Dover Beach

Dover Beach

BY MATTHEW ARNOLD

The sea is calm tonight.

潮满海波平

The tide is full, the moon lies fair

峡上卧月明

Upon the straits; on the French coast the light

隔岸飞光忽不见

Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,

英伦白壁耀静湾

Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.

Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!

速来汝窗前，此夜风正甜

Only, from the long line of spray

蜿蜒海岸边，潮接月白岸

Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,

Listen! you hear the grating roar

唯惊涛拍岸，起起复落落

Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,

At their return, up the high strand,

Begin, and cease, and then again begin,

With tremulous cadence slow, and bring

潮声随浪去，但有哀声起。

The eternal note of sadness in.

Sophocles long ago

昔者索福克勒斯，当闻此声爱琴海。

Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought

人生悲痛何穷矣？但见浊浪消复长。

Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow

Of human misery; we

Find also in the sound a thought,

北海相去千余里，今人犹复闻此声。

Hearing it by this distant northern sea.

The Sea of Faith

信念曾如海满，若玉带绕寰尘。

Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore

Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.

But now I only hear

Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,

而今信随晚风消，唯余哀鸣长恻侧

万千世界无生气，满目尽疮痍

Retreating, to the breath

Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear

And naked shingles of the world.

Ah, love, let us be true

吾爱，让我们彼此坦诚

To one another! for the world, which seems

眼前梦中世界，美丽丰饶崭新

To lie before us like a land of dreams,

实则无爱，无光，无欢乐，

So various, so beautiful, so new,

Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,

Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;

亦无确定，和平或慈悲。

And we are here as on a darkling plain

暮色天将暗，敌友难分明，

愚人交兵急，鸣镝无止息。

你我在此间，仓皇复叹息。

Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,

Where ignorant armies clash by night.

Dover beach 位于英吉利海峡英法两国距离最短之处。Matthew Arnold, 是英国维多利亚时期著名的诗人。