I love to rise in a summer morn,
When the birds sing on every tree;
The distant 1)huntsman winds his horn,
And the sky-lark sings with me:
Oh what sweet company!
But to go to school in a summer morn, —
Oh it drives all joy away!
Under a cruel eye 2)outworn,
The little ones spend the day
In sighing and dismay.
Ah then at times I 3)drooping sit,
And spend many an anxious hour;
Nor in my book can I take delight,
Nor sit in learning’s 4)bower,
Worn thro’ with the dreary shower.
How can the bird that is born for joy
Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child when fears annoy,
But droop his tender wing,
And forget his youthful spring?
Oh father and mother, if buds are nip’d,
And blossoms blown away;
And if the tender plants are strip’d
Of their joy in the springing day,
By sorrow and care’s dismay, —
How shall the summer arise in joy,
Or the summer fruits appear?
Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,
Or bless the 5)mellowing year,
When the 6)blasts of winter appear?
我愛在夏日清晨就起床,
此時鳥兒在樹梢上歡快地鳴唱;
遠處的獵人吹響號角,
云雀與我引吭高歌;
噢,多么美好的玩伴!
但在夏日晨間上學去
噢,讓所有的樂趣消失殆盡!
冷酷的眼神之下,
小小讀書郎唯有終日
嘆息沮喪。
啊,我時來無奈呆坐,
熬過多少難耐的時辰,
書中沒有我的樂趣,
我亦無法安坐知識的涼亭,
盡在沉悶的風雨中疲倦消怠。
為快樂而生的鳥兒如何能
安身于籠中歌唱?
戰(zhàn)戰(zhàn)兢兢的孩童
又怎能不垂下他稚嫩的羽翼
遺忘他活力綻放的青春?
噢,爹爹媽媽,如果蓓蕾被摘除,
花兒被狂風掃盡,
柔弱的花木被奪取
萌芽時期的快樂,
只余下哀愁與沮喪,
夏日如何能在快樂中升華,
夏天的果實要怎么出現(xiàn)?
或是當冬天的風雪彰顯之時,
我們要怎樣拾獲悲哀所毀掉的一切,
慶賀豐收的年歲?
翻譯:一皮
很多人對上面這幾句詩非常熟悉,卻未必知道它其實是出于英國畫家、詩人威廉·布萊克之手。威廉·布萊克(William Blake,1757-1827),18世紀末19世紀初英國著名的畫家,英國文學史上最復雜、最有個性的詩人之一。他出身清貧,12歲開始創(chuàng)作詩歌,生前靠繪畫和雕刻為生,詩篇并沒有得到承認。直到19世紀末,英國文學界才開始意識到布萊克不僅僅是一位版畫家,而且還是一位詩哲。在20世紀,布萊克受到了T·S·艾略特等現(xiàn)代主義詩人的格外推崇。
威廉·布萊克主要作品有《詩的素描》(Poetical Sketches,1783)、《天真之歌》(Songs of Innocence,1789)、《天堂與地獄的結(jié)合》(The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,1790)、《經(jīng)驗之歌》(Songs of Experience,1794)等。早期以頌揚愛情、向往歡樂與和諧為主題。語言質(zhì)樸,形象鮮明,富有音樂感,充滿瑰麗的想象和奔放的激情。……