考試地點有點遠，事先沒看地圖， 非常依賴衛星導航的那個叫什麽來著，法語叫tom tom就上路了，糟了tom tom也找不到具體的考試地點，隻指示一個打開位子，沒時間再研究了，上路再說， 總會有辦法的。
路上小女兒而問我：媽媽，考試和比賽有什麽區別？去年她懵懵懂懂去鋼琴比賽都不知道還有獎狀獎品這回事，去之前收到她老師的text， 叫她答完卷不要馬上出來， 要檢查至少3遍。
tomtom沒把我待到確切地址，在附近停車準備走過去，然後去問路，熱情的路人告訴我大概在什麽地方，走路2分鍾，而且要穿過一個老教堂的墓地，《church yard 》
啊，《Church Yard?》, 腦海裏就冒出好像聽說有這麽一首英詩，自己正想讀呢，正好老天安排我迷路，然後要經過一教堂墓地，還是帶著孩子，不會嚇著我孩子吧？
教堂位於郊區一小鎮的鬧市區， 可教堂本身又被其它建築物包圍保護，遠離喧囂，墓地墓碑零零散散，東倒西歪， 有一個還在緊靠樹跟， 那天已經是傍晚， 天色漸漸地暗下來， 感覺到太陽正在沉落， 墓地不大，旁邊一麵是教堂，一邊是一個小停車場，另一邊是一個大運動場， 非常安靜， 還能聽到鳥語，3月初的英倫還是挺冷的，鮮花還沒來報到， 帶著小女兒穿過教堂墓地，小女兒馬上有點感覺，媽， 這有點怕怕； 我馬上說， 有什麽怕的， 這些人他們幾百年前就不在了，他們這會兒在天上，上帝也在看著我們啊，別怕！小女兒立即放鬆， 最近因為帶她去教堂， 她也相信上帝，有時作業本不見了她會自個兒禱告，海，還真馬上找到了。 我寧願她相信，因為我不能永遠保護自己的孩子 ， 還是把她們交給上帝吧，她們的心靈也不會孤獨，她們也會學著去幫助別人，理解別人， 痛苦時也不會驚慌失措，這樣我比較放心
穿過教堂墓地, 墓地沒人，非常幽靜，和小女兒手拉著手，遠處有另外兩位lady , 我不怕幽靈，倒是有點擔心壞人襲擊我們母女倆，另外還有比如搶我的iphone， ipode什麽的， 一種本能的母性讓我的警報器係統高度地準備著，小時候在武術班混了一陣子，目前鍛煉的時候，腿嘛還能踢到一定高度，但呈無力狀態。草草別胡思亂想，你有那麽重要嗎？誰會搶你？
西方的墓地不是那麽可怕，今年聖誕節老二提出想去巴黎著名的Pere lachaise公墓去朝拜她喜歡的作家，聖誕節那天，我都有點猶豫和迷信，這過節去那好不好啊?最後還是陪她去了，可是那天是放假不開；上次去聽一個音樂會在教堂，中間大家還手捧紅酒在教堂的目的聊天，那是大夏天，這會兒是冬天，天森森的，很church Yard 的感覺， 好人性， 沒有讓死者遠離勝者的視線， 生和死接得這麽近，怎麽忽然間我覺得很溫馨，沒有什麽恐懼
以前在國內每年都去姐姐的墓前看她，有幾次還和哥哥去的，最開始我們總是很悲痛，坐在姐姐在山上的墓旁，慢慢地我們也喜歡在姐姐的墓邊小坐一會兒，聊天，野外的花香，南方夏日的熱熱微風吹著我們的臉，我們的頭發，我們的衣裳，我們在聊天，聊人生， 那時哥哥剛參加工作，我也剛上大學， 哥哥從來不教訓我，隻是說些他看到的，經曆的人生故事，讓我自己判斷該怎麽做人做事....
趕快走， 已經遲到了，快到考試地點，我問一位懷抱嬰兒的媽媽， 考試教室在哪，她很熱情地帶我去，她說她也找了半天才找到這個地方， 工作人員說不知考官還讓不讓進，那不行，來了不讓考啊？！不一會兒，又來幾位遲到的，一位身材魁梧的向地中海那邊的中年男人，氣衝衝地領著女兒衝來，還發氣，說考試怎麽在這個鬼地方，衛星導航大大地失靈， 還乓一聲用力推開考試教室的門， 這些遲到的必不遲到的還神氣！跟一位媽媽聊了一會兒，又見一幫遲到匆匆趕來，我的天，俺還算早到的。
還得回去停車場補交錢，本來想把車開近考試地點，那天天好冷，但又擔心別到時又找不到地方了，還是穿過教堂墓地 走回去接孩子， 穿過教堂墓地 again......，
回去一看，孩子考試已經出來，我問她做完題目後檢查了幾遍？2遍， 老師不是說要檢查3遍的嗎？瓦，都忘記交待她要看一遍試卷，別漏了最後一page忘記做了， 海，沒關係了。
這時天完全黑了，傍晚我們兩個又手拉手穿過教堂墓地 again......，小女兒非常放鬆，我也是，我也不知道自己從什麽時候開始對死不是那麽可怕，盡管我還是想多活一些，多看世界
這時小女兒她開始提問：這些人（墓碑裏）是什麽人，我說應該是好人吧，好人是會上天堂去上帝那的； 女兒問怎麽知道他們是好人呢？我說上帝應該知道， 怕她問，再問我也答不出了，
我自己也在想：對，這些是什麽人，反正不會是外國移民； 那個年代的？ 應該和教堂的年份差不多吧， 他們是幹什麽的？什麽地位？年收入多少? 房子大不大？...? 草草，這些問題還這麽重要嗎？看看墓碑旁邊那些萬古長青的鬆樹，它們在乎這些嗎？嗯.... 海，自己教育一下子自己!
一個寒冷的二月天裏，黑夜中，隻有路燈，鳥兒也早回家了，隻有夜空依稀可見的幾顆零散的星星看著我們， 我們穿過教堂墓地......， 好可惜我背不得這首詩，一定要背下來，找個時間找個伴一起晚穿過巴黎的拉雪茲公墓 ， 要麽就去一個英倫鄉間墓地去朗誦這首詩; 感受生與死的距離， 感受生命的可貴， 感受上帝給與的一切......
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http://langrissera.5d6d.com/archiver/tid-5947.html
【英詩鑒賞】Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
By Thomas Gray
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,
The ploughman 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,
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds:
Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower
The moping owl does to the moon complain
Of such as, wandering near her secret bower,
Molest her ancient solitary reign.
Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude Forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,
The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,
The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.
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,
Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;
How jocund did they drive their team afield!
How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!
Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the Poor.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour:-
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Nor you, ye Proud, impute to these the fault
If Memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.
Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,
Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death?
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
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;
Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withstood,
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood.
Th' applause of list'ning senates to command,
The threats of pain and ruin to despise,
To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,
And read their history in a nation's eyes,
Their lot forbad: nor circumscribed alone
Their growing virtues, but their crimes confined;
Forbad 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,
Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride
With incense kindled at the Muse's flame.
Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenour of their way.
Yet e'en these bones from insult to protect
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.
Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd Muse,
The place of fame and elegy supply:
And many a holy text around she strews,
That teach the rustic moralist to die.
For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing lingering look behind?
On some fond breast the parting soul relies,
Some pious drops the closing eye requires;
E'en from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,
E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires.
For thee, who, mindful of th' unhonour'd dead,
Dost in these lines their artless tale relate;
If chance, by lonely contemplation led,
Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate, --
Haply some hoary-headed swain 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 at noontide would he stretch,
And pore upon the brook that babbles by.
"Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,
Muttering his wayward fancies he would rove;
Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn,
Or crazed with care, or cross'd in hopeless love.
"One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill,
Along the heath, and near his favourite tree;
Another came; nor yet beside the rill,
Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;
"The next with dirges due in sad array
Slow through the church-way path we saw him borne,-
Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay
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,
And Melacholy marked him for her own.
Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,
Heaven did a recompense as largely send:
He gave to Misery all he had, a tear,
He gained from Heaven ('twas all he wish'd) 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
英詩中譯
墓園挽歌晚鍾響起來一陣陣給白晝報喪，
牛群在草原上迂回，吼聲起落，
耕地人累了，回家走，腳步踉蹌，
把整個世界留給了黃昏與我。
蒼茫的景色逐漸從眼前消退，
一片肅穆的寂靜蓋遍了塵寰，
隻聽見嗡嗡的甲蟲轉圈子紛飛，
昏沉的鈴聲催眠著遠處的羊欄。
隻聽見常春藤披裹的塔頂底下
一隻陰鬱的柢梟向月亮訴苦，
怪人家無端走進它秘密的住家，
攪擾它這個悠久而僻靜的領土。
崢嶸的榆樹底下，扁柏的蔭裏，
草皮鼓起了許多零落的荒堆，
各自在洞窟裏永遠放下了身體，
小村裏粗鄙的父老在那裏安睡。
香氣四溢的晨風輕鬆的呼召，
燕子從茅草棚子裏吐出的呢喃，
公雞的尖喇叭，使山鳴穀應的獵號
再不能喚醒他們在地下的長眠。
在他們，熊熊的爐火不再會燃燒，
忙碌的管家婦不再會趕她的夜活；
孩子們不再會“牙牙”的報父親來到，
為一個親吻爬倒他膝上去爭奪。
往常是：他們一開鐮就所向披靡，
頑梗的泥板讓他們犁出了壟溝；
他們多麽歡欣地趕牲口下地！
他們一猛砍，樹木就一棵棵低頭！
“雄心”別嘲諷他們實用的操勞，
家常的歡樂，默默無聞的命運；
“豪華”也不用帶著輕蔑的冷笑
來聽講窮人的又短有簡的生平。
門第的炫耀，有權有勢的煊赫，
凡是美和財富所能賦予的好處，
前頭都等待著不可避免的時刻：
光榮的道路無非是引導到墳墓。
驕傲人，你也不要怪這些人不行，
“懷念”沒有給這些人建立紀念堂，
沒有讓悠長的廊道、雕花的拱頂
洋溢著洪亮的讚美歌，進行頌揚。
栩栩的半身像，銘刻了事略的甕碑，
難道能恢複斷氣，促使還魂？
“榮譽”的聲音能激發沉默的死灰？
“獻媚”能叫死神聽軟了耳根？
也許這一塊地方，盡管荒蕪，
就埋著曾經充滿過靈焰的一顆心；
一雙手，本可以執掌到帝國的王芴
或者出神入化地撥響了七弦琴。
可是“知識”從不曾對他們展開
它世代積累而琳琅滿目的書卷；
“貧寒”壓製了他們高貴的襟懷，
凍結了他們從靈府湧出的流泉。
世界上多少晶瑩皎潔的珠寶
埋在幽暗而深不可測的海底；
世界上多少花吐豔而無人知曉，
把芳香白白地散發給荒涼的空氣。
也許有鄉村漢普頓在這裏埋身，
反抗過當地的小霸王，膽大，堅決；
也許有緘口的米爾頓，從沒有名聲；
有一位克倫威爾，並不曾害國家流血。
要博得滿場的元老雷動的鼓掌，
無視威脅，全不顧存亡生死，
把富庶，豐饒遍播到四處八方，
打從全國的笑眼裏讀自己的曆史——
他們的命運可不許：既不許罪過
有所放縱，也不許發揮德行；
不許從殺戮中間涉登寶座
從此對人類關上仁慈的大門；
不許掩飾天良在內心的發作，
隱瞞天真的羞愧，恬不紅臉；
不許用詩神的金焰點燃了香火
錦上添花去塞滿“驕”“奢”的神龕。
遠離了紛紜人世的勾心鬥角，
他們有清醒願望，從不學糊塗，
順著生活的清涼僻靜的山坳，
他們堅持了不聲不響的正路。
可是叫這些屍骨免受到糟踏，
還是有脆弱的碑牌樹立在近邊，
點綴了拙劣的韻語、淩亂的刻劃，
請求過往人就便獻一聲婉歎。
無聞的野詩神注上了姓名、年份，
另外再加上地址和一篇悼詞；
她在周圍撒播了一些經文，
教訓鄉土道德家怎樣去死。
要知道誰甘願舍身啞口的“遺忘”，
坦然撇下了憂喜交織的此生，
誰離開風和日暖的明媚現場
而能不依依地回頭來顧盼一陣？
辭世的靈魂還依傍鍾情的懷抱，
臨閉的眼睛需要盡哀的珠淚，
即使墳塚裏也有“自然”的呼號
他們的舊火還點燃我們的新灰。
至於你，我關心這些默默的陳死人，
用這些詩句講他們質樸的故事，
假如在幽思的引導下，偶然有緣分，
一位同道來問起你的身世——
也許會有白頭的鄉下人對他說，
“我們常常看見他，天還剛亮，
就用匆忙的腳步把露水碰落，
上那邊高處的草地去會晤朝陽；
“那邊有一棵婆娑的山毛櫸老樹，
樹底下隆起的老根盤錯在一起，
他常常在那裏懶躺過一個中午，
悉心看旁邊一道涓涓的小溪。
“他轉遊到林邊，有時候笑裏帶嘲，
念念有詞，發他的奇談怪議，
有時候垂頭喪氣，像無依無靠，
像憂心忡忡或者像情場失意。
“有一天早上，在他慣去的山頭，
灌木叢，他那棵愛樹下，我不見他出現；
第二天早上，盡管我走下溪流，
上草地，穿過樹林，他還是不見。
“第三天我們見到了送葬的行列，
唱著挽歌，抬著他向墳場走去——
請上前看那叢老荊棘底下的碑碣，
（你是識字的）請念念這些詩句”：
墓 銘
這裏邊，高枕地膝，是一位青年，
生平從不曾受知於“富貴”和“名聲”；
“知識”可沒輕視他出身的微賤，
“清愁”把他標出來認作寵幸。
他生性真摯，最樂於慷慨施惠，
上蒼也給了他同樣慷慨的報酬：
他給了“坎坷”全部的所有，一滴淚；
從上蒼全得了所求，一位朋友。
別再想法子表彰他的功績，
也別再把他的弱點翻出了暗窖
（他們同樣在顫抖的希望中休息）。
那就是他的天父和上帝的懷抱。
譯者未知
作者介紹
托馬斯·格雷(1716—1771 ),是英國新古典主義後期的重要詩人，“墓畔派”的代表人物。他出生在倫敦的一個經紀人家庭，一生的大部分時間在劍橋大學從事教學與研究工作。他的生活可謂中規中矩，捷足而又穩健。
格雷一生作詩不多，僅十餘首傳世，其中以《墓園挽歌》最為著名。此詩創作長達8年之久，最初是為了哀悼他在伊頓公學讀書時的好友裏查德 ·韋斯特，至少詩末所附的“墓誌銘”是為他而作。但縱觀全詩，其內容已經明顯超越了對某個具體人物的哀思，而是通過對鄉村一處墓地的描寫，表達對下層默默無聞的人民的深切同情。對他們純樸善良品質的讚揚，為他們沒有機會施展天賦和才華而惋惜，同時也表現了對權貴、人間虛榮的蔑視和嘲諷，對大人物傲慢奢侈生活的譴責。這首詩充分體現了格雷的民主思想。由於貧困，農民不能發揮自己的才能，不能成為像彌爾頓那樣的文學家，像克倫威爾那樣的政治家。但是從另一方麵說，在他們身上沒有“野心”，“傲慢”，“驕”“奢”和“諂媚”。他們雖然“貧瘠”，沒有知識，但卻有“德性”和“天良”，他們是自然本身。這樣的思想和彌漫於全詩的感傷情調，使《墓園挽歌》成為18 世紀後期感傷主義詩歌的典範之作。
《墓園挽歌》之所以是曆代注評家青睞的對象。是因為“第一，它凝聚了一個時期中的某種社會情緒；其次，它有比較完整的形式表達了這種情緒，在一定程度上解決了如何革新舊傳統的問題，具有較高的藝術成就”。（楊周翰語）
從《墓園挽歌》這首詩中，我們可以看到英國詩人從新古典主義向浪漫主義的國度。一方麵，格雷的詩歌語言精雕細琢，符合新古典主義推崇的詩歌詞藻要求，另一方麵，他的詩歌表現了浪漫的對自然以及對人與人之間和諧關係的渴望。這兩者的結合用以表達深一層的感傷，使古典主義者所追求的對永恒真理的描述，這一古往今來始終如此的歎惋被精美的詩歌形式架構起來，更有著動人心弦的力量。
摘自百度百科：[url]http://baike.baidu.com/view/692699.htm[/url]
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http://gb.udndata.com/gb/blog.udn.com/ctiao/4221160
英國詩人湯瑪斯．葛雷 (Thomas Gray,1716-1771) 在1750年寫了這首詩，時年34歲。次年發行後，膾炙人口，傳頌一時。據聞在1759年，英國七年戰爭時的名將詹姆士．沃爾夫(James Wolfe）在某重大戰役前夕，對其軍官朗讀了這首詩，並說道：「先生們，我寧可寫了這首詩而非明天去拿下魁北克。」
翻譯這首32詩節,隔行押尾韻的四行詩（共128行），除了在模棱的字義中，盡力追索詩人的意念與情緒外，我認為中文也必須依原詩的型式押尾韻，才可能符合詩人所欲營造的氣氛。隔行換韻，一返一往，讀者遂隨之蹇步於陰陽虛實間，徘徊在信與疑，從與逆，喜與懼，記憶與遺忘的情緒裏。
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
By Thomas Gray
作於鄉村教堂墓園的哀歌
湯瑪斯·葛雷 作
刁卿蕙 譯
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o‘er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
晚鍾敲出離別之日的噩訊,
低嗚牛群蜿蜒緩緩上草坡,
返家的農夫步履蹣跚倦沉,
把世界留給了黑暗以及我。
Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds,
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds;
此刻景色朦朧從眼前漸黯黑,
一股肅靜將所有的空氣凝結,
除了甲蟲在嗡嗡繞著圈子飛,
催眠鈴當聲在遠處羊棚間歇;
Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower
The moping owl does to the moon complain
Of such, as wandering near her secret bower,
Molest her ancient solitary reign.
除了遠方藤蔓覆蓋的樓塔,
那鬱鳴夜梟可真招月娘怨
如此梭巡靠近她神秘閨闥,
侵犯了她古老的寂寞轄苑。
Beneath those rugged elms, that yew tree’s shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a moldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell forever laid,
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
粗硬的榆樹下, 紫杉樹蔭底,
許多荒塚上的草皮起伏舒卷,
各自永臥在其狹仄的墓穴裏,
村落粗野眾先祖在安息長眠。
The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,
The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,
The cock’s shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.
爐香飄動清晨裏的微風輕吟,
來自草築窩巢中的燕子呢喃,
公雞澈亮尖啼, 或者號角回音,
再不能使他們從下榻處醒轉。
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.
壁爐裏的烈焰將不再為他們燒燃,
忙碌的主婦也不再夜來頻添薪木;
沒有黃口小兒奔告其父祖的歸返,
或者攀上其膝分得一吻備受羨慕。
Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;
How jocund did they drive their team afield!
How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!
過去他們的鐮下屢有豐獲,
其犁常使頑抗旱地裂了口;
當他們成隊驅原時,有多麽樂活!
在他們堅毅打擊下,森林低了頭!
Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor.
野心之士別嘲弄他們實用的辛勞,
他們的家常趣味, 和幽微的命運;
顯貴之族聽時也莫帶鄙夷的微笑
窮人的編年史簡短且單純。
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all the wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
家徽的誇耀,權力的華飾,
所有的美,所有曾賦予的財富,
同樣等候那不可避免的一時。
榮顯之徑條條通往墳墓。
Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault,
If Memory o’er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.
你可別, 驕傲的你,歸咎這些為錯誤,
假如記憶之神未在他們的墳上樹立獎牌,
那麽在通過綿延長廊和細工雕飾的穹窿處,
轟然的頌歌會盈滿讚美的節拍。
Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honor’s voice provoke the silent dust,
Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death?
畫有故事的骨灰壇 或 詡詡如生的胸像
可會召喚逃逸了的呼吸重返其華寓?
榮譽的呼聲可會令沉默的塵土激揚?
或可取悅死神遲鈍冷酷之耳以阿諛?
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.
或許在此不起眼的一角埋有
曾經孕育天火的某顆心;
一雙帝國權杖也會回避的手,
或撩動狂喜以生命之弦琴。
But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page
Rich with the spoils of time did ne’er unroll;
Chill Penury repressed their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.
但在他們眼裏,知識女神的豐頁
富含時光劫毀之美實未曾展露;
寒冷的貧窮壓抑其高尚之詩躍,
凍結了靈魂中那股親和的暖流。
Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
有多少寶石散發最純淨清澈的光線,
卻是長在深黝不可測的海洋洞穴叢;
有多少花朵生就可令未見者羞紅臉.
卻是浪擲了其香甜於沙漠的空氣中。
Some village Hampton, that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withstood;
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country’s blood.
某漢普敦村人, 挺著無畏的胸臆
對抗了橫行在他田莊的小霸主;
某啞巴無名彌爾頓可能安息此地,
某個克倫威爾令其家園之血無辜。
The applause of listening senates to command,
The threats of pain and ruin to despise,
To scatter plenty o’er a smiling land,
And read their history in a nation’s eyes,
傾聽議會的掌聲在主導,
蔑視痛苦和毀滅的威脅,
在這片微笑的土地上播灑豐饒,
且讀他們的曆史以一國之眼格。
Their lot forbade: 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,
他們的命運禁絕: 也非獨然劃規
其茁長中的美,連帶其罪愆亦受礙,
禁絕經屠殺以登王位,
並拒人類於慈悲之門外,
The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,
To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,
Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride
With incense kindled at the Muse’s flame.
藏起覺察真理的痛苦掙扯,
澆熄天真靦腆的羞赧紅顏,
否則就堆積起驕奢的神社
以繆思之焰來點燃爐香卷。
Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learned to stray;
Along the cool sequestered vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
遠離瘋狂群眾的卑賤營汲,
他們清醒的願望從未學會迷失,
沿著冷涼偏僻的生命低穀
他們維持了路程寂靜以其方式。
Yet even these bones from insult to protect
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
With uncouth thymes and shapeless sculpture decked,
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.
然而即令這些枯骨免於受淩厄
某衰敗碑銘仍在附近兀立,
飾有古怪韻文和不成形的雕刻,
懇求路過者付予一聲歎息。
Their name, their years, spelt by the unlettered Muse,
The place of fame and elegy supply:
And many a holy text around she strews,
That teach the rustic moralist to die.
他們的姓名,生年,由不識字的繆思讀拚,
補充以名聲之地及哀歌挽詩:
她在周遭散布許多神聖經文,
教導不文的衛道者如何辭世。
For who to dumb Forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing anxious being e’er resigned,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing lingering look behind?
On some fond breast the parting soul relies,
Some pious drops the closing eye requires:
Even from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,
Even in our ashes live their wonted fires.
離世魂魄所依的胸膛慈悲溫暖,
某虔敬者依要求垂下緊閉的眼;
即使從墓中也聽到自然女神哭喊,
即使在我們灰燼裏也續存其故焰。
For thee, who mindful of the unhonored dead
Does in these lines their artless tale relate;
If chance, by lonely contemplation led,
Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate,
而你,如此關切那些無榮之亡魂,
在此詩行中可鏈接其質樸小傳?
如有契機,藉由孤獨暝思的導引,
某誌同的幽靈將探索你的因緣,
Haply some hoary-headed swain 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.
或許某個白發鄉紳會說,
「 我們經常看到他在破曉之際,
快步疾走將露珠抖落,
迎見太陽在高坡上的草地。
“There at foot of yonder nodding beech
That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,
His listless length at noontide would he stretch,
And pore upon the brook that babbles by.
「在遠處遙曳的山櫸腳旁,
神奇的老樹根盤旋升高,
正午他會伸展慵懶身長,
對著潺潺流過的河水思考。
“Hard by yon wood, now 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.
「 傍彼處之林,今微笑似輕睨,
喃喃低語恣意幻象的他在徘徊,
現漸垂喪,悲慘陰鬱,如遭遺棄,
或憂慮發狂,或苦於無望的愛。
“One morn I missed him on the customed hill,
Along the heath and near his favorite tree;
Another came; nor yet beside the rill,
Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;
「有天早晨, 我沒見著他在慣常的坡上,
沿著石楠和他所喜愛的樹附近;
又一個早晨,既不在小河旁,
不在草地上,也不見他在那樹林;
“The next with dirges due in sad array
Slow through the church way path we saw him borne.
Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay,
Graved on the stone beneath yon aged thorn.”
「次日悲傷隊伍哀悼當其時
我們見他緩緩被抬向教堂的小徑。
走近並請念(給能讀的你)這短詩,
鐫刻石上在彼下方古老荊棘叢。」
THE EPITAPH
Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth
A youth to Fortune and Fame unknown.
Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth,
And Melancholy marked him for her own.
墓誌銘
於當前位置大地膝上枕首
乃一財富與名聲兩不識的青年。
美善學識之神對其卑微出身不蹙眉頭,
憂鬱女神卻予以青眼撿選。
Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,
Heaven did a recompense as largely send:
He gave to Misery all he had, a tear,
He gained from Heaven (‘twas all he wished) a friend.
他何其慷慨大度, 他的靈魂何其真誠無欺,
天堂於是大大地予以報酬:
他傾其所有都給了苦難之神, 淚珠一滴,
他得到來自天堂(這曾是他最期望的)一個朋友。
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.
毋需再深入找尋他的優點來展現,
或拉出他那薄弱意誌自其可怖的居所
(在那兒他們亦同樣打著哆嗦希望安眠)
自他的天父和他的上帝的心窩。
