第二讲 A Psalm of Life鉴赏
·相关背景·
亨利·沃兹渥斯·朗费罗，1807-1882，美国诗人。《人生礼赞》这首诗写于1838年,很快成为一首极富盛名的诗篇。此诗长达9节,以四步抑扬格写成。它是一首训教诗,哲理深刻,作者感叹生活的艰辛,劝勉人们要坚韧不拔,不要气馁,要振作,要奋斗,要有所追求,要有所作为,从而使人生的小舟在经过风暴的洗礼之后抵达理想的彼岸。《人生礼赞》这首诗自发表以来一直广为传诵,直到2000年还被当年的美国桂冠诗人与他人经广泛调查后选定,编入《美国人喜爱的诗》。本诗还是第一首被译为汉语的欧美诗歌,最早的译文距今已一百多年,赢得了无数中国读者的心。
\published in October of 1838. It is a poem of encouragement, telling the reader not to waste life. Longfellow is sure to establish that life is real, and it will end soon. He wrote this poem at a fairly young age, yet he has a deep and accurate insight of life.
The content of the poem is not especially unique. The speaker is involved in the first person perspective, where he is directly addressing the reader. The tone is neither positive nor negative, but is strictly honest. The tone remains the same \change of tone. The only tension found in the poem is that between life and death - Longfellow writes about how every living thing is affected by both conflicting states of being.
The word choice in \yet the poem reads perfectly. Each word has its own meaning, and its own unique take on life, and every word adds something important, even vital, to the \flawlessly. The rhythm scheme is an eight syllable line followed by a seven syllable line. The poem does not stray from that simple rhythm once.
Imagery is the sole method of expression in the poem. Longfellow paints a word picture in each stanza that allows the reader to see more clearly what he is describing. Metaphors and Symbolism is rampant - in fact, the poem is almost entirely comprised of these things.
The form of the poem is very basic. Each stanza is four lines long, making the poem a quatrain, and the rhyme scheme follows the pattern \Each stanza also has a recurrent rhythm pattern: 8 syllables, 7 syllables, 8 syllables, 7 syllables. Analyzing the poem even deeper, you will notice that even the punctuation plays an important role. Exclamation points are used to establish emphasis on a particular line. There is no pattern to the punctuation, which makes it even more beneficial to strengthening the meaning of a phrase. Overall, it is very obvious that \
词语注解：
Psalm：The Book of Psalms, commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible. Taken together, its 150 poems express virtually the full range of Israel's
religious faith. 《诗篇》(《圣经·旧约》中的一卷。《诗篇》从整体上所体现的主题是人在苦难之中──上帝施行拯救。在这些神圣的诗篇中，我们听到的不仅是希伯来人，而且是全人类向上帝发出求救的呼声：看见全能之主伸出来施行拯救的手。许多世纪以来，《诗篇》一直为犹太人和外邦人提供了私下祈祷和公众礼拜的材料，用作希伯来圣殿和会堂的仪典，基督教会的赞美诗，上帝之孤独儿女的祈祷书，不论其种族和信仰如何。《诗篇》适应于各种心境和需要，不论是灰心失望，还是年老绝望，不论是生病犯罪，还是烦恼忧郁；不论是有年青人，还是忠于上帝的子民和圣徒，都能找到契合心境的诗篇。 numbers:指《诗篇》中标示各个部分的数字。
·原文阅读·
A Psalm of Life
What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!— For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each to-morrow Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act,—act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o'erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.
·译文比照·
（一）
人生礼赞
青年人的心对歌者说的话
不要在哀伤的诗句里对我说 人生不过是一场幻梦 昏睡的灵魂等于是死的 事物的真相和外表不同
人生是真切的,人生是实在的 它的归宿并不是荒坟
你不是尘土,仍要归于尘土 这话说的并不是灵魂 我们命定的目标和道路 不是享乐,也不是受苦 而是行动,在每个明天 都要比今天前进一步 艺术永恒,时光飞逝
我们的心,虽然勇敢坚决
仍然像闷声的鼓，它正在伴奏向坟墓的哀乐 在这世界辽阔的战场上 在这人生的营帐中 莫学那听人驱策的哑畜 要做一个战斗英雄
别指靠将来,不管它多么迷人 让已逝的过去永久埋葬 行动吧!趁着现在的时光