Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard                          墓畔哀歌

Thomas Gray                                               托马斯.格雷

                                                           颜林海译

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,                   晚钟声声白昼丧，

The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,                   牛群牟牟原上回；

The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,                  耕者疲惫步踉跄，

And leaves the world to darkness and to me.                  寰宇茫茫黑依偎。

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,             暮色苍茫原野消，

And all the air a solemn stillness holds,                    尘寰肃穆天籁静；

Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,             惟闻嗡虫盘回闹，

And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds:                 遥听羊栏眠人铃。

Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower                       塔披青藤怨声吵，

The moping owl does to the moon complain                      柢枭郁郁诉玉兔；

Of such as, wandering near her secret bower,                  深闺密处闲者扰

Molest her ancient solitary reign.                            搅此悠静我居处。

Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,             榆树峥嵘紫杉荫，

Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,              荒冢突兀枯草堆；

Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,                        坟穴狭陋且湿阴，

The rude Forefathers of the hamlet sleep.                     陋村祖辈墓穴睡。

The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,                    晨风徐徐香四溢，

The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,             茅棚呢喃燕燕语；

The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,               猎号回荡鸣雄鸡，

No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.                不闻猎人墓中吁。

For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,                炉火霍霍勿向君，

Or busy housewife ply her evening care:                        妇人不再忙夜活； 

No children run to lisp their sire's return,                   幼童无需盼父到，

Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share,                   膝上争娇吻相夺。

Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,                     昔日开镰夺丰收，

Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;                 顽梗泥板犁沟垄；

How jocund did they drive their team afield!                   人欢下地欣牲口。

How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!               挥刀树断倒声隆！

Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,                       雄心勿讥辛劳益，

Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;                        家娱无闻命注定；

Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile                      高贵勿带轻蔑讥，

The short and simple annals of the Poor.                       笑闻穷人短生平。

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,                       门第赫赫权势煊，

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,                 美富所予益处多；

Awaits alike th' inevitable hour:                               万物归宗不可免，

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.                       荣归之路向坟垛；

Nor you, ye Proud, impute to these the fault                    傲者勿怪死者弱，

If Memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise,                    墓前无碑存念想；

Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault            悠悠长廊拱蚀错，

The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.                   留得赞美歌声扬。

                                                                （待续）