[中]李商隐 作/戴清一 译

 

锦瑟无端五十弦，

一弦一柱思华年。

庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶，

望帝春心托杜鹃。

沧海月明珠有泪，

蓝田日暖玉生烟。

此情可待成追忆，

只是当时已惘然。

 

Translated by DAI QINGYI

 

I’ve a flora-engraved zither broken with fifty strings,

Each of which seems to strum each of my sadly withered springs,

Seeing Zhuangzi flutter in his dream as a butterfly,

Hearing Emperor Du shed his grief into cuckoo’s cry,

As though tears of clams sink in the sea as crystal as moon,

Or jades incense in warm sunny day under sapphire-ground.

O, the feeling grows in my memory to make me swoon

And I am in a trance just like this zither with no sound.

 

　　李商隐（812~858）　晚唐著名诗人。出身贫寒，曾中进士，中年步入仕途，因卷入官僚集团的政派斗争，逐感前途无望，反映在诗作上则情绪消沉，隐晦迷离。这首诗的意旨历来歧见纷纭，有怀人、悼亡等诸说。诗人从锦瑟25根弦断成半起兴，引出对自己50年人生年华的追忆。此后的四个典故，暗示性地象征了诗人的往事和心境，伤感不幸遭遇，显示悲慨、愤懑之心情。此诗意象丰富迷离，其蕴意隐晦曲折，因自古难解其意，逐成“诗家之谜”。

　　戴清一　上海翻译家协会会员，热爱中国古典诗歌和英美诗歌翻译。译有美国意象派诗选、约翰•济慈诗选、白朗宁夫人十四行诗选和中国楹联句选，著《中国古典诗歌英释100首》一书。