Thomas Hardy
If but some vengeful god would call to me
From up the sky, and laugh: "Thou suffering thing,
Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy ,
That thy love's loss is my hate's profiting!"
Then would I bear it, clench myself, and die,
Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited;
Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I
Had willed and meted me the tears I shed.
But not so. How arrives it joy lies slain,
And why unblooms the best hope ever sown?
—Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain,
And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan. ...
These purblind Doomsters had as readily strown
Blisses about my pilgrimage as pain.
* * *
-hap
[hæp] n.
偶然
[ˈvendʒfəl] adj.
报复的
[ˈekstəsi] n.
狂喜
[blis] n.
幸福
[ˈpilɡrimidʒ] n.
朝圣
* * *
哈 代
哈代(Thomas Hardy,1840-1928),英国十九世纪后半叶,二十世纪初期的重要小说家和诗人。早期创作以小说为主,后期创作了大量诗歌作品,有诗集8卷,诗近千首。他常在诗歌中表现命运的无常,精神的失落,情感的忧伤与挫败,流露出对人类命运的深深忧虑,感情真挚,思想深邃,富于哲理。维多利亚末期人们的精神困惑与道德价值观的变化,以及世纪转折之际人们的怀旧情绪都清晰地展现在哈代的诗作中。他的诗语言质朴自然,带有乡土气息。其严肃的主题常引起人们的深思和回味。
假如有复仇之神从天上唤我,
笑着说,“你这活该受苦的家伙!
要知道你的悲伤是我的欢乐,
你‘爱’的失落正是我‘恨’的获得!”
我就该忍受,咬紧牙关,到死,
坚定地承担着无名怒火的压制;
稍觉宽慰是因为他比我强大,
我痛苦流泪,决定于他的意志。
但不对。为什么欢乐被杀身亡?
播下美好的希望却开不出花来?
——偶发的灾祸遮挡了雨水阳光,
时光下赌注,把悲伤当作欢快……
半盲的法官掉以轻心地把幸福
错换成痛苦洒向我人生的征途。