书城外语那些年那些诗
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第45章 Ulysses

Alfred Tennyson

It little profits that an idle king,

By this still hearth,among these barren crags,

Matched with an aged wife,I mete and dole

Unequal laws unto a savage race,

That hoard,and sleep,and feed,and know not me.

I cannot rest from travel;I will drink

life to the lees. 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. I am become a name;

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 honoured of them all—

And drunk delight of battle with my peers,

Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.

I am part of all that I have met;

Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough

Gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades

Forever and forever when I move.

How dull it is to pause,to make an end,

To rust unburnished,not to shine in use!

As though to breathe were life! Life piled on life

Were all too little,and of one to me

Little remains;but every hour is saved

From that eternal silence,something more,

A bringer of new things;and vile it were

For some three suns to store and hoard myself,

And this gray spirit yearning in desire

To follow knowledge like a sinking star,

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

This is my son,my own Telemachus,

To whom I leave the scepter and the isle—

Well-loved of me,discerning to fulfill

This labour,by slow prudence to make mild

A rugged people,and through soft degrees

Subdue them to the useful and the good.

Most blameless is he,centered in the sphere

Of common duties,decent not to fail

In offices of tenderness,and pay

Meet adoration to my household gods,

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 that have toiled,and wrought,and thought with me—

That ever with a frolic welcome took

The thunder and the sunshine,and opposed

Free hearts,free foreheads—you and I are old;

Old age hath yet his honour and his toil.

Death closes all;but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note,may yet be done,

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;

The long day wanes;the slow moon climbs;the deep

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;for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset,and the baths

Of all the western stars,until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;

It may be that we shall touch the Happy Isles,

And see the great Achilles,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—

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate,but strong in will

To strive,to seek,to find,and not to yield.

尤利西斯

阿尔弗雷德·丁尼生

一个无所事事的国王没有当头,

安居家中,在这个嶙峋的岛国。

我与年老的妻子相伴,颁布着

各种不同的奖惩法令,治理野蛮的民族,——

他们只知道贮藏食物、吃、睡、收藏,却不知道我是谁。

我不能停歇我的跋涉;我决心

饮尽生命之杯。我曾享受过莫大欢乐,

也尝过不少苦头,

有时与爱我的人在一起,有时却独自一人;不论在岸上还是在海上,

激流滚滚,暴风雨把沉沉大海激得汹涌澎湃,

如今我仅成了一个虚名。

我如饥似渴地漂泊不止,

我已见识了许多民族的城池

各种礼仪、各种气候、各国的议员和政要,

我本人并非举足轻重,而是受到最高礼遇。

在遥远的狂风怒吼的特洛伊战场上,

我曾陶醉于与敌手作战的欢欣。

我本身也是我经历的一部分;

然而,所有的经历都只是一座拱门,

穿过拱门,尚未游历的世界在门外闪光,

而随着我一步一步的前进,

它的边界也不断向后退让。

要是就此停歇,那是何等沉闷无趣,

人如宝刀,不磨砺就要生锈,不使用,就不会发光!

生命岂能等同于呼吸!

几次生命堆起来犹嫌太短,

何况我唯一的生命已余年无多。

唯有从永恒的沉寂之中夺回

每个小时,让每个小时都会曾添更多的收获,

带来新的事物;最可厌的是

把自己长期封存、贮藏起来,

让我灰色的灵魂徒然渴望

在人类思想最远的边界之外

追求知识,就像追求沉没的星星。

这是我的儿子忒勒玛科斯,

我给他留下我的岛国和君权节杖,

我很爱他,他有胆有识,

能胜任这一工作;谨慎耐心地

教化粗野的民族,用温和的步骤

驯化他们,使他们成为有用的良民。

他是无可指责的,他虽年少,

在我离去后他会担起重任,

并对我家的信护神表示崇敬。

他做他的工作,我走我的路。

海港就在那边,海船正扬帆起航,

大海黑暗一片。我的水手们

与我同辛劳、同工作、同思想的人——

对雷电和阳光永远是同等的欢迎。

并用自由的心与头颅来抗争,——

你们和我都已老了,但老年

仍有老年的荣誉、老年的辛劳;

死亡终结一切,但在终点前

我们还能做出一番崇高的事业,

使我们配称为与神斗争的人。

礁石上的灯塔已开始闪烁,

长昼将尽,月亮缓缓爬上天边,

海洋向四周发出各种呻吟。

来吧,朋友们,探寻新的世界

现在为时不晚。开船吧!

坐成排,划破这喧哗的海浪,

我决心驶向太阳沉没的彼方,

超越西方星斗的浴场,至死方止。

也许深渊会把我们吞噬,

也许我们将到达琼岛乐土,

与老朋友阿喀琉斯会晤。

尽管我们被拿走的很多,留下的也不少,

虽然我们的力量已不如当初,

已远非昔日移天动地的雄姿,

但我们还是一如既往,有同样的性情,有同样的雄心

虽被时光和命运摧弱,

但仍有坚强的意志,坚持着

去奋斗、去探索、去寻求,就是不屈服。

背景知识

阿尔弗雷德·丁尼生(Alfred Tennyson),英国19世纪的著名诗人,在世时就获得了极高的声誉。他的诗作题材广泛,想象丰富,形式完美,词藻绮丽,音调铿锵。其131首的组诗《悼念》被视为英国文学史上最优秀哀歌之一,因而获桂冠诗人称号。其他重要诗作有《尤利西斯》、《伊诺克·阿登》和《过沙洲》诗歌《悼念集》等。他深受维多利亚女王的赏识。

这首诗是关于希腊英雄尤利西斯在十年漂泊后回到王位上,但因无所作为而苦闷不已。在强烈的求知欲和冒险精神的驱使下,尤利西斯终于决心召集旧部,抛弃眼前的安宁生活,重新驶向海角天涯,去探索新的世界。在诗中,诗人赞美的实际上不是神话中的英雄,而是当代引起争议的科学精神。丁尼生给传说人物注入了新的生命,使尤利西斯的名字成了境界开阔、探索不止的象征。

单词注解

savage [5sAvidV] 野性的;凶猛的

scepter [5septE] 权杖,节杖

prudence [5pru:dEns] 精明,深谋远虑

frolic [5frClik] 欢乐;嬉戏

名句诵读

It little profits that an idle king,By this still hearth,among these barren crags,Matched with an aged wife,I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race,That hoard,and sleep,and feed,and know not me.

Push off,and sitting well in order smite the sounding furrows;for my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset,and