讀點好英文: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

一個無所事事的國王沒有當頭，

安居家中，在這個嶙峋的島國。

我與年老的妻子相伴，頒布著

各種不同的獎懲法令，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。

我不能停歇我的跋涉；我決心

飲盡生命之杯。我曾享受過莫大歡樂，

也嘗過不少苦頭，

有時與愛我的人在一起，有時卻獨自一人；不論在岸上還是在

海上，

激流滾滾，暴風雨把沉沉大海激得洶涌澎湃，

如今我僅成了一個虛名。

我如饑似渴地漂泊不止，

我已見識了許多民族的城池

各種禮儀、各種氣候、各國的議員和政要，

我本人并非舉足輕重，而是受到最高禮遇。

在遙遠的狂風怒吼的特洛伊戰(zhàn)場上，

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，

它的邊界也不斷向后退讓。

要是就此停歇，那是何等沉悶無趣，

人如寶刀，不磨礪就要生銹，不使用，就不會發(fā)光！

生命豈能等同于呼吸！

幾次生命堆起來猶嫌太短，

何況我唯一的生命已余年無多。

唯有從永恒的沉寂之中奪回

每個小時，讓每個小時都會曾添更多的收獲，

帶來新的事物；最可厭的是

把自己長期封存、貯藏起來，

讓我灰色的靈魂徒然渴望

在人類思想最遠的邊界之外

追求知識，就像追求沉沒的星星。

這是我的兒子忒勒瑪科斯，

我給他留下我的島國和君權(quán)節(jié)杖，

我很愛他，他有膽有識，

能勝任這一工作；謹慎耐心地

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。

他是無可指責的，他雖年少，

在我離去后他會擔起重任，

并對我家的信護神表示崇敬。

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——

對雷電和陽光永遠是同等的歡迎。

并用自由的心與頭顱來抗爭，——

你們和我都已老了，但老年

仍有老年的榮譽、老年的辛勞；

死亡終結(jié)一切，但在終點前

我們還能做出一番崇高的事業(yè)，

使我們配稱為與神斗爭的人。

礁石上的燈塔已開始閃爍，

長晝將盡，月亮緩緩爬上天邊，

海洋向四周發(fā)出各種呻吟。

來吧，朋友們，探尋新的世界

現(xiàn)在為時不晚。開船吧！

坐成排，劃破這喧嘩的海浪，

我決心駛向太陽沉沒的彼方，

超越西方星斗的浴場，至死方止。

也許深淵會把我們吞噬，

也許我們將到達瓊島樂土，

與老朋友阿喀琉斯會晤。

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初，

已遠非昔日移天動地的雄姿，

但我們還是一如既往，有同樣的性情，有同樣的雄心

雖被時光和命運摧弱，

但仍有堅強的意志，堅持著

去奮斗、去探索、去尋求，就是不屈服。

實戰(zhàn)提升

背景知識

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

這首詩是關(guān)于希臘英雄尤利西斯在十年漂泊后回到王位上，但因無所作為而苦悶不已。在強烈的求知欲和冒險精神的驅(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。在詩中，詩人贊美的實際上不是神話中的英雄，而是當代引起爭議的科學精神。丁尼生給傳說人物注入了新的生命，使尤利西斯的名字成了境界開闊、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，深謀遠慮

froIic['fr?lik]歡樂；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.