读书惠特曼
前几天在一个英语群里面乱说一气，反正是瞎写，虚拟世界嘛，突然地围绕那个主题就想起在死亡诗社中曾被引用的惠特曼的一首小诗，想写被引用的那几句，怎么也记不完整，就试着在下载的草叶集中搜索，弄半天也没找出来，原来还是记忆出问题，最后终于找到了，又细读了一遍那首小诗，贴上那个群，一下子觉得好有成就感。名字叫“oh me, oh life”. 看美国畅销通俗小说《美国故事》时，也曾被男主人公引用的一小段惠特曼的诗所打动。草叶集早就下载了，随手翻了几首，感觉真的很有味道，他和Frost应该都是那种看起来不是很难懂，但都是很有诗的味道，诗的魅力不会随着各种诗歌潮流的起落而改变的大诗人。你不会觉得他太滥情，浪漫，你觉得那是他骨子里的东西，非常自然。有时他情绪有些低落，对感情的不能获得的痛苦、迷惘，就象黄昏日落时传来的萨克斯管音乐，很迷人。看得太少了，有时间争取多看一点。不知怎么地，不是很喜欢他那首船长，我的船长。感觉有点俗气，没有oh me, oh life这样的清新。
O ME! O LIFE!
O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
O ME! O LIFE!
O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.