陶志健:英詩新譯五首

作者記:眾多經典英文詩歌,早有前輩篳路藍縷,譯介海內。時人譯家亦眾,各有千秋。然詩無達沽,自無達譯。我因讀詩,時覺理解略現不同,偶欲獻上所感;又常見原作格律甚整,實為其詩不可或缺之品性要素,略望探尋如何以中文再現其妙。遂邊玩邊譯,後又不斷修改,終得本文所列之版本。然英文與中文差別甚巨,詩的格律更難相匹,確乃實情。故譯文雖以中詩韻律節奏為基本,卻無固定的對應格式,也未受嚴格的音韻限制;惟盡己所能,持守原詩意味,並體現其音韻節奏之感。未敢妄言兼顧,但求二者相衡。不揣淺陋,於此奉上,以求教於同好。

文 | 陶志健,學者、翻譯,麥吉爾大學博士

作者投稿,轉載須取得授權

1、紫杜鵑 ——答問花自何方來

陶志健:英詩新譯五首

R。W。愛默生

五月海風破寂寥,

林中喜見杜鵑嬈,

花放滿枝幽境棲,

歡娛荒漠悅緩溪。

紫瓣飄飄墜碧池,

幽水欣欣憑落英;

紅雀或來涼羽翅,

愧色向花訴衷情。

若有聖賢問杜鵑,

焉棄芳容天地間,

答之生眼為睛明,

麗質當因麗質生;

堪比玫瑰焉落此?

未曾自問未曾曉;

若依淺見試猜思,

君來我至皆天道。

譯註:原詩五步抑揚格,aabbcdcd韻式,似為十四行詩之拓展,措辭古雅。故仿古風,而依原韻式迻譯。

原文:

The Rhodora

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

On Being Asked, Whence Is The Flower?

In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,

I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,

Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,

To please the desert and the sluggish brook。

The purple petals, fallen in the pool,

Made the black water with their beauty gay;

Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,

And court the flower that cheapens his array。

Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why

This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,

Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,

Then Beauty is its own excuse for being:

Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!

I never thought to ask, I never knew:

But, in my simple ignorance, suppose

The self-same Power that brought me there brought you。

2、不要馴然遁入那個長夜

陶志健:英詩新譯五首

狄倫·托馬斯

不要馴然遁入那個長夜,

老年臨暮理當燃燒咆哮;

怒斥,怒斥光明竟將熄滅。

智者臨終固知黑暗難卻,

但因話語未作雷電閃耀,

不會馴然遁入那個長夜。

善者尾波已儘自嘆己業,

本可綠色灣中閃亮一跳,

怒斥,怒斥光明竟將熄滅。

浪者及時歡唱太陽飛躍,

辜負光陰太晚方才悟曉,

不甘馴然遁入那個長夜。

肅穆者臨終憑眩滅視覺,

得見盲眼欣如流星閃耀,

怒斥,怒斥光明竟將熄滅。

而父親您立高處空悲切,

求您揮淚罵我為我祈禱。

不要馴然遁入那個長夜。

怒斥,怒斥光明竟將熄滅。

譯註:

1、這是一首維拉內爾(villanelle),格律甚嚴:五個三行詩節加一個四行詩節,五步抑揚格,韻式為aba aba aba aba aba abaa,第一個詩節的一三兩行作為疊句在後面的詩節末行輪流重複,並在四行詩節中共同收尾。依體作詩甚難如意,而托馬斯此作堪稱典範。

2、恩師巫寧坤之譯品,頗得原詩精髓及力道;我謹以此譯,整理音韻,步其後塵,致敬吾師。

原文:

Do not go gentle into that good night

Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light。

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night。

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light。

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night。

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light。

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray。

Do not go gentle into that good night。

Rage, rage against the dying of the light。

3、獨居賦

陶志健:英詩新譯五首

亞歷山大·蒲伯

(原體版)

幸哉此叟無奢冀,

心繫家傳幾畝田,

愜意呼吸鄉里氣,

足立自家園。

自家牛奶自家谷,

自產羊毛做褲衫,

家樹綠蔭消夏暑,

柴木御冬寒。

置身時外為福幸,

歲月悠悠看逝川,

身健體康心底靜,

日默夜酣眠。

讀書間憩為閒客,

娛樂怡情意趣寬,

抱朴持真最快樂,

沉思心自安。

但願無聞生若杳,

惟期無泣死如然;

悄聲離世無人曉,

無碑識長眠。

(七絕版)

幸哉此叟無奢願,

心繫家傳幾畝田,

愜意呼吸鄉里氣,

舒心站立自家園。

自家牛奶自家谷,

自產羊毛做褲衫,

夏避樹林消酷暑,

冬收柴木御嚴寒。

置身時外為福幸,

歲月悠悠看逝川,

身健體康心底靜,

日間少語夜酣眠。

讀書間憩有餘閒,

娛樂怡情意趣寬,

抱朴持真稱愜快,

沉思默想心神安。

但願無聞生若杳,

惟期無泣死如然;

悄聲離世無人曉,

不立石碑識長眠。

譯註:

1、原詩每節前三行為四步抑揚格,末行為二步抑揚格,節奏有類“三句半”,卻略呈宋詞意味。拙譯(原體版)模擬其體,並依原韻式,而持其中一韻,一貫到底。

2、拙譯(七絕版)每節採用七絕格律,一韻到底,時而得以兼顧原詩韻式,或也另有意趣?

原文:

Ode on Solitude

Alexander Pope

Happy the man, whose wish and care

A few paternal acres bound,

Content to breathe his native air,

In his own ground。

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,

Whose flocks supply him with attire,

Whose trees in summer yield him shade,

In winter fire。

Blest! who can unconcern‘dly find

Hours, days, and years slide soft away,

In health of body, peace of mind,

Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease

Together mix’d; sweet recreation,

And innocence, which most does please,

With meditation。

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;

Thus unlamented let me die;

Steal from the world, and not a stone

Tell where I lie。

4、我欲將君比夏日 (商籟體之十八)

陶志健:英詩新譯五首

威廉·莎士比亞

我欲將君比夏日,

君比夏日更嬌婉。

柔花五月遭風笞,

夏日匆匆期苦短。

天眼時時憑自烈,

黃金顏面亦常陰;

芳容芳色有時謝,

天滅天生無定因;

君之夏日永不涸,

君之美貌永不凋,

死神徒嘆奈君何,

詩篇恆久君壽高。

人但呼吸眼但亮,

君隨此作永流芳。

譯註:莎翁這首十四行詩譯者尤為眾多,各有精妙。拙譯採用七言句型,循原韻式:abab, cdcd, efef, gg。

原文:

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)

William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate。

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date。

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,

Nor shall death brag thou wand‘rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st。

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee。

5、一世無爭

陶志健:英詩新譯五首

沃爾特·薩維奇·蘭德

(七絕版)

一世無爭不屑爭;

自然吾愛藝吾情。

人生之火溫雙手,

火萎何辭踏去程。

(五律版)

從未與人鬥,無人值我爭。

自然吾摯愛,藝術我真情。

生命火曾旺,火溫伴我行;

而今火既萎,何吝踏歸程。

譯註:原詩讀來雖輕散,卻格律甚整。現試呈上七絕五律個版本,前者亦可於首行改一字為“一世無爭不屑鬥”,而合原韻式。

原文:

I Strove With None

Walter Savage Landor

I strove with none, for none was worth my strife;

Nature I loved, and next to Nature, Art;

I warmed both hands before the fire of Life;

It sinks, and I am ready to depart。

TAG: 怒斥his詩節原詩韻式