillow by her head，

Should say：“That is not what I meant at all.

That is not it，at all.”

And would it have been worth it，after all，

Would it have been worth while，

After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets，

After the novels，after the teacups，after the skirts that trail along the floor —

And this，and so much more？ —

It is impossible to say just what I mean！

But as if a magic lantern^34 threw the nerves in patterns on a screen：

Would it have been worth while

If one，settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl，

And turning toward the window，should say：

“That is not it at all，

That is not what I meant，at all.”

……

No！ I am not Prince Hamlet，35 nor was meant to be；

Am an attendant lord，36 one that will do

To swell a progress，37 start a scene or two，

Advise the prince； no doubt，an easy tool，

Deferential，glad to be of use，

Politic，cautious，and meticulous；

Full of high sentence，but a bit obtuse

At times，indeed，almost ridiculous —

Almost，at times，the Fool.

I grow old ... I grow old ...

I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.38

Shall I part my hair behind？ Do I dare to eat a peach？

I shall wear white flannel trousers，and walk upon the beach.

I have heard the mermaids^39 singing，each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves

Combing the white hair of the waves blown back

When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown

Till human voices wake us，and we drown.

【题解】

《阿尔弗瑞德·普鲁弗洛克的情歌》是一首戏剧式的独白诗。诗中之“我”，即普鲁弗洛克，叙述他的生活空间，他的心理反应和脑子里产生的各种念头和幻象。人到中年的普鲁弗洛克似乎和社会格格不入，每日碌碌无为，百无聊赖，心情郁闷，很不得意。“情歌”和“阿尔弗瑞德·普鲁弗洛克”形成鲜明的对照，前者表示浪漫的情调，而普鲁弗洛克只是一个平常乏味的俗人。艾略特在诗中创造了很多意象，用了大量的典故，或明或隐，以求取得特殊效果，突出现代社会的矛盾及其对人的冲击力。

【注释】

引诗出自但丁的《地狱篇》（Inferno ） 27.58—63：If I believe that my reply were made to one who could ever climb to the world again，this flame would shake no more. But since no shade ever returned — if what I am told is true — from this blind world into the living light，without fear of dishonor I answer. （英文译文引自 The Divine Comedy，The John Ciardi Translation，p.140，W.W. Norton ＆ Company，1970）。以上是基德·蒙勿得禄伯爵（Guido de Montefeltro）回答但丁的话。但丁应诗人维吉尔邀请，到地狱参观，见到基德·蒙勿得禄伯爵和其他一些欺诈的谋士正在被烈火烧烤，基德·蒙勿得禄伯爵说这番话是因为他认为但丁亦是死者，不可能再回到人间，把他的事泄露给世人。有些评论家认为，引语表示普鲁弗洛克是在对自己而不是对别人说话。

1.Let us go then，you and I：首行为全诗作好铺垫，谓他们俩要出去造访一些地方。根据题目，“you”当为一位女士。艾略特本人对you and I作过多次解释，前后表述不同，一说you是普鲁弗洛克的朋友或伴侣，很可能是男性，又说普鲁弗洛克是个中年人，四十岁，又说他是年轻人。他在1962年接受采访时又说，他塑造的普鲁弗洛克表现为具有双重人格（split personality），因此也可以认为“you and I”实质是一人。

2.Like a patient etherized upon a table：像一个病人上了乙醚，躺在手术台上；etherized：处于被乙醚麻醉的状态； etherize暗示ether （太空）一词，形成自由的苍天和手术台上无知无觉的病体两者之间的强烈对比。

3.Streets that follow like a tedious argument ... question：街道条条相连，就像具有险恶用心、喋喋不休的论调，给你出了个使人不知所措的大难题。

4.In the room the women come and go ... Michelangelo：此句几乎完全是逐字借用了法国象征派诗人尤里·拉弗格（Jules Laforgue）的诗句：Dan la piece les femmes vont et viennent ／ En parlant des maitres de Sienne （In the room the women come and go ／ Talking of the masters of the Sienese School）； Michelangelo：米开朗基罗（1475—1564），意大利文艺复兴时期的著名画家、雕塑家、建筑师和诗人。这些女人们的谈话很琐碎，但又在谈论米开朗基罗，好像是很正经，很有文化修养。

5.rubs its back：比较以下的muzzle和tongue；这些细致的描写似乎把黄雾比作猫。按：当年的伦敦因烧煤和煤气，空气污染非常严重，雾气呈黄褐色。艾略特把黄雾人格化，把黄雾转化成猫，刻画了猫烦躁而又无精打采的样子，突出恶劣环境对情绪的影响。

6.the pools that stand in drains：水塘干涸。

7.Curled once about the house，and fell asleep：蜷缩在屋子里睡着了，喻黄雾包围着屋子，是倦怠和消沉的意象，和第三行a patient etherized upon a table相呼应。

8.And indeed there will be time：比较本书所选马韦尔（Andrew Marvell）诗《致他娇羞的女友》（To His Coy Mistress ）：Had we but world enough and time，／ This coyness，lady，were no crime. 马韦尔在诗中劝说羞涩的姑娘，不要一再犹豫，迟疑不决，除非他们俩今后还有无数相爱的机会。艾略特在诗中一再重复there will be time这句话及其变换形式，说明在拖延中寻找安慰的徒劳，未来所带来的，未必是希望和命运的改观。在第23—48行这三节中，诗人借用《旧约·传道书》（Ecclesiastes ）3：1—7的一些说教，其中3：1—3：To everything there isa season，and a time to every purpose under the heaven：A time to be born，and a time to die； a time to plant，and a time to pluck up that which isplanted； A time to kill and a time to heal； a time to break down and a time to build up. （凡事均有定期，天下万物都有定时。生有时，死有时；栽种有时，拔出所栽种的也有时，杀戮有时，医治有时；拆毁有时，建造有时。）

9.works and days：这是公元前八世纪希腊诗人赫西奥德（Hesiod）描写农事一诗的题目。诗人以有益的农业劳动来对照毫无意义的社交姿态（That lift and drop a question on your plate）。

10.indecisions：犹豫不决。莎士比亚《哈姆雷特》剧中王子哈姆雷特的典型性格。

11.visions and revisions：（脑子里出现的） 种种幻象及其多种变异。

12.my collar mounting firmly to the chin：硬领子直挺挺地顶着下巴。

13.asserted by a simple pin：此处指领带夹子使领带保持挺括；assert：to demonstrate the existence of.

14.Disturb the universe：disturb the accepted order.

15.measured out my life with coffee spoons：咖啡匙很小，此喻他要安排好生活中的每个细节； measure out：to allot or apportion in measured amounts，计量分派。

16.the voices dying with a dying fall：比较莎士比亚的《第十二夜》（Twelfth Night ）1.1.1—4：If music be the food of love，play on，／ Give me excess of it，that surfeiting，／ The appetite may sicken and so die. ／ The strain again，it had a dying fall. （假如音乐是爱情的食粮，那么奏下去吧；尽量地奏下去，好让爱情因过饱噎塞而死。又奏起这个调子来了！它有一种渐渐消沉下去的节奏。《莎士比亚全集》朱生豪等译，第二卷，第411页，人民文学出版社，1994）

17.how should I presume：presume to disturb the universe，我怎么敢冒昧地打乱这一切呢； presume：to act or proceed presumptuously or on a presumption.

18.The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase：眼睛死板地用一种固定的程式盯着你看，谓把你归入某个等级或划入某种类别（put you in your place in the accepted order）； in a formulated phrase：用公式化的词语； formulated一词的贬义，显然来自托马斯·卡莱尔（Thomas Carlyle）的《法国革命史》（French Revolution：A History ）：Man lives not except by formulas； with customs，ways of doing and living. （人的生存，非得按照某些程式，抑或是习俗、办事和生活的方式。）

19.And when I am formulated，sprawling on a pin ... wall：喻“我”被归入某一类，像昆虫一样被钉在墙上，身体扭动挣扎，但无法挣脱。

20.Then how should I begin ... ways：意为设法摆脱日常生活中的烦恼和社会的束缚，改变自己的命运；To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways：把含在嘴里的烟蒂吐掉；days and ways：指日常的操劳，和第29行all the works and days of hands呼应。

21.And how should I presume：presume to spit out etc.

22.downed with light brown hair：covered with light brown hair，手臂上覆盖着淡淡的棕色的汗毛；downed：像天鹅绒毛那样覆盖着。

23.Arms that lie along a table，or wrap about a shawl：And I have known the arms，etc.； 按：此处暗示产生淫欲念头。

24.And should I then presume：presume to digress.

25.I should have been a pair of ragged claws ... seas：I would have been better as a crab on the ocean bed； a pair of ragged claws：一对毛蓬蓬的爪子，指蟹的爪子。按：他之所以产生这样的联想，可能是因为看到女人们裸露的洁白的手臂，灯光下手臂上天鹅绒般浅棕色的汗毛，或是一路上看到孤独的男人们露出胳膊，倚窗抽烟。参阅莎士比亚《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet ）2.2. 205—206：for you yourself，sir，should be old as I am，if，like a crab，you could go backward. （因为就是拿你先生自己来说，要是您能够像一只蟹一样向后倒退，那么您也应该跟我一样年轻了。《莎士比亚全集》朱生豪等译，第五卷，第323页，人民文学出版社，1994）

26.malingers：pretends or exaggerates incapacity or illness，托病逃差。

27.I have seen my head （grown slightly bald） brought in upon a platter：据《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ）14：3—11和《新约·马可福音》（Mark ）6：14—29），施洗的约翰反对希律王娶其兄弟腓力的妻子希罗底，遭她怀恨。后来希罗底伺机指使女儿要求希律王将施洗的约翰杀死，并把他的头放在盘子里送到她面前。施洗的约翰在艺术形象中蓄着胡须，长头发，但普罗弗洛克不忘自己的头是微秃的（grown slightly bald）。

28.the eternal Footman：可能指死亡或命运。

29.snicker：snigger，窃笑。

30.And would it have been worth it，after all：用虚拟式表示事情已经过去，情景转移。

31.To have squeezed the universe into a ball：比较本书所选马韦尔（Andrew Marvell）诗《致他娇羞的女友》（To His Coy Mistress ）：Let us roll all our strength and all ／ Our sweetness up into one ball，／ And tear our pleasure with rough strife ／ Thorough the iron gates of life.

32.Lazarus：拉撒路。《圣经》里有两个拉撒路。据《新约·约翰福音》（John ）11：1—4，患病的拉撒路死了四天以后，耶稣使之复活。《新约·路加福音》（Luke ）16：19—31中说，天天享乐的财主死后进入阴间，备受痛苦，而混身生疮的乞丐拉撒路却升入天堂。此处当指患病的拉撒路。

33.If one：普鲁弗洛克去拜访的那个女人。

34.a magic lantern：幻灯。上面可以映出各种景象。关于a magic lantern，详见本书燕卜荪（William Empson）诗This Last Pain 注释。

35.Prince Hamlet：莎士比亚《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet ）一剧中的主人公。参见本书所选关于该剧的说明和选段。

36.attendant lord：宫廷的侍从，指《哈姆雷特》一剧中的波罗纽斯（Polonius），一位喋喋不休，自认为智者的宫臣。

37.progress：帝王等的巡游（royal journey），前后由宫臣等簇拥。加入巡游队伍即为swell a progress。

38.wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled：把裤管边翻起来。

39.mermaids：传说中的美人鱼。

The Hippopotamus

Similiter et omnes revereantur Diaconos，ut mandatum Jesu Christi； et Episcopum，ut Jesum Christum，existentem filium Patris； Presbyteros autem，ut concilium Dei et conjunctionem Apostolorum. Sine his Ecclesia non vocatur； de quibus suadeo vos sic habeo.

S. Ignatii Ad Trallianos.

And when this epistle is read among you，cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans.

The broad-backed hippopotamus

Rests on his belly in the mud；

Although he seems so firm to us

He is merely flesh and blood.

Flesh and blood is weak and frail，

Susceptible to^1 nervous shock；

While the True Church^2 can never fail

For it is based upon a rock.3

The hippo's^4 feeble steps may err

In compassing material ends，5

While the True Church need never stir

To gather in its dividends.

The 'potamus can never reach

The mango on the mango-tree；6

But fruits of pomegranate and peach

Refresh the Church from over sea.7

At mating time the hippo's voice

Betrays inflexions^8 hoarse and odd，

But every week we hear rejoice

The Church，at being one with God.9

The hippopotamus's day

Is passed in sleep； at night he hunts；

God works in a mysterious way^10 —

The Church can sleep and feed at once.

I saw the 'potamus take wing

Ascending from the damp savannas，11

And quiring^12 angels round him sing

The praise of God，in loud hosannas.13

Blood of the Lamb^14 shall wash him clean

And him shall heavenly arms enfold，

Among the saints he shall be seen

Performing on a harp of gold.

He shall be washed as white as snow，15

By all the martyr'd virgins^16 kist，17

While the True Church remains below

Wrapt in the old miasmal mist.18

【题解】

艾略特的《河马》一诗写于他从一位论派（Unitarianism）皈依英国国教（Anglicanism）之前。艾略特的两位重要评论家格鲁弗·斯密斯（Grover Smith）和休·肯纳（Hugh Kenner）在很早以前就对这首诗有截然不同的解释，说明其意模棱两可，不入常论。这是一首讽刺诗，“河马”象征众生，“真正的教会”象征基督教，两者形成鲜明的对照。但是，如何看待基督教教会？诗里的表述并不直截了当。众生是否真正得到赞扬？也非那么明确。这首诗每节四行，第2—6节的前两行讲河马之庸碌无能，后两行讲教会行之有道。最后两节叙述河马能够升天，而教会却始终处于乌烟瘴气之中。这种反差，是对现实的沉思，反映了上帝神秘的作用，也说明了客观现实的复杂性。

【注释】

拉丁引文出自安提阿主教依纳爵（St. Ignatius，Bishop of Antioch） 致小亚细亚特拉里教会的一封书信。信中为教会等级制度辩护，英文译文为：“In like manner，let all reverence the Deacons as Jesus Christ，and the Bishop as the Father，and the Presbyters as the council of God，and the assembly of the Apostles. Without these there is no Church. Concerning all which I am persuaded that ye think after the same manner.”

英文引文出自《新约·歌罗西书》（Colssians ）4：16：And when this epistle is read among you，cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans； and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.（你们念了这书信，便交给老底嘉的教会，叫他们也念。）这是保罗（St. Paul）写给小亚细亚老底嘉附近歌罗西教会一信中的话。

1.Susceptible to：易受……的影响。

2.True Church：指罗马天主教教会。罗马天主教声称其直接继承圣彼得的教义，故为“真正的教会”。

3.based upon a rock：《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ） 16：18：thou art Peter，and upon this rock I will build my church. （你是彼得，我要把我的教堂建造在这磐石上。）

4.hippo's：hippopotamus 的省略式，有时也省略为 'potamus（如第13—25行）。除了出自音节和节奏上的顾虑之外，似乎还暗示河马的脆弱和不堪一击。

5.In compassing material ends：在谋求物质利益时； compass：to devise or contrive often with craft or skill，plot.

6.The 'potamus can never reach ... mango-tree：河马够不着芒果树上的芒果。这里借用关于古代利迪亚（Lydia）国王坦塔罗斯（Tantalus）的传说。相传坦塔罗斯国王被罚站在冥界的水中，头上是悬挂着果实累累的树枝，他想低头喝水，水即退去，想抬头吃果，果即上升，近在咫尺，却无法得手；动词tantalize即由此而来。

7.Refresh the Church from over sea：从海外得来的果实。这句指殖民主义者从海外掠夺来的财富。

8.inflexions：音乐上的转调或变音。这里形容河马交尾时的怪声。河马交尾显得笨拙，不雅。

9.we hear rejoice ... God：教会和上帝同为一体。此处暗示“所罗门之歌”歌颂的是耶稣和教会的结合。按：教会极力宣扬是上帝的代表，但是，西方有些人相信上帝，却不接受教会。

10.God works in a mysterious way：考博（William Cowper，1731—1800） 诗《冲破黑暗的光芒》（Light Shining out of Darkness ） 的开首两行：God moves in a mysterious way，／ His wonders to perform.

11.savannas：a tropical or subtropical grassland （as of eastern Africa or northern South America） containing scattered trees and drought-resistant undergrowth，（亚）热带稀树大草原。

12.quiring：（archaic ） choiring，合唱的，指教会唱诗班的合唱。

13.loud hosannas：cries of adoration，高唱“和撒那”；hosannas：赞羡上帝之语，源自希伯来语。文学著作中的典雅用语，见于John Milton，Alexander Pope 等古典作家的作品。

14.Blood of the Lamb：耶稣被喻为上帝的羔羊（the Lamb of God），其受难意味着其以血洗刷人类的罪孽。《新约·约翰福音》（John ） 1：29：The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him，and saith，Behold the Lamb of God，which taketh away the sin of the world. （次日，约翰看见耶稣来到他那里，就说：“看哪，神的羔羊，除去世人罪孽的”。）又《新约·启示录》（Revelation ）7：14：These are they which came out of great tribulation，and have washed their robes，and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. （这些人是从大患难中出来的，曾用羔羊的血把衣裳洗白净了。）

15.He shall be washed as white as snow：《旧约· 诗篇》（Psalms ） 51：7：Purge me with hyssop，and I shall be clean：wash me，and I shall be whiter than snow. （求你用牛膝草洁净我，我就干净；求你洗涤我，我就比雪更白。）《旧约·以赛亚书》（Isaiah ） 1：18：Come now，and let us reason together，saith the Lord：though your sins be as scarlet，they shall be as white as snow； though they be red like crimson，they shall be as wool.（耶和华说：“你们来，我们彼此辩论。你们的罪虽像朱红，必变成雪白；虽红如丹颜，必白如羊毛”。）

16.martyr'd virgins：殉教处女，尤为早期基督教徒所敬重，如St Catherine （of the wheel） 因传教而被罗马国王在轮子上肢解，并被砍头。

17.kist：（archaic，poetic ） kissed.

18.miasmal mist：germ-laden gas from rotting matter，a vaporous exhalation formerly believed to cause disease； also：a heavy vaporous emanation or atmosphere，瘴气。

Whispers of Immortality

Webster^1 was much possessed by death

And saw the skull beneath the skin；2

And breastless^3 creatures under ground

Leaned backward with a lipless grin.

Daffodil bulbs^4 instead of balls

Stared from the sockets of the eyes！

He knew that thought clings round dead limbs

Tightening its lusts and luxuries.5

Donne，6 I suppose，was such another

Who found no substitute for sense，

To seize and clutch and penetrate；7

Expert beyond experience，

He knew the anguish of the marrow

The ague of the skeleton；8

No contact possible to flesh

Allayed the fever of the bone.

*****

Grishkin is nice：9 her Russian eye

Is underlined for emphasis；10

Uncorseted，11 her friendly bust

Gives promise of pneumatic bliss.12

The couched Brazilian jaguar^13

Compels the scampering marmoset

With subtle effluence of cat；14

Grishkin has a maisonette；15

The sleek Brazilian jaguar

Does not in its arboreal gloom^16

Distil so rank a feline smell^17

As Grishkin in a drawing-room.

And even the Abstract Entities

Circumambulate her charm；18

But our lot crawls between dry ribs^19

To keep our metaphysics^20 warm.

【题解】

艾略特写此诗深受庞德（Ezra Pound）的鼓动和影响，包括继承特奥菲·戈蒂埃（Théophile Gautier）诗体的特点。他要表现的中心意思是，世人满足于世界纷繁炫目的表象，而忽视生活中的实质和重要的精神因素。他以俄罗斯芭蕾舞演员作为性感的象征，以玄学派诗人的思想风格为崇尚的目标。

【注释】

1.Webster：John Webster，约翰·韦伯斯特（1580？—1625？），英国剧作家，著名作品有《白魔》（The White Devil ）和《马尔菲公爵夫人》（The Duchess of Malfi ），剧中表现谋杀与暴死，故说他迷恋于死亡（much possessed by death）。

2.saw the skull beneath the skin：能透过皮肤看到颅骨； skull：实指骷髅，作为死神之头（Death'-head），文艺复兴时常见的意象。此处表明韦伯斯特看到的是死亡。

3.breastless：和下行lipless都表示死者完全腐烂，仅存骷髅。

4.Daffodil bulbs：头盖骨的眼眶里没有眼睛，从中长出的只是水仙的球茎。出自韦伯斯特《白魔》一剧中的诗句：A dead man's skull beneath the roots of flowers！ 剧中Brachiano拿着一盆水仙花，底下是一个死者的头盖骨。

5.thought clings round dead limbs ... luxuries：此句谓韦伯斯特之所以执着于描绘死亡，因为他认为死后灵魂不散，依然以强烈的情欲和享乐的图念缠绕着僵死的肢体。

6.Donne：John Donne，约翰·多恩 （1572—1631），英国玄学派（the Metaphysical School）诗人的代表，其诗歌的最大特点是注意说理辩论，意象奇特，情感激烈。艾略特对他颇为推崇，并认为自多恩以下，英国诗歌江河日下，思想和情感分离（dissociation of sensibility）云云。艾略特在《论玄学派诗人》（On Metaphysics Poets ）一文中有一段话对理解这几行诗很有帮助：“Tennyson and Browning are poets，and they think，but they do not feel their thought as immediately as the odour of a rose. A thought to Donne was an experience； it modified his sensibility.”

7.found no substitute for sense ... penetrate：谓多恩发现没有任何东西可以代替感官去感觉、把握和体会外界的一切。

8.He knew the anguish of the marrow ... skeleton：谓人的机体不死，有感知，骨髓感觉到痛苦，骷髅会患寒颤。

9.Grishkin is nice：格里西金（Grishkin）真名为塞拉菲玛·阿斯塔菲埃法（Serafima Astafieva，1876—1934）； nice：sexy，（obsolete ） wanton，lascivious，此义为乔叟所常用。按：塞拉菲玛原是俄罗斯迪亚杰雷夫舞蹈团（Diaghilev Company） 舞蹈演员，后在伦敦创办了她自己的芭蕾舞学校。庞德介绍艾略特与她相识，认为他将会从她身上得到启发而赋诗一首。但是，艾略特在诗中对她的描写，使庞德认为艾略特对她有失公允。

10.underlined for emphasis：指眼眶的化妆。按：第17—18行套用特奥菲·戈蒂埃（Théophile Gautier）诗《卡门》（Carmen ）的起首几句：Carmen est maigre，un trait de bistre ／ Cerne son oeil de gitana. （Slender is Carmen，of lissome guise，／ Dark circles are under her gypsy eyes.）

11.Uncorseted：不穿紧身胸衣，谓风骚诱人。

12.pneumatic bliss：表示胸部丰满，线条美丽（having a well-proportioned feminine figure； especially having a full bust）；此处pneumatic bliss既有精神的愉悦又有享受情欲的含义。

13.The couched Brazilian jaguar：艾略特以美洲虎趴在树上伺机捕捉小猿的架势，来形容男人被格里西金迷住，拜倒在她的脚下。此处又引戈蒂埃诗《卡门》：Les femmes disent qu'elle est laide，／ Mais tous les hommes en sont fous：／ Et l'archevêque de Tolède ／ Chante la messe à ses genoux.（The women will mock at her form and face； ／ But the men will follow her all the day. ／ Toledo's Archbishop （now save His Grace！） ／ Tones his mass at her knees，they say.）

14.Compels the scampering marmoset ... cat：美洲虎以其身上发出的微妙的气味，来控制小猿；Compels：（rare and obsolete ） overpowers； marmoset：狨，小猿，南美洲和中美洲的一种猴子，体型很小； effluence of cat：猫科动物（狮、虎等）散发的气味或排泄物。按：美洲虎以其身体的气味来吸引和捕捉小猿是毫无根据的，纯属诗人杜撰。

15.maisonette：a flat or part of a house let separately，with its won entrance，公寓房，或独栋小楼里供出租的一部分，有单独的门出入。按：此处谓格里西金有其自己的地方，可以招待客人，征服男人。

16.arboreal gloom：树上的阴暗处。

17.Distil so rank a feline smell：身上发出猫科动物的刺鼻的气味；rank：刺鼻的，指对人而言，但能吸引小猿。参见上面注14，此系艾略特杜撰，没有科学根据。

18.And even the Abstract Entities ... charm：意为即使是抽象的哲学，也会受惑于其风骚而围着她转（Circumambulate），不肯离去。以上形容格里西金像动物一样，纵情于肉感。

19.our lot crawls between dry ribs：承上行，谓我们这批诗人不以肉欲性感作为专注的对象（只是在干巴巴的、没有肉的肋骨里爬行）；our lot：指诗人，韦伯斯特、多恩、庞德，以及艾略特本人。

20.metaphysics：玄学体系。按：第29—32行谓艾略特等这批诗人重视的是思想和精神，不至于使玄学等这样的哲学问题遭到冷遇。

Sweeney among the Nightingales

Apeneck Sweeney^1 spreads his knees

Letting his arms hang down to laugh，

The zebra stripes along his jaw

Swelling to maculate giraffe.2

The circles of the stormy moon^3

Slide westward toward the River Plate，4

Death and the Raven^5 drift above

And Sweeney guards the hornèd gate.6

Gloomy Orion and the Dog

Are veiled；7 and hushed the shrunken seas；

The person in the Spanish cape

Tries to sit on Sweeney's knees

Slips and pulls the table cloth

Overturns a coffee-cup，

Reorganised upon the floor

She yawns and draws a stocking up；8

The silent man in mocha brown^9

Sprawls at the window-sill and gapes；

The waiter brings in oranges

Bananas figs and hothouse grapes；

The silent vertebrate^10 in brown

Contracts and concentrates，withdraws；

Rachel néeRabinovitch^11

Tears at the grapes with murderous paws；12

She and the lady in the cape

Are suspect，thought to be in league；

Therefore the man with heavy eyes

Declines the gambit，13 shows fatigue，

Leaves the room and reappears

Outside the window，leaning in，

Branches of wistaria

Circumscribe a golden grin；14

The host with someone indistinct

Converses at the door apart，

The nightingales are singing near

The Convent of the Sacred Heart，15

And sang within the bloody wood

When Agamemnon cried aloud，16

And let their liquid siftings fall

To stain the stiff dishonoured shroud.

【题解】

艾略特的《斯威尼和夜莺在一起》是一首现代派的抒情诗，极富反衬的意象，讽刺意味浓重。他对二十世纪初的当代人的品行和思想情趣作了鞭辟入里的讽刺和抨击。诗中描写的事情发生在南美洲乌拉圭的蒙得维的亚（Montevideo）或附近沿海城市的一个餐馆里。诗中的斯威尼性格凶暴，和一批放荡的女人鬼混，又担心被她们谋害。到最后一节，斯威尼和阿伽门农的生性相似之处才得到揭示，但是，斯威尼无法和阿伽门农相比，他所制造的事件，无非是餐馆里的小骚乱而已。艾略特擅长于通过种种对比和比喻来揭示他诗歌的主题。此诗歌表示贪欲、色情、残忍和暴力是人类社会有史以来普遍的现象，所不同者，古代这些事件的发生源于强烈的爱和恨，尔后演变成含义深刻的神话故事，而斯威尼和这些轻狂女子的无聊、琐碎和淫荡的生活，不可能升华到神话的高度。

【注释】

希腊文引诗取自埃斯库罗斯（Aeschylus）的悲剧《阿伽门农》（Agamemnon ）第1343行。剧中阿伽门农在被其妻克里蒂莫讷斯特拉（Clytemnestra）谋杀时大喊：Alas，I am struck deep with a mortal blow（啊，我挨了致命的一击）。见本诗第38行。阿伽门农是远征特洛伊的希腊军队的统帅，生性凶残，不惜杀死女儿依菲琴尼亚（Iphigenia），祭献给阿耳特弥斯（Artemis）女神，以求战舰得风出征。他又抢了很多女人，包括特洛伊公主卡桑德拉（Cassandra）。特洛伊战争结束后，他回到家里，被其妻克里蒂莫讷斯特拉和其情人埃癸斯托斯（Aegisthus）砍死。

1.Apeneck Sweeney：斯威尼这个名字暗示他是猴子（ape neck），以下种种描写都形容斯威尼像野兽。

2.The zebra stripes along his jaw ... giraffe：斑马花纹的络腮胡子长得十分浓密，简直像花花斑斑的长颈鹿的皮毛； maculate：spotted，stained.

3.The circles of the stormy moon：月亮周围的月晕预示风暴。

4.River Plate：是Río de la Plata （River of Silver） 的英文名称，为南美洲阿根廷和乌拉圭之间的港湾，由乌拉圭河和巴拉念河（Paraná）形成。这里可能指乌拉圭首都蒙得维的亚（Montevideo）。

5.Raven：（天文学）乌鸦座，象征死亡。

6.the hornèd gate：希腊神话中，在冥界有角状的门，现实的梦能够通过角门传到人间，预示未来。《埃涅伊德》（Aeneid ）和《奥德修纪》（Odyssey ）中都有描述。这里暗示斯威尼不想了解预示未来的真梦，不在乎将来如何，虽然下文表明他也意识到危险。

7.Gloomy Orion and the Dog ... veiled：Orion：是猎户座，天空中最亮的星座之一；所谓gloomy Orion（“被云雾遮盖的猎户座”），马娄（Marlowe）的《迦太基女王黛杜》（Dido，Queen of Carthage ） 一剧中有此描述，而马娄之剧又依据维吉尔的《埃涅伊德》；The Dog可指大犬座（Canis Major）或小犬座（Canis Minor）；这些星座被遮盖，表明斯威尼等这些人的视野遭到阻隔。这些引起很多神话的星座被蒙上了面纱（veiled）说明他们的生活毫无浪漫可言，非常低俗。

8.The person in the Spanish cape ... up：第11—16行描写披着西班牙短斗篷的一个女人想坐在斯威尼腿上，不小心扯了桌布，掀翻了咖啡杯。这个现代生活中的小事故和历史上那些惊天动地的大事形成反衬。

9.mocha brown：咖啡色的棕色； mocha：一种优质阿拉伯咖啡。

10.vertebrate：人也是脊髓动物。此处谓此人为vertebrate实为贬低此人，第18行说此人sprawls at the window sill 也说明他更像爬行脊髓动物。

11.Rachel néeRabinovitch：Rachel 是女人的名字，Rabinovitch是她未婚前的姓，是典型的犹太人姓名。按理née 后面应该是婚后丈夫的姓。

12.Tears at the grapes with murderous paws：在斯威尼看来，这个女人吃葡萄的样子很像个杀手，可能会联想到克里蒂莫讷斯特拉； paws一词继续把人比作动物，象征现代文明生活中的暴力。

13.gambit：a chess opening in which a player risks one or more pawns or a minor piece to gain an advantage in position，国际象棋中牺牲一卒以取得优势的起首走法。喻斯威尼不想被她们当做牺牲品。

14.Branches of wistaria ... grin：谓斯威尼意识到这几个人可能想害他，所以走到室外，他的脸从紫藤的枝条形成的框子中露出来，似乎识破了这些人的阴谋，非常得意地露出金牙齿；wistaria：或拼写为wisteria，紫藤。

15.The Convent of the Sacred Heart：圣心修道院，即罗马天主教“耶稣玛丽圣心修女”（the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary）所属的一个女修道院。

16.And sang within the bloody wood .... aloud：阿伽门农被其妻克里蒂莫讷斯特拉砍死，其状残忍可怖（bloody），但不是发生在树林里，也不是在王宫里，而是在澡堂里，且当时是一月中旬，均非夜莺啼叫之地之时。按：艾略特初稿用liquid droppings，表示阿伽门农被害后流淌的鲜血。后庞德改为liquid siftings，一字之改，含义迥然不同。艾略特提到他用droppings 是因为联想到哈代《远离尘嚣》（Far From the Madding Crowd ）中范尼·鲁宾（Fanny Robin）的棺材上滴滴答答的雨声。庞德改为liquid siftings 又增加了一层意思，liquid 使人想到弥尔顿（John Milton）的十四行诗O Nightingale中的liquid notes，谓夜莺歌声婉转。关于夜莺的传说，希腊神话中，雅典公主普洛克涅（Procne）的丈夫、色雷斯国王蒂留斯（Tereus of Thrace）强奸了她的妹妹菲洛米拉（Philomela），并割掉了她的舌头。普洛克涅闻讯大怒，亲手杀了她和蒂留斯生的儿子，煮给丈夫吃。蒂留斯得知此事后，试图杀死姐妹俩，最后三人都被奥林匹斯神变成了鸟。菲洛米拉和普洛克涅变成了夜莺，而蒂留斯则变成了乌鸦。这个传说，象征了人类早期社会的暴力事件到神话的转化。

FromTHE WASTE LAND

III. The Fire Sermon

The river's tent^1 is broken：the last fingers of leaf

Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind

Crosses the brown land，2 unheard. The nymphs^3 are departed.

Sweet Thames，run softly，till I end my song.4

The river bears no empty bottles，sandwich papers，

Silk handkerchiefs，cardboard boxes，cigarette ends

Or other testimony of summer nights. The nymphs^5 are departed.

And their friends，the loitering heirs of city directors；

Departed，have left no addresses.

By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept^6 ...

Sweet Thames，run softly till I end my song，

Sweet Thames，run softly，for I speak not loud or long.

But at my back in a cold blast I hear^7

The rattle of the bones，and chuckle spread from ear to ear.

A rat crept softly through the vegetation

Dragging its slimy belly on the bank

While I was fishing in the dull canal^8

On a winter evening round behind the gashouse

Musing upon the king my brother's wreck

And on the king my father's death before him.9

White bodies naked on the low damp ground

And bones cast in a little low dry garret，10

Rattled by the rat's foot only，year to year.

But at my back from time to time I hear

The sound of horns and motors，which shall bring

Sweeney to Mrs. Porter in the spring.11

O the moon shone bright on Mrs. Porter

And on her daughter

They wash their feet in soda water^12

Et O ces voix d'enfants，chantant dans la coupole！13

Twit twit twit

Jug jug jug jug jug jug^14

So rudely forc'd.15

Tereu^16

Unreal City

Under the brown fog of a winter noon

Mr. Eugenides，the Smyrna merchant^17

Unshaven，with a pocket full of currants

C.i.f. London：documents at sight，18

Asked me in demotic French^19

To luncheon at the Cannon Street Hotel^20

Followed by a weekend at the Metropole.

At the violet hour，when the eyes and back

Turn upward from the desk，when the human engine waits

Like a taxi throbbing waiting，

I Tiresias，21 though blind，throbbing between two lives，

Old man with wrinkled female breasts，can see

At the violet hour，the evening hour that strives

Homeward，and brings the sailor home from sea，22

The typist home at teatime，clears her breakfast，lights

Her stove，and lays out food in tins.

Out of the window perilously spread

Her drying combinations touched by the sun's last rays，23

On the divan^24 are piled （at night her bed）

Stockings，slippers，camisoles，and stays.25

I Tiresias，old man with wrinkled dugs^26

Perceived the scene，and foretold the rest —

I too awaited the expected guest.

He，the young man carbuncular，27 arrives，

A small house agent's clerk，with one bold stare，

One of the low on whom assurance sits

As a silk hat on a Bradford^28 millionaire.

The time is now propitious，as he guesses，

The meal is ended，she is bored and tired，

Endeavours to engage her in caresses

Which still are unreproved，if undesired.

Flushed and decided，he assaults at once；

Exploring hands encounter no defence；

His vanity requires no response，

And makes a welcome of indifference.

（And I Tiresias have foresuffered all

Enacted on this same divan or bed；

I who have sat by Thebes^29 below the wall

And walked among the lowest of the dead.）

Bestows one final patronising kiss，

And gropes his way，finding the stairs unlit ...

She turns and looks a moment in the glass，

Hardly aware of her departed lover；

Her brain allows one half-formed thought to pass：

“Well now that's done：and I'm glad it's over.”

When lovely woman stoops to folly^30 and

Paces about her room again，alone，

She smoothes her hair with automatic hand，

And puts a record on the gramophone.

“This music crept by me upon the waters”31

And along the Strand，up Queen Victoria Street.

O City city，I can sometimes hear

Beside a public bar in Lower Thames Street，

The pleasant whining of a mandoline^32

And a clatter and a chatter from within

Where fishmen lounge at noon：where the walls

Of Magnus Martyr^33 hold

Inexplicable splendour of Ionian^34 white and gold.

The river sweats^35

Oil and tar

The barges drift

With the turning tide

Red sails

Wide

To leeward，swing on the heavy spar.

The barges wash

Drifting logs

Down Greenwich reach

Past the Isle of Dogs.36

Weialala leia

Wallala leialala

Elizabeth and Leicester^37

Beating oars

The stern was formed

A gilded shell

Red and gold

The brisk swell

Rippled both shores

Southwest wind

Carried down stream

The peal of bells

White towers

Weialala leia

Wallala leialala

“Trams and dusty trees.

Highbury bore me. Richmond and Kew

Undid me.38 By Richmond I raised my knees

Supine on the floor of a narrow canoe.”

“My feet are at Moorgate，39 and my heart

Under my feet. After the event

He wept. He promised ‘a new start’.

I made no comment. What should I resent？”

“On Margate^40 Sands.

I can connect

Nothing with nothing.

The broken fingernails of dirty hands.

My people humble people who expect

Nothing.”

la la

To Carthage then I came^41

Burning burning burning burning^42

O Lord Thou pluckest me out^43

O Lord Thou pluckest

Burning

【题解】

题目：The Fire Sermon：火戒，《荒原》的第三节。“火戒”是借用佛教教义，佛陀（释迦牟尼）规劝众生力戒七情六欲，以免堕落。诗人从描写秋景开始，通过引用一系列的典故和习俗，或反其意而用之，讽刺现代社会的猥琐和淫乱。诗中以调侃的方式引证瓦格纳、莎士比亚、但丁等著名古典作家，突出现代社会的“荒原”特征。最后，西方的圣奥古斯丁和东方的菩萨遥相呼应，齐声谴责犬马声色之乐，达到了时代和文化的跨越。

【注释】

1.The river's tent：指河岸上的树木伸展枝叶所形成的帐篷。本节一开始描绘泰晤士河畔的萧瑟秋景，随着树叶的飘落，河岸上的绿阴纷纷消失。

2.the brown land：棕黄色的大地。

3.The nymphs：神话中居于山林水泽的仙女。斯宾塞（Edmund Spenser）在《贺婚曲》（Prothalamian ）中描写一群美人在泰晤士河边上迎接新娘。

4.Sweet Thames，run softly，till I end my song：斯宾塞《贺婚曲》中的名句，在每节结束时重复一次，强烈表现了当年泰晤士河的怡悦。艾略特摘引此句，衬托现代泰晤士河的污秽和现代生活的猥亵。

5.The nymphs：和上文所指不同，此处指现代在河边游乐的女子。

6.By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept：《旧约·诗篇》（Psalms ） 137：1：By the rivers of Babylon，there we sat down，yea，we wept，when we remembered Zion. （我们曾在巴比伦的河边坐下，一追想锡安就哭了。）按：莱芒湖（Lake Leman）即日内瓦湖（Lake Geneva）；又leman古作“情妇”解，贬义，故waters of Leman喻情欲。艾略特是在莱芒湖畔的洛桑（Lausanne）创作这首诗的。

7.But at my back in a cold blast I hear：见本书马韦尔的诗《致他娇羞的女友》（To His Coy Mistress ）：But at my back I always hear ／ Time's wingéd chariot hurrying near. 古今对照，揭露现代社会的纷乱芜杂。

8.While I was fishing in the dull canal：垂钓素有追求永恒和救世之意，如中世纪亚瑟王传奇故事中的渔王（Fisher King）。但是，垂钓已非崇高活动。

9.Musing upon the king my brother's wreck ... him：莎士比亚《暴风雨》（Tempest ）1.2. 391—399：Where should this music be？ I' th' air or th' earth？ ／ It sounds no more； and sure it waits upon ／ Some god o' th' island. Sitting on a bank，／ Weeping again the king my father's wreck，／ This music crept by me upon the waters，／ Allaying both their fury，and my passion ／ With its sweet air. Thence I have followed it，／ Or it hath drawn me rather. But 'its gone. ／ No，it begins again. （这音乐是从什么地方来的呢？在天上，还是在地上？现在已经停止了。一定的，它是为这岛上的神灵而弹唱的。当我正坐在海滨，思念我的父王的惨死而重又痛苦起来的时候，这音乐便从水面上掠了过来，飘到我的身旁，它的甜柔的乐曲平静了海水的怒涛，也安定了我激荡的感情；因此我跟随着它，或者不如说是它吸引了我——但它现在已经停止了。啊，又唱起来了。《莎士比亚全集》第一卷，第22页，人民文学出版社，1994）。这是费迪南王子在覆舟后，随仙童的歌声在荒岛上边走边说的话。

10.garret：阁楼，顶楼。

11.The sound of horns and motors，which shall bring ... spring：比较戴伊 （John Day） 的《蜜蜂议会》 （Parliament of Bees ）：When of a sudden，listening，you shall hear，／ A noise of horns and hunting，which shall bring ／ Actaeon to Diana in the spring，／ Where all shall see her naked skin. 按：阿格坦恩 （Actaeon） 是猎人，由于看到月神狄安娜与仙女在河里洗澡而被她变成一只公鹿，并遭自己的猎犬撕裂而死。此处艾略特的用意是斯威尼和鲍特太太是被现代社会的汽车喇叭声和马达声召唤到泉水那里来的，这和阿格坦恩的命运所反映的价值观念是完全不同的。在《斯威尼诗组》（The Sweeney ）中，诗人把斯威尼描写为放荡淫乱者。

12.O the moon shone bright on Mrs. Porter ... water：艾略特自注：I do not know the origin of the ballad from which these lines are taken：it was reported to me from Sydney，Australia. （这几行取自一民歌，但不知其源，这是从澳大利亚悉尼传闻来的。）按：这是第一次世界大战时澳大利亚军队在达达尼亚战役中唱的歌。比较完整的歌词是：O the moon shines bright on Mrs. Porter ／ And on the daughter ／ Of Mrs. Porter. ／ They wash their feet in soda water ／ And so they oughter ／ To keep them clean.如下行注所示，这也借指耶稣升天节 （Holy Thursday） 的洗足式这一活动表示谦卑和爱。耶稣为门徒洗足之事，见《新约·约翰福音》（John ）13：1—17。

13.Et O ces voix d'enfants，chantant dans la coupole：引自魏尔伦 （Verlaine） 的《帕西法尔》（Parsifal ）。英译文为：And O those children's voices singing in the dome！ 帕西法尔抵制一切淫欲的引诱，以保持纯洁，希望能找到圣杯（the Grail）。据瓦格纳（Wagner）的歌剧《帕西法尔》描绘，帕西法尔在女巫的诱惑下不为动心，后女巫为他洗足，以便他进入圣杯城堡。他进入城后医治好了渔王阿姆福塔斯（Fisher King Amfortas）之病，自己成为国王。歌剧结束时从城堡的顶楼上传来儿童为耶稣唱的赞歌。

14.Twit twit twit ... jug：鸟叫声。参见托马斯·纳什诗《春》（The Spring，the Sweet Spring ）中的注释。

15.So rudely forc'd：指菲洛米拉 （Philomela） 被强奸。见下注。

16.Tereu：指希腊神话中的色雷斯国王蒂留斯 （Tereus of Thrace），强奸其妻子普洛克涅（Procne）的妹妹菲洛米拉，并试图杀死姐妹俩，最后三人都被奥林匹斯神变成了鸟。详见Sweeney Among the Nightingales一诗注16。伊丽莎白时代诗歌常用tereu（或teru）这个词来描绘夜莺的歌声。如约翰·黎里（John Lyly，1554？—1616） 诗《亚历山大和康派斯帕》（Alexander and Campaspe ）：Oh，'tis the ravished nightingale. ／ Jug，jug，jug，jug，teru！ she cries. 又如Richard Barnfield （1574—1627） 诗 《夜莺》（The Nightingale ）：she ... poor bird ／ ... Tereu，tereu，by and by：／ That to hear her so complain ／ Scarce I could from tears refrain.

17.the Smyrna merchant：在此处实指迦太基、古代腓尼基及叙利亚商人。他们敬奉一种古老的神秘祭礼。而Mr. Eugenides（此姓意为出身望族）这位现代商人敬奉的祭礼则是在“大都会度周末”（a weekend at the Metropole）；Smyrna：土耳其西部一海港。

18.with a pocket full of currants ... sight：口袋里装满了葡萄干的到岸价格（c.i.f.），即货物运至伦敦的价格，包括成本、运费和保险费在内。提货单等要在即期汇票（sight draft）付款后才交给买主。艾略特有在劳埃德银行从业的经历，对这些业务有所了解。

19.demotic French：popular，vulgar French，粗俗的法语。

20.the Cannon Street Hotel：凯能街饭店，在火车站附近。当时到欧洲大陆去的旅客都到此中转，因此是海外做生意的商人云集之地。

21.Tiresias：艾略特自注：Tiresias，although a mere spectator and not indeed a ‘character，’ is yet the most important personage in the poem，uniting all the rest. Just as the one-eyed merchant，seller of currants，melts into the Phoenician Sailor，and the latter is not wholly distinct from Ferdinand Prince of Naples，so all the women are one woman，and the two sexes meet in Tiresias. What Tiresias sees，in fact，is the substance of the poem. The whole passage from Ovid is of great anthropological interest. （提瑞西阿斯只是个旁观者，而并非真正的 “角色”，却是诗中最重要的人物，集他人于一身。正如那个独眼商人，即那个卖小葡萄干的人，融入了腓尼基水手，而后者与那不勒斯的费迪南王子也并非完全不同，因此，所有的女人都是一个女人，而提瑞西阿斯却兼容两性。提瑞西阿斯所见，实为此诗之本质。奥维德的一整段文章极富人类学方面的价值。）艾略特在自注中又引奥维德《变形记》（Metamorphosis ）：［The story goes that once Jove，having drunk a great deal，］ jested with Juno. He said，‘Your pleasure in love is really greater than that enjoyed by men.’ She denied it； so they decided to seek the opinion of the wise Tiresias，for he knew both aspects of love. For once，with a blow of his staff，he had committed violence on two huge snakes as they copulated in the green forest； and — wonderful to tell — was turned from a man into a woman and thus spent seven years. In the eighth year he saw the same snakes again and said； ‘If a blow struck at you is so powerful that it changes the sex of the giver，I will now strike at you again. With these words he struck the snakes，and his former shape was restored to him and he became as he had been born. So he was appointed arbitrator in the playful quarrel，and supported Jove's statement. It is said that Saturnia ［i.e.，Juno］ was quite disproportionately upset，and condemned the arbitrator to perpetual blindness. But the almighty father （for no god may undo what has been done by another god），in return for the sight that was taken away，gave him the power to know the future and so lightened the penalty paid by the honor.’ （［据说有一天，朱夫（Jove）喝醉了酒］和朱诺（Juno）开玩笑说：“你做爱时得到的快感，确实超过了男人所享受到的快乐。”她对此否认。于是，他俩决定去征求大智大慧的提瑞西阿斯的意见，因为他对做爱的这两个角度都知晓。原来，有一次他用手杖打了一下在树林里交媾的两条巨蟒，竟然由男子变为女子，简直不可思议。如此过了七年。到第八年，他又看到这两条巨蟒，说：“如果打你们的一击之力竟能使打击者改变性别，那我就再打你们一下。”说完之后，他又给它们一击，于是又恢复原状，和他出生时的性别一样。因此，他被聘为仲裁者来解决两神的嬉争。他肯定了朱夫的意见。据说萨图尼亚（即朱诺）过于不安，小题大做，使仲裁者变为瞎子，双目永远不得复明。但是，全能之父（因为任何人都不能解除其他神的施法）赐给他预知未来的能力，以弥补他失去的视力，从而使他所遭的处罚因这份荣誉而有所减轻。）

22.brings the sailor home from sea：艾略特自注：This may not appear as exact as Sappho's lines，but I had in mind the ‘longshore’ or ‘dory’ fisherman，who returns at nightfall. （这几行诗似乎不是萨福的原文，但是，我脑海里出现‘港岸边’或‘驾着平底渔舟’的渔夫在日暮归来时的情景。）按：萨福的诗原是颂扬长庚星（Hesperus），即金星，又称黄昏星（evening star），它召唤人们回家歇息。又，斯蒂文森（R.L. Stevenson）的《安魂曲》（Requiem ）中有诗句曰：Home is the sailor，home from sea，／ And the hunter home from the hill.

23.Out of the window perilously spread ... rays：她快要晒干的内衣，让残阳之光抚摸着； combinations：any of various one-piece undergarments for the upper and lower parts of the body，usually used in plural，内衣内裤。比较济慈《夜莺颂》（Ode to a Nightingale ）第69—70行：Charm'd magic casements，opening on the foam ／ Of perilous seas，in faery lands forlorn. 这两行诗被公认为浪漫主义的典型代表，而艾略特描绘的则是强烈的反浪漫主义形象。

24.divan：a divan-bed，a large couch usually without back or arms often designed for use as a bed，沙发床。

25.camisoles，and stays：a short negligee jacket for women，妇女的贴身内衣； stays：corset，a close-fitting stiff inner bodice，妇女的紧身褡，胸衣。

26.dugs：a nipple or udder of a cow or similar animal，牛、羊等的奶头。

27.carbuncular：like a carbuncle，pimply，red，inflamed，unsightly，长着痈的，红肿的。

28.Bradford：约克郡一镇，生产毛织品。当地许多商人在第一次世界大战时成为暴发户。

29.Thebes：底比斯城，位于希腊中东部地区皮奥夏（Boeotia）的城市。提瑞西阿斯在此居住多年，经历了好几代人。他在墙边（below the wall）的市场上预言，国王克瑞翁（Creon）和俄狄浦斯（Oedipus）将失败。底比斯城陷落后，提瑞西阿斯在去往特尔菲的路上死去。死后他又成为冥国的先知，曾向游历冥界的奥德修斯（Odysseus）预言他今后的命运。

30.folly：愚蠢；另有古义，作“放荡”或“罪恶”解。艾略特自注：语出哥尔斯密（Oliver Goldsmith）的《威克菲牧师传》（The Vicar of Wakefield ）。书中奥利维亚（Olivia）回到她被诱奸的地方，唱道：When lovely woman stoops to folly ／ And finds too late men betray ／ What charm can soothe her melancholy，／ What art can wash her guilt away？ ／ The only art her guilt to cover，／ To hide shame from every eye，／ To give repentance to her lover ／ And wring his bosom — is to die.

31.This music crept by me upon the waters：见前第9条注释。

32.mandoline：曼陀林琴。

33.Magnus Martyr：殉道堂。艾略特自注：The interior of St. Magnus Martyr is to my mind one of the finest among ［Sir Christopher］ Wren's interiors. （在我的心目中，殉道堂的内部装饰是瑞恩（Sir Christopher Wren）的最佳杰作之一。）见《拟拆毁中的十九个城内教堂》（The Proposed Demolition of Nineteen City Churches，P. S. King ＆ Son，Ltd.） 按：该教堂建于1676年，屹立在泰晤士下街和鱼街的转角上，位于伦敦大桥和鱼市场之间。悦耳的音乐，渔夫打鱼归来歇息，以及金碧辉煌的教堂内部装饰等，都表明这是一个不同于现代荒原的真正有价值的世界。但是，这只是一个迷失的世界稍纵即逝的情景。克里斯托弗·雷恩（Sir Christopher Wren，1632—1723）：英国历史上最负盛名的建筑设计师，在1666年伦敦发生大火之后，重建了51座教堂，其中包括圣保罗大教堂（St. Paul's Cathedral）等。

34.Ionian：古希腊爱奥尼亚式的建筑。

35.The river sweats：艾略特自注：The Song of the （three） Thames-daughters begins here. From line 292 to 306 inclusive they speak in turn. （泰晤士三女儿之歌从这里开始。第292—306行是她们的依次谈话。见《神的黄昏》（Götterdämmerung ）3.1：莱茵河的女儿。）在瓦格纳的歌剧《神的黄昏》中，莱茵河三女儿先是引诱然后又恐吓英雄齐格飞（Siegfried），要他交出莱茵河的黄金，但都没有成功。黄金既给占有者带来权力，也带来死亡。黄金被窃之后，莱茵河的美丽便丧失殆尽。本诗第277—278行Weialala leia Wallala leialala是莱茵河女儿唱的叠句。

36.the Isle of Dogs：伦敦东部的一个半岛，是由泰晤士河的急转弯形成的，称为格林威治河区（Greenwich Reach）；格林威治是泰晤士河南岸的自治城。伊丽莎白女王一世出生在格林威治宫（Greenwich House），曾在此招待莱斯特伯爵（Earl of Leicester）。

37.Elizabeth and Leicester：伊丽莎白和莱斯特伯爵曾经相爱，但未成眷属。艾略特自注：［J.A.］ Froude，Elizabeth，Vol. I，ch. iv，letter of De Quadra to Philip of Spain：“In the afternoon we were in a barge，watching the games on the river. （The queen） was alone with Lord Robert and myself on the poop，when they began to talk nonsense，and went so far that Lord Robert at last said，as I was on the spot there was no reason why they should not be married if the queen pleased.” （福路德的《伊丽莎白》第一卷第四章内有迪卡得拉写给西班牙菲利普国王一信：“下午我们在游艇里看河上的游戏。（女王）独自和罗伯特伯爵在一起，我在船尾。他们开始说了些胡话，最后罗伯特伯爵说，既然我在场，如果女王愿意，他们何不就结了婚。”）按：迪卡得拉（De Quadra）是西班牙主教，驻英国大使；罗伯特伯爵即莱斯特（Sir Robert Dudley）。

38.Highbury bore me. Richmond and Kew ... me：参见但丁《炼狱》 （Purgatorio ）第5节第133行。但丁的英译文为：Remember me，who am La Pia. ／ Siena made me，Maremma undid me. （记住，我是拉比亚。西艾纳生了我，毁我的是玛雷玛。）按：拉比亚出生在意大利中部的城市西艾纳，在玛雷玛城被她丈夫雇的杀手抛出城堡的窗户而摔死。这是她在炼狱里对但丁说的话。Highbury：是伦敦郊区的住宅区；Richmond：是泰晤士河上游伦敦西部的幽雅之地，有河滨旅馆和划船的娱乐；Kew与Richmond毗邻，有著名的植物园Kew Gardens。

39.Moorgate：伦敦东部的贫民区。

40.Margate：泰晤士河入海的港湾，著名的海滨。

41.To Carthage then I came：迦太基是北非（今突尼斯）的奴隶制国家。公元前八世纪由腓尼基城邦推罗的移民所建，后发展成为地中海的强国，商业发达，首都迦太基城。艾略特自注：St. Augustine's Confessions：To Carthage then I came，where a cauldron of unholy loves sang all about mine ears. （见圣奥古斯丁的《忏悔录》：我到迦太基来了，一大锅不圣洁的爱在我耳边唱。）这是圣奥古斯丁在陈述自己年轻时的淫欲生活。

42.Burning burning burning burning：艾略特自注：The complete text of the Buddha's Fire Sermon（which corresponds in importance to the Sermon on the Mount） from which these words are taken，will be found translated in the late Henry Clarke Warren's Buddhism in Translation （Harvard Oriental Series）. ［这些词句摘自佛陀的《火戒》，全文可见已故亨利·柯拉克·华伦的著作《佛教之移译》（哈佛大学东方丛书）。］书中提到佛陀的火诫，告僧众说：［all things］ are on fire. ... The eye ... is on fire； forms are on fire，eye-consciousness is on fire； impressions received by the eye are on fire； and whatever sensation，pleasant，unpleasant，or indifferent，originates in dependence on impressions received by the eye，that also is on fire. And with what are these on fire？ With the fire of passion，say I，with the fire of hatred，with the fire of infatuation ...［（一切事物）皆在燃烧……；眼……在燃烧，一切形体皆在燃烧，眼所获之印象在燃烧；所有一切感觉，无论是快感、反感、或冷漠感，皆起源于眼之印象，亦皆燃烧。究竟为何而燃烧？我说，此乃情欲之火、愤恨之火、痴迷之火……］这和耶稣在山上训诫的意义是相似的，见《新约·马太福音》（Matthew ）5—7所述。

43.O Lord Thou pluckest me out：艾略特自注：From St. Augustine's Confessions again. The collocation of these two representatives of eastern and western asceticisim，as the culmination of this part of the poem，is not an accident. （仍摘自圣奥古斯丁的《忏悔录》。把东西方禁欲主义的这两种代表放在一起，作为本诗本节的终结，不是偶然。）试比较《旧约·撒迦利亚书》（Zechariah ） 3：2：And the Lord said unto Satan，The Lord rebuke thee，O Satan：even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee：isnot this a brand plucked out of the fire？ （耶和华向撒旦说：“撒旦哪，耶和华责备你，就是挑选耶路撒冷的耶和华责备你，这不是从火种抽出来的一根柴吗？”）

FromFOUR QUARTETS

Little Gidding 2

Ash on an old man's sleeve

Is all the ash the burnt roses leave.1

Dust in the air suspended

Marks the place where a story ended.

Dust inbreathed was a house —

The walls，the wainscot^2 and the mouse，

The death of hope and despair，3

This is the death of air.4

There are flood and drouth^5

Over the eyes and in the mouth，

Dead water and dead sand

Contending for the upper hand.

The parched eviscerate soil

Gapes at the vanity of toil，6

Laughs without mirth.

This is the death of earth.

Water and fire succeed

The town，the pasture and the weed.

Water and fire deride

The sacrifice that we denied.

Water and fire shall rot

The marred foundations we forgot，

Of sanctuary and choir.

This is the death of water and fire.

In the uncertain hour before the morning^7

Near the ending of interminable night

At the recurrent end of the unending^8

After the dark dove with the flickering tongue^9

Had passed below the horizon of his homing

While the dead leaves still rattled on like tin

Over the asphalt where no other sound was

Between three districts whence the smoke arose

I met one walking，loitering and hurried

As if blown towards me like the metal leaves

Before the urban dawn wind unresisting.

And as I fixed upon the down-turned face

That pointed scrutiny with which we challenge

The first-met stranger in the waning dusk

I caught the sudden look of some dead master^10

Whom I had known，forgotten，half recalled

Both one and many； in the brown baked features

The eyes of a familiar compound ghost^11

Both intimate and unidentifiable.

So I assumed a double part，12 and cried

And heard another's voice cry：“What！ are you here？”

Although we were not. I was still the same，

Knowing myself yet being someone other —

And he a face still forming；13 yet the words sufficed

To compel the recognition they preceded.14

And so，compliant to the common wind，

Too strange to each other for misunderstanding，

In concord at this intersection time

Of meeting nowhere，no before and after，

We trod the pavement in a dead patrol.

I said：“The wonder that I feel is easy，

Yet ease is cause of wonder. Therefore speak：

I may not comprehend，may not remember.”

And he：“I am not eager to rehearse

My thoughts and theory which you have forgotten.

These things have served their purpose：let them be.

So with your own，and pray they be forgiven

By others，as I pray you to forgive

Both bad and good. Last season's fruit is eaten

And the fullfed beast shall kick the empty pail.

For last year's words belong to last year's language

And next year's words await another voice.

But，as the passage now presents no hindrance

To the spirit unappeased and peregrine^15

Between two worlds become much like each other，

So I find words I never thought to speak

In streets I never thought I should revisit

When I left my body on a distant shore.

Since our concern was speech，and speech impelled us

To purify the dialect of the tribe^16

And urge the mind to aftersight and foresight，

Let me disclose the gifts reserved for age

To set a crown upon your lifetime's effort.

First，the cold fricton of expiring sense

Without enchantment，offering no promise

But bitter tastelessness of shadow fruit

As body and soul begin to fall asunder.

Second，the conscious impotence of rage^17

At human folly，and the laceration

Of laughter at what ceases to amuse.18

And last，the rending pain of re-enactment

Of all that you have done，and been； the shame

Of motives late revealed，and the awareness

Of things ill done and done to others' harm

Which once you took for exercise of virtue.

Then fools' approval stings，and honour stains.

From wrong to wrong the exasperated spirit

Proceeds，unless restored by that refining fire^19

Where you must move in measure，like a dancer.”20

The day was breaking. In the disfigured street

He left me，with a kind of valediction，21

And faded on the blowing of the horn.22

【题解】

本诗发表于1942年。艾略特的《四个四重奏》共有四首相联系的诗，每首诗都以某一地名为题目，分成四个部分或“乐章”，其结构类似四重奏或奏鸣曲，这些乐章都用不同的方式来阐述主题。虽然《四个四重奏》组成统一的整体，但是，每首诗都可独立成篇。《四个四重奏》向来被公认为艾略特最成熟、最优秀的作品。诗人从早年对世界悲观的态度，逐步回归到更为冷静地回顾过去，考量人类的历史，思索人类历史的意义。诗中的很多细节，都反映了他在皈依英国国教之后的思想转变。人生是生命的旅程，是朝圣和祈祷的历程，也就是不断净化灵魂的过程。虽然读者不一定接受他的基督教信念，但是会感受到他的智慧和思想的深度。这部诗集，为他在1948年获得诺贝尔文学奖奠定了基础。

此处所选的第二乐章是抒情诗歌，思考世界嬗变和衰退的过程，也是对组成宇宙的气、土、水、火的四大元素此消彼长的沉思录。

【注释】

题目：Little Gidding是亨廷顿郡（Huntingdonshire）的一个村庄。1625年，尼古拉斯·菲赖（Nicholas Ferrar）在此建造了一个教堂，成立了英国圣公会宗教团体。1647年，在内战（查理一世与议会的战争）结束时，胜利的清教徒解散了这个团体。该教堂在十九世纪得以重修，至今仍在。诗人回忆曾在隆冬季节参观了这一教堂，浮想联翩，思索英国的过去和现在，以及通过净化得到拯救的可能性。这个地点只是一种象征意义，是诗人创作的启示。

1.Ash on an old man's sleeve ... leave：本诗前三节谈世界万物的嬗变和衰退。起首一节营造一种情景：老年迟暮，玫瑰焚毁，烟花散落，往事消歇，尘埃落定。关于“老人”的形象，参阅本书所选叶芝（W.B. Yeats）诗《驶向拜占庭》（Sailing to Byzantium ）：An aged man is but a paltry thing，／ A tattered coat upon a stick，unless ／ Soul clap its hands and sing，and louder sing ／ For every tatter in its mortal dress.

2.wainscot：护壁板。房间的下壁，一般与上壁的装饰不同。

3.The death of hope and despair：注意诗中有很多这类对比和反衬。

4.the death of air：公元前4—5世纪希腊哲学家赫拉克利特（Heraclitus）提出了所谓四元素创生斗争理论（the creative strife of the four elements）：Fire live in the death of air； air lives in the death of fire； water lives in the death of earth； and earth lives in the death of water. （气亡则生火；火亡则生气；土亡则生水；水亡则生土。）艾略特引用赫拉克利特的理论，但是并不和他的观点完全相同。

5.drouth：drought，干旱。

6.The parched eviscerate soil ... toil：干燥而没有元气的土壤，目瞪口呆地注视着虚荣的劳作。此处eviscerate 似应为形容词，但是，所有辞典均无eviscerate 为形容词的例子。The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 释义4亦注eviscerate为及物动词，并专引此句。

7.In the uncertain hour before the morning：从此行至本诗结束，模仿但丁《神曲》（DivineComedy ） 的诗节结构，即terza rima （“三行诗隔句押韵法”），但是不求押韵。在二次世界大战期间，艾略特担任警戒空袭的民防队员，此处叙述他在空袭后，清晨在街上巡逻的情景，似乎看到“已故的大师”（dead master）从炼狱里短暂地回到人间。

8.the recurrent end of the unending：永无终止中经常发生的终止。从德国空军无休无止的狂轰滥炸，想到世事虽有短暂消歇，但总的来说反反复复，无休无止。

9.the dark dove with the flickering tongue：指德国空军的俯冲轰炸。

10.dead master：指叶芝（W.B.Yeats），见下注11。

11.a familiar compound ghost：莎士比亚在Sonnet 86中说，他之所以不写献诗给他的朋友，并不是因为另有一位高手，甚至得到鬼神相助，妙笔生花，从而使他不敢动笔。诗中有以下几句：No，neither he，nor his compeers by night ／ Giving him aid，my verse astonishèd. ／ He，nor that affable familiar ghost ／ Which nightly gulls him with intelligence，／ As victors of my silence cannot boast. 据艾略特称，compound ghost 主要指叶芝和斯威夫特（Jonathan Swift）合成的鬼魂。

12.So I assumed a double part：诗人担当但丁的角色，引导人巡视地狱和炼狱，但亦可理解为自身一分为二。第99—100行（I was still the same，／ Knowing myself yet being someone other —）作了解释。

13.And he a face still forming：那人的脸还模模糊糊看不清楚。

14.the words sufficed ... preceded：虽未看清其人的形貌，先听到声音，就能够辨出是谁。

15.peregrine：foreign，coming from abroad，异国的。

16.To purify the dialect of the tribe：此行脱胎于法国诗人玛拉梅（Stéphane Mallarmé）诗《埃德加·坡之墓》（Le Tombeau d'Edgar Poe ）：Donner un sens plus pur aux mots de la tribu . （To give the words of the tribe a more exact meaning.）本节中还有很多诗行隐晦地套用弥尔顿、但丁等人的诗句。

17.the conscious impotence of rage：有意识地不再发怒。叶芝在《刺激》（The Spur ）诗中谈到淫欲和盛怒（lust and rage）乃是老年的两个特点。

18.the laceration ... amuse：既无可逗乐之处，也就没有什么好笑。此句套用斯威夫特以拉丁文为自己写的墓志铭，叶芝译为英语：Savage indignation now ／ Cannot lacerate his breast. （现在怒气再猛也不能撕裂他的胸膛。）

19.restored by that refining fire：艾略特在《荒原》的“火诫”中形容火能折磨人，但是也能净化人，使他得到拯救。参阅本书所选叶芝《拜占庭》（Byzantium ）一诗，其中也有类似思想。

20.Where you must move in measure，like a dancer：也许也取自叶芝的Byzantium 和Among School Children。

21.with a kind of valediction：用一种告别辞的方式。

22.faded on the blowing of the horn：the blowing of the horn：鸣笛，表示“解除警报”（All Clear）。这段对话发生在空袭的最后一个炸弹到解除警报之间的那段时间。比较莎士比亚《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet ） 1.1.163：It faded on the crowing of the cock.

HUGH MacDIARMID

休·麦克迪儿米德

（1892—1978）

【作者与作品简介】

麦克迪儿米德是一个雄狮般的人物，身材不高，却精力充沛，斗志旺盛，在政治上他是苏格兰民族主义者和共产主义者，在文学上他把苏格兰民间文学的传统同二十世纪欧洲的诗歌敏感结合起来，实现了至今为人乐道的“苏格兰文艺复兴”。他是现代西方文坛上最有争论的人物之一，但是怎样争论，谁也争论不掉他在诗创作上的巨大成就，特别是早年用一种他特创的苏格兰语（称为Lallans）写成的抒情诗，更是文学家和普通读者都一致喜爱的，而且人们至今还在琢磨，那些诗里的“魅力”究竟是怎样形成的。他的后期作品篇幅奇长，自称要写“现代史诗”，其目的是要照列宁所指出那样，通过诗的国际化、科学化和马克思主义化来承继人类全部优秀文化遗产。为此他进行了大量实践，因此他的后期作品在篇幅上远远超过前期的抒情之作，只是没能完成他原定的庞大体系罢了。已发表的，如《悼念詹姆斯·乔伊斯》（6000行）这一厚集里，就包含了许多卓越的片断。

这里选了他的诗八首。[1]

前五首是早期的抒情诗。《被忽略的漂亮孩子》是对大地——亦即对人间的实际生活——的肯定，写得活泼。《松林之月》是情诗，既清新，又有气势。《空壶》写的是农村妇女失去婴儿的痛苦，下半首背景突然放大，出现了风和光，增加了诗的深度。《摇摆的石头》则是对于时间和生死的沉思，世界既摇摆如风中之石，人生也就更加无常。《啊，哪个新娘》把一个人生的基本处境——新婚之夜——写得实实在在，而又异常深刻，把民间对于性爱的向往和恐惧写了进去，而又脱俗地美丽，如古老的雅歌。

这些诗有一种特殊的气氛，是由于诗人用了苏格兰方言。方言带来的不止是动听的节奏、韵律，不止是最有普遍性持久性的词汇和形象，而还有一整片纯朴而又最关紧要的感情，背后自有一套与乡土同样厚实的人生观价值观，形成内容的一个重要方面。

这些诗写于二十年代，然而到了三十年代之初，麦克迪儿米德却写起政治性的现代诗来，如对列宁的颂歌。正如他自己所说：

最伟大的诗人往往要经过一次艺术上的危机，

一个同他们过去成就一样巨大的转变……

庸人们惋惜我诗风的改变，说我抛弃了

“有魅力的早期抒情诗”——

可是我已在马克思主义里找到了我所需的一切……

——《首先，我写的是马克思主义的诗》

这里选的《沉重的心》就是写苏格兰现状的，写得滑稽中寓沉痛，形式十分完整，而又充分表达了方言的豪放效果。《二颂列宁》是三个列宁颂里最出色的一个，诗人在此做了一件很难的事，即用诗的形式来论述诗与政治的关系，诗与生活的关系，好诗应该达到什么效果，无产阶级革命如何为诗开辟了无限广阔的未来，等等。这些都是大题目，麦克迪儿米德能直抒所见，但又写得精练、生动，警句迭出，同时创造了一件艺术品。最后一首《将来的骨骼》用最坚硬又最闪亮的形象写出了列宁在人类史上的伟大意义。短短四行，全是实景，而“永恒的雷电”这一最后的形象却含意无穷，使我们远眺人类的未来。

麦克迪儿米德的“艺术上的危机”是渡过了，确是出现了同他“过去的成就一样巨大的转变”。

王佐良

The Bonnie Broukit Bairn

Mars is braw^1 in crammasy*，

of crimson

Venus in a green silk goun*，

gown

The auld* mune* shaks her gowden* feathers，

old ／ moon ／ golden

Their starry talk's a wheen* o' blethers*，2a lot ／ foolish chatter

Nane* for thee a thochtie* sparin'*3None ／ thought ／ sparing

Earth thou bonnie* broukit* bairn*！

pretty ／ neglected ／ child

— But greet*，an'* in your tears ye'll droun*weep ／ and ／ drown

The haill* clanjamfrie！4whole

【题解】

麦克迪儿米德这首诗短小精炼，非常耐读。前三行写天上星星和月亮的光彩和美丽，它们似乎窃窃低语，废话连篇。至第六行才点出所谓“被冷落的孩子”是指地球。最后两行暗示地球之所以哭泣，是因为人类生活丰富，悲欢离合，情感复杂。这个似乎被忽视的孩子的眼泪，可以淹没其他天体那一派胡言。

【注释】

题目：The Bonnie Broukit Bairn：The Pretty，Neglected Child. 押头韵。

1.braw：brave，取此词excellent，splendid之义，不是通常“勇敢”的意思。

2.Their starry talk's a wheen o' blethers：Their starry talk is a load of nonsense.

3.Nane for thee a thochtie sparin'：月亮和星星根本就没有想到你；都不搭理你；thochtie：thocht，slightest concern；后缀-ie，ey，-y等作为名词的后缀称为diminutive，表示“小”的意思。

4.The haill clanjamfrie：the whole collection； clanjamfrie：rubbish，nonsense，rabble；此词有多种拼法，如clanjamfray，clamjamphrie，clamjamfry. 据诗人常用的Jamieson's Dictionary of the Scottish Language解释，此词表示low，worthless people。

Moonlight among the Pines

Thraw* oot* your shaddaws*Throw ／ out ／ shadows

Owre* the heich* hillsides，

Over ／ high

A'ye* lang* trees

All you ／ long

Quhair* the white mune* rides.

Where ／ moon

My spirit^1 'ud* darken

would

The sun in the East

For aye*，gin my luve*indeed ／ love

Laid bare her white breist*breast

O shaddaw that derns*hides

In my hert* till a sicht*heart ／ sight

O' Luve sends it plunging

A'* else into nicht*2 ...！

All ／ night

【题解】

诗中之我自比松树，爱情犹如月亮。月光撒满山冈，松树投下巨影；爱人露出洁白的胸膛，我的激情将使太阳黯然失色。末节略带忧郁，而又透出希望。此诗显示了麦克迪儿米德的恬淡和气势。

【注释】

1.spirit：精神，此处有激情之意。

2.O shaddaw that derns ... nicht：言心中隐藏着阴影，但只要一睹爱人倩影，就会一举将它投入黑夜。

The Eemis Stane

I'* the how-dumb-deid* o' the cauld* hairst* nicht^1In ／ dead ／ cold ／ harvest

The warl'* like an eemis* stane*world ／ teetering ／ stone

Wags i' the lift*；

sky

An'* my eerie memories fa'*And ／ fall

Like a yowdendrift*.2blizzard

Like a yowdendrift so's* I couldna* read

so that ／ couldn't

The words cut oot* i' the stane

out

Had the fug* o' fame

moss

An' history's hazelraw

No'* yirdit* thaim*.3Not ／ buried ／ them

【题解】

在深秋的收获季节，风急天高，世界晃动。石碑上镌刻的碑文，历经漫漫历史长河，始终未被之湮灭，虽然暴风雪可能会暂时将其遮盖。

【注释】

题目：Eemis Stane：unsteady stone，摇摆不定的石头。The Norton Anthology of English Literature，Vol. 2：The whole poem may be rendered：“In the still center of the cold harvest night the world like a teetering stone sways in the sky，and my eerie memories fall like snow driven by the wind. Like snow driven by the wind，so that I couldn't read the words cut out in the stone even if the moss of fame and the lichen of history had not buried them.”

1.I' the how-dumb-deid o' the cauld hairst nicht：in the dead of the cold harvest night.

2.An' my eerie memories fa' ... yowdendrift：and my strangely frightening memories fall like a blizzard，突然有一些可怕的回忆，犹如暴风雪的到来；eerie：strangely frightening. 以突然产生的一段回忆，比喻历史长河中可能发生的事情会使人暂时影响视野。

3.The words cut oot i' the stane ... thaim：刻写在石头上的碑文，并未被青苔般的浮名和地衣般的历史所掩埋；hazelraw：lichen，地衣，生长在岩石和地面上的藻类和真菌的共生体。第6—10行表示，即使瞬间有一阵暴风雪将碑文掩盖，终究无法使其湮灭。

Empty Vessel

I met ayont* the cairney*1beyond ／ a heap of stones

A lass* wi'* tousie* hair

girl ／ with ／ tousled

Singin'* till* a bairnie*Sing ／ to ／ baby

That was nae* langer* there.2no ／ longer

Wunds* wi' warlds* to swing^3Winds ／ world

Dinna* sing sae* sweet，

Didn't ／ so

The licht* that bends owre* a' thing^4light ／ over

Is less ta'en* up wi't*.5taken ／ with it

【题解】

此诗描写年轻少女失子之痛，写得超凡脱俗。诗人用singin' till a bairnie淡淡一笔，写她对死去孩子的低吟，突然笔锋一转，风之摇动大地，光之覆盖宇宙，都不能与她的爱怜和悲情相比，充分表现了她的爱和尊严，真可谓泣鬼神，惊天地。

【注释】

1.cairney：cairn的所谓“小词”；见The Bonnie Broukit Bairn一诗注3（第757页）。

2.That was nae langer there：早已夭亡。

3.Wunds wi' warlds to swing：winds to swing with the world.

4.The licht that bends owre a' thing：俯身注视着世界的光；bends：俯身，关注，此处有“照耀”之义；a' thing：此处指宇宙。

5.less ta'en up wi't：此句谓即使是俯身注视着世界的光，也没有像这位少妇那样如此倾注她的感情。

O Wha's the Bride

O wha's* the bride that cairries* the bunch

who's ／ carries

O' thistles^1 blinterin* white？

shining，gleaming

Her cuckold bridegroom little dreids*dreads

What he sall* ken* this nicht*.2shall ／ know ／ night

For closer than gudeman* can come

husband

And closer to'r* than hersel'*，

to her ／ herself

Wha didna* need her maidenheid^3didn't

Has wrocht* his purpose fell.4wrought，worked

O wha's been here afore* me，lass，

before

And hoo* did he get in？5how

— A man that deed * or * I was born

died ／ before

This evil thing has din *.6done

And left，as it were on a corpse，

Your maidenheid to me？7

— Nae * lass *，gudeman，sin'* Time began

No ／ girl ／ since

's * had ony * mair * to gi'e *8Has ／ any ／ more ／ give

But I can gi'e ye kindness lad，

And a pair o' willin * hands，

willing

And you sall ha'e * my breists * like stars，

have ／ breasts

My limbs like willow wands.

And on my lips ye'll heed nae mair，

And in my hair forget，

The seed o' a'* the men that in

All

My virgin womb ha'e met ...9

【题解】

休·麦克迪儿米德的短诗，往往具有虚实相兼的表现形式，惊人的挖掘深度，耐人寻味的含义。这首诗一开始就直言新娘不忠，而她对新郎的疑问也供认不讳。但是，这对新人的问答却给人更多的悬念：新娘或许真的已经失去了贞操，或许是不得已而为之，或许只是在逗新郎。第五节姑娘坦言她献出的是纯正的爱情，而新郎又何必计较她是否处女。最后一节更是写得别具一格，使人联想到圣母玛丽，虚虚实实，失去贞操而依然童真，意味无穷。把冲突、矛盾、对立等两极化的现象和事物摆在一起，这正是休·麦克迪儿米德的诗艺魅力。

【注释】

1.thistles：蓟花，苏格兰的象征。

2.Her cuckold bridegroom little dreids ... nicht：她那戴绿帽子的新郎根本就不担心今夜他会知道的事情，意为他思想上早有准备，可能会发现新娘不是处女；cuckold：a man whose wife is unfaithful，戴绿帽子的丈夫；传说中女子和人偷情，男人头上会长角。

3.Wha didna need her maidenheid：he who did not need her maidenheid； maidenheid：maidenhead，virginity，贞操。

4.Has wrocht his purpose fell：has worked his sinister purpose，有着险恶的目的； fell：adj. sinister，malevolent.

5.O wha's been here afore me，lass ... in：谁先我而来，又是如何先我而入；和第3—4行呼应，说明新郎并非不知。

6.A man that deed or I was born ... din ：a man that died before I was born has done this evil thing，供认不讳，但又以事实上的不可能予以否认。

7.And left，as it were on a corpse ... me：此系新郎的疑问：既然你把贞操给了你出生前就死去的人，那么，他就把你该给我的贞操留在尸体上了？

8.Nae lass，gudeman，sin' Time began ... gi'e ：自从上古以来，就没有姑娘再有贞操可以奉献了。此句暗示圣母玛丽未婚而孕，生下耶稣。

9.And on my lips ye'll heed nae mair ... met ：这一节谓姑娘的爱情将使她丈夫忘却其他男人留在她体内的“种子”，而处女的子宫（virgin womb）又使人联想到圣母玛丽，说明她是童真处女； the seed o' a' the men：暗示耶稣。

Lourd on My Hert

Lourd* on my hert* as winter lies

Heavy ／ heart

The state that Scotland's in the day.

Spring to the North has aye* come slow

always

But noo* dour* winter's like to stay

now ／ hard，stern

For guid*，1good

And no'* for guid！

not

O wae's* me^2 on the weary days

woe is

When it is scarce grey licht* at noon；

light

It maun* be a'* the stupid folk

must ／ all

Diffusin'* their dullness roon* and roon^3Diffusing ／ round

Like soot

That keeps the sunlicht oot*.

out

Nae* wonder if I think I see

No

A lichter* shadow than the neist*lighter ／ next

I'm fain to cry：4 “The dawn，the dawn！

I see it brakin'* in the East.”

breaking

But ah

— It's juist* mair* snaw*！

just ／ more ／ snow

【题解】

淡淡几笔，勾画出苏格兰的隆冬，寒冷阴沉，天色灰暗。诗人笔锋一转，点出苏格兰纵然有严冰风霜，却是世人使然。但是，他人看到的是纷飞的大雪，诗人看到的则是黎明破晓。

【注释】

1.For guid：forever，permanently.

2.wae's me：woe is me，我真不幸啊。

3.It maun be a' the stupid folk ... roon：（到中午都是灰蒙蒙的，几乎没有光亮）肯定是因为那些愚蠢的老乡（folk）把他们的呆滞和沉闷洒满了大地，故而见不着阳光。

4.I'm fain to cry：I would be willing to cry，我真想大喊。

FromSecond Hymn to Lenin

AH，Lenin，you were richt*. But I am a poet

right

（And you c'ud* mak* allowances for that！）1could ／ make

Aimin'* at mair* than you aimed at^2Aiming ／ more

Tho'* yours comes first，I know it.

Though

An unexamined life is no'* worth ha'in*3not ／ having

Yet Burke^4 was richt； owre* muckle* concern

over ／ much

Wi'* Life's foundations is a sure

With

Sign o'* decay；5 tho' Joyce^6 in turn

of

Is richt，and the principal question

Aboot* a work o' art is frae* hoo* deep

About ／ from ／ how

A life it springs — and syne* hoo faur*next ／ far

Up frae't* it has the poo'er* to leap

from it ／ power

And hoo muckle it lifts up wi' it

Into the sunlicht* like a saumon* there，

sunlight ／ salmon

Universal Spring！ for Morand's^7 richt；

It s'ud* be like licht* in the air —

should ／ light

Are my poems spoken in the factories and fields，

In the streets o' the toon *？

town

Gin * they're no'，then I'm failin'* to dae *If ／ failing ／ do

What I ocht * to ha'* dune *ought ／ have ／ done

Gin I canna * win through to the man in the street，

cannot

The wife * by the hearth，

woman，housewife

A'* the cleverness on earth 'l -no' mak'* up

All ／ make

For the damnable dearth.8

Haud * on，haud on； what poet's dune that？

Hold

Is Shakespeare read，

Or Dante or Milton or Goethe or Burns？

— You heard what I said.

— A means o' world locomotion^9

The maist* perfected and aerial o' a'.10most

Lenin's name gane* owre* the haill* earth，

gone ／ over ／ whole

But the names o' the ithers*？ — Ha！

others

What hidie-hole* o' the vineyard d'* they scaret*？

hideaway ／ do ／ scratch

Wi' minds like the look on a hen's face，

Morand，Joyce，Burke，and the rest

That e'er* wrote； me noo in like case？

ever

Great poets hardly onybody* kens* o'？11anybody ／ knows

Geniuses like a man，talkin'* t'msel'*？

talking ／ to himself

Nonsense！ They're nocht* o' the sort

naught

Their character's easy to tell.12

They're nocht but romantic rebels

Strikin'* dilettante poses；13Striking

Trotsky — Christ，no' wi' a croon* o' thorns^14crown

But a wreath o' paper roses.

A' that's great is free and expansive.

What ha' they expanded tae*？

to

They've affected nocht but a fringe

O' mankind in ony* way.15any

【题解】

休·麦克迪儿米德在此讨论文学和社会的关系，表现了一位文学家的政治使命感。在二十世纪，意识形态的影响较以往任何历史时期都更直接和强烈，乃至改变了许多国家的认识基础，同时也毫不奇怪地给很多文人的作品和语言抹上了一种色彩。休·麦克迪儿米德更是把自己推到政治和社会斗争的风口浪尖上，因而被视为英国包括其故乡苏格兰的L'Enfant terrible （肆无忌惮者）。一位作家的政治立场影响其文学创作的题材和内容，并不鲜见，但是，因为政治立场的原因，努力去改变诗歌的语言，则实属罕见。而休·麦克迪儿米德正是这样的作家。这里所选的一部分表达了他对文学作品的影响力的看法，深感在文艺界，缺少这种像列宁那样有影响力的领军人物。

【注释】

1.And you c'ud mak allowances for that：你得考虑到这个因素（因此不能对我苛求）。

2.Aimin' at mair than you aimed at：目标比列宁要多；意为诗人要探索文学创作的问题。

3.An unexamined life is no' worth ha'in：一生不经过反思，那就活得没有意义。

4.Burke：Edmund（1729—1797），爱德蒙·伯克，英国政论家和政治思想家。主张削弱王权，在对待美洲殖民地、爱尔兰等问题上，对英国政府都有批评。法国革命爆发后，他写了《法国革命沉思录》（Reflections on the Revolution in France ）（1790），对这场革命持反对态度，甚至要求英国政府对法宣战。

5.owre muckle concern ... decay：过于关注生活的细枝末节（foundations）显然是衰退的迹象。

6.Joyce：James（1882—1941），詹姆斯·乔伊斯，爱尔兰著名作家。代表作有《尤利西斯》（Ulysses ），运用意识流的创作方法，刻画了现代西方社会的腐朽与堕落，开创了一种崭新的风格。晚年完成长篇小说《为芬尼根守灵》（Finnegan's Wake ），描写都柏林一家小酒馆老板梦中的经历，表现当代世界已经进入死亡期的最后混乱，其创造的梦境语言，使之比《尤利西斯》更加难懂。

7.Morand：Paul Morand（1888—1976），保罗·莫朗，法国作家、外交家。他写了一些短篇小说集和几部长篇小说，如《被压迫的人》（L'Homme Pressé）（1941），《塞维利亚的鞭笞派教徒》（Le Flagellant de Séville ）（1951）等。莫朗周游世界，用印象派的笔法描写了许多地区和国家的风情。

8.Gin I canna win through to the man in the street ... dearth ：如果我（的诗歌）不能赢得普通群众、家庭妇女，那么，世界上所有的乖巧，都不能弥补这个可怕的缺陷；win through to：打动……的心。

9.A means o' world locomotion：一种推动世界前进的力量。

10.The maist perfected and aerial o' a'：最完美和最崇高的（力量），指列宁； aerial：high in the air.

11.Great poets hardly onybody kens o'：真正伟大的诗人几乎无人知道。

12.They're nocht o' the sort ... tell：他们这种人的性格是不太容易说得清楚的。

13.Strikin' dilettante poses：摆出爱好艺术的架势； dilettante：a person having a superficial interest in an art or a branch of knowledge，一知半解的、肤浅的艺术鉴赏家或爱好者。

14.Trotsky — Christ，no' wi' a croon o' thorns：托洛茨基——我的天哪，连荆棘的皇冠也没有，有的只是一个纸质的玫瑰花环； Christ：这里是惊叹语，同时，又暗示Christ's-thorn，any of several prickly or thorny shrubs。

15.They've affected nocht but a fringe ... way：现在的诗人都只是影响了很小一部分人。按：这一节说真正伟大的诗人应该是奔放的、无拘无束的、拓展型的，但是，现在我们看到的诗人，尚无这样的影响力。

The Skeleton of the Future

［At Lenin's Tomb］

Red granite^1 and black diorite，2 with the blue

Of the labradorite^3 crystals gleaming like precious stones

In the light reflected from the snow； and behind them

In the eternal lightning of Lenin's bones.

【题解】

此诗言简意赅，短短四句，气势磅礴。在列宁墓前，从列宁的遗体看到未来的架构。诗人用skeleton一词，极为精当。这个词表示骨架、框架、基本结构、核心部分。而诗人又观察极细，列举列宁纪念堂用的各种岩石，突出了未来的骨架扎实的基础。

【注释】

1.granite：花岗岩。

2.diorite：闪长岩。

3.labradorite：拉长石，富拉玄武岩。

FromIn Memoriam James Joyce

We must look at the harebell^1 as if

We had never seen it before.

Remembrance gives an accumulation of satisfaction^2

Yet the desire for change^3 is very strong in us

And change is in itself a recreation.

To those who take any pleasure

In flowers，plants，birds，and the rest

An ecological change^4 is recreative.

（Come. Climb with me. Even the sheep are different

And of new importance.

The coarse-fleeced，hardy Herdwick，5

The Hampshire Down，6 artificially fed almost from birth，

And butcher-fat from the day it is weaned，

The Lincoln-Longwool，7 the biggest breed in England，

With the longest fleece，and the Southdown^8

Almost the smallest — and between them thirty other breeds，

Some whitefaced，some black，

Some with horns and some without，

Some long-wooled，some short-wooled，

In England where the men，and women too，

Are almost as interesting as the sheep.）

Everything is different，everything changes，

Except for the white bedstraw^9 which climbs all the way

Up from the valleys to the tops of the high passes

The flowers are all different and more precious

Demanding more search and particularity of vision.10

Look！ Here and there a pinguicula eloquent of the Alps^11

Still keeps a purple-blue flower

On the top of its straight and slender stem.

Bog-asphodel，12 deep-gold，and comely in form，

The queer，almost diabolical，sundew，13

And when you leave the bog for the stag moors^14 and the rocks

The parsley fern^15 — a lovelier plant

Than even the proud Osmunda Regalis^16 —

Flourishes in abundance

Showing off oddly contrasted fronds^17

From the cracks of the lichened stones.18

It is pleasant to find the books

Describing it as “very local.”

Here is a change indeed！

The universal is the particular.19

【题解】

詹姆斯·乔伊斯在小说风格上的创造和语言上的探索，他所代表的文学创作的变革，给了麦克迪儿米德很大的启发。这首六千多行的《纪念乔伊斯》长诗发表于1955年。基本上是用英语写的，但是也夹杂着许多其他语言，引用大量典故。语言朴素，娓娓道来，一如白话，但音律和节奏控制得当，毫不乏味。麦克迪儿米德不断地探索诗歌创作的新风格、新语言，融合英语和苏格兰语言，特别是许多富有特色的方言。这首诗里表达的主题是世上万物皆有关联，但都有其各自的特性。

【注释】

1.harebell：the Scottish bluebell，a blue flower with a bell-shaped blossom，钓钟柳。麦克迪儿米德对自然界的物种非常熟悉，为帮助读者加深理解，此处对每一种物种都用较为详细的英语解释，而不仅仅提供一个汉语的对等词。

2.Remembrance gives an accumulation of satisfaction：追忆往事，一件件，一桩桩，使人有一种积累在一起的满足感。

3.the desire for change：希望看到不同的种类； change：此处表示有变化，不是单调的同一种事物。

4.An ecological change：一个不同的物种。

5.Herdwick：a British breed of very hardy coarse-wooled mountain sheep，（英国北部） 壮健种绵羊。

6.Hampshire Down：any of a British breed of large hornless black-faced mutton-producing sheep，汉普夏羊，体型较大、无角、黑面，肉毛兼用种。

7.Lincoln-Longwool：any of an English breed of long-wooled mutton-type sheep，林肯羊，长毛，肉毛兼用种。

8.Southdown：any of a breed of small medium-wooled hornless sheep of English origin，南丘羊，体型较小、无角、中长毛，肉用羊。

9.bedstraw：any of a genus （Galium） of herbs of the madder family having squarish stems，whorled leaves，and small flowers，蓬子菜，猪殃殃属植物。

10.Demanding more search and particularity of vision：（因花的种类更多，分得更细）需要更多的研究，别的眼光； precious：excessively refined，意为分的类别更多，更细。

11.a pinguicula eloquent of the Alps：阿尔卑斯山区特有的花；pinguicula：a large genus of acaulescent bog herbs ［family Lentibulariaceae］ having showy solitary purple，yellow，or white flowers on naked scapes and leaves that capture insects in the viscid secretion on the leaf surface and digest them，生长在沼泽地里的一种短茎的草本植物，花葶上只有一朵花，呈紫、黄或白等颜色，叶子上分泌黏稠的体液，能把小虫子黏住并消化吸收；eloquent：clearly and forcefully indicative of some feeling，condition，or character，表现出……特色的。

12.Bog-asphodel：any of various Old World usually perennial herbs of the family Liliaceae and chiefly of the genera Asphodelusand Asphodelinethat bear their flowers in long erect racemes，欧洲纳茜菜。

13.sundew：a plant of the genus Drosera or of the family Droseraceae，茅膏菜。

14.stag moors：清一色的荒原。

15.parsley fern：any of several plants with finely cut foliage that suggests that of parsley，欧芹叶蕨。

16.Osmunda Regalis：the type genus of Osmundaceae comprising rather large ferns with creeping rhizomes，stipes winged at the base，and naked glabose sporangia borne on modified pinnae the flowering，or royal，fern； a plant with large fronds，王紫萁蕨类。

17.fronds：叶子，尤其指蕨类、棕榈类、苏铁类植物的叶子。

18.lichened stones：长着地衣的石头。

19.The universal is the particular：普遍之物恰恰是特殊之物。

[1]这次修订增加了一首，共九首。

WILFRED OWEN

维尔弗列特·欧文

（1893—1918）

【作者与作品简介】

欧文是死于第一次世界大战的青年知识分子，所作《奇异的会见》被公认为那次战争留下的最动人诗篇之一。主要的意思，一是战争是最大的浪费，诗人慨叹“那毁掉了的岁月，那希望的破灭……”；其次是参战双方的士兵之间是感情相通，互相怜悯的。“诗意在于所表现的怜悯”——这是欧文自己在诗集序言里写的说明，只是诗集还未出版，他就已经阵亡，一个有才能的青年诗人就这样被战争吞没了。

诗体是双韵式，但有些地方用了近似韵，以免机械式整齐，那样就与所写的乱糟糟的战争气氛不协调了。

王佐良

Strange Meeting

It seemed that out of battle I escaped

Down some profound dull tunnel，long since scooped

Through granites which titanic wars had groined.1

Yet also there encumbered sleepers^2 groaned，

Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.3

Then，as I probed them，4 one sprang up，and stared

With piteous recognition in fixed eyes，5

Lifting distressful hands，as if to bless.

And by his smile，I knew that sullen hall，6 —

By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.7

With a thousand pains that vision's face was grained；8

Yet no blood reached there from the upper ground，

And no guns thumped，or down the flues made moan.9

“Strange friend，” I said，“here is no cause to mourn.”

“None，” said the other，“save the undone years，10

The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours，

Was my life also； I went hunting wild

After the wildest beauty in the world，

Which lies not calm in eyes，or braided hair，11

But mocks the steady running of the hour，12

And if it grieves，grieves richlier than here.13

For by my glee might many men have laughed，

And of my weeping something had been left，

Which must die now.14 I mean the truth untold，

The pity of war，the pity war distilled.15

Now men will go content with what we spoiled，16

Or，discontent，boil bloody，and be spilled.17

They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress.18

None will break ranks，though nations trek from progress.19

Courage was mine，and I had mystery，

Wisdom was mine，and I had mastery：

To miss the march of this retreating world

Into vain citadels that are not walled.20

Then，when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels，21

I would go up and wash them from sweet wells，

Even with truths that lie too deep for taint.22

I would have poured my spirit without stint^23

But not through wounds； not on the cess of war.24

Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were.25

I am the enemy you killed，26 my friend.

I knew you in this dark； for so you frowned^27

Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.

I parried；28 but my hands were loath and cold.

Let us sleep now ...”29

【题解】

在英国文学的传统中，战争题材的诗歌作品历来渗透着虚幻的浪漫主义和骑士精神。欧文的战争题材诗歌彻底颠覆了这个传统，这固然是因为进入了帝国主义时代，现代战争的残酷程度是史无前例的，更是因为欧文自己是前线阵地上的士兵，对战争有着切身的体会和感受。这不是任何一个作家凭想象可以做到的。《奇异的相会》重在表现敌我双方两名的普通士兵在你死我活的激烈的战斗之后的相遇，并由此对这个世界和战争的新的认识。这首诗寓意深刻，不好理解，需细细体会。

【注释】

1.long since scooped ... groined：地道是从花岗岩里挖出来的，这场大规模的战争把花岗岩炸得坑坑洼洼；groin：腹股沟，此处作动词，意为挖空。

2.encumbered sleepers：即表示士兵身上背着枪支弹药等重物，也形容心理压力巨大。

3.Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred：深深地陷入沉思，甚至已经死了，故无法唤醒他们。

4.I probed them：我捅捅他们 （看他们是否睡着还是死了）。

5.With piteous recognition in fixed eyes：两眼直瞪着认出了我，神色令人怜悯。

6.that sullen hall：这个 “阴暗的大堂” 指当时 “我”和这个从死人堆里爬起来的人对峙的地方；sullen hall也暗示下行的Hell。

7.By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell：对方的死尸般的笑容使人感到他不是活人，从而想到我们都在地狱。

8.With a thousand pains that vision's face was grained：这个人影的脸上布满了痛苦； vision's face：对方更像幽灵，而不像人；grain：to paint in imitation of the grain of wood or stone，刻上或画上木纹或石纹。

9.down the flues made moan：moan made down the flues，通过地道传来痛苦的呻吟。

10.save the undone years：除了毁灭的年代； undone：ruined，wasted.

11.Which lies not calm in eyes，or braided hair：追求的异乎寻常之美 （wildest beauty），不在于安逸 （calm in eyes，tranquility）或装饰（braided hair，辫子）。

12.But mocks the steady running of the hour：嘲弄时间一步步的消逝；意为他所追求的美能够抵挡时间的侵蚀。

13.And if it grieves，grieves richlier than here：这句比较难理解，按其字面意思是：这种美在人间的悲伤，要比在这里 （地狱） 悲伤有意义得多 （richlier）；诗人的意思是：既然已到地狱，也就如此而已，而在人间，还有那么多的悲剧和不幸，需要人们懂得生命的价值，避免战争；it：指wildest beauty。

14.For by my glee might many men have laughed ... now：这三行的意思是：可能许多人会笑我，居然我还这么高兴（因我已不必悲伤了），而我痛苦之余，尚有未尽之言，将随我的死亡而不为人知。

15.The pity of war，the pity war distilled：战争的可怜，战争揭示出来的可怜； distill：提炼（酒精等）。

16.Now men will go content with what we spoiled：人们会因为我们各自获得战利品而满足；spoiled：表明这其实不是什么胜利，是掠夺，是破坏。

17.Or，discontent，boil bloody，and be spilled：或者不满足，再打仗流血。

18.They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress：据说母虎速度很快，比雄性虎还要厉害；指今后的战争将会更加残酷。

19.None will break ranks，though nations trek from progress：此句意为：虽然国家发动战争不是为了进步，是为了战争而战争，是偏离进步；但是，一旦战争爆发，大家仍然会团结一致，不会散伙。

20.To miss the march of this retreating world ... walled：我不会再在队伍中，随着这个世界退守到没有城墙的虚设的堡垒里。

21.when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels：鲜血粘住了战车的轮子； chariot：古代的战车。

22.truths that lie too deep for taint：真理深藏，难于被污染。

23.I would have poured my spirit without stint：我将会无保留地献出我的精神，即以人道主义的精神来开启人性，不要诉诸战争；stint：restraint，restriction.

24.But not through wounds； not on the cess of war：接上行：不是用我自己的伤痛，也不是以战争为代价； cess：tax，a military exaction or imposition，税赋，向居民摊派的军饷。按：“我”不仅要用清甜的水来洗净鲜血，减轻肉体的伤痛，抚平精神的创伤，还要用人性的精神来医治这个世界，不再发生战争。

25.Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were：显然指耶稣。据说，耶稣在被钉死在十字架上之前，汗毛孔里流的是血，因而是没有伤口的血。

26.I am the enemy you killed：到此才点出 “我就是被你杀死的人”，和第6—10行的叙述呼应。

27.I knew you in this dark； for so you frowned：和第9行that sullen hall 呼应； for so you frowned：for you frowned in the same manner.

28.parried：to ward off a weapon or blow by means of a parry，挡开刀或枪。

29.Let us sleep now ...：暗示对方当时严重受伤，但并未死，而讲完这番话之后，则可能气绝而亡。

ROBERT GRAVES

罗伯特·格瑞夫斯

（1895—1985）

【作者与作品简介】

格瑞夫斯参加过第一次世界大战，写过一本有名的回忆录《告别那一切》（1929），写过历史小说，翻译过古典文学作品（如阿比里厄斯的《金驴》），担任过牛津大学五年一任的诗歌教授，但他用力最勤的是写诗，从二十年代一直写到现在，经过许多诗歌流派的起落，他始终写传统形式的诗。当现代派盛行之际，他曾受到冷落；如今现代派过去了，他继续受到一部分读者的赞赏。

像叶芝一样，他有他的神话系统，其中心人物是白色女神。她代表爱情，是一个危险而又能起奇妙作用的人物，她使生活丰满而有色彩，使诗歌增加魅力。这里选的三首诗中，《镜中的脸》最后一行里的“皇后”就是指白色女神。

当然，不知道这一点，人们照样可以欣赏诗——有时候，过多的象征反而损坏了诗。格瑞夫斯的好处，一是他的诗不晦涩，二是他放得开，几乎什么都能入诗，而贯穿他全部创作生涯的是对于形式的注重，所写的一切作品都是形式完整，在韵律上颇见匠心的。

王佐良

The Cloak

Into exile with only a few shirts，

Some gold coin and the necessary papers.1

But winds are contrary：the Channel packet^2

Time after time returns the sea-sick peer^3

To Sandwich，Deal or Rye.4 He does not land，

But keeps his cabin；5 so at last we find him

In humble lodgings maybe at Dieppe，6

His shirts unpacked，his night-cap on a peg，

Passing the day at cards and swordsmanship

Or merry passages with chambermaids，7

By night at his old work. And all is well —

The country wine wholesome although so sharp，

And French his second tongue； a faithful valet

Brushes his hat and brings him newspapers.

This nobleman is at home anywhere，

His castle being，the valet says，his title.8

The cares of an estate would incommode

Such tasks as now his Lordship has in hand.9

His Lordship，says the valet，contemplates

A profitable absence^10 of some years.

Has he no friend at court to intercede？11

He wants none； exile's but another name

For an old habit of non-residence

In all but the recesses of his cloak.12

It was this angered a great personage.13

【题解】

写一位贵族的自我流放。头衔为城堡，大氅为居所，唯独不以英国为家。

【注释】

1.necessary papers：必要的证件，如护照等。

2.Channel packet：往来于英法的英吉利海峡的邮轮或客轮。

3.peer：a member of one of the five ranks （as duke，marquess，earl，viscount，or baron） of the British peerage，爵士。

4.Sandwich，Deal or Rye：Sandwich和 Deal 是英国多佛（Dover）区的小镇； Rye是东苏塞克斯的一个小镇。

5.keeps his cabin：待在他船上的包厢里。此句可见是自我流放，故意不上英国的本土。

6.Dieppe：迪耶普，法国北部城市，临英吉利海峡的港口。

7.merry passages with chambermaids：和旅店的女佣人开玩笑，打趣；passage：interchange of communication.

8.His castle being，the valet says，his title：（四海为家，居无定所）他的城堡就是他的头衔。

9.The cares of an estate would incommode ... hand：管理他的庄园的那些杂事，将会使他不便于处理手上的事务； incommode：cause trouble or inconvenience to，使人不便，给人添乱。

10.A profitable absence：离家出走，有所收获。

11.Has he no friend at court to intercede：此句似乎说明他和谁有纠结、不解之恨，但又不想诉诸法律。

12.non-residence ... cloak：谓这位贵族向无定居，老是穿着那件大氅，即要是说他有所居处，那就是“住在”他的那件大氅里；recesses：幽居之处。

13.It was this angered a great personage：it was this that angered etc. 此句和第一句呼应。

The Persian Version

Truth-loving Persians do not dwell upon

The trivial skirmish fought near Marathon.1

As for the Greek theatrical tradition^2

Which represents that summer's expedition

Not as a mere reconnaissance in force^3

By three brigades of foot and one of horse

（Their left flank covered by some obsolete

Light craft detached from the main Persian fleet）4

But as a grandiose，ill-starred^5 attempt

To conquer Greece — they treat it with contempt.6

And only incidentally refute^7

Major Greek claims，by stressing what repute

The Persian monarch and the Persian nation

Won by this salutary demonstration：8

Despite a strong defense and adverse weather

All arms combined magnificently together.

【题解】

在欧洲中心论的时代，凡是历史上一切与欧洲有瓜葛的事件，无不以欧洲的角度和立场来记载和诠释。《波斯人的版本》则以东方人的角度，来看待一个特定的历史事件，至少给读者提供一个不同的视觉。格瑞夫斯是古希腊罗马历史的专家，写过很有影响的历史著作和历史小说，最有名的是《吾乃克劳迪斯》（I Claudius ）和《克劳迪斯其神》（Claudius the God ）等。作为一个欧洲人，格瑞夫斯写的这首诗是耐人寻味的。

【注释】

1.The trivial skirmish fought near Marathon：事实上，希腊和波斯之间的这场战争不是小摩擦，而是一场决定性的战争。据古希腊著名历史学家希罗多德（Herodotus）记载，公元前490年，一支25000人马的波斯军在马拉松平原登陆，雅典军Miltiades等十位希腊将领带领10000人马，乘波斯军骑兵不到位之机，以192人伤亡的轻微代价，歼灭波斯军6400人。随后，希腊军急速回师，防止了波斯军对雅典的突然袭击。波斯军兵败撤退。不过，现代历史学家认为这场战争远不能和十年之后的另一场战争相比。在公元前481年的第二场大战中，希腊城邦联军摧毁了波斯四十万水陆大军。此后，希腊和波斯又断断续续打了30年，直至公元前449年雅典及其盟军和波斯签订了“伽里阿斯和约”（Peace of Callias），双方才终于结束了敌对状态。

2.the Greek theatrical tradition：希腊戏剧传统；此处主要指埃斯库勒斯（Aeschylus）描写这两场战争的戏剧。关于波斯人对此的看法，历史书上没有记载。

3.Not as a mere reconnaissance in force：波斯人认为，希腊戏剧里关于（波斯）那次出征（that summer's expedition）的描述不确，波斯只是派了一支小部队来侦察而已。

4.Light craft detached from the main Persian fleet：波斯军左侧防护薄弱，装备不足。按：当时波斯出动大约200多艘战舰进攻希腊海军，不期在海上遭到风暴，损失惨重，而希腊战舰则躲在港湾里安然无恙。与此同时，希腊以陆军突袭波斯军，乘波斯军骑兵不及抵达之机，大破之；Light craft：轻型的装备。

5.ill-starred：ill-fated，unlucky，不幸的。西方人认为天上的星座对人的命运有影响。

6.they treat it with contempt：他们（波斯人）对此嗤之以鼻。

7.only incidentally refute：只是不经意地驳斥。

8.by stressing what repute ... demonstration：以这一有益于健康的演示，来强调波斯君主和民族赢得的荣誉；repute：won 的宾语，和refute对应；salutary demonstration：谓出征只是练练兵而已。

The Face in the Mirror

Grey haunted eyes，absented-mindedly glaring

From wide，uneven orbits；1 one brow drooping

Somewhat over the eye

Because of a missile fragment^2 still inhering，

Skin deep，as a foolish record of old-world fighting.

Crookedly broken nose — low tackling^3 caused it；

Cheeks，furrowed； coarse grey hair，flying frenetic；4

Forehead，wrinkled and high；

Jowls，prominent； ears，large； jaws，pugilistic；5

Teeth，few； lips，full and ruddy； mouth，ascetic.6

I pause with razor poised，7 scowling derision

At the mirrored man whose beard needs my attention，

And once more ask him why

He still stands ready，with a boy's presumption，

To court the queen in her high silk pavilion.8

【题解】

诗人极尽夸张之能事，描绘了一张丑陋的镜中之脸。透过强烈的讽刺，呈现出一张饱受生活煎熬和磨难的人的脸。此人即使如此，仍然企图追求“白色女神”，对理想的拥抱丝毫不为自己的丑陋而减退。这也许反映了战后英国现实和期望之间的巨大鸿沟。

【注释】

1.uneven orbits：两个眼球大小不一； orbit：orb，eye，眼球。

2.a missile fragment：一块弹片。指参加一次大战（old-world fighting）受的伤。

3.tackling：to seize and throw down or stop an opposing player with the ball in rugby football，橄榄球中抱住并摔倒对方。

4.flying frenetic：（头发） 乱糟糟的。

5.pugilistic：像拳击手的 （颚），即被打得变形的。

6.ascetic：extremely strict in religious exercises，religiously austere，禁欲的；谓这张嘴没法接吻。

7.I pause with razor poised：“我” （显然是理发师）拿着剃刀，没有动手。

8.To court the queen in her high silk pavilion：这样丑陋的人居然还想去追求王后；王后指诗人创造的神话系统中的白色女神。

CECIL DAY LEWIS

息西尔·台·路易斯

（1904—1972）

【作者与作品简介】

二十世纪三十年代初，被文学评论家誉为“三足鼎立”的奥登、司班德和路易斯三位诗人中，路易斯是其中年龄最大、成名最晚的一位。他在英国文学史上的地位是靠其桂冠诗人的声誉和其诗歌创作中所表现出的矛盾性来巩固的。他天性偏好浪漫主义的笔触，醉心于那种田园牧歌式的抒情。有趣的是他大部分抒发自己天性的作品倒很平庸，而当笔墨挥向他方时——特别是借诗歌表现政治观点时，却露出锋芒，写出不少颇为得意的章句。

尽管路易斯以其作品的精致而赢得了桂冠诗人的称号，但他终没形成自己十分独特的风格。在自传《被埋葬的日子》里，他承认在对立的观点中进行选择时自己总是感到难乎又难。他早期的创作在一定的程度上表现出了他的不稳定性：由于受奥登影响较深，他总也摆脱不了对奥登的那种独特语气和笔法的模仿：

想一想吧，我们已将他们谴责；

后来为了“寻求个人的独特性”，路易斯将自己的政治追求与诗的发展结合了起来，力图达到思想与句法的完美统一。

二十世纪三十年代，他加入了共产党，立誓要在“新的世界中”找到欢乐的奋斗的目标。他认为诗人需要在一个健康的社会里来履行诗人的责任，也正是为了这个健康的社会，诗人才同情共产主义。

路易斯1933年出版的诗集《磁山》便具有浓烈的政治象征喻义，鼓动性较强（虽然其中有不少染上了口号式的宣传性）。

这里选他的两首诗《双重幻想》和《磁山》，试图从两个不同角度反映出路易斯诗歌创作的主要倾向。

《双重幻象》风格颇具浪漫主义的抒情色彩，假借自然界的景色来烘托现实与幻象的区别，转而又以娴熟的笔法从视觉和概念上混融了现实与虚幻：

在这十一月的下午小河

于太阳和云的互衬下息歇：

朦胧的日光，闪耀的暗色

裹拢着河道……

这些描写是属于现实还是属于幻觉呢？又何必去回答，也许现实便是“双重幻象”之一。

《磁山》，从整本诗集的角度来看，这座磁山本身便象征着地平线那端的理想世界，象征一个新的开端和新的社会，只有在那儿，肉体才能与灵魂合一。这首诗意象清新，语言简练，很有奥登的气魄。

路易斯作诗讲究诗法，也不乏创造。常把科学与现实和诗境与传统交织互融来造成一定的气氛。他的主要诗集有《乡间喜剧》、《从羽毛到铁》、《磁山》等。

周强

The Double Vision

The river this November afternoon

Rests in an equipoise of sun and cloud：1

A glooming light，a gleaming darkness shroud

Its passage.2 All seems tranquil，all in tune.3

Image and real are joined like Siamese twins：4

Their doubles draw the willows，5 a brown mare

Drinks her reflection.6 There's no margin where

Substance leaves off，the illusory begins.7

You and I by the river contemplate

Our ideal 'selves，glossed here，crystal-divined：8

We yearn to them，knowing one sigh of wind

Will rub these precious figures from the slate.9

It is not of their transience I'm afraid.

But thinking how most human loves protract

Themselves to unreality — the fact

Drained of its virtue by the image it made.10

O double vision of the autumnal stream，

Teach me to bear love's fusion or diffusion！11

O gems of purest water，pure illusion，

Answer my rays and cluster to a theme！12

【题解】

《双重幻象》运用各种意象，表现真实和虚幻的区别，并点出两者又无绝对的分界线。作者的描写给人以“假即真时真即假，无为有时有还无”的感觉。诗人规劝人们不要把现实扩张到虚幻的程度，从而使幻象剥夺了其真正的价值。这点适用于爱情，也适用于其他事物。

【注释】

1.an equipoise of sun and cloud：既不是万里无云，又不是阴云密布，非常平衡； equipoise：a state of equilibrium，相称，平衡。

2.A glooming light，a gleaming darkness shroud ... passage：河上的阳光不是太晃眼，绿阴又不是太阴沉，明暗恰到好处； Its passage：河的径流。

3.in tune：和谐，协调。

4.Image and real are joined like Siamese twins：影像和实物像连体儿那样结为一体；real：此处为名词；Siamese twins：连体双胞胎。按：1811年一对暹罗（即今泰国）连体双胞胎出生，被视为不吉利。后这对连体双胞胎访问英国和美国，轰动一时，此后遂以Siamese twins 为连体双胞胎的术语。

5.Their doubles draw the willows：杨柳倒垂在水面上，好像是被水中的倒影所吸引。

6.Drinks her reflection：马在河边喝水，似乎在饮其倒影。

7.There's no margin where ... begins：实体和幻象之间没有明确的分界线。

8.Our ideal 'selves，glossed here，crystal-divined：此句意为我们俩在河边琢磨我们理想的自身应该是怎样的，而水中的倒影描摹（glossed）了我们的形象，表现得像水晶那般清晰。

9.rub these precious figures from the slate：（一阵轻风吹起涟漪）就会把这宝贵的形象抹掉； slate：平的石板，指河面。

10.Drained of its virtue by the image it made：事物的幻象剥夺了其真正美好的质地。

11.love's fusion or diffusion：爱的融合或扩散。谓爱的实质和爱的形式可能结合，也可能分离。

12.Answer my rays and cluster to a theme：（纯净之水的宝石）反映我的光彩，集中到一个主题； rays：moral or intellectual light.

The Magnetic Mountain

Consider these，for we have condemned them；

leaders to no sure land； guides their bearings lost

or in league with robbers have reversed the signposts，1

Disrespectful to ancestors，irresponsible to heirs.

Born barren，a freak growth，root in rubble；2

Fruitlessly blossoming，whose foliage suffocates，

Their sap is sluggish，3 they reject the sun.

The man with his tongue in his cheek，4 the woman

with her heart in the wrong place，unhandsome，unwholesome，5

Have exposed the new-born to worse than weather，6

Exiled the honest and sacked the seer.7

These drowned the farms to form a pleasure-lake，

in time of drought they drain the reservoir

Through private pipes for baths and sprinklers.8

Getters not begetters；9 gainers not beginners；

Whiners，10 no winners； no triers，betrayers；

Who steer by no star，whose moon means nothing.11

Daily denying，unable to dig；12

At bay in villas from blood relations，

Counters of spoons and content with cushions

They pray for peace，they hand down disaster.

They that take the bribe shall perish by the bribe，

Dying of dry rot，ending in asylums，

a curse to children，a charge on the state.

But still their fears and frenzies infect us；

Drug nor isolation will cure this cancer：

It is now or never，the hour of the knife，13

The break with the past，the major operation.

【题解】

《磁山》是一首长诗，此处所选为第3章，第25节。所选部分抨击了当今世界的掌权者和有影响之人的所作所为。诗人用古英语诗歌的句中停顿、押头韵的手法，使人联想到英国古代英雄打击邪恶，为民除害的传说。

【注释】

1.guides their bearings lost ... signposts：向导或者迷失了方向，或者和强盗勾结，把路标倒转了指示方向。

2.Born barren，a freak growth，root in rubble：生来就无生殖能力，长得古怪，根子扎在乱石丛中； freak：capricious，unusual； rubble：乱石。

3.Their sap is sluggish：他们没有活力，精神萎靡；sap：是树木内输送养分的液体，转指元气，活力。

4.with his tongue in his cheek：with insincerity，irony，or whimsical exaggeration，假心假意，语带挖苦。

5.unwholesome：marked by lack of integrity or dependability，虚情假意，不可靠，不诚恳。

6.exposed the new-born to worse than weather：把新生儿暴露在险恶的环境之中，比户外风吹雨打更糟糕。

7.seer：先知，有智慧者。

8.sprinklers：洒水器或装置。

9.Getters not begetters：获得者，但不是创造者。注意这一节集中运用句中停顿和押头韵的风格。

10.Whiners：嘀咕者，哀鸣者。

11.Who steer by no star，whose moon means nothing：古代航海凭天象定方向，不以星辰和月亮航行，则没有定向。

12.dig：work hard.

13.the hour of the knife：动刀的时间到了。

WILLIAM EMPSON

威廉·燕卜荪

（1906—1984）

【作者与作品简介】

燕卜荪同中国有缘，但他不是因中国才出名的。早在剑桥大学读书的时候，他的才华——特别表现在他的论文《七类晦涩》之中——就震惊了他的老师。他的老师不是别人，就是创立一整个文学批评学派的宗师理查兹。《七类晦涩》于1930年出版，至今还是英美各大学研究文学的学生必读的书，而作者写书的时候还只是一个二十岁刚出头的青年。

这本书同他后来的几本著作——《田园诗的若干形式》（1935）、《复杂词的结构》（1951）、《弥尔顿的上帝》（1961）——都表现出一种思想上的锐气，作者在学院里度过了一生，却能突破学院的局限，不断地追求心智上的新事物。他是学者，但又有一般学者所无的特殊的敏感和想象力。这是因为，他又是一个诗人。而且是一个奇特的诗人。他写诗不多，1955年出版的《合集》总共只收五十六首诗，连同注解不过一一九页。这些诗大部分非常难懂。人们说他追随十七世纪的玄学派，实际上他比玄学派更不易解。文字是简单的，其纯朴，其英国本色，有如《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》，但是内容涉及二十世纪的科学理论（如爱因斯坦的相对论）和二十世纪的哲学思潮（如维特根斯坦的逻辑与语言哲学），有时单独的句子是好懂的，联起来则又不知所云了。

那么，这样的诗又有什么值得一读？值得的，因为它代表了诗的一种发展，这是二十世纪的知识分子的诗，表达的是知识界关心的事物。其所以难，是因为西方现代科学、哲学的许多学说本身就不易了解，而诗人本人对它们的探索也远比一般人深（我们不要忘了他在剑桥拿了两个第一，其一是数学）。这些学说是重要的，影响到现代人的意识或世界观。但他写的又不限于抽象思维，对于现实生活里的矛盾与困惑，对于爱情，对于战争，甚至异国的战争，如中日之战，诗人也都是深有所感并吟之于诗的。在形式方面，他又严格得出奇，不仅首首齐整，脚韵排列有致，而且还写了在法语中称作Villanelle的结构复杂的回文诗。整个说来，他的韵律是活泼的，愉快的，朗读起来，效果更好。十分现代的内容却用了十分古典的形式，这里有一点对照，一点矛盾；但这也增加了他的诗的吸引力。有些诗人的作品一见眼明，但不耐读；燕卜荪的则相反，经得起一读再读，越读越见其妙。

这类诗也构成英国诗的新品种。燕卜荪自己说过：

二十世纪最好的英文诗是象征式的诗，写得极好，但这类诗搞得时间太长了，今天的诗人们感到它的规则已成为一种障碍，而文学理论家一般又认为除象征式诗以外，不可能有别类的诗。

实际上，可以有别类的诗，即“辩论式的诗”。燕卜荪本人写的就是这类，其中心是矛盾冲突：

诗人应该写那些真正使他烦恼的事，烦恼得几乎叫他发疯。……我的几首较好的诗都是以一个未解决的冲突为基础的。

因此，他不是在作文字游戏，而是在写现代知识分子所关心的重要问题，而方式则是通过思辨和说理。例如：

肥皂水张力扩大了星宿，

天上反映出圣母之韶秀

迎接上帝打开更多空间。

错了！是我们在空间盘旋，

以超过光速的飞船

毁灭多少个星之宇宙，

让它们死亡不留痕斑。

——《远足》

同样，他的警句也不是仅仅展示机智，而是包含着对人生意义的领悟的：

一切人类依之生存的伟大梦想，

不过是幻灯投射到地狱黑烟上，

什么是真正实在？

手绘的玻璃一块。

——《远足》

或者是这样一种在前途茫茫中的悲壮的决心：

还是和我一起在盼待一个奇迹，

（不管它是来自魔鬼还是神祇）。

找那不可能的东西，

绝望中练一身技艺。

——《最后的痛苦》

实际上不止是“技艺”，因为还有对人的关切。他是一个外表冷静而内心非常热烈的人。东方吸引了他：他在日本和中国都教过书，特别是中国，两度居留，一共七年（1937—1939，1946—1951），教书极为认真负责，造就了一大批英国文学研究者和许多诗人，见证了中国的抗日战争、解放战争时期的大学气氛和解放后的新气象（在人民共和国成立之初；庆祝我国国庆节和“五一”国际劳动节的游行队伍里有着他们夫妇），而且把他的感想写进了诗，其中包括一首题为《中国》的短诗，一个取自李季《王贵与李香香》的片断的翻译，和他的唯一的长诗《南岳之秋》。战时暂棲南岳的大学师生的生活是非常艰苦的，但是他过得很愉快，这首长诗忠实地传达了他的印象和感想，当中包括了幽默、疑问和自我嘲讽，而主调则是愉快；他的轻松的口气和活泼的节奏加强了这一效果。这愉快不仅表明他“有极好的友伴”（如他自己所说），而且用一种诗歌手段传达了他对于中国人民前途的信心。

王佐良

Camping Out

And now she cleans her teeth into the lake：1

Gives it （God's grace） for her own bounty's sake

What morning's pale and the crisp mist debars：2

Its glass of the divine （that will could break）

Restores，beyond nature：3 or lets Heaven take

（Itself being dimmed） her pattern，4 who half awake

Milks between rocks a straddled sky of stars.5

Soap tension the star pattern magnifies.6

Smoothly Madonna through-assumes the skies^7

Whose vaults are opened to achieve the Lord.8

No，it is we soaring explore galaxies，9

Our bullet boat light's speed by thousands flies.10

Who moves so among stars their frame unties；11

See where they blur，and die，and are outsoared.

【题解】

这首诗最初发表在《创新》第二期（ExperimentNo.2） （1929 年2月）； 再次发表于《新签名》（New Signatures ） （1932）。燕卜荪不仅致力于诗歌创作艺术的革新，而且力图从内容上有所跨越。《远足》，或者译为《野营》（Camping Out ），体现了他在这两方面的努力。诗人对此有一段说明，全文如下：The intention behind the oddness of the theme however much it may fail，was not to be satirical but to show indifference to satire from outside. She gives the lake its pattern of reflected stars，now made of toothpaste，as God's grace allows man virtues that nature wouldn't； the mist and pale （pale light or boundary ） of morning have made it unable to reflect real stars any longer. Soap tensionis meant to stand for the action of surface tension between more or less concentrated soap solutions which makes the specks fly apart. Their frame unties：if any particle of matter got a speed greater than that of light it would have infinite mass and might be supposed to crumple up round itself the whole of space-time — ‘a great enough ecstasy makes the common world unreal’ （Collected Poems，London，1955）. 此诗确实难懂，要说简单也非常简单，正如燕卜荪说这首诗确实把奇思怪异法用到极致，但基本主题是这对年轻恋人在湖边野营……这并不令我感到讨厌。（The poem is “carrying the conceit method very far. The basic idea ... is that these two young lovers are camping by a lake ... It doesn't seem disgusting to me.”）

【注释】

1.she cleans her teeth into the lake：她对着湖刷牙。燕卜荪自注：（The girl）is cleaning her teeth，and this ［is］ regarded with exultation by the young man.

2.Gives it （God's grace） for her own bounty's sake ... debars：第2—3行意为她刷牙时，牙膏泡沫飞散开来，倒映在湖水之中，像无数的星星； 早晨灰蒙蒙的光线和迷雾把天上的星星遮挡住了，是她慷慨地弥补了天上 “星星”的缺失； God's grace：谓创造漫天星斗本来是上帝的恩赐； pale：paleness，pallor，pale light or boundary，灰暗无光的天际。

3.Its glass of the divine （that will could break） ... nature：牙膏泡沫消失之后，神圣的玻璃般的湖面恢复了原状，超越自然； that will：that divine will.

4.lets Heaven take ... pattern：天本身被遮盖而模糊不清，让天以她的形象 （或她所创造的形象） 为范本。燕卜荪自注：they （specks of toothpaste ） copy the universe，they set a pattern for the universe. This is where it could be called metaphysical，and slightly like Donne.

5.who half awake ... stars：女子在湖面上造就了银河系的星星；who：当指女子，但从语法上讲her pattern不能算是who的先行词，只起暗示she的作用； Milks：从Milky Way 一词而来，意思是形成银河系。

6.Soap tension the star pattern magnifies：肥皂泡的表面张力扩大了星宿。燕卜荪解释说：“肥皂泡沫掉在水面上时，这些泡沫都互相排斥，扩散开来，因为肥皂降低了水泡的表面张力，而外面的水又在拉动泡沫，所以看上去你好像在接近一大群星星。” （if you throw soapy spots on to the surface of water they all repel each other，they move away from each other，because soap lowers the surfaced tension of water and the outside water pulls them，so that they look as if you were rapidly approaching a group of stars.）又说：“在第二节诗里……牙膏泡沫大大小小地扩张开来，你简直就像以极快的速度在接近一个星座。” （In the second verse ... the specks expand，in all proportion，exactly as if you were approaching a constellation at enormous speed.）

7.Smoothly Madonna through-assumes the skies：此行谓女子就像星系的创造者，她创造了一个微型宇宙，并像圣母 （玛利亚） 那样升入她所创造的世界。此处燕卜荪借用了基督教关于耶稣和圣母的真身升入天堂的说法； through-assumes一词乃燕卜荪独创，取 assume 升入天堂之意（to receive into heaven）；through：completely，thoroughly，取自多恩（John Donne） 的诗 To the Countess of Bedford（‘Honor is so sublime perfection’） 第56—57行：This，as an Amber drop enwraps a Bee / Covering discovers your quick soul； that we / May in your through-shine front your heart's thoughts see. 多恩的原意是，正如琥珀里的蜜蜂仍然可见，外膜仍会揭示 （discovers，i.e.，exposes） 你那敏感的灵魂。同样，我们可以从你通透的胸膛看到你心灵的思想。

8.Whose vaults are opened to achieve the Lord：天穹敞开，迎接上帝； achieve：receive.

9.it is we soaring explore galaxies：it is we who soaring explore galaxies.

10.Our bullet boat light's speed by thousands flies：我们的子弹飞船以光速飞行。此行可能受多恩一诗的启发，比较 Of the Progress of the Soul：The Second Anniversary第180—183行：Thou hast thy expansion now，and liberty； / Think that a rusty piece，discharged，is flown / In pieces，and the bullet is his own，/ And freely flies.

11.Who moves so among stars their frame unties：按照爱因斯坦的理论，如果某种物质的颗粒能以超过光速的速度运动，就会有无限大的质量，把它周围的时空统统击毁。燕卜荪自注：这对情人一起野营，感到特别自由，摆脱了刻板的社会，好像在宇宙飞船里。但是，要这样去看星星他们就必须飞得比光速还快，而按照爱因斯坦的理论，这会震裂整个空间。此处的意思是狂喜会使得平凡的世界变得很不真实。（Camping out together makes the lovers fell especially free from settled society，as if in a space-ship，but to see the stars like this they would have to be moving faster than light，and on the Einstein theory this would crack up the whole of space. The idea is that a great enough ecstasy can make the common world unreal.）

Arachne

Twixt devil and deep sea，man hacks his caves；1

Birth，death； one，many； what is true，and seems；2

Earth's vast hot iron，cold space's empty waves：3

King spider，walks the velvet roof of streams：4

Must bird and fish，must god and beast avoid：5

Dance，like nine angels，on pin-point extremes.6

His gleaming bubble between void and void，7

Tribe-membrane，that by mutual tension stands，8

Earth's surface film，is at a breath destroyed.9

Bubbles gleam brightest with least depth of lands^10

But two is least can with full tension strain，

Two molecules；11 one，and the film disbands.

We two suffice. But oh beware，whose vain

Hydroptic soap my meagre water saves.12

Male spiders must not be too early slain.13

【题解】

这是燕卜荪第一次用但丁《神曲》（The Divine Comedy ） 中使用的terza rima （三行诗隔句押韵法） 创造的诗。其他一些terza rima 体诗都在此之后。关于这首诗的主题，燕卜荪解释说：The caves of cavemen are thought of as by the sea to escape the savage creatures inland. ‘Man lives between the contradictory absolutes of philosophy，the one and the many，etc. As king spider man walks delicately between two elements，avoiding the enemies which live in both. Man must dance，etc. Human society is placed in this matter like individual men，the atoms who make up its bubble.’ The spider's legs push down the unbroken surface of the water like a soft carpet，which brings in the surface-tension idea. The bubble surface is called land，the thin fertile surface of the earth，because the bubble is the globe of the world. The water saves the soap because the soap alone couldn't make a bubble. Arachne was a queen spider and disastrously proud.

【注释】

题目：Arachne：Queen Spider，蜘蛛女王。此词来自Arachnid，即蜘蛛网动物。

1.Twixt devil and deep sea，man hacks his caves：原始人类既面临大海，又遭到野兽 （devil转指此义）的袭击，故只能挖地而居，以避两方面的威胁。

2.Birth，death； one，many； what is true and seems：人类生活在绝对矛盾的夹缝之中； birth和death，one和many，what is true和seems （what seems true） 都是截然相反的东西。

3.Earth's vast hot iron，cold space's empty waves：这也是两种截然相反的东西。铁水（hot iron） 象征地球内核里灼热的岩浆，而宇宙中的各种波 （如电磁波）是寒冷而捉摸不着的。

4.the velvet roof of streams：指水面。蜘蛛王要喝水得非常小心，否则会陷入水中淹死。

5.Must bird and fish，must god and beast avoid：must avoid bird etc.，蜘蛛王也处于极度危险之中。比较蒲柏（Alexander Pope）的诗 《人论》 （Essay on Man ） Epistle 237—241：Vast Chain of Being，which from God began，/ Natures ethereal，human，angel，man，/ Beasts，bird，fish，insect，what no eye can see，/ No glass can reach！from Infinite to thee，/ From thee to nothing.

6.Dance，like nine angels，on pin-point extremes：继续形容蜘蛛王处境困难。类似于经院哲学中钻牛角尖的问题有：How many angels can dance on the point of a pin？

7.His gleaming bubble between void and void：人类社会的组织就像一个肥皂泡，每个人就像组成肥皂泡的原子。

8.Tribe-membrane，that by mutual tension stands：肥皂泡有张力，彼此之间互相排斥； Tribe-membrane：membrane 是活体的表皮组织，tribe 是指互相之间的张力形成的一个统一体，意思是社会或族群的保护层。燕卜荪自注：membrane — surface of living tissues； life dependant on surface reactions （like osmosis making sap rise）； tribe — taken as a unity made by mutual tensions — one part removed society would break up helplessly — hence like a membrane and like a bubble.

9.Earth's surface film，is at a breath destroyed：一口气就能把地球的表面吹破了； 地球本身就像一个气泡。

10.Bubbles gleam brightest with least depth of lands：气泡壁越薄，反光越亮。燕卜荪自注：shallow soil which makes rapid growth of some plants； the bubble has already been compared to the earth. The color effects from interference of light come when it is two molecules thick.

11.But two is least can with full tension strain ... molecules：two is least which can with etc.； 此行的意思是：正如肥皂和水能组成肥皂泡那样，男女之间的结合形成社会的基本组成部分。

12.We two suffice. But oh beware，whose vain ... saves：燕卜荪自注：The two molecules of thickness then compared to the sexual pair as basis of society. 女人为肥皂，男人为水，组成肥皂泡，肥皂单独不可能形成肥皂泡；Hydroptic：hydropic，dropsical.

13.Male spiders must not be too early slain：雌雄蜘蛛交配之后，雌的就把雄的吃掉。意为蜘蛛女王杀死雄蜘蛛以后，缺了一方，就失去了平衡，因此不能过早把蜘蛛王杀死。

This Last Pain

This last pain for the damned the Fathers^1 found：

‘They knew the bliss with which they were not crowned.’2

Such，but on earth，let me foretell，

Is all，of heaven or of hell.3

Man，as the prying housemaid of the soul^4

May know her happiness by eye to hole：5

He's safe； the key is lost； he^6 knows

Door will not open，nor hole close.

‘What is conceivable can happen too，’7

Said Wittgenstein，8 who had not dreamt of you；

But wisely；9 if we worked it long

We should forget where it was wrong.

Those thorns are crowns which，woven into knots，

Crackle under and soon boil fool's pots；

And no man's watching，wise and long，

Would ever stare them into song.10

Thorns burn to a consistent ash，like man；

A splendid cleanser for the frying-pan：11

And those who leap from pan to fire^12

Should this brave opposite admire.

All those large dreams by which men long live well^13

Are magic-lanterned on the smoke of hell；14

This then is real，I have implied，

A painted，small，transparent slide.

These the inventive can hand-paint at leisure，

Or most emporia^15 would stock our measure；

And feasting in their dappled shade

We should forget how they were made.16

Feign then what's by a decent tact believed

And act that state is only so conceived，

And build an edifice of form

For house where phantoms may keep warm.17

Imagine，then，by miracle，with me，

（Ambiguous gifts，as what gods give must be）

What could not possibly be there，

And learn a style from a despair.18

【题解】

此诗作于1929—1930年间。燕卜荪对这首诗的主题作如下解释：I shall next do a poem called THIS LAST PAIN，but only because the producer wanted it. Long ago a critic said it recommended Posing，a very undergraduate point of view，he said，which reminded him of Oscar Wilde. I was much struck by this，because the poem can be read like that，which had never occurred to me. The trouble with this kind of writing，indeed，though it seems so elaborately argued，is that it is always liable to topple over and mean something you hadn't wanted at all. The idea here is that the mind can imagine states which it cannot attain，in both love and religion — that is why the Fathers of the Church appear at the beginning of a love-poem — but I was also saying that the mind can partially satisfy itself by keeping up an appearance of these ideal conditions. I must say，however politely you try to phrase it，it does seem to come pretty close to recommending Posing. 诗人要陈述的是人的思想和能力的局限，无论是爱情还是宗教上所祈求的一切，都有人无法攀登的高度，这就是最后的痛苦，但是思想不应受到禁锢，应该努力去体会和想象它不能到达的顶峰。

【注释】

题目：This Last Pain：最后的痛苦，也是最大的痛苦。

1.the Fathers：（基督教的）神父。

2.They knew the bliss with which they were not crowned：失去上帝赐予的至福是对魔鬼的一种惩罚。按：失去上帝的至福被认为是最大的剥夺，比较阿奎那 （Thomas Aquinas） 的《神学大全》（Summa Theologiae ），vol.9：Angels （Ia，3）：Again，they are deprived of the bliss which their very nature desires. 马娄 （Christopher Marlowe）的《浮士德博士》（Dr. Faustus ） 1.3.79—82：Think'st thou that I，who saw the face of God / And tasted the eternal joys of heaven，/ Am not tormented with ten thousand hells / In being deprived of everlasting bliss？ 弥尔顿（John Milton） 的 《复乐园》 （Paradise Regained） 416—420：the happy place / Imparts to thee no happiness，no joy，/ Rather inflames thy torment，representing / Lost bliss，to thee no more communicable，/ So never more in hell than when in heaven.

3.Such，but on earth，let me foretell ... hell：比较美国女诗人艾米丽·迪更生（Emily Dickinson，1830—1886）抒情诗第1732首 “My life closed twice before its close”第7—8行：Parting is all we know of heaven，/ And all we need of hell. 燕卜荪在1933年谈到他对迪更生的诗歌的看法：Probably the trouble about Emily Dickinson，an American poet and refined hermit who wrote a great number of striking metaphysical poems and became very ghoulish in later life，is that she does not get enough of this support from social ideas.

4.the prying housemaid of the soul：（男人） 灵魂的女佣，专爱刺探他人私密。

5.her：燕卜荪自注：指灵魂，女主人（The soul，the mistress）； by eye to hole：眼睛凑在门孔上窥看。

6.he：燕卜荪自注：指男人，即女佣 （man，the prying housemaid）。上文说男人是灵魂的女佣，专爱打听他人私密的女佣。

7.What is conceivable can happen too：What is thinkable is also possible.

8.Wittgenstein：Ludwig （1889—1951），路德维希·维特根斯坦，奥地利哲学家，逻辑学家。1938年希特勒吞并奥地利后，加入英国籍，在剑桥大学任教。他在1921年著《逻辑哲学论》 （Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus） 第3.02命题中说：A thought contains the possibility of the state of affairs which it thinks. What is thinkable is possible too. （思想包含着所想之情形的可能性。凡是所能想到的，也是可能的。）

9.wisely：燕卜荪自注：It is good practical advice，because though not every ideal that can be imagined can be achieved，man can satisfy himself by pretending that he has achieved it and forgetting that he hasn't. This touches Wittgenstein neither as philosophical argument nor as a personal remark. The idea of the poem is that human nature can conceive divine states which it cannot attain； Wittgenstein is relevant only because such feelings have produced philosophies different from his.此处wisely是承上而言，对 “凡是能想象的，也是可能实现的” 此话应 “明智” 地对待。人可以假设达到了想象的境界。故诗人指出本诗的主旨是 “人可以想象它所不能达到的神的高度”。

10.Those thorns are crowns which，woven into knots ... song：《旧约·传道书》 （Ecclesiastes ） 7：6：As the crackling of thorns under a pot，so is the laughter of a fool. （愚昧人的笑声，好像锅下烧荆棘的爆声。）燕卜荪自注：A watched pot never boils，and if it boiled would sing. The folly which has the courage to maintain careless self-deceit is compared to the mock-regal crown of thorns. 按：耶稣在被钉死在十字架上之前，兵丁用荆棘编作冠冕，戴在他头上。参见《新约·约翰福音》 （John ） 19：1。

11.Thorns burn to a consistent ash，like man ... frying-pan：植物燃烧之后，其灰烬含有碳酸钾，有除污特别是去油污的作用，也是肥皂的原料。植物灰烬可以用来擦干净煎锅。

12.leap from pan to fire：由习语 leap out of the frying pan into the fire 演变而来，意为脱离小祸，遇上大难。

13.All those large dreams by which men long live well：比较丁尼生（Tennyson）的诗In Memoriam，5.11—12：But that large grief which these enfold/Is given in outline and no more.

14.magic-lanterned on the smoke of hell：燕卜荪借用爱德华·菲茨杰拉德（Edward Fitzgerald，1809—1883）翻译的中世纪波斯诗人欧玛尔·海亚姆（Omar Khayyám，1048？—1122？）的经典著作《鲁拜集》（Rubáiyát ）中的两段诗：1859年版，Stanza LⅪⅤ：Said one —“ Folks of a surly Tapster tell，/ And daub his Visage with the Smoke of Hell； / They talk of some strict Testing of us — Pish！ / He's a Good Fellow，and 'twill all be well.” 1872年版，Stanza LⅩⅤⅢ：We are no other than a moving row / Of Magic Shadow-shapes that come and go / Round with this Sun-illumin'd Lantern held / In midnight by the Master of the Show.

15.emporia：（plural ） 商场，商业中心，单数为emporium。

16.dappled shade ... made：比较霍普金斯的十四行诗《斑驳之美》（Pied Beauty ），参见本书第630页。燕卜荪又提到马韦尔的诗《花园》（The Garden ）：Annihilating all that's made / To a green thought in a green shade. 参见本书第189—191页。

17.Feign then what's by a decent tact believed ... warm：姑且相信巧妙得体地表达的思想，行动上接受既成事实的构想，建造一座形式完美的大厦，幽灵得以在室内暖身。燕卜荪是在谈诗歌和其他文学作品的形式和内容的问题。谈到 “词语的虚构性” （verbal fictions）和现实之间的关系时说：The prime intellectual difficulty of our age is that true beliefs may make it impossible to act rightly； that we cannot think without verbal fictions； that they must not be taken for true beliefs，and yet must be taken seriously； that it is essential to analyze beauty； essential to accept it unanalyzed； essential to believe that this universe is deterministic； essential to act as if it was not.

18.Ambiguous gifts，as what gods give must be ... despair：人的想象力是一种天赋，或来自上帝，或来自魔鬼；凭着这种想象力去设想根本不存在的现象，即使是做不到这一点，完全绝望，也要表现出一定的风格。燕卜荪解释说：这实际是艺术表达上的一种晦涩，这种晦涩 “occurs when the two meanings of the words，the two values of the ambiguity，are the two opposite meanings defined by the context，so that the total effect is to show a fundamental division in the writer's mind.”

Note on Local Flora

There is a tree native in Turkestan，1

Or further east towards the Tree of Heaven，2

Whose hard cold cones，not being wards to time，3

Will leave their mother only for good cause；

Will ripen only in a forest fire；

Wait，to be fathered as was Bacchus once，4

Through men's long lives，that image of time's end.5

I knew the Phoenix^6 was a vegetable.

So Semele desired her deity

As this in Kew thirsts for the Red Dawn.7

【题解】

这首诗的主题是森林大火犹如世界最后的燃烧。燕卜荪说，所谓“当地的植物” 指的是伦敦西郊国家植物园，即邱园 （Kew Gardens） 的一种针叶树。植物园的管理部门在树上按了一块白色的牌子，说明只有森林大火才能把这种树的种子撒开。因此，果子只有在遇到世界末日的大事件时，才会离开母体。因此，这种植物给人以启发，远远不止这种树本身的全部意义。

【注释】

1.Turkestan：历史上中亚的一个地区。

2.Or further east towards the Tree of Heaven：指中国的一种树。据燕卜荪说：The Tree of Heaven is a translation of a Chinese name for a tree，on that grows normally in China，and I believe there is some kind of myth about its magical powers，so this tree is nearly magical too. Turkestan is cold，China is slow in growth and unwilling to change its way of life and （so far as Confucianism goes ） rather chilly in its philosophy. One way or another the countries are supposed to fit the habits of the tree.

3.hard cold cones，not being wards to time：（天树）坚硬冰冷的果子，不受时间的监护；意为时间并不使它们成熟，或帮助它们脱离母本，飘散到各处落土扎根； cones：针叶树的球果； wards：受法院或监护人监护的未成年者。燕卜荪自注：The cones of course carry the seeds，and the tree only casts them in a forest fire，if the white label is correct. The cones，therefore，only leave their mother when there is a violent event like the fire at the end of the world mentioned I think in the Apocalypse，but anyway a stock medieval idea. The cones are not wards of time because time does not ‘bring them up’，help them out； they grow up when something like the end of the world happens，and that is not time but eternity.

4.to be fathered as was Bacchus once：据希腊神话，酒神巴科斯是宙斯 （Zeus）和塞墨勒（Semele）之子。宙斯之妻赫拉 （Hera） 出于嫉妒，怂恿塞墨勒要求见宙斯的本来面目，当宙斯真身带着霹雳闪电出现时，塞墨勒立即化为灰烬。宙斯把母腹中的巴科斯救出，割开大腿，放在里边。巴科斯在宙斯腿里长大后，第二次出生。

5.that image of time's end：森林之火像是世界末日的大火。

6.Phoenix：凤凰。又据埃及神话传说，此鸟每五百年自焚后再生，故成为毁灭后再生的象征。Phoenix又是一种植物的名称，指枣树（date-palm）或类似的树种，希腊文为 phoenix，故Phoenix是植物（vegetable），而植物是不断再生的。

7.So Semele desired her deity ... Dawn：塞墨勒希望见到宙斯大神的雄姿，正像邱园的植物渴望见到黎明的朝霞。关于Red Dawn （红色的朝霞），燕卜荪说，这指的是（中国）共产主义的胜利，并说 “我们那个时代谁都知道这是指什么，但我发现人们往往不懂。”（ ... and the Red Dawn，I have to explain，means the Communist Victory — everyone in my time knew what the Red Dawn was，but I find people often don't know.） 他在1977年和John Wain 谈话时说：Though I ought to have been thinking about war，you feel，you should protect me from being thought to have been leftist — which only a bad man would have resisted at that time. To say that the tree ‘thirsts for the Red Dawn’，as the rocks in St. Paul or at least Vaughan yearn for the Second Coming，seems to me quite strong.

Aubade

Hours before dawn we were woken by the quake.1

My house was on a cliff.2 The thing could take

Bookloads off shelves，break bottles in a row.

Then the long pause and then the bigger shake.

It seemed the best thing to be up and go.3

And far too large for my feet to step by.

I hoped that various buildings were brought low.

The heart of standing is you cannot fly.4

It seemed quite safe till she got up and dressed.

The guarded tourist makes the guide the test.

Then I said The Garden？ Laughing she said No.

Taxi for her and for me healthy rest.

It seemed the best thing to be up and go.

The language problem but you have to try.

Some solid ground for lying could she show？5

The heart of standing is you cannot fly.

None of these deaths were her point at all.

The thing was that being woken he would bawl^6

And finding her not in earshot he would know.

I tried saying Half an Hour to pay this call.

It seemed the best thing to be up and go.

I slept，and blank as that I would yet lie.

Till you have seen what a threat holds below，7

The heart of standing is you cannot fly.

Tell me again about Europe and her pains，

Who's tortured by the drought，who by the rains.

Glut me with floods where only the swine can row^8

Who cuts his throat and let him count his gains.9

It seemed the best thing to be up and go.

A bedshift flight to a Far Eastern sky.

Only the same war on a stronger toe.10

The heart of standing is you cannot fly.

Tell me more quickly what I lost by this，

Or tell me with less drama what they miss

Who call no die a god for a good throw，11

Who says after two aliens had one kiss

It seemed the best thing to be up and go.

But as to risings，I can tell you why.

It is on contradiction that they grow.

It seemed the best thing to be up and go.

Up was the heartening and the strong reply.

The heart of standing is we cannot fly.

【题解】

《晨歌》是燕卜荪旅居在日本东京时创作的，大约是1933年。当时诗人在日本教书，和德国大使雇佣的一位名叫春的日本女佣发生一段恋情。不久，“九一八事变”爆发，日军大举侵占中国东北领土。燕卜荪看到大战难免，英国也必将和日本开战，在此时和日本姑娘恋爱似不明智。诗中的迭唱you cannot fly 到最后一句变为we cannot fly，感叹个人命运无法超脱自然和社会的控制力。

【注释】

题目：Aubade：晨歌是唤醒情人在黎明之前及时分手之歌，又一说是对新婚夫妇度过初夜之后唱的歌。一般形式是五行一节，继于三行一节。末行都是一句迭唱，但每次重复的迭唱似乎都有新的含义。

1.Hours before dawn we were woken by the quake：地震的威胁犹如“晨歌”。燕卜荪解释说：‘Aubade’ appears to be about the threat of an earthquake，which you often get in Tokyo； you then wait，wondering if you're going to get one of the big earthquakes afterwards.

2.on a cliff：燕卜荪住的房子并非真的在悬崖峭壁上，其高度实际离地只有三米多。

3.It seemed the best thing to be up and go：最好的办法是立刻起床，走到外面。

4.The heart of standing is you cannot fly：站着不动的关键原因是你不能飞。燕卜荪解释说：The doubt about whether you go into the garden arises because the Japanese have very heavy tiles on the roof，which usually hold the roof through the earthquake； if the house collapses they crush you，but if they come off sideways they may hit you in the garden. So whether you're safe in the house or in the garden has been greatly discussed. 此句另有深意：诗人处于欲望和职责的矛盾之中，“不动”指留在日本和春结婚，此乃其欲望，“飞行”指回到英国投身于对日战争，此乃职责。

5.Some solid ground for lying could she show：语义含糊：一是问春能否找到更加安全的地方去睡； 或是找到更好的理由告诉她父母为何不在家睡觉；lying：一语双关平躺或撒谎。

6.being woken he would bawl：燕卜荪解释说明，春不是有夫之妇，这里的he是指照顾她的小男孩。

7.Till you have seen what a threat holds below：地震之后房子地上已有裂缝。

8.Glut me with floods where only the swine can row：约翰·哈芬顿（John Haffenden）释义为：“Satiate me with news of the outside world，where only the evil prosper，and that only in the short term.”此处Glut me with floods 表示尽管把坏消息告诉我； only the swine can row：only the insensitive and unscrupulous man can survive，by ‘rowing his own boat’，i.e. looking after his own interests； swine：指猪，或喻可鄙之人（a contemptible person）。

9.Who cuts his throat and let him count his gains：意为自己损害自己的利益，再算算得了多少好处。

10.Only the same war on a stronger toe：指日本发动的侵华战争 “九一八事变”（西方称为 “满洲里事件”） 。1931年9月18日，日本驻中国东北境内的关东军蓄意炸毁柳条湖附近一段铁路轨道，反诬称中国军队破坏，以此为借口大举进攻，侵占中国东北领土。

11.no die a god for a good throw：此句意为他们俩失去了机会，再扔一次骰子也不能改变命运； die：dice.

Missing Dates

Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.

It is not the effort nor the failure tires.1

The waste remains，the waste remains and kills.2

It is not your system or clear sight that mills

Down small to the consequence a life requires；3

Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.

They bled an old dog dry yet the exchange rills

Of young dog blood gave but a month's desires；4

The waste remains，the waste remains and kills.

It is the Chinese tombs and the slag hills

Usurp the soil，and not the soil retires.5

Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills：

Not to have fire is to be a skin that shrills.6

The complete fire is death.7 From partial fires

The waste remains，the waste remains and kills.

It is the poems you have lost，the ills

From missing dates，at which the heart expires.

Slowly the waste remains，the waste remains and kills.

【题解】

燕卜荪写的这首诗，用的是回文体（villanelle）。诗中有很多意象； 血液里的毒素、磨坊里磨面、中国的坟墓、换血等等意象，都反映了这个世界的矛盾和难题，但是，写得谐谑，幽默。

【注释】

1.It is not the effort nor the failure tires：Active efforts do not exhaust us，even if they end in failure； 注意：tires之前省略关系代词that，较早期的英语中常见，诗歌中如此处理主要是为了音韵的需要； 关于nor，约翰·海华德（John Hayward）评论说：“orthodox grammar requires oras in l. 4”但是，哈芬顿（Haffenden）认为：“but then the full impact of sonorous negatives would be lost.”

2.The waste remains，the waste remains and kills：比较丁尼生（Tennyson）诗《提托诺斯》（Tithonus ）：The woods decay，the woods decay and fall. 按：第一节的大意是：毒素慢慢地侵蚀了一个生命中的血液循环体系。这并不是因为劳累所致，或是因为徒劳无益。但是，机体中的废物没有排除，这是致死的因素。

3.It is not your system or clear sight that mills ... requires：The intellectual effort （system and clear sight） does not grind the life of the heart beneath the upper and the nether millstone； mills Down：ground in a mill，like flour； crushed or pounded down，碾成粉末； the consequence a life requires：the time-sequence ending in death. 这节的大意是：这也不是你的智慧和眼光在把你的生命耗尽、碾碎，虽然生命最终是要终结的。

4.They bled an old dog dry yet the exchange rills ... desires：为老狗换血，据燕卜荪说是从什么杂志上了解到的。当时曾有过这种实验。换血也无济于事，年轻的狗的血液也最多只能维持一个月的时光，毒素照样存在；rills：small streams of brooks，指血液。

5.It is the Chinese tombs and the slag hills ... retires：燕卜荪在中国看到大量土地用于建造坟墓、祠堂和土地庙等。中国人修坟地用去大量土地，这是事实，但是，燕卜荪也承认，诗里的说法也有点夸大。

6.Not to have fire is to be a skin that shrills：喻没有再生的大火，肌肤将会难受。

7.The complete fire is death：可以指佛教的火戒，也可以指炼狱里的火，分别参见本书艾略特（T.S. Eliot）的诗《荒原·火戒》（The Wasteland，III Fire Sermon）和叶芝（W.B. Yeats）的诗《拜占庭》（Byzantium ）有关注释。

FromAutumn on Nan-Yueh

With the Exiled Universities of Peking

The holy mountain^1 where I live

Has got some bearing on the Yeats.2

Sacred to Buddha，and a god

Itself，it straddles the two fates； 3

And has deformities^4 to give

You dreams by all its paths and gates.

They^5 may be dreamless. It is odd

To hear them yell out jokes and hates

And pass the pilgrims through a sieve，6

Brought there in baskets or in crates.

The pilgrims fly because they plod.7

The topmost abbot has passed Greats.8

“The soul remembering” is just

What we professors have to do.9

（The souls aren't lonely now； this room

Beds four^10 and as I write holds two.

They shudder at the winter's thrust

In cradles that encourage 'flu.11）

The abandoned libraries entomb

What all the lectures still go through，

And men get curiously nonplussed

Searching the memory for a clue.12

The proper Pegasi to groom

Are those your mind is willing to.13

Let textual variants be discussed；

We teach a poem as it grew.14

Remembering prose is quite a trouble^15

But of Mrs. Woolf one tatter

Many years have failed to smother.16

As a piece of classroom patter^17

It would not repay me double.

Empire-builder reads the yatter^18

In one monthly，then another：

“Thank God I left” （this is my smatter）

“That pernicious hubble-bubble

If only to hear baboons chatter

And coolies beat their wives.”19 A brother

I feel and it is me I flatter.

【题解】

《南岳之秋》是燕卜荪创作的长诗。Nan-Yueh即湖南省衡山南岳。1937年，由北京、清华、南开三所大学组成的长沙临时大学（后来迁往云南昆明并改名为西南联合大学）的文学院设于该处。燕卜荪在该校教英国文学，故副标题为 “与北京来的几所流亡大学在一起”。这里所选几节反映了燕卜荪在南岳的观感，以及在艰苦条件下和中国师生共同生活的情景。在南岳的时间并不长，从1937年11月到来年的2月，但是这段短暂的生活给燕卜荪留下了深刻的印象，他和中国学生建立了深厚的感情。多年之后，他还对此津津乐道。

【注释】

1.The holy mountain：南岳作为中国的五岳之一，被认为具有灵秀之气，故称。

2.got some bearing on the Yeats：和叶芝的诗歌有点关系；the Yeats：叶芝的诗歌。参见本书关于叶芝的介绍及其有关诗作。

3.Sacred to Buddha，and a god ... fates：南岳乃佛教圣地，本身就是一尊神，跨越两种命运。按：南岳实际上原来是道教圣地，但是，佛教兴起之后，山上也盖起庙宇，道教和佛教都吸引很多香客。道教求长生不老，佛教修来世。燕卜荪自注：The “two fates” are the opposed ideals of personal immortality and of extinguishing yourself or merging into a world soul； the mountain was a god before it became the cradle of what the Japanese call the Zen sect.

4.deformities：畸形或残疾者。每年8—10月为朝圣季节，来烧香拜佛者云集，其中有不少行乞的残疾人，无法步行登山，只能被人用箩筐抬上山。在Letter from China 中，燕卜荪记录了当时所见的情形：The main way up，which is all that most people take，has the most grisly collection of beggars I have yet seen. My own brand of charity would not dream of extending itself to anything so far removed from humanity.It is startling then，after you have passed these awful monstrosities carried up to their posts in baskets，or （if they see no hope in you） even as you pass，to hear them yelling and teasing at each other between baskets with the entire and indestructible gaiety of the Chinese people. It is not half so surprising to hear that they are for the moment happy as to hear that they are not mad.

5.They：指那些香客。

6.pass the pilgrims through a sieve：（上山的主路上挤满了人） 越过这些香客犹如穿过筛子那样。

7.The pilgrims fly because they plod：燕卜荪自注：“Flying” of course is being used here for escaping ordinary troubles as well as other things，and the pilgrimage is a holiday.

8.The topmost abbot has passed Greats：山上庙里的住持一定可以通过牛津和剑桥大学古典文学的考试； Greats：英国牛津和剑桥两所大学的希腊、拉丁古典语文科，此处指该学科的考试。燕卜荪自注：The abbot of the monastery on the summit might quite naturally have passed Greats，though I don't know that he literally has done.

9.“The soul remembering” is just ... do：叶芝诗 The Phases of the Moon：The soul remembering its loneliness / Shudders in many cradles； all is changed. 当时学校里没有多少书，燕卜荪根据记忆，在打字机上打出大量的英国诗歌作为教材。这使学生大为惊奇。燕卜荪1953年在Sheffield University 开课时说到这段经历，说这种 “背书的功夫” 倒没有引起中国教授的嫉妒，这本来就是中国的传统，但外国人有此等背功，着实令人惊讶。（It didn't upset the Chinese lecturers as much as it would most，because they have a long tradition of knowing a standard text by heart. I was well thought of because I could type out from memory a course of reading in English poetry，but this was praised more because it was good going for a foreigner than because it would have been remarkable for a Chinese.）

10.Beds four：（这个房间）有四个床位。但是，燕卜荪作为教师，和一位中国的哲学老师两人一间。后来才有单独的房间。

11.They shudder at the winter's thrust ... 'flu：冬天寒冷，室内没有暖气，没有欧洲式的壁炉，燕卜荪感到 “非常奇怪” （a curious thing）； 学生烧炭取暖，经常煤气中毒。

12.The abandoned libraries entomb ...clue：燕卜荪回忆当时书荒时说：The famine for books here is a remarkable spectacle. ... The universities of course had to leave their libraries，such of them as were not destroyed. ... I can't help feeling that there had better be hardly any books，as long as they have to read after dark by nightlights and coastguard lanterns，or they would go blind. And it is a good joke，as far as it goes，to see the professors lecturing from memory. I know enough verse by heart，but I can't do prose.

13.The proper Pegasi to groom ... to：饲养合适的飞马，意为培养灵感；Pegasus （ pl. Pegasi）：希腊神话中的双翼飞马，其足踩踏之处形成灵泉，诗人饮用此水即产生灵感。

14.Let textual variants be discussed ... grew：诗文难免有异文，教师边忆边教，故云。

15.Remembering prose is quite a trouble：燕卜荪回忆说：Actually we did have an anthology of prose essays which could be typed out for them to do their Composition Class ... but apart from that there were really hardly any books. 他所说的这部散文集，包括里顿·斯特雷奇（Lytton Strachey），阿尔都司·赫胥黎（Aldous Huxley），维吉尼亚·伍尔夫（Virginia Woolf）和艾略特（T.S. Eliot）等作家的作品。

16.But of Mrs. Woolf one tatter ... smother：Virginia Woolf （1882—1941），维吉尼亚· 伍尔夫，英国著名的女作家。此处说书中有她作品的残缺不全的一部分 （tatter），多少年一直保存下来了。

17.patter：glib talk，chatter.

18.yatter：tiresome，importunate or persistent chatter.

19.“Thank God I left” （this is my smatter） ... wives：这是维吉尼亚·伍尔夫的小说《黛洛维夫人》（Mrs. Dalloway ）中彼得·沃尔什（Peter Walsh）说的话。他回忆自己在殖民地的漫长岁月里，躲避了英国社会里的种种不尽人意的事情：thanked God he was out of that pernicious hubble-bubble if it were only to hear baboons chatter and coolies beat their wives.

WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN

温斯坦·休·奥登

（1907—1973）

【作者与作品简介】

奥登登上诗坛之初，年纪很轻，还在牛津大学上学，而且是同另外三位牛津诗人——路易斯、麦克尼斯、司班德——一起出现，成为艾略特等之后的“奥登一代”。他们的政治观点是左的，反法西斯，支持同法朗哥作战的西班牙共和政府；在题材上是城市性或工业性的，诗中经常出现“高压线塔”、“涡轮机”、“仪表”等字样；在语言上有时用一种只有他们自己懂的“隐秘语言”，其实是大学生之间的游戏。总之，他们受艾略特、庞德的现代主义的影响而又想表现不同，由于内容和语言上都有一种锐气，宛如一个新的英雄世代来临，就连大诗人叶芝在编写《牛津当代英诗选》的时候也收进了他们的作品，并自认不如。

这当中，奥登的成就更加引人注目。他比另外三人内容上更广更深（在一般的左派政治意识之上还加了弗洛伊德的心理分析），写法上更俏皮（回头走拜伦甚至蒲柏的路），各种诗体掌握得更纯熟（从十四行诗到诗剧又到《夜邮》那样的电影解说诗），因而其诗作有一种更加爽朗的现代面目，其风格的特色十分明显：

农家的河没受到时髦码头的诱导；

他的躯体的各省都叛变了，

当所有用以报告消息的工具

一齐证实了我们的敌人的胜利；

从心灵的一片沙漠

让治疗的泉水来喷射，

在他岁月的监狱里

教给自由人如何赞誉。

他能把实物写成一种品质，有时像十八世纪诗人那样用人格化的抽象名词，如“邪恶”、“孤立”之类，然而所传达的却是一种现代思想的概括，形象和气氛更纯然是现代的，带有现代的明快，也带有现代的焦灼。即使观看几百年前的绘画，他抒发的也是现代敏感，可以《美术馆》一诗为例：

关于痛苦他们总是很清楚的，

这些古典画家……

这样揭出“痛苦”而不是民间风俗（眼前所看的是勃鲁盖尔的风俗画），就是一种现代笔法。然而作为对照的，却是多数村民的无动于衷：

在勃鲁盖尔的《伊卡鲁斯》里，比如说，

一切是多么安闲地从那桩灾难转过脸；

这也是现代笔法，用“安闲”更加衬托出这一边有人死亡一边别人照常过着日子的人生处境。

过去也有不少中外诗人以诗咏画，但这种敏感，这种讽刺性的对照却只产生于这个多灾多难、但又复杂矛盾的二十世纪。

奥登的诗还有一种戏剧性，因此描写大的变动——如战争——就十分出色。《西班牙》之所以传诵一时，就是因为奥登始终抓住了戏剧性的对照：昨天与今天，今天与明天，广场与陋室，城市与渔岛，苦难与希望，希望与希望的实现：

明天，对年轻人是：诗人们像炸弹爆炸，

湖边的散步和深深交感的冬天；

明天是自行车竞赛，

穿过夏日黄昏的郊野。但今天是斗争。

今天是死亡的机会不可免的增加，

是自觉地承担一场杀伤的罪行；

今天是把精力花费在

乏味而短命的小册子和腻人的会议上。

回旋式地不断对照，诗的形式也舒卷而前，无取于优雅的然而也能变得机械或油滑的脚韵，而恢复了古英语诗的重读音，恢复了英雄气概，同时又通过现代的形象——“诗人们像炸弹爆炸”、“乏味而短命的小册子”、“腻人的会议”——表示这是此时此地，二十世纪三十年代西班牙战场上的产物。

奥登也用同样的戏剧性、同样的对照、同样的现实感来写中国人民的抗日战争。他同小说家衣修午德于1938年来到武汉，并去前线访问。奥登用诗，衣修午德用散文写下了他们在中国战场上的见闻，合作而成《战地行》一书，很快在1939年出版。这可不是一本“乏味而短命的小册子”，不是应景之作，两人最好的部分篇章就在此中。

只不过，这一次奥登用了十四行诗的形式。以《战时》为总题，一共写了二十三首。这一组十四行诗应该说是替二十世纪英国诗放了异彩。它们表现了一个英国青年诗人对中国普通士兵的真挚感情，在艺术上也是新颖的。诗人并不因为身在中国，受到各方款待而说些主人们爱听的话；他的眼睛看向下层：

他被使用在远离文化中心的地方，

又被他的将军和他的虱子所遗弃，

于是在一件棉袄里他闭上眼睛

而离开人世。人家不会把他提起。

然而他充分了解这个中国士兵死亡的意义：

他在中国变为尘土，以便在他日

我们的女儿得以热爱这人间，

不再为狗所凌辱……

一个何等真心的诗人，写出了何等卓越的现代诗！无怪乎好几个中国青年诗人，呼吸着同样的战争气氛，实践着同样的诗歌革新，对于那时的奥登之作是十分倾心的，而且保持了这种感情，直到今天。

然而奥登自己，人和诗，却变了。1939年欧洲战场尚未大打，这位原来不怕到世界任何地方去面对任何战争的奥登，却离开战争中的英国去了美国。此后他仍有佳作，如《新年书信》。但是随着他越来越转向宗教题材，他的诗也逐渐失去了真正的光彩。技巧仍然是纯熟的，甚至写清早上厕所都俏皮可诵，然而缺少使人眼明、令人心折之作了；不但如此，奥登还对自己过去的某些作品产生了异常的反感，例如《西班牙》一诗他就不肯收入全集，也不许别人收在选本里。何决绝乃尔！自然，也有人喜欢他的后期作品，听说其影响近来还更大了；然而对于曾经眼见一个新的英雄时期在英国诗歌里出现的人们来说，奥登的前期作品是没有任何东西可以代替的。

王佐良

The Wanderer

Doom is dark and deeper than any sea-dingle.1

Upon what man it fall^2

In spring，day-wishing flowers^3 appearing，

Avalanche sliding，white snow from rock-face，

That he should leave his house，

No cloud-soft hand can hold him，restraint by women；4

But ever that man goes

Through place-keepers，5 through forest trees，

A stranger to strangers over undried sea，

Houses for fishes，6 suffocating water，

Or lonely on fell as chat，7

By pot-holed becks^8

A bird stone-haunting，an unquiet bird.

There head falls forward，fatigued at evening，

And dreams of home，

Waving from window，spread of welcome，

Kissing of wife under single sheet；

But waking sees

Bird-flocks nameless to him，through doorway voices

Of new men making another love.

Save him from hostile capture，

From sudden tiger's leap at corner；

Protect his house，

His anxious house where days are counted

From thunderbolt protect，

From gradual ruin spreading like a stain；9

Converting number from vague to certain，10

Bring joy，bring day of his returning，

Lucky with day approaching，with leaning dawn.

【题解】

《游子》是奥登到德国旅行之后所作。作为游子，诗人生活在国外期间的感受，使他联想到盎格鲁撒克逊时期的题为The Wanderer 的诗，并以此为题。古英语诗 The Wanderer 写的是没有得到上帝赐福的人，遭受精神上的迷失，祈求得到上帝的保佑。生活在二十世纪的现代人，遭受着同样的孤独、困惑、迷茫。

奥登取材的原诗中有如下一些内容：［O］ften the solitary man prays for favor，for the mercy of the Lord，though，sad at heart，he must needs stir with his hands for a weary while the icy sea across the watery wastes，must journey the paths of exile； settled in truth is fate！So spoke the wanderer，mindful of hardships. ... He knows who puts it to the test how cruel a comrade is sorrow for him who has few dear protectors； his is the path of exile，in no wise the twisted gold； a chill body，in no wise the riches of the earth； he thinks of retainers in hall and the receiving of treasure，of how in his youth his gold-friend was kind to him at the feast. The joy has all perished. ... Then the friendless man wakes again，sees before him the dark waves，the sea-birds bathing，spreading their feathers； frost and snow falling mingles with hail. Then heavier are the wounds in his heart，sore for his beloved； sorrow is renewed.

【注释】

1.sea-dingle：abyss in the sea，海底的深渊； dingle：a narrow dale or dell，valley.

2.Upon what man it fall：upon what man should it fall.

3.day-wishing flowers：盼望见到破晓日出的花朵。

4.No cloud-soft hand can hold him，restraint by women：没有纤手拉住他不放，那是女人的牵制； soft hand：由描写女人的手柔软，转指女人或情人； cloud-soft hand：白云般的纤手，则更加强调了女人的温柔和魅力；restraint by women：是解释cloud-soft hand的，泛指女人，不是说他有很多女人。参见济慈（John Keats）的诗《忧郁颂》（或译《忧郁感怀》）（Ode on Melancholy ）：Emprison her soft hand，and let her rave.（本书第474—475页）

5.place-keepers：doors.

6.Houses for fishes：即undried sea，大海。

7.Or lonely on fell as chat：像丘原上的苔莺； fell：an elevated wild field，a hill moor； chat：a kind of bird，a warbler，苔莺。

8.becks：stony brook，河床多石头的小溪。

9.From gradual ruin spreading like a stain：就像一个污迹那样扩散开来，逐渐毁坏。

10.Converting number from vague to certain：回归的日子逐步数得清了，似乎不再是遥遥无期。

Spain 1937

Yesterday all the past. The language of size^1

Spreading to China along the trade-routes；2 the diffusion

Of the counting-frame^3 and the cromlech；4

Yesterday the shadow-reckoning in the sunny climates.5

Yesterday the assessment of insurance by cards，6

The divination of water；7 yesterday the invention

Of cartwheels and clocks，the taming of

Horses. Yesterday the bustling world of the navigators.8

Yesterday the abolition of fairies and giants，9

The fortress like a motionless eagle eyeing the valley，

The chapel built in the forest；

Yesterday the carving of angels and alarming gargoyles.10

The trial of heretics among the columns of stone；11

Yesterday the theological feuds in the taverns

And the miraculous cure at the fountain；12

Yesterday the Sabbath of witches；13 but to-day the struggle.

Yesterday the installation of dynamos and turbines，14

The construction of railways in the colonial desert；

Yesterday the classic lecture

On the origin of Mankind.15 But to-day the struggle.

Yesterday the belief in the absolute value of Greece，16

The fall of the curtain upon the death of a hero；17

Yesterday the prayer to the sunset

And the adoration of madmen. But to-day the struggle.

As the poet whispers，startled among the pines，

Or where the loose waterfall sings compact，or upright

On the crag by the leaning tower：

‘O my vision. O send me the luck of the sailor.’

And the investigator peers through his instruments^18

At the inhuman provinces，the virile bacillus

Or enormous Jupiter finished：19

‘But the lives of my friends. I inquire. I inquire.’

And the poor in their fireless lodgings，dropping the sheets

Of the evening paper：‘Our day is our loss. O show us

History the operator，the

Organizer，Time the refreshing river.’20

And the nations combine each cry，21 invoking the life

That shapes the individual belly and orders

The private nocturnal terror：

‘Did you not found the city state of the sponge，’

‘Raise the vast military empires of the shark

And the tiger，establish the robin's plucky canton？22

Intervene，O descend as a dove or

A furious papa or a mild engineer，but descend.’

And the life，if it answers at all，replies from the heart

And the eyes and the lungs，from the shops and squares of the city：

‘O no，I am not the Mover；23

Not to-day； not to you. To you，I'm the

‘Yes-man，the bar-companion，the easily-duped；

I am whatever you do. I am your vow to be

Good，your humorous story.

I am your business voice. I am your marriage.

‘What's your proposal？ To build the Just City？24 I will.

I agree. Or is it the suicide pact，the romantic

Death？25 Very well，I accept，for

I am your choice，your decision. Yes，I am Spain.’

Many have heard it on remote peninsulas，

On sleepy plains，in the aberrant fisherman's islands

Or the corrupt heart of the city，

Have heard and migrated like gulls or the seeds of a flower.

They clung like burrs to the long expresses^26 that lurch^27

Through the unjust lands，through the night，through the alpine tunnel；

They floated over the oceans；

They walked the passes. All presented their lives.

On that arid square，that fragment nipped off from hot

Africa，28 soldered so crudely to inventive Europe；

On that tableland scored by rivers，29

Our fever's menacing shapes are precise and alive.

To-morrow，perhaps the future. The research on fatigue

And the movement of packers； the gradual exploring of all the

Octaves of radiation；30

To-morrow the enlarging of consciousness by diet and breathing.

To-morrow the rediscovery of romantic love，

The photographing of ravens； all the fun under

Liberty's masterful shadow；

To-morrow the hour of the pageant-master and the musician，

To-morrow for the young poets exploding like bombs

The walks by the lake，the weeks of perfect communion；

To-morrow the bicycle races

Through the suburbs on summer evenings. But to-day the struggle.

Today the inevitable increase in the chances of death，

The conscious acceptance of guilt in the necessary murder；

To-day the expending of powers

On the flat ephemeral pamphlet and the boring meeting.

To-day the makeshift consolations：31 the shared cigarette，

The cards in the candle-lit barn，and the scraping concert，

The masculine jokes；32 to-day the

Fumbled and unsatisfactory embrace before hurting.

The stars are dead. The animals will not look.33

We are left alone with our day，and the time is short，and

History to the defeated

May say alas but cannot help or pardon.34

【题解】

西班牙内战起因于1936年7月17日 佛朗哥发动的军事政变。1939年3月28日，西班牙共和国被推翻。当时，英国的自由派知识分子把这场战争视为法西斯和民主之间的较量。奥登到西班牙前线抬担架，运送伤兵。此诗即在西班牙战地创作，充分表达了奥登的自由派人道主义者的思想情操。诗人使用了象征的手法，列举了大量的历史事例和人类文明的遗产，反衬西班牙当时的政治和现实，人们的态度和感情。这首诗从历史入手，描述了直至西班牙内战的历史发展，讨论了当前的内战和这场内战可能给未来的影响。《西班牙 1937》影响甚大，但是，奥登后来拒绝将此诗收入他的诗集，认为这首诗是“不诚实的”，诗中反映的观点不是他真实的想法。但是，很多批评家都认为这是他最优秀的诗歌之一。本诗发表于1937年，发行的收入贡献给西班牙医疗援助基金（Medical Aid for Spain）。本书所选的版本系诗人于1940年改定。

【注释】

1.The language of size：规模的语言，指很多人使用的语言，即西班牙语。

2.Spreading to China along the trade-routes：象征历史上西班牙对外贸易和领土扩张的势力。

3.the diffusion ... counting-frame：中国算盘的推广。

4.cromlech：an ancient monument of standing stones arranged in a circle，史前环列巨石柱群。

5.the shadow-reckoning in the sunny climates：根据太阳的影子的移动来计算时间。

6.the assessment of insurance by cards：以牌来估算保险费，和以牌算命差不多。

7.The divination of water：探索水源。古代寻找水的方法是用一杆所谓魔杖 （divining rod），呈叉状，据说地下有水源，魔杖就会自动弯曲。

8.the bustling world of the navigators：指当年西班牙探险家和出海的船队。

9.the abolition of fairies and giants：指基督教兴起之后，原始的神话都被视为异教，不再受到崇拜。

10.the carving of angels and alarming gargoyles：古代天使和怪兽的雕塑； gargoyles：（哥德式建筑物） 滴水嘴，往往是一些可怕的怪兽 （ a spout often having the form of a grotesque figure or animal and projecting from a roof gutter to throw rainwater clear of a building）。

11.The trial of heretics among the columns of stone：西班牙天主教会的宗教法庭（The Spanish Inquisition）审判异端信奉者，往往将他们捆在石柱上烧死。

12.the miraculous cure at the fountain：《新约 · 约翰福音》（John ） 5：4：For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool，and troubled the water：whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.（在耶路撒冷，有一个池子，旁边躺着瞎眼的、瘸腿的、血气枯干的许多病人，等候水动。因为有天使按时下池子搅动那水，水动之后，谁先下去，无论害什么病都痊愈了。）

13.Sabbath of witches：传说每年一次在半夜举行的魔女或女巫的聚会，由半人半山羊的撒旦参与并控制这些女巫。

14.the installation of dynamos and turbines：直流发电机和涡轮机都是当时的新发明。

15.the classic lecture ... Mankind：指基督教关于上帝造人的教义。

16.the belief in the absolute value of Greece：欧洲崇尚古希腊文明，视其为欧洲文化之滥觞。

17.The fall of the curtain upon the death of a hero：指古希腊戏剧。关于古希腊几位重要戏剧家，参见本书本·琼生（Ben Jonson）的诗 To the Memory of My Beloved the Author — Mr. William Shakespeare （第131页）注22—24。

18.the investigator peers through his instruments：指科学家通过仪器作研究。

19.the inhuman provinces，the virile bacillus ... finished：（科学家研究）各类自然学科，包括生命力极强（virile）的细菌，和研究木星 （Jupiter）； the inhuman provinces：和下面的the lives of my friends相对照。

20.History the operator，the ... river：历史是操作者、组织者，而时间则是河流，冲刷一切，人淡忘过去，从而感到清新。

21.the nations combine each cry：指各个民族都齐声要求神的干预。

22.the robin's plucky canton：知更鸟活动范围的区域，划分得非常清晰； plucky：distinct，sharp； canton：a division of territory，地盘。

23.the Mover：原动力。按：从第45—56行，描述西班牙人的困惑和迷茫，但他们仍然可以做出自己的抉择，进行斗争。

24.the Just City：共和派的愿望是建立一个正义的城市，即国家。

25.the romantic Death：暗示内战中共和派的失败。

26.They clung like burrs to the long expresses：人们像芒刺那样挤在火车上。

27.lurch：（火车） 慢悠悠地行驶。

28.that arid square，that fragment nipped off from hot Africa：指被西班牙统治的殖民地摩洛哥。

29.that tableland scored by rivers：指西班牙。

30.Octaves of radiation：（物理学）放射性的倍频程。

31.the makeshift consolations：权且互相安慰。

32.The masculine jokes：男人之间开的（黄色下流的）玩笑。

33.The stars are dead. The animals will not look：星系都是没有生命的，动物对人类的冲突熟视无睹，谓自然世界和动物界都无法帮助人类解决其自身的问题。

34.History to the defeated ... pardon：历史对于失败者也只能是说声 “可惜啊”！无法相助或宽恕人类。按：the defeated 指西班牙共和政府及其支持者。佛朗哥在1939年推翻共和政府，自任 “元首” 兼任 “大元帅”。

SONNETS

18

Far from the heart of culture he was used：1

Abandoned by his general and his lice，

Under a padded quilt he closed his eyes

And vanished. He will not be introduced

When this campaign is tidied into books：2

No vital knowledge perished in his skull；

His jokes were stale； like wartime，he was dull；

His name is lost for ever like his looks.

He neither knew nor chose the Good，3 but taught us，

And added meaning like a comma，when

He turned to dust in China that our daughters

Be fit to love the earth，and not again

Disgraced before the dogs； that，where are waters，

Mountains and houses，may be also men.

【题解】

奥登1938年到达中国抗日前线，这首十四行诗作于归国之后。一个普通中国士兵，没有文化，平凡甚至粗俗，为抗战献出了生命，却不会被历史所记载。但是，奥登称他的牺牲就像一个逗号那样富有意义，说得极其中肯。

【注释】

1.Far from the heart of culture he was used：意为他被派到远离文化中心的地方去打仗。

2.He will not be introduced ... books：当这场战争结束之后，他的名字也不会载入史册。

3.the Good：善，美好的一切。

22

When all the apparatus of report^1

Confirms the triumph of our enemies；

Our bastion pierced，2 our army in retreat，

Violence successful like a new disease.

And Wrong^3 a charmer everywhere invited；

When we regret that we were ever born：

Let us remember all who seemed deserted.

Tonight in China let me think of one.4

Who through ten years of silence worked and waited，

Until in Muzot^5 all his powers spoke，

And everything was given once for all；

And with the gratitude of the Completed^6

He went out in the winter night to stroke

That little tower like a great animal.7

【题解】

另一篇纪念中国抗日战争之作。诗人以里尔克十年寒窗，默默无闻，而终于完成几部大作的事例，说明战争中暂时失利，不足为奇。

【注释】

1.the apparatus of report：各种形式或手段的报道。

2.Our bastion pierced：我们的防线被攻破。

3.Wrong：邪恶，虐待。

4.let me think of one：奥登指的是德国著名诗人里尔克 （Rainer Maria Rilke，1875—1926）。

5.Muzot：莫座城堡（Cháteau de Muzot），位于瑞士的谢尔 （Sierre，Switzerland）。经画家巴拉丁·克劳苏斯卡（Baladine Klossowska ）和维纳·赖恩哈特（Werner Reinhardt）两人的帮助，里尔克于1921年秋天在此安居。他的重要作品《杜伊诺挽歌》（The Duino Elegies ）和《致奥尔甫斯的十四行诗》 （Die Sonette an Orpheus ）都是在莫座城堡里生活时创作的。

6.the gratitude of the Completed：怀着完成作品的感激之情。其实是里尔克大作告成，心里十分高兴。

7.to stroke ... animal：他抚摸着那小小的城堡，就像抚摸一只硕大的动物。形象地表现了里尔克完成大作之后自豪和兴奋的心情；little tower：指Cháteau de Muzot。

Musée des Beaux Arts

About suffering they were never wrong，1

The Old Masters：2 how well they understood

Its human position； how it takes place

While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along；

How when the aged are reverently，passionately waiting

For the miraculous birth，there always must be

Children who did not specially want it to happen，skating

On a pond at the edge of the wood：

They never forgot

That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course^3

Anyhow in a corner，some untidy spot

Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's

horse

Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.4

In Brueghel's Icarus，5 for instance：how everything turns away

Quite leisurely from the disaster；6 the ploughman may

Have heard the splash，the forsaken cry，7

But for him it was not an important failure； the sun shone

As it had to^8 on the white legs disappearing into the green

Water； and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen

Something amazing，9 a boy falling out of the sky，

Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

【题解】

布鲁塞尔的美术馆（Musée des Beaux Arts）保存着大勃鲁盖尔 （Pieter Brueghel the Elder，1525？—1569） 的名画 《伊卡洛斯》 （Landscape with the Fall of Icarus ）和其他一些作品。奥登以《伊卡洛斯》这幅画谐谑的构思，揭示了这个世界的无情和冷漠。

【注释】

1.About suffering they were never wrong：他们 （Old Masters） 从来不会对苦难有错误的理解。按：欧洲古典画家多以宗教题材绘画，表现人类的苦难。

2.The Old Masters：泛指古典画家。

3.even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course：即使是最为可怕的殉道事件，也只能等它走完整个过程。

4.Scratches its innocent behind on a tree：马靠在树上擦屁股搔痒的情景，取自勃鲁盖尔的另外一幅画《屠杀无辜者》 （Massacre of the Innocents ） 中的部分画面。

5.Icarus ：全名为Landscape with the Fall of Icarus《伊卡洛斯坠落风景画》。据希腊神话，伊卡洛斯是建筑师代达罗斯 （Daedalus） 的儿子。父子俩在肩上装上蜡翼，飞到高空。伊卡洛斯过于大胆，飞近太阳，因蜡翼融化而坠海身亡。在这幅画的角上，他的腿正掉入海中 （the white legs disappearing into the green / Water），而画面上的其他人物和情景显得与他毫不相关。

6.everything turns away ... disaster：一切都躲开这场灾难，悠悠然满不在乎。

7.the forsaken cry：没有人理睬的呼喊。

8.the sun shone ... to：太阳 （照在掉下来的那条腿上）好像是不得不照着。谓太阳也不关心，不是想刻意照到他的腿。

9.amazing：不说surprising 或frightening，似乎很逗人。

Epitaph on a Tyrant

Perfection，of a kind，was what he was after，1

And the poetry he invented was easy to understand；2

He knew human folly^3 like the back of his hand，

And was greatly interested in armies and fleets；

When he laughed，respectable senators^4 burst with laughter，

And when he cried the little children died in the streets.

【题解】

奥登这首短诗《暴君墓志铭》淡淡几笔，把一个暴君刻画得淋漓尽致。暴君作为诗人更是独到的比喻，用 “完美”来表示他的追求更具讽刺意义。作者没有点明这个暴君究竟指谁，但恰恰是其无名无姓，反而使他成为暴君的象征。

【注释】

1.Perfection，of a kind，was what he was after：用perfection来表示其残暴，达到“尽善尽美”的程度，极具讽刺意味； after：追求。

2.And the poetry he invented was easy to understand：承上perfection，用poetry 来表示暴君的肆虐，而且毫不含糊，要让民众对他的暴政有切身的感受 （easy to understand）。

3.human folly：人类的愚蠢和其他弱点； 暴君能控制民众，全在于他掌握了人的弱点和愚蠢。

4.respectable senators：说明这个暴君不是封建时代的独裁者，而是现代君主立宪制度下的君主，甚至是民主政治制度下的暴君。

In Memory of W. B. Yeats

1

He disappeared in the dead of winter：1

The brooks were frozen，the airports almost deserted，

And snow disfigured the public statues；

The mercury^2 sank in the mouth of the dying day.

What instruments we have^3 agree

The day of his death was a dark cold day.

Far from his illness

The wolves ran on through the evergreen forests，

The peasant river was untempted by the fashionable quays；4

By mourning tongues

The death of the poet was kept from his poems.5

But for him it was his last afternoon as himself，

An afternoon of nurses and rumours；

The provinces of his body revolted，6

The squares of his mind^7 were empty，

Silence invaded the suburbs，

The current of his feeling failed； he became his admirers.

Now he is scattered among a hundred cities

And wholly given over to unfamiliar affections，

To find his happiness in another kind of wood^8

And be punished under a foreign code of conscience.9

The words of a dead man

Are modified in the guts of the living.

But in the importance and noise of to-morrow

When the brokers are roaring like beasts on the floor of the Bourse，10

And the poor have the sufferings to which they are fairly accustomed，

And each in the cell of himself is almost convinced of his freedom，

A few thousand will think of this day

As one thinks of a day when one did something slightly unusual.

What instruments we have agree

The day of his death was a dark cold day.

2

You were silly like us；11 your gift survived it all：

The parish of rich women，12 physical decay，

Yourself.13 Mad Ireland hurt you into poetry.14

Now Ireland has her madness and her weather still，

For poetry makes nothing happen：it survives

In the valley of its making where executives

Would never want to tamper，flows on south

From ranches of isolation and the busy griefs，

Raw towns^15 that we believe and die in； it survives，

A way of happening，a mouth.

3

Earth，receive an honored guest：

William Yeats is laid to rest.

Let the Irish vessel lie

Emptied of its poetry.

Time that is intolerant

Of the brave and innocent，

and indifferent in a week

To a beautiful physique，

Worships language and forgives

Everyone by whom it lives；16

Pardons cowardice，conceit，

Lays its honours at their feet.

Time that with this strange excuse

Pardoned Kipling^17 and his views，

And will pardon Paul Claudel，18

Pardons him for writing well.

In the nightmare of the dark

All the dogs of Europe bark，19

And the living nations wait，

Each sequestered in its hate；20

Intellectual disgrace

Stares from every human face，

And the seas of pity lie

Locked and frozen in each eye.

Follow，poet，follow right^21

To the bottom of the night，

With your unconstraining voice

Still persuade us to rejoice；

With the farming of a verse

Make a vineyard of the curse，22

Sing of human unsuccess

In a rapture of distress；

In the deserts of the heart

Let the healing fountain start，

In the prison of his days

Teach the free man how to praise.

【题解】

奥登悼念叶芝之作，诗人悼诗人，为英国诗歌中的名篇之一。诗分三部分，第一部分，描绘叶芝去世的巨大影响，万人崇敬，举国哀悼，苍天为之动容。第二部分，叶芝的民族主义情结使他从事诗歌创作，但是，奥登客观地认为，诗歌的作用仍然是有限的。第三部分，欧洲处于战争的大背景之下，诗人的使命是在诗歌的土地里耕耘，揭示人类的不幸，鼓舞人们争取自由。第三部分中的2、3、4节在1966年出版的《短诗集》（Collected Shorter Poems ）中被删除，以后各种版本都依1966年版为准，本书保留全貌。

【注释】

1.He disappeared in the dead of winter：叶芝死于1939年1月28日，正值隆冬。

2.mercury：水星；黄昏时出现在西边天空。

3.What instruments we have：我们所有衡量天气的仪表，其中包括人的感觉。

4.The peasant river was untempted by the fashionable quays：乡间小河对于豪华的码头毫不动心。意为这好像是两个不同的世界。

5.By mourning tongues ... poems：人们悼念诗人，叶芝死了，但其诗歌不死，故曰The death of the poet was kept from his poems。

6.The provinces of his body revolted：喻身体的各个部位丧失了功能，不听使唤了。

7.The squares of his mind：喻他的头脑。

8.To find his happiness in another kind of wood：但丁《地狱篇》（Inferno ）开始，描写自己在中年时代来到 “一个黑暗的树林” （in a dark wood）； 此处谓叶芝死后则来到了另外一个树林（another kind of wood），他将在诗中永存；in another kind of wood：也可以指 on paper，在书上。

9.And be punished under a foreign code of conscience：影射叶芝的爱尔兰民族主义。他既然已经离开人世，现在必须服从“异国良心法典”，即活着的人对他的评判。

10.When the brokers are roaring like beasts on the floor of the Bourse：经纪人在交易所的交易大厅里像野兽一样嘶叫； Bourse：欧洲的股票交易所。

11.You were silly like us：你我同是诗人，一样痴狂。

12.The parish of rich women：叶芝在年轻时曾接受过格里戈里夫人 （Lady Gregory） 在经济上的支持，后来，与其他富有的女人也颇有交情； parish：the ecclesiastical unit of area committed to one pastor，the residents of such an area，教区（郡下的分区，每区都设立一个教堂），也指该地区的居民。

13.Yourself：（Your gift survived） yourself，谓诗人身后留名。

14.Mad Ireland hurt you into poetry：因为爱尔兰的激烈的政治和社会问题促使叶芝创作诗歌。所谓 “愤怒出诗人” 即此之谓。

15.Raw towns：粗俗的小镇； Raw：vulgar，coarse.

16.Everyone by whom it lives：it：指language，使语言生存的人，即文学家、诗人等文人。

17.Kipling：Rudyard （1865—1936），吉卜林，英国小说家、诗人，生于印度孟买。他以英国殖民者在印度的生活和海外扩张为题材，以主人公坚韧的性格表现帝国主义的扩张精神，故有 “帝国主义诗人” 之称。此处 his views 即代表了他的帝国主义观点。

18.Paul Claudel：克洛代尔（1865—1955），法国诗人、戏剧家。其作品往往取材于《圣经》，充满基督教的玄想与炽烈的宗教信仰的热忱。

19.All the dogs of Europe bark：欧洲所有的狗都在狺狺狂吠，喻欧洲诸国参与第二次世界大战。

20.Each sequestered in its hate：每个民族都独自怨愤，各有各的愤恨。

21.follow right：follow all the way （to the bottom of the night）.

22.With the farming of a verse ... curse：写诗作为耕耘，造就一个诅咒的葡萄园。喻诗歌的批判作用。

LOUIS MacNEICE

路易斯·麦克尼斯

（1907—1963）

【作者与作品简介】

麦克尼斯生于北爱尔兰，在牛津大学学过古希腊罗马文学，在伯明翰大学教过书，最后在英国广播公司工作了二十多年，在广播文学上有建树。

作为诗人，他属于奥登一代，成名于二十世纪三十年代。有评论家认为他是仅次于奥登的现代重要诗人。所作《秋天日记》有一种全景照相式的丰富，夹叙夹议，读起来如读写得好的报告文学，其弊亦如之，有机智而缺乏深度。短诗也有写得好的，如《雪》即是。

后来他致力于发展广播文学，所作广播剧《黑暗的塔》（1947）至今可诵。

他也是优秀的文学翻译家，曾用诗体译了埃斯库罗斯的《阿伽门农》（1936）和歌德的《浮士德》（1951）。

我们这里选了麦克尼斯四首诗，都各有特色。《雪》写的是世界的多元性，《秋天日记》反映了二十世纪三十年代英国青年诗人对于社会改革的关心，《出生前的祷告》是对于现代西方社会的讽刺，《仙女们》是对于城市知识分子的婚姻生活的写照。在技巧上这四首诗也各有不同，《雪》无韵而有强重音，《秋天日记》不仅有韵，而且整齐流畅，如十八世纪的新古典主义诗，《出生前的祷告》作了技巧上的新试验，形式如祷词，实质部分则是一系列项目所组成的诗段，《仙女们》用了芭蕾舞的韵律，写得有点飘忽。凡此都表现麦克尼斯的多才多艺。

王佐良

Snow

The room was suddenly rich and the great bay-window was

Spawning snow and pink roses against it^1

Soundlessly collateral and incompatible：2

World is suddener than we fancy it.3

World is crazier and more of it than we think，

Incorrigibly plural.4 I peel and portion

A tangerine and spit the pips^5 and feel

The drunkenness of things being various.

And the fire flames with a bubbling sound for world

Is more spiteful and gay than one supposes^6 —

On the tongue on the eyes on the ears in the palms of your hands —

There is more than glass between the snow and the huge roses.7

【题解】

麦克尼斯的《雪》抓住了生活中的两个绝然不同的方面，即一方面生活极其复杂，另一方面又简单平凡。他用了一系列意象，生动地表现出生活的两重性，令读者看到平时可能未加留意的现象。杜甫的《腊口》诗中 “侵凌雪色还萱草，漏泄春光有柳条”两句，也表现了两种对立现象的同时存在，全凭观者自己去感受。

【注释】

1.The room was suddenly rich and the great bay-window was ... it：形容风把雪花打到凸形玻璃窗上，和窗内粉红色的玫瑰花共同形成了一种图案； Spawning：生成，实质并非窗户生成，而是在窗户玻璃上形成的图案。

2.Soundlessly collateral and incompatible：白雪和玫瑰花同时被打在窗上，两者很不匹配。

3.World is suddener than we fancy it：呼应首行The room was suddenly rich； 这个世界的丰富和变化之突然，为我们所始料未及；suddener如此使用实不多见，此处亦见诗人之匠心；fancy：imagine，和下面supposes 相对应，都说明人的感觉有很多误差。

4.Incorrigibly plural：世界多姿多态，这是无法改变的；Incorrigibly：incapable of being corrected or amended，not reformable，这个词一般用于贬义，此处用得奇特。

5.pips：（柑橘、苹果等的） 果仁，籽。

6.the fire flames with a bubbling sound for world ... supposes：噼噼啪啪燃烧的炉火或使人讨厌，或显得欢快，因人而异，因情而别。

7.There is more than glass between the snow and the huge roses：谓世界上还有许多东西像一块玻璃那样，能使雪和玫瑰两种毫不相干的东西显出我们看不到的意义。

FromAutumn Journal

August is nearly over，the people

Back from holiday are tanned

With blistered thumbs and a wallet of snaps^1 and a little

Joie de vivrewhich is contraband；2

Whose stamina is enough to face the annual

Wait for the annual spree，

Whose memories are stamped with specks of sunshine

Like faded fleurs de lys.3

Now the till and the typewriter call the fingers，4

The workman gathers his tools

For the eight-hour day but after that the solace

Of films or football pools

Or of the gossip or cuddle，5 the moments of self-glory

Or self-indulgence，blinkers on the eyes of doubt，

The blue smoke rising^6 and the brown lace^7 sinking

In the empty glass of stout.8

Most are accepters，born and bred to harness，9

And take things as they come，10

But some refusing harness and more who are refused it^11

Would pray that another and a better Kingdom^12 come，

Which now is sketched in the air or travestied in slogans^13

Written in chalk or tar on stucco or plaster-board^14

But in time may find its body in men's bodies，15

Its law and order in their heart's accord，16

Where skill will no longer languish nor energy be trammelled

To competition and graft，17

Exploited in subservience but not allegiance

To an utterly lost and daft^18

System that gives a few at fancy prices

Their fancy lives^19

While ninety-nine in the hundred who never attend the banquet

Must wash the grease of ages off the knives.

And now the tempter whispers “But you also

Have the slave-owner's mind，

Would like to sleep on a mattress of easy profits，

To snap your fingers^20 or a whip and find

Servants or houris^21 ready to wince and flatter

And build with their degradation your self-esteem；22

What you want is not a world of the free in function

But a niche at the top，the skimmings of the cream.”23

And I answer that that is largely so for habit makes me

Think victory for one implies another's defeat，

That freedom means the power to order，and that in order

To preserve the values dear to the élite^24

The élite must remain a few. It is so hard to imagine

A world where the many would have their chance without

A fall in the standard of intellectual living

And nothing left that the highbrow cared about.25

Which fears^26 must be suppressed. There is no reason for thinking

That，if you give a chance to people to think or live，

The arts of thought or life will suffer and become rougher

And not return more than you could ever give.

And now I relapse to sleep，to dreams perhaps and reaction

Where I shall play the gangster or the sheikh，27

Kill for the love of killing，make the world my sofa，

Unzip the women^28 and insult the meek.

Which fantasies no doubt are due to my private history，

Matter for the analyst，

But the final cure is not in his past-dissecting fingers

But in a future of action，the will and fist

Of those who abjure the luxury of self-pity，29

And prefer to risk a movement without being sure

If movement would be better or worse in a hundred

Years or a thousand when their heart is pure.

None of our hearts are pure，we always have mixed motives，

Are self deceivers，but the worst of all

Deceits is to murmur ‘Lord，I am not worthy’30

And，lying easy，turn your face to the wall.

But may I cure that habit，look up and outwards

And may my feet follow my wider glance

First no doubt to stumble，then to walk with the others

And in the end — with time and luck — to dance.

【题解】

《秋天日记》是一首长诗，是麦克尼斯在1938年秋冬创作的，共分24部分，叙述了他的生活历程，包括童年和学生时代、和相恋已久的情人分手、1936年到西班牙、牛津的议会选举和在伦敦的执教生涯等。当时欧洲已经孕育着浓重的战争气氛，社会的矛盾也日趋激烈。诗人在这里讨论了社会的不公，人们的逆来顺受，以及人性的复杂。在麦克尼斯看来，社会生活中或许没有双赢或多赢，只是零和游戏。本书选段集中体现了诗人对社会问题的关注，对时弊的批判，也不无对未来的向往。

【注释】

1.snaps：快照。

2.a little ... contraband：不应该带回来的生活的乐趣；Joie de vivre：（French ） keen or buoyant enjoyment of life，生活之欢乐。

3.fleurs de lys ：或拼为fleur de lis，蝴蝶花。

4.Now the till and the typewriter call the fingers：现在要忙着出纳，打字； till：a money drawer in a store or a bank.

5.cuddle：a close embrace.

6.The blue smoke rising：指抽烟者吞云吐雾。

7.lace：to add a dash of liquor to，（加在咖啡或食物中的）少量烈性酒，如白兰地等。

8.stout：a very dark full-bodied ale with a distinctive malty flavor，烈性啤酒。从第9—16行，写休假结束之后回到日常生活，八小时之后无非是看电影、吹牛、聊天、抽烟、喝酒而已。

9.Most are accepters，born and bred to harness：多数人只是消极的接受者，生来就是受约束的。

10.take things as they come：接受现实。

11.some refusing harness and more who are refused it：有些人拒绝约束，更多的人因拒绝约束而遭到拒绝。

12.another and a better Kingdom：下面有两个定语从句修饰Kingdom，即Which is now sketched etc. 和Where skill will no longer etc.。

13.travestied in slogans：用标语拙劣地曲解； travesty：parody，谐模诗文。

14.stucco or plaster-board：拉毛水泥或灰泥板。建立理想王国的口号涂在拉毛水泥或灰泥板上。

15.find its body in men's bodies：喻这个理想王国的结构符合民族的尺度。

16.Its law and order in their heart's accord：其法治和社会秩序符合人们的愿望。

17.skill will no longer languish nor energy be trammelled ... graft：（在这个理想王国里） 人尽其才，不会无用武之地，人的精力也不用花费在勾心斗角和拉拢贿赂上。

18.daft：silly.

19.gives a few at fancy prices ... lives：让少数人过着奢华的生活，付出不菲的代价。按：第17—32行的大意是：人们总是逆来顺受，但也有人不愿接受约束，希望有一个更好的理想的王国，尽管这个王国现在仍然只是口号和乱涂的标语； 在那里，人尽其才，没有勾心斗角和腐败，也不会少数人灯红酒绿，而多数人做劳役，为他们服务。

20.To snap your fingers：弹指 （表示漠不关心）。

21.houris：the beautiful maidens that in Muslim belief live with the blessed in paradise，a voluptuously beautiful young woman，原指伊斯兰教天堂中的美女，转指妖艳的美人。

22.build with their degradation your self-esteem：以他们的低微来树立起你的自尊。

23.a niche at the top，the skimmings of the cream：一个舒适的高位，最精美的东西； niche：a place，employment，status，or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted，最适合的位置； the skimmings of the cream：撇取的奶油，精华。

24.the élite：高贵者，精英。第33—45行的意思是：人也不免受到诱惑，摆脱不了奴役他人的思想，由于受到习俗的熏陶，总想高人一等，保持少数人的特权。

25.nothing left that the highbrow cared about：这是和A fall in the standard of intellectual living并列的一个成分，是without 的介词宾语，意思是：在这个世界里，很多人都会有机会，但不会降低文化和精神生活的水准，也不会丢弃高雅文人所欣赏的艺术； highbrow：a person who possesses or has pretensions to superior learning or culture，（自以为）有教养、有学问者。

26.Which fears：指上述担心文化生活水准的降低和高雅艺术的丢弃； Which：指 those，和第57行的Which fantasies 同。

27.sheikh：（阿拉伯国家的） 家长或族长。

28.Unzip the women：拉开女人衣襟的拉锁，调戏女人。

29.abjure the luxury of self-pity：发誓不再纵容自己自我怜悯； luxury：an indulgence in something that provides pleasure，satisfaction，or ease，纵容。

30.Deceits is to murmur ‘Lord，I am not worthy’：喻不敢起来承担历史的使命。

Prayer before Birth

I am not yet born； O hear me.

Let not the bloodsucking bat^1 or the rat or the stoat^2 or the

club-footed ghoul^3 come near me.

I am not yet born，console me.

I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me，

with strong drugs dope me，with wise lies lure me，

on black racks^4 rack me，in blood-baths roll me.

I am not yet born； provide me

With water to dandle^5 me，grass to grow for me，trees to talk

to me，sky to sing to me，birds and a white light

in the back of my mind to guide me.

I am not yet born； forgive me

For the sins that in me the world shall commit，6 my words

when they speak me，7 my thoughts when they think me，

my treason engendered by traitors beyond me，

my life when they murder by means of my

hands，my death when they live me.8

I am not yet born； rehearse me

In the parts I must play and the cues^9 I must take when

old men lecture me，bureaucrats hector me，mountains

frown at me，lovers laugh at me，the white

waves call me to folly and the desert calls

me to doom and the beggar refuses

my gift and my children curse me.

I am not yet born； O hear me，

Let not the man who is beast or who thinks he is God

come near me.

I am not yet born； O fill me

With strength against those who would freeze my

humanity，would dragoon me into a lethal automaton，10

would make me a cog in a machine，a thing with

one face，a thing，and against all those

who would dissipate my entirety，would

blow me like thistledown hither and

thither or hither and thither

like water held in the

hands would spill me.

【题解】

通过未出生的“我”的祈祷来揭露社会问题。诗的形式是一个倒金字塔，象征社会的颠倒和给人造成的巨大压力。

【注释】

1.the bloodsucking bat：噬血蝙蝠，指世上的剥削者。

2.the stoat：鼬。

3.the club-footed ghoul：a legendary evil being that robs graves and feeds on corpses，畸形足的食尸鬼。

4.racks：（折磨犯人的） 拉肢拷问架，刑架。

5.dandle：to move （as a baby） up and down in one's arms or on one's knee in affectionate play，轻轻地摇动怀里的婴儿。

6.forgive me ... commit：原谅我身上的罪恶，这原是世界所犯之罪。

7.my words ... me：（forgive me for ） my words etc.，世人使我言他们之所言。以下my thoughts when they think me 同，谓世人使我想他们之所想。

8.my death when they live me：世人以我为生即是我死。按：以上speak，think，live都是世人独创的用法，意为通过 “我” 来说、想、生活，以 “我” 来体现世人的语言、思想和生活方式。

9.the cues：演出时给同台演员的尾白或暗示。

10.dragoon me into a lethal automaton：迫使我进入致命的自动化过程，喻现代人失去人性。

Les Sylphides

Life in a day：he took his girl to the ballet；

Being shortsighted himself could hardly see it —

The white skirts in the grey

Glade！1 and the swell of the music

Lifting the white sails.

Calyx^2 upon calyx，canterbury bells^3 in the breeze

The flowers on the left mirror to the flowers on the right

And the naked arms above

The powdered faces moving

Like seaweed in a pool.

Now，he thought，we are floating — ageless，oarless —

Now there is no separation，from now on

You will be wearing white

Satin^4 and a red sash^5

Under the waltzing trees.

But the music stopped，the dancers took their curtain，6

The river had come to a lock^7— a shuffle of programmes

And we cannot continue down —

Stream，unless we are ready

To enter the lock and drop.

So they were married — to be the more together —

And found they were never again so much together，

Divided by the morning tea，

By the evening paper，

By children and tradesmen's bills.8

【题解】

题目：Les Sylphides：（French，plural ）仙女，精灵。这本是芭蕾舞剧名，由斯特拉文斯基 （Igor Stravinsky，1882—1971）根据肖邦的曲子谱写成交响乐，在二十世纪初上演时风靡一时。这首诗写出了理想和现实之间的差别，不是那种戏剧性的天壤之别，而是更加贴近生活的现实落差。写得平淡，体现平淡。

【注释】

1.Glade：an open space surrounded by woods，林中空旷地，仙女居住的沼泽地。

2.Calyx：the usually green outer whorl of a flower consisting of sepals，萼。

3.canterbury bells：风信草。

4.Satin：缎子，缎子做的衣服。

5.sash：腰带。

6.the dancers took their curtain：舞蹈演员到幕前谢幕。

7.lock：（运河等的）船闸。

8.tradesmen's bills：店铺或商人开的账单，指应付的各种款项。

STEPHEN SPENDER

斯蒂芬·司班德

（1909—1995）

【作者与作品简介】

司班德曾是所谓“奥登一代”中的一人，在牛津大学上学时期就以写诗出名，二次世界大战前后写下了一些著名诗篇，主要是记录经济大萧条时期英国工人失业的凄惨情况和青年知识分子对共产主义社会的向往，名句如：

他们懒懒地站在街口，

看见朋友耸一耸肩头，

又把口袋朝外一翻，

表示了穷人不在乎难堪。

《一个城市的陷落》也是他的一首优秀作品。斗争失败了，眼看着压迫与愚昧重来：

农民跟着驴子的吁叫声

重又唱起结巴的歌；

然而那战斗的岁月留下了“火花”，将在未来一代的心上产生影响。这样，诗就成功地传达了那个同法西斯作殊死战斗的时代的气氛。

但是后来他写诗少了，好诗更不多见。其实，就在他最好的作品里，也似乎深度不足，缺乏一点余音。

王佐良

The Express

After the first powerful，plain manifesto

The black statement of pistons，1 without more fuss

But gliding like a queen，she^2 leaves the station.

Without bowing and with restrained unconcern^3

She passes the houses which humbly crowd outside，

The gasworks，4 and at last the heavy page

Of death，printed by gravestones in the cemetery.5

Beyond the town，there lies the open country^6

Where，gathering speed，she acquires mystery，7

The luminous self-possession of ships on ocean.8

It is now she begins to sing — at first quite low

Then loud，and at last with a jazzy madness^9 —

The song of her whistle screaming at curves，

Of deafening tunnels，brakes，innumerable bolts.10

And always light，aerial，underneath，

Retreats the elate metre of her wheels.11

Steaming through metal landscape on her lines，12

She plunges new eras of white happiness，13

Where speed throws up strange shapes，broad curves

And parallels clean like trajectories from guns.14

At last，further than Edinburgh or Rome，15

Beyond the crest of the world，16 she reaches night

Where only a low stream-line brightness

Of phosphorus on the tossing hills is light.17

Ah，like a comet through flame，18 she moves entranced，19

Wrapt in her music^20 no bird song，no，nor bough

Breaking with honey buds，21 shall ever equal.

【题解】

作为“奥登一代”（Auden Generation） 的现代浪漫派诗人，司班德的《特别快车》（The Express ） 的内涵非常丰富，评论者见仁见智，有多种解释。此诗作于1966年，在民航客运服务已经相当发达的英国和西方世界，再以火车作为主题似乎有点过时。但是，火车毕竟是工业革命的象征，是现代社会的标志之一。在司班德的这首诗里，火车穿越了社会现实 —— 二十世纪动荡而颓废的年代的现实 —— 到达其想象的终点。本诗最后的描述，是一种模糊的而又是美好的世界，超越了简陋的民房、煤气厂、墓地等，来到了鸟语花香所不能比拟的世界。司班德这首诗一改再改，终稿和不同的成诗阶段的文字有不少差别，各种版本也不完全相同，以下特随文点明。

【注释】

1.the first powerful，plain manifesto ... pistons：火车离站喷出来的蒸汽，是蒸汽机活塞发出的第一个有力的、简单明了的宣言，黑色的声明；The black statement of pistons：是manifesto的同位语。按：其实在蒸汽机活塞推动下喷出的蒸汽是白色的，而煤炭燃烧后排放的烟才是黑色的。

2.she：指the express，特别快车。

3.with restrained unconcern：（火车经过路边的房子时）表现出略略带着扬长而去，满不在乎的神态。

4.The gasworks：煤气厂。

5.the heavy page ... cemetery：墓地里的墓碑就是沉重的印刷死亡的书页。

6.the open country：开阔的乡村。

7.she acquires mystery：火车在野外加速奔驰，获得了一种神秘性。

8.The luminous self-possession of ships on ocean：海上远洋轮那种非常风光的悠然自得的姿态。

9.jazzy madness：爵士音乐式的疯狂。按：爵士音乐的疯狂程度只是和古典音乐相比而言，当时尚未出现后来更为疯狂的滚石音乐。

10.Of deafening tunnels，brakes，innumerable bolts：火车的各种构件，刹车、螺丝螺帽等等发出的震耳欲聋的声响。

11.Retreats the elate metre of her wheels：车轮欢快的节奏 （在车轮底下） 消退； Retreats：有的版本为goes；elate：in high spirits.

12.metal landscape on her lines：火车路线上的金属景物，指伸展的铁轨。

13.She plunges new eras of white happiness：喻火车喷出一阵阵白色的雾气；plunges：plunges into； white happiness：火车喷出的白色的蒸汽，有一种欢乐的气氛，有的版本作wild happiness。

14.trajectories from guns：弹道，炮弹的轨迹。按：有的版本作steel of guns。

15.At last，further than Edinburgh or Rome：这是虚写，不是这趟车真正的目的地。从此处到最后所描写的，是诗人的一种想象，火车的前进象征着世界进入某种境界，带有神秘性，不可预见的前景。

16.the crest of the world：世界的最高峰。

17.she reaches night ... light：火车进入夜间，在起伏的群山上，只看到淡淡的一丝磷光； tossing hills：翻动的群山，似乎表示树木在摇动，抑或形容群山的起伏。

18.like a comet through flame：彗星拖着长长的尾巴，好像穿过火焰。

19.she moves entranced：火车在梦幻中前进。

20.Wrapt in her music：陶醉于自己的音乐之中。

21.bough ... buds：树枝上绽开的嫩芽。按：最后两句表现了诗人的浪漫主义情调，火车进入了夜间，只有淡淡的一丝磷光，但是火车又像彗星，光彩明亮，陶醉在自己的音乐之中，超越了自然的美景。

I Think Continually

I think continually of those who were truly great.

Who，from the womb，remembered the soul's history^1

Through corridors of light where the hours are suns

Endless and singing.2 Whose lovely ambition

Was that their lips，still touched with fire，3

Should tell of the Spirit clothed from head to foot in song.4

And who hoarded from the Spring branches

The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms.5

What is precious is never to forget

The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs^6

Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth.7

Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light^8

Nor its grave evening demand for love.9

Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother

With noise and fog the flowering of the spirit.10

Near the snow，near the sun，in the highest fields

See how these names are feted by the waving grass

And by the streamers of white cloud

And whispers of wind in the listening sky.11

The names of those who in their lives fought for life

Who wore at their hearts the fire's centre.

Born of the sun they travelled a short while towards the sun，12

And left the vivid air signed with their honour.13

【题解】

这是一首无题诗，因此以首行三个字为题。最初发表在迈克·罗伯茨（Michael Roberts）选编的一本题为《新签名》（New Signatures ）的诗集中。这部诗集针对二十世纪的社会问题，提出既有想象又有智慧的见解。所谓新签名，指的是诗坛新秀，包括奥登 （W.H. Auden）、路易斯（C. Day Lewis）、燕卜荪 （William Empson）、约翰·雷曼（John Lehmann）和理查德·爱博哈特（Richard Eberhart），而其中司班德的诗最多。诗人谈到这首诗的创作时说：“I would associate it with perhaps these things：Beethoven's late quartets，Russian movies by Eisenstein of heroic works，and so on，D.H. Lawrence' ideas about sex and perhaps Michelangelo's sculpture，that kind of thing. I think I was 21 when I wrote it and those were the kind of things that I had in mind.” 这首诗是司班德年轻时所作，体现了他的抱负和对先贤的崇敬。

【注释】

1.Who，from the womb，remembered the soul's history：这些伟人从胎里就开始感悟 “灵魂史”； Who：和第一行中的who一样，是引起定语从句的关系代词，第四行的whose和第七行的who同； the soul's history：所谓 “灵魂史”，似乎是指人类的文明史，而不仅是个人的意识形成的过程。

2.Through corridors of light where the hours are suns ... singing：经过的每个阶段犹如穿过打着灯光的走廊，意为周边是黑暗，而人类在黑暗中开拓出一条光明的道路； hours：（plural ） 原指祈祷的时间，转指祈祷，但是这里只是表示这些伟人度过的时光充满了阳光和歌声。

3.still touched with fire：喻始终有着热情； still：always，constantly.

4.the Spirit clothed from head to foot in song：精神全身都裹着歌声； Spirit：拟人化，用歌声来裹着全身，是一种非常特殊的意象。

5.who hoarded from the Spring branches ... blossoms：伟人的思想意愿和春天林木萌发的生命力融为一体：伟人有一种强烈的欲望或意愿 （desires和lovely ambition相呼应），正如春天的树木有萌发新枝叶和花朵的冲动，人的意愿是全身心的（falling across their bodies），犹如树上绽开的鲜花； hoarded from the Spring branches The desires：表示伟人的雄心也来源于自然的启发。

6.The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs：从永久的春天中吸取新鲜血液的愉悦； blood：生命力，智慧； ageless springs：远古以来每年的春天。

7.Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth：接上句，在我们人类世界存在之前（before our earth），这种维持生命的血液就已经像小溪那样在岩石中流淌。谓自然是人类的生命和智慧的源泉。

8.Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light：Never to deny：what is precious is never to deny，以下never to allow 同；its：指our earth，我们的尘世。

9.grave evening demand for love：严肃而认真的爱； evening：象征成熟，正如上行morning 象征青春和单纯。

10.Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother ... spirit：意为喧闹的现代城市令人窒息的环境会扼杀精神生命的迸发。

11.Near the snow，near the sun，in the highest fields ... sky：这四行诗比喻伟人和大自然是结合为一体的； feted：庆祝，纪念；the streamers of white cloud：飘在空中的朵朵白云，就像标语条幅。

12.Born of the sun they travelled a short while towards the sun：伟人生于太阳，最后也归宿于太阳，说明他们生来伟大，最后的业绩也伟大；travelled a short while：喻生命短暂。

13.And left the vivid air signed with their honour：当他们离开这个世界时 （left the vivid air），他们留下美名。

The Fall of a City

All the posters on the walls

All the leaflets in the streets

Are mutilated，destroyed or run in rain，

Their words blotted out with tears，

Skins peeling from their bodies

In the victorious hurricane.1

All the names of heroes in the hall

Where the feet thundered and the bronze throats roared，

Fox and Lorca^2 claimed as history on the walls，

Are now angrily deleted

Or to dust surrender their dust，

From golden praise excluded.

All the badges and salutes

Torn from lapels and hands

Are thrown away with human sacks they wore

Or in the deepest bed of mind

They are washed over with a smile

Which launches the victors when they win.

All the lessons learned，unlearned；

The young，who learned to read，now blind

Their eyes with an archaic film；

The peasant relapses to a stumbling tune

Following the donkey's bray；3

These only remember to forget.4

But somewhere some word presses

On the high door of a skull^5 and in some corner

Of an irrefrangible^6 eye

Some old man memory jumps to a child

— Spark from the days of energy.7

And the child hoards it like a bitter toy.

【题解】

《一个城市的陷落》作于1941年，并未具体点出哪个城市。反法西斯的战争有挫折，人们也会漠然置之，但战斗留下的星星之火，将会鼓舞下一代。司班德有很强的政治倾向性，但他的诗歌绝不是口号式的，此诗即为典范。

【注释】

1.Their words blotted out with tears ... hurricane：指海报或传单上的文字被抹掉了，纸片飘落下来； victorious hurricane：就攻城胜利者的角度而言。

2.Fox and Lorca：Ralph Winston Fox （1900—1936），拉尔夫·温斯顿·福克斯，英国作家、历史学家和记者，英国共产党的创始人之一，在西班牙内战中阵亡。Federico Garcia Lorca（1898—1936），费德里格·加西亚·洛尔卡，西班牙诗人、剧作家。他的诗歌抒情意味浓重、自由奔放，充满着超现实主义的想象。在西班牙内战中被反共的敢死队枪杀。

3.bray：驴的叫声。

4.These only remember to forget：这些人记住要把它忘掉； 不要忘了把这些事情忘掉。

5.On the high door of a skull：这些字张贴在大脑的高耸的门上，喻铭记在脑海里。

6.irrefrangible：incapable of reflection，不可折射的（目光），此处形容老人目光呆滞。

7.Spark from the days of energy：当年战斗的岁月里留下来的星星之火。

SORLEY MacLEAN

绍莱·麦克林

（1911—1996）

【作者与作品简介】

绍莱·麦克林是一个笔名，他的真名叫Somhairle Mac-Gill-Eain。他是一位用盖尔语创作的苏格兰诗人。他走过现代主义的道路而终于回到盖尔语的民间文学传统。他身上有很古老的东西：海岛上的生活，感情，对大自然（特别是那风云莫测的库林山）的思索；也有很现代的东西：反法西斯斗争，第二次世界大战（他在北非前线抗击隆美尔指挥的德军，身受重伤），世界、英国和苏格兰的现状，等等。他的写法里，也有古老民族传统同现代诗歌敏感的结合；正是这一结合，使他的作品又新鲜，又耐读。

这里选了他的抒情诗八首。

第一首《我看不出》中所说的“垂死的语言”指作者用以写诗的方言盖尔语，所以说“垂死”是因为由于英语的侵袭，当今说盖尔语的人已经不多了。但是诗却以乐观的调子作结。时间是在人民群众一边，屠杀之类只不过是“悲苦时间的一瞬”，而且群众是英勇而坚韧的，青春和美丽又在像“奇迹”一样地闪耀着。

第二首《选择》用了古朴的民谣体。这里“理智”被人格化了，成为一个同作者一起散步的角色。失恋本是痛苦的，然而比起那时候西班牙人民在内战中的受难，也就算不了一回事。真正的爱情同革命一样是“雷电般的轰鸣”，不是任何狭窄、冷漠、“温吞水似的”人所能企及。小人无法大爱，男女私情如此，革命大业也如此。

第三首《形象》充满了对照：死亡与爱情，现实与想象。风流诗人爱在象牙塔里吟唱爱情，战士则在缺水的沙漠里流血，而其间时光无情，美丽的姑娘成了尸骨。然而尸骨之类叫人看了不舒服的形象却是真实的形象——坚硬，枯燥，来自现实，一点儿不虚假。

第四首《春潮》写得有点忧伤情绪：为什么黄金般的春潮不能永存？这却只使人回忆起那种“丝绸般”温柔的日子里曾是何等欢乐。关键在于“想到年轻时候的你”，一想到就迎来了变化：

于是莫测的海洋涨起了潮，

一千条船张开了帆。

真是森波浩渺，展现出壮阔、深远的全景来了。妙在船有一千条之多，而且突然都张开了帆！形象的启发性无以复加了。

第五、第六两首都是关于爱尔兰的。博物馆里所见的是起义烈士康诺利的血衣，而在墓前所想的则是诗人叶芝。叶芝的诗是许多同道也喜欢的，麦克林却不忘指出他的不足——对斗争有所保留，有所“借口”，然而这类“借口”是别人也作的，而且没有毁了叶芝的诗。麦克林自己是更激烈的诗人，但他表现了对另一个诗人的深刻理解和同情。

最后两首回到了麦克林的家乡——苏格兰西北方海岸外的小岛斯凯。这两首诗咏的都是女人，背景里都有库林山，正是这“严峻的青色堡垒”以其怪石黑影给了这两首情诗以厚度，衬托得景物和人都分外明亮。一切都是最本质的：黎明的光、河流、阳光、白帆、蓝色的海、金色的天、长发、白脸、狼牙般的城墙、白沙、旷野、棕色不毛的野地、琴弦样的树；爱情也就持久、热烈，古老如山峰，新鲜如河上的早晨。

王佐良

I Do Not See

I do not see the sense of my toil

Putting thoughts in a dying tongue^1

Now when the whoredom of Europe^2

Is murder erect^3 and agony；

But we have been given the million years，

A fragment of a sad growing portion，4

The heroism and patience of hundreds

And the miracle of a beautiful face.5

【注释】

1.I do not see the sense of my toil ... tongue：麦克林自己也感到用濒临死亡的盖尔语（Gaelic） 来写作，实在是徒劳无益。按：盖尔语是居住在苏格兰北部和西部山地的苏格兰人使用的语言。由于英语的冲击，盖尔语用得越来越少。麦克林不得不把自己用盖尔语写的诗歌翻译成英语。

2.whoredom of Europe：欧洲的堕落； whoredom：faithless，unworthy，or idolatrous practices or pursuits，原意为卖淫，沦亡，此处表示衰败，堕落。

3.erect：此处有顽固，猖獗之意。

4.A fragment of a sad growing portion：不断增加的悲哀岁月中的一瞬间。

5.the miracle of a beautiful face：青春美貌燃起人们心中的希望，故有奇迹般的力量。

The Choice

I walked with my reason^1

out beside the sea.

We were together but it was

keeping a little distance from me.

Then it turned saying：

is it true you heard

that your beautiful white love^2

is getting married early on Monday？

I checked the heart that was rising

in my torn swift breast^3

and I said：most likely；

why should I lie about it？

How should I think that I would grab

the radiant golden star，

that I would catch it and put it

prudently in my pocket？4

I did not take a cross's death

in the hard extremity of Spain^5

and how then should I expect

the one new prize of fate？6

I followed only a way

that was small，mean，low，dry，lukewarm，7

and how then should I meet

the thunderbolt of love？8

But if I had the choice again

and stood on that headland，9

I would leap from heaven or hell

with a whole spirit and heart.10

【题解】

失去爱情是因为过于理智。诗中之“我”自认平时处事过于谨慎，显得冷漠，因而被爱人抛弃。这未必是诗人自己的经历，事实上，他参与西班牙内战，为正义而战，亦有一腔炽烈的热情。诗中所述加上个人的西班牙经历，更见真切。

【注释】

1.my reason：我的理智； reason 在此处被赋予人格。

2.beautiful white love：美丽洁白的情人。

3.my torn swift breast：被撕裂的急速起伏的胸膛； 心如刀绞，呼吸急促。

4.How should I think that I would grab ... pocket：比较多恩Song 中名句 Go and catch a falling star，这是不可能的事情。

5.take a cross's death ... Spain：没有在西班牙的残酷的战争中牺牲； take a cross's death：死在十字架上； the hard extremity of Spain：麦克林在西班牙内战期间支持民主政府，后来弗朗哥推翻了共和国，建立了独裁政府，他感到奇耻大辱。

6.the one new prize of fate：既然在西班牙战争中没有献身，也不能期望得到命运的奖品； 指把golden star抓住并放入口袋，即得到爱情。

7.I followed only a way ... lukewarm：谓我处事行事卑鄙、低微、冷漠、缺乏热情。

8.the thunderbolt of love：爱情的雷击。喻爱情有强大的冲击力，意志薄弱和心胸狭窄者经受不起真正的爱情。

9.headland：a point or portion usually of high land jutting out into the sea，a lake，or other body of water，海岬。

10.I would leap from heaven or hell ... heart：第一节言和理智保持一定的距离，而此处说如果再有一次选择机会，则会不顾一切，投入整个身心。

The Image

When I understood the terrible thing —

That her body had gone bad，

Dry，spoiled，mutilated^1—

I made an image of my love；

Not the comfortable image

That a poet would put on a shelf in a tower，2

But one that would grow big in the Desert，

Where blood would be water.3

【题解】

从一个美丽的形象遭到侵凌和亵渎的悲剧，想到要创造一个爱的形象，能够在险恶的环境中成长并滋养生命。这首诗显然另有寓意，读者可以联想到他的政治立场和社会责任感，如他的盖尔小民族，盖尔语言，都经受遭遇，面临消失，难免使他萌生拯救自己文化的念头。

【注释】

1.her body had gone bad ... mutilated：这是一个被毁灭的美好的形象，未必实指； mutilated：肢体残缺。

2.That a poet would put on a shelf in a tower：诗人珍藏在高楼架子上的画像； tower：暗示ivory tower，象牙塔。喻诗人在象牙塔里吟风弄月，歌唱爱情。

3.But one that would grow big in the Desert ... water：诗人描绘的爱情形象，能够在沙漠里变得高大，并将其鲜血滋润沙漠。

Spring Tide

Again and again when I am broken^1

My thought comes on you when you were young，

And the incomprehensible ocean fills

With floodtide and a thousand sails.2

The shore of trouble is hidden

With its reefs and the wrack of grief，3

And the unbreaking wave strikes

About my feet with a silken rubbing.4

How did the springtide not last，

The springtide more golden to me than to the birds，

And how did I lose its succour，5

Ebbing drop by drop of grief？6

【题解】

春潮上涨，一切不幸迹象，皆被淹没，但是春潮不会久涨不退，何以失其相助，而尤能使悲情似潮汐退去？麦克林的诗难得有此忧伤，但是此诗仍然气势不凡。

【注释】

1.when I am broken：当我受到打击而颓丧之时。

2.the incomprehensible ocean fills ... sails：莫测的海洋涨起潮水，海面上千帆竞发。比较马娄 （Christopher Marlowe） 在《浮士德博士》（Dr. Faustus ） 一剧中咏希腊美人海伦 （Helen） 的名句：Was this the face that launched a thousand ships，/ And burnt the topless towers of Ilium？ 参见本书《浮士德博士》选段。

3.The shores of trouble is hidden ... grief：潮水上涨，海水覆盖了发生灾难的海岸，礁石没入了水中，舟楫的残骸不显不露。谓春潮上涨时，掩盖了不幸的迹象。

4.a silken rubbing：（海水拍打着我的脚） 像丝绸拂着那样柔和。和the wrack of grief所暗示的海水的冲击力形成对照。

5.succour：aid，relief，救助。

6.Ebbing drop by drop of grief：悲哀像潮水那样一滴一滴地退去。谓我如何能够失去春潮的帮助，而又能逐步忘却痛苦。

The National Museum of Ireland

In these evil days，1

when the old wound of Ulster^2 is a disease

suppurating^3 in the heart of Europe

and in the heart of every Gael^4

who knows that he is a Gael，

I have done nothing but see

in the National Museum of Ireland

the rusty^5 red spot of blood，

rather dirty，on the shirt

that was once on the hero

who is dearest to me of them all

who stood against bullet or bayonet，

or tanks or cavalry，

or the bursting of frightful bombs：

the shirt that was on Connolly^6

in the General Post Office of Ireland^7

while he was preparing the sacrifice

that put himself up on a chair

that is holier than the Lia Fail^8

that is on the Hill of Tara^9 in Ireland.

The great hero is still

sitting on the chair

fighting the battle in the Post Office

and cleaning streets in Edinburgh.

【题解】

麦克林同情爱尔兰，因为他同情苏格兰，同情自己所属的弱小的盖尔民族。在他看来，面对比他们大得多的民族和文化的冲击，他们这两个民族的遭遇是相同的。麦克林又是一位同情共产主义运动和无产阶级的诗人，其作品具有浓重的政治气氛。

【注释】

1.In these evil days：弥尔顿《失乐园》（Paradise Lost ） 12. 25—26：though fallen on evil days，/ On evil days fall'n and evil tongues. 此处evil days形容英国革命失败后的险恶环境。

2.the old wound of Ulster：1920年，爱尔兰南北分割，北爱尔兰划归英国，故称old wound； Ulster：指北爱尔兰。

3.suppurating：causing to generate pus，discharging pus，化脓。

4.Gael：盖尔人，亦即凯尔特人 （Celts），居住在爱尔兰和苏格兰高地。

5.rusty：（血变成） 暗红色的，铁锈色的。

6.Connolly：James Connolly（1870—1916），詹姆斯·康诺利，爱尔兰工人领袖，1916年复活节参与组织起义，被英军杀害。参见本书叶芝的 Easter1916。

7.the General Post Office of Ireland：爱尔兰邮政总局，1916年复活节起义的指挥部所在地。

8.Lia Fail：御座。

9.Hill of Tara：从史前直至公元前六世纪，塔拉为爱尔兰历代王朝的所在地。

At Yeats's Grave

The big broad flagstone^1 of the grave

Is on yourself and George your wife

Between the sea and Ben Bulben，2

Between Sligo^3 and Lissadell；4

And your marvelous words are

Coming in the breeze from every side

With the picture of the young beautiful one^5

In the television of each field.

The sweet voice on the side of Ben Bulben

From the one shapely young mouth^6

That took his fame from Dermid^7

Since it was heard on a Green，8

Become a screech with grief

And with the generous deeds^9

That were sweet in the ears of Connolly^10

And in the ears of his kind.

You got the chance，William，11

The chance for your words，

Since courage and beauty

Had their flagpoles through your side.12

You acknowledged them in one way，

But there is an excuse on your lips，

The excuse that did not spoil your poetry，

For every man has his excuse.13

【题解】

《叶芝墓前》表达了麦克林对叶芝的贡献的充分肯定，对这位爱尔兰大诗人的崇敬。麦克林同情爱尔兰对独立自主的渴望，也感慨叶芝未能很好地发挥他的诗歌的战斗作用。虽然叶芝可以得到谅解，但也不无遗憾，因为他本来有机会让勇气和美感高高地飘扬起两面旗帜。麦克林的直率，鲜见于众多名人在名人墓前的赞叹。

【注释】

1.flagstone：flag，a hard evenly stratified stone that splits into flat pieces suitable for paving； 此处是指铺在坟墓上的这种石板。

2.Ben Bulben：山名，在斯莱戈郡（Sligo）。叶芝曾表示希望死后葬于Ben Bulben山下Drumcliff村的教堂墓地里。他在自挽歌里说：Under bare Ben Bulben's head / In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid. ... On limestone quarried near the spot / By his command these words are cut. / Cast a cold eye/ on life，on death . / Horseman，pass by！

3.Sligo：斯莱戈，爱尔兰西北部一郡。

4.Lissadell：在斯莱戈郡的一座乡村别墅，属于高尔·布斯（Gore-Booth）家族。

5.the picture of the young beautiful one：可能是指莫德·高纳 （Maud Gonne），一位漂亮的女演员，激进的爱尔兰民族主义者。叶芝对她十分倾心，但她始终未肯以身相许。参见本书叶芝的 No Second Troy一诗注释。

6.the one shapely young mouth：可能仍指莫德·高纳。

7.That took his fame from Dermid：Dermid，是指爱尔兰诗人约翰·道尔顿（John D'Alton，1792—1867） 写的一首叙事长诗Dermid； Or，Erin in the Days of Boru：a Poem ； that的先行词是Ben Bulben；his：its，指Ben Bulben。谓Dermid这首诗使得Ben Bulben遐迩闻名。

8.on a Green：在一块绿色的土地上。

9.Become a screech with grief ... deeds：指莫德·高纳参加了爱尔兰人民反抗英国统治的武装斗争。她甜美的声音变成了哀伤的呼喊，她义愤填膺，慷慨行事。

10.Connolly：James Connolly（1870—1916），詹姆斯·康诺利，爱尔兰工人领袖，参见前面The National Museum of Ireland一诗及注释。

11.William：即William Butler Yeats。

12.Since courage and beauty ... side：叶芝的诗歌不仅优美，而且和爱尔兰民族运动相结合。

13.But there is an excuse on your lips ... excuse：暗示叶芝反对武装斗争的立场。麦克林谅解叶芝，认为每个人都有借口，而叶芝的借口并未毁坏他的诗歌。

Dawn

You were dawn onthe Cuillin^1

and benign day on the Clarach，2

the sun on his elbow in the golden stream^3

and the white rose that breaks the horizon.4

Glitter of sails on a sunlit firth，5

blue of the sea and aureate^6 sky，

the young morning in your head of hair

and in your clear lovely cheeks.

My jewel of dawn and night

your face and your dear kindness.

though the grey stake of misfortune^7 is

thrust through the breast of my young morning.

【题解】

看似一首情诗，将爱人喻为拂晓，起首平平。但麦克林的情诗反映着强烈的家乡情结，心中之情和目中之境无一不和家乡的一山一水融为一体。末句比喻则甚为新奇。

【注释】

1.Cuillin：库林山，位于苏格兰西北海岸外的斯凯岛（Isle of Skye）的西南部。斯凯岛在苏格兰西北海岸外，岛上风光旖旎，有物种丰富的植被和野生动物。

2.Clarach：克莱拉峰。

3.the sun on his elbow in the golden stream：太阳枕着手臂躺着，金色的阳光如流水倾泻。

4.the white rose that breaks the horizon：白色的玫瑰花衬托出天际的地平线； breaks the horizon：使地平线显得醒目。

5.firth：an arm of the sea，especially a river mouth，港湾，河口湾。

6.aureate：golden，golden coloured.

7.the grey stake of misfortune：灾难的灰色木桩； grey：dismal，gloomy； stake有两层意思：（1） a pointed piece of wood or other material driven or to be driven into the ground as a marker or support； （2） something that is staked for gain or loss. 字面意思是 “桩子”，但深层意思是 “生死攸关”。

The Blue Rampart

But for you^1 the Cuillin^2 would be

an exact and serrated blue rampart^3

girdling with its march-wall^4

all that is in my fierce heart.5

But for you the sand

that is in Talisker^6 compact and white

would be a measureless plain to my expectations

and on it the spear desire^7 would not turn back.

But for you the oceans

in their unrest and their repose

would raise the wave-crests^8 of my mind

and settle them on a high serenity.

And the brown brindled moorland^9

and my reason would co-extend^10—

but you imposed on them an edict

above my own pain.

And on a distance luxuriant Summit

there blossomed the Tree of Strings，11

among its leafy branches your face，

my reason and the likeness of a star.12

【题解】

诗人的情感和斯凯岛上的库林山、塔里斯堪海滩、苏格兰荒原等息息相关，因此他不由自主地把家乡大自然的一景一物作为衡量心理变化的参照物。自然环境似乎随情感而变化，理智又似乎和大自然那样稳健，但当理智和情感一起到达顶峰，又发现相互纠缠，难分难解。

【注释】

1.But for you：if it weren't for you，要不是因为你。

2.Cuillin：库林山，见上首诗（第857页）注1。

3.an exact and serrated blue rampart：库林山起伏的山峰，就像一个建造得精良的锯齿状的城垛； blue rampart：蓝色的城垛，形容绿色的库林山镶嵌在蔚蓝色的天际背景下，呈现蓝色。

4.march-wall：boundary wall，城墙； march：border region，frontier，边界，边境。

5.my fierce heart：狂热的心； fierce：marked by unrestrained zeal or vehemence.

6.Talisker：Talisker Bay，塔里斯堪海湾，在斯凯岛。

7.spear desire：强烈而明确的目标。

8.wave-crests：浪尖，浪峰。

9.brown brindled moorland：褐色的、色彩斑驳的荒原； brindled：having obscure dark streaks or flecks on a usually gray or tawny ground，参见本书霍普金斯（Hopkins）的诗《斑驳之美》（Pied Beauty ）关于brindled注。

10.co-extend：同等延伸。此句谓我的理智和苏格兰的荒原一样宽广。

11.the Tree of Strings：绳子之树。喻对人精神和感情的牵制力。

12.among its leafy branches your face ... star：在这棵树的枝条里，有你的脸，我的理智和一颗明星的形象。谓感情和理智纠缠在一起。

RONALD STUART THOMAS

罗奈特·司图亚特·托马斯

（1913—2000）

【作者与作品简介】

威尔士是英国的偏僻地区，有独特的语言、文化，属于凯尔特传统。它的现、当代作家之中，有好几位托马斯。最有名的大概是狄兰·托马斯，在四五十年代他的诗很流行，后来他又写短篇小说和广播剧，也都拥有不少读者、听众。第二位是格文·托马斯，写过好几部长篇小说，如《一切都背弃你》，也有名望。这里要介绍的是另一位，他名叫罗奈特·司图亚特·托马斯，1913年生于威尔士的加迪夫地区，1936年成为威尔士教会的教士，一生在威尔士农村度过，接触最多的是乡下孤独的农民，他的最好的诗也是写他们的。

他写农民的简朴的，往往又是艰苦的生活。他们沉默、寂寞，但有厚实的感情，还有深刻的智慧，像他们周围的大石山那样历尽沧桑而更有历史感、比例感。《泰力申，一九五二》、《家谱》等诗所表现的就是这样的历史感。

他的诗艺也相应地是素朴、严谨的，从来没有多余的话；形式也是完整的、古老的，但不是文绉绉的古老，而是在农民口上传诵了多少世代的民间艺术的古老；而在素朴与古老之下，他又能不受传统的束缚，在诗艺上进行了许多试验，如追求霍普金斯式的“跳跃节奏”，如某些特殊的比喻和对照手法：

黄昏时天空发狂，

如有鲜血泼洒；

——《威尔士风光》

他最动人的一点是极具体的细节和极高远的玄思的结合。没有人能写威尔士农村的人和物比他更具体——有时他还用了勃鲁盖尔（1525—1569）式的嘲讽，他爱农民，但不讳言他们的愚昧和落后——但同时也没有人能像他那样小中见大，例如在《农村》一诗之末，他写道：

那么停住吧，村子，因为围绕着你

慢慢转动着一整个世界，

辽阔而富于意义，不亚于伟大的

柏拉图孤寂心灵的任何构想。

因此这些写几乎被人遗忘的农村的小诗读起来一点也不单调，而是充满了激情和戏剧性，经得起多次咀嚼的。

当代的英国诗坛虽然人才众多，但显得过分城布化，色调有点灰——要不然就是像塔特·休斯那种猛禽似的黑色——只有R.S.托马斯像一块白石那样，经过了时间的冲刷而更坚硬又更玲珑了。

王佐良

Period

It was a time when wise men

Were not silent，but stifled

By vast noise. They took refuge

In books that were not read.

Two counsellors had the ear

Of the public.1 One cried‘Buy’

Day and night，and the other，

More plausibly，‘Sell your repose’.2

【题解】

《时代》揭示的是一个浮躁的资本主义世界，智者消极遁世，商人喧闹于市。人们需要的也许更多的是恬静。

【注释】

1.had the ear ... public：引起了公众的注意。

2.repose：a state of resting after exertion or strain，lack of activity.

The Village

Scarcely a street，too few houses

To merit the title；1 just a way between

The one tavern and the one shop

That leads nowhere and fails^2 at the top

Of the short hill，eaten away

By long erosion of the green tide^3

Of grass creeping perpetually nearer

This last outpost of time past.4

So little happens； the black dog

Cracking his fleas^5 in the hot sun

Is history. Yet the girl who crosses

From door to door moves to a scale

Beyond the bland day's two dimensions.6

Stay，then，village，for round you spins

On a slow axis a world^7 as vast

And meaningful as any posed

By great Plato's solitary mind.8

【题解】

一个算不上村庄的小村落，正在慢慢地被时间吞噬，但它依然存在。究竟是世界进步了，还是它落后了？它是否还有继续存在的价值？诗人让读者自己去思索。末句发人深省。

【注释】

1.To merit the title：（因房屋太少） 够不上“村庄”的称号。

2.fails：（小路） 消失了。

3.long erosion of the green tide：绿草如潮水一般长期侵吞了小路。

4.This last outpost of time past：往昔的最后一个哨所； 喻仅存的保留历史原貌的村庄。

5.Cracking his fleas：捉虱子； Cracking：掐死虱子时有声响，故云。

6.Yet the girl who crosses ... dimensions：串门走户的姑娘使沉闷的日子从二维度的级别上往上提升； bland day：平淡无奇的日子。诗人故意用“维度”这样的专业术语来反衬这里生活的平凡。

7.round you spins ... world：世界在绕着一根缓慢的轴围绕你转，所以村庄不必动（Stay，then，village）。

8.great Plato's solitary mind：柏拉图 （427—347BC），古希腊哲学家。此句说先哲尚且孤独，不为同时代人所理解，何况这小小的村落。

A Peasant

Iago Prytherch his name，though，be it allowed，1

Just an ordinary man of the bald Welsh hills，

Who pens a few sheep in a gap of cloud.2

Docking mangels，3 chipping the green skin

From the yellow bones^4 with a half-witted grin

Of satisfaction，or churning the crude earth

To a stiff sea of clods that glint in the wind —

So are his days spent，his spittled mirth^5

Rarer than the sun that cracks the cheeks

Of the gaunt sky^6 perhaps once in a week.

And then at night see him fixed in his chair

Motionless，except when he leans to gob in the fire.7

There is something frightening in the vacancy of his mind.

His clothes，sour with years of sweat

And animal contact，shock the refined，

But affected，sense with their stark naturalness.8

Yet this is your prototype，9 who，season by season

Against siege of rain and the wind's attrition，

Preserves his stock，an impregnable fortress^10

Not to be stormed，even in death's confusion.11

Remember him，then，for he，too，is a winner of wars，

Enduring like a tree under the curious stars.

【题解】

诗人笔下的农民朴实、平凡、粗俗，种地养羊，别无他图。开首几乎写得他一无是处，但突然笔锋一转，称他为“你们的原型”，体现着人类最原始时期和自然搏斗以求生存的精神，表明他也是胜者。

【注释】

1.though，be it allowed：如果可以的话，他的名字权且叫Iago Prytherch吧； 虚拟式。

2.pens a few sheep in a gap of cloud：在云雾缭绕的山谷里圈养了一些绵羊； pen：to shut in a small enclosure for animals，把羊群关入圈栏； gap：a mountain pass，ravine，山峡，山谷。

3.Docking mangels：削掉甜菜的根； Docking：cutting off the end of a body part of，taking away a part of，截去，剪短； mangel：of a large coarse yellow-to reddish-orange beet grown chiefly as food for cattle，甜菜，主要作喂牲口的饲料。

4.chipping the green skin ... bones：削掉甜菜的绿皮，露出黄色的茎。

5.spittled mirth：放声大笑； spittled：形容唾沫飞溅。

6.cracks the cheeks ... sky：（太阳） 使阴沉的天空露出笑脸。

7.gob in the fire：对着炉火吐痰。

8.shock the refined ... naturalness：（散发着陈年汗臭和牲口气味的衣服） 以赤露露的自然状态使那些装模作样的高雅的人十分吃惊。

9.prototype：原型。

10.impregnable fortress：喻他保护羊群，像坚不可摧的堡垒。

11.in death's confusion：在死亡到来的混乱之中； confusion：ruin，destruction.

Welsh Landscape

To live in Wales is to be conscious

At dusk of the spilled blood

That went into the making of the wild sky，1

Dyeing the immaculate rivers^2

And thick ambush of shadows，

Hushed at the fields' corners.

There is no present in Wales，

And no future；

There is only the past，

The soft consonants

Strange to the ear.

There are cries in the dark at night

As owls answer the moon，

Brittle with relics，

In all their courses.

It is to be aware，

Above the noisy tractor

And hum of the machine

Of strife in the strung woods，

Vibrant with sped arrows.3

You cannot live in the present，

At least not in Wales.

There is the language for instance，

Wind-bitten towers and castles

With sham ghosts；

Mouldering quarries and mines；

And an impotent people，

Sick with inbreeding，4

Worrying the carcase of an old song.5

【题解】

此诗起首即言如血的残阳染红天际，暗示威尔士先辈曾以鲜血保卫自己的家园。没有历史就没有今天，这几乎适用于所有民族，尤其是被边缘化的威尔士。诗中描绘的夜景象征着威尔士的过去，结尾对未来的担忧，流露出诗人的无限伤感。

【注释】

1.the spilled blood ... sky：残阳如血，染红天际。

2.the immaculate rivers：洁净的河流； immaculate：spotless，undefiled，pure.

3.It is to be aware ... arrows：尽管有拖拉机和机器的轰鸣声，生活在威尔士会意识到当年丛林里的斗争和飒飒箭声； It：to live in Wales； sped arrows：射出的箭。

4.an impotent people ... inbreeding：这个民族因近亲繁衍而失去生殖能力。

5.Worrying the carcase of an old song：意思是终将成为一首古老的民歌所讲述的结局； worry：to subject to persistent or nagging attention or effort； carcase：carcass.

Taliesin 1952

I have been all men known to history，1

Wondering at the world and at time passing；

I have seen evil，and the light blessing

Innocent love under a spring sky.

I have been Merlin^2 wandering in the woods

Of a far country，where the winds waken

Unnatural voices，3 my mind broken

By a sudden acquaintance with man's rage.

I have been Glyn Dwr^4 set in the vast night，

Scanning the stars for the propitious omen，

A leader of men，yet cursed by the crazed women

Mourning their dead under the same stars.5

I have been Goronwy，6 forced from my own land

To taste the bitterness of the salt ocean；

I have known exile and a wild passion

Of longing changing to a cold ache.

King，beggar and fool，I have been all by turns，

Knowing the body's sweetness，the mind's treason；7

Taliesin still，I show you a new world，risen，

Stubborn with beauty，out of the heart's need.8

【题解】

借泰力申这位吟游诗人的叙述，扫描了历史上一些著名英雄可歌可泣的传说。从国王到平民和乞丐的生活，在泰力申的诗歌里都有反映。但他不只是代表历史，他更希望向人们展示新的世界，一个美丽而坚韧的世界。

【注释】

题目：Taliesin：泰力申。六世纪后期的苏格兰著名诗人，著有《塔里辛集》（The Book of Taliesin ），其中包括各种诗歌，有些以宗教为题材，属于凯尔特神话传说，亦有一些诗歌论及知名历史人物。

1.I have been all men known to history：我是历史上的所有著名人士。喻泰力申能表达所有这些人的心声。

2.Merlin：梅林，亚瑟王 （King Arthur） 传说中的预言家和幻术家。威尔士文学中有关于吟游诗人梅林的诗歌。莎士比亚在戏剧中提到梅林是预言家，如《亨利四世》（I Henry IV ） 3.1. 144—146：Sometimes he angers me / With telling me of the moldwarp and the ant，/ Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies. 又如 《李尔王》（King Lear ） 3.2. 95：This prophecy Merlin shall make，for I live before his time.

3.Unnatural voices：风吹动万物发出的声响。

4.Glyn Dwr：Owain Glyn Dwr，亦拼作Glyndwr（1349或1359—1416），格林突尔，也是最后一位独立的威尔士亲王。莎士比亚戏剧中拼作Owen Glendower。1974年，威尔士东北部克卢伊德郡的一个地区以他的名字命名，称为格林突尔区。

5.cursed by the crazed women ... stars：指格林突尔发动战争而使许多人丧生。按：他先是和相邻的英格兰领主因领土归属而相争，后又因得不到亨利四世的支持而起兵，此后连年征战，最终兵败，但是未被英王擒获。

6.Goronwy：Hywel ap Goronwy，十一世纪初期南威尔士的国王。

7.Knowing the body's sweetness，the mind's treason：泰力申以其丰富的阅历，懂得人肉身虽柔弱，而心计恶毒多变。

8.out of the heart's need：出于内心的意愿。

Genealogy

I was the dweller in the long cave

Of darkness，lining it with the forms

Of bulls.1 My hand matured early，

But turned to violence：I was the man

Watching later at the grim ford，

Armed with resentment； the quick stream

Remembers at sunset the raw crime.

The deed pursued me； I was the king

At the church keyholes，who saw death

Loping towards me. From that same hour

I fought for right，with the proud chiefs

Setting my name to the broad treaties.

I marched to Bosworth with the Welsh lords

To victory，2 but regretted after

The white house at the wood's heart.3

I was the stranger in the new town，

Whose purse of tears was soon spent；

I filled it with a solider coin

At the dark sources. I stand now

In the hard light of the brief day

Without roots，but with many branches.4

【题解】

《家谱》描绘的是威尔士的传统，不加粉饰地点出了历史上威尔士人的所作所为。这些人可能就是绿林好汉，也可能是部落的首领，可能干点坏事，也可能为正义而斗争。如此客观，但又毫不含糊地表达了威尔士的民族主义情结。

【注释】

1.lining it with the forms ... bulls：在山洞里的壁上画各种各样的牛。表示威尔士民族早期原始的文化。

2.I marched to Bosworth with the Welsh lords ... victory：指1485年8月22日的博斯沃思原野战役 （Battle of Bosworth Field），在英国历史上的红白玫瑰战争 （War of Roses） 中，理查三世（Richard Ⅲ）和亨利· 都铎 （Henry Tudor，Earl of Richmond） 的一次交战。莎士比亚的《理查三世》（Richard III ）第五幕有精彩的描写。此处叙述者和威尔士的贵族一起，支持的是红玫瑰兰卡斯特家族（Lancaster），亨利· 都铎获胜，成为亨利七世 （Henry Ⅶ），从此开始了117年的都铎王朝。

3.but regretted after ... heart：对威尔士人来说，无论是约克家族还是兰卡斯特家族执政，反正是英格兰人当政，是一回事，所以约克家族失败之后，心里也不是滋味。理查三世是约克家族的，其象征是白玫瑰，故曰the white house。

4.I stand now ... branches：站在白日短暂而强烈的日光下，像一棵无根的树，却多枝多叶。

Tenancies

This is pain's landscape.

A savage agriculture is practised

Here； every farm has its

Grandfather or grandmother，gnarled hands

On the cheque-book，1 a long，slow

Pull on the placenta about the neck.2

Old lips monopolise the talk

When a friend calls. The children listen

From the kitchen； the children march

With angry patience against the dawn.3

They are waiting for someone to die

Whose name is as bitter as the soil

They handle. In clear pools

In the furrows they watch themselves grow old

To the terrible accompaniment of the song

Of the blackbird，that promises them love.

【题解】

“痛苦的土地”和 “野蛮的农业” 扼杀着这块土地，而每个农庄又在年老昏聩者的控制之下，年轻人要摆脱传统桎梏的希望一次次落空。此诗虽以《佃农》为题，但写的其实不是真正意义上的佃农，其含义是年轻人不是这块土地上的主人，没有真正的立足之地。

【注释】

1.gnarled hands ... cheque-book：意为老人掌握着家里的经济大权； gnarled hands：老年人因静脉曲张而畸形的手； gnarl：树木的枝干上长节或瘤。

2.a long，slow ... neck：长长地缓慢地抽紧套在颈上的胎盘，表示扼杀年轻的一代； placenta：胎盘。

3.the children march ... dawn：渴望黎明，甚至有点按捺不住的急躁情绪。

Tramp

A knock at the door

And he stands there，

A tramp with his can

Asking for tea，

Strong for a poor man

On his way — where？

He looks at his feet，

I look at the sky；

Over us the planes build

The shifting rafters^1

Of that new world

We have sworn by.2

I sleep in my bed，

He sleeps in the old，

Dead leaves of a ditch.

My drams are haunted；

Are his dreams rich？3

If I wake early，

He wakes cold.4

【题解】

托马斯是牧师，其诗歌充满着宗教的深意。但是，他的诗歌常流露出他对上帝信仰的困惑。流浪者无家可归，但是健康壮实； 他风餐露食，却可能做着美梦。相比之下，“我”虽处于优越环境之中，但缺乏安全感，晚上噩梦相伴。这是否就算是上帝的公平？穷人遭此苦楚，上帝又在哪里？ 托马斯所接触的是边缘地区的农村和平民，作为教士，他有同情心，其诗歌语言直率，明白如话，一如他们简朴的衣着。

【注释】

题目：Tramp：vagrant，foot traveler，流浪者，流浪乞丐。

1.Over us the planes build ... rafters：指天上飞的飞机； build：空中的飞机被喻为在水面上漂流的筏子，用build一词强调这个新世界创造的各种奇迹； shifting rafters：有的版本作shining rafters，流动的筏子，或闪光的筏子，此处指天上的飞机。

2.that new world ... by：我们凭着起誓的新世界； “凭某神或某物起誓”表示对此神或此物的信仰和敬重，此处含讽刺意味。

3.Are his dreams rich：暗示《圣经》上说的穷人死后可以进天堂。

4.If I wake early ... cold：我睡不好，醒得早； 他睡得香，但醒来很冷。表示托马斯更关心的是穷人的现世，而不是穷人最终是否进天堂。

The Return

Coming home was to that：

The white house in the cool grass.

Membraned with shadow，1 the bright stretch

Of stream that was its looking-glass；

And smoke growing above the roof

To a tall tree among whose boughs

The first stars renewed their theme

Of time and death and a man's vows.2

【题解】

《回家》写的是暮色，透露出人到暮年的心情和思绪。闪亮的河面是镜子，折射出家园和度过的岁月。天上众星依旧，好像是不忘重提时间和生死的主题。

【注释】

1.Membraned with shadow：蒙上了一层阴影； Membrane：原意为粘膜，薄膜。

2.a man's vows：显然指自己。未及明言什么誓言，平生有何抱负，留给读者猜测。

Poetry for Supper

‘Listen，now，verse should be as natural

As the small tuber that feeds on muck^1

And grows slowly from obtuse soil^2

To the white flower of immortal beauty.'

‘Natural，hell！ What was it Chaucer

Said once about the long toil

That goes like blood to the poem's making？

Leave it to nature and the verse sprawls，3

Limp as bindweed，4 if it break at all

Life's iron crust.5 Man，you must sweat

And rhyme your guts taut，if you'd build

Your verse a ladder.'6

‘You speak as though

No sunlight ever surprised the mind

Groping on its cloudy path.'7

‘Sunlight's a thing that needs a window

Before it enter a dark room.

Windows don't happen.'

So two old poets，

Hunched at their beer in the low haze

Of an inn parlour，while the talk ran

Noisily by them，glib with prose.8

【题解】

这首诗讨论诗歌的创作。两位刻板的老诗人在酒店里喝着啤酒，各执己见，争论诗歌的创作风格。写诗究竟应该是任其自然流露，还是字斟句酌，仔细琢磨，托马斯没有表明自己的立场。也许这远不是两位传统派的老诗人所能概括的。

【注释】

1.tuber that feeds on muck：从粪肥里吸取养分的地茎； muck：粪肥。

2.obtuse soil：不能使作物迅速生长的土壤。

3.the verse sprawls：诗歌写得松散。

4.bindweed：牵牛花。

5.if it break at all ... crust：意为这样的诗歌是软弱无力的，不可能冲破生活坚实的表面，揭示其本质； if it break：虚拟式。

6.rhyme your guts taut，if you'd build ... ladder：此两行意为如果要想使所写之诗登上崇高的境界，那就必须把心弦绷得紧紧的。

7.No sunlight ever surprised the mind ... path：思想在沿着浓影障目的道路往上摸索前进时，好像没有阳光会使之豁然开朗； sunlight：喻灵感。

8.glib with prose：在酒店里滔滔不绝的话语只是平淡无奇的白话而己，并不是诗。

DYLAN THOMAS

狄兰·托马斯

（1914—1953）

【作者与作品简介】

托马斯是二十世纪威尔士地区的诗歌天才，二十岁成名，如彗星一样划过英美文坛，三十九岁就死去了，留下了许多诗篇、短篇小说、广播剧、朗诵唱片。

《死亡与出场》（1946）是他的一本重要集子的名称，也可以用来概括他所关注的题材：生与死，但都不是平平淡淡的，而是充满了神秘和戏剧性的，因此死如跌入难测的黑夜，生如挑幕出场。在这两者之间，则是血液、本能、欲望、潜意识连同想象和梦幻混杂在一起，产生了神奇的色彩和符咒般的音乐，读者未必全懂，但凭直觉和联想也会大体了解他在说些什么。

但是托马斯不是一个像布莱克那样的“神启派”，他是执著于现世生活的。《死亡也一定不会战胜》和《不要温和地走进那个良夜》两诗都是用了极大的力气怒斥（这是诗人自己用的字眼）死亡，而“通过绿色的茎管催动花朵的力”这首最早也最受欢迎的诗则是用新鲜的形象和奇异的组合表达了人同自然之间有着内在的、动态的、力的联系——真所谓荣枯与共，生死同命，而另一方面，他却又不曾像别的西方诗人在类似场合会做的那样，暗示有一个上帝——更不必说基督教的上帝——在主宰一切。五年后写的《当我天生的五官都能看见》则从身体感官的纷纭印象中看出了“高贵的心”的重要性，比仅仅着眼情感和本能进了一步。

托马斯也关心时局。在那法西斯横行、英国统治阶级对德、意搞绥靖政策的年代里，他有感而写下了《那只签署文件的手》一诗。这是对于慕尼黑协定之类的“文件”的抗议，但是用了他独特的方式：靠形象，靠猝然的拼合——“手没有眼泪可流”——靠特殊的节奏和韵律。

托马斯在艺术上是用心的，也致力于诗篇的色彩美，但他所继承的是古老的口头朗诵传统，其先辈是行吟诗人，因此他的诗更以音乐性著称，有一种特殊的诉诸听觉的力量，所以说近乎符咒。他自己的朗诵也非常富于感染力。他的短篇小说、广播剧、游记也写得精彩，原因之一也在他运用了口语文学的许多手法。五十年代之初，他写了广播剧《在牛奶林下》，得到了很大成功。在这里，古老的口头文学传统找到了一种新的传达工具，靠这位作家的才能而打动了千百万不常读书的听众的心。

王佐良

The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower

The force that through the green fuse drives the flower

Drives my green age；1 that blasts the roots of trees^2

Is my destroyer.

And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose^3

My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.4

The force that drives the water through the rocks

Drives my red blood；5 that dries the mouthing streams

Turns mine to wax.6

And I am dumb to mouth unto my veins^7

How at the mountain spring the same mouth sucks.

The hand that whirls the water in the pool

Stirs the quicksand；8 that ropes the blowing wind^9

Hauls my shroud sail.10

And I am dumb to tell the hanging man^11

How of my clay is made the hangman's lime.12

The lips of time leech to the fountain head；13

Love drips and gathers，but the fallen blood

Shall calm her sores.14

And I am dumb to tell a weather's wind

How time has ticked a heaven round the stars.15

And I am dumb to tell the lover's tomb

How at my sheet goes the same crooked worm.16

【题解】

这首诗公认是一首好诗，且不算难懂，但也有不少费解之处。诗中用了很多比喻和意象，有对比，有冲突，有协调，基本概念是把生命和死亡的周期作为统一的过程来描述。这首诗的内容中，有些地方可以有不同的解释，可由读者去想象和发挥。

【注释】

1.The force that through the green fuse drives the flower ... age：此句谓通过植物的绿色茎管（green fuse）催花开放（drives the flower）的那种力量，同样也在使我青春勃发； fuse 在这里指植物的茎管，但也是炸弹的导管，有爆发力量； green age：既表示青春（green），又表示成长，也意味着衰老（age）。

2.that blasts the roots of trees：破坏树的根系（的力量）。

3.crooked rose：垂萎的玫瑰； 和下行bent相呼应； 比较最后一行crooked worm。

4.bent by the same wintry fever：比喻年老体弱多病，青春消退； bent：身子弯曲，和上行crooked对应； the same wintry fever：使得玫瑰花凋谢和使我衰老的都因同样的周期性； wintry fever：严冬和高烧都是摧残性的力量，这两个概念结合得非常巧妙。

5.drives the water through the rocks ... blood：推动水从山间石溪中奔流而下的力量，同样也是使我血液流动的力量。按：这两句把推动物质运动的动力和促进生命成长的力量融为一种力量。

6.dries the mouthing streams ... wax：使潺潺溪流干涸的力量同样能使我血干成蜡；mouthing：talking pompously，喻流水声响；mine：my streams，即my blood；wax：血液停止流动，生命终结，人死后如同蜡像。

7.And I am dumb to mouth unto my veins：我对我的血管哑口无言；接下文，意为我无法对我的血管解释为什么同样的嘴（即泉口）能够吸取山泉。

8.The hand that whirls the water in the pod ... quicksand：天使搅动水，治疗百病的那只手，也是搅动流沙的手。《新约 · 约翰福音》（John ） 5：64：For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool，and troubled the water：whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had．（在耶路撒冷，有一个池子，旁边躺着瞎眼的、瘸腿的、血气枯干的许多病人，等候水动。因为有天使按时下池子搅动那水，水动之后，谁先下去，无论害什么病都痊愈了。） quicksand：人陷入流沙就会被埋葬在里面，此处流沙也表示时间的消逝和生命的终结。注意自然力量由the force变为the hand，“力量” 从无形到有形，从抽象到具体。

9.that ropes the blowing wind：绳索拴住帆以兜住风； ropes：在这里是动词，to lure，to draw as if with a rope。此处the blowing wind暗示生命的呼吸（breath of life）。

10.shroud sail：拴住主桅杆的两根绳索（one of the ropes leading usually in pairs from a ship's mastheads to give lateral support to the masts）。

11.hanging man：悬吊着被绞死的人。

12.of my clay is made the hangman's lime：my clay is made of the hangman's lime，罪犯被处死后，绞刑刽子手会在死者的坟墓里泼撒石灰粉，以使尸体加速分解腐烂。按《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ） 的说法，上帝用泥土造人，因此诗人在此说，死者身上的石灰粉也是形成生者的泥土，生死合一。

13.The lips of time leech to the fountain head：此句意为：泉源象征生命的起点，时间像水蛭那样紧紧地吸附着源头，仿佛要把生命吸干。按：此处把前面反复强调的“力量”（force）和“时间”（time）相对应，揭示了是时间的力量推动着生死的交替转换。

14.Love drips and gathers，but the fallen blood ... sores：这句象征生命的周期；Love drips and gathers：暗示男女两性媾和，爱情播下种子（drips），产生新的生命（gathers）； fallen blood：表示死亡； her sores：her指“时间”；sores：溃疡，疮，此处指社会的负担。此句意为爱情带来了新的生命，但新生又是社会的负担，不过，随着死亡的到来，社会的负担也就消除了。

15.And I am dumb to tell a weather's wind ... stars：无法向风解释时间的进程，因为风在空中更清楚时间的性质； ticked a heaven round the stars：时间在推动着天体的运行。按：这仅是诗人的比喻而已，严格地讲，这种说法是不科学的。

16.And I am dumb to tell the lover's tomb ... worm：无法对死者（lover's tomb）解释，为何我的裹尸布里同样趴着身子弯曲的虫子；crooked：not straight，perverse，dishonest.

And Death Shall Have No Dominion

And death shall have no dominion.1

Dead men naked they shall be one

With the man in the wind and the west moon；2

When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone，3

They shall have stars at elbow and foot；4

Though they go mad they shall be sane，5

Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again；6

Though lovers be lost love shall not；7

And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.

Under the windings of the sea

They lying long shall not die windily；8

Twisting on racks when sinews give way，9

Strapped to a wheel，10 yet they shall not break；

Faith in their hands shall snap in two，11

And the unicorn^12 evils run them through；

Split all ends up they shan't crack；

And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.

No more may gulls cry at their ears

Or waves break loud on the seashores；

Where blew a flower may a flower no more

Lift its head to the blows of the rain；13

Though they be mad and dead as nails，

Heads of the characters hammer through daisies；14

Break in the sun till the sun breaks down，15

And death shall have no dominion.

【题解】

这首诗和《不要温和地走进那个良夜》都从不同的角度抒发了诗人对死亡的态度。尽管他把生命和死亡看成一个周期，是一个不可分割的整体，也接受死亡的现实，但是，此处他更鲜明地宣泄了对死亡的愤慨。他本人喜欢在美国校园里举行的朗诵诗会上朗读这首诗，抑扬顿挫，情感丰富。

【注释】

1.death shall have no dominion：语出《新约·罗马书》（Romans ） 6：8—9：“Now if we be dead with Christ，we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more； death hath no more dominion over him.” （我们若是与基督同死，就信必与他同活，因为知道基督既从死里复活，就不再死，死也不再作他的主了。）

2.Dead men naked they shall be one ... moon：人死后一无所有，故曰naked。他们死去后和风中的人无异，和西边即将下山的月亮无异。这里有两个意象，象征虚弱的风中之人和西下的月亮。

3.bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone：bones are picked：to pick the bones：to remove covering or adhering matter from the bones，此处指肉自然腐烂，成了白骨，最后连骨头也不剩了。

4.They shall have stars at elbow and foot：意为他们死后已经升入天堂，星星在他们手边和脚下。

5.Though they go mad they shall be sane：人在世间可能有不理智的行为，死后则会趋于理智。

6.Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again：死后升天，生死循环。按：海葬或死于大海之中在海洋国家是很普遍的情况，而且这一描述又使sink 和rise形成对比。

7.Though lovers be lost love shall not：爱情的力量能够战胜死亡。按：第一节通过不同的意象突出死亡不能战胜的主题。

8.Under the windings of the sea ... windily：海底高低不平，弯弯曲曲； die windily：不是安然死去，受到种种折磨被摧残至死。

9.Twisting on racks when sinews give way：捆绑在刑罚架子上，人的胫骨断裂。

10.Strapped to a wheel：中世纪逼供或折磨人的一种刑罚，把人捆在轮子上，拉人的肢体。

11.Faith in their hands shall snap in two：在死亡的折磨下，信念都会破灭。

12.unicorn：a mythical animal generally depicted with the body and head of a horse，the hind legs of a stag，the tail of a lion，and a single horn in the middle of the forehead，是传说中的一种猛兽，其独角尖利，可轻易地置人于死地。

13.Where blew a flower may a flower no more ... rain：花被雨打掉之后，不会再昂头顶风了。联系上两行，死亡确实具有摧毁力，人死后什么也不知，什么也听不到了，正如花草也会被风刮掉一样。

14.Heads of the characters hammer through daisies：此处把人的性格（the characters）比喻为锤子；联系上句，虽然人疯了、死透了（dead as nails），但是“性格”的锤子将把他们像钉子一样穿透到（鲜活的）雏菊花中。比喻人因其性格而永生，死亡不能战胜。

15.Break in the sun till the sun breaks down：拥抱阳光，直至太阳西下；Break：有花迎着阳光开放之意。

The Hand that Signed the Paper

The hand that signed the paper felled a city；1

Five sovereign fingers taxed the breath，2

Doubled the globe of dead and halved a country；

These five kings did a king to death.3

The mighty hand leads to a sloping shoulder，

The finger joints are cramped with chalk；4

A goose's quill^5 has put an end to murder

That put an end to talk.

The hand that signed the treaty bred a fever，

And famine grew，and locusts came；6

Great is the hand that holds dominion over^7

Man by a scribbled name.

The five kings count the dead but do not soften

The crusted wound^8 nor pat the brow；9

A hand rules pity as a hand rules heaven；

Hands have no tears to flow.10

【题解】

这首诗写于1936年，大背景非常清楚，当时欧洲时局非常紧张，英国和德国、意大利法西斯处于激烈的政治博弈之中。《签署文件的手》揭示了拥有至高无上的权力对社会的破坏。这首诗发表几年之后，就发生了英、法绥靖政策导致了和德国纳粹签订“慕尼黑条约”的事情。由此可见托马斯的预感。需要注意的是，诗中反复出现的“手”不见得是同一只手。不管是强权一方还是孱弱的一方，文件都是由手去签的。诗人通过拟人化的手法，深刻地揭示了“手”的破坏力。

【注释】

1.felled a city：攻陷了一座城市。按：这里都没有明确指具体签署哪个文件，或者割让哪个城市，不是特指。

2.Five sovereign fingers taxed the breath：五个手指拥有至高无上的权力威迫得使人呼吸困难；sovereign：国家的，主权的；tax：to make onerous and rigorous demands on，苛求，耗费，对某人造成很大的压力。

3.These five kings did a king to death：这五个国王（手指）可以将一个国王置于死地； 和前面sovereign相呼应。用king来表示签署文件一方的强权。

4.The mighty hand leads to a sloping shoulder ... chalk：这只签字的手力量巨大，压得对方无力承受，而手指的关节都因为紧紧握着粉笔而抽筋。粉笔用来打草稿或勾画方案。

5.A goose's quill：按：当时早就已经不用鹅毛笔签字了，这和these five kings都造成一个意象，表示强权自古至今的延续。

6.The hand that signed the treaty bred a fever ... came：这里签字的手显然表示当权者，但是似乎转换了角度，写的是另外一方，国家管理不善，灾害频发。按：饥荒和蝗灾都是《圣经》里描绘到的情景。

7.holds dominion over：控制，主宰。参见And Death Shall Have No Dominion 一诗的解释。

8.The crusted wound：结了疤的伤口。

9.pat the brow：这里可能表示抚慰的意思。

10.Hands have no tears to flow：手没有眼泪可流。强权一方当然不会流泪，而被迫签字的一方则欲哭无泪。联系到前面的瘟疫、饥荒、蝗灾等，可见诗人笔下的签字的手，代表了不同的当权者。

A Refusal to Mourn the Death，by Fire，of a Child in London

Never until the mankind making

Bird beast and flower

Fathering and all humbling darkness^1

Tells with silence the last light breaking^2

And the still hour

Is come of the sea tumbling in harness^3

And I must enter again the round

Zion of the water bead^4

And the synagogue of the ear of corn^5

Shall I let pray the shadow of a sound^6

Or sow my salt seed

In the least valley of sackcloth to mourn^7

The majesty and burning of the child's death.8

I shall not murder

The mankind of her going with a grave truth^9

Nor blaspheme down the stations of the breath

With any further

Elegy of innocence and youth.10

Deep with the first dead^11 lies London's daughter，

Robed in the long friends，

The grains beyond age，the dark veins of her mother，

Secret by the unmourning water

Of the riding Thames.12

After the first death，there is no other.13

【题解】

这首诗写于二次大战刚刚结束之时，数不尽的无辜民众死于战火，诗人以独特的眼光来看待这个孩子的死亡。他拒绝为她哀悼，因为哀悼早已无济于事，进行哀悼就等于承认死亡。诗人要表达的，不是对死亡的顺从和接受，而是要透过死亡看到生命，看到永生。被空袭炸死的孩子死后进入了“谷穗的犹太教堂”，即神圣的自然界。这首诗主要不在其政治意义，而重在表达了诗人对自然怀有圣礼的观念（sacramental vision），显示了他一贯的生死观。本诗分四段，共有四句，但是句子跨段，不以自然段落为限。第一句包含很多意象，没有标点符号，直到第三段的第一行才结束。全诗一气呵成，直抒胸臆。

【注释】

1.the mankind making ... darkness：从mankind making 开始，都是darkness的修饰语； 黑暗象征死亡，但是也从中诞生生命（mankind making），从而有人类，鸟兽、花卉的繁衍（bird beast and flower fathering）； 黑暗威力巨大，吞噬一切，使世间一切顺服（all humbling）。

2.Tells with silence the last light breaking：黑暗和光明互不相让，但是也是互为对应的；“黑暗” 像钟那样报时（tells），但是其钟声是静音的（with silence）； Tells with silence：是矛盾的说法，但也表示了黑暗和光明转换的默契。

3.the still hour ... harness：狂暴的大海受到管制，处于沉寂的状态； Is come：具有特殊联系动词性质的come，go的完成时用to be 而不是用to have作助动词，是一种比较古老的形式。

4.enter again the round ... bead：Zion：郇山，在耶路撒冷，犹太民族文化的象征，亦指天国、天堂； 把郇山比喻为一滴水珠，水表示圣水，洗礼。

5.the synagogue of the ear of corn：把犹太教堂比作玉米穗。喻要进入一种神圣的、庄严的殿堂，但又是和人生息息相关的境界。

6.Shall I let pray the shadow of a sound：注意这一个长句的结构：never until ... shall I； 一直要到发生了上述那些情况，诗人才会去祈祷； 但是，他的祈祷出人意表，因为他并不打算去悼念死亡； shadow of a sound：声音是没有影子的，诗人经常喜欢使用这种看似矛盾的、不合逻辑的概念。

7.sow my salt seed ... mourn：把盐水浸泡过的种子播种在像丧服那样的、最低洼的或最小的山谷里；sackcloth：a garment of sackcloth worn as a sign of mourning or penitence，用山羊毛或骆驼毛织成的粗料子做的丧服。

8.The majesty and burning of the child's death：把儿童的死亡描绘成“雄伟的”和“熊熊燃烧的”。

9.I shall not murder ... truth：此句意为：因为这个姑娘的死去而哀悼，等于哀悼人类的死亡； I shall not murder显然来自“十诫”，《旧约·出埃及记》（Exodus ） 20：13：Thou shalt not kill. （不可杀人。） grave truth：此处grave一语双关，即表示事件的严重，又表示坟墓。

10.Nor blaspheme down the stations of the breath ... youth：也不会再为天真无邪和青春作什么挽歌，从而亵渎这个姑娘生命最后的呼吸；the stations of breath：从这个死难的姑娘生命最后的一刻（呼吸），联想到耶稣受难的十四处苦路 （Stations of the Cross，i.e. the fourteen images or works of art depicting the stages of Jesus' suffering or passion），即表现耶稣受难的十四处的艺术形象。

11.first dead：《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ） 上所说的亚当之死，是人类的第一次死亡。

12.Robed in the long friends ... Thames：这几行意思有些费解，注家或随意发挥，或语焉不详，一笔带过。大意是：和这个姑娘一样死去的人都是她的伴侣（陪伴死者的是她的一大批朋友），这些都是要萌发的种子，是她母亲静脉里暗红色的血液（经过动脉之后又将成为充满氧气的新鲜血液）；泰晤士河水隐含着秘密，它不会去唱哀歌，但是上涨的河水预示着新生。最后一段的基本含义是死后将会有新的生命，这也是诗人拒绝哀悼的原因。

13.After the first death，there is no other：人死后，不可能再死一次。强调小姑娘死而后生，生死属于一个统一体。

Fern Hill

Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs

About the lilting house^1 and happy as the grass was green，2

The night above the dingle starry，3

Time let me hail and climb

Golden in the heydays of his eyes，4

And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns^5

And once below a time^6 I lordly^7 had the trees and leaves

Trail^8 with daisies and barley

Down the rivers of the windfall light.9

And as I was green and carefree，famous among the barns

About the happy yard^10 and singing as the farm was home，

In the sun that is young once only，11

Time let me play and be

Golden in the mercy of his means，12

And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman，13 the calves

Sang to my horn，14 the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold，15

And the sabbath rang slowly

In the pebbles of the holy streams.16

All the sun long it was running，17 it was lovely，the hay

Fields^18 high as the house，the tunes from the chimneys，19 it was air^20

And playing，lovely and watery

And fire green as grass.21

And nightly under the simple stars^22

As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away，23

All the moon long^24 I heard，blessed among stables，the nightjars^25

Flying with the ricks，26 and the horses

Flashing into the dark.27

And then to awake，and the farm，like a wanderer white

With the dew，come back，28 the cock on his shoulder：29 it was all

Shining，it was Adam and maiden，30

The sky gathered again^31

And the sun grew round that very day.

So it must have been after the birth of the simple light^32

In the first，spinning place，33 the spellbound horses^34 walking warm

Out of the whinnying green stable^35

On to the fields of praise.36

And honoured among foxes and pheasants^37 by the gay house

Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long，38

In the sun born over and over，39

I ran my heedless ways，

My wishes raced through the house high hay

And nothing I cared，at my sky blue trades，40 that time allows

In all his tuneful turning so few^41 and such morning songs

Before the children green and golden^42

Follow him out of grace，43

Nothing I cared，in the lamb white days，44 that time would take me

Up to the swallow thronged loft^45 by the shadow of my hand，46

In the moon that is always rising，

Nor that riding to sleep

I should hear him fly with the high fields^47

And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.48

Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means，

Time held me green and dying^49

Though I sang in my chains like the sea.50

【题解】

这首《蕨山》创作于1945年，是诗人成熟之后的作品，描绘了少年时代曾在姑妈农场家中度过的美好时光。此诗重现了其早期诗体和音韵的特色，但摒弃了前期创作中刻意追求新奇，极力超凡脱俗的斧凿之痕。此诗意象生动，语言平易，虽然有些遣词和结构有些创新，但是总体并不艰涩和怪异。全诗诗句如行云流水，写得酣畅潇洒，充满了童年时代美好回忆和情趣。诗中描绘的田园风光，色彩鲜艳，种种景象，都给人以一幅幅油画的视觉享受。此诗不像他的其他诗那样费解，读者不难体会和理解诗人的用意，深切感受其激情的冲击。《蕨山》的意象极为丰富，互相衬托，甚至冲撞。这首诗标点简约，一定程度上造成了语义含混，无论是诗行的间断还是上下行文的连接过渡，都留下了很多玩味的空间。读者在反复诵读中，可不断挖掘诗中丰富的内涵，以及结构和遣词的多重含义。此处提供的诠释，仅供参考。读者自裁的余地很大，不必拘泥于一种或两种解释。诗人曾在给友人的一封信中说：“我造就一个意象，虽然‘造就’一词并不确切。也许我是让一个意象在我自己的情感中油然而生，然后，我再以自己所拥有的智慧和批评能力，和这个意象契合 —— 让这个意象生成另一个意象，让那个意象和第一个意象发生矛盾，把这两个意象结合起来，组成第三个意象，并从第三个意象中再造就和它相矛盾的第四个意象，从而让所有这些意象在我设定的形式界限内，互相碰撞冲突。”（I make one image — though ‘make’ is not the right words：I let，perhaps，an image be ‘made’ emotionally in me and then apply to it what intellectual and critical forces I possess — let it breed another，let that image contradict the first，make，of the third image bred out of the other two together，a fourth contradictory image，and let them all，within my imposed formal limits，conflict.） 托马斯这番话，对于理解他的这首诗，是很有帮助的。

【注释】

1.About the lilting house：和上行under the apple boughs作为一个意群，可以指苹果树环绕着欢愉的农家房子，也可以单独作为一个介词词组，前面省去and，即under the apple boughs andabout the lilting house； About：around，如下About the happy yard； lilting：cheerful. 按：年轻的托马斯在苹果树底下，就像受诱惑之前的亚当在伊甸园的智慧树底下，处于天真烂漫的年代。

2.as the grass was green：从结构上讲，I was young and easy ... and happy as the grass was green是一个有机的整体，诗人年轻、潇洒（easy），如碧草鲜嫩。诗人把自己和绿草相比，给草也赋予了意识。注意grass was green押头韵；green 有多种含义：youthful，vigorous，immature，etc. 第二节中as I was green and carefree 将扩展green的含义。

3.The night above the dingle starry：这是一个独立结构，即The night being starry above the dingle，or The night above the dingle being starry； dingle：valley or dell，山谷。

4.Time let me hail and climb ... eyes：意为自己方富于年 （golden in the heydays of his time），处于风华正茂之时，可纵情欢呼 （hail），憧憬未来，奋发向上（climb）；his：指time。从句子结构上看，这是主句，as I was young and easy是状语从句。按：这首诗的关键词是time和green，强调时间给人予青春和最终剥夺人生命的力量。这一节里的golden 和green所表达的意象，在以下两节中继续延伸。

5.honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns：诗人少年时代在亲戚家小住，成了当地人的贵客，无论是坐着马车还是到满栽着苹果树的小镇山去玩，都受到上宾待遇，切身感受到小乡镇热情好客和纯朴的民风。

6.once below a time：从once upon a time脱胎而来，诙谐的表达方式； once upon a time，曾几何时，讲的是过去的事情，而诗人杜撰的once below a time，则似乎更强调了往昔和现在的联系。

7.lordly：和prince相呼应，诗人似乎是这里的主宰，拥有这里美好的一切。

8.Trail：to walk or move slowly，（循着滋蔓的山楂花和大麦）沿着河流（down the rivers）缓缓地往前走，优哉游哉。

9.rivers of the windfall light：洒满阳光的河流； windfall：（1） something （as a tree or fruit） blown down by the wind，（2） an unexpected，sudden gain，表示阳光直泻而下，也隐含了作者在这里得到了意想不到的收获，既有精神上的也有感官上的享受。

10.About the happy yard：among the barns About the happy yard 的结构和上面under the apply boughs About the lilting house一样，也可以视为among the barns andabout the happy yard。

11.In the sun that is young once only：曾经是年轻的太阳，换言之，即使太阳都不会永远年轻。

12.Golden in the mercy of his means：将时间拟人化，和第一节Golden in the heydays of his eyes相呼应，但是诗人此时更多地意识到，青春在“时间”的掌控之中，目前的heydays不可能永远如此。

13.And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman：注意押头韵。

14.the calves ... horn：我吹着号角，牛群应声欢叫。

15.barked clear and cold：狐狸嚎叫和狗叫一样，都是bark，但是狐狸不像狗那样和人亲近，听起来cold，冷漠和疏远。

16.the sabbath rang slowly ... streams：诗人在纵情嬉戏之中，尽情享受青春愉悦之际，听到了安息日教堂的钟声，不由得产生敬畏之感； 钟声贴着河流中的鹅卵石慢慢地传送出去。这里把两种宗教糅合在一起，即基督教（sabbath）和古希腊、古罗马时期的异教（pagan） 。异教崇尚自然，认为河流是神圣的，故称holy stream。

17.All the sun long it was running：All the sun long：乃诗人杜撰，从all day long脱胎而来，形象活泼，富有诗意； it：所指不确，似乎可指sun，但是意思不难理解，时光在流逝。

18.hay Fields：the hay in the fields，地里扎的草堆。按：欧洲农村里把割下的草扎成一个个堆，堆在地里，是冬天里牛羊的饲料。不是农田 （fields） 而是草堆 （hay）像屋子一样高。

19.tunes from the chimneys：袅袅炊烟； tune：农家炊烟悠悠地升向天空，像是一个优美的曲调。

20.air：tune or melody，空气中的袅袅炊烟，变成了形象的乐曲。

21.fire green as grass：农家炉膛里的火，熊熊燃烧，就像绿草一样生气盎然。按：All the sun long ... green as grass这四行诗句中集中了很多意象，表现了乡村恬静、纯朴、活泼的景象：田野里干草蓄积，高过农舍，农家炊烟袅袅，炉火正旺，歌声笑语，此起彼伏，村边溪流潺潺，这一切生气盎然，犹如绿草茵茵，勃发生机。但是诗人表现的手法不落窠臼，甚至有违常理。读者不必拘泥于一词一句的语法结构或逻辑关系，应该从复杂甚至一系列冲突的意象中，体会纯朴而丰富的田园生活。

22.simple stars：星星也显得纯朴； simple：free from vanity.

23.As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away：当我入睡之时，猫头鹰叫声催人入眠，好像把农庄都带走了。这里用了两个逆向表达形式，诗人不是fell to sleep，而是rode to sleep，不是猫头鹰催人入眠的叫声把他送入梦乡，带离了农庄，而是把农庄从他那里带走了。按：ride （rode to sleep） 和前面climb相呼应。

24.All the moon long：和all the sun long相对应。

25.nightjar：goatsucker，欧夜莺。

26.ricks：干草堆，此句意为欧夜莺围着干草堆飞来飞去。

27.Flashing into the dark：形容马一闪而过，消失在黑暗中。

28.the farm，like a wonderer white ... back：承接上节，醒来之后，农庄好像又回来了。这里有双重意思：其一是，这个乡村像一位“浪游者”（wanderer），披着白色的晨雾； 其二是，诗人把这里比作伊甸园，white象征纯洁。

29.the cock on his shoulder：拟人化表现手法，农庄像人，公鸡在他肩上啼叫。

30.Adam and maiden：Adam and Eve； 把他所在的农庄比喻为伊甸园，亚当和夏娃生活其间。用maiden不仅音韵上较好，也强调了农村女性的纯洁。

31.The sky gathered again：天亮破晓，云朵积聚。

32.the birth of the simple light：《旧约·创世记》（Genesis ） 1：3：And the God said，let there be light，and there was light. （神说：“要有光”，就有了光。） 此句表示这里好像和初创的伊甸园一样，没有变化。

33.spinning place：指旋转的地球。

34.spellbound horses：群马好像被魔鬼驱使，中了邪一样。

35.whinnying green stable：马厩不会嘶叫 （whinny）； whinnying：在此修饰stable，在修辞学上称为移就格（hypallage），参见本书琼生诗To Celia （I）注释9，第124页。

36.fields of praise：唱圣诗的田野； 美好的田园像是唱赞美诗的殿堂。

37.honoured among foxes and pheasants：第一节里讲受到村民的欢迎，这里又得到鸟兽的欢迎。

38.happy as the heart was long：高兴而又充满着向往。

39.In the sun born over and over：前面讲到太阳已经不再年轻，此处又说太阳落而复出，当时无所顾忌，以为来日方长，不必过虑。

40.at my sky blue trades：蓝天般的自由自在的生活； trade：a course of action or conduct； mode of procedure or life； habit，practice； 这里指诗人每天习以为常的生活和娱乐活动。

41.times allows ... few：这样自由自在的生活很稀罕，时光并不多给； tuneful turning：时光每日周而复始，交接得像音乐一样有节奏。

42.children green and golden：充满青春和金色的童年； 再次强调绿色。

43.Follow him out of grace：跟着时间失去青睐； him：指time。

44.in the lamb white days：年轻纯洁如小羊羔。

45.loft：屋子的阁楼或教堂顶层的钟楼。燕子爱在这些地方做窝或挤在那里。

46.by the shadow of my hand：作者的想象，时光不是直接拉着我的手，而是拉着我手的影子，带我上了高处。

47.fly with the high fields：和前面第26行As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away相呼应，在睡眠之中听到时光带走了农田。

48.forever fled from the childless land：一觉醒来，回到农场，但是永远离开了这成了一片没有儿童的土地。意为已经青春不再。

49.Time held me green and dying：时间给予我青春，也会使我死亡。

50.I sang in my chains like the sea：人生受到种种限制，犹如带上锁链，但是“我”还是不停地歌唱，像大海一样，一波又一波。按：此诗的最后一节着重渲染了“时间”的概念，时间给予青春，也控制人的生命，故green和 dying 既互相冲突，又相一致。

Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night，1

Old age should burn and rave 2 at close of day；

Rage，rage against the dying of the light. 3

Though wise men 4 at their end know dark is right，

Because their words had forked no lightning^5 they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men，6 the last wave by， 7 crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay，

Rage，rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men^8 who caught and sang the sun in flight，

And learn，too late，they grieve it on its way，9

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men，10 near death，who see with blinding sight^11

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay，

Rage，rage against the dying of the light.

And you，my father，there on the sad height， 12

Curse，bless，13 me now with your fierce tears，I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage，rage against the dying of the light.

【题解】

诗人的父亲托马斯（D.J. Thomas）曾在斯旺西（Swansea）文法学校 （即中学） 讲授英国文学。他一生强健，富有斗志，八十之后失明，身体虚弱。托马斯此诗作于其父弥留之际，祈求父亲在死亡降临之时依然保持当年斗志。本诗发表之后，好评如潮，此后一直为现代诗集选编者所重，几乎是必选之作。诗人对即将离开人世，且已不省人事的父亲传递了一个强烈的信息，通过不同人等在走进死亡的“良夜”之前的行动和感受，希望父亲展开最后一搏，死亡的良夜再好，也不能温和地走进去。此诗立意深刻，结构严谨，遣词精当。诗人表达了把悲痛转化为寄托，接受死亡这一最终的归宿，而又珍爱生命，不向死亡屈服的情感。此诗采用的是回文诗（villanelle），其中Do not go gentle into that good night 和Rage，rage against the dying of light这两句迭唱一再回响，哀而不伤，悲而不戚。

【注释】

1.Do not go gentle into that good night：go gentle：go in a gentle manner。起始为祈使句，希望父亲在死亡到来之时不要轻易放弃生命。按：go作为特殊联系动词，和形容词结合，如go global，go crazy，go blind等等。此处 go是不及物动词，按语法常规应为go gently，但go gentle 比go gently声韵上更好。诗人认为生命和死亡都是人生的必然现象，死亡固然可恶，但也象征着新的生命的起点，故称死亡为good night，良夜。

2.burn and rave：（人到老年依然应当）发光、发热，充满热情； burn：和第4行dark相呼应； rave：to rage，to write or speak with extreme enthusiasm；参见济慈（John Keats）的诗《忧郁颂》（或译《忧郁感怀》）（Ode on Melancholy ）：Emprison her soft hand，and let her rave.

3.Rage，rage against the dying of the light：又是一句祈使句； rage：to behave or speak with passion，especially with furious anger against； 诗人表明不能逆来顺受地接受失去光明，走入死亡的黑夜，和上面burn and rave相呼应。

4.wise men：智者，有学问者，故对于失去表达能力十分痛惜，见下。

5.forked no lightning：闪电时发出的叉状电光； 此处意为语不惊人。

6.Good men：善良者，不见得是强者，故他们一生中的善行十分脆弱（frail deeds）。

7.the last wave by：结构似乎可以是by the last wave，也可以是the last wave going by，但是意思很清楚，比喻乘着人生的最后一次波浪。此句谓好人虽然做的事很容易烟消云散，但是在生命的最后一刻也要大声呼喊，宣称他们的业绩像海湾里的闪耀的阳光那样光彩夺目。

8.Wild men：狂放不羁者。这些人放荡不羁，达观行乐，好像能抓住在运行的太阳（sun in flight）。

9.grieve it on its way：悲伤地看着太阳走完一天的行程，和caught and sang the sun in flight 相对照。此处太阳是象征，代表时光，隐含人生。人生一路过来，看似快乐，但是最后发现其实是苦中作乐，一直是在难受中打发时光。

10.Grave men：严谨矜持的人； grave作名词为坟墓，一语双关。

11.blinding sight：失明的视觉； 失明的视觉是自相矛盾的表述，语法上称为oxymoron。非常严谨的人在临死时也会感到失明的双眼可以像流星那样放光。

12.sad height：人生结束等于达到至高点，故称height，但是生命走到尽头，潜力挖尽，所以sad。

13.Curse，bless：诗人情感复杂，不能简单地理解为诗人祈求让父亲既为其祝福，又叫他诅咒自己；Curse：是对死亡和命运的诅咒，也表示诗人希望父亲能放声呼喊（yell at me，scream at me）。又，Curse 和 bless之后都用逗号把me点开，暗示省略了其他的动词。

PHILIP LARKIN

菲力浦·拉金

（1922—1985）

【作者与作品简介】

拉金是二次世界大战以后涌现出来的优秀诗人。许多评论者认为，五十年代以来英国出了两个大诗人：一个是塔特·休斯，一个就是拉金。

他上过牛津大学圣约翰学院，同学中有金斯莱·艾米斯和约翰·韦恩。这两人虽以写小说著名，也写过诗，而在诗艺上视拉金为长兄。这些人合起来，成为一个名叫“运动”的诗派，在五十年代有点声势。

拉金成名于“福利国家”时期，他的同伴是一些对政治有幻灭感的“愤怒的年轻人”，他自己也无特别的热情，但关心社会生活的格调，喜欢冷眼观察世态，而在技巧上则一反流行于五十年代之初的狄兰·托马斯等人的浪漫化倾向，回头去师法哈代，务求写得具体、准确。这两点——社会观察的细致和写法上的反浪漫化——使他成为一个很好的世态记录者。

以他最有名的诗篇《降灵节婚礼》为例，他写铁路沿线的英国情况，着墨不多，而英国的病态历历在目：

浮着工业废品的运河，

……没有风格的新城，

用整片的废汽车来迎接我们。

而人物呢？

一些笑着的亮发姑娘，

她们学着时髦，高跟鞋又加面纱，

怯生生地站在月台上

这是新娘们。她们的家属则是：

穿套装的父亲，腰系一根宽皮带，

额角上全是皱纹；爱嚷嚷的胖母亲；

大声说着脏话的舅舅……

对于这样一些人组成的英国社会，诗人当然是提不起什么兴致的。因此他的语言也是平淡的，闲话式的，他的韵律也是低调的，有嘲讽式的倒顶点，而无高昂的咏叹调。

拉金的笔下几乎不见一片绿叶，不是他不爱田园，而是他知道这一切“在消失中”（这正是他的一首诗的题目），他眼见即将来临的命运是：

这样，英格兰也就消失，

连同树影，草地，小巷，

连同市政厅，雕花的教堂唱诗台；

会有一些书收进画廊传世，

但是对于我们这一帮，

只留下混凝土和车胎。

没有掩饰，没有原谅，没有迁就，这就是当代的英国写照，这也是真正的当代英语诗。

这样的诗，还有读头么？华兹华斯的恬淡何在？雪菜的激情何在？济慈的乐歌何在？整个英国诗的优美的抒情传统又何在？

拉金的成功正在于：在浪漫派的感情泛滥之后，在现代派的技巧与理论泛滥之后，在奥登一代的政治热情膨胀之后，特别是在狄兰·托马斯的符咒式的狂歌之后，他能头脑冷静地以哈代为师，从写实入手，用一种硬朗的机智建立了一代新的英国诗风。

因为他不仅深有所感，而且很会写诗。他老练而又善于创新。老练在于他对于形式的驾驭。他的所有诗篇都是形式完整，层次分明的；又在于他对于口语体的掌握，几乎全用闲谈语气，然而又精练、简洁。他也继承了现代派诗对于形象和具体场景的关注，以至写出了这样的传神之笔：

无帽可脱，我摘下

裤腿上的自行车夹子，不自然地表示敬重。

但是他又不炫新奇，坚韧地走自己的路，力求写得真实，写得准确，同时又注意气氛、联想、余音，避免照相式的写实。因此，他虽写的是有点灰色的当代英国社会，他的诗却不是灰色的。人们倒是发现：他的诗里有一种新的品质，即心智和感情上的诚实。《上教堂》就是一例。它写出了二十世纪中叶英国青年知识分子对宗教的看法：并不重视，认为教堂将为时间所淘汰，但最后却来了这么一段自白：

说真的，虽然我不知道

这发霉臭的大仓库有多少价值，

我倒是喜欢在寂静中站在这里。

原因是：人有一种饥饿，要求生活中有点严肃的东西。这就是诚实。表现上的准确也是一种诚实，拉金的技巧是与拉金的内容一致的。而准确是一种当代品质，科学技术要求准确，准确也是一种新的美：运算的准确、设计的准确、施工的准确，都是美的。就诗而论，在多年的象征和咏叹之后，来了一位用闲谈口气准确地写出五十年代中叶英国的风景、人物和情感气候的诗人，是一个大的转变。也许可以说：拉金和他的诗友们做了一件早就该做的事，那就是：以不同于美国诗的方式写出了一种新的英国诗，这样也就结束了从二十年代起就开始树立于英国诗坛的现代主义统治。

王佐良

Church Going

Once I am sure there's nothing going on

I step inside，1 letting the door thud shut.

Another church：matting，seats，and stone，

And little books； sprawlings of flowers，cut

For Sunday，2 brownish now； some brass and stuff

Up at the holy end； the small neat organ；

And a tense，musty，unignorable silence，

Brewed God knows how long. Hatless，I take off

My cycle-clips^3 in awkward reverence.

Move forward，run my hand around the font.4

From where I stand，the roof looks almost new —

Cleaned，or restored？ Someone would know：I don't.

Mounting the lectern，I peruse a few

Hectoring large-scale verses，5 and pronounce

‘Here endeth’6 much more loudly than I'd meant.

The echoes snigger briefly.7 Back at the door

I sign the book，donate an Irish sixpence，8

Reflect^9 the place was not worth stopping for.

Yet stop I did：in fact I often do，

And always end much at a loss like this，

Wondering what to look for； wondering，too，

When churches will fall completely out of use

What we shall turn them into，if we shall keep

A few cathedrals chronically on show，

Their parchment，plate and pyx^10 in locked cases，

And let the rest rent-free to rain and sheep.11

Shall we avoid them as unlucky places？

Or，after dark，will dubious women come

To make their children touch a particular stone；12

Pick simples^13 for a cancer； or on some

Advised night see walking a dead one？

Power of some sort will go on

In games，in riddles，seemingly at random；

But superstition，like belief，must die，

And what remains when disbelief has gone？

Grass，weedy pavement，brambles，14 buttress，15 sky，

A shape less recognisable each week，

A purpose more obscure. I wonder who

Will be the last，the very last，to seek

This place for what it was； one of the crew

That tap and jot and know what rood-lofts^16 were？

Some ruin-bibber，randy for antique，17

Or Christmas-addict，counting on a whiff

Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh？18

Or will he be my representative，

Bored，uninformed，knowing the ghostly silt

Dispersed，19 yet tending to this cross of ground

Through suburb scrub^20 because it held unspilt

So long and equably what since is found

Only in separation — marriage，and birth，

And death，and thoughts of these^21 — for which was built

This special shell？ For，though I've no idea

What this accoutred frowsty barn^22 is worth，

It pleases me to stand in silence here；

A serious house on serious earth it is，

In whose blent air all our compulsions meet，23

Are recognized，and robed as destinies.

And that much never can be obsolete，

Since someone will forever be surprising

A hunger in himself to be more serious，

And gravitating with it to this ground，

Which，he once heard，was proper to grow wise in，

If only that so many dead lie round.24

【题解】

拉金的《上教堂》几乎是所有诗集的必选之作。这首诗里提出的问题是：“上教堂”这个延续了上千年的活动，到了战后五十时代，到底还有多少意义？ 拉金所处的时代，西方世界面临各种复杂的社会问题，基督教信仰遇到前所未有的挑战。宗教热情的减退，使教堂成了“一个装满货架的发出霉味的大仓库”。诗人站在空旷的大教堂里，感到人们上教堂似乎与宗教没有多大关系，但最后的结论是，人总有内在的渴望，并被吸引到这个使人 “变得明智的地方”。拉金是个带有悲观主义色彩的诗人，他对社会和宗教的观点较为复杂，不能简单地认为这首诗说明他在否定教堂或宗教存在的必要。他曾说：“是上教堂去，不是奔着宗教去。我试图通过诗的标题来提示这一点 —— 上教堂所代表的人类生活中重要阶段的连结，如出生、结婚和死亡。”（Going to church，not religion. I tried to suggest this by the title — and the union of the important stages of human life — birth，marriage and death — that going to church represents.）他也许并未真正找到教堂的全部含义，“他曾听说” （he once heard）这个插入语，透露出他思想深处的疑问。

【注释】

1.Once I am sure there's nothing going on ... inside：“我”要确认教堂里牧师不在讲道、做礼拜或其他活动，才走进去。强调他来教堂和一般所谓 “上教堂” 的含义不同。

2.sprawlings of flowers，cut ... Sunday：四处撒落的为星期日采摘的鲜花； cut flowers：采摘的鲜花，盆栽的花称 pot flowers。

3.cycle-clips：（骑自行车时用的） 裤管夹子。

4.the font：a receptacle for baptismal water or holy water，圣水器，洗礼盘。

5.Hectoring large-scale verses：字大得吓人的诗篇；Hectoring：intimidating，源于Hector，荷马史诗《伊利亚特》（Iliad ） 中的特洛伊英雄，力大无穷。

6.‘Here endeth’：到此结束，牧师讲道的结束语； endeth：ends. 此处谓谁都可以像牧师那样去讲道，也暗示教堂似乎可以休矣。

7.The echoes snigger briefly：“回声窃笑” 的言外之意是，‘Here endeth’ 之后，尚有余音，不可就此休矣。

8.donate an Irish sixpence：六个便士数量既少，又是爱尔兰钱币，有点不伦不类。这和第九行in awkward reverence 表达的情绪一致。

9.Reflect：realize，consider.

10.parchment，plate and pyx：parchment：羊皮纸； 写在羊皮纸上的文稿； plate：餐具； pyx：圣体容器，放圣饼 （wafers）的盆子。按：餐具和圣饼盆大多是精制的金器或银器，这些都是进行“圣餐”仪式时所用的器皿，视为神圣，凡人不得触动。

11.let the rest rent-free to rain and sheep：其他东西则任凭风吹雨淋，或让教区居民（sheep）随便动用。

12.a particular stone：一块墓碑。

13.simples：a medicinal plant，a vegetable drug having only one ingredient，药草，因只有一种成分，故称simples。

14.brambles：a rough prickly shrub or vine，荆棘。

15.buttress：扶壁，支柱。

16.rood-lofts：a gallery over the rood-screen，中世纪教堂中的楼座，位于合唱队席位和中殿（座位在部分）的间隔（rood-screen） 之上。楼座用来放置十字架 （rood），并在此诵读福音书。

17.Some ruin-bibber，randy for antique：有些古玩迷，贪求古董； randy：原意为lustful，lecherous，此处转指贪婪的，狂热的。

18.myrrh：没药，一种香料，可用来做焚香。《新约· 马太福音》（Matthew ）2：11：they presented unto him gifts，gold，and frankincense，and myrrh.

19.knowing the ghostly silt Dispersed：知道 （教堂废弃之后） 废墟的尘埃鬼似地四散飘落。喻教堂传统的宗教价值荡然无存。

20.tending to this cross of ground ... scrub：穿过郊外的灌木丛，来关注这块地方； tending to：paying attention to，applying oneself to； cross of ground：地上的十字架，谓教堂已经消失。

21.it held unspilt ... these：教堂在漫长的时间里始终如一地将婚姻、新生和死亡维系其中，而此后这一切只是发生在离散之中。

22.this accoutred frowsty barn：（教堂像个）内有各种装饰的、散发着霉变气味的大仓库；accoutred：to provide with equipment or furnishings； frowsty：frowsy，musty，stale.

23.In whose blent air all our compulsions meet：我们所有难以压制的冲动都集中在（教堂里）混杂的空气中。人们到教堂里来，都有各种精神上的迫切需求。

24.so many dead lie round：教堂旁边的墓地里葬着很多死人。

Poetry of Departure

Sometimes you hear，fifth-hand，1

As epitaph：2

He chucked up everything

And just cleared off，3

And always the voice will sound

Certain you approve

This audacious，purifying，

Elemental move.4

And they are right，I think.

We all hate home

And having to be there：

I detect my room，

It's specially-chosen junk，

The good books，the good bed，

And my life，in perfect order：5

So to hear it said

He walked out on the whole crowd

Leaves me flushed and stirred，

Like Then she undid her dress

OrTake that you bastard；

Surely I can，if he did？

And that helps me to stay

Sober and industrious.

But I'd go today，

Yes，swagger the nut-strewn roads，6

Crouch in the fo'c'sle^7

Stubbly with goodness，8 if

It weren't so artificial，

Such a deliberate step backwards^9

To create an object：

Books； china； a life

Reprehensibly perfect.10

【题解】

拉金对“抛弃一切，一走了之” 这种遁世的观念作了一番剖析，充分反映了人们对现实生活的矛盾心理。

【注释】

1.fifth-hand：经过五次转手，喻经过多人传言。

2.As epitaph：像墓志铭那样流传。墓志铭都用严肃庄重的文体记叙死者生前的突出事迹，故多为溢美之词，缺乏可信度。萨克雷 （W.M. Thackeray） 在《名利场》（Vanity Fair ） 中说：“［S］choolmistresses’ letters are to be trusted no more nor less than churchyard epitaphs.” 以下两行故意用口语体。

3.He chucked up everything ... off ：诗中斜体均为墓志铭的碑文。这两行谓他放弃一切，就这么走了； chuck up：abandon，give up； clear off：go away，depart.

4.This audacious，purifying ... move：这种大胆的、净化的、根本的举动；purifying：净化灵魂； Elemental：essential.

5.And my life，in perfect order：此句写出 “我” 的矛盾心态。

6.swagger the nut-strewn roads：swagger on the nut-strewn roads，大摇大摆地走在撒满干果的路上。

7.Crouch in the fo'c'sle：似乎是指在游艇上享受；fo'c'sle：forecastle，前甲板。

8.Stubbly with goodness：尽是美好的事物；Stubbly：like or covered with stubble，像谷茬那样密密麻麻的。按：第26—28行都是不现实的幻想。

9.a deliberate step backwards：指回到自己原来的生活。

10.Reprehensibly perfect：不值得称道的，甚至应该遭到痛批的完美； 呼应第15行And my life，in perfect order。

Home

Home is so sad. It stays as it was left，

Shaped in the comfort of the last to go^1

As if to win them back. Instead，bereft

Of anyone to please，it withers so，

Having no heart to put aside the theft.2

And turn again to what it started as，

A joyous shot at how things ought to be，3

Long fallen wide.4 You can see how it was：

Look at the pictures and the cutlery.

The music^5 in the piano stool. That vase.

【题解】

《家》写得明确而又含蓄。其明确，在于读之似乎洞见底蕴：人去楼空，家中陈设如故，却荡然若劫。其含蓄，则在于暗示家庭的离散，但一字不露家人何以离去的原因。最后白描式的一句：“钢琴架上的乐谱。那花瓶。” 睹物思情，无限惆怅。读者可比较拉金喜爱的诗人哈代的诗The Self-Unseeing，体会相似而又相异的情感。

【注释】

题目：Home 一般表示家，家庭，而house 则表示屋子。但是，home 也可以表示房子，如购房者称home-buyer，故诗中的home 两种含义兼而有之。中文有 “家室”一词，偏重指家庭，妻子儿女，即family，强调“室”对“家”之重要。

1.Shaped in the comfort of the last to go：家中陈设，是根据最后一位离去者舒适的要求而布置的。

2.Having no heart to put aside the theft：家人离去犹如遭窃； 屋似有情，对家中“遭劫”，难于释怀。

3.A joyous shot at how things ought to be：开始建立家庭之时有美好的设想； shot：attempt.

4.Long fallen wide：当时想命中的目标 （a joyous shot） 早就偏离得远远的。

5.music：乐谱。

Water

If I were called in

To construct a religion^1

I should make use of water.

Going to church

Would entail a fording

To dry，different clothes；2

My litany^3 would employ

Images of sousing，4

A furious devout drench，

And I should raise in the east

A glass of water^5

Where any-angled light

Would congregate endlessly.6

【题解】

这首短诗看似简单，寓意却不一般。水是基督教中重要的神圣的象征，圣水，洗礼，都离不开水。诗人要赋予水一种新的意义，使之区别于传统基督教的，但似仍未根本与之脱离，而只是多了一点世俗的成分。

【注释】

1.To construct a religion：创立一个宗教； construct：因其需要用具体的材料即水来创立新的宗教，故云construct。

2.Going to church ... clothes：按其创立的宗教，上教堂需要涉水，到目的地后就会穿上干的、不同的衣服。此处有两层含义：其一，班杨（John Bunyan） 的《天路历程》（The Pilgrim's Progress ） 中描述基督徒看到天城（Celestial City） 遥遥在望，但有深水之流阻隔，亦无桥梁。正在无可奈何之时，突然想起《旧约·以赛亚书》（Isaiah ）43：2上的许诺：When you pass through the waters，I will be with you； and through the rivers，they will not overflow you. （你从水中经过，我必与你同在； 你趟过江河，水必不漫过你。） 故虽系新创之教，仍有渡水之考验。其二，基督教中的洗礼表示和耶稣同死，然后同生。《新约·罗马书》（Romans ） 6：3—4：Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death？ Therefore，we have been buried with Him through baptism into death，in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father，so we too might walk in newness of life.（岂不知我们这受洗归入基督耶稣的人是受洗他的死吗？ 所以，我们借着洗礼归入死，和他一同埋葬，原是叫我们一举一动有新生的式样，像基督借着父亲的荣耀从死里复活一样。）

3.litany：a prayer consisting of a series of invocations and supplications by the leader with alternate responses by the congregation，连祷，应答祈祷。

4.sousing：plunging in liquid，immersing，投入水中，浸入水中。

5.I should raise in the east ... water：关于 “在东方举起一杯水” 的含义，评论家颇多猜测。似有意和西方的基督教相区别。但是，亦有借东方太阳升起时举杯观水的意象。

6.any-angled light ... endlessly：指这杯水像三棱镜，但不是分出光谱，而是把各个角度的光永远地集中起来； congregate：to come together into a group，crowd，or assembly，基督教中的教区。

Faith Healing

Slowly the women file to where he stands

Upright in rimless glasses，silver hair，

Dark suit，white collar. Stewards^1 tirelessly

Persuade them onwards to his voice and hands，

Within whose warm spring rain of loving care

Each dwells some twenty seconds.2 Now，dear child，3

What's wrong，the deep American voice demands，4

And，scarcely pausing，goes into a prayer

Directing God about this eye，that knee.5

Their heads are clasped abruptly； then，exiled^6

Like losing thoughts，they go in silence； some

Sheepishly stray，not back into their lives

Just yet；7 but some stay stiff，twitching and loud

With deep hoarse tears，as if a kind of dumb

And idiot child within them still survives

To re-awake at kindness，thinking a voice

At last calls them alone，that hands have come

To lift and lighten；8 and such joy arrives

Their thick tongues blort，9 their eyes squeeze grief，a crowd

Of huge unheard answers jam and rejoice —

What's wrong！ Moustached^10 in flowered frocks they shake：

By now，all's wrong. In everyone there sleeps

A sense of life lived according to love.11

To some it means the difference they could make

By loving others，but across most it sweeps

As all they might have done had they been loved.

That nothing cures. An immense slackening ache，

As when，thawing，the rigid landscape weeps，

Spreads slowly through them^12 — that，and the voice above

Saying Dear child，and all time has disproved.

【题解】

有些人宣扬宗教信仰具有医疗作用，甚至说得神乎其神。亦有人引证《新约》耶稣为人治病的传说，以证明信仰的疗效。拉金这首诗，妙在并不直接去评论信仰疗法是医术还是巫术，而是以旁观者的身份，来刻画信徒接受医疗之后的反应。诗人点出求医者的病因是生活中缺乏爱，特别是主动的爱。最后以神的声音来取代美国牧师的声音，留下了余音。

【注释】

1.Stewards：助手，帮助牧师维持秩序，引导病人排着队逐个接受治疗。

2.Each dwells some twenty seconds：每位求医者只有得到二十秒钟，治疗似乎草草了之。

3.Now，dear child ：这是牧师对教徒的口吻。

4.the deep American voice demands：说明是个美国牧师。据拉金在接受英国广播公司（BBC） 采访时说，他在一部文献片上看到过美国牧师作信仰治疗的镜头。美国牧师可能代表两层意思：其一，战后美国确立的全球主导地位使其成为强者的象征，只有美国能够治好欧洲的“病”； 其二，象征美国好莱坞影视界的演艺性，牧师治病像是演戏，是虚假的。

5.goes into a prayer ... knee：和《圣经》上所载不同，耶稣是给人治病，而这位牧师则是必须祈祷，求助于上帝。

6.exiled：挨个经过治疗之后，这些走开的人就像被流放了一样。

7.some ... yet：有些人胆怯地走开了，茫然若失，难于马上回到原来的生活或精神状态。

8.but some stay stiff，twitching and loud ... lighten：此句谓并不感到有疗效的病人不肯离去，期待着有声音呼唤她们回来，有双手将她们解脱（to lift and lighten）。

9.Their thick tongues blort：口中说话含糊不清；blort：（dialect England ）bellow，low，原指半低沉的叫声。

10.Moustached：这些女人脸上汗毛很浓。说明内分泌不是很正常。

11.In everyone there sleeps ... love：这些人的爱心在沉睡； 缺乏爱，故得病。

12.An immense slackening ache ... them：一种巨大的逐步减轻的疼痛在他们体内慢慢地渗透，就像融化的冰封大地在流泪。

The Whitsun Weddings

That Whitsun，1 I was late getting away：

Not till about

One-twenty on the sunlit Saturday

Did my three-quarters-empty train pull out，

All windows down，all cushions hot，all sense

Of being in a hurry gone. We ran

Behind the backs of houses，crossed a street

Of blinding windscreens，2 smelt the fish-dock； thence

The river's level drifting breadth began，3

Where sky and Lincolnshire^4 and water meet.

All afternoon，through the tall heat^5 that slept

For miles inland，

A slow and stopping curve southwards we kept.

Wide farms went by，short-shadowed cattle，6 and

Canals with floatings of industrial froth；

A hothouse flashed uniquely：hedges dipped

And rose：and now and then a smell of grass

Displaced the reek of buttoned carriage-cloth^7

Until the next town，new and nondescript，8

Approached with acres of dismantled cars.

At first，I didn't notice what a noise

The weddings made

Each station that we stopped at：sun destroys

The interest of what's happening in the shade，

And down the long cool platforms whoops and skirls^9

I took for porters larking with the mails，10

And went on reading. Once we started，though，

We passed them，grinning and pomaded，11 girls

In parodies of fashion，heels and veils，

All posed irresolutely，12 watching us go，

As if out on the end of an event

Waving goodbye

To something that survived it. Struck，I learnt

More promptly out next time，more curiously，13

And saw it all again in different terms：14

The fathers with broad belts under their suits

And seamy foreheads；15 mothers loud and fat；

An uncle shouting smut；16 and then the perms，17

The nylon gloves and jewellery-substitutes，18

The lemons，mauves，and olive-ochres^19 that

Marked off the girls unreally from the rest.

Yes，from cafés

And banquet-halls up yards，and bunting-dressed^20

Coach-party annexes，the wedding-days

Were coming to an end. All down the line^21

Fresh couples^22 climbed aboard：the rest stood round；

The last confetti^23 and advice were thrown，

And，as we moved，each face seemed to define

Just what it saw departing：24 children frowned

At something dull； fathers had never known

Success so huge and wholly farcical；

The women shared

The secret like a happy funeral；

While girls，gripping their handbags tighter，stared

At a religious wounding. Free at last，

And loaded with the sum of all they saw，

We hurried towards London，shuffling gouts of steam.

Now fields were building-plots，and poplars cast

Long shadows over major roads，and for

Some fifty minutes，that in time would seem

Just long enough to settle hats and say

I nearly died，25

A dozen marriages got under way.

They watched the landscape，sitting side by side

— An Odeon^26 went past，a cooling tower，

And someone running up to bowl^27 — and none

Thought of the others they would never meet

Or how their lives would all contain this hour.

I thought of London spread out in the sun，

Its postal districts packed like squares of wheat：

There we were aimed. And as we raced across

Bright knots of rail^28

Past standing Pullmans，29 walls of blackened moss

Came close，and it was nearly done，this frail

Travelling coincidence；30 and what it held

Stood ready to be loosed with all the power

That being changed can give.31 We slowed again，

And as the tightened brakes took hold，there swelled

A sense of falling，like an arrow-shower

Sent out of sight，somewhere becoming rain.

【题解】

《降临节婚礼》描述诗人在降临节前一天坐火车去伦敦，一路上在每个火车站见到举行降临节婚礼的新人和人群。他把所见的一切置于英国乡村和城镇的大背景下，刻画了英国社会生活中平庸、粗俗、颓败的一面。但人们置身于这样的环境之中，似乎并无不适的感觉，相反，表现出逢场作戏的情趣，处于喜庆和欢乐之中。婚礼象征新人新生活的起点，亦使繁芜人生得以继续，陈陈相因。诗人在口语般的叙述中展示了英国社会生活的不同角度和层次。

【注释】

题目：The Whitsun Weddings：降临节婚礼。降临节 （Whitsunday，或 Pentecost） 是基督教节期，复活节以后的第七个星期日，迎接圣灵降临。

1.That Whitsun：That：是副词，修饰形容词Whitsun，起强调作用，意为 “那样的降临节气氛”。

2.blinding windscreens：晃眼的汽车挡风玻璃。

3.The river's level drifting breadth began：河流（从上游下来）进入水面平趟而宽阔的河段。

4.Lincolnshire：林肯郡，位于英国东部。

5.tall heat：酷热； tall：incredible.

6.short-shadowed cattle：牛群背上碎影斑驳； short-shadowed：断断续续而不是连片的树阴。宋周邦彦词《风流子》：新绿小池塘，风帘动，碎影舞斜阳。按：所谓碎影，即此之谓。

7.the reek of buttoned carriage-cloth：系在座位上的座套发出的臭味。

8.nondescript：lacking distinguishing characteristics or a distinctive character，因无特征而难以形容的，平庸的。

9.skirls：a shrieking sound.

10.took for porters larking with the mails：猜想是搬运工和押邮车工人在打趣； took for：猜想，误认为。

11.pomaded：抹着润发油的； pomade：a fragrant usually medicated unguent for the hair or scalp.

12.posed irresolutely：手足无措，不知如何站立。

13.Struck，I learnt ... curiously：我产生了兴趣，以后每次就更加及时地，饶有兴趣地搞清楚是怎么回事； learnt：found out.

14.in different terms：以不同的形式。

15.seamy foreheads：布满皱纹的额头。

16.smut：粗话。

17.the perms：permanent wave，（女人烫发做成的） 发型。

18.jewellery-substitutes：假宝石，人造宝石。

19.lemons，mauves，and olive-ochres：柠檬色、淡紫色和黄褐色。

20.bunting-dressed：披挂着彩带。

21.All down the line：沿着这条铁路线。

22.Fresh couples：一对一对新婚夫妇。

23.confetti：tiny colored paper disks or paper streamers so made as to scatter readily when thrown as at carnivals，weddings，狂欢节、婚礼时投撒的五彩纸屑。按：婚礼仪式结束后，新郎新娘上车出外度蜜月，这时参加婚礼贺喜的宾客要向他们头上撒花。

24.each face seemed to define ... departing：每张脸上的表情，都反映出刚才所见的离别的情景。

25.I nearly died ：我快累死了。

26.Odeon：英国的一家连锁电影院。

27.running up to bowl：（板球运动员） 跑过去击球。

28.knots of rail：铁轨的交接处。

29.Pullmans：Pullman car or coach，一种座位舒适的卧车。

30.this frail ... coincidence：无足轻重的旅途巧合。

31.what it held ... give：旅行所包含的所有一切，都会以动态的力量松散开来。此句谓人生的旅程实际上包含着很多目的和意义，一旦到达目的地，就以一种巨大的力量四散开来，而这种力量只有在变动中才能形成。

Waiting for Breakfast

Waiting for breakfast，while she brushed her hair，1

I looked down at the empty hotel yard

Once meant for coaches.2 Cobblestones were wet，

But sent no light back to the loaded sky，3

Sunk as it was with mist down to the roofs.4

Drainpipes and fire-escape climbed up

Past rooms still burning their electric light：

I thought：Featureless morning，featureless night.5

Misjudgment：6 for the stones slept，and the mist

Wandered absolvingly past all it touched，7

Yet hung like a stayed breath；8 the lights burnt on，

Pin-points of undisturbed excitement； beyond the glass

The colourless vial of day painlessly spilled

My world back after a year，9 my lost lost world

Like a cropping deer strayed near my path again，10

Bewaring the mind's least clutch.11 Turning，I kissed her，

Easily for sheer joy tipping the balance to love.12

But，tender visiting，13

Fallow as a deer or an unforced field，14

How would you have me？ Towards your grace

My promises meet and lock and race like rivers，15

But only when you choose. Are you jealous of her？16

Will you refuse to come till I have sent

Her terribly away，importantly live

Part invalid，part baby，and part saint？17

【题解】

拉金这首诗表现了他的诗歌结束了叶芝阶段 （Yeatsian phase），树立了他自己的鲜明的风格，达到了新的水准。用他自己的话来说，他的“凯尔特热度已经消退了，病人睡得很香。”他在诗里反映了他顿然感悟到的冲突和启示。诗中之叙述者和女人度过一夜之后，在等她梳理头发的时候，透过一个年久的旅馆的窗户，看到外面的景象，激发起隐藏在内心深处的追求，一种使命感。诗人面对的是生活中冲突和两难的境地，无法确定如何取舍：爱情和事业，艺术生活的追求和平凡但不可或缺的日常生活。诗中用的很多意象都很有创意，独到，令人回味无穷。

【注释】

1.Waiting for breakfast，while she brushed her hair：等她梳理头发之后才用早餐。起首即言生活中平淡之事，暗示爱情的代价。

2.I looked down at the empty hotel yard ... coaches：说明这是一个年久的旅馆，同时因为无聊而观望窗外景色。

3.the loaded sky：阴沉的天空。

4.Sunk as it was with mist down to the roofs：阴霾随着浓雾一起降临到屋顶；Sunk：指的是sky。

5.Featureless morning，featureless night：乏味之晨和乏味之夜。

6.Misjudgment：“错误的判断” 显然是指在这个年久的旅馆里消磨一夜的事情。但for the stones slept etc. 似乎又表示这个错误的判断的原因在下面，即以下所述，想追求爱情生活，但窗外的情景又使他顾及其他。

7.Wandered absolvingly past all it touched：（浓雾）弥漫之处，好像开释了它所接触的一切； absolve：to free from a religious penalty，pardon，remit （a sin） by absolution. 谓浓雾拂过之处，好像要释放被遮盖的一切，但是却滞留不散。

8.hung like a stayed breath：像憋住的呼吸那样滞留着。

9.beyond the glass ... year：玻璃窗外，白日就像一个无色的水盘，把我的内心世界泼洒开来。喻打开他的心扉，想起往事和失去的世界 （my lost lost world）。

10.a cropping deer strayed near my path again：在草地里吃草的鹿； crop：to feed on grass，graze. 谓失去的世界就像一只在草地里吃草的鹿，不经意地闯到了我的跟前。

11.Bewaring the mind's least clutch：随时提防着被心灵抓住。鹿特别警惕，边吃草边注意周边动态，而他那失去的世界也像鹿那样，怕被抓住。

12.Turning，I kissed her ... love：Turning：当指这个女人转过头来。因此，亲吻她一下就很容易地使爱情的天平向他倾斜。

13.tender visiting：非常敏感的，或考虑周密的相会； tender：delicate，showing care or thoughtful consideration. 此处指他的使命，创作的追求。

14.Fallow as a deer or an unforced field：像一只没有怀胎的母鹿，或是未被耕作的土地； Fallow：not pregnant，uncultivated. 第19—20行的意思是：我并无任何内涵，亦未开化，“你”，即创作的灵感，怎么会需要我呢？实指我没有创作灵感。

15.My promises meet and lock and race like rivers：我的许诺像河流一样，汇集和连结在一起，奔流而下； lock：用船闸联通水位高度不同的河道。

16.Are you jealous of her：文学创作的使命嫉妒她 （爱情） 吗。

17.Will you refuse to come till I have sent ... saint：除非我把爱情送走，过着半是病人，半是婴儿，半是圣人的生活，你就拒绝到来吗？谓一旦告别爱情，他的生活也是不完整的。

Going，Going

I thought it would last my time —

The sense that，beyond the town，

There would always be fields and farms，

Where the village louts^1 could climb

Such trees as were not cut down；

I knew there'd be false alarms

In the papers about old streets

And split-level^2 shopping，but some

Have always been left so far；

And when the old parts retreat^3

As the bleak high-risers come

We can always escape in the car.

Things are tougher than we are，just

As earth will always respond

However we mess it about；4

Chuck filth in the sea，5 if you must：

The tides will be clean beyond.— But what do I feel now？ Doubt？

Or age，simply？6 The crowd

Is young in the M1 café；7

Their kids are screaming for more —

More houses，more parking allowed，

More caravan sites，8 more pay.

On the Business Page，9 a score

Of spectacled grins approve

Some takeover bid^10 that entails

Five per cent profit （and ten

Per cent more in the estuaries^11）：move

Your works^12 to the unspoilt dales

（Grey area grants^13）！ And when

You try to get near the sea

In summer ...

It seems，just now，

To be happening so very fast；

Despite all the land left free

For the first time I feel somehow

That it isn't going to last，

That before I snuff it，14 the whole

Boiling^15 will be bricked in^16

Except for the tourist parts —

First slum of Europe：a role

It won't be hard to win，

With a cast of crooks and tarts.17

And that will be England gone，

The shadows，the meadows，the lanes，

The guildhalls，18 the carved choirs.19

There'll be books； it will linger on

In galleries； but all that remains

For us will be concrete and tyres.

Most things are never meant.20

This won't be，most likely； but greeds

And garbage are too thick-strewn

To be swept up now，or invent

Excuses that make them all needs.

I just think it will happen，soon.

【题解】

战后英国面临巨大变化，传统正在消失。究竟这种变化是好是坏，诗人无法正面回答。但他看到年轻的一代和他有着不同的要求，对生活的看法有不同的角度。世事的进程从来也不是按照人的意志发展的，这是英国的现实，也是很多人必须接受的现实。

【注释】

1.the village louts：村民，乡巴佬； lout：an awkward clownish fellow，此处略带贬义，但也表示朴实，憨厚。

2.split-level：错层式房子。这种房子一般为两层楼房旁另接一层楼房，两座楼房的高度不同。

3.the old parts retreat：老城区消失。

4.earth will always respond ... about：我们破坏环境，但是地球总是会应对。谓地球有再生和自净能力。按：当时，污染的程度还没有现在这样严重，故地球自净能力尚能应付。

5.Chuck filth in the sea：随便把污秽之物扔到大海里； Chuck：to toss or jerk out of the hand，throw with a short action of the arm and usually in an easy or careless manner.

6.Or age，simply：或许只是因为我年纪大了。

7.M1 café：一号公路边上的咖啡馆； M：motorway.

8.caravan sites：停泊旅行车的停车场；caravan：a covered wagon or motor truck equipped as traveling living quarters，trailer，此处不是指车队，而是家庭用的配备各种生活设备的旅行车。

9.the Business Page：报刊杂志上的商业专页。

10.takeover bid：出价兼并企业。

11.estuaries：a water passage （as the mouth of a river） where the tide meets the current of a stream，江河入海口，港湾。

12.works：厂房，工厂。

13.Grey area grants：灰区，失业率较高的地区，可以得到政府的补贴。

14.snuff it：（slang ） die.

15.the whole Boiling：（archaic ） group，batch，lot，全部，全体。

16.bricked in：（所有的空地上，即all the land left free） 盖上房子等建筑物。

17.a cast of crooks and tarts：一批坏蛋和娼妓； crook：a person given to crooked or fraudulent practices，swindler，thief； tart：a wanton or loose girl or woman，prostitute.

18.guildhalls：the hall where a guild or corporation usually assembles，town hall，商会馆，市政厅。

19.the carved choirs：雕花的唱诗台； choir：the part of a church appropriated to the singers，一般指教堂的唱诗班，也指教堂里设的唱诗台。

20.Most things are never meant：大多数事情的发生并非出于人的本意。

TED HUGHES

塔特·休斯

（1930—1998）

【作者与作品简介】

休斯出生于约克郡密索姆罗亥德市。五十年代他在剑桥大学研读人类学、考古学期间与美国女诗人西尔维亚·普拉斯相识，于1956年结婚。这场姻缘证明是个不幸，普拉斯在1963年自杀身亡。休斯对莎士比亚有研究，编过一本莎氏选集（1971），也写诗论和儿童文学作品。他最新的作品是诗集《河》，1984年出版。

在英国当代诗人中，休斯是别树一帜的。他不同于菲力浦·拉金那一路诗人，他们以冷漠的口吻写平淡的生活场景，外加一点无可奈何的讥嘲和幽默。他用有力的笔触，愤激的情绪表现自然界、生物界和人世间的力量和抗争。他尤以写猛禽凶兽的动物诗著称。

休斯的动物诗具有现代风格：笔触锋利，基调沉郁，反映诗人对现代资本主义世界的一种虽不全面却持之有据的危机感。他特别热衷于写掠夺性的动物，迄今为止在动物诗方面他是以兀鹰开始（第一部诗集是《雨中的鹰》，1957），到乌鸦结束（《鸦》，1970）的。栖于高枝上的鹰，俯视世界，居然认为他的脚控制着乾坤，“我高兴时就捕杀，因为一切都属于我”，并且声称“我的举止就是把别个的脑袋撕下来——／分配死亡”，断言不允许世界有所改变。他写老鼠陷于捕鼠机中拼命挣扎，咬牙切齿地咒天骂地，仿佛要用叫骂声使天崩地裂。他写乌鸦以讽刺的态度驳斥上帝关于“爱”的说教（《乌鸦的第一课》），又如何在夏日炎炎的一片烈火中，用水灵灵、黑晶晶的瞳仁坚守自己的最后据点（《乌鸦的最后据点》）。在他的笔下，蓟是复仇的火焰，被人刈掉，又年复一年地在原地上厮杀过来（《蓟》）。自然界的风暴（《风》）和人间的对抗（《她的丈夫》）同样是充满着威胁和不安的。这里你再找不到浪漫化、理想化的云雀和夜莺了。

国外因此有人称休斯为“暴力”诗人，这话须得加点注释。休斯不是单纯地宣扬暴力，就连《栖息着的鹰》这首被不少人说成是描写“法西斯主义者”的诗，休斯本人也说：“事实上我想的是，在这只鹰身上是大自然在思索，简单说就是大自然自己。”不过他也确实意识到暴力问题的。第二次大战期间，他在英国空军服过役，经历过现代战争的残酷，也了解纳粹屠杀犹太人的内情和原子弹的肆虐，他痛感西方世界里，暴力几乎成了一个贯穿社会生活的突出问题，自然界和生物界的生存都已受到严重威胁，因此必须给予艺术的表达，以引起人们的警觉。在这种暴力描写的后面是有着他对世道人心的忧虑。《她的丈夫》所描绘的夫妻间的矛盾是以英国煤矿工人不断遭受解雇威胁和生活贫困为背景的。当然他并没有为我们安上什么光明的尾巴，但他的描写对象终究是他所在那个具体社会。

休斯的艺术手法不同于当前一般的英美诗人。他不用传统的格律体，也不用极不整齐的自由体，而用半格律、半自由的混合体。最可注意的还是他在刻画事物外形和心态上的力量、精确性和具体性。《马群》一诗写十匹马在破晓前冷寂肃穆的气氛中屹立不动的景象，把冷冻的气氛和马群的纹丝不动都描绘得很具体，很准确。例如，“我呼出的气在铁青的光线中留下扭曲的塑像”，“麻鹬的嘶叫声锋利地切割着沉寂”；又如，写大风刮得他“眼球凹进去”，使“一只黑背鸥／像一支铁杆慢慢弯曲下来”，“蓟像长而尖的刀子捅入夏天的空气中”。这种形象是有力的刻画，不是泛泛的修辞，这正是现代诗的长处，显然受意象派的影响。休斯正是在战后英美诗歌分道扬镳的局面中继续保持两者联系的一位诗人。他在意象营造上是接近威廉斯的，虽然两人的基调全然不同。

袁可嘉

The Horses

I climbed through woods in the hour-before-dawn dark.

Evil air，1 a frost-making stillness，

Not a leaf，not a bird —

A world cast in frost.2 I came out above the wood

Where my breath left tortuous statues in the iron light.3

But the valleys were draining the darkness^4

Till the moorline — blackening dregs of the brightening grey —

Halved the sky ahead.5 And I saw the horses：

Huge in the dense grey — ten together —

Megalith-still.6 They breathed，making no move，

With draped manes and tilted hind-hooves，

Making no sound.

I passed：not one snorted or jerked its head.

Grey silent fragments

Of a grey silent world.7

I listened in emptiness on the moor-ridge.

The curlew's tear turned its edge on the silence.8

Slowly detail leafed from the darkness.9 Then the sun

Orange，red，red erupted

Silently，and splitting to its core tore and flung cloud，

Shook the gulf open，showed blue，

And the big planets hanging —

I turned

Stumbling in the fever of a dream，down towards

The dark woods，from the kindling tops，

And came to the horses.

There，still they stood，

But now steaming and glistening under the flow of light，

Their draped stone manes，10 their tilted hind-hooves

Stirring under a thaw while all around them

The frost showed its fires.11 But still they made no sound.

Not one snorted or stamped，

Their hung heads patient as the horizons，12

High over valleys in the red levelling rays^13 —

In din of crowded streets，going among the years，the faces，

May I still meet my memory in so lonely a place

Between the streams and the red clouds，hearing the curlews，

Hearing the horizons endure.

【题解】

在黑暗逐渐消退，黎明到来之际，十匹马在严霜冰冻的荒原上岿然不动的情景，给人予巨大的视觉冲击力。诗人以特有的眼光观察大自然，以富有创意的比喻刻画各种景致，突出马群的沉寂、坚韧、刚毅和耐心。与静止的马群形成鲜明对照的，是从黎明前的黑暗到太阳冉冉升起的时光推移，是随着光明的到来万物原貌细节逐渐清晰的过程，更是诗人从树林高处走近马群的位置和视角的变动。注释者本人曾多次到中亚诸国旅行，亲眼目睹群马伫立于苍茫的原野上，纹丝不动，悄然无声，俨如智者在沉思之中。

【注释】

1.Evil air：严寒的、令人窒息的空气； Evil：causing discomfort or repulsion，offensive.

2.A world cast in frost：一个凝固在霜冻中的世界。

3.my breath left tortuous statues in the iron light：我呼出的气在寒光中形成弯弯曲曲的图像； iron light：冷凝的铁青的光，亦形容光像铁那样坚实不动。

4.the valleys were draining the darkness：山谷正在把黑暗吸入其中； 形容天色逐渐亮起来。

5.the moorline — blackening dregs of the brightening grey ... ahead：晨曦朦胧之中，尚有黑暗的残余，正好显露出荒原在天际的轮廓，使眼前的天空明暗各半。谓荒原的轮廓之上，是渐渐发亮的灰色的曙光，而在地上，仍然残留着暗黑色的天幕，好像把天空分割成明暗的两块。

6.Megalith-still：如巨石纹丝不动； Megalith：a very large usually rough stone used in prehistoric cultures as a monument or building block，史前建筑遗存的巨石。

7.Grey silent fragments ... world：灰蒙蒙的沉静的马群，成为灰蒙蒙的沉静世界的一部分。

8.The curlew's tear turned its edge on the silence：麻鹬尖利的嘶叫声像刀锋一样割裂沉静； curlew：麻鹬，和sandpipers，snipers 比较接近的一种鸟类； tear：（noun ） the act of tearing，撕裂。

9.Slowly detail leafed from the darkness：慢慢地一切都从黑暗里露出清晰的形状； detail leafed：万物的细节像树叶那样一点一点地长出来。

10.draped stone manes：马鬃浓密地垂下来，犹如石头纹丝不动。

11.The frost showed its fires：霜在初升的阳光下显得火红。

12.patient as the horizons：像地平线一样安详。

13.the red leveling rays：太阳从地平线上平射过来的红色光芒。

Wind

This house has been far out at sea all night，1

The woods crashing through darkness，the booming hills，

Winds stampeding the fields^2 under the window

Floundering black astride and blinding wet^3

Till day rose； then under an orange sky

The hills had new places，4 and wind wielded

Blade-light，5 luminous black and emerald，

Flexing like the lens of a mad eye.

At noon I scaled along the house-side as far as

The coal-house door. Once I looked up —

Through the brunt wind that dented the balls of my eyes^6

The tent of the hills drummed and strained its guy^7 rope，

The fields quivering，the skyline a grimace，8

At any second to bang and vanish with a flap；

The wind flung a magpie away and a black —

Back gull bent like an iron bar slowly. The house

Rang like some fine green goblet in the note

That any second would shatter it.9 Now deep

In chairs，in front of the great fire，we grip

Our hearts and cannot entertain book，thought，

Or each other.10 We watch the fire blazing，

And feel the roots of the house move，but sit on，

Seeing the window tremble to come in，11

Hearing the stones cry out under the horizons.

【注释】

1.This house has been far out at sea all night：谓风之猛烈，房子经受着冲击，如颠簸在海面上。

2.Winds stampeding the fields：风如惊恐的野兽在原野上狂奔。

3.Floundering black astride and blinding wet：（风） 揪住黑暗，骑跨在它的身上，夹着海水使人睁不开眼。

4.The hills had new places：山都变了样。

5.wind wielded Blade-light：大风挥动刀锋之光； Blade-light：如刀锋一样犀利的光，喻风似有形可见，如刀锋一样犀利，像光那样刺眼。

6.the brunt wind that dented the balls of my eyes：强劲的风力刮得我眼球凹了进去。

7.guy：a rope attached to something as a brace or guide，called also guyline，支索。

8.the skyline a grimace：地平线露出怪相，喻狂风吹得一切都变了样。

9.Rang like some fine green goblet in the note ... it：（房子） 像一只精美的绿色酒杯那样震动，其乐声任何时候都可能将它打得粉碎。

10.entertain book，thought ... other：读书，思索，或相互交谈； entertain：to keep，hold，or maintain in the mind.

11.the window tremble to come in：窗户颤抖，像要倾倒入室。

Hawk Roosting

I sit in the top of the wood，my eyes closed.

Inaction，no falsifying dream

Between my hooked head and hooked feet：

Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.

The convenience of the high trees！

The air's buoyancy^1 and the sun's ray

Are of advantage to me；

And the earth's face upward for my inspection.

My feet are locked upon the rough bark.

It took the whole of Creation^2

To produce my foot，my each feather：

Now I hold Creation in my foot^3

Or fly up，and revolve it all slowly —

I kill where I please because it is all mine.

There is no sophistry in my body：4

My manners are tearing off heads —

The allotment of death.5

For the one path of my flight is direct

Through the bones of the living.6

No arguments assert my right：7

The sun is behind me.8

Nothing has changed since I began.

My eye has permitted no change.

I am going to keep things like this.

【题解】

《鹰》代表主宰世界的暴政和暴力，是残酷的自然主义象征。鹰声言其权利与生俱来，不容争辩，其体态善于捕食，不用废话。鹰的逻辑，就是丛林法则，弱肉强食。这固然是一种自然现象，但是，这种暴力历来盛行在人类社会，并由此造成巨大的灾难。末两行鹰声称不容许改变现状，表明了诗人对世界深深的担忧。

【注释】

1.air's buoyancy：空气的托力。

2.Creation：指上帝创造万物。

3.I hold Creation in my foot：我把上帝创造的万物揪在爪中。

4.no sophistry in my body：鹰体态善于捕食，生就杀戮的本领，其能力不是靠巧舌如簧的诡辩。

5.My manners are tearing off heads ... death：我的风格就是把猎获物的头掐断，分派死亡，要让谁死，不能不死。按：鹰先把捕获物的头掐断，再食其肉。

6.the one path of my flight is direct ... living：穿透活体的骨骼，是我飞行路线的一部分。意为鹰猛扑下来，其喙直插猎获物体内。

7.No arguments assert my right：不用任何辩论来声言我的权利； 谓我就是有权利，不用任何废话。

8.The sun is behind me：背负太阳。

Her Husband

Comes home dull with coal-dust deliberately

To grime the sink and foul towels^1 and let her

Learn with scrubbing brush and scrubbing board

The stubborn character of money.2

And let her learn through what kind of dust

He has earned histhirst and the right to quench it

And what sweat he has exchanged for his money

And the blood-weight of money.3 He'll humble her

With new light on her obligations.

The fried，woody chips，kept warm two hours in the oven，

Are only part of her answer.

Hearing the rest，4 he slams them to the fire back

And is away round the house-end singing

“Come back to Sorrento”5 in a voice

Of resounding corrugated iron.6

Her back has hunched into a hump as an insult.7

For they will have their rights.

Their jurors^8 are to beassembled

From the little crumbs of soot. Their brief^9

Goes straight up to heaven and nothing more is heard of it.

【题解】

《她的丈夫》描绘了一个非常典型的英国煤矿工人的家庭生活的一个侧面，折射出战后英国社会中下层民众生活之艰辛，以及夫妻关系不可避免的微小的冲突。虽然此诗描写的情景并不直接反映休斯和女诗人西尔维亚·普拉斯 （Sylvia Plath） 结婚后早年生活的窘困，但他对下层生活实有切身的体会。

【注释】

1.To grime the sink and foul towels：弄污水盆，搽脏毛巾； foul：作动词。

2.Learn with scrubbing brush and scrubbing board ... money：让妻子通过刷子和搓衣板明白钱的顽固的个性； 谓挣钱不易。

3.the blood-weight of money：相当于所谓“血汗钱”。

4.Hearing the rest：上文讲烤箱里保温的炸土豆片是她应该履行的义务，是她的部分回答。因此，“听了她的其他回答” 的意思是享受了妻子给他准备的其他吃的东西。

5.“Come back to Sorrento”：《重归苏莲托》，意大利歌曲。

6.resounding corrugated iron：（嗓音） 像波纹铁皮发出的声音。

7.Her back has hunched into a hump as an insult：她弓起背，表示受到了侮辱，有反抗或挑战的意思，就像猫弓背示威。

8.jurors：陪审员。

9.brief：诉状。最后一句说明他们俩的争吵是没有什么结果的。

The Rat's Dance

The rat is in the trap，it is in the trap，

And attacking heaven and earth^1 with a mouthful of screeches like torn tin，

An effective gag.2

When it stops screeching，it pants

And cannot think

“This has no face，it must be God” or

“No answer is also an answer.”

Iron jaws，strong as the whole earth，

Are stealing its backbone

For a crumpling of the Universe with screechings，3

For supplanting every human brain inside its skull

with a rat body that knots and unknots，

A rat that goes on screeching，

Trying to uproot itself into eachescaping screech，

But its long fangs bar that exit —

The incisors bared to the night spaces，4 threatening the constellations，

The glitterers in the black，5 to keep off，

Keep their distance，

While it works this out.

The rat understands suddenly.

It bows and is still，

With a little beseeching of blood on its nose-end.

【题解】

老鼠是弱小的动物，但在遭到人类捕杀，处于困境之中，生命垂危之际，和猛禽猛兽无异，同样会表现出野性，甚至对星座怒目相视，要咬断宇宙的骨架。诗人笔下的老鼠是牢笼中生命垂死挣扎的典型。

【注释】

1.attacking heaven and earth：拼命设法逃脱，乱冲乱撞。

2.gag：使嘴巴不能动的机关。

3.Iron jaws，strong as the whole earth ... screechings：老鼠发出尖利的嘶叫声，以其铁的下颚，要咬掉宇宙的骨架，使之倾倒。

4.The incisors bared to the night spaces：老鼠对夜空龇牙咧嘴，露出门齿。

5.The glitterers in the black：夜幕中闪光的星座。

Thistles

Against the rubber tongues of cows and the hoeing hands of men

Thistles spike the summer air

And crackle open under a blue-black pressure.

Every one a revengeful burst

Of resurrection，a grasped fistful

Of splintered weapons^1 and Icelandic frost thrust up

From the underground stain of a decayed Viking.2

They are like pale hair and the gutturals of dialects.3

Every one manages a plume of blood.4

Then they grow grey like men.

Mown down，it is a feud.5 Their sons appear

Stiff with weapons，fighting back over the same ground.

【题解】

白居易《赋得古原草送别》 一诗中“离离原上草，一岁一枯荣，野火烧不尽，春风吹又生”描绘的是野草与自然抗争的顽强性，而《蓟》表现的则是这种植物更多地与人类的较量。这首诗赋予蓟一种十分鲜明的人格：有血有肉，有声有形，充满着再生和复仇的欲望。

【注释】

1.splintered weapons：蓟的叶子成羽状分裂，叶尖如针状。

2.Icelandic frost thrust up ... Viking：蓟锋利的叶子尖刺犹如冰岛的冰霜，好像是从一个腐朽的海盗残留的肢体上冒出来的。按：Viking维京人，是八至十一世纪北欧的海盗，十分强悍，频繁地劫掠和侵扰西北欧沿海地区。Viking通常大写，指北欧海盗中的一员，转指an aggressive sea-raider，a pirate。

3.gutturals of dialects：方言的喉音。以含混的喉音比喻蓟枝叶葳蕤。

4.a plume of blood：蓟花为紫红色，呈羽状。

5.Mown down，it is a feud：被割掉之后，蓟有冤仇。

Crow's First Lesson

God tried to teach Crow how to talk.

“Love，” said God. “Say，Love.”

Crow gaped，and the white shark crashed into the sea

And went rolling downwards，discovering its own depth.

“No，no，” said God. “Say Love. Now try it. Love.”

Crow gaped，and a bluefly，a tsetse，1 a mosquito

Zoomed out and down

To their sundry flesh-pots.

“A final try，” said God. “Now，Love.”

Crow convulsed，gaped，retched^2 and

Man's bodiless prodigious head

Bulbed out onto the earth，with swivelling eyes，3

Jabbering^4 protest —

And Crow retched again，before God could stop him.

And woman's vulva dropped over man's neck and tightened.5

The two struggled together on the grass.

God struggled to part them，cursed，wept —

Crow flew guiltily off.

【题解】

收入《乌鸦集》（Crow：From the Life and Songs of Crow ） 里的诗，是休斯立意创造的民间故事和神话体系。这些诗组成了一个庞大的民间传说史诗，通过具有“准人类”形态和性格的乌鸦，休斯探索人类的心理世界，思索生死的主题。乌鸦生存的世界大有彻底倾倒的架势。但乌鸦的勇气、狡诈、不可压制的生存意志等，使它有别于鹰和其他猛禽的存在方式。在《乌鸦的第一课》里，上帝想使乌鸦皈依基督教，使之有人类的技能和感情，但此鸟生性与爱无缘，它每次一张嘴学说“爱”，只是给自然界和人间增加恐慌，造成混乱。

【注释】

1.tsetse：舌蝇。

2.retched：呕吐，恶心。

3.Man's bodiless prodigious head ... eyes：没有肢体的、令人惊讶的、人的脑袋露出地面，眼睛骨碌碌转动着； prodigious：amazing； Bulbed：assumed a bulbous form，像个球茎那样露出来。

4.Jabbering：talking rapidly，indistinctly，or unintelligibly，嘟嘟哝哝。

5.woman's vulva dropped over man's neck and tightened：指女人两腿夹紧男人的脖子，两人厮打；vulva：the external parts of the female genital organs，女性的生殖器外阴。

Crow's Last Stand

Burning

burning

burning

there was finally something

The sun could not burn，that it had rendered

Everything down to — a final obstacle

Against which it raged and charred^1

And rages and chars

Limpid among the glaring furnace clinkers^2

The pulsing blue tongues and the red and the yellow

The green lickings of the conflagration^3

Limpid and black—

Crow's eye-pupil，4 in the tower of its scorched fort.

【题解】

在《乌鸦的最后据点》中，烈火燃烧似乎有炼狱之状。但这不是在地狱，而是太阳在烧掉一切，唯有乌鸦的眼睛是太阳无法烧掉的。休斯在BBC的节目中说：乌鸦是最聪明的鸟。世界上几乎每个地方都有乌鸦，当然也会有关于乌鸦的大量民间故事。黑兀鹰不会去杀死乌鸦。乌鸦是不可摧毁之鸟，它能经受一切，对什么都不容忍。（The Crow is the most intelligent of birds. He lives in just about every piece of land on earth and there's a great body of folk lore about crows，of course. No carrion will kill a crow. The crow is the indestructible bird who suffers everything，suffers nothing ... ） 乌鸦能经受世界末日的考验，烧不掉的眼睛则是乌鸦的精神。

【注释】

1.Against which it raged and charred：it：指太阳； 太阳要把乌鸦烧掉，但总有一样东西 （final obstacle） 烧不掉。

2.clinkers：熔炉里的铁渣或煤渣。

3.The pulsing blue tongues and the red and the yellow ... conflagration：形容熔炉里火在燃烧的情景，蓝色的、红色的、黄色的火焰在跳跃； conflagration：a large disastrous fire，大火。

4.Crow's eye-pupil：乌鸦的眼珠； 上接Everything down to，中间有插入语 a final obstacle ... black。乌鸦的黑眼珠成为太阳无法烧毁的最后一个堡垒。

SEAMUS HEANEY

西默斯·希尼

（1939—　）

【作者与作品简介】

在二十世纪六十年代崛起的北爱尔兰诗人中，西默斯·希尼是最受人瞩目的一位。他于1939年——也即是叶芝去世那年—出生于德雷县一个劳动人民家庭，祖父挖泥炭，父亲种白薯，他自己少年时也干过一些农活，虽然他自述对此道并不喜爱，也不精通。1961年他在贝尔法斯特女王大学英语系毕业。第一部诗集《自然主义者之死》于1966年出版，希尼一举成名，出任母校英国文学讲师。此后陆续出版的诗集有《引向黑暗之门》（1969）、《外出度冬》（1972）、《北方》（1975）和《农活》（1979），这些诗集曾获多种文学奖金，使他成为叶芝以后爱尔兰的一位重要诗人。

希尼的诗有鲜明的地方色彩和民族背景。他擅长写北爱尔兰那块土地上的风景、人物和活动，包括政治、宗教方面的动乱和斗争。他出生于劳动人民的家庭，笔下的人物总是处于活动状态，不是挖泥炭种白薯，便是烧饭做饼，或为复仇杀人或为牲畜配种。他侧重写具体的动作和真实的细节，借此来表达他的思想感情。但希尼并不满足于具体而真实的细节，却常把抽象的哲理熔铸其中。他后来脱离农活，成了大学教师，自己觉得“我可没有铁铲像他们那样去干”，他手中握着的只是一支粗壮的笔，“我要用它去挖掘”。这里有深刻的涵义。

运用传统的诗体，但不废自然的口语，不强调诗体的大胆实验和意象的古怪营造，这是战后英国诗歌带有普遍性的特点，希尼也并不例外。《个人的诗泉》采用传统的四行诗体，每节一三行和二四行分别押韵，但仍然保持日常口语，诗的主旨在于说明自己作诗不是为顾影自怜，而是“为了认识自己，使黑暗发出回音”。全诗以水井做“诗眼”，也是颇别致的手法。

袁可嘉

A Constable Calls

His bicycle^1 stood at the window-sill，

The rubber cowl of a mud-splasher

Skirting the front mudguard，

Its fat black handlegrips

Heating in sunlight，the “spud”

Of the dynamo gleaming and cocked back，2

The pedal treads hanging relieved

Of the boot of the law.3

His cap was upside down

On the floor，4 next his chair.

The line of its pressure ran like a bevel^5

In his slightly sweating hair.

He had unstrapped

The heavy ledger，and my father

Was making tillage returns

In acres，roods，and perches.6

Arithmetic and fear.

I sat staring at the polished holster

With its buttoned flap，7 the braid cord^8

Looped into the revolver butt.

“Any other root crops？9

Mangolds？10 Marrowstems？11 Anything like that？”

“No.” But was there not a line

Of turnips where the seed ran out

In the potato field？ I assumed

Small guilts and sat

Imagining the black hole in the barracks.12

He stood up，shifted the baton-case

Further round on his belt，

Closed the domesday book，13

Fitted his cap back with two hands，

And looked at me as he said goodbye.

A shadow bobbed in the window.

He was snapping the carrier spring

Over the ledger.14 His boot pushed off

And the bicycle ticked，ticked，ticked.

【题解】

此诗所述是诗人少年时期在北爱尔兰德利郡（Derry）的莫斯浜（Mossbawn）农村家中的亲身经历，全用白描手法。由于是少年，所以很注意摩托车种种部件，同时也清楚看出父亲在隐瞒。通过少年的目光，读者看到英国警察同信奉天主教的普通爱尔兰家庭的关系——没有一点亲善气氛，只有对立和敌视。警察手枪的细节，临走时对少年若有所思的注视，意味着他明白将来更难对付的就是这些年轻人。诗人不发议论而诗中议论自在。希尼写得很实在，但背后却有一个富于爆炸性的北爱尔兰局势。

【注释】

1.bicycle：motorcycle，此处指摩托车。

2.the “spud” ... back：此处指当时老式的发动机（dynamo）的拉杆，现在的摩托车都有蓄电池； cocked back：拉杆扣上，像手枪那样扳上扳机，使人感到像枪那样一触即发。

3.the boot of the law：警察的皮靴好像是法律的象征。

4.His cap was upside down ... floor：说明孩子的父亲对警察不太礼貌，没有把他的帽子接过来放好。

5.bevel：数学上的斜面，斜角。此处指帽子在头发上压出一条斜线。

6.Was making tillage returns ... perches：（父亲） 在计算种植面积的收成，地里种的庄稼要报得很细，半亩半分都要算上； rood：英国面积单位，合四分之一英亩； perch：杆，英国长度单位，合5.6码。

7.flap：（皮套的）盖子。

8.braid cord：编结的绳子。

9.root crops：块根作物。

10.Mangolds：一种甜菜，作饲料用。

11.Marrowstems：豌豆。

12.Imagining the black hole in the barracks：孩子在想，如果被发现瞒报了庄稼，父亲要被关到警察局的黑牢里。

13.domesday book：指账簿（ledger）； Domesday Book原指1086年英王威廉一世颁布的 “土地调查清册”。

14.snapping the carrier spring ... ledger：“啪”的一声用车后载重架的弹簧夹子把账本夹住。

Digging

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen^1 rests； snug as a gun.

Under my window，a clean rasping sound

When the spade sinks into gravelly ground：2

My father，digging. I look down

Till his straining rump^3 among the flowerbeds

Bends low，comes up twenty years away^4

Stooping in rhythm through potato drills^5

Where he was digging.

The coarse boot nestled on the lug，6 the shaft

Against the inside knee was levered firmly.

He rooted out tall tops，buried the bright edge deep^7

To scatter new potatoes that we picked，

Loving their cool hardness in our hands.

By God，the old man could handle a spade.8

Just like his old man.9

My grandfather cut more turf^10 in a day

Than any other man on Toner's bog.11

Once I carried him milk in a bottle

Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up

To drink it，then fell to^12 right away

Nicking and slicing neatly，heaving sods

Over his shoulder，going down and down

For the good turf. Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould，the squelch^13 and slap

Of soggy peat，the curt cuts of an edge

Through living roots awaken in my head.

But I've no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests.

I'll dig with it.

【题解】

诗人的父亲和祖父都在地里耕作，而他自己从事的则是笔耕。他写父亲刨土豆，祖父挖泥炭，都十分细腻。一是为粮食，一是为燃料，都是生活之必需。上两辈的艰辛淡淡几笔，不作渲染，却力透纸背。他自认刨地不如长辈，他们的精神却鼓舞他以另外的方式耕耘，言外之意是也许可以记载他们的故事。

【注释】

1.squat pen：矮胖的笔。

2.gravelly ground：沙粒土。

3.rump：臀部。

4.Bends low，comes up twenty years away：蹲下去，又站起来，二十年不间断； away：uninterruptedly.

5.drills：small furrows in which seeds are sown，（条播植物的）垄沟，行。

6.lug：铲子的边沿，脚可以踩在上面使劲。

7.buried the bright edge deep：把闪光的铲子深深插入地下； edge：铲子的口。

8.could handle a spade：真行，很内行。

9.his old man：他的父亲，即my grandfather。

10.turf：peat，dried for fuel，泥炭，泥煤。

11.Toner's bog：Toner人名，此人所拥有的泥炭地。按英国法律，可以到私人拥有的沼泽地里去挖泥炭，但要付钱给土地的主人。

12.fell to：开始干起来。

13.squelch：潮湿的泥炭在挖掘时发出喳喳声响。

The Play Way

Sunlight pillars^1 through glass，probes each desk

For milk-tops，drinking straws and old dry crusts.

The music strides to challenge it

Mixing memory and desire with chalk dust.

My lesson notes read：Teacher will play

Beethoven's Concerto Number Five^2

And class will express themselves freely

In writing. One said “Can we jive？”3

When I produced the record，4 but now

The big sound has silenced them. Higher

And firmer，each authoritative note

Pumps the classroom up tight as a tire^5

Working its private spell behind eyes^6

That stare wide. They have forgotten me

For once. The pens are busy，the tongues mime

Their blundering embrace of the free

Word.7 A silence charged with sweetness

Breaks short on lost faces where I see

New looks. Then notes stretch taut as snares.8 They trip

To fall into themselves unknowingly.9

【题解】

希尼当过教师，对于教学和与学生的交流很有经验。诗中写一位教师回忆一堂音乐课的情景，从学生提出想跳摇摆舞，到完全沉浸在贝多芬的音乐之中，揭示了音乐的巨大魅力，也说明美好的艺术并不是自然会被人接受，而是需要有人去推广，给人以启发。这和诗歌是一样的。

【注释】

1.Sunlight pillars：阳光从窗户射入形成光柱。

2.Beethoven's Concerto Number Five：《贝多芬第五协奏曲》，当是贝多芬的《第五钢琴协奏曲》，或称《皇帝协奏曲》，作品第73号，降E大调。作品壮丽宏伟，闻之令人肃然起敬。

3.jive：随着爵士乐跳摇摆舞。这和贝多芬的音乐大相径庭。

4.produced the record：拿出唱片来播放乐曲。

5.each authoritative note ... tire：每一个强有力的音符都把全班学生鼓动得像打足气的轮胎一样。

6.Working its private spell behind eyes：（音乐） 在人们的视野之外发出一种秘密的迷惑力。

7.the tongues mime ... Word：他们的舌头拙劣地模仿着曲调； blundering embrace of the free word：错误地领会最为自由的词语，即可以作不同解释的音乐语言。

8.Then notes stretch taut as snares：乐曲绷得紧紧的，像张开的罗网那样。

9.They trip ... unknowingly：学生不知不觉地沉浸在音乐之中。

Mid-Term Break

I sat all morning in the college sick bay^1

Counting bells knelling classes to a close.2

At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.

In the porch I met my father crying —

He had always taken funerals in his stride^3 —

And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram^4

When I came in，and I was embarrassed

By old men standing up to shake my hand

And tell me they were “sorry for my trouble，”

Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest，

Away at school，as my mother held my hand

In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.

At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived

With the corpse，stanched^5 and bandaged by the nurses.

Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops

And candles soothed the bedside； I saw him

For the first time in six weeks. Paler now，

Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple，6

He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.

No gaudy scars，7 the bumper knocked him clear.8

A four foot box，a foot for every year.9

【题解】

此诗写希尼在中学时代家中遇到的不幸。他描写了四岁的弟弟不幸被车撞死之后，家人表现的不同反应。少年希尼从自己的视角和感情来观察和描绘这场悲剧：死者床边洁白的雪莲花，太阳穴上的伤痕像殷红的罂粟花，弟弟好像仍然躺在他的小床上，这在悲伤的气氛中增添了生命的气息，

【注释】

1.sick bay：（学校的） 医务室或病房。

2.Counting bells knelling classes to a close：希尼在寄宿学校读书，期中放假，他坐在学校的医务室里等邻居来接他回家。此句表示他家中出了事，家里没有人来接。他在等待时数的不是学校的钟声，而是丧钟 （knelling），预示不幸。

3.taken funerals in his stride：从容地应付丧事。

4.pram：童车，perambulator 的缩略语。

5.stanched：止住血。

6.Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple：太阳穴上有着血红色的伤痕； Wearing：好像伤痕是服饰，戴在头上，而不是内伤。

7.gaudy scars：显眼的伤疤。

8.the bumper knocked him clear：指汽车的保险杠一下就把他撞死了。

9.A four foot box，a foot for every year：说明诗人的弟弟只有四岁。

O Personal Helicon

For Michael Longley

As a child，they could not keep me from wells

And old pumps with buckets and windlasses.1

I loved the dark drop，the trapped sky，2 the smells

Of waterweed，fungus and dank moss.

One，in a brickyard，with a rotted board top.

I savoured the rich crash^3 when a bucket

Plummeted down at the end of a rope.

So deep you saw no reflection in it.

A shallow one under a dry stone ditch

Fructified like any aquarium.4

When you dragged out long roots from the soft mulch^5

A white face hovered over the bottom.

Others had echoes，gave back your own call

With a clean new music in it. And one

Was scaresome，for there，out of ferns^6 and tall

Foxgloves，7 a rat slapped across my reflection.

Now，to pry into roots，to finger slime，8

To stare，big-eyed Narcissus，9 into some spring

Is beneath all adult dignity.10 I rhyme

To see myself，11 to set the darkness echoing.12

【题解】

诗人从小喜欢水，特别是水中自己的倒影，犹如古希腊神话里的那西赛斯。但是，他玩耍嬉戏的地方不是神话里的美丽水泽，无非是农村里的水槽，砖瓦厂里的古井，甚至有耗子破坏他水中的影像。孩提时代的这些乡土生活看似幼稚，但和他成年之后的诗歌创作有着不言而喻的联系。水是诗歌创作的灵感，水影象征着认识自我。

【注释】

题目Helicon：古希腊神话中赫利孔山，司文艺的九位女神缪斯所居之地，传说是诗人灵感的源泉。Michael Longley：迈克尔·朗莱，爱尔兰诗人，1939年出生于贝尔法斯特，曾在伦敦和都伯林任教，致力于推动文学和艺术的研究和传播，2001年获得女王诗歌金奖 （The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry）。

1.windlasses：绞车，用来吊井里的水桶。

2.the trapped sky：井里所见天空犹如被捕捉在陷阱里。

3.savoured the rich crash：喜欢听到水桶啪的一声掉入井底； savoured：savour的过去式，to taste or smell with pleasure，to delight in，to enjoy，欣赏，爱好。

4.Fructified like any aquarium：像水族馆里那样长满了水草； Fructified：结果实。

5.the soft mulch：井底松软的泥土； mulch：原指覆盖在树根上的泥土，或草皮或粪肥等。

6.ferns：蕨类植物。

7.Foxgloves：毛地黄。

8.to finger slime：用指头摸弄稀泥。

9.Narcissus：希腊神话中的美少年，因痴恋水中自己的美丽影子憔悴而死，后化为水仙。

10.beneath all adult dignity：成年人不屑为之。

11.I rhyme ... myself：意为童年时从井底看自己，而现在作诗以自窥。

12.to set the darkness echoing：要让黑暗的深井发出回声。喻从未知的现象中得到启发。

References

Selections and Critical Works

Abrams，M.H. et al. （eds.） Norton Anthology of English Literature，2003

Alexander，Michael （translated）. Beowulf，A Verse Translation，Penguin Classics，2003

Barnard，John （ed.）. John Keats：The Complete Works，Penguin Classics，1977

Bate，Jonathan ＆ Rasmussen，Eric （eds.）. William Shakespeare Complete Works，Macmillan，2007

Bevington，David （ed.）. Complete Works of Shakespeare，4th Edition，Addison Wesley Longman，1997

Brooke，Nicholas （ed.）. Macbeth，The Oxford Shakespeare，1990

Clements，Arthur L. （ed.）. John Donne's Poetry，2nd edition，Norton Critical Editions，1992

Cox，Jeffrey N. （ed.）. Keats's Poetry and Prose，Norton Critical Editions，2008

Crystal，David ＆ Crystal，Ben. Shakespeare's Words，A Glossary and Language Companion，Penguin，2002

Dickson，Donald R. （ed.）. John Donne's Poetry，Norton Critical Editions，2007

Donno，Elizabethe Story ＆ Bate，Johnathan （eds.）. Andrew Marvel：The Complete Poems，Penguin Classics，2005

Eliot，T.S. The Wasteland，Norton Critical Editions，2000

Elledge，Scott （ed.）. John Milton，Paradise Lost，Norton Critical Editions，1993

Ellmann，Richard ＆ O'Clair，Robert （eds.）. Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry，

Erdman，David V. and Harold Bloom （eds.）. The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake，1997

Fenneran，Richard （ed.）. W.B. Yeats：Collected Poems，Scribner，1996

Ferguson，Margaret，et al. （eds.）. Norton Anthology of Poetry，2004

Fraistat，Neil ＆ Reim，Donald H. （eds.）. Shelley's Poetry and Prose，Norton Critical Editions，2002

Gill，Stephan （ed.）. William Wordsworth：The Major Works，Including the Prelude，Oxford University Press，2008

Haffenden，John （ed.）. Complete Poems of William Empson，University Press of Florida，2001

Halmi，Nicholas，et al （eds.）. Coleridge's Poetry and Prose，Norton Critical Editions，2003

Heaney，Seamus ＆ Hughes，Ted （eds.）. The Rattle Bag，Faber and Faber，London，1982

Heaney，Seamus. Opened Ground：Selected Poems，1966—1996，Farrar，Straus ＆ Giroux，1999

Hibbard，G.R. （ed.） Hamlet，The Oxford Shakespeare，Oxford University Press，1987

Holy Bible，King James Version，Zondervan，2009

Honigmann，E.A. J. （ed.）. Othello，3rd Series，Arden Shakespeare，1996

Hughes，Merritt （ed.）. John Milton，Complete Poems and Major Prose，Hacket Pub Co. 2003

Hughes，Ted ＆ Keegan，Paul （ed.）. Collected Poems，Farrar，Straus ＆ Giroux，2003

Jeffares，A. Norman，A Commentary on the Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats，Stanford University Press，1980

Jenkins，Harold （ed.）. Hamlet，Arden Shakespeare，2nd Edition，1982

Johnson，Mary Lynn ＆ Grant，John E. （eds.）. Blake's Poetry and Designs，Norton Critical Editions，1979

Kolve，V. A. ＆ Olsen，Glending （eds.）. Geoffrey Chaucer：The Canterbury Tales，Norton Critical Editions，2005

Levine，Alice （ed.）. Byron's Poetry and Prose，Norton Critical Editions，2nd Edition，2009

MacLean，Sorley. From Wood to Ridge / O Choillie Gu Bearradh：Collected Poems in Gaelic and English，Carcanet Press，1999

McGann，Jerome，J. （ed.）. Lord Byron：The Major Works，Oxford University Press，2008

Motion，Andrew （ed.）. Here to Eternity：An anthology of Poetry，Faber and Faber，London，2001

Muir，Kenneth （ed.）. Macbeth，Arden，2nd Series，Shakespeare，

Neill，Michael （ed.）. Othello，The Oxford Shakespeare，2006

Pethica，James （ed.）. Yeats's Poetry，Drama and Prose，Norton Critical Editions，2000

Ramazani，Jahan，et al （eds.）. The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry，2003

Riach，Alan ＆ Grieve，Michael （eds.）. Hugh MacDiarmid：Selected Poetry，New Directions，1993

Shawcross，John T. （ed.）. The complete Poetry of John Donne，Doubleday and Company，1967

Smith，A.J. （ed.）. John Donne：The Complete English Poems，Penguin Classics，1977

Stillinger，Jack （ed.）. John Keats，The Complete Poems，Harvard University Press，1991

Swarbrick，Andrew. Out of Reach：The Poetry of Philip Larkin，Palgrave Macmillan，1997

Tobin，John （contributor and ed.）. George Herbert：The Complete English Poems，Penguin Classics，2005

Williamson，George. A Reader's Guide to T. S. Eliot：A Poem-by-Poem Analysis，Syracuse University Press，1998

Wordsworth，Jonathan ＆ Wordsworth，Jessica （contributors）. The Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry，Penguin Classics，2006

Dictionaries

Chambers Dictionary，1998

Collins English Dictionary，1995

Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary，11th Edition，2008

Shorter Oxford English Dictionary，Oxford University Press，2007

Random House Unabridged Dictionary，1994

Webster's Third New International Dictionary，2002

《英汉大词典》（第二版），陆谷孙主编，上海译文出版社，2007

Table of Contents

- 版权信息

- JOHN KEATS 约翰·济慈 （1795—1821）

- ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNlNG 伊丽莎白·巴莱特·布朗宁 （1806—1861）

- ALFRED，LORD TENNYSON 阿尔弗雷德·丁尼生 （1809—1892）

- ROBERT BROWNING 罗伯特·布朗宁 （1812—1889）

- EMILY BRONTË 爱米丽·勃朗特 （1818—1848）

- MATTHEW ARNOLD 马修·安诺德 （1822—1888）

- DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI 但丁·加布里耶尔·罗塞蒂 （1828—1882）

- CHRISTINA ROSSETTI 克里丝蒂娜·罗塞蒂 （1830—1894）

- WILLIAM MORRIS 威廉·莫里斯 （1834—1896）

- ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE 阿尔杰农·查尔斯·斯温伯恩 （1837—1909）

- THOMAS HARDY 托马斯·哈代 （1840—1928）

- GERARD MANLEY HOPKlNS 吉拉德·曼莱·霍普金斯 （1844—1889）

- ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN 阿尔弗莱德·爱德华·霍斯曼 （1859—1936）

- WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS 威廉·巴特勒·叶芝 （1865—1939）

- DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE 戴维·赫伯特·劳伦斯 （1885—1930）

- SIEGFRIED SASSOON 齐格菲·沙逊 （1886—1967）

- EDWIN MUIR 艾特温·缪亚 （1887—1959）

- EDITH SITWELL 伊迪斯·席特维尔 （1887—1964）

- THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT 托马斯·斯登斯·艾略特 （1888—1965）

- HUGH MacDIARMID 休·麦克迪儿米德 （1892—1978）

- WILFRED OWEN 维尔弗列特·欧文 （1893—1918）

- ROBERT GRAVES 罗伯特·格瑞夫斯 （1895—1985）

- CECIL DAY LEWIS 息西尔·台·路易斯 （1904—1972）

- WILLIAM EMPSON 威廉·燕卜荪 （1906—1984）

- WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN 温斯坦·休·奥登 （1907—1973）

- LOUIS MacNEICE 路易斯·麦克尼斯 （1907—1963）

- STEPHEN SPENDER 斯蒂芬·司班德 （1909—1995）

- SORLEY MacLEAN 绍莱·麦克林 （1911—1996）

- RONALD STUART THOMAS 罗奈特·司图亚特·托马斯 （1913—2000）

- DYLAN THOMAS 狄兰·托马斯 （1914—1953）

- PHILIP LARKIN 菲力浦·拉金 （1922—1985）

- TED HUGHES 塔特·休斯 （1930—1998）

- SEAMUS HEANEY 西默斯·希尼 （1939— ）

- References

Table of Contents

英国诗歌选集（珍藏版）（上册）

版权信息

序

原序

体例示意图

ANONYMOUS POET 佚名诗人

GEOFFREY CHAUCER 杰弗雷·乔叟 （CA.1343—1400）

WILLIAM LANGLAND 威廉·兰格伦 （1330？—1400？）

EARLY MODERN ENGLISH BALLADS 早期现代英语时期民谣

EDMUND SPENSER 爱德蒙·斯宾塞 （1552？—1599）

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE 克里斯托弗·马娄 （1564—1593）

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 威廉·莎士比亚 （1564—1616）

THOMAS NASHE 托马斯·纳什 （1567—1601）

JOHN DONNE 约翰·多恩 （1572—1631）

BEN JONSON 本·琼生 （1572—1637）

ROBERT HERRICK 罗伯特·赫里克 （1591—1674）

GEORGE HERBERT 乔治·赫伯特 （1593—1633）

JOHN MILTON 约翰·弥尔顿 （1608—1674）

SIR JOHN SUCKLING 约翰·萨克令 （1609—1642）

RICHARD LOVELACE 理查德·勒夫莱斯 （1618—1657）

ANDREW MARVELL 安德鲁·马韦尔 （1621—1678）

JOHN DRYDEN 约翰·德莱顿 （1631—1700）

JONATHAN SWIFT 乔纳森·斯威夫特 （1667—1745）

ALEXANDER POPE 亚历山大·蒲柏 （1688—1744）

SAMUEL JOHNSON 塞缪尔·约翰逊 （1709—1784）

THOMAS GRAY 托马斯·格雷 （1716—1771）

OLIVER GOLDSMITH 奥利弗·哥尔德斯密斯 （1730？—1774）

GEORGE CRABBE 乔治·克莱普 （1754—1832）

WILLIAM BLAKE 威廉·布莱克 （1757—1827）

ROBERT BURNS 罗伯特·彭斯 （1759—1796）

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 威廉·华兹华斯 （1770—1850）

WALTER SCOTT 华尔特·司各特 （1771—1832）

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERlDGE 塞缪尔·泰勒·柯尔律治 （1772—1834）

WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR 华尔特·萨维其·兰陀 （1775—1864）

GEORGE GORDON，LORD BYRON 乔治·戈登·拜伦 （1788—1824）

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY 波西·别希·雪莱 （1792—1822）

英国诗歌选集（珍藏版）（下册）

版权信息

JOHN KEATS 约翰·济慈 （1795—1821）

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNlNG 伊丽莎白·巴莱特·布朗宁 （1806—1861）

ALFRED，LORD TENNYSON 阿尔弗雷德·丁尼生 （1809—1892）

ROBERT BROWNING 罗伯特·布朗宁 （1812—1889）

EMILY BRONTË 爱米丽·勃朗特 （1818—1848）

MATTHEW ARNOLD 马修·安诺德 （1822—1888）

DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI 但丁·加布里耶尔·罗塞蒂 （1828—1882）

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI 克里丝蒂娜·罗塞蒂 （1830—1894）

WILLIAM MORRIS 威廉·莫里斯 （1834—1896）

ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE 阿尔杰农·查尔斯·斯温伯恩 （1837—1909）

THOMAS HARDY 托马斯·哈代 （1840—1928）

GERARD MANLEY HOPKlNS 吉拉德·曼莱·霍普金斯 （1844—1889）

ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN 阿尔弗莱德·爱德华·霍斯曼 （1859—1936）

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS 威廉·巴特勒·叶芝 （1865—1939）

DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE 戴维·赫伯特·劳伦斯 （1885—1930）

SIEGFRIED SASSOON 齐格菲·沙逊 （1886—1967）

EDWIN MUIR 艾特温·缪亚 （1887—1959）

EDITH SITWELL 伊迪斯·席特维尔 （1887—1964）

THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT 托马斯·斯登斯·艾略特 （1888—1965）

HUGH MacDIARMID 休·麦克迪儿米德 （1892—1978）

WILFRED OWEN 维尔弗列特·欧文 （1893—1918）

ROBERT GRAVES 罗伯特·格瑞夫斯 （1895—1985）

CECIL DAY LEWIS 息西尔·台·路易斯 （1904—1972）

WILLIAM EMPSON 威廉·燕卜荪 （1906—1984）

WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN 温斯坦·休·奥登 （1907—1973）

LOUIS MacNEICE 路易斯·麦克尼斯 （1907—1963）

STEPHEN SPENDER 斯蒂芬·司班德 （1909—1995）

SORLEY MacLEAN 绍莱·麦克林 （1911—1996）

RONALD STUART THOMAS 罗奈特·司图亚特·托马斯 （1913—2000）

DYLAN THOMAS 狄兰·托马斯 （1914—1953）

PHILIP LARKIN 菲力浦·拉金 （1922—1985）

TED HUGHES 塔特·休斯 （1930—1998）

SEAMUS HEANEY 西默斯·希尼 （1939— ）

References