济慈诗歌和书信选(英文版)20 Deep in the Shady Sadness of a Vale

 　　Deep in the Shady Sadness of a Vale

　　DEEP in the shady sadness of a vale

　　Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn,

　　Far from the fiery¹ noon, and eve’s one star,

　　Sat gray-hair’d Saturn², quiet as a stone,

　　Still as the silence round about his lair³;

　　Forest on forest hung about his head

　　Like cloud on cloud. No stir of air was there,

　　Not so much life as on a summer’s day

　　Robs not one light seed from the feather’d grass,

　　But where the dead leaf fell, there did it rest.

　　A stream went voiceless by, still deadened more

　　By reason of his fallen divinity

　　Spreading a shade: the Naiad ’mid her reeds

　　Press’d her cold finger closer to her lips.

　　Along the margin-sand large foot-marks went,

　　No further than to where his feet had stray’d,

　　And slept there since. Upon the sodden⁴ ground

　　His old right hand lay nerveless, listless, dead,

　　Unsceptred; and his realmless eyes were closed;

　　While his bow’d head seem’d list’ning to the Earth,

　　His ancient mother, for some comfort yet.

　　It seem’d no force could wake him from his place;

　　But there came one, who with a kindred hand

　　Touch’d his wide shoulders, after bending low

　　With reverence⁵, though to one who knew it not.

　　She was a Goddess of the infant world;

　　By her in stature⁶ the tall Amazon

　　Had stood a pigmy’s height: she would have ta’en

　　Achilles by the hair and bent⁷ his neck;

　　Or with a finger stay’d Ixion’s wheel.

　　Her face was large as that of Memphian sphinx,

　　Pedestal’d haply in a palace court,

　　When sages⁸ look’d to Egypt for their lore⁹.

　　But oh! how unlike marble was that face:

　　How beautiful, if sorrow had not made

　　Sorrow more beautiful than Beauty’s self.

　　There was a listening fear in her regard,

　　As if calamity¹⁰ had but begun;

　　As if the vanward clouds of evil days

　　Had spent their malice¹¹, and the sullen¹² rear

　　Was with its stored thunder labouring up.

　　One hand she press’d upon that aching spot

　　Where beats the human heart, as if just there,

　　Though an immortal¹³, she felt cruel pain:

　　The other upon Saturn’s bended neck

　　She laid, and to the level of his ear

　　Leaning with parted lips, some words she spake

　　In solemn tenour and deep organ tone:

　　Some mourning words, which in our feeble tongue

　　Would come in these like accents; O how frail¹⁴

　　To that large utterance¹⁵ of the early Gods!

　　“Saturn, look up!—though wherefore, poor old King?

　　“I have no comfort for thee, no not one:

　　“I cannot say, “O wherefore sleepest thou?’

　　“For heaven is parted from thee, and the earth

　　“Knows thee not, thus afflicted¹⁶, for a God;

　　“And ocean too, with all its solemn noise,

　　“Has from thy sceptre pass’d; and all the air

　　“Is emptied of thine hoary¹⁷ majesty¹⁸.

　　“Thy thunder, conscious of the new command,

　　“Rumbles reluctant o’er our fallen house;

　　“And thy sharp lightning in unpractised hands

　　“Scorches and burns our once serene¹⁹ domain²⁰.

　　“O aching time! O moments big as years!

　　“All as ye pass swell²¹ out the monstrous²² truth,

　　“And press it so upon our weary griefs

　　“That unbelief has not a space to breathe.

　　“Saturn, sleep on:—O thoughtless, why did I

　　“Thus violate thy slumbrous solitude²³?

　　“Why should I ope thy melancholy²⁴ eyes?

　　“Saturn, sleep on! while at thy feet I weep.”

1 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

2 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

3 lair   

n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处

参考例句：

• How can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's lair?不入虎穴，焉得虎子？
• I retired to my lair,and wrote some letters.我回到自己的躲藏处，写了几封信。

4 sodden   

adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑

参考例句：

• We stripped off our sodden clothes.我们扒下了湿透的衣服。
• The cardboard was sodden and fell apart in his hands.纸板潮得都发酥了，手一捏就碎。

5 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

6 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

7 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

8 sages   

n.圣人( sage的名词复数 )；智者；哲人；鼠尾草（可用作调料）

参考例句：

• Homage was paid to the great sages buried in the city. 向安葬在此城市的圣哲们表示敬意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Confucius is considered the greatest of the ancient Chinese sages. 孔子被认为是古代中国最伟大的圣人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

10 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

11 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

12 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

13 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

14 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

15 utterance   

n.用言语表达，话语，言语

参考例句：

• This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
• My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽，泣不成声。

16 afflicted   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
• A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。

17 hoary   

adj.古老的；鬓发斑白的

参考例句：

• They discussed the hoary old problem.他们讨论老问题。
• Without a word spoken,he hurried away,with his hoary head bending low.他什么也没说，低着白发苍苍的头，匆匆地走了。

18 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

19 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

20 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

21 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

22 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

23 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

24 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。