题前的话: 行者自"以长短句代书致白云下的兄弟"以及"Anchored the night"(诗词中译英之一: 枫桥夜泊)后一直研究英文诗的格律, 选的是W. Wordsworth的"I wandered lonely as a cloud". 正着手写一组小文, 介绍英文诗的"格律"并且试着"翻译"一些成古体.

英文诗格律(一): 从William Wordsworth(1770–1850)的诗The Daffodils看"Ti-Tum"四音步

说起英文诗, 大家都知道莎士比亚(W. Shakespeare)和以他的名字命名的"莎氏"十四行诗(Shakespearean Sonnet, 另外一种叫Petrarchan Sonnet).

这种Sonnet, 是有严格的格律的: 每首十四行, 每行是"抑扬格"五音步.

以前, 行者曾提起过英文诗里的"格律"(一首怀旧的英文诗), 但没有进一步展开说明.

现在有个机会. 借着W. Wordsworth著名的The Daffodils[1], 看看这英文诗的"格律"到底是怎么一回事儿.

The Daffodils, 即"金水仙"(其花金色亮黄), 又名"I wandered lonely as a cloud", 是Wordsworth的代表作之一, 用Iambic Tetrameter节奏(轻重或短长四音节步)-因为"轻重或短长"一般记作Ti-Tum或Da-Dum, 也叫Ti-Tum或Da-Dum音步, 英文是iamb[2]-"抑扬格"也(和"扬抑格"Trochee相反).

全诗四段, 每段六行, 每行四组"短-长"或"轻-重"音步(metrical foot)-也叫"抑扬格"(即按"短-长/短-长/短-长/短-长"或"轻-重/轻-重/轻-重/轻-重"的节奏).

每段里, 前四行是隔行押尾韵(Rhyme)[3], 后两行再单独押不同的尾韵.

大家可以试着按"抑扬格"来读一读这首诗(附于[1]).

这首诗能否恰当地翻译成汉语呢?

可以是自由体, 可以是古体-四言的五言的七言的杂言的.

大家试试看-行者正抽空进行翻译中(见附录, 陆续增加中)...

顺便地说, 这首诗在印度是七年级学生英语课上要学的(Secondary School Certificate, SSC), 见[4], wikipedia. 

NOTE:

[1] I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD // aka The Daffodils

I wan-dered lone-ly as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of gold-en daf-fo-dils;
Be-side the lake, be-neath the trees,
Flut-ter-ing and danc-ing in the breeze.

Con-tin-u-ous as the stars that shine   
And twin-kle on the Milk-y Way,
They stretched in nev-er-end-ing line
a-long the mar-gin of a bay:
Ten thou-sand saw I at a glance,
toss-ing their heads in spright-ly dance.

The waves be-side them danced; but they
Out-did the spar-kling waves in glee:
A po-et could not but be gay,
in such a joc-und com-pa-ny:
I gazed - and gazed - but lit-tle thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In va-cant or in pen-sive mood,
They flash up-on that in-ward eye
Which is the bliss of sol-i-tude;
And then my heart with pleas-ure fills,
And danc-es with the daf-fo-dils.

[2] iamb, a metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable or a short syllable followed by a long syllable, as in delay [de-lay].
[3] rhyme (also rime), 叫尾韵 (A word that corresponds with another in terminal sound, as behold and cold), 和头韵(alliteration)相反.
[4] The poem is covered and taught in the 7th grade English textbook of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board of Education of India. It is also part of the English Literature GCSE course in some British examination boards.

附行者翻译:

一, 五言-金水仙/"我身为孤云"

我身为孤云, 飘飘浮山谷
独怜花水仙, 依树傍湖舞
金带穿春风, 无人自作主

闪烁如繁星, 连绵比河汉
金毡绕水浒, 一瞥得千万
点首醉翩翩, 遥遥永不断

碧波陪君狂, 但非似君醉
我意最怜君, 愿以君为对
放眼绝淫思, 此生心足遂

当我着胡床, 心空或心短
寂寞去因君, 春光耀满眼
心乐舞应长, 长逐黄花远

译者自注:

第一段, "孤云"-唐李颀有句"有时空望孤云高"(送陈章甫). Host, 双关, An army or A great number; One who receives or entertains guests. 按W. Wordsworth的妹妹Dorothy的记载, Daffodils象是"a long belt". 另, 据说这首发表于1807年的诗源于1802年春的一次兄妹散步.
第二段, Milky Way, 即银河, 古代也称河汉或星河. 水浒, 水边也, "水浒传"曾译作Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh).
第三段, outdo, To do more or better than in performance or action. 对, pair也. 淫, 自古言多也.
第四段, couch, 直意是sofa, 可以座卧, 但古有"胡床"一语, 此借用. pensive mood,  melancholy or wistfully feeling-有sad的意思, 这里译成"心短", 相比于心长或心宽.

二, 四言-金水仙/"飘飘我心"

飘飘我心, 无绪闲云
高山深谷, 树下湖津
谁因风醉, 蓦然见君

(TBD)