【葡萄牙十四行诗集】（英）勃朗宁.pdf

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1、SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE1SONNETS FROM THEPORTUGUESEby BrowningSONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE2II thought once how Theocritus had sung Of the sweet years,the dearand wished-for years,Who each one in a gracious hand appears To bear agift for mortals,old or young:And,as I mused it in his antique tongue,

2、Isaw,in gradual vision through my tears,The sweet,sad years,themelancholy years,Those of my own life,who by turns had flung Ashadow across me.Straightway I was ware,So weeping,how a mysticShape did move Behind me,and drew me backward by the hair;And avoice said in mastery,while I strove,-Guess now w

3、ho holds thee!-Death,I said,But,there,The silver answer rang,Not death,but Love.IIBut only three in all Gods universe Have heard this word thou hastsaid,-himself,beside Thee speaking,and me listening!and replied One ofus.that was God,.and laid the curse So darkly on my eyelids,so asto amerce My sigh

4、t from seeing thee,-that if I had died,The death-weights,placed there,would have signified Less absolute exclusion.Nay is worse From God than from all others,O my friend!Men couldnot part us with their worldly jars,Nor the seas change us,nor thetempests bend;Our hands would touch for all the mountai

5、n-bars:And,heaven being rolled between us at the end,We should but vow the fasterfor the stars.IIIUnlike are we,unlike,O princely Heart!Unlike our uses and ourdestinies.Our ministering two angels look surprise On one another,asthey strike athwart Their wings in passing.Thou,bethink thee,art Aguest f

6、or queens to social pageantries,With gages from a hundred brightereyes Than tears even can make mine,to play thy part Of chief musician.What hast thou to do With looking from the lattice-lights at me,A poor,tired,wandering singer,singing through The dark,and leaning up aSONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE3c

7、ypress tree?The chrism is on thine head,-on mine,the dew,-And Deathmust dig the level where these agree.IVThou hast thy calling to some palace-floor,Most gracious singer ofhigh poems!where The dancers will break footing,from the care Ofwatching up thy pregnant lips for more.And dost thou lift this h

8、ouseslatch too poor For hand of thine?and canst thou think and bear To let thymusic drop here unaware In folds of golden fulness at my door?Look upand see the casement broken in,The bats and owlets builders in the roof!My cricket chirps against thy mandolin.Hush,call no echo up in furtherproof Of de

9、solation!theres a voice within That weeps.as thou mustsing.alone,aloof.VI lift my heavy heart up solemnly,As once Electra her sepulchral urn,And,looking in thine eyes,I over-turn The ashes at thy feet.Behold andsee What a great heap of grief lay hid in me,And how the red wildsparkles dimly burn Thro

10、ugh the ashen greyness.If thy foot in scornCould tread them out to darkness utterly,It might be well perhaps.But ifinstead Thou wait beside me for the wind to blow The grey dust up,.those laurels on thine head,O my Beloved,will not shield thee so,Thatnone of all the fires shall scorch and shred The

11、hair beneath.Standfurther off then!go!VIGo from me.Yet I feel that I shall stand Henceforward in thy shadow.Nevermore Alone upon the threshold of my door Of individual life,I shallcommand The uses of my soul,nor lift my hand Serenely in the sunshineas before,Without the sense of that which I forbore

12、-Thy touch upon thepalm.The widest land Doom takes to part us,leaves thy heart in mineWith pulses that beat double.What I do And what I dream include thee,SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE4as the wine Must taste of its own grapes.And when I sue God for myself,He hears that name of thine,And sees within my

13、 eyes the tears of two.VIIThe face of all the world is changed,I think,Since first I heard thefootsteps of thy soul Move still,oh,still,beside me,as they stole Betwixtme and the dreadful outer brink Of obvious death,where I,who thought tosink,Was caught up into love,and taught the whole Of life in a

14、 newrhythm.The cup of dole God gave for baptism,I am fain to drink,Andpraise its sweetness,Sweet,with thee anear.The names of country,heaven,are changed away For where thou art or shalt be,there or here;And this.this lute and song.loved yesterday,(The singing angels know)are onlydear Because thy nam

15、e moves right in what they say.VIIIWhat can I give thee back,O liberal And princely giver,who hastbrought the gold And purple of thine heart,unstained,untold,And laidthem on the outside of the wall For such as I to take or leave withal,Inunexpected largesse?am I cold,Ungrateful,that for these most m

16、anifoldHigh gifts,I render nothing back at all?Not so;not cold,-but very poorinstead.Ask God who knows.For frequent tears have run The coloursfrom my life,and left so dead And pale a stuff,it were not fitly done Togive the same as pillow to thy head.Go farther!let it serve to trample on.IXCan it be

17、right to give what I can give?To let thee sit beneath the fallof tears As salt as mine,and hear the sighing years Re-sighing on my lipsrenunciative Through those infrequent smiles which fail to live For all thyadjurations?O my fears,That this can scarce be right!We are notpeers So to be lovers;and I

18、 own,and grieve,That givers of such gifts asmine are,must Be counted with the ungenerous.Out,alas!I will not soilthy purple with my dust,Nor breathe my poison on thy Venice-glass,NorSONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE5give thee any love-which were unjust.Beloved,I only love thee!let itpass.XYet,love,mere lo

19、ve,is beautiful indeed And worth of acceptation.Fire is bright,Let temple burn,or flax;an equal light Leaps in the flamefrom cedar-plank or weed:And love is fire.And when I say at need Ilove thee.mark!.I love thee-in thy sight I stand transfigured,glorified aright,With conscience of the new rays tha

20、t proceed Out of myface toward thine.Theres nothing low In love,when love the lowest:meanest creatures Who love God,God accepts while loving so.And whatI feel,across the inferior features Of what I am,doth flash itself,and showHow that great work of Love enhances Natures.XIAnd therefore if to love c

21、an be desert,I am not all unworthy.Cheeksas pale As these you see,and trembling knees that fail To bear the burdenof a heavy heart,-This weary minstrel-life that once was girt To climbAornus,and can scarce avail To pipe now gainst the valley nightingale Amelancholy music,-why advert To these things?

22、O Beloved,it is plain Iam not of thy worth nor for thy place!And yet,because I love thee,Iobtain From that same love this vindicating grace To live on still in love,and yet in vain,-To bless thee,yet renounce thee to thy face.XIIIndeed this very love which is my boast,And which,when rising upfrom br

23、east to brow,Doth crown me with a ruby large enow To drawmens eyes and prove the inner cost,-This love even,all my worth,to theuttermost,I should not love withal,unless that thou Hadst set me anexample,shown me how,When first thine earnest eyes with mine werecrossed,And love called love.And thus,I c

24、annot speak Of love even,asa good thing of my own:Thy soul hath snatched up mine all faint andSONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE6weak,And placed it by thee on a golden throne,-And that I love(O soul,we must be meek!)Is by thee only,whom I love alone.XIIIAnd wilt thou have me fashion into speech The love I

25、bear thee,finding words enough,And hold the torch out,while the winds are rough,Between our faces,to cast light on each?-I dropt it at thy feet.I cannotteach My hand to hold my spirits so far off From myself-me-that Ishould bring thee proof In words,of love hid in me out of reach.Nay,letthe silence

26、of my womanhood Commend my woman-love to thy belief,-Seeing that I stand unwon,however wooed,And rend the garment of mylife,in brief,By a most dauntless,voiceless fortitude,Lest one touch ofthis heart convey its grief.XIVIf thou must love me,let it be for nought Except for loves sake only.Do not say

27、 I love her for her smile-her look-her way Of speakinggently,-for a trick of thought That falls in well with mine,and certesbrought A sense of pleasant ease on such a day-For these things inthemselves,Beloved,may Be changed,or change for thee,-and love,sowrought,May be unwrought so.Neither love me f

28、or Thine own dearpitys wiping my cheeks dry,-A creature might forget to weep,who boreThy comfort long,and lose thy love thereby!But love me for loves sake,that evermore Thou mayst love on,through loves eternity.XVAccuse me not,beseech thee,that I wear Too calm and sad a face infront of thine;For we

29、two look two ways,and cannot shine With the samesunlight on our brow and hair.On me thou lookest with no doubting care,As on a bee shut in a crystalline;Since sorrow hath shut me safe in lovesdivine,And to spread wing and fly in the outer air Were most impossiblefailure,if I strove To fail so.But I

30、look on thee-on thee-Beholding,SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE7besides love,the end of love,Hearing oblivion beyond memory;As onewho sits and gazes from above,Over the rivers to the bitter sea.XVIAnd yet,because thou overcomest so,Because thou art more nobleand like a king,Thou canst prevail against my

31、fears and fling Thy purpleround me,till my heart shall grow Too close against thine heart henceforthto know How it shook when alone.Why,conquering May prove aslordly and complete a thing In lifting upward,as in crushing low!And as avanquished soldier yields his sword To one who lifts him from the bl

32、oodyearth,Even so,Beloved,I at last record,Here ends my strife.If thouinvite me forth,I rise above abasement at the word.Make thy love largerto enlarge my worth!XVIIMy poet,thou canst touch on all the notes God set between His Afterand Before,And strike up and strike off the general roar Of the rush

33、ingworlds a melody that floats In a serene air purely.Antidotes Ofmedicated music,answering for Mankinds forlornest uses,thou canst pourFrom thence into their ears.Gods will devotes Thine to such ends,andmine to wait on thine.How,Dearest,wilt thou have me for most use?Ahope,to sing by gladly?or a fi

34、ne Sad memory,with thy songs to interfuse?A shade,in which to sing-of palm or pine?A grave,on which to rest fromsinging?Choose.XVIIII never gave a lock of hair away To a man,Dearest,except this to thee,Which now upon my fingers thoughtfully I ring out to the full brownlength and say Take it.My day o

35、f youth went yesterday;My hair nolonger bounds to my foots glee,Nor plant I it from rose-or myrtle-tree,As girls do,any more:it only may Now shade on two pale cheeks themark of tears,Taught drooping from the head that hangs aside ThroughSONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE8sorrows trick.I thought the funeral

36、-shears Would take this first,butLove is justified,-Take it thou,-finding pure,from all those years,Thekiss my mother left here when she died.XIXThe souls Rialto hath its merchandize;I barter curl for curl upon thatmart,And from my poets forehead to my heart Receive this lock whichoutweighs argosies

37、,-As purply black,as erst to Pindars eyes The dimpurpureal tresses gloomed athwart The nine white Muse-brows.For thiscounters part,.The bay crowns shade,Beloved,I surmise,Still lingerson thy curl,it is so black!Thus,with a fillet of smooth-kissing breath,I tiethe shadows safe from gliding back,And l

38、ay the gift where nothinghindereth;Here on my heart,as on thy brow,to lack No natural heat tillmine grows cold in death.XXBeloved,my Beloved,when I think That thou wast in the world a yearago,What time I sat alone here in the snow And saw no footprint,heardthe silence sink No moment at thy voice,but

39、,link by link,Went countingall my chains as if that so They never could fall off at any blow Struck bythy possible hand,-why,thus I drink Of lifes great cup of wonder!Wonderful,Never to feel thee thrill the day or night With personal act orspeech,-nor ever cull Some prescience of thee with the bloss

40、oms whiteThou sawest growing!Atheists are as dull,Who cannot guess Godspresence out of sight.XXISay over again,and yet once over again,That thou dost love me,Though the word repeated Should seem a cuckoo-song,as dost treat it,Remember,never to the hill or plain,Valley and wood,without hercuckoo-stra

41、in Comes the fresh Spring in all her green completed.Beloved,I,amid the darkness greeted By a doubtful spirit-voice,in that doubts painSONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE9Cry,Speak once more-thou lovest!Who can fear Too many stars,though each in heaven shall roll,Too many flowers,though each shallcrown the

42、year?Say thou dost love me,love me,love me-toll The silveriterance!-only minding,Dear,To love me also in silence with thy soul.XXIIWhen our two souls stand up erect and strong,Face to face,silent,drawing nigh and nigher,Until the lengthening wings break into fire Ateither curved point,-what bitter w

43、rong Can the earth do to us,that weshould not long Be here contented?Think!In mounting higher,Theangels would press on us and aspire To drop some golden orb of perfectsong Into our deep,dear silence.Let us stay Rather on earth,Beloved,-where the unfit Contrarious moods of men recoil away And isolate

44、 purespirits,and permit A place to stand and love in for a day,With darknessand the death-hour rounding it.XXIIIIs it indeed so?If I lay here dead,Wouldst thou miss any life inlosing mine?And would the sun for thee more coldly shine Because ofgrave-damps falling round my head?I marvelled,my Beloved,

45、when Iread Thy thought so in the letter.I am thine-But.so much to thee?Can I pour thy wine While my hands tremble?Then my soul,instead Ofdreams of death,resumes lifes lower range.Then,love me,Love!look onme-breathe on me!As brighter ladies do not count it strange,For love,togive up acres and degree,

46、I yield the grave for thy sake,and exchange Mynear sweet view of heaven,for earth with thee!XXIVLet the worlds sharpness like a clasping knife Shut in upon itself anddo no harm In this close hand of Love,now soft and warm,And let us hearno sound of human strife After the click of the shutting.Life t

47、o life-Ilean upon thee,Dear,without alarm,And feel as safe as guarded by aSONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE10charm Against the stab of worldlings,who if rife Are weak to injure.Very whitely still The lilies of our lives may reassure Their blossoms fromtheir roots,accessible Alone to heavenly dews that dro

48、p not fewer;Growing straight,out of mans reach,on the hill.God only,who made usrich,can make us poor.XXVA heavy heart,Beloved,have I borne From year to year until I saw thyface,And sorrow after sorrow took the place Of all those natural joys aslightly worn As the stringed pearls,each lifted in its t

49、urn By a beatingheart at dance-time.Hopes apace Were changed to long despairs,tillGods own grace Could scarcely lift above the world forlorn My heavyheart.Then thou didst bid me bring And let it drop adown thy calmlygreat Deep being!Fast it sinketh,as a thing Which its own nature doesprecipitate,Whi

50、le thine doth close above it,mediating Betwixt the starsand the unaccomplished fate.XXVII lived with visions for my company Instead of men and women,yearsago,And found them gentle mates,nor thought to know A sweeter musicthan they played to me.But soon their trailing purple was not free Of thisworld