LESSON 75

THANATOPSIS

对死亡的见解

To him who in the love of Nature holds

Communion with her visible forms, she speaks

A various language: for his gayer hours

She has a voice of gladness, and a smile

And eloquence of beauty; and she glides

Into his darker musings, with a mild

And healing sympathy, that steals away

Their sharpness, ere he is aware.

When thoughts

Of the last bitter hour come like a blight

Over thy spirit, and sad images

Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,

And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,

Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart;—

Go forth, under the open sky, and list

To Nature’s teachings, while from all around—

Earth and her waters, and the depths of air—

Comes a still voice,—

Yet a few days, and thee

The all-beholding sun shall see no more

In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground,

Where thy pale form was laid, with many tears,

Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist

Thy image. Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim

Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again;

And, lost each human trace, surrendering up

Thine individual being, shalt thou go

To mix forever with the elements;

To be a brother to the insensible rock

And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain

Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak

Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mold.

Yet not to thine eternal resting place

Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish

Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down

With patriarchs of the infant world,—with kings,

The powerful of the earth,—the wise, the good,

Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past,—

All in one mighty sepulcher.

The hills,

Rock-ribbed, and ancient as the sun; the vales

Stretching in pensive quietness between;

The venerable woods; rivers that move

In majesty, and the complaining brooks,

That make the meadows green; and, poured round all,

Old Ocean’s gray and melancholy waste,—

Are but the solemn decorations all

Of the great tomb of man. The golden sun,

The planets, all the infinite host of heaven,

Are shining on the sad abodes of death,

Through the still lapse of ages.

All that tread

The globe are but a handful to the tribes

That slumber in its bosom. Take the wings

Of morning, pierce the Barcan wilderness,

Or lose thyself in the continuous woods

Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound

Save his own dashings,—yet the dead are there:

And millions in those solitudes, since first

The flight of years began, have laid them down

In their last sleep,—the dead reign there alone.

So shalt thou rest; and what if thou withdraw

In silence from the living, and no friend

Take note of thy departure? All that breathe

Will share thy destiny. The gay will laugh

When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care

Plod on, and each one as before will chase

His favorite phantom; yet all these shall leave

Their mirth and their employments, and shall come

And make their bed with thee. As the long train

Of ages glide away, the sons of men—

The youth in life’s green spring, and he who goes

In the full strength of years, matron and maid,

The speechless babe, and the gray-headed man—

Shall one by one be gathered to thy side

By those who in their turn shall follow them.

So live, that when thy summons comes to join

The innumerable caravan, which moves

To that mysterious realm, where each shall take

His chamber in the silent halls of death,

Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night,

Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.

(Bryant)

【中文阅读】

对他，这个热爱大自然而且同她的

可见形体有交流的人，她用

变化多端的语言倾诉：在他快乐的几个钟头里

她声音里流淌出愉快，浅笑盈盈

讲得那般优美动听；当他苦思冥想时，

她飘然而至，在他意识到之前，

以能够疗伤治痛的温婉同情

悄悄带走他们的伤痛。

当弥留之际的凄楚

像一场枯萎病弥漫你的内心，

在你眼前浮现的是悲惨的情景：

极度痛苦、裹尸布、棺罩、

死寂的黑暗，还有狭窄的墓室，

这一切使你战栗，愈发心悸；

去吧，到空旷的天空下聆听

大自然的教诲，而四面八方——

大地和水中，以及大气的深处

传来寂静的声音——

寥寥数日，而你

俯视万物的太阳在转动中

再也见不到你；冰冷的大地上

也不见你涕泪涟漪被掩埋的苍白身躯；

大洋怀抱中也不会存有

你的形象。而滋养了你的泥土

要索回长成的你，重新融入泥土；

就这样，失去了人的所有形迹，

放弃了你独特的存在，

将与各种自然元素永远混在一起；

却成了没有感觉的石头

和无精打采的土块的兄弟，任粗野的乡里儿男

翻动和践踏。橡树的根

向外伸展，刺进你的泥模。

然而，你不会独自退隐于

永恒的长眠之地，也不可寄望于你躺下的

地方更宏伟威仪。同你一起躺着的

是世界初立时人类先祖，还有列王，

世界最有权势的人，还有智者、善者

俊美者和历代白发苍苍的先知——

全在一个宏大的墓中。

群山

像太阳一般古老，冥顽；山谷

在沉思的静谧中延伸；

岁月砥砺下的森林，浩浩汤汤的江河，

哀怨低诉的小溪，

让草地青绿，灌溉四方，

那灰暗而忧郁的大洋自古这样——

不过是人类这座大墓庄严的饰物而已。

金黄色太阳

行星，天空中所有无边无际的星宿，

穿过静静流逝的岁月

一齐照耀这个凄凉的死居。

所有踏在

地球上的人沧海一粟，而睡在大地怀抱中的

却是难以计数的氏族。清晨振翅，

飞越巴尔卡荒漠，

抑或在连绵不断的树林里迷失，

那里，俄勒冈河波浪滔滔，除了呼啸奔腾的声音

什么也听不见——但逝者在那里：

日月如梭，多少人最后长眠在

那些荒僻的所在——死者是那里唯一的主宰。

你也得这样安息，要是你默默

离世，没有亲友留意到你离去，

又有何妨？所有活着的人

都与你分享最后的归宿。欢愉的人会大笑

只为你撒手人寰，静肃好思的人

继续跋涉，每人和从前一样追求

他心仪的幻想；然而，他们都抛弃

他们的欢乐和工作，来与

你睡在一张床上。随着时光更替

岁月流逝，人们的后代，

不论正值青春年少，还是步入盛年

不论妇人还是姑娘，

不论不会说话的婴儿，还是白发盈顶的老人——

都一个接一个聚在你身旁，

而将他们聚在一起的也跟随而来。

就这样活着，到时候召唤你加入

那支车马无数的队伍，他们走向

那神秘的国度，每个人都在

静谧的魂灵厅堂里各有居所

你不会像夜间猎获的奴隶，

被鞭笞着赶进他的地牢，而是在坚定的信念

支持与抚慰下，一步步走向你的坟墓，

就像一个把被子裹在身上的人，

躺下，愉快地进入梦乡。

（布莱恩特）