——最伟大的十首英文诗第五首——

目盲之思

原著：约翰·米尔顿

译者：寒峰

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序：正当中年，约翰·米尔顿作为英国清教徒政府的重要人物，他视力衰退，几近全盲。

他的思考写下了史上最伟大的十首英文诗的第五首。

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当我思考如何度过光阴，

在余生的黑暗而漫长的世界来临之前，

这是死亡也要躲避的能力。

尽管我内中一无是处，灵魂扭曲，

我要服务于我的造物主，

奉献诚实，不惹主怒。

“上帝需要我白日工作，为什么剥夺我的光？“

我好奇的追问。耐性打破了喃喃自语，

及时地回答我：

“上帝不需人的工作也不要礼物。

那些带好他轻省的轭的人，才是所他要的。

他像王一样治理；万物顺从他的节奏，

在大地和海洋面前永不停歇，

并为站立而等待的人服役。

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“On His Blindness” byJohn Milton(1608-1674)

When I consider how my light is spent

Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,

And that one talent which is death to hide

Lodg’d with me useless, though my soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

My true account, lest he returning chide,

“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”

I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies: “God doth not need

Either man’s work or his own gifts: who best

Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state

Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed

And post o’er land and ocean without rest:

They also serve who only stand and wait.”

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Meaning of the Poem

This poem deals with one’s limitations and shortcomings in life.

Everyone has them and Milton’s blindness is a perfect example of this.

His eyesight gradually worsened and he became totally blind at the age

of 42. This happened after he served in an eminent position under Oliver

Cromwell’s revolutionary Puritan government in England. To put it

simply, Milton rose to the highest position an English writer might at

the time and then sank all the way down to a state of being unable read

or write on his own. How pathetic!

The genius of this poem comes in the way that Milton transcends the

misery he feels. First, he frames himself, not as an individual

suffering or lonely, but as a failed servant to the Creator: God. While

Milton is disabled, God here is enabled through imagery of a king

commanding thousands. This celestial monarch, his ministers and troops,

and his kingdom itself are invisible to human eyes anyway, so already

Milton has subtly undone much of his failing by subverting the necessity

for human vision. More straightforwardly, through the voice of

Patience, Milton explains that serving the celestial monarch only

requires bearing those hardships, which really aren’t that bad (he calls

them “mild”) that life has burdened you with (like a “yoke” put on an

ox). This grand mission from heaven may be as simple as standing and

waiting, having patience, and understanding the order of the universe.

Thus, this is a great poem because Milton has not only dispelled sadness

over a major shortcoming in life but also shown how the shortcoming is

itself imbued with an extraordinary and uplifting purpose.