说起诗,人类通常有两种反应:一种是,觉得诗这个文体,相当厉害相当高雅,不敢轻易读诗,更不敢轻易说自己读懂了某首诗;
另一种是,发出灵魂质问:“这就是诗啊,我闭着眼都能写一沓”“这算诗吗”。
诗,一度成为装逼矫情的代名词,也一度有人跳出来指责大众不读诗。
但正如诗人莎朗·奥兹所说,“诗一定是有它的价值和意义的,它为人们的生活不停带来挑战和激励,这才是我真正重视的东西”。
诗具有让我们感受世间万物的能力,它让我们主动付出自己的信任,让我们受到鼓舞,让我们爱,让我们笑,让我们哭。诗人和他们的诗歌有能力把读者带到从未去过,甚至从未想象过的地方。
诗人往往是被折磨的灵魂或伟大的思想家,他们让读者对世界产生新的看法。他们的文字技巧高超,即使他们笔下的诗只有几行长,也能吸引读者。
下面这些诗是由国外网友选出的最值得背诵的英文短诗,他们虽然简短,但却充满了丰富的意象和隐含的意义。背诵诗会让你更接近诗,并培养你与文学的终身联系。仅仅阅读这些诗是无法达到这一点的。
便条This Is Just To Say
威廉·卡洛斯·威廉姆斯
William Carlos Williams(译:祈尘)
我吃了
I have eaten
冰箱
the plums
中的
that were in
桃子
the icebox
那也许
and which
是你
you were probably
为早餐
saving
留下来的
for breakfast
原谅我
Forgive me
它们很可口
they were delicious
又甜
so sweet
又凉
and so cold
我站在高处I Stood Upon a High Place史提芬·柯雷因Stephen Crane我站在高处I stood upon a high place,看到下面很多鬼魂And saw, below, many devils在奔跑,跳跃Running, leaping,沉醉在罪恶中and carousing in sin.有一个朝上看,露齿而笑One looked up, grinning,而且说,“同志们!弟兄们!”And said, "Comrade! Brother!"
红色手推车The Red Wheelbarrow威廉·卡洛斯·威廉斯William Carlos Williams那么多东西so much depends依靠upon一辆红色a red wheel手推车barrow晶莹闪亮于glazed with rain雨水中water旁边有几只beside the white白鸡chickens.
冰与火Fire And Ice罗伯特·弗罗斯特Robert Frost有人说世界将毁灭于火,Some say the world will end in fire,有人说毁灭于冰。Some say in ice.根据我对于欲望的体验,From what I’ve tasted of desire我同意毁灭于火的观点。I hold with those who favor fire.但如果它必须毁灭两次,But if it had to perish twice,则我想我对于恨有足够的认识。I think I know enough of hate可以说在破坏一方面,冰To say that for destruction ice也同样伟大,Is also great且能够胜任。And would suffice.
美景易逝Nothing Gold Can Stay罗伯特·弗罗斯特Robert Frost自然的新绿是金,Nature’s first green is gold,鲜美色彩难保存。Her hardest hue to hold.初发叶芽即是花;Her early leaf’s a flower;仅能持续一刹那。But only so an hour.遂而新芽长成叶。Then leaf subsides to leaf.伊甸顿然陷悲切,So Eden sank to grief,曙晓瞬已大白天。So dawn goes down to day.黄金之物不久全。Nothing gold can stay.
前几年的电视《那年花开月正圆》的英文名就是 Nothing Gold Can Stay。现在,电视剧包装得越来越洋气,可质量如何,有时还真不好说。
第一颗无花果
First Fig埃德娜·圣·文森特·米莱Edna St. Vincent Millay我这支蜡烛在两头燃烧My candle burns at both ends;它终究撑不到拂晓;It will not last the night;可是,我的对头们,还有,我的朋友们——But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—它发出的光是多么美妙!It gives a lovely light!
本诗的第一句太经典,以至于成为英语中的一个成语。英国作家·哈代曾说:“美国有两大吸引人的点:摩天大楼和米莱的诗”。
我是无名之辈,你是谁?I'm Nobody! Who Are You?艾米莉·狄金森Emily Dickinson(译:江枫)我是无名之辈,你是谁?I'm nobody! Who are you?你,也是,无名之辈?Are you nobody, too?这就凑成一双,别声张!Then there's a pair of us - don't tell!你知道,他们会大肆张扬!They'd banish us, you know.做个,显要人物,好不无聊!How dreary to be somebody!像个青蛙,向仰慕的泥沼How public, like a frog在整个六月,把个人的姓名To tell your name the livelong day聒噪,何等招摇!To an admiring bog!
紫色大牛The Purple Cow吉利特·伯吉斯Gelett Burgess我从未见过紫色大牛,I never saw a Purple Cow,也从来不想见到,I never hope to see one,但我肯定,毕竟But I can tell you, anyhow,见到总比我当一头好。I'd rather see than be one!
树Trees乔伊斯·基尔默Joyce Kilmer(译:张放)我想,我将永远不会见到I think that I shall never see任何一首诗比一棵树可爱可慕。A poem lovely as a tree.树啊,你饥渴的嘴A tree whose hungry mouth is prest吸吮着大地喷涌的甘美汁乳;Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;树啊,你整日仰望上帝,A tree that looks at God all day,伸出满是树叶的臂膀,祈祷与祝福;And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
树啊,夏季里,你的头顶上A tree that may in Summer wear成为一巢知更鸟歇息之处;A nest of robins in her hair;冬天里,你的胸膛上有冬雪飘落;Upon whose bosom snow has lain;雨水与其密切相伴,交融水乳。Who intimately lives with rain.而涂写几行诗歌者,愚笨如我,Poems are made by fools like me,只有上帝,才能造出一棵树。But only God can make a tree.
雪尘
The Dust of Snow罗伯特·弗罗斯特Robert Frost(译:张俪)一颗铁杉树上The way a crow栖着一只乌鸦,Shook down on me它呀,竟然那样The dust of snow洒我一身雪花,From a hemlock tree这使我的心情Has given my heart起了一种变化——A change of mood把一天中的部分And saved some part从懊丧里救下。Of a day I had rued.
又是罗伯特·弗罗斯特。他曾四次获得普利策奖,被称为“美国文学中的桂冠诗人”。在下半生他才赢得这些荣誉。成名后,弗罗斯特受聘于多所大学,还要外出演讲、参加读诗会,他常常拖着病体疲惫不堪地回家。他的诗大部分都与绝望、孤独、死亡有关。过着 996 生活的现代人特别适合读他的诗。
雨天The Rainy Day亨利·沃兹沃斯·朗费罗Henry Wadsworth Longfellow天气很阴冷,沉闷有灰暗The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;天下着雨,风也刮个没完,It rains, and the wind is never weary;藤蔓依然紧紧地抓着残垣,The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,阵风吹落枯叶飘舞飞满天,But at every gust the dead leaves fall,天气很沉闷,天色又灰暗。And the day is dark and dreary.我的生活寒冷沉闷又黯淡,My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
天空下着雨,风也刮个没完,It rains, and the wind is never weary;思绪依然缠着消逝的往昔,My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,青春的希望都消沉在风里。But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,日子的确是沉闷而又黯淡。And the days are dark and dreary.安静吧,忧伤的心,停止悔恨,Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;乌云后面阳光依然灿烂,Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;你的命运和大家没有差别,Thy fate is the common fate of all,每个生命里都有一些阴雨,Into each life some rain must fall,有些日子必然沉闷而暗淡。Some days must be dark and dreary.
朗费罗的诗一度因太通俗而受到评论家的攻击。他们说:“朗费罗的诗不过是,与同时代美国任何一部诗集相比更容易满足人们的心理需求。”而到了 20 世纪末,当诗坛被荒诞、无理性、高度浓缩的省略句式、让人猜不透的多重象征霸占时,他们又念起了朗费罗的好。但不管评论家怎么摇摆,朗费罗都是美国最受欢迎的诗人。还是王尔德说得好,“朗费罗本人就是一首诗,是他所创作诗歌中最美的一首。”
死亡Death威廉··叶芝William Butler Yeats气数将尽的动物Nor dread nor hope attend无知畏惧,无所期盼;A dying animal;大限将至的凡夫A man awaits his end觳觫惶恐,心怀期待;Dreading and hoping all;曾经一次次地死去,Many times he died,又一次次地重生。Many times rose again.铁骨铮铮英雄汉A great man in his pride怒对冷血凶杀犯Confronting murderous men放声嗤笑Casts derision upon那气息的更新迭代;Supersession of breath;所谓死亡他早已参透——He knows death to the bone -死不过是人造的概念。Man has created death.
今年是叶芝逝世 80 周年,我们也该背一首除《当你老了》之外的叶芝的诗了。
梦中梦A Dream Within A Dream埃德加·爱伦·坡Edgar Allan Poe不能再吻你的额头,Take this kiss upon the brow!到了再见的时候,And, in parting from you now,我不得不说--Thus much let me avow--你是对的,我的生活You are not wrong, who deem不过是一场梦。That my days have been a dream;但是,如果希望已经飞走Yet if hope has flown away无论在夜里,或在白天,In a night, or in a day,无论在幻想,或在虚无中,In a vision, or in none,那么它是否会因此留下一些呢?Is it therefore the less gone?我们所看到、所感受的一切All that we see or seem不过是一场梦中的梦。Is but a dream within a dream.我站在I stand amid the roar怒涛彭湃的海岸边,Of a su
rf-tormented shore,我的手中And I hold within my hand攥着金黄的沙粒--Grains of the golden sand--留不住啊!它们快速地How few! yet how they creep穿过我的手指而去,Through my fingers to the deep,我哭了,我哭了!While I weep--while I weep!哦,上帝!为什么我不能O God! can I not grasp牢牢地抓住它们?Them with a tighter clasp?哦,上帝!为什么我不能O God! can I not save从这无情的波涛中救出一个?One from the pitiless wave?难道我们所看到、所感受的一切Is all that we see or seem不过是一场梦中的梦?But a dream within a dream?
哈莱姆Harlem兰斯顿·休斯Langston Hughes一个被阻延的梦会发生什么?What happens to a dream deferred?它会枯竭Does it dry up就像烈日下的一颗葡萄干?like a raisin in the sun?还是像伤口一样化脓——Or fester like a sore—然后溃烂?And then run?它如腐肉一般恶臭?Does it stink like rotten meat? 还是结出糖衣硬壳——Or crust and sugar over—就像久放的糖浆?like a syrupy sweet?也许它只是下垂Maybe it just sags如同一个重负。like a heavy load.又或者砰的一声炸为乌有?Or does it explode?
我的生活就是诗My Life Has Been the Poem亨利·戴维·梭罗Henry David Thoreau我的生活就是我要写的诗,My life has been the poem I would have writ但我不能一边生活,一边陈述它。But I could not both live and utter it.