LESSON 28 THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS 死神与花朵

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (b.1807, d.1882), the son of Hon.Stephen Longfellow, an eminent lawyer, was born in Portland, Maine.He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1825.After spending four years in Europe, he was Professor of Modern Languages and Literature at Bowdoin till 1835, when he was appointed to the chair of Modern Languages and Belles-lettres in Harvard University.He resigned his professorship in 1854, after which time he resided in Cambridge, Mass.Longfellow wrote many original works both in verse and prose, and made several translations, the most famous of which is that of the works of Dante.His poetry is always chaste and elegant, showing traces of careful scholarship in every line.The numerous and varied editions of his poems are evidences of their popularity.

1.There is a Reaper whose name is Death,

And, with his sickle keen,

He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,

And the fl owers that grow between.

2.“Shall I have naught that is fair?” saith he;

“Have naught but the bearded grain?

Though the breath of these fl owers is sweet to me,

I will give them all back again.”

3.He gazed at the fl owers with tearful eyes,

He kissed their drooping leaves;

It was for the Lord of Paradise

He bound them in his sheaves^[1].

4.“My Lord has need of these fl owerets gay,”

The Reaper said, and smiled;

“Dear tokens^[2] of the earth are they,

Where he was once a child.

5.“They shall all bloom in the fi elds of light,

Transplanted^[3] by my care,

And saints, upon their garments white,

These sacred blossoms wear.”

6.And the mother gave in tears and pain

The fl owers she most did love;

She knew she should fi nd them all again

In the fi elds of light above.

7.O, not in cruelty, not in wrath,

The Reaper came that day,

’T was an angel visited the green earth,

And took the fl owers away.

【中文阅读】

亨利·沃兹华斯·朗费罗（1807—1882），斯蒂芬·朗费罗阁下的儿子，他父亲是一名杰出的律师。朗费罗出生于美国缅因州波特兰，1825年，他毕业于鲍登学院。在欧洲度过四年后，他在鲍登学院担任现代语言与文学教授，直到1835年。随即，他被任命为哈佛大学现代语言和纯文学学院院长。1854年，在马萨诸塞州的剑桥定居后，他辞去了教授职位。朗费罗不仅创作了大量英文诗歌和散文，并且出版了数部译著，其中最有名的是但丁作品译作。他的诗歌始终纯净而优雅，字里行间露出缜密的学术气息，纷杂多样的诗集版本，表明朗氏作品的风靡盛行。

1.收割者，姑且称为死神，

手中的镰刀寒光凛冽。

一刀挥过，谷物顷刻遍地，

夹在谷物丛中的鲜花也一扫而尽。

2.“我一无所获，是否公平？”死神说，

“我想收割的，只是长满根须的稻谷。

虽然这些花朵的馨香如此甜美，

我仍会将它们送归大地。”

3.他泪眼朦胧地凝视着这些花朵，

他亲吻了它们颓败的枝叶。

将它们绑扎成束，

送给伊甸园中的上帝。

4.“上帝想看到这些花朵娇艳盛开，”

说话间，死神露出笑意，

“当他还是个孩子时，

这些花朵，便是大地的象征。

5.“我会将它们小心翼翼地带到那里，

光的国度里，它们将訇然绽放。

这些圣洁素雅的花瓣，

将宛若圣徒们的雪白长袍。”

6.深爱着这些花朵的母亲，

泪水摩挲，心痛神伤。

但她知道，她会重新见到它们，

在那沐浴光芒的天堂里。

7.哦，那天，死神降临，

他并不残忍，也不狂暴。

他是翩然天使，来到葱绿大地，

倏然带走那些花朵。

【注释】

[1] Sheaves, bundles of grain.

[2] Token, a souvenir, that which is to recall some person, thing, or event.

[3] Transplanted, removed and planted in another place.