E18 The White Birds 白鸟

▍课程导读

威廉·巴特勒·叶芝（William Butler Yeats）的爱情名诗《白鸟》明朗纯净，倾诉的是一段爱情佳话。叶芝对于茅德·冈（Maud Gonne）一见钟情，虽屡遭拒绝，但他却一往情深。《白鸟》来源于二人的一次游历，海鸥从头顶飞过，茅德说若有来生，她愿做一只海鸥，几天后叶芝便作《白鸟》赠予茅德。

▍英文原文

The White Birds

William Butler Yeats

I would that we were, my beloved,white birds on the foam of the sea!

We tire of the flame of the meteor,before it can fade and flee;

And the flame of the blue star oftwilight, hung low on the rim of the sky,

Has awaked in our hearts, my beloved,a sadness that may not die.

A weariness comes from thosedreamers, dew-dabbled, the lily and rose;

Ah, dream not of them, my beloved,the flame of the meteor that goes,

Or the flame of the blue star thatlingers hung low in the fall of the dew:

For I would we were changed to whitebirds on the wandering foam: I and you!

I am haunted by numberless islands,and many a Danaan shore,

Where Time would surely forget us,and Sorrow come near us no more;

Soon far from the rose and the lilyand fret of the flames would we be,

Were we only white birds, my beloved,buoyed out on the foam of the sea!

▍参考译文

亲爱的，但愿我们俩化作那白鸟飞翔在大海的浪尖！

流星虽未殒逝，我们已厌倦它的耀眼；

暮色中蓝色的星星低垂天边，其微光

已在我们心中，亲爱的，唤醒一丝不灭的伤感。

沉溺于梦幻，露沁的百合与玫瑰让人生厌；

啊，莫梦它们，亲爱的，划过夜空的流星璀璨，

或那徘徊于降露时低垂蓝星的惚光：

但愿我俩：我和你，化作双白鸟流连于浪尖！

我心头萦绕着无数的岛屿和丹南海岸，

那里岁月定将我们遗忘，悲伤不再重现；

只要我们远离玫瑰，百合和恼人的星光，

我俩就会是双白鸟，亲爱的，激荡于大海浪尖！