作者簡介:
伊麗莎白·巴雷特·勃朗寧(Elizabeth Barrett Browning),1806年出生在達翰姆(英格蘭北部的一個郡),19世紀英國著名女詩人。她15歲時,不幸騎馬跌損了脊椎,從此,下肢癱瘓。39歲那年,她結(jié)識了小她6歲的詩人羅伯特·勃朗寧(Robert Browning),她那充滿著哀怨的生命從此打開了新的一章。愛情把她從死亡的陰影里救了出來,她那不知疲倦的情人幫她擺脫了驚慌、疑慮和哀怨,扶著她一步步走到了陽光底下。她開始對人生有了信心,產(chǎn)生了眷戀。在病室中被禁錮了24年之后,她終于可以憑自己的雙腳重新站了起來。勃朗寧夫婦一起度過了15年幸福的生活?!镀咸蜒廊说氖男性姟愤@部感人的詩集就是他們愛情生活的真實寫照。它是英國文學史上的珍品之一,文字里包含了愛情開始時的懷疑,與家庭抗爭的恐懼,與愛人的甜蜜,以及最終愛的勝利的喜悅。此詩集得名于其丈夫常戲稱她為“我的小葡萄牙人”。
文字難度:★★★★
XXI
Say over again, and yet once over again,
That 3)thou 4)dost love me,
Though the word repeated
Should seem a5)cuckoo-song,as dost treat it,
Remember, never to the hill or plain,
Valley and wood, without her cuckoo-6)strain
Comes the fresh Spring in all her green completed.
Beloved, I, 7)amid the darkness greeted
By a doubtful spirit-voice, in that doubt’s pain
Cry, “speak once more——thou lovest!Who can fear
Too many stars, though each in heaven shall roll,
Too many flowers, though each shall crown the year?
Say thou dost love me, love me, love me 8)toll
The silver 9)iterance!——only minding, Dear,
To love me also in silence with 10)thy soul.
21
請說了一遍,再向我說一遍
你愛我,雖然一遍遍重復下來,
它會聽似一支“布谷鳥之歌”;
可是記著,在那青山和綠林間,
那山谷和田野中,縱使清新的春天
披著全身綠裝降臨,也不算完美無缺,
要是她缺少了那串布谷鳥的音節(jié)。
被愛著的我,四周那么黑暗,耳邊只聽見
驚悸的心聲,處于那痛苦的懷疑中,
我嚷道:“再說一遍你愛我!”誰會嫌
星辰太多,即使每一顆都在太空轉(zhuǎn)動;
鮮花太多,即使每一朵都點染著年景?
說你愛我,你愛我,一聲聲像敲著銀鐘!
只是記住,還得用靈魂愛我,在默默里。
XLIII
How do I love 11)thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and 12)breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the 13)ends of Being and 14)ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost 15)saints, —I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! —and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
43
我是怎樣地愛你?讓我逐一細算。
我愛你盡我的心靈所能及到的
深邃、寬廣、和高度——正像我探求
玄冥中上帝的存在和深厚的神恩。
我愛你的程度,就像日光和燭焰下
那每天不用說出的需要。我不加思慮地
愛你,就像人們?yōu)檎x而斗爭;
我純潔地愛你,就像他們在贊美前退避。
我把往日的傷感
統(tǒng)統(tǒng)化作熱情來愛你,并以我童年的信仰愛你;
我愛你,抵得上我那似乎隨著消失的圣者
而消逝的愛慕。我愛你以我終生的
呼吸,微笑和淚水——假如上帝允許,
我死了我還要更加愛你!
XLIV
Beloved, thou 16)hast brought me many flowers
17)Plucked in the garden, all the summer through,
And winter, and it seemed as if they grew
In this close room, nor missed the sun and showers.
So, in the 18)like name of that love of ours,
Take back these thoughts which here unfolded too,
And which on warm and cold days I withdrew
From my heart’s ground. Indeed, those 19)beds and 20)bowers
Be overgrown with bitter weeds and 21)rue,
And wait thy weeding; yet here’s 22)eglantine,
Here’s ivy! —take them, as I used to do
Thy flowers, and keep them where they shall not 23)pine.
Instruct 24)thine eyes to keep their colors true,
And tell thy soul, their roots are left in mine.
44
親愛的,你從一整個夏天到冬天,
從園子里采集了那么多的花
送給我;而這幽閉的小室里,它們
繼續(xù)生長,仿佛并不缺少陽光和
雨水的滋養(yǎng)。那么同樣地憑著
我們的愛的名義,
也請收下我的回贈:那些在冷暖時日里
從我心田采摘的思緒。
不錯,在我那園圃里確是長滿著
野草和苦艾,有待于你來耘除;
可這兒也有白玫瑰,也有常春藤!
請收下吧,就像我平常接受你的花。
好生護養(yǎng)著,別讓它們褪落了顏色。
對你自己說,它們的根都埋在我的內(nèi)心。