沃尔特·惠特曼(Walter Whitman)
Never did music more sink into and soothe and fill me — never so prove its soul-rousing power, its impossibility of statement. Especially in the rendering of one of Beethoven's master septettes was I carried away, seeing, absorbing many wonders. Dainty abandon, sometimes as if Nature laughing on a hillside in the sunshine; serious and firm monotones, as of winds; a horn sounding through the tangle of the forest, and the dying echoes; soothing floating of waves, but presently rising in surges, angrily lashing, muttering, heavy; piercing peals of laughter, for interstices ; now and then weird, as Nature herself is in certain moods — but mainly spontaneous, easy, careless — often the sentiment of the postures of naked children playing or sleeping. It did me good even to watch the violinists drawing their bows so masterly — every motion a study. I allowed myself, as I sometimes do, to wander out of myself. The conceit came to me of a copious grove of singing birds, and in their midst a simple harmonic duo , two human souls, steadily asserting their own pensiveness, joyousness.
- soothe [suːð] v. 安慰，使平静
- rendering [ˈrendərɪŋ] n. 表演，演奏
- septette [sepˈtet] n. 七重奏
- tangle [ˈtæŋɡl] a. 纵横交错的
piercing peals 尖利而刺耳的
- interstice [ɪnˈtɜːstɪs] n. 空隙，间隙
- duo [ˈdjuːəʊ] n. 二重奏，二重唱
从来没有什么东西能像音乐这样，让我沉浸其中，给我慰藉，使我充实；从来没有音乐有如此感人心弦的威力，那种用言语无法表达的威力。尤其在听贝多芬的杰作七重奏的时候，我如痴如醉，看到并领会了许多奇观。时而，仿佛听见大自然在阳光下的山坡上大笑；庄严而坚定的单音调，好似大风吹过；仿佛听到如号角从林中穿过，余音袅袅；柔和的涛声，继而汹涌澎湃，隆隆向前；间隙中传来狂笑声，时而诡异怪诞，仿佛大自然本身有各种情绪似的——但主要还是自发的，从容的，漫不经心的——常常是赤身裸体的儿童的天真烂漫，摆出嬉戏或睡眠的姿态。即使不听声音，看着小提琴手拉弓弦，我也大饱眼福，每一个动作都堪称完美。有时候，我让自己超然物外，浮想联翩，进入我幻想中的是一片鸟禽汇聚的丰饶果园，在鸟儿简单协调的二重奏之中，两个人类的心灵也在诉说自己的痛苦和快乐。
沃尔特·惠特曼(1819—1892)，美国诗人、散文作家，生于纽约长岛，曾任教师、排字工人、记者等职。著作有《草叶集》(Leaves of Grass )。初版的《草叶集》被指责为“不道德的书”，因为诗的形式上有大胆革新。惠特曼是世界上最有影响的诗人之一。