【编者按】:这是一首极美的诗,献给天下有情人。
爱情小唱(75)
One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
一天,我在海滩边写上你的名字,
But came the waves and washed it away:
然而海浪涌来将其洗去;
Agayne I wrote it with a second hand,
再一次,我用另一只手写上,
But came the tyde, and make my paynes his pray.
然而潮水也再次涌来,让我心血成空。
"vayne man," sayd she, "the doest in vaine assay,
“痴心妄想的人呐,”她说,“别再如此徒劳,
A mortall thing so to immortalize,
想让必凋之物变成永恒,
For I my selve shall lyke to this decay,
连我自己都会腐朽消亡,
And eek my name bee wyped out lykewize.”
同样我的名字也将随风而逝。”
“Not so,” quote I, "let baser things devize,
“不是这样的,”我回答说,“任邪念销蚀,
”
To dy in dust, but you shall live by fame:
纵使我们终在尘土消亡,但你的声名却将延续,
My verse your vertues rare shall eternize.
在我的诗篇中,你不朽的美德终将永生。
And in the heavens wryte your glorious name,
天堂里将写上你充满荣光的芳名,
Where whenas death shall all the world subdew,
虽然死亡终将征服这个世界,
Our love shall live, and later life renew."
但我们的爱终将延续,并在下世获得重生。
以上英文原文选自王佐良、李赋宁、周钰良、刘承沛 主编 《英国文学名篇选注》。