I stood on the bridge at midnight, As the clocks were striking the hour,
And the moon rose oer the city,
Behind the dark church-tower.
I saw her bright reflection In the waters under me, Like a golden goblet falling And sinking into the sea.
And far in the hazy distance
Of that lovely night in June, The blaze of the flaming 1)furnace Gleamed redder than the moon.
Among the long, black 2)rafters The wavering shadows lay, And the current that came from the ocean
Seemed to lift and bear them away; As, sweeping and eddying through them, Rose the belated tide, And, streaming into the moonlight, The seaweed floated wide. And like those waters rushing Among the wooden piers, A flood of thoughts came oer me
That filled my eyes with tears. How often, O, how often,
In the days that had gone by, I had stood on that bridge at midnight
And gazed on that wave and sky! How often, O, how often,
I had wished that the ebbing tide Would bear me away on its 3)bosom
Oer the ocean wild and wide!
For my heart was hot and restless,
And my life was full of care,
And the burden laid upon me Seemed greater than I could bear.
But now it has fallen from me, And is buried in the sea; And only the sorrow of others Throws its shadow over me. Yet whenever I cross the river
On its bridge with wooden piers, Like the odor of 4)brine from the ocean Comes the thought of other years. And I think how many thousands
Of care-5)encumbered men, Each bearing his burden of sorrow, Have crossed the bridge since then.
I see the long 6)procession Still passing to and fro, The young heart hot and restless, And the old subdued and slow! And forever and forever,
As long as the river flows, As long as the heart has passions, As long as life has woes; The moon and its broken reflection
And its shadows shall appear, As the symbol of love in heaven,
And its wavering image here.
午夜佇橋上,報時鐘正響,幽黑塔樓后,月升照城邦。
但見月清影,腳下水中映,如同金杯盞,沉降入海心。
遠(yuǎn)在迷蒙處,可愛六月夜,熔爐之烈焰,閃爍紅勝月。
黑長椽樁間,搖晃陰影藏,洪流海上來,似將其滌蕩。
渦流沖刷時,晚潮升漲起,海草連片浮,漂漂入月光。
如水奔騰急,洗刷木橋樁,思潮涌我心,淚水頓盈眶。
多少多少回,逝去時日里,午夜橋上立,凝目水與天。
多少多少回,但愿退潮水,攜我入海洋,遙至海盡頭!
我心躁難安,人生慮重重,身上之重負(fù),似非我能擔(dān)。
如今重負(fù)去,長埋深海里;惟有他人悲,籠罩我心底。
每當(dāng)河上過,踏足木橋上,如同咸潮味,經(jīng)年思緒回。
遙想那時起,多少人心悴,個個悲戚戚,憂憂過此橋。
但見行列長,來去亦如常,幼者心焦灼,長者慢悠悠!
永遠(yuǎn)復(fù)永遠(yuǎn),只要河流淌,只要心激昂,生活存悲傷。
明月與碎影,將會把身亮,天上愛之象,搖曳水中央。
賞析
亨利·沃茲沃斯·朗費(fèi)羅(Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow,1807—1882),19世紀(jì)美國最偉大的浪漫主義詩人之一,牛律大學(xué)和劍橋大學(xué)曾分別授予他榮譽(yù)博士學(xué)位。倫敦威斯敏斯特教堂詩人之角安放了他的胸像,他是獲得這種尊榮的第一位美國詩人。他一生創(chuàng)作了大量抒情詩、敘事詩、歌謠和詩劇,在美國和歐洲廣泛流傳。主要作品有《夜吟》(Voices of the Night,1839)、《伊凡吉林》(Evangeline,1847)、《海華沙之歌》(The Song of Hiawatha,1855)、《邁爾斯·斯坦狄什的求婚》(The Courtship of Miles Standish and Other Poems,1858)等等。
《橋》寫于1845年,所描寫的夜景位于波士頓的查爾斯河河畔,當(dāng)時的橋稱為西波士頓橋。朗費(fèi)羅在追求其第二任妻子期間,曾多次在此橋上往返。1907年,新橋開通,為了紀(jì)念這位讓橋畔美景流芳百世的詩人,遂命名為朗費(fèi)羅橋。橋兩旁立著小小的塔,遠(yuǎn)看貌似巨型的鹽罐與胡椒罐,因此有“鹽巴與胡椒橋”的昵稱。
朗費(fèi)羅當(dāng)年吟誦的橋還是木橋,而就算是新橋也經(jīng)歷了百年滄桑,但橋下數(shù)百年不變的波浪滔滔卻讓我們一下子回到那又黑又長的橋樁旁邊。明月、小橋、流水,我們或許看過了太多太多的睹物傷懷。詩仙李白曾借月發(fā)出這樣的感慨,“今人不見古時月,今月曾經(jīng)照古人。古人今人若流水,共看明月皆如此。”而此刻,換作朗費(fèi)羅的《橋》,所表達(dá)的無奈與慨嘆一樣能刺痛我們的神經(jīng)。人一生無論看過多少次月亮,走過多少橋,流轉(zhuǎn)的無非也就是短暫的人生,你我他,匆匆?guī)资?。而那月、那橋,卻是用亙古不變的姿態(tài),坐看每個過客,或喜或悲,來去如風(fēng)。有時候,恐怕連我們也不得不嘲笑自己:人生逃不過幾十年后殊途同歸,為何總要來去憂心忡忡?