Ode to a Nightingale夜莺颂

Ode to a Nightingale夜莺颂

　　济慈

　　Ⅰ

　　My heart aches, and a drowsy¹ numbness² pains

　　My sense, as though of hemlock1 I had drunk,

　　Or emptied some dull opiate2 to the drains3

　　One minute past, and Lethe? wards4 had sunk:

　　'Tis not through envy of thy5 happy lot,

　　But being too happy in thine5 happiness,——

　　＊ That thou5, light-winged Dryad6 of the trees,

　　In some melodious³ plot

　　Of beechen7 green, and shadows numberless,

　　Singest8 of summer in full? throated ease9.

　　Ⅱ

　　O, for10 a draugh11t of vintage12! that hath13 been

　　Cool' d a long age in the deep-delved earth,

　　Tasting of Flora14 and the country geen.

　　Dance, and Provengal15 song, and sunburnt mirth!

　　O for10 a beaker16 full of the warm South,

　　Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene17,

　　With beaded bubbles winking⁵ at the brim,

　　And purple-stained mouth;

　　That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,

　　And with thee5 fade away into the forest dim:

　　Ⅲ

　　Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget

　　What thou5 among the leaves hast18 never known,

　　The weariness, the fever, and the fret19

　　Here20, where men sit and hear each other groan⁶;

　　Where palsy21 shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs22,

　　Where youth grows pale, and speater-thin23, and dies;

　　Where but24 to think is to be full of sorrow

　　And leaden-eyed25 despairs,

　　Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous⁷ eyes,

　　Or new Love ＊ pine at them26 beyond tomorrow.

　　Ⅳ

　　Away! away! for I will fly to thee,

　　Not＊ eharioted by Bacchus and his pards27,

　　But on the viewless28 wings of Poesy29,

　　Though the dull brain perplexes and retards⁸:

　　Already with thee! ＊ tender is the night30,

　　And haply31 the Queen-Moon is on her throne,

　　Clustered around by all her starry⁹ Fays32;

　　But here33 there is no light,

　　Save34 what from heaven is with the breezes blown

　　Through verdurous35 glooms and winding¹⁰ mossy ways.

　　Ⅴ

　　I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,

　　Nor what soft incense36 hangs upon the boughs¹¹,

　　But, in embalméd37 darkness, guess each sweet

　　Wherewith38 the seasonable month endows

　　The grass, the thicket¹², and the fruit tree wild;

　　White hawthorn39, and the

　　pastoral40 eglantine41;

　　Fast fading violets covered up in leaves;

　　And mid-May' s eldest¹³ child,

　　The 'coming musk-rose42, full of dewy wine,

　　The murmurous¹⁴ haunt of flies on summer eves.

　　Ⅵ

　　Darkling43 I listen; and for many a time

　　I have been half in love with easeful Death,

　　Called him soft names in many a

　　muséd44 rhyme,

　　To take into the air my quiet breath;

　　Now more than ever seems it rich45 to die,

　　To cease upon the midnight with no pain,

　　While ＊ thou art46 pouring forth¹⁵ thy soul abroad

　　In such an ecstasy¹⁶!

　　Still＊ wouldst thou47 sing, and I have ears in vain——? ?

　　To thy high requiem48 become a sod49.

　　Ⅶ

　　＊ Thou wast50 not born for death, immortal¹⁷ Bird!

　　No hungry generations tread thee down; The voice I hear this passing night was heard

　　In ancient days by emperor and clown:

　　Perhaps the selfsame song that found a path

　　Through the sad heart of Ruth51 when, sick for home,

　　She stood in tears amid the alien corn;

　　The same that oft times hath

　　Charmed magic casements52, opening on the foam¹⁸

　　Of perilous¹⁹ seas, in faery lands forlorn53.

　　Ⅷ

　　Forlorn! the very word is like a bell To toll²⁰ me back from thee to my sole self!

　　Adieu! the fancy54 cannot cheat so well

　　As she is famed to do, deceiving olf55.

　　Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive²¹ anthem²² fades

　　Past the near meadows, over the still stream,

　　Up the hill side; and now ' its buried deep

　　In the next valley-glades:

　　Was it a vision, or a waking dream? Fled is that music:——Do I wake or sleep?

　　19世纪初英国三大浪漫主义诗人都生命短暂。拜伦活了36岁，雪莱30岁，济慈只有26岁。

　　济慈(JohnKeats,1795～1821)出身平民，父亲是伦敦马厩管事，父母早亡。济慈14岁后独立生活，还要抚养两弟一妹。他从药剂师的徒弟做起，勉强维持生活。聪颖的他早露诗才，爱读古希腊、罗马诗歌。21岁断然弃医，专门从事诗创作，得到同行赏识，但受一些杂志的攻击，说他的诗是"喋喋不休的蠢话"。实际上济慈的诗音美、形美、意象美，只是他的神话长诗中确有一些模糊的片段。1819年前后他的杰作丰收，包括著名的《圣爱格尼斯之夜》、《心灵颂》、《无情的美人》、《夜莺颂》、《希腊古瓮颂》、《忧郁颂》、《秋颂》等。长诗《恩狄米昂》(Endymion)写这位希腊猎人对月亮女神的爱慕，《海伊佩里昂》(Hyperion)写这位在希腊神话中的巨人对美和进步的理解和追求。这两篇长诗写的时间较长，前后有些修改。济慈心爱的二弟因肺病而死，济慈长期看护他也染上肺病，1820年9月济慈到意大利疗养，次年2月死于罗马，葬于新教墓地，墓碑上遵照他的遗言写着：Hereliesonewhosenamewaswritinwater("此地长眠者，声名水上书"，writ为written的古体)。

　　本刊1996年8月号刊过济慈AThingofBeauty诗一段及裘克安的译文，该段诗即《恩狄米昂》长诗最初24行，是济慈追求美的宣言。现再刊他的《夜莺颂》一诗，此诗写于伦敦北部Hampstead的KeatsGrove屋后花园内。当年该地区还较荒凉，济慈正与邻居女FannyBrawne恋爱定情。该屋现为济慈纪念馆，很值得一访。

　　NOTES注释:

　　1. 毒芹汁

　　2. 鸦片制剂

　　3.dregs,残滓

　　4.towards Lethe，希腊神话地狱之忘河 ，饮其水则失去记忆。

　　5.旧时you的单数，主格thou，宾格thee，所有格thy，在h或元音前作 thine。这里你指夜莺。

　　6.希腊神话中树木的精灵

　　7.beech的形容词，山毛榉树的

　　8.此处thou的 谓语，sing＋est第二人称单数现在时动词尾形。

　　9.从＊到此，(I am too happy in) the fact that……ease，是 happiness的 同位语。

　　10.(How)I wish to have.

　　11.[dr? ft]act of drinking

　　12.good, old wine

　　13. has, hath为旧时英格兰南部方言拼法。

　　14.罗马神话 中女花神，泛指众花。 15.[proven' s? l]法国南部 Provence的，该地中世纪时盛产歌唱 爱情的行吟诗人。

　　16.large drinking cup

　　17.希腊文艺女神山上泉水，传说因神马踢破而涌 出。blushful为红色

　　18. have的第二人称单数现在时形式

　　19. worry

　　20. 指人世间，和上面 among the leaves相对 。

　　21. trembling, paralysis²³

　　22. 指老人

　　23. thin like a ghost. 指济慈二弟Tom因肺痨去冬去世，可能对自己的身体也预感不祥 。

　　24.merely

　　25. with eyes coloured like lead(铅) 26. languishing²⁴ with longing²⁵ at Beauty' s bright eyes. 此 时济慈正和Fanny Brawne恋爱 ， 但预感爱情不长 。 27. 乘坐酒神的豹拉的车 。 pards=leopards

　　28. invisible

　　29. poetry

　　30. 美国著名小说家 Scott Fitzgerald有一部 小说以此为题 。

　　31. perhaps

　　32. fairies

　　33. 济慈所坐之处，在林荫里 。

　　34. except

　　35. with green leaves

　　36. fragrance²⁶

　　37. perfumed

　　38. with which

　　39. 白山楂花

　　40. 牧草地上的

　　41. 多花蔷薇

　　42. 麝香玫瑰

　　43. in the darkness

　　44. meditated²⁷

　　45. fortunate

　　46. you are

　　47. you would

　　48. 安魂曲

　　49. a lump of clay that is insensitive(to your song)

　　50. you were

　　51. 《旧约圣经路得记》，路得是年轻寡妇，来到异乡，在人家地里麦收后捡麦穗为生，所以下行称amid alien corn，这时她凄苦并怀乡， 后来一富人娶了她 。

　　52. windows

　　53. forsaken²⁸, neglected

　　54. poetic²⁹ imagination

　　55. mischievous fairy

　　——by John Keats May 1819

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