這首詩講述的是拜倫沒有結(jié)婚之前和一個已婚女人的不倫戀。他們深愛對方,但是彼此都知道,這段感情必須結(jié)束,最后以她的離開為這段感情畫下了終結(jié)。有時聽上去,好像她剛分手,而有時又像是她離世了。這是一首很典型的浪漫主義文學(xué)詩歌,在19世紀的歐洲風(fēng)靡一時。
1
When we two parted
昔日依依別,
In silence and tears,
淚流默無言;
Half broken-hearted
離恨肝腸斷,
To sever for years,
此別又幾年。
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
冷頰何慘然,
Colder, thy kiss;
一吻寒更添;
Truly that hour foretold
日后傷心事,
Sorrow to this.
此刻已預(yù)言。
2
The dew of the morning
朝起寒露重,
Sunk; chill on my brow,
凜冽凝眉間--
It felt like a warning
彼時已預(yù)告:
Of what I feel now.
悲傷在今天。
Thy vows are all broken,
山盟今安在?
And light is thy fame;
汝名何輕賤!
I hear thy name spoken,
吾聞汝名傳,
And share in its shame.
羞愧在人前。
3
They name thee before me,
聞汝名聲惡,
A knell to mine ear;
猶如聽喪鐘。
A shudder comes o'er me...
不禁心怵惕--
Why wert thou so dear?
往昔情太濃。
They knew not I knew thee,
誰知舊日情,
Who knew thee too well...
斯人知太深。
Long, long shall I rue thee,
綿綿長懷恨,
Too deeply to tell.
盡在不言中,
4
In secret we met
昔日喜幽會,
In silence I grieve
今朝恨無聲。
That thy heart could forget,
舊情汝已忘,
Thy spirit deceive.
疾心遇薄幸。
If I should meet thee
多年離別后,
After long years,
抑或再相逢,
How should I greet thee?
相逢何所語?
(with silence and tears)
淚流默無聲。
詩歌語言點講解:
拜倫這首感人至深的詩歌有很多古英語(archaisms)詞匯,還有很多倒裝(hyperbaton)。
在古英語(莎士比亞時代)中,第二人稱You寫作Thou /ða?/。如今這種用法只能在詩歌中,《圣經(jīng)》里,還有祈禱辭里見到了。Thou后面加動詞要在詞尾加st。比如:
You live here = Thou livest here
Do you love me? = Dost thou love me?
當(dāng)然也有一些不規(guī)則的動詞變形,比如:
You are= thou art
You were= thou wert
I will give you= I shall give THEE /ði:/
This is your house= this is THY house (/ða?/)
在古英語中,thou是“你”的單數(shù),復(fù)數(shù)形式則是you。
第一詩節(jié)
To sever,被分開,和前面的better押韻。
Pale grew thy cheek and cold(倒裝)=your cheeks grew cold and pale, to grow后面跟形容詞,表示“更像”(to become more like that)。
第二詩節(jié)
Brow=forehead(前額)。當(dāng)我們說道情緒在我們的前額刻下了皺紋(以憤怒)或是冒出汗水(以恐懼或疼痛)。
Vows= promises 和前面的cow押韻
Light is thy fame(倒裝)=you fame is light.
第三詩節(jié)
Knell,喪鐘聲。
Mine ear= my ear. 古英語中輔音緊跟所有格my,元音后面緊跟mine。
O're= over
They knew not:在古英語里,所有動詞都能接not,不用don’t。will not, work not.
Shall: 古英語里,第一人稱I、we用shall,其他人稱用will。
Long shall I rue thee= For a long time I’ll regret having loved you, because it was wrong.
第四詩節(jié)
In secret we met= we met secretly
In silence I grieve= I suffer but I don’t say anything
Thy spirit deceive:這句話其實不完整,因為詩人不想重復(fù)上面說了好幾遍的內(nèi)容了,所以完整的意思應(yīng)該是I am really sad because your heart forgot me and because your spirit deceived me.
If I should meet thee:助動詞should用在if條件句里,表達的是可能未曾發(fā)生的情況。比如:if you should see my sister, tell her to come (but I don’t think you will see her)。
How should I greet thee? 這句話里should又回歸了它”建議“的本意。這句話的意思就是:how am I supposed to say hello to you?