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Felicia Hemans（1793-1835）是英国浪漫时期著名女诗人，19世纪20年代作品十分畅销，是拜伦的竞争对手（拜伦对此颇有点儿不快）。这首诗其实最早发表在1823年底，所以算不上挽诗， -_-b 不过后来编集出版的时候看起来就有点儿像挽诗了。开头引用的那句拜伦的诗句出自《贝波》——所以这首诗不像她其它涉及哀悼的诗作那样沉痛，带有点儿玩笑色彩。
普勒阿得斯(Pleiades)是Atlas和Pleione的七个女儿，变成天上的七星逃避猎户Orion的追逐。失踪的普勒阿得斯是特洛伊创始人的母亲，在特洛伊城陷落后悲痛而消失。
这首诗一个很鲜明的特色就是把诗歌创作女性化了——代表诗人的星辰都是女性，对失去姊妹表示悲痛。但诗作又体现出诗人的自信——虽然消失了一个明亮的星辰，但天堂仍然光辉夺目。
另一个值得注意的地方是那句“Wert thou not peopled by some glorious race”，猜测星辰上是否居住着某个伟大的种族，这是自然科学发展在诗歌中的体现。
可以比较一下这首诗和作者的“A Spirit's Return”
The Lost Pleiad by Felicia Hemans
“Like the lost Pleiad seen no more below.”
BYRON
And is there glory from the heavens departed?
— Oh! void unmark'd!—thy sisters of the sky
Still hold their place on high,
Though from its rank thine orb so long hath started,
Thou, that no more art seen of mortal eye!
Hath the night lost a gem, the regal night?
She wears her crown of old magnificence,
Though thou art exil'd thence—
No desert seems to part those urns of light,
'Midst the far depths of purple gloom intense.
They rise in joy, the starry myriads burning—
The shepherd greets them on his mountains free;
And from the silvery sea
To them the sailor's wakeful eye is turning—
Unchang'd they rise, they have not mourn'd for thee.
Couldst thou be shaken from thy radiant place,
E'en as a dew-drop from the myrtle spray,
Swept by the wind away?
Wert thou not peopled by some glorious race?
And was there power to smite them with decay?
Why, who shall talk of thrones, of sceptres riven?
—Bow'd be our hearts to think on what we are,
When from its height afar
A world sinks thus—and yon majestic heaven
Shines not the less for that one vanish'd star!
[ 本帖最后由 methos 于 2007-10-30 02:46 PM 编辑 ] |
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发表于 2007-10-29 20:25
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