此诗作于1630年,时密尔顿22岁,莎士比亚死后14年。诗为五部抑扬格的双行体。每两行换一个韵。此种诗体多用于史诗,故亦称英雄双行体。
说实在我不喜欢英诗的结构,没有中文诗那么清楚。分析起来挺费劲。
What needs /my Shakes/peare for /his hon/oured bones,
比如这里的what,我怎么念也觉得不是抑而是扬。也可能是我划分错了。廖康应该知道。
The la/bor of /an age /in piled/ s-tones,
Or that /his hal/lowed re/lics should/ be hid
Under/ a star/-ypoin/ting py/ramid?
英诗也不像中国诗,一行就是一个句子,意思和结构统一,容易听懂。英诗常常有长句跨行。做听力练习那一定是费老鼻子劲了。
Thou in our wonder and astonishment
Hast built thy self a livelong monument.
For whilst, to th' shame of slow-endeavoring art,
Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart
Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book
Those Delphic lines with deep impression took,
Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving,
Dost make us marble with too much conceiving,
And so sepulchred in such pomp dost lie
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.
这里都是单句跨行的例子。按照现在的写法应该是
Thou Hast built thy self a livelong monument in our wonder and astonishment.
For to th' shame of slow-endeavoring art,whilst Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart Hath took Those Delphic lines with deep impression, from the leaves of thy unvalued book
Then thou, bereaving our fancy of itself, Dost make us marble with too much conceiving, And so dost [Thou] lie sepulchred in such pomp That kings would wish to die for such a tomb.
http://swc2.hccs.cc.tx.us/rowhtml/milton/jmpshake.htm
http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?16852-Please-I-Need-Your-Help