LESSON 28 THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS 死神與花朵

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (b.1807, d.1882), the son of Hon.Stephen Longfellow, an eminent lawyer, was born in Portland, Maine.He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1825.After spending four years in Europe, he was Professor of Modern Languages and Literature at Bowdoin till 1835, when he was appointed to the chair of Modern Languages and Belles-lettres in Harvard University.He resigned his professorship in 1854, after which time he resided in Cambridge, Mass.Longfellow wrote many original works both in verse and prose, and made several translations, the most famous of which is that of the works of Dante.His poetry is always chaste and elegant, showing traces of careful scholarship in every line.The numerous and varied editions of his poems are evidences of their popularity.

1.There is a Reaper whose name is Death,

And, with his sickle keen,

He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,

And the fl owers that grow between.

2.“Shall I have naught that is fair?” saith he;

“Have naught but the bearded grain?

Though the breath of these fl owers is sweet to me,

I will give them all back again.”

3.He gazed at the fl owers with tearful eyes,

He kissed their drooping leaves;

It was for the Lord of Paradise

He bound them in his sheaves^[1].

4.“My Lord has need of these fl owerets gay,”

The Reaper said, and smiled;

“Dear tokens^[2] of the earth are they,

Where he was once a child.

5.“They shall all bloom in the fi elds of light,

Transplanted^[3] by my care,

And saints, upon their garments white,

These sacred blossoms wear.”

6.And the mother gave in tears and pain

The fl owers she most did love;

She knew she should fi nd them all again

In the fi elds of light above.

7.O, not in cruelty, not in wrath,

The Reaper came that day,

’T was an angel visited the green earth,

And took the fl owers away.

【中文閱讀】

亨利·沃茲華斯·朗費羅（1807—1882），斯蒂芬·朗費羅閣下的兒子，他父親是一名杰出的律師。朗費羅出生于美國緬因州波特蘭，1825年，他畢業于鮑登學院。在歐洲度過四年后，他在鮑登學院擔任現代語言與文學教授，直到1835年。隨即，他被任命為哈佛大學現代語言和純文學學院院長。1854年，在馬薩諸塞州的劍橋定居后，他辭去了教授職位。朗費羅不僅創作了大量英文詩歌和散文，并且出版了數部譯著，其中最有名的是但丁作品譯作。他的詩歌始終純凈而優雅，字里行間露出縝密的學術氣息，紛雜多樣的詩集版本，表明朗氏作品的風靡盛行。

1.收割者，姑且稱為死神，

手中的鐮刀寒光凜冽。

一刀揮過，谷物頃刻遍地，

夾在谷物叢中的鮮花也一掃而盡。

2.“我一無所獲，是否公平？”死神說，

“我想收割的，只是長滿根須的稻谷。

雖然這些花朵的馨香如此甜美，

我仍會將它們送歸大地。”

3.他淚眼朦朧地凝視著這些花朵，

他親吻了它們頹敗的枝葉。

將它們綁扎成束，

送給伊甸園中的上帝。

4.“上帝想看到這些花朵嬌艷盛開，”

說話間，死神露出笑意，

“當他還是個孩子時，

這些花朵，便是大地的象征。

5.“我會將它們小心翼翼地帶到那里，

光的國度里，它們將訇然綻放。

這些圣潔素雅的花瓣，

將宛若圣徒們的雪白長袍。”

6.深愛著這些花朵的母親，

淚水摩挲，心痛神傷。

但她知道，她會重新見到它們，

在那沐浴光芒的天堂里。

7.哦，那天，死神降臨，

他并不殘忍，也不狂暴。

他是翩然天使，來到蔥綠大地，

倏然帶走那些花朵。

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【注釋】

[1] Sheaves, bundles of grain.

[2] Token, a souvenir, that which is to recall some person, thing, or event.

[3] Transplanted, removed and planted in another place.