Children
Come to me, O ye children!For I hear you at your play,
And the questions that perplexed me
Have vanished quite away.
Ye open the eastern windows,
That look towards the sun,
Where thoughts are singing swallows,
And the brooks of morning run.
In your hearts are the birds and the sunshine,
In your thoughts the brooklet’s flow;
But in mine is the wind of Autumn,
And the first fall of the snow.
Ah! What would the world be to us
If the children were no more?
We should dread the desert behind us
Worse than the dark before.
What the leaves are to the forest,
With light and air for food,
Ere their sweet and tender juices
Have been hardened into wood.
That to the world are children;
Through them it feels the glow
Of a brighter and sunnier climate
Than reaches the trunks below.
Come to me, O ye children!
And whisper in my ear
What the birds and the winds are singing
In your sunny atmosphere.
For what are all our contrivings,
And the wisdom of our books,
When compared with your caresses,
And the gladness of your looks?
Ye are better than all the ballads
That ever were sung or said;
For ye are living poems,
And all the rest are dead.
孩子们
孩子们啊,到我这里来!
因为当我听到你们在嬉闹,
那些使我困惑的难题
顿时雾散云消。
你们敞开东边的窗,
那些窗户朝着太阳,
在那儿,思想是鸣啭的紫燕,
清晨的小溪在流淌。
在你们心中,阳光灿烂、鸟儿飞翔,
在你们的思想里泉水叮咚响;
然而,我的心中只有萧瑟的秋风,
以及初次飞雪的纷纷扬扬。
啊!倘若没有孩子们,
世界在我们眼中会是什么样?
我们会惊骇地发觉:
身后的沙漠远比以前的愚昧更蛮荒。
绿叶对于森林很重要,
它们给树木阳光、空气做食粮,
直至它们甜蜜柔润的液汁
渐渐变成树木坚硬茁壮。
儿童对于世界正是这样:
通过他们,世界才会感受
一个春光灿烂的艳阳天
而下面的树桩则无法体验。
孩子们啊,到我这里来!
在我耳畔轻声附语:
在你们阳光明媚的晴空里
鸟儿和风儿正唱着什么歌曲?
我们所有的谋求缘于何故?
书本的智慧又是为了什么?
它们怎比得上你们的爱抚,
也难与你们愉悦的面庞相媲美!
你们胜过所有的民歌,
无论它们是被讲述还是吟唱;
因为你们是鲜活的诗篇,
其余的一切皆为槁木死灰。
【作者简介】亨利·华滋沃斯·朗费罗(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807—1882),美国著名诗人,曾两度赴欧洲攻读现代语言,回国后任哈佛大学教授。主要诗集有《夜籁集》(Voice of the Night)、《伊凡吉林》(Evangeline),《海华沙之歌》(The Song of Hiawatha)及《奴隶篇》(Poems on Slavery)。他的诗音韵优美,节奏感强,深受民众的喜爱。
【赏析】未来的世界是属于孩子们的。他们是灿烂的阳光、鲜艳的花朵。他们朝气勃勃,像鸣啭的紫燕;他们生命力旺盛,像绿色的树叶;他们是鲜活的诗篇,激昂的诗句永远拨动着人们的心弦。
此诗写作上的最大特点是意象众多与对照频频。 用阳光、鸟儿、泉水来象征孩子们的心灵和思维,而用秋风与飞雪来象征老年人的心态。另外,绿叶、沙漠等也都构成意象;对照的手法也较多出现,如鸟儿、阳光与秋风、飞雪的对照,鲜活的诗篇与“槁木死灰”的对照等。
这首诗的韵律甚为严谨,每节的1、3句与2、4句各自押韵,并通篇到底。
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