Sailing to Byzantium
W.B.Yeats (1865–1939)
That is no country for old men. The youn
In one another’s arms, birds in the trees
—Those dying generations—at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
O sages standing in God’s holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.
Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.
驶向拜占庭 那不是暮年人应适之乡。年轻的人 相互拥抱着，鸟在树上 ——那垂死的世代——放歌 鲑鱼汇成瀑流，满是鲭鱼的海 游鱼、走兽、飞禽，赞美长夏 以及所有的繁衍生息，伶仃绝灭 被困在靡音之中的它们 对不朽才智之丰碑视若无物 老去的人不足道也 如架上破旧的氅衣，除非 其灵魂拊掌吟唱，还要 为所有俗世中的魂灵高歌 没有一所歌唱学校不 观摩其本身嘉伟之功绩 如此我飘洋过海而来 来到这神圣之城拜占庭 哦，立于圣火旁的贤明智者 如同身处壁上的镶嵌画中 自圣火中而来，悠悠旋转 请做我灵魂唱咏的导师 毁掉我的心吧，它染上了贪欲 被系在这濒死的肉身 它大惑不解，带我汇入 迷炫的永恒里去 一旦离开了尘世，我将不会 再用任何自然之物形塑我身 除了这样一具像希腊金匠锤打 以珐琅装饰金子一般的形体 以此让欲睡的皇帝保持清醒 或倚靠着一根金黄的枝干颂唱 唱给拜占庭的领主和贵妇们 歌唱过去，现在，及将来的事情
后记：晚上的拜占庭史课没去，翻译了叶芝的这首“驶向拜占庭”。这首诗的题目本身就非常吸引我，读下来也完全不令人失望，文辞既表现了独属拜占庭的古奥之美，又很好地融入了生命、衰老、文学这一母题。英文水平有限，为了回避文意硬伤，翻译参考了傅浩的译本。
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