Dover Beach
Written by Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)
The sea is calm tonight,
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; – on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
多佛海滩
马修·阿诺德 作 / 飞白 译
今夜大海平静，
潮水正满，月色朗朗，
临照海峡，——法国海岸上
微光渐隐，而英国的峭壁高竖，
在宁静的海湾里显示巨大模糊的身影。
到窗边来吧，晚风多么甜！
可是你听！月光漂白了的陆地
与大海相接处，那一条长长的浪花线
传来磨牙般的喧声，
这是海浪卷走卵石，然后转回头来，
又把它们抛到高高的海滩之上，
涌起，停息，再重新涌起，
以缓慢而颤动的节拍
送来永恒的悲哀的音响。
索福克勒斯很久以前
在爱琴海边听过这喧声，
在他心中引起了人类苦难的
浊浪滚滚的潮汐；
我们在此遥远的北海边聆听，
也在此声中听到了深意。
信仰之海
也曾有过满潮，像一根灿烂的腰带，
把全球的海岸围绕。
但如今我只听得
它那忧伤的退潮的咆哮久久不息，
它退向夜风的呼吸，
退过世界广阔阴沉的边界，
只留下一滩光秃秃的卵石。
啊，爱人，愿我们
彼此真诚！因为世界虽然
展开在我们面前如梦幻的国度，
那么多彩、美丽而新鲜，
实际上却没有欢乐，没有爱和光明，
没有肯定，没有和平，没有对痛苦的救助；
我们犹如处在黑暗的旷野，
斗争和逃跑构成一片混乱与惊怖，
无知的军队在黑夜中互相冲突。
该诗是阿诺德针对英国维多利亚时期社会思想发生重大变化的感叹之作，正如诗中所云：“信仰之海”出现了危机。全诗有四节，诗人放眼大海，心随波涛滚滚，思绪澎湃起伏，横亘古今，似乎对自己的心上人展露忧思，最后在道德式微的沧海横流之中，诗人表示决心:“愿我们彼此真诚！”
诗歌选自《英美诗歌选读》蒋洪新 编著 / 湖南师范大学出版社 出版
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