濟慈 John Keates
Ode to a Nightingale
夜鶯頌
我的心在痛，困頓和麻木
MY heart aches, and a drowsy numbness 刺進了感官，有如飲過毒鳩，
又象是剛剛把鴉片吞服，
pains
於是向著列斯忘川下沉：
My sense, as though of hemlock I had
並不是我嫉妒你的好運，
drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains 而是你的快樂使我太歡欣──
因為在林間嘹亮的天地裡，
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had
你呵，輕翅的仙靈，
sunk:
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, 5 你躲進山毛櫸的蔥綠和蔭影，
放開歌喉，歌唱著夏季。
But being too happy in thine happiness,
That thou, light-wingd Dryad of the trees,
哎，要是有一口酒！那冷藏
In some melodious plot
在地下多年的清醇飲料，
Of beechen green, and shadows
一嘗就令人想起綠色之邦，
numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease. 10 想起花神，戀歌，陽光和舞蹈！
要是有一杯南國的溫暖
O for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool'd a long age in the deep-delvd earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country-green,
Dance, and Proven?al song, and sunburnt
mirth!
O for a beaker full of the warm South! 15
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-staind mouth;
That I might drink, and leave the world
unseen,
And with thee fade away into the forest
dim: 20
Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget
What thou among the leaves hast never
known,
充滿了鮮紅的靈感之泉，
杯沿明滅著珍珠的泡沫，
給嘴唇染上紫斑；
哦，我要一飲而離開塵寰，
和你同去幽暗的林中隱沒：
遠遠地、遠遠隱沒，讓我忘掉
你在樹葉間從不知道的一切，
忘記這疲勞、熱病、和焦躁，
這使人對坐而悲嘆的世界；
在這裡，青春蒼白、消瘦、死亡，
而“癱瘓”有幾根白發在搖擺；
在這裡，稍一思索就充滿了
憂傷和灰色的絕望，
而“美”保持不住明眸的光彩，
新生的愛情活不到明天就枯凋。
The weariness, the fever, and the fret
去吧！去吧！我要朝你飛去，
Here, where men sit and hear each other
groan;
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey
hairs, 25
Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin,
and dies;
Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs;
Where beauty cannot keep her lustrous
不用和酒神坐文豹的車駕，
我要展開詩歌底無形羽翼，
盡管這頭腦已經困頓、疲乏；
去了！呵，我已經和你同往！
夜這般溫柔，月後正登上寶座，
周圍是侍衛她的一群星星；
但這兒卻不甚明亮，
除了有一線天光，被微風帶過，
蔥綠的幽暗，和苔蘚的曲徑。
eyes,
Or new Love pine at them beyond
to-morrow. 30
我看不出是哪種花草在腳旁，
什麼清香的花掛在樹枝上；
在溫馨的幽暗裡，我只能猜想
Away! away! for I will fly to thee,
這個時令該把哪種芬芳
Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, 賦予這果樹，林莽，和草叢，
But on the viewless wings of Poesy,
這白枳花，和田野的玫瑰，
Though the dull brain perplexes and
這綠葉堆中易謝的紫羅蘭，
retards:
還有五月中旬的嬌寵，
Already with thee! tender is the night, 35 這綴滿了露酒的麝香薔薇，
And haply the Queen-Moon is on her
throne,
Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays
But here there is no light,
Save what from heaven is with the breezes
blown
Through verdurous glooms and winding
mossy ways. 40
I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,
Nor what soft incense hangs upon the
boughs,
But, in embalmd darkness, guess each
sweet
Wherewith the seasonable month endows
The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree
wild; 45
White hawthorn, and the pastoral
它成了夏夜蚊蚋的嗡縈的港灣。
我在黑暗裡傾聽：呵，多少次
我幾乎愛上了靜謐的死亡，
我在詩思裡用盡了好的言辭，
求他把我的一息散入空茫；
而現在，哦，死更是多麼富麗：
在午夜裡溘然魂離人間，
當你正傾瀉著你的心懷
發出這般的狂喜！
你仍將歌唱，但我卻不再聽見──
你的葬歌只能唱給泥草一塊。
永生的鳥呵，你不會死去！
飢餓的世代無法將你蹂躪；
今夜，我偶然聽到的歌曲
曾使古代的帝王和村夫喜悅；
或許這同樣的歌也曾激盪
eglantine;
露絲憂鬱的心，使她不禁落淚，
Fast-fading violets cover'd up in leaves;
And mid-May's eldest child,
The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,
The murmurous haunt of flies on summer
eves. 50
站在異邦的谷田裡想著家；
就是這聲音常常
在失掉了的仙域裡引動窗扉：
一個美女望著大海險惡的浪花。
Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful
Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a musd
rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
55
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul
abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in
vain─
To thy high requiem become a sod. 60
Thou wast not born for death, immortal
Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was
heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a
path 65
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick
for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that ofttimes hath
Charm'd magic casements, opening on the
foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn. 70
呵，失掉了！這句話好比一聲鐘
使我猛醒到我站腳的地方！
別了！幻想，這騙人的妖童，
不能老耍弄它盛傳的伎倆。
別了！別了！你怨訴的歌聲
流過草坪，越過幽靜的溪水，
溜上山坡；而此時，它正深深
埋在附近的溪谷中：
噫，這是個幻覺，還是夢寐？
那歌聲去了：──我是睡？是醒？
查良錚 譯
Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
To toll me back from thee to my sole self!
Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well
As she is famed to do, deceiving elf.
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades
75
Past the near meadows, over the still
stream,
Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep
In the next valley-glades:
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music:─do I wake or sleep?
80
濟慈﹛的夜鶯歌
----------------------------------------------﹛濟慈（1795—1821），英國詩人。他出身貧苦，做過藥劑師的助手，年輕
時就死于肺病。
詩中有濟慈（jonh keats）的《夜鶯歌》，與禽中有夜鶯一樣的神奇。除非
你親耳聽過，你不容易相信樹林裏有一類發痴的鳥，天晚了才開口唱，在黑暗裏
傾吐他的妙樂，愈唱愈有勁，往往直唱到天亮，連真的心血都跟著歌聲從她的血
管裏嘔出；除非你親自咀嚼過，你也不易相信一個二十三歲的青年有一天早飯後
坐在一株李樹底下迅筆的寫，不到三小時寫成了一首八段八十行的長歌，這歌裏
的音樂與夜鶯的歌聲一樣的不可理解，同是宇宙間一個奇跡，即使有哪一天大英
帝國破裂成無可記認的斷片時，《夜鶯歌》依舊保有他無比的價值：萬萬里外的
星亙古的亮著，樹林裏的夜鶯到時候就來唱著，濟慈的夜鶯歌永遠在人類的記憶
裏存著。
那年濟慈住在倫敦的 wentworth place﹛。百年前的倫敦與現在的英京大不
相同，那時候“文明”的沾染比較的不深，所以華次華士﹛站在威士明治德橋
上，還可以放心的謳歌清晨的倫敦，還有福氣在“無煙的空氣”裏呼吸，望出去
也還看得見“田地、小山、石頭、曠野，一直開拓到天邊”。那時候的人，我猜
想，也一定比較的不野蠻，近人情，愛自然，所以白天聽得著滿天的雲雀，夜裡
聽得著夜鶯的妙樂。要是濟慈遲一百年出世，在夜鶯絕跡了的倫敦市裏住著，他
別的著作不敢說，這首夜鶯歌至少，怕就不會成功，供人類無盡期的享受。說起
真覺得可慘，在我們南方，古跡而兼是藝術品的，止淘成﹛了西湖上一座孤單的
雷峰塔，這千百年來雷峰塔的文學還不曾見面，雷峰塔的映影已經永別了波心！
也許我們的靈性是麻皮做的，木屑做的，要不然這時代普遍的苦痛與煩惱的呼聲
還不是最富靈感的天然音樂；——但是我們的濟慈在哪裡？我們的《夜鶯歌》在
哪裡？濟慈有一次低低的自語——“i feel the flowers growing on
me”。意思是“我覺得鮮花一朵朵的長上了我的身”，就是說他一想著了鮮花，
他的本體就變成了鮮花，在草叢裏掩映著，在陽光裏閃亮著，在和風裏一瓣瓣的
無形的伸展著，在蜂蝶輕薄的口吻下羞暈著。這是想象力最純粹的境界：孫猴子
能七十二般變化，詩人的變化力更是不可限量——沙士比亞戲劇裏至少有一百多
個永遠有生命的人物，男的女的、貴的賤的、偉大的、卑瑣的、嚴肅的、滑稽的，
還不是他自己搖身一變變出來的。濟慈與雪萊最有這與自然諧合的變術；——雪
萊制《雲歌》時我們不知道雪萊變了雲還是雲變了；雪萊歌《西風》時不知道歌
者是西風還是西風是歌者；頌《雲雀》時不知道是詩人在九霄雲端裏唱著還是百
靈鳥在字句裏叫著；同樣的濟慈詠“憂鬱”“odeon melancholy”時他自己就
變了憂鬱本體，“忽然從天上掉下來像一朵哭泣的雲”；他贊美“秋”“to
autumn”時他自己就是在樹葉底下挂著的葉子中心那顆漸漸髮長的核仁兒，或
是在稻田裏靜偃著玫瑰色的秋陽！這樣比稱起來，如其趙鬆雪﹛關緊房門伏在地
下學馬的故事可信時，那我們的藝術家就落粗蠢，不堪的“鄉下人氣味”！
-------﹛wentworth place，即文特沃思村。實際上，該處是濟慈的女友範妮·布勞
納的家，濟慈寫《夜鶯頌》的時候還在漢普斯泰德，他是去意大利療養前的一個
月才搬到這裡的。
﹛華次畢士，通譯華茲華斯（1770—1850）
，英國詩人，湖畔派的代表人物。
﹛淘成，浙江方言，這裡是“剩存”的意思。
﹛趙鬆雪，即趙孟俯（1254—1322），元代書畫家。其書法世稱“趙體”，
畫工山水、人物、鞍馬，尤善畫馬。
他那《夜鶯歌》是他一個哥哥死的那年做的，據他的朋友有名肖像畫家 robert
haydon﹛給 miss mitford﹛的信裏說，他在沒有寫下以前早就起了腹稿，一天晚
上他們倆在草地裏散步時濟慈低低的背誦給他聽——“……in alow，tremulous
undertone which affected me extremely．﹛
-------﹛robert haydon，通譯羅伯特·海登（1786—1846），英國畫家、作家。
﹛miss mitford，通譯米特福德小姐（1787—1855），英國女作家。
﹛這句英文的意思是：“……那低沉而顫抖的鳴囀深深地感染了我。”
那年碰巧——據著《濟慈傳》的 lord houghton﹛說，在他屋子的鄰近來了
一衹夜鶯，每晚不倦的歌唱，他很快活，常常留意傾聽，一直聽得他心痛神醉逼
著他從自己的口裏復制了一套不朽的歌曲。我們要記得濟慈二十五歲那年在意大
利在他一個朋友的懷抱裏作古，他是，與他的夜鶯一樣，嘔血死的！
-------﹛lord houghton，通譯雷頓爵士（1809—1855），英國詩人，曾出版濟慈
的書信和遺著。
能完全領略一首詩或是一篇戲曲，是一個精神的快樂，一個不期然的髮現。
這不是容易的事；要完全了解一個人的品性是十分難，要完全領會一首小詩也不
得容易。我簡直想說一半得靠你的緣分，我真有點兒迷信。就我自己說，文學本
不是我的行業，我的有限的文學知識是“無師傳授”的。裴德﹛（walter pater）
是一天在路上碰著大雨到一家舊書鋪去躲避無意中發現的，哥德﹛（goethe）——
說來更怪了——是司蒂文孫﹛（r．l．s．）介紹給我的，
（在他的 art of writcing
﹛那書裏他稱贊 george henry lewes﹛的《葛德評傳》
；everyman edition﹛一
塊錢就可以買到一本黃金的書）柏拉圖是一次在浴室裏忽然想著要去拜訪他的。
雪萊是為他也離婚才去仔細請教他的，杜思退益夫斯基﹛、托爾斯泰、丹農雪烏
﹛、波特萊耳﹛、盧騷，這一班人也各有各的來法，反正都不是經由正宗的介紹：
都是邂逅，不是約會。這次我到平大﹛教書也是偶然的，我教著濟慈的《夜鶯歌》
也是偶然的，乃至我現在動手寫這一篇短文，更不是料得到的。友鸞﹛再三要我
寫才鼓起我的興來，我也很高興寫，因為看了我的乘興的話，竟許有人不但發願
去讀那《夜鶯歌》，並且從此得到了一個親口嘗味最高級文學的門徑，那我就得
意極了。
-------﹛裴德，通譯佩特（1839—1894），英國詩人、批評家，著有《文藝復興史
研究》等。
﹛哥德，通譯歌德（1749—1832），德國詩人，著有《浮士德》、《少年維特
之煩惱》等。
﹛司蒂文孫，通譯斯蒂文森（1850—1894），英國作家。
﹛art of writing，即《寫作的藝術》。
﹛george henry lewes，通譯喬治·亨利·劉易斯（1817—1878）
，美國哲學
家、文學評論家，還做過演員和編輯。
﹛everyman edition，書籍的普及版。
﹛杜思退益夫斯基，通譯陀思妥耶夫斯基（1821—1881），俄國作家，著有
《卡拉馬佐夫兄弟》等。
﹛丹農雪烏，通譯鄧南遮（1863—1938）
，意大利作家。
﹛波特萊耳，通譯波德萊爾（1821—1867），法國詩人。
﹛平大，即平民大學。
﹛友鸞，即張友鸞（1904—1989），作家、翻譯家。當時他在主編《京報》
副刊《文學周刊》。
但是叫我怎樣講法呢？在課堂裏一頭講生字一頭講典故，多少有一個講法，
但是現在要我坐下來把這首整體的詩分成片段詮釋它的意義，可真是一個難題！
領略藝術與看山景一樣，衹要你地位站得適當，你這一望一眼便吸收了全景的精
神；要你“遠視”的看，不是近視的看；如其你捧住了樹才能見樹，那時即使你
不惜工夫一株一株的審查過去，你還是看不到全林的景子。所以分析的看藝術，
多少是殺風景的：綜合的看法才對。所以我現在勉強講這《夜鶯歌》，我不敢說
我能有什麼心得的見解！我並沒有！我衹是在課堂裏講書的態度，按句按段的講
下去就是；至于整體的領悟還得靠你們自己，我是不能幫忙的。
你們沒有聽過夜鶯先是一個困難。北京有沒有我都不知道。下回蕭友梅﹛先
生的音樂會要是有貝德花芬的第六個“沁芳南”﹛（ the pastoral
symphony）時，你們可以去聽聽，那裡面有夜鶯的歌聲。好吧，我們衹能要同
意聽音樂——自然的或人為的——有時可以使我們聽出神：譬如你晚上在山腳下
獨步時聽著清越的笛聲，遠遠的飛來，你即使不滴淚，你多少不免“神往”不是？
或是在山中聽泉樂，也可使你忘卻俗景，想象神境。我們假定夜鶯的歌聲比我們
白天聽著的什麼鳥都要好聽；他初起像是龔雲甫﹛，嗓子發沙的，很懈的試她的
新歌；頓上一頓，來了，有調了。可還不急，衹是清脆悅耳，像是珠走玉盤（比
喻是滿不相幹的）！慢慢的她動了情感，仿佛忽然想起了什麼事情使他激成异常
的憤慨似的，他這才真唱了，聲音越來越亮，調門越來越新奇，情緒越來越熱烈，
韻味越來越深長，像是無限的歡暢，像是艷麗的怨慕，又像是變調的悲哀——直
唱得你在旁傾聽的人不自主的跟著她興奮，伴著她心跳。你恨不得和著她狂歌，
就差你的嗓子太粗太濁合不到一起！這是夜鶯；這是濟慈聽著的夜鶯，本來晚上
萬籟靜定後聲音的感動力就特強，何況夜鶯那樣不可模擬的妙樂。
-------﹛蕭友梅（1884—1940），音樂教育家，當時任北京女子師範大學音樂系主
任。
﹛貝德花芬的第六個“沁芳南”，即貝多芬的《第六交響曲》。“沁芳南”
是英語交響曲 symphony 一詞的音譯。
﹛龔雲甫（1862—1932），京劇演員，擅長老旦戲。下文中的“她”，是指
他的角色身份。
好了；你們先得想象你們自己也教音樂的沉醴浸醉了，四肢軟綿綿的，心頭
癢薺薺的，說不出的一種濃味的馥鬱的舒服，眼簾也是懶洋洋的挂不起來，心裡
滿是流膏似的感想，遼遠的回憶，甜美的惆悵，閃光的希冀，微笑的情調一齊兜
上方寸靈台時——再來——“in a low，tiemulous undertone”﹛——開通濟
慈的《夜鶯歌》，那才對勁兒！
--------
﹛這句英文的意思是：“低沉顫抖的鳴囀”。
這不是清醒時的說話；這是半夢囈的私語：心裡暢快的壓迫太重了流出口來
綣繾的細語——我們用散文譯過他的意思來看：——
（一）“這唱歌的，唱這樣神妙的歌的，決不是一衹平常的鳥；她一定是一
個樹林裏美麗的女神，有翅膀會得飛翔的。她真樂呀，你聽獨自在黑夜的樹林裏，
在架幹交叉，濃蔭如織的青林裏，她暢快的開放她的歌調，贊美著初夏的美景，
我在這裡聽她唱，聽的時候已經很多，她還是恣情的唱著；啊，我真被她的歌聲
迷醉了，我不敢羡慕她的清福，但我卻讓她無邊的歡暢催眠住了，我像是服了一
劑麻藥，或是喝盡了一劑鴉片汁，要不然為什麼這睡昏昏思離離的像進了黑甜鄉
似的，我感覺著一種微倦的麻痹，我太快活了，這快感太尖銳了，竟使我心房隱
隱的生痛了！”
（二）“你還是不倦的唱著——在你的歌聲裏我聽出了最香冽的美酒的味
兒。啊，喝一杯陳年的真葡萄釀多痛快呀！那葡萄是長在暖和的南方的，普魯罔
斯﹛那種地方，那邊有的是幸福與歡樂，他們男的女的整天在寬闊的太陽光底下
作樂，有的攜著手跳春舞，有的彈著琴唱戀歌；再加那遍野的香草與各樣的樹
馨——在這快樂的地土下他們有酒窖埋著美酒。現在酒味益發的澄靜，香冽了。
真美呀，真充滿了南國的鄉土精神的美酒，我要來引滿一杯，這酒好比是希寶克
林靈泉的泉水，在日光裏灩灩發虹光的清泉，我拿一衹古爵盛一個撲滿。啊，看
呀！這珍珠似的酒沫在這杯邊上發瞬，這杯口也叫紫色的濃漿染一個鮮豔；你看
看，我這一口就把這一大杯酒吞了下去——這才真醉了，我的神魂就脫離了軀
殼，幽幽的辭別了世界，跟著你清唱的音響，像一個影子似淡淡的掩入了你那暗
沉沉的林中。”
-------﹛普魯罔斯，通譯普羅旺斯，法國南方的一個省。
（三）“想起這世界真叫人傷心。我是無沾戀的，巴不得有機會可以逃避，
可以忘懷種種不如意的現象，不比你在青林茂蔭裏過無憂的生活，你不知道也無
須過問我們這寒傖的世界，我們這裡有的是熱病、厭倦、煩惱，平常朋友們見面
時衹是愁顏相對，你聽我的牢騷，我聽你的哀怨；老年人耗盡了精力，聽憑痹癥
搖落他們僅存的幾莖可憐的白髮；年輕人也是叫不如意事蝕空了，滿臉的憔悴，
消瘦得像一個鬼影，再不然就進墓門；真是除非你不想他，你要一想的時候就不
由得你發愁，不由得你眼睛裏鈍遲遲的充滿了絕望的晦色；美更不必說，也許難
得在這裡，那裡，偶然露一點痕跡，但是轉瞬間就變成落花流水似沒了，春光是
挽留不住的，愛美的人也不是沒有，但美景既不常駐人間，我們至多衹能實現暫
時的享受，笑口不曾全開，愁顏又回來了！因此我衹想順著你歌聲離別這世界，
忘卻這世界，解化這憂鬱沉沉的知覺。”
（四）“人間真不值得留戀，去吧，去吧！我也不必乞靈于培克司（酒神）
與他那寶輦前的文豹，衹憑詩情無形的翅膀我也可以飛上你那裡去。啊，果然來
了！到了你的境界了！這林子裏的夜是多溫柔呀，也許皇后似的明月此時正在她
天中的寶座上坐著，周圍無數的星辰像侍臣似的拱著她。但這夜卻是黑，暗陰陰
的沒有光亮，衹有偶然天風過路時把這青翠蔭蔽吹動，讓半亮的天光絲絲的漏下
來，照出我腳下青茵濃密的地土。”
（五）“這林子裏夢沉沉的不漏光亮，我腳下踏著的不知道是什麼花，樹枝
上滲下來的清馨也辨不清是什麼香；在這薰香的黑暗中我衹能按著這時令猜度這
時候青草裏，矮叢裏，野果樹上的各色花香；——乳白色的山楂花，有刺的野薔
薇，在葉叢裏掩蓋著的芝羅蘭已快萎謝了，還有初夏最早開的麝香玫瑰，這時候
準是滿承著新鮮的露釀，不久天暖和了，到了黃昏時候，這些花堆裏多的是采花
來的飛蟲。”
我們要注意從第一段到第五段是一順下來的：第一段是樂極了的譫語，接著
第二段聲調跟著南方的陽光放亮了一些，但情調還是一路的纏綿。第三段稍為激
起一點浪紋，迷離中夾著一點自覺的憤慨，到第四段又沉了下去，從“already
with thee！”﹛起，語調又極幽微，像是小孩子走入了一個陰涼的地窖子，骨
髓裏覺著涼，心裡卻覺著半害怕的特別意味，他低低的說著話，帶顫動的，斷續
的；又像是朝上風來吹斷清夢時的情調；他的詩魂在林子的黑蔭裏聞著各種看不
見的花草的香味，私下一一的猜測訴說，像是山澗平流入湖水時的尾聲……這第
六段的聲調與情調可全變了；先前衹是暢快的惝恍，這下竟是極樂的譫語了。他
樂極了，他的靈魂取得了無邊的解說與自由，他就想永保這最痛快的俄頃，就在
這時候輕輕的把最後的呼吸和入了空間，這無形的消滅便是極樂的永生；他在另
一首詩裏說——
-------﹛這句中的英文意為：“早已和你在一起”。
i know this being’s lease，
my fancy to its utmost bliss spreads，
yet could i on this very midnight cease，
and the world sgaudy ensign see in shreds’
verse，fame and beauty are in tense indeed；
but death in tenser－death is life’shigh meed．
在他看來，
（或是在他想來）
，“生”是有限的，生的幸福也是有限的——詩，
聲名與美是我們活著時最高的理想，但都不及死，因為死是無限的，解化的，與
無盡流的精神相投契的，死才是生命最高的蜜酒，一切的理想在生前衹能部分
的，相對的實現，但在死裏卻是整體的絕對的諧合，因為在自由最博大的死的境
界中一切不調諧的全調諧了，一切不完全的都完全了，他這一段用的幾個狀詞要
注意，他的死不是苦痛，是“easeful death”舒服的，或是竟可以翻作“逍遙
的死”；還有他說“quiet breath”，幽靜或是幽靜的呼吸，這個觀念在濟慈詩
裏常見，很可注意；他在一處排列他得意的幽靜的比象——
autumn suns
smiling at ev e upon the quiet sheaves．
sweet sapphos cheek－a sleeping infant’s breath－
the gradual sand that througn an hour glass runs
a woodland rivulet，apoet’s death
秋田裏的晚霞，沙浮﹛女詩人的香腮，睡孩的呼吸，光陰漸緩的流沙，山林
裏的小溪，詩人的死。他詩裏充滿著靜的，也許香艷的。美麗的靜的意境，正如
雪萊的詩裏無處不是動，生命的振動，劇烈的，有色彩的，嘹亮的。我們可以拿
濟慈的《秋歌》對照雪萊的《西風歌》，濟慈的“夜鶯”對比雪萊的“雲雀”，
濟慈的“憂鬱”對比雪萊的“雲”，一是動、舞、生命、精華的、光亮的、搏動
的生命，一是靜、幽、甜熟的、漸緩的“奢侈”的死，比生命更深奧更博大的死，
那就是永生。懂了他的生死的概念我們再來解釋他的詩：
-------﹛沙浮，通譯莎福（前 7—前 6 世紀），古希臘女詩人。
（六）“但是我一面正在猜測著這青林裏的這樣那樣，夜鶯他還是不歇的唱
著，這回唱得更濃更烈了。（先前衹像荷池裏的雨聲，調雖急，韻節還是很勻淨
的；現在竟像是大塊的驟雨落在盛開的丁香林中，這白英在狂顫中繽紛的墮地，
雨中的一陣香雨，聲調急促極了）所以他竟想在這極樂中靜靜的解化，平安的死
去，所以他竟與無痛苦的解脫髮生了戀愛，昏昏的隨口編著鐘愛的名字唱著贊美
他，要他領了他永別這生的世界，投入永生的世界。這死所以不僅不是痛苦，真
是最高的幸福，不僅不是不幸，並且是一個極大的奢侈；不僅不是消極的寂滅，
這正是真生命的實現。在這青林中，在這半夜裡，在這美妙的歌聲裏，輕輕的挑
破了生命的水泡，啊，去吧！同時你在歌聲中傾吐了你的內蘊的靈性，放膽的盡
性的狂歌好像你在這黑暗裏看出比光明更光明的光明，在你的葉蔭中實現了比快
樂更快樂的快樂；——我即使死了，你還是繼續的唱著，直唱到我聽不著，變成
了土，你還是永遠的唱著。”
這是全詩精神最飽滿音調最神靈的一節，接著上段死的意思與永生的意思，
他從自己又回想到那鳥的身上，他想我可以在這歌聲裏消散，但這歌聲的本體
呢？聽歌的人可以由生入死，由死得生，這唱歌的鳥，又怎樣呢？以前的六節都
是低調，就是第六節調雖變，音還是像在浪花裏浮沉著的一張葉片，浪花上涌時
葉片上涌，浪花低伏時葉片也低伏；但這第七節是到了最高點，到了急調中的爭
調——詩人的情緒，和著鳥的歌聲，盡情的涌了出來；他的迷醉中的詩魂已經到
了夢與醒的邊界。
這節裏 ruth﹛的本事是在舊約書裏 the book of ruth﹛，她是嫁給一個
客民的，後來丈夫死了，她的姑要回老家，叫她也回自己的家再嫁人去，羅司一
定不肯，情願跟著她的姑到外國去守寡，後來他在麥田裏收麥，她常常想著她的
本鄉，濟慈就應用這段故事。
-------﹛ruth，通譯露絲（本文譯作羅司），聖經《舊約·路得記》中的一個人物。
不過，濟慈的《夜鶯頌》至第七節才用到這個典故，徐志摩這裡把她錯到第六節
裏去了。
﹛the book of ruth，即《舊約·路得記》。
（七）“方才我想到死與滅亡，但是你，不死的鳥呀，你是永遠沒有滅亡的
日子，你的歌聲就是你不死的一個憑證。時代盡遷异，人事盡變化，你的音樂還
是永遠不受損傷，今晚上我在此地聽你，這歌聲還不是在幾千年前已經在著，富
貴的王子曾經聽過你，卑賤的農夫也聽過你：也許當初羅司那孩子在黃昏時站在
异邦的田裏割麥，他眼裏含著一包眼淚思念故鄉的時候，這同樣的歌聲，曾經從
林子裏透出來，給她精神的慰安，也許在中古時期幻術家在海上變出蓬萊仙島，
在波心裡起造著樓閣，在這裡面住著他們攝取來的美麗的女郎，她們憑著窗戶望
海思鄉時，你的歌聲也曾經感動她們的心靈，給他們平安與愉快。”
（八）這段是全詩的一個總束，夜鶯放歌的一個總束，也可以說人生的大夢
的一個總束。他這詩裏有兩相對的（動機）；一個是這現世界，與這面目可憎的
實際的生活：這是他巴不得逃避，巴不得忘卻的，一個是超現實的世界，音樂聲
中不朽的生命，這是他所想望的，他要實現的，他願意解脫了不完全暫時的生為
要化入這完全的永久的生。他如何去法，憑酒的力量可以去，憑詩的無形的翅膀
亦可以飛出塵寰，或是聽著夜鶯不斷的唱聲也可以完全忘卻這現世界的種種煩
惱。他去了，他化入了溫柔的黑夜，化入了神靈的歌聲——他就是夜鶯；夜鶯就
是他。夜鶯低唱時他也低唱，高唱時他也高唱，我們辨不清誰是誰，第六第七段
充分發揮“完全的永久的生”那個動機，天空裏，黑夜裡已經充塞了音樂——所
以在這裡最高的急調尾聲一個字音 forlorn﹛裏轉回到那一個動機，他所從來那個
現實的世界，往來穿著的還是那一條線，音調的接合，轉變處也極自然；最後糅
和那兩個相反的動機，用醒（現世界）與夢（想象世界）結束全文，像拿一塊石
子擲入山壑內的深潭裏，你聽那音響又清切又諧和。餘音還在山壑裏迴盪著，使
你想見那石塊慢慢的，慢慢的沉入了無底的深潭……音樂完了，夢醒了，血嘔盡
了，夜鶯死了！但他的餘韻卻裊裊的永遠在宇宙間回響著……
-------﹛forlorn，孤寂。
十三年十二月二日夜半
對徐志摩來說，藝術即生活，因為兩者的目的衹有一個：美。
美是自然的，刻意造作都與其無緣。這正如康河的柔波，搖曳的水草，夜半
的明月。他心靈中的點點情絲，在被外界融合的瞬間，就會洋溢出美文。就像“輕
輕的走了，／正如我輕輕的來；／我輕輕的招手，／作別西天的雲彩。”那樣的
空靈，如“我不知道／風往那一個方向吹——／我是在夢裏／在夢的輕波裏依
洄”那般的令人迷醉。
在中國現當代文學中，徐志摩的詩文抒情的濃郁為最。不信你看《濟慈的夜
鶯》。
開篇即是“詩中有濟慈（john keats）的《夜鶯歌》，與禽中有夜鶯一樣的
神奇”。美妙的比喻，信手拈來。傾刻間，你閱讀的欲望升起，于是，你無法終
止你對美的好奇，一氣讀完，不忍釋卷。你再往回翻，想要找到這美產生的原因，
瞑思良久，不得所以然。看結構，平淡無奇；分析語詞，他敘述如白話，尾尾道
來；他的散文抒情如他的詩歌，情感的褳漪是片片的粼光，而不會刺得你掙不開
眼。可你就是認為手中的短文不同凡響，象聽完一首迷人的歌，聽完後，而它的
“餘韻卻裊裊的永遠在宇宙間回響著……”
讀徐志摩的散文，你不能去解釋，也不要去字字句句的條分縷析。他的散文
如他的詩一樣，是許多美的意象的感受，是情緒的自如流淌，是心靈振顫的曲線。
就像你無論如何說不出“我揮一揮衣袖，／不帶走一片雲彩。”為何絕妙為何讓
你看完再也無法忘記，也無法在相同的情境下衹會脫口而出而難以創造出更好的
詩句一樣。你佩服，你感嘆，你不得不承認天才藝術家心靈的寶貴，你會說那是
徐志摩那顆易感的心的專利品。
世上最寬廣的是大海，最復雜的是人的心靈。心靈說不盡也說不清。真正出
自心靈的產物比如美文，它不可細說，不可析，衹可感。濟慈寫《夜鶯歌》時感
到鮮花一朵朵長上了他的身，徐志摩感到濟慈的“詩魂在林子的黑蔭裏聞著各種
看不見的花草的香味，私下一一的猜測訴說，像是山澗平流入湖水時的尾
聲……”。感覺是無聲的交流，是尋找心靈共振，是美的再造和延伸。
我固執地以為一定是上帝讓徐志摩那顆心早些休息的。他即使閉上雙眼，美
的事物經過時，他也會驟然間睜開，然後用心去籠罩它。我猜想，美的東西一定
有一種光茫，它們出現就能射穿他的心。
徐志摩崇尚高雅脫俗冰清玉潔的美，如曼殊斐兒的仙姿靈態；他欣賞瀟洒的
美，如翩翩的雪花飛舞，如河畔的金柳，夕陽中的新娘；他迷念于大自然的美，
如夜鶯的歌般婉轉悠揚，如山花爛漫；他沉醉于凄惋悲哀的美，如濟慈的喋血嘔
歌，夢裏的傷悲……
似乎有某種預感，他竟然在他不多的散文中多次寫到那些早殤的天才。難道
那也是一種心靈的共同的鳴響？他仿佛對他們更是情有獨鐘。手捧他寫的《曼殊
斐兒》，《濟慈的夜鶯歌》，遙看東方上空漂浮無定的雲彩，心中不禁倀然。漫遊
藍天上的徐志摩，你的英靈該化作了天邊的彩虹吧？
天地之間，環宇之內，你是不死的美的精靈。
The Writing of "Ode to a Nightingale"
Charles Brown, a friend with whom Keats was living when he composed this
poem, wrote,
In the spring of 1819 a nightingale had built her nest near my house. Keats felt a
tranquil and continual joy in her song; and one morning he took his chair from the
breakfast table to the grass-plot under a plum-tree, where he sat for two or three
hours. When he came into the house, I perceived he had some scraps of paper in his
hand, and these he was quietly thrusting behind the books. On inquiry, I found those
scraps, four or five in number, contained his poetic feeling on the song of our
nightingale.
Analysis: "Ode to a Nightingale"
A major concern in "Ode to a Nightingale" is Keats's perception of the
conflicted nature of human life, i.e., the interconnection or mixture of pain/joy,
intensity of feeling/numbness or lack of feeling, life/death, mortal/immortal, the
actual/the ideal, and separation/connection.
In this ode, Keats focuses on immediate, concrete sensations and emotions,
from which the reader can draw a conclusion or abstraction. Does the experience
which Keats describes change the dreamer? As reader, you must follow the
dreamer's development or his lack of development from his initial response to the
nightingale to his final statement about the experience.
Stanza I.
The poet falls into a reverie while listening to an actual nightingale sing. He
feels joy and pain, an ambivalent response. As you read, pick out which words
express his pleasure and which ones express his pain and which words express his
intense feeling and which his numbed feeling. Consider whether pleasure can be so
intense that, paradoxically, it either numbs us or causes pain.
What qualities does the poet ascribe to the nightingale? In the beginning the
bird is presented as a real bird, but as the poem progresses, the bird becomes a
symbol. As you read the poem, think about what the bird comes to symbolize. The
bird may symbolize more than one thing. Possible meanings include
pure or unmixed joy,
the artist, with the bird's voice being self expression or the song being poetry,
the music (beauties) of nature
the ideal.
Think of the quality or qualities attributed to the nightingale in deciding on the bird's
symbolic meaning.
Click here for vocabulary and allusions in stanza I
.
Stanza II.
Wanting to escape from the pain of a joy-pain reality, the poet begins to move
into a world of imagination or fantasy. He calls for wine. His purpose is clearly not to
get drunk. Rather he associates wine with some quality or state he is seeking. Think
about the effects alcohol has; which one or ones is the poet seeking? Since his goal is
to join the bird, what quality or qualities of the bird does he want to experience?
How might alcohol enable him to achieve that desire?
The description of drinking and of the world associated with wine is idealized.
What is the effect of the images associating the wine with summer, country pleasure,
and romantic Provence? The word "vintage" refers to a fine or prime wine; why does
he use this word? (Would the effect differ if the poet-dreamer imagined drinking a
rotgut wine?) Why does Keats describe the country as "green"? Would the effect be
different if the countryside were brown or yellowed? The activities in line 4 follow
one another naturally: dance is associated with song; together they produce pleasure
("mirth"), which is sunburnt because the country dances are held outdoors.
"Sunburnt mirth" is an excellent example of synaesthesia in Keats' imagery, since
Flora, the green countryside, etc. are being experienced by Keats through drinking
wine in his imagination.
The image of the "beaded bubbles winking at the brim" is much admired.
Does it capture the action of sparkling wine? What sounds are repeated? What is the
effect of this alliteration? Do any of the sounds duplicate the bubbles breaking? Say
the words and notice the action of your lips.
This image of the bubbles is concrete; in contrast, the preceding imagery in
the stanza is abstract. Can you see the difference?
Does the wine resemble the nightingale in being associated with summer,
song, and happpiness?
Click for vocabulary and allusions in stanza II.
Stanza III.
His awareness of the real world pulls him back from the imagined world of
drink-joy. Does he still perceive the real world as a world of joy-pain? Does thinking
of the human condition intensify, diminish, or have no effect on the poet's desire to
escape the world?
The poet uses the word "fade" in the last line of stanza II and in the first line
of this stanza to tie the stanzas together and to move easily into his next thought.
What is the effect of the words "fade" and "dissolve"? why "far away"?
What is the relationship of the bird to the world the poet describes? See line
2. Characterize the real world which the poet describes. By implication, what kind of
world does the nightingale live in? (Is it the same as or different from the poet's?)
Lead is a heavy metal; why is despair "leaden-eyed" (line 8)?
Stanza IV.
The poet suddenly cries out "Away! away! for I will fly to thee." He turns to
fantasy again; he rejects wine in line 2, and in line 3 he announces he is going to use
"the viewless wings of Poesy" to join a fantasy bird. In choosing Poesy, is he calling on
analytical or scientific reasoning, on poetry and imagination, on passion, on
sensuality, or on some something else?
He contrasts this mode of experience (poetry) to the "dull brain" that
"perplexes and retards" (line 4); what way of approaching life does this line reject?
What kinds of activities is the brain often associated with, in contrast to the heart,
which is associated with emotion?
In line 5, he succeeds or seems to succeed in joining the bird. The imagined
world described in the rest of the stanza is dark; what qualities are associated with
this darkness, e.g., is it frightening, safe, attractive, empty, fulfilling, sensuous, alive?
Click here for vocabulary and allusions in stanza IV
.
Stanza V.
Because the poet cannot see in the darkness, he must rely on his other senses.
What senses does he rely on? Are his experience and his sensations intense? for
himself only or for the reader also?
Even in this refuge, death is present; what words hint of death? Do these
hints help to prepare for stanza VI? Was death anticipated in stanza I by the vague
suggestions in the words "Lethe," "hemlock," "drowsy numbness," "poisonous," and
"shadowy darkness"?
The season is spring (the musk rose, which is a mid-May flower, has not yet
bloomed). Nevertheless, Keats speaks of summer: in stanza one he introduces the
nightingale singing "of summer," and in this stanza he refers to the murmur of flies
"on summer eves." In the progression of the seasons, what changes occur between
spring and summer? how do they differ (as, for instance, autumn brings fulfillment,
harvest, and the beginning of decay which becomes death in winter)? Why might
Keats leap to thoughts of the summer to come?
Click for vocabulary and allusions in stanza V
.
Stanza VI.
In Stanza VI, the poet begins to distance himself from the nightingale, which
he joined in imagination in stanzas IV and V.
Keats yearns to die, a state which he imagines as only joyful, as pain-free, and
to merge with the bird's song. The nightingale is characterized as wholly
blissful--"full-throated ease" in stanza I and "pouring forth thy soul abroad / In such
an ecstasy!" (lines 7-8).
The mixed nature of reality and its transience are suggested by the
contrasting phrases "fast-fading violets" and "the coming musk-rose."
In the last two lines, the poet no longer identifies with the bird. He realizes
what death means for him; death is not release from pain; rather it means
non-existence, the inability to feel the bird's ecstasy. Is there any suggestion of the
bird's dying or experiencing anything but bliss? Note the contrast between the bird's
singing and the poet's hearing that song; what are the emotional effects of or
associations with "high requiem" and "sod"? Why does Keats now hear the bird's
song as a requiem? (He heard the bird's song very differently earlier in the poem.)
Might the word "still" have more than one meaning here?
Is there any irony in Keats's using the same word to describe both the
nightingale and death--the bird sings with "full-throated ease" at the end of stanza I
and death is "easeful" (line 2 of this stanza)?
Click here for vocabulary and allusions in stanza VI.
Stanza VII.
Keats moves from his awareness of his own mortality in the preceding stanza
to the perception of the bird's immortality. On a literal level, his perception is wrong;
this bird will die. Some readers, including very perceptive ones, see his
chracterization of the bird as immortal as a flaw. Before you make this judgment,
consider alternate interpretations. Interpreting the line literally may be a misreading,
because the bird has clearly become a symbol for the poet.
Is he saying that the bird he is now hearing is immortal? or is he saying something
else, like "the bird is a symbol of the continuity of nature" or like "the bird represents
the continuing presence of joy in life"? In such a reading, the poet contrasts the bird's
immortality (and continuing joyful song) with the condition of human beings,
"hungry generations."
Does the bird symbolize ideal beauty, which is immortal? Or is the bird the visionary
or imaginative realm which inspires poets? Or does the bird's song symbolize poetry
and has the passion of the song/poem carried the listening poet away?
Has the actual bird been transformed into a myth?
Does this one bird represent the species, which by continuing generation after
generation does achieve a kind of immortality as a species?
Is the nightingale not born for death in the sense that, unlike us human beings, it
doesn't know it's going to die? An implication of this reading is that the bird is
integrated into nature or is part of natural processes whereas we are separated from
nature. The resulting ability to observe nature gives us the ability to appreciate the
beauty of nature, however transitory it--and we--may be.
The poet contrasts the bird's singing and immunity from death and suffering with
human beings, "hungry generations." What is he saying about the human experience
with "hungry"? If you think in terms of the passage of time, what is the effect of
"generations"?
The stanza begins in the poet's present (note the present tense verbs tread
and hear in lines 2 and 3). Keats then makes three references to the bird's singing in
the past; the first reference to emperor and clown is general and presumably in a
historical past; the other two are specific, one from the Old Testament, the other
from fairy tales. The past becomes more remote, ending with a non-human past and
place ("faery lands"), in which no human being is present. Is Keats trying to limit the
meaning of the bird's song with these images or to extend its meaning? What ideas
or aspects of human life do these references represent?
The mixed nature of reality manifests itself in his imagining the nightingale's
joyous song being heard by in the past in the series of three images. Is the reference
to the emperor and clown positive or neutral? The story of Ruth is unhappy (what
words indicate her pain?). In the third image, the "charm'd magic casements" of fairy
are "forlorn" and the seas are "perilous." "Forlorn" and "perilous" would not
ordinarily be associated with magic/enchantment. These words hint at the pain the
poet recognized in the beginning of the poem and is trying to escape. Does bringing
up the idea of pain prepare us or help to prepare us for the final stanza?
Click here for vocabulary and allusions in stanza VII
.
Stanza VIII.
The poet repeats the word "forlorn" from the end of stanza VII; who or what
is now forlorn? Is the poet identified with or separate from the nightingale?
In lines 2 and 3, the poet says that "fancy" (imagination) has cheated him, as
has the "elf" (bird). What allusion in the preceding stanza does the word "elf" suggest?
What delusion is the poet awakening from?
The bird has ceased to be a symbol and is again the actual bird the poet heard
in stanza I. The poet, like the nightingale, has returned to the real world. The bird
flies away to another spot to sing. The bird's song becomes a "plaintive anthem" and
fainter. Is the change in the bird, in the poet, or in both? Is Keats's description of the
bird's voice as "buried deep" a reference only to its physical distance, or does the
phrase have an additional meaning? It is the last of the death images running
through the poem.
With the last two lines, the poet wonders whether he has had a true insight
or experience (vision) or whether he has been daydreaming. Is he questioning the
validity of the experience the poem describes, or is he expressing the inability to
maintain an intense, true vision? Of course, the imaginative experience is by its
nature transient or brief. Is his experience a false vision, or is it a true, if transitory
experience of and insight into the nature of reality?
Has the dreamer in this poem changed as a result of his visionary experience?
For instance, has his life been improved in any way? has he been damaged in any way?
(The effect of the dream on the dreamer is a thread that runs throgh Keats's poems.
The life of the dreamer in "La Belle Dame sans Merci" has been destroyed, and there
is a question about the impact of dreaming on Madeline in "The Eve of St. Agnes.)
What does the tone of the ending seem to you, e.g., happy, excited, hopeful,
depressed, sad, despairing, resigned, accepting?
Does Keats, in this ode, follow the pattern of the romantic ode?
Stanza I
Line 2, hemlock: a poison made from an herb or a poisonous drink made from that herb.
Line 4, Lethe: a river in Hades (the underworld). Souls about to be reincarnated drank from
it to forget their past lives.
Line 7, Dryad: a wood nymph or nymph of the trees. Dryads or nymphs were female
personifications of natural features, like mountains and rivers; they were young, beautiful,
long-lived and liked music and dance. A Dryad was connected to a specific tree and died
when the tree died.
Stanza II
Line 3, Flora: goddess of flowers and fertility.
Line 4. Provencal: of Provence, an area in the south of France associated with song,
pleasure, and luxury.
Line 6, Hippocrene: a spring sacred to the Muses, located on Mt.Helicon. Drinking its
waters inspired poets. (The nine muses were associated with different arts, such as epic
poetry, sacred song, and dancing.)
Stanza IV
Line 2, Bacchus: Roman god of wine.
pards: leopards, which drew Bacchus's chariot.
Line 3, viewless: invisible.
Poesy: poetry in general or, depending n how you read this ode,a specific kind of
poetry: visionary poetry poetry or fantasy.
Line 6, haply: perhaps, by chance.
Line 7, fays: fairies.
Line 10, verdurous: green.
Stanza V
Line 3, embalmed: (1) fragrant, (2) preserved body. Is Keats using both meanings here to
suggest the inextricably mixed nature of life?
Stanza VI
Line 1, darkling: in the dark.
Line 10, requiem: song or musical service for the repose of the dead.
Stanza VII
Line 6, Ruth: Boaz saw Ruth, the Moabite, working in the fields, fell in love with her and
married her; David is one of her descendents. A book in the Bible is named after her. She
is frequently alluded to by poets for her devotion to her mother-in-law Naomi or as a
stranger in a strange land. In a sense she has achieved immortality.
Line 7, corn: grain, often wheat, in British usage.
Line 9, casements: windows.
Stanza VIII
Line 5, plaintive: expressing sadness.
anthem: (1)a hymn of joy or praise, patriotism, or devotion; (2) a sacred choral
song generally based on words from the Bible. Both meanings carry with them intense
feelings and high seriousness. Which meaning do you think Keats intends? Does one fit
better with requiem? Can both meanings be meant or suggested?