英漢對(duì)照|王爾德詩選：沉思錄

Theoretikos

This mighty empire hath but feet of clay:

Of all its ancient chivalry and might

Our little island is forsaken quite:

Some enemy hath stolen its crown of bay,

And from its hills that voice hath passed away

Which spake of Freedom: O come out of it,

Come out of it, my Soul, thou art not fit

For this vile traffic-house, where day by day

Wisdom and reverence are sold at mart,

And the rude people rage with ignorant cries

Against an heritage of centuries.

It mars my calm: wherefore in dreams of Art

And loftiest culture I would stand apart,

Neither for God, nor for his enemies.

沉思錄

支撐這強(qiáng)大帝國(guó)的只是一對(duì)泥足：

它不再有古老的騎士精神和強(qiáng)力，

我們小小的島嶼已被全然拋棄：

某個(gè)敵人盜走了它港灣的王冠，

在山巒之間呼吁自由的嗓音

已經(jīng)消逝：哦，擺脫掉它吧，

擺脫掉它，我的靈魂，你并不適合

這卑鄙的交易所，智慧與尊嚴(yán)

日復(fù)一日在那里被標(biāo)上價(jià)格拍賣，

粗鄙的民眾怒氣沖沖，愚昧地叫嚷

反對(duì)一份世代相傳的祖宗遺產(chǎn)。

這破壞了我的平靜：因而關(guān)于藝術(shù)

關(guān)于高雅文化的夢(mèng)想，我遺世獨(dú)立，

既不擁戴上帝，也不支持他的敵人。