When you are old, gray-haired and sleepy.
Take a nap by the fire and take down the book.
Reading slowly, dreaming of the gentle eyes.
Your eyes were once, and their shadows were deep;
How many people love your happy and elegant moments,
Loving your beauty with true or false love,
But there is one person who loves your pilgrim soul,
Love the sadness on your aging face;
Bend down by the glowing fireplace,
Whispering a little sadly, how love dies.
Pacing on the mountains overhead
Hide his face among the stars.
(William Butler Yeats)
when you are old
Bai Fei translation
When you are old, gray-haired and sleepy,
Take a nap in front of the stove, please take down this poem.
Back slowly, dreaming of your eyes.
Soft light and faint shadows;
How many people have loved your beauty with sincerity and hypocrisy,
Love your happy and charming youth,
Only one person loves your pilgrim heart,
Love the sadness on your aging face;
When you lean over the burning fireplace,
You will speak softly, with a hint of sadness:
The lost love has now set foot on the mountain.
Hide its face in a dense cluster of stars.
when you are old
Translated by Yuan Kejia
When you are old, gray-haired and sleepy,
Take a nap by the fire, please write down this poem.
Read slowly and recall the tenderness of your eyes in the past.
Recall the heavy shadows of their past;
How many people love you when you are young and happy,
Worship your beauty, hypocrisy or sincerity,
Only one person loves your pilgrim soul,
Love the painful wrinkles on your aging face;
I hung my head, by the red fire,
Whispering sadly about the passing of love,
On the mountain overhead, it walked slowly.
A face is hidden among a group of stars.
—— 1893
I didn't look for it on purpose, but came across the original English text of this poem. This is a poem that has been translated countless times. The most famous version should be Mr. Yuan Kejia's. He is not only famous as a poet, but also because he translated the middle part of this poem best. I used to be fascinated by Pilgrim's Progress, but after reading the original, I feel that Mr. Yuan still has some mistranslations, such as vividly translating funeral music into "wrinkles". Perhaps Mr. Yuan pursues the harmony of phonology, but it inevitably undermines the original intention of poetry. In addition, Mr. Yuan's translation of "their shadows are deep" into "thick shadows" in the first paragraph seems to narrow the meaning a little, while the others are too low. As for Mr. Bai Fei's translation, although it is relatively more faithful, it still seems to be poetically inaccurate. Like "pacing on the mountain overhead", simply translating it into "going up the mountain" seems to hurt poetry. The last sentence translates face into "blushing", which is a bit superfluous. "Their shadows are deep" in the first paragraph, which Mr. Bai Fei translated as "a faint shadow of a hidden place", is a bit too literary and embellished. After reading the original text, I think this "their shadow is deep" should correspond to "the pillar soul on you", just as "gentle appearance" echoes "your beauty". They are all under the beautiful appearance and soft eyes, the quiet shadow that a poet loves deeply, and the soul of pilgrims.
This is a masterpiece, and many people are influenced by it, imagining themselves or others as "pilgrims' souls". For example, Duras's "Lover" begins:
I am getting old. One day, in the lobby of a public place, a man came up to me. He introduced himself voluntarily, and he said to me, "I know you and will always remember you." At that time, you were very young and everyone said you were beautiful. Now, let me tell you, for me, you are more beautiful now than when you were young. You were a young woman at that time, and I loved your battered face more than your face at that time.
Another example is Mu Dan's Farewell:
How many people's youth are intoxicated here,
And then embark on a bustling journey,
What is hazy is your laziness, clouds and water,
They lost themselves and then forgot them,
Your garden door has been opened several times,
Your beauty is complicated, your heart is cold,
No matter how well the four seasons sing,
When the night dew without wings becomes noble-
When you are old and alone in front of the fire,
You will know that there is a soul quietly existing,
He used to love you with endless changes,
The dream of traveling is broken, and his love for you is full of sadness.
There is also a man named Li Qi who accidentally searched online:
When you are old, this is a poem by Ye Zhi.
Just saying these four words gently makes you feel like crying.
When you are old, love and cherish are as gentle as down.
Between the lines, there is a lot of beauty.
When you are old, your tone is soft and warm.
This is the evening light, which rings slowly in the moonlight.
The sound of cello
When you are old, when your eyes are no longer clear.
Looking at each other in the twilight, this kind of beauty makes people feel distressed.
When you are old, when you have a pilgrim's soul.
When you hear the song of love, ring the final loyalty calmly.
When you are old, I really hope this poem is written for me.
Or how many years later, I am the one who wrote this poem.
I had hoped that I could write such a poem, but I knew I was never a delicate person, so I gave up my wishful thinking early. Although Li Qi's poems are ok, they have an obvious postcard-like aesthetic feeling and lack a kind of power. It's the kind of power that goes straight to the heart. The power to make people feel pain and happiness. Pain and happiness, although I don't like the white SB face for a long time, I have to admit that this sentence accurately grasps and describes an instant state. Mu Dan wrote about the love of a literary youth, which was doomed to failure. Because now he is actually immersed in his fantasy, he loves his soul, and the other person is endless, so his love will be endless. Hey hey. As for Duras, all women will be moved by the beginning of their lover, because all women will be old and all women want to be loved. When a woman's face is destroyed, what she wants most is a man to come out of the crowd who has been indifferent to his aging self and express his love beyond time. However, it turns out that this is just another dream of a woman who loves to dream.
As for Ye Zhi? It is said that this poem was written by Ye Zhi for the actress and Irish independence fighter maud gonne. 1889, 24-year-old Ye Zhi met Gunnar, fell in love with her, and proposed to her many times, all of which were rejected. But Ye Zhi loved her all his life and wrote many poems for her, when you are old is one of them. A very touching story. But stories always move people. If they don't touch people, why should we write stories? Love is a great language, but great language is often a lie. For example: great, bright and correct. For example: long live, long live. In this poem, I feel love, but I also feel the curse of Ye Zhi, a son of a bitch who is angry because of the departure of love: If you don't accept my love, you will be lonely when you are old! You will regret it! There is no regret medicine in the world! At that time, I was already dead. When you doze off by the fire and talk to yourself, my lover will look at you in the stars in the sky!
Maybe I'm just a person who doesn't understand feelings. Accustomed to indifference. Don't believe in sweet words, don't believe in tenderness. Therefore, the same is true of Ye Zhi's poems, which may be wrong, but who do you love! When I saw this poem and began to like it, it already belonged to me. It began to have my life and feelings. Began to be a footnote in my life. But, but, as soon as my mind turned, I was thinking, maybe each of us is just a footnote in other people's lives! In March, I posted Zheng Chouyu's poem, "Passing through, not going home". In fact, it may also mean "footnote, not text". It's not even a footnote, it's a mark erased by an eraser.
To be or not to be, this is a question: which is more noble, to endure the merciless blow of fate or to take up arms against the difficult ocean and end them through confrontation? Death: sleep; No more; By sleep, we have ended thousands of natural shocks of heartache and physical inheritance. This is a pious wish for fulfillment. Death: sleep; Sleep: Maybe we will dream: Ah, that's the difficulty: because in that dead sleep, when we get rid of the entanglement of this world, what dreams we may have will definitely make us hesitate: there is a kind of respect that makes such a long life a disaster; Who will endure the whipping and ridicule of time, the mistakes of oppressors, the insults of proud people, the pain of despised love, the delay of law, the arrogance of office, and the contempt for the advantages of unworthy patience when he can be quiet with a naked body? Who can bear to groan and sweat in a tired life, but the fear of things after death and the fear of unknown countries where no travelers return have confused our will and made us prefer to endure our diseases rather than fly to other places we don't know? Therefore, conscience does make us all cowards; Therefore, the true nature of determination has been overshadowed by pale thoughts. At this point, great undertakings and great moments have deviated from the direction and lost the name of action.
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To be or not to be, this is a question worth thinking about: which is more noble, to silently endure the cruel arrow of fate or to stand up and fight against the endless suffering on earth and sweep it away through struggle? Dead, asleep, it's all over. If in this kind of sleep, the pain in our hearts, as well as countless other inevitable blows of flesh and blood, can disappear from now on, which is exactly the ending we want. Dead, asleep, asleep, maybe still dreaming. Well, this is the obstacle: because when we get rid of this decadent skin, what dreams we will have in that dead sleep can't help but make us hesitate. It is for this reason that people are willing to be trapped in trouble for a long time. Who is willing to endure the whipping and ridicule of the world, the humiliation of the oppressor, the indifference of the arrogant, the pain of despised love, the delay of the law, the cruelty of officials and the contempt of the little people who have worked hard? If he only uses a knife, he can settle his life? Who wants to bear such a heavy burden, groaning and sweating under the oppression of tiring life, if it is not because of fear of unknown death, fear of the mysterious country that no traveler has ever returned, which confuses our will and makes us prefer to endure the immediate torture rather than fly to the pain we don't know. In this way, heavy worries make us all cowards, and the fiery brilliance of perseverance is cast a gray by careful thinking. Under this consideration, the great cause will also retreat against the current and lose the meaning of action.
-The classic monologue in Hamlet (English-Shakespeare)
Romeo: Juliet, in this bright moonlight, its silver light stained the treetops of these fruit trees, I swear-
Romeo: Juliet, cover the tops of these fruit trees with the moon brought by this round. I promise.
Juliet: Ah! Don't swear by the moon, it is changeable, and there are rounds of losses every month; If you promise, maybe your love will be as impermanent as it is.
Juliet: Oh, don't swear by the moon. It changes frequently and has its own profit and loss every month. If you swear by it, your love may be like it?
Romeo: Then why should I swear?
Remio: What should I swear by?
Juliet: Don't swear; Or if you are willing, swear by your beautiful self, that is my idol, and I will believe you.
Juliet: There is no need to scorch; Or if you like, swear by your own elegance, that's my idol, and I will believe you.
Romeo: If my love is from the heart-
Romeo: I swear from the bottom of my heart
Juliet: Oh, come on, don't swear. Although I like you, I don't like the secret date tonight; Too hasty, too unexpected, like a flash of lightning, it has disappeared before people can speak. Good man, goodbye! This love bud, blown by the warm summer wind, may bloom brilliantly when we meet next time. Good night, good night! I hope a quiet rest can come to you and me!
Juliet: Oh, forget it, don't swear, although I love you, I don't like the date tonight; It was too hasty and surprising, like a flash of lightning, and it had already left before I could say anything. Goodbye, love! This is a bud of love. With the warm wind blowing in summer, maybe next time we meet, it will blossom a colorful flower. Good night, my love, may peace calm our hearts.
Romeo: Ah! You just leave me, don't you give me some satisfaction?
Romeo: Ah! You just leave me here without even giving me a little satisfaction?
Juliet: (Hey) What satisfaction do you want tonight?
Juliet: (sighs) What are you not satisfied with?
Romeo: You haven't exchanged your loyal love vows with me.
Romeo: You haven't exchanged your vows of true love for us.
Juliet: I have given you my love before you asked; But I want to give it back to you.
Juliet: I gave you my love before you met your requirements; But I can give it to you again.
Romeo: Will you take it back? Why, dear?
Romeo: You have to take it back? Why my love?
Juliet: As a token of my generosity, I will return it to you. But I just want what I have: my generosity is as vast as the sea, and my love is as deep as the sea; The more I give you, the richer I will be, because there is no end to both. (The wet nurse calls inside) Ah! I heard someone calling inside; Goodbye, dear! -Coming, good nurse! Dear Montague, please don't be ungrateful. Oh, wait a little longer, I'll come.
Juliet: To show my generosity, I'll give it to you again. But I just want what I already have; My generosity is as wide as the sea and my love is as deep as the sea; The more I give you, the more I earn, because these two are limited. () ah! I can hear someone calling me inside: goodbye, my love! Coming, mom! -Dear (), may you never break your promise. Oh, here I am, here I am.
Romeo: Happy, happy night! I'm afraid I just had a dream at night, and such a beautiful thing won't be true.
Romeo; Blessing, a blessed night! I'm afraid it's just a dream. Things like this are not true.
Juliet: Dear Romeo, three more words, we really have to meet again. If your love is really aboveboard and your purpose is to get married, I'll send someone to your place tomorrow. Ask him to bring me a letter and tell me when and where you are willing to hold the wedding. I will entrust my whole destiny to you, treat you as my master and follow you to the ends of the earth.
Dear Romeo. In three more words, we will say goodbye. If your love is true and your purpose is to get married, then I will send a servant to you tomorrow. You can ask him to bring me a letter telling me where you want to go and when to hold the wedding. Then I will leave my fate to you and pretend that you are my master. Follow you to the end of the world.
Juliet: A thousand good nights!
Juliet: A thousand good nights!
Romeo: Without your light at night, I only have a thousand heartbrokens! A lover goes on a lover's date, like a child coming back from school; But when he parted from his lover, his expression was as depressed as going to school.
Romeo: Without your light, I would only be heartbroken a thousand times! The person I love is going on a date that is not with me, just like a child coming back from school; But when he is separated from his lover, it is like going to school with a lot of depression.
Juliet: Shh! Romeo! Shh! Alas! I wish I could send out the call of an eagle and invite it back. I can't speak loudly, or I'll let my shouts enter Eko's cave and make her invisible throat hoarse from repeatedly calling my Romeo name.
Juliet: Oh! Romeo! Oh! (sigh! I hope I can call this bird back like an eagle. I can't speak loudly, or my voice will echo. (ps: the cave of the Greek fairy, her unbearable throat will become hoarse because she keeps calling my Romeo name.
Romeo: That's my soul calling my name. How quiet the lover's voice is at night, it sounds like the softest music!
Romeo: That's my soul calling my name. My lover's voice is so clear at night. It's the softest music in the world.
Juliet: Romeo!
Juliet: Romeo!
Romeo: My love!
Romeo: My love.
Juliet: When should I call someone to see you tomorrow?
Juliet: When should I send my servant to see you?
Romeo: Nine o'clock.
Romeo: Nine o'clock.
Juliet: Well, I won't break my promise. Oh, by that time, it should be as long as twenty years! I don't remember why I called you back.
Juliet: OK, I promise; Oh, by then, it will have been 20 years! I don't remember why I called you back.
Romeo: Let me stand here and tell me when you remember.
Romeo: Let me stand here until you remember and tell me.
Juliet: You just stand in front of me. I am so absorbed in how much I like being with you that I will never remember it.
Juliet: You stood in front of me, I just wanted to be with you, and then I'll never remember.
Romeo: Then I will wait here forever, so that you will never remember or forget what home there is besides here.
Romeo: Then I will wait for you here forever to make you forget that there is no home except here.
Juliet: It's almost dawn; I hope you leave soon; But I am like a naughty girl, letting my beloved bird jump out of my hand like a prisoner for a while and then pull it back with silk thread. The selfishness of love made her unwilling to fly.
The sun is about to rise; I hope you go; But I am a naughty girl. A bird jumped out of her hand like a prisoner and pulled it back with a silk thread. The girl didn't want to set it free under the selfishness of love.
Romeo: I wish I were your bird.
Romeo: I wish I were your bird.
Juliet: Good man, I hope so; But I'm afraid you will die in my excessive caress. Good Night! Good Night! Parting is so sweet and sad, I really want to say good night to you until dawn!
Juliet: I hope so, too, dear; But I am afraid that you will die under my excessive comfort. Good night, my love, separation is always sweet, and I really want to say good night until dawn.