The sea is rough,
She was so scared that tears stopped on her face.
She hug Poerxiusi said:
"Son, you are so bitter but don't know how to cry.
Still asleep like a baby,
Sleeping in this wooden box made of copper nails,
Sleeping in this dark night,
I can't feel the waves.
Leave thick salt in your hair;
Unable to detect the call of the sea breeze,
Wear this purple baby and put your face close to me to sleep.
If you know that terrible things are terrible,
You'll listen to me with your ears open.
I let your little baby sleep, let the sea sleep,
Let's sleep in endless disasters.
Father Zeus, I hope I can get it from you as soon as possible.
Send a signal that we have weathered the storm!
I ask, perhaps with the liberty,
Unreasonable. Please forgive me. "
(translated by Shui Jianwei)
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Simonides Of Ceos's poetry creation has pan-Greek significance, and the events that once excited the whole Greece are clearly reflected in his poetry works. One of the most famous is a poem praising the heroic events in the Sino-Persian War. The epitaph he wrote in the form of poems for Spartan soldiers who died in the battle of Wenquanguan is widely circulated all over the world. In the eyes of the Greeks, the best rewards and memorials for soldiers are inscriptions and marble monuments. The poem "Inscription on Hot Springs" not only established a more permanent monument than marble for Spartan warriors, but also won an immortal reputation for Simonides Of Ceos himself. After the poet died, the Greeks erected two statues for him, giving him a rare honor.
Simonides Of Ceos's poems are solemn, concise and vivid, and he is good at inspiring people's patriotic enthusiasm and national pride with simple and accurate language. He participated in the poetry competition of Athens city-state competition many times, among which 56 times won the first prize, and even defeated the famous tragic writer Aeschylus. Unfortunately, apart from a few famous short poems, only a few fragments of his works have been handed down. Szimonidesz is not only good at poetry creation, but also has many original ideas in literary theory. He once said: "Painting is a silent poem, and poetry is a talking painting." This is the earliest western theory to discuss the relationship between poetry and painting.
Shen Jianing is the daughter of King Acre Teos of Argos. There are signs that her future son will kill her grandfather. Acre Teos imprisoned Shen Jianing in a copper tower to prevent this sign from coming true. But Zeus fell in love with the beautiful Shen Jianing, became a golden rain, and fortunately gave birth to a son Poerxiusi for Shen Jianing. Acre Teos put Dana and the baby in a delicate wooden box and threw it into the sea. This poem is about Shen Jianing's roaming in the ark.
What is presented to us is not so much a silent poem as a vivid and spatial picture: the distant view is a turbulent wave, and the close view is a bumpy ark and Shen Jianing holding his son and lamenting. In the picture, the frightened Shen Jianing's love for his son's calf is in sharp contrast with the irresistible turbulent sea. The ups and downs of the mother's heart and the difficulty in calming down are in sharp contrast with the ignorance and peaceful sleep of the baby, and the theme has been deepened in this huge contrast. In the face of the power of nature, we clearly feel the regrettable power of motherhood.
This poem can also be regarded as a dramatic monologue. The scene is a rough sea, and the props are exquisite ark. Shen Jianing, the protagonist on the stage, was "terrified and in tears" and muttered to the infant: First, he lamented the fate of his son-the environment was so bad, but the child was ignorant; Then pray to his father Zeus, hoping that he can bring the gospel of disaster relief and refuge to safety; Then I felt uneasy about my prayers. Through this monologue, Shen Jianing's love for her son is clear at a glance: she only has her own children in her heart, and nothing can distract her except a glimmer of hope for survival. The whole poem is mainly monologue, so the colloquial trend of poetry is very obvious. But the language is plain but not plain, and it is real and touching to read. In addition, the translator should also pay attention to the rhythmic beauty of the original poem, such as "son, you are so bitter but you don't know how to cry", and the two words "bitter" and "crying" are alliteration and kotaro oshio rhyme; Coupled with the use of rhymes between lines such as "fear", "tears stop", "gloom", "turning the corner", "hair", "salt" and "face", the whole poem is so deep that people strongly feel the bitterness and helplessness of a mother in danger. However, she doesn't care about personal life and death, but she has such a strong desire to survive for her children. After reading this poem, the image of the great mother stands proudly in front of us.
Szimonidesz's poems accurately describe a mother's true feelings in fluent language. Many everyday expressions are used in the poem, but they are so apt and vivid that people feel that although the language of the poem is simple, the poetry and true feelings still exist, which fully shows Szimonidesz's superb poetic talent.
(Yang Li)