I shot |an ar|row in|to the air,
It fell |to earth, | I knew |not where;
For, so| swiftly| it flew, |the sight
Could not| follow |it in |its flight.

I breathed |a song| into| the air,
It fell| to earth, |I knew| not where;
For who| has sight |so keen |and strong,
That it |can fol|low the |flight of song?

Long, long| after|wards, in| an oak,
I found| the ar|row, still| unbroke;
And the |song, from| begin|ning to end,
I found| again| in the |heart of |a friend.

14 The Village Blacksmith

（1）Under a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With larger and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

（2）His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate’er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

（3）Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.

（4）And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing floor.

（5）He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter’s voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.

（6）It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.

（7）Toiling,— rejoicing, — sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night’s repose.

（8）Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought!

注釋:
（1）spreading chestnut tree：枝葉茂盛的栗子樹
village smithy：鄉(xiāng)村鐵匠鋪。
sinewy hands：強壯有力的手。Sinewy：[/sinju:i] 多筋的。Sinew：肌腱。
brawny arms：肌肉發(fā)達的手臂。Brawny：/muscular,. brawn: human muscle.
iron bands. 鐵箍。
（2）His hair is crisp,：crisp：（of hair）tightly curled.
His face is like the tan; . tan: 棕褐色的櫟樹皮（鞣皮革用）；日曬后的顏色, 棕褐色。
And looks the whole world in the face, 理直氣壯地面對著世界。
（3）Week in, week out, from morn till night,
bellows 風(fēng)箱;
swing his heavy sledge, 揮動沉重的大鐵錘。Sledge：sledgehammer
measured beat and slow,: slow and measured beat: 緩慢而有規(guī)則的節(jié)奏。Measured：標 準的, 整齊的, 有規(guī)則的。
Sexton：寺廟里的雜役, 教堂司事
（4）flaming forge：火紅的煉爐；熔爐
chaff [t a: f]from a threshing floor. 打谷場上的谷殼。

（5）He hears the parson pray and preach, 聽教區(qū)牧師禱告、布道（傳教）。
the village choir, choir [/kwai ] 教堂里的唱詩班。
（6）need must ：必須，不得不。俚語。,
（7）Has earned a night’s repose. 贏得晚上安穩(wěn)的休息。
（8）Thus at the flaming forge of life\ Our fortunes must be wrought;\Thus on its sounding anvil
shaped\ Each burring deed and thought! ——Our fortunes must be thus（in this manner）
wrought at the flaming forge of life. Each burning deed and thought must be thus shaped
on its (the forge's ) sounding anvil. 我們的人生命運也同樣需要在生活的熔爐中鍛煉，
每一發(fā)光的事跡和思想也都需要在錚錚的鐵砧上塑造。sounding anvil：響亮的鐵砧。
內(nèi)容：此詩塑造了一個鄉(xiāng)村鐵匠的形象。一、二節(jié)刻畫其外貌：體格健壯，堅忍不拔，靠自己的辛勤勞動過日子。不偷不搶，不詐不騙，理直氣壯，傲視世界。三四節(jié)具體寫鐵匠的勞動。大鐵錘有節(jié)奏地錚錚作響，風(fēng)箱呼呼地吹?；馉t熊熊燃燒，美麗的火星四處飛濺。天真活潑的孩子放學(xué)回來后，追逐火星玩耍，發(fā)出陳陳歡聲笑語頻。一個即辛苦又有天倫之樂的家庭氣氛躍然紙上。五—七節(jié)描寫鐵匠善良而崇高的心靈。禮拜日他去教堂，聽牧師布道，聽孩子們用天真純凈的童聲唱贊美詩。上帝是正義和愛的化身，信奉他、贊美他，就是希望讓正義和愛充滿人間。鐵匠去教堂聽布道，一聽到孩子們的歌聲響起，內(nèi)心就充滿歡樂，無疑是一個追求真善美的人。鐵匠的善良和崇高還表現(xiàn)在他對父母的一片孝心。聽到孩子們的歌聲，他立刻聯(lián)想到已經(jīng)去世的母親，母親也是個天性善良的人，去世后她的靈魂一定會上天堂的，可是不知現(xiàn)在她的身體在墳?zāi)怪惺侨绾瘟?。他多想再回到她的身邊，看看她慈祥的面容啊。想著想著，不覺淚流滿面，于是用粗壯的手來擦拭。鐵匠堂堂正正地生活，勤勤懇懇地勞動，問心無愧，心中坦然，晚上睡得很平靜，很滿足，很幸福。孟子說“反身而誠，樂莫大焉！”有以夫！最后一節(jié)是作者闡明這位鐵匠給他的人生啟迪：不僅鋼鐵需要經(jīng)過熔爐和鐵錘的鍛煉，人生也需要這樣的鍛煉。鐵匠的這種高尚人格就是熔爐和鐵錘鍛煉出來的啊。他的熔爐不僅是鍛煉鋼鐵的熔爐，也是人生熔爐的象征啊。人只有經(jīng)過各種風(fēng)風(fēng)雨雨，各種艱難困苦的磨練，才能思想成熟，才能昂然挺立于天地之間，散發(fā)出人生應(yīng)有的光彩??！
詩人所描繪的這一人物形象令人起敬：他的地位是卑微的，他人格是高大的；他的手是粗硬的，他的心靈卻是柔嫩的；對上帝他是崇敬的，對世間的投機取巧之徒是不屑一顧的；面對艱苦的生活，他是勇往直前、無所畏懼的，在道德上，他是“戒慎恐懼”的；他的工作是單調(diào)而勞累的，但內(nèi)心卻是豐富而幸福的。
形式：每節(jié)四音步與三音步交錯，基本是抑揚格，韻式為abcbdb。
（1）Under |a sprea|ding chest|nut tree
The vil|lage smi|thy stands;
The smith, |a migh|ty man| is he,
With larg|er and |sinew|y hands;
And the| muscles of| his brawn|y arms
Are strong |as ir|on bands.

（2）His hair| is crisp, |and black, |and long,
His face| is like |the tan;
His brow| is wet |with hon|est sweat,
He earns |whate’er|he can,
And looks |the whole |world in |the face,
For he| owes not |any man.

（3）Week in, |week out, |from morn |till night,
You can |hear his| bellows blow;
You can |hear him |swing his| heavy sledge,
With mea|sured beat| and slow,
Like a |sexton |ringing| the vil|lage bell,
When the |evening |sun is low.

（4）And childr|en com|ing home |from school
Look in |at the| open door;
They love |to see |the flam|ing forge,
And hear |the bel|lows roar,
And catch| the burn|ing sparks |that fly
Like chaff |from a |threshing floor.

（5）He goes| on Sun|day to |the church,
And sits |among |his boys;
He hears| the par|son pray |and preach,
He hears |his daught|er’s voice,
Singing |in the|village |choir,
And it |makes his |heart rejoice.

（6）It sounds |to him| like her |mother's voice,
Singing |in Par|adise!
He needs |must think |of her| once more,
How in |the grave |she lies;
And with |his hard, |rough hand |he wipes
A tear| out of |his eyes.

（7）Toiling,—| rejoic|ing, — sor|rowing,
Onward |through life| he goes;
Each morn|ing sees |some task |begin,
Each even|ing sees |it close;
Something |attemp|ted, some|thing done,
Has earned|a night’s |repose.

（8）Thanks, thanks |to thee, |my wor|thy friend,
For the |lesson |thou hast taught!
Thus at |the flam|ing forge |of life
Our fort|unes must |be wrought;
Thus on |its sound|ing an|vil shaped
Each burn|ing deed |and thought!

Alfred Tennyson (1809—1892)
阿爾弗雷德·坦尼森，十九世紀后半期英國最著名詩人，1850年繼華茲華斯后，被英國王室封為“桂冠詩人”(poet laureate) 。1884年又被封為男爵（baron） ——英國歷史上唯一的單純因詩歌成就而被封爵的人。他對同時代的達爾文等科學(xué)家對傳統(tǒng)宗教信仰的破壞深感不安，其詩意訴諸情感，對科學(xué)主義有消解作用。他的詩歌既有浪漫主義的特點，技巧上又有古典主義的特點。音樂性極強，但思想深度不夠。其組詩《悼念》（In Memoriam）是為悼念亡友Arther Hallem而寫的，維多利亞女王以為其價值僅次于《圣經(jīng)》。

15 The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

注釋：
clasp [kla:sp]or [klaesp]: to take or seize firmly.
Lonely lands:廣袤的原野，蒼茫大地。Lonely 表示沒有別的動物在活動。
Ringed with the azure world：為蔚蘭色的世界環(huán)繞著。Azure [ ] 蔚蘭色，蒼天之色。
Thunderbolt 雷電，晴天霹靂。
內(nèi)容：
此詩刻畫雄鷹英姿。前節(jié)寫其靜態(tài)：一雙鐵鉗一般的利爪緊緊抓住巉巖，站立在直插云霄的山顛。四周是廣袤靜寂的原野。瞻顧偉然。后節(jié)寫動態(tài)：從山頂向海面俯沖時，如雷電一般迅猛。寥寥數(shù)語，就把雄鷹之陽剛之美充分表現(xiàn)出來。
形式：抑揚格四音步，每節(jié)三行均押韻。
He clasps |the crag |with crook|ed hands;
Close to|the sun |in lone|ly lands,
Ringed with|the a|zure world, |he stands.

The wrin|kled sea| beneath |him crawls;
He wa|tches from |his moun|tain walls,
And like| a thun|derbolt |he falls.

Richard Henry Stoddard (1825—1903)
美國詩人、文藝評論家。其詩創(chuàng)造性不強，現(xiàn)在讀者不多。但下面一詩一復(fù)三嘆，非常雋永，表達的是人類之普遍感受。
16 The Flight of Youth

There are gains for all our losses.
There are balms for all our pain:
But when youth, the dream, departs
It takes something from our hearts,
And it never comes again.

We are stronger, and are better,
Under manhood’s sterner reign:
Still we feel that something sweet
Followed youth, with flying feet,
And will never come again.

Something beautiful is vanished,
And we sigh for it in vain;
We behold it everywhere;
On the earth, and in the air.
But it never comes again!

注釋：
balm：療傷用的香膏，安慰物。
Under manhood’s sterner reign：在較嚴厲的成年期的統(tǒng)治之下。成年以后，人走向成熟，人多的是按理智去作事，青少年時代的天真爛漫不見了，所以說“sterner reign”。
內(nèi)容：嘆青春之逝，深有沉郁之致。
形式：自然節(jié)奏，沒有固定的韻律。韻式：abccb.

Emily Dickinson (1830—1886)
美國女詩人，隱居一生，終身未婚。外表上過著寧靜的生活，但內(nèi)心感情強烈。她將其感情都傾注到詩歌中。二十幾歲開始寫詩。是私下創(chuàng)作，連家人也無法看到他的作品。一生寫了1775首抒情詩，但在世時一首沒有發(fā)表。去世后發(fā)表，有六卷，成為美國偉大詩人之一。其詩語言簡樸凝煉，構(gòu)思奇特，意象鮮明。形式上不拘一格。
17 I’Am Nobody

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you—Nobody—too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! They’d banish us—you know!

How dreary—to be—Somebody!
How public—like a Frog—
To tell your name—the livelong June—
To an admiring Bog!

注釋：
How public：多么顯眼！含有失去幽靜之意。
livelong June：整個六月份。livelong ：整個的，全部的（日、夜），如the livelong day整天
內(nèi)容：此詩表達的是詩人遠離世俗，與世無爭，甘于淡泊寧靜的人生態(tài)度。同時對那些沽名釣譽之徒也作了諷刺。第一節(jié)最后一行中的“They”指世俗的勢利之徒。第二節(jié)中，她把大人物Somebody比作青娃，把那些盲目仰慕大人物的庸眾比作“admiring Bog”，大人物對庸眾自吹自擂，猶如夏日炎熱的六月里，青蛙整天對著爛泥塘呱呱叫個不停。
形式：自然節(jié)奏，突破了傳統(tǒng)格律詩。

William Henry Davies (1871—1940)
英國威爾士詩人。約35歲之前，在英國、美國過流浪生活。當(dāng)過小販、乞丐、短工和流浪漢。三十歲時因偷乘火車，被壓斷一條腿。后致力于寫詩，受到Bernard Shaw 賞識，成為著名詩人。他的自傳 The Autobiography of a Super-tramp 頗為有名。他的作品很多是表現(xiàn)現(xiàn)代社會弊端的。

18 The Heap of Rags

One night when I went down
Thames’ side, in London Town,
A heap of rags saw I,
And sat me down close by.
That thing could shout and bawl,
But showed no face at all;
When any steamer passed
And blew a loud shrill blast,
That heap of rags would sit
And make a sound like it;
When struck the clock’s deep bell,
It made those peals as well.
When winds did moan around,
It mocked them with that sound;
When all was quiet, it
Fell into a strange fit;
Would sigh, and moan and roar,
It laughed, and blessed, and swore.
Yet that poor thing, I know,
Had neither friend nor foe;
Its blessing or its curse
Made no one better or worse.
I left it in that place —
The thing that showed no face,
Was it a man that had
Suffered till he went mad?
So many shower and not
One rainbow in the lot;
Too many bitter fears
To make a pearl from tears.
注釋：
Thames’ side：泰晤士河的河邊。Thames [temz]
And sat me down close by：And (it) sat down close by me.
Bawl: 叫罵，大聲嚷嚷。
blew a loud shrill blast：氣船吹響尖聲的氣笛。Blast：一陣（風(fēng)），一股（氣），沖擊波，爆炸。此指氣笛的響聲。Shrill：尖聲的。
When struck the clock’s deep bell：When the clock’s deep bell struck：當(dāng)倫敦塔上面的大鐘的低沉的鈴聲敲響時。the clock 指Big Ben，關(guān)此參New Concept English，2nd，Lesson71“A Famous Clock”。我們在BBC電臺上可聽到。
Fell into a strange fit; 莫名其妙地發(fā)作起來。Fall into a fit: 發(fā)病。多指精神病、癲癇的發(fā)作
blessed, and swore：祝福和詛咒。
So many shower and not /One rainbow in the lot; = there are so many showers and there is not one rainbow in his lot. 他一生只遭受雨淋，卻從未見到過彩虹。意即：只受打擊沒有幸福。Lot：抽簽，拈鬮：to decide by lot。此指命運。
Too many bitter fears/To make a pearl from tears.這兩行運用了一個典故：據(jù)西方傳說，珍珠是蚌的眼淚凝結(jié)成的，意思是說，痛苦回帶來好結(jié)果。這兩行詩的意思是：這個“破布堆”由于過度擔(dān)驚受怕，所以他的淚水結(jié)不出珍珠來——倒霉透了。
內(nèi)容：描寫乞丐，有巧思。
形式：抑揚格三音步，兩行一韻。

19 Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep and cows.

Not time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars，like skies at night.

Not time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
注釋：
in broad daylight, /Streams full of stars，like skies at night. 大意為：溪流在陽光的照耀下，水珠晶瑩，猶如黑夜中的滿天星斗。broad daylight：明朗的白晝。
her mouth can/Enrich that smile her eyes began.大意：她通過眼睛表達的喜悅，可由她通過嘴巴作進一步的表達。
內(nèi)容：現(xiàn)代社會生活節(jié)奏加快，人們忙忙碌碌，無暇體味生活情趣，欣賞大千世界中的各種美好的東西。這樣的生活不能算是真正的生活。此詩反映了一個流浪漢瀟灑的生活態(tài)度。New Concept English，3rd，Lesson27 “Nothing to Sell and Nothing to Buy”一文寫的就是流浪漢自由自在的生活的，讀后很令人向往。結(jié)尾時說：“We often speak of tramps with contempt and put them in the same class as beggars, but how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little /envious of their simple way of life and their freedom from care?”。此文是此詩歌的絕佳注解。
形式：抑揚格四音步，兩行一韻。

Robert Frost (1874—1963)
羅伯特·弗洛斯特，美國現(xiàn)代著名詩人。其詩言近指遠，所寫內(nèi)容多為新英格蘭地區(qū)的自然景色和樸實的田園生活。
20 Stopping by Woods On A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
注釋：
Whose woods these are I think I know,/His house is in the village, though;這樹林的主人，我想我是認識的，不過他的房子在村中，（不在林中。）加個“I think”表示委婉，不把話說得那么死。Though在次意思很輕，主要是為押韻。認識不認識不是不是作者注意力所在，其所關(guān)注者是樹林與雪所構(gòu)成的神秘夜景。
easy wind and downy flake: 微風(fēng)和絨毛一般的雪片。
內(nèi)容：此詩表達了作者在人生問題上的某種復(fù)雜而矛盾心情。詩人雪夜騎馬路過一片樹林，他沉浸在這可愛而神秘的景象之中，仿佛進入了另一個奇妙的世界。他忘記了行路，但馬晃動僵繩，又使他意識到他仍然是在現(xiàn)實世界中，所以他還有許多義務(wù)必須去履行，許多諾言需要兌現(xiàn)，許多工作要去作。人生是一次長途跋涉，一次長征，想停下來進入世外桃園，是難以實現(xiàn)的夢想。也就是說追求精神上的滿足與現(xiàn)實生活總有一定的矛盾。古往今來，都有許多人對此有深切的感受。所以此詩表達的是一個普遍的人生問題。
形式：抑揚格四音步。韻式aaba. 最后一節(jié)一韻到底，最后的重復(fù)加重了詩人復(fù)雜沉重的思緒。

Alfred Joyce Kilmer (1886—1818)
基爾默美國詩人，評論家。死于第一次世界大戰(zhàn)。他最出名的詩集名Trees and Other Poems （1914 《樹及其他》）。

21 Trees

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree;

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain,
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are make by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

注釋：prest：pressed的變體，用以與breast押韻。
flowing breast：相當(dāng)于breast flowing with milk, 流奶的乳房，比喻土壤的肥沃。
內(nèi)容：贊美樹之神圣和可愛。
形式：抑揚格四音步，兩行一韻。