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When We Two Parted
By George Gordon Byron(Lord Byron)
乔治·戈登·拜伦(拜伦勋爵)
When we two parted
想当初我俩分手,
In silence and tears,
沉默着流泪着
Half broken-hearted
将分离多年,
To sever for years,
心都要碎了
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
你的脸苍白冰冷,
Colder thy kiss;
更冷的是你的吻;
Truly that hour foretold
当时那一刻真是预言了
Sorrow to this.
今日的悲痛。
The dew of the morning
清晨的寒露,
Sunk chill on my brow-
冷彻了眉头
It felt like the warning
仿佛是预先警告我
Of what I feel now
我今日的感受。
Thy vows are all broken,
你的誓言都破碎了
And light is thy fame;
名声也断送了
I hear thy name spoken,
听到你的名字被提及,
And share in its shame
我都感到羞愧。
They name thee before me,
别人当我面提到你
A knell to mine ear;
我听着犹如丧钟
A shudder comes o’er me-
我浑身颤栗
Why wert thou so dear?
你为何曾对我如此珍贵?
They know not I knew thee,
他们不知道我认识你,
Who knew thee too well-
更不知我其实熟识你
Long, long shall I rue thee,
我会长久,长久地惋惜你,
Too deeply to tell
难以言明
In secret we met
当初我俩秘密相会
In silence I grieve,
如今我在静默中哀伤
That thy heart could forget,
你为何将我遗忘
Thy spirit deceive
并将我欺骗
If I should meet thee
如果我多年后
After long years,
再与你相会
How should I greet thee?
我该如何问候你?
With silence and tears.
用沉默,用眼泪。

背景科普

拜伦的全名是乔治·戈登·拜伦(George Gordon Byron),是18世纪末到19世纪初英国浪漫主义文学的代表人物。
诗中拜伦所描述的另一位他的情妇,据推测为Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster, 是他的朋友Sir James Wedderburn Webster的妻子。在1816年前后,有各种流言说Lady Frances和The Duke of Wellington,也就是威灵顿公爵,也有染。拜伦感到嫉妒,写下了这首When We Two Parted。
威灵顿公爵,在滑铁卢战役(Battle Of Waterloo)中打败了拿破仑。
为了保护Lady Frances的身份,拜伦曾故意说这首诗是他于1808年所作,用来混淆视听,不让别人把这首诗和Lady Frances联系在一起。
学者根据拜伦在1823年写给表妹Lady Hardy的信中内容推断,拜伦这首诗的另一位对象是指Lady Frances。
拜伦在那封信中附上了原诗的最后一段,这一段从来没有发表过,这最后一段解释了诗中女子的身份。
image.png
Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster
以下是诗的最后一段
Then-fare thee well-Fanny-
那么,再见,Fanny
Now doubly undone-
你声名狼藉
To prove false unto many-
被人说作
As faithless to One-
毫无忠心
Thou art past all recalling
我们之间覆水难收
Even would I recall-
即便我愿再接受你
For the woman once falling
堕落的女子
Forever must fall.-
永不翻身

解析

When we two parted
想当初我俩分手,
In silence and tears,
沉默着流泪着
Half broken-hearted
将分离多年,
To sever for years, sever = part 分开
心都要碎了

Pale grew thy cheek and cold, = thy cheek grew pale and cold. 倒装
你的脸苍白冰冷, = your cheek grew pale and cold. grew意思是“变得”
Colder thy kiss; = thy kiss grew colder than your cheek 省略+倒装
更冷的是你的吻; thy = your(所有格) thou = you(主格) thee = you(宾格)
Truly that hour foretold
当时那一刻真是预言了
Sorrow to this.
今日的悲痛。

Thy vows are all broken,
你的誓言都破碎了
And light is thy fame; = thy fame is light 倒装
名声也断送了 名声轻 = 名誉扫地
I hear thy name spoken,
听到你的名字被提及,
And share in its shame
我都感到羞愧。

They name thee before me, = mention thee name作动词,提起某人名字
别人当我面提到你
A knell to mine ear; knell 丧钟 knell to mine ear 对我的耳朵来说是个丧钟 = my ear
我听着犹如丧钟 在中古英语里,元音或者半元音前的my要变位成mine,为了好发音。
A shudder comes o’er me- o’er = over,省略音节,和before押韵
我浑身颤栗 /ɔː/
Why wert thou so dear? = were you thou art= you are thou wert = you were
你为何曾对我如此珍贵? wert是be的第二人称,也就是 你是 的过去时的变位
= why were thou so dear? dear在这里是珍贵,特别的意思

They know not I knew thee, = they do not know
他们不知道我认识你, 在中古英语中,直接在动词后加not就是否定形式
Who knew thee too well-
更不知我其实熟识你
Long, long shall I rue thee, = I shall rue thee for a long time 倒装
我会长久,长久地惋惜你, rue作动词,表示后悔某件事
Too deeply to tell = I rue thee too deeply to tell
难以言明

在以前的圣经中,耶稣遭到背叛后被钉在十字架上,说了一句非常有名的话,他即使被人害了,还代表那些害他的人向上帝圣父求情,说原谅他们吧,因为他们并不知道他们在做什么。
他说,Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
相当于现代的:Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.
以前没有动词进行态,助动词是现代英语的产物。
image.png

If I should meet thee should meet 虚拟语气,表示假设,“如果/万一”
如果我多年后
After long years,
再与你相会
How should I greet thee? greet somebody with… 用什么打招呼
我该如何问候你? e.g. greet her with “hello” 用”hello”打招呼
With silence and tears.
用沉默,用眼泪。

个人笔记

再往下就是笔者个人的笔记啦,因为是个英语菜鸡,所以可能大概也许会有亿点点基础词汇,英语水平高的大佬们大可不必看下去啦,啾咪,谢谢你看到我整理的笔记,一起支持兔老爹呀
Truly that hour foretold foretell的过去分词和过去式
当时那一刻真是预言了
foretell v. (literary) (尤指用魔力)预知,预言 to know or say what will happen in the future, especially by using magic powers.
记忆技巧 : fore前面;预先 + tell说 → 预先说 → 预言
The dew of the morning
清晨的寒露,
dew n. 露;露水 the very small drops of water that form on the ground, etc. during the night
Thy vows are all broken,
你的誓言都破碎了
vow n. (尤指宗教的)誓,誓言,誓约 a formal and serious promise, especially a religious one, to do sth.
v. 起誓;立誓;发誓 to make a formal and serious promise to do sth or a formal statement that is true.
In silence I grieve,
如今我在静默中哀伤
grieve v. 1. (for/over sb/sth) (尤指因某人的去世而)悲伤,悲痛,伤心 to feel very sad, especially because sb has died.
2. (formal)使悲伤;使悲痛;使伤心 to make you feel very sad.
记忆技巧 : griev重 + e → 心情极度沉重 → 使悲伤
习语 what the eye doesn’t see (the heart doesn’t grieve over)
(saying)眼不见(心不烦);眼不见为净
e.g. What does it matter if I use his flat while he’s away? What the eye doesn’t see…!
我趁他外出时用他的公寓有什么关系呢?反正他又看不见!
注:英文解释部分来自牛津词典(Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries)