石上之影

The Shadow on the Stone這首詩獨具匠心,描寫了詩人在花園里散步到最后離開,期間懷揣的動人幻想——落在石上的婆娑樹影仿若妻子平日里勞作的背影,感覺妻子就站在自己身后,卻壓抑著驚喜不敢回頭張望,怕只是自己的一時錯覺,所以寧可握緊這美好的幻想離去。這種由愛和思念引發的矛盾心理叫人心碎,也使得整個散步過程顯得尤為動人且憂傷。 Thomas Hardy(1840—1928),英國著名詩人、小說家,其早期和中期的創作以小說為主,繼承和發揚了維多利亞時代的文學傳統,晚期則以其出色的詩歌開拓了英國20世紀文學的新局面。1891年完成的Tess of the d’Urbervilles(《德伯家的苔絲》)是其最優秀的小說,但小說發表后被指責有傷風化;而他于1896年完成的小說Jude the Obscure(《無名的裘德》)也引來了不少人的激烈攻擊,這使得哈代憤而停止了小說創作,轉而全力作詩。他生前一共出版了八部詩集,近千首主題多樣的詩歌。

哈代1874年和艾瑪結婚,盡管婚后,他和艾瑪之間出現了隔閡,但1912年艾瑪的離世使他悲痛不已。他重回從前兩人熱戀時去過的地方,憶起往昔美好的愛情,不禁情動不已,寫下了許多情感真摯的悼念詩。在這些詩里,艾瑪被理想化、美化,乃至神化,儼然一個楚楚動人的完美愛人。

I went by the 1)Druid stone

That 2)broods in the garden white and lone,

And I stopped and looked at the shifting shadows

That at some moments fall 3)thereon

From the tree 4)hard by with a rhythmic swing,

And they shaped in my imagining

To the shade that a well-known head and shoulders

Threw there when she was gardening.

我漫步經過德魯伊石,

它呆立在花園里,白燦燦,孤孤單單。

旁邊大樹的枝葉配合著韻律搖擺,

我駐足凝視

偶爾落在石上的婆娑樹影。

在我的遐想中,

樹影化為我熟悉的人兒

在園中勞作時的身影。

I thought her behind my back,

Yea, her I long had learned to lack,

And I said: “I am sure you are standing behind me,

Though how do you get into this old track?”

And there was no sound but the fall of a leaf

As a sad response; and to5)keep down 6)grief

I would not turn my head to discover

That there was nothing in my belief.

我想準是她站在我身后,

對,是她,我痛失已久的她。

我說道:“我知道你就站在我身后,

可你怎么又到這熟悉的舊徑上來?”

周圍寂然無語,惟有一葉飄落

凄然作答;為抑悲傷,

我不愿回頭張望,

怕看不到我期待的身影。

Yet I wanted to look and see

That nobody stood at the back of me;

But I thought once more: “Nay, I’ll not unvision

A shape which, somehow, there may be.”

So I went on softly from the 7)glade,

And left her behind me throwing her shade,

As she were indeed an 8)apparition—

My head unturned lest my dream should fade.

背后到底有沒人,

我真想看個究竟。

但轉念一想:“不能讓這影像消失,

她或許就站在我身后。”

于是我悄悄離開花園,

把她的身影留在我身后。

她確是魅影——

我沒有回頭,怕夢想破滅。