讀點(diǎn)好英文:Ulysses 尤利西斯

Ulysses 尤利西斯

Alfred Tennyson

It little profits that an idle king，

By this still hearth, among these barren crags，

Matched with an aged wife, I mete and dole

Unequal laws unto a savage race，

That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

I cannot rest from travel；I will drink

life to the lees. All times I have enjoyed

Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those

that loved me, and alone；on shore, and when

Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades

Vexed the dim sea. I am become a name；

For always roaming with a hungry heart

Much have I seen and known—cities of men

And manners, climates, councils, governments，

Myself not least, but honoured of them all—

And drunk delight of battle with my peers，

Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.

I am part of all that I have met；

Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough

Gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades

Forever and forever when I move.

How dull it is to pause, to make an end，

To rust unburnished, not to shine in use！

As though to breathe were life！Life piled on life

Were all too little, and of one to me

Little remains；but every hour is saved

From that eternal silence, something more，

A bringer of new things；and vile it were

For some three suns to store and hoard myself，

And this gray spirit yearning in desire

To follow knowledge like a sinking star，

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

This is my son, my own Telemachus，

To whom I leave the scepter and the isle—

Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfill

This labour, by slow prudence to make mild

A rugged people, and through soft degrees

Subdue them to the useful and the good.

Most blameless is he, centered in the sphere

Of common duties, decent not to fail

In offices of tenderness, and pay

Meet adoration to my household gods，

When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

There lies the port；the vessel puffs her sail；

There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners，

Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me—

That ever with a froIic welcome took

The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed

Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old；

Old age hath yet his honour and his toil.

Death closes all；but something ere the end，

Some work of noble note, may yet be done，

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks；

The long day wanes；the slow moon climbs；the deep

Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends.

’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

the sounding furrows；for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down；

It may be that we shall touch the Happy Isles，

And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.

Though much is taken, much abides；and though

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are—

One equal temper of heroic hearts，

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

尤利西斯

阿爾弗雷德·丁尼生

一個(gè)無(wú)所事事的國(guó)王沒(méi)有當(dāng)頭，

安居家中，在這個(gè)嶙峋的島國(guó)。

我與年老的妻子相伴，頒布著

各種不同的獎(jiǎng)懲法令，治理野蠻的民族，——

他們只知道貯藏食物、吃、睡、收藏，卻不知道我是誰(shuí)。

我不能停歇我的跋涉；我決心

飲盡生命之杯。我曾享受過(guò)莫大歡樂(lè)，

也嘗過(guò)不少苦頭，

有時(shí)與愛(ài)我的人在一起，有時(shí)卻獨(dú)自一人；不論在岸上還是在

海上，

激流滾滾，暴風(fēng)雨把沉沉大海激得洶涌澎湃，

如今我僅成了一個(gè)虛名。

我如饑似渴地漂泊不止，

我已見(jiàn)識(shí)了許多民族的城池

各種禮儀、各種氣候、各國(guó)的議員和政要，

我本人并非舉足輕重，而是受到最高禮遇。

在遙遠(yuǎn)的狂風(fēng)怒吼的特洛伊戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上，

我曾陶醉于與敵手作戰(zhàn)的歡欣。

我本身也是我經(jīng)歷的一部分；

然而，所有的經(jīng)歷都只是一座拱門，

穿過(guò)拱門，尚未游歷的世界在門外閃光，

而隨著我一步一步的前進(jìn)，

它的邊界也不斷向后退讓。

要是就此停歇，那是何等沉悶無(wú)趣，

人如寶刀，不磨礪就要生銹，不使用，就不會(huì)發(fā)光！

生命豈能等同于呼吸！

幾次生命堆起來(lái)猶嫌太短，

何況我唯一的生命已余年無(wú)多。

唯有從永恒的沉寂之中奪回

每個(gè)小時(shí)，讓每個(gè)小時(shí)都會(huì)曾添更多的收獲，

帶來(lái)新的事物；最可厭的是

把自己長(zhǎng)期封存、貯藏起來(lái)，

讓我灰色的靈魂徒然渴望

在人類思想最遠(yuǎn)的邊界之外

追求知識(shí)，就像追求沉沒(méi)的星星。

這是我的兒子忒勒瑪科斯，

我給他留下我的島國(guó)和君權(quán)節(jié)杖，

我很愛(ài)他，他有膽有識(shí)，

能勝任這一工作；謹(jǐn)慎耐心地

教化粗野的民族，用溫和的步驟

馴化他們，使他們成為有用的良民。

他是無(wú)可指責(zé)的，他雖年少，

在我離去后他會(huì)擔(dān)起重任，

并對(duì)我家的信護(hù)神表示崇敬。

他做他的工作，我走我的路。

海港就在那邊，海船正揚(yáng)帆起航，

大海黑暗一片。我的水手們

與我同辛勞、同工作、同思想的人——

對(duì)雷電和陽(yáng)光永遠(yuǎn)是同等的歡迎。

并用自由的心與頭顱來(lái)抗?fàn)?，—?/p>

你們和我都已老了，但老年

仍有老年的榮譽(yù)、老年的辛勞；

死亡終結(jié)一切，但在終點(diǎn)前

我們還能做出一番崇高的事業(yè)，

使我們配稱為與神斗爭(zhēng)的人。

礁石上的燈塔已開(kāi)始閃爍，

長(zhǎng)晝將盡，月亮緩緩爬上天邊，

海洋向四周發(fā)出各種呻吟。

來(lái)吧，朋友們，探尋新的世界

現(xiàn)在為時(shí)不晚。開(kāi)船吧！

坐成排，劃破這喧嘩的海浪，

我決心駛向太陽(yáng)沉沒(méi)的彼方，

超越西方星斗的浴場(chǎng)，至死方止。

也許深淵會(huì)把我們吞噬，

也許我們將到達(dá)瓊島樂(lè)土，

與老朋友阿喀琉斯會(huì)晤。

盡管我們被拿走的很多，留下的也不少，

雖然我們的力量已不如當(dāng)初，

已遠(yuǎn)非昔日移天動(dòng)地的雄姿，

但我們還是一如既往，有同樣的性情，有同樣的雄心

雖被時(shí)光和命運(yùn)摧弱，

但仍有堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的意志，堅(jiān)持著

去奮斗、去探索、去尋求，就是不屈服。

實(shí)戰(zhàn)提升

背景知識(shí)

阿爾弗雷德·丁尼生（Alfred Tennyson），英國(guó)19世紀(jì)的著名詩(shī)人，在世時(shí)就獲得了極高的聲譽(yù)。他的詩(shī)作題材廣泛，想象豐富，形式完美，詞藻綺麗，音調(diào)鏗鏘。其131首的組詩(shī)《悼念》被視為英國(guó)文學(xué)史上最優(yōu)秀哀歌之一，因而獲桂冠詩(shī)人稱號(hào)。其他重要詩(shī)作有《尤利西斯》、《伊諾克·阿登》和《過(guò)沙洲》詩(shī)歌《悼念集》等。他深受維多利亞女王的賞識(shí)。

這首詩(shī)是關(guān)于希臘英雄尤利西斯在十年漂泊后回到王位上，但因無(wú)所作為而苦悶不已。在強(qiáng)烈的求知欲和冒險(xiǎn)精神的驅(qū)使下，尤利西斯終于決心召集舊部，拋棄眼前的安寧生活，重新駛向海角天涯，去探索新的世界。在詩(shī)中，詩(shī)人贊美的實(shí)際上不是神話中的英雄，而是當(dāng)代引起爭(zhēng)議的科學(xué)精神。丁尼生給傳說(shuō)人物注入了新的生命，使尤利西斯的名字成了境界開(kāi)闊、探索不止的象征。

單詞注解

savage['s?vid?]野性的；兇猛的

scepter['sept?]權(quán)杖，節(jié)杖

prudence['pru：d?ns]精明，深謀遠(yuǎn)慮

froIic['fr?lik]歡樂(lè)；嬉戲

名句誦讀

lt little profits that an idle king, By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Matched with an aged wife, l mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite the sounding furrows；for my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths Of all the western stars, until l die.