轉貼方教授的翻譯及分析：
彌爾頓《莎翁墓誌銘》
彌爾頓《莎翁墓誌銘》
What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones,
The labor of an age in pilèd stones,
Or that his hallowed relics should be hid
Under a star-ypointing pyramid?
Dear son of Memory, great heir of fame,
What need’st thou such weak witness of thy name?
Thou in our wonder and astonishment
Hast built thyself a live-long monument.
For whilst to th’ shame of slow-endeavouring art,
Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart
Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book
Those Delphic lines with deep impression took,
Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving,
Dost make us marble with too much conceiving;
And so sepúlchred in such pomp dost lie,
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.
此詩作於1630年，莎士比亞死後14年，時密爾頓22歲，好像正在讀研。此乃其首發之詩。詩為五步抑揚格的雙行體。每兩行換一個韻。此種詩體多用於史詩，故亦稱英雄雙行體。
說實在我不喜歡英詩的結構，沒有中文詩那麽清楚。分析起來挺費勁。
What needs /my Shakes/peare for /his hon/oured bones,
比如這裏的what，我怎麽念也覺得不是抑而是揚。也可能是我劃分錯了。廖康應該知道。不過聽聽朗讀似乎清楚了（Long live technology!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmigZ8_64MM
The la/bor of /an age /in piled/ s-tones,
Or that /his hal/lowed re/lics should/ be hid
Under/ a star/-ypoin/ting py/ramid?
英詩也不像中國詩，一行就是一個句子，意思和結構統一，容易聽懂。英詩常常有長句跨行。做聽力練習那一定是費老鼻子勁了。
Thou in our wonder and astonishment
Hast built thy self a livelong monument.
For whilst, to th’ shame of slow-endeavoring art,
Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart
Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book
Those Delphic lines with deep impression took,
Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving,
Dost make us marble with too much conceiving,
And so sepulchred in such pomp dost lie
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.
這裏都是單句跨行的例子。按照現在的寫法應該是
Thou Hast built thy self a livelong monument in our wonder and astonishment.
For to th’ shame of slow-endeavoring art,whilst Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart Hath took Those Delphic lines with deep impression, from the leaves of thy unvalued book
Then thou, bereaving our fancy of itself, Dost make us marble with too much conceiving, And so dost [Thou] lie sepulchred in such pomp That kings would wish to die for such a tomb.
逐行白話語釋：
What needs my Shakespeare for his honored bones
我的莎士比亞，你那受到尊敬的骨骸，你需要什麽
The labor of an age in piled stones?
一個時代的勞作所堆積起來的石頭啊？
Or that his hallowed reliques should be hid
他的神聖的遺存難道還要藏在
Under a star-ypointing pyramid?
尖頂向上的金字塔底下嗎？
Dear son of Memory, great heir of Fame,
記憶之神的兒子（繆斯的弟兄），盛名的偉大繼承人
What need’st thou such weak witness of thy name?
難道你需要這麽微弱的證據來光耀你的名字嗎？
Thou in our wonder and astonishment
你讓我們驚奇，讓我們驚歎
Hast built thy self a livelong monument.
因為你自己已經建造了你終生的紀念碑
For whilst, to th’ shame of slow-endeavoring art,
你讓尋章摘句苦苦經營的詩人羞愧，因為
Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart
你的詩作如流泉一樣輕快，讀者的心
Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book
已經從你那無價的書頁裏
Those Delphic lines with deep impression took,
的奇詩妙句中獲取深刻的印象
Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving,
你剝奪了我們自己的想象力
Dost make us marble with too much conceiving,
讓我們在冥思苦想中變成了大理石
And so sepulchred in such pomp dost lie
而你則長眠於這樣的輝煌之中
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.
如此的墓地乃是連國王都要羨慕的啊。
此時主旨很簡單：莎士比亞的榮耀用不著一個金字塔般的墳墓張顯。他的榮耀在他的著作中，在讀者心裏。
最後一句讓我想到另一首詩， 雪萊的《奧齊曼迪茲》：
（https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xng4jJsao4）
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear –
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.’
感覺有異曲同工之妙。
