徐儉

埃德加·李·馬斯特斯（Edgar Lee Masters，1869-1950年），美國(guó)詩(shī)人。他的《匙河集》（Spoon River Anthology，1915）是一系列短小的自由詩(shī)體獨(dú)白，據(jù)稱是從伊利諾伊州某小城墓地的碑銘上摘錄的。這些詩(shī)傳達(dá)出了在沉悶壓抑的現(xiàn)實(shí)中倍感失意的男男女女內(nèi)心深處的思想。筆者嘗試品讀他的詩(shī)：《喬治·格雷》，為了更好地體會(huì)詩(shī)意，先看英文原文：

George Gray

I have studied many times

The marble which was chiseled for me—

A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.

In truth it pictures not my destination

But my life.

For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment；

Sorrow knocked at my door，but I was afraid；

Ambition called to me，but I dreaded the chances.

Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.

And now I know that we must lift the sail

And catch the winds of destiny

Wherever they drive the boat.

To put meaning in ones life may end in madness，

But life without meaning is the torture

Of restlessness and vague desire—

It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

詩(shī)中的人害怕可能的艱難痛苦，不敢大膽擁抱生活，卻又躁動(dòng)不安：因模糊的愿望未能實(shí)現(xiàn)而遺憾終生，自己成了從未揚(yáng)帆出海的玩具船。先分析對(duì)一些詞句的理解：

study：look at something or watch it very carefully，in order to find something out.

The marble，根據(jù)下文可以看出指的是a marble boat。

disillusionment：1.disappointment caused by a frustrated ideal or belief.

2.the disappointed feeling you have when you discover that someone or something is not as good as you had believed.

sorrow：1.a feeling of deep sadness caused by a loss or misfortune.

2 .an unfortunate event，experience，or other cause of sorrow.

chance：an unpleasant or dangerous possibility；risk.

madness：1.great enthusiasm or excitement.

2.rash or thoughtless behavior.

3.ideas or actions that show a lack of good judgment and careful thought.

4.severe mental illness.

詩(shī)的前五行使用了現(xiàn)在完成時(shí)、一般過去時(shí)、一般現(xiàn)在時(shí)：石船是很久以前別人為“我”雕刻的，不知從什么時(shí)候起，“我”會(huì)反復(fù)端詳，思華年，已惘然——這艘船濃縮了“我”的一生，是“我”一生的寫照，靜泊于海港，風(fēng)帆卷起，卻不是遠(yuǎn)航歸來，而是從來就未曾揚(yáng)帆，枯守港灣，終其一生。

詩(shī)的六至九行用一般過去時(shí)詳細(xì)地解釋了為什么這樣的一艘船刻畫了“我”的一生，同時(shí)精煉地概括了“我”的一生：害怕愛情會(huì)是一場(chǎng)空而退縮；哀傷更讓“我”害怕不敢開門；種種風(fēng)險(xiǎn)讓“我”恐懼，不敢有什么雄心抱負(fù)；雖然如此，卻又一直渴望人生能有意義，但只能困守于害怕和渴望之中。

詩(shī)從第十行到末尾都用的是一般現(xiàn)在時(shí)，是喟嘆、感慨，也是勸勉（注意人稱代詞的轉(zhuǎn)換I-we-one）：哪怕瘋狂一把，也比無盡的折磨要好，不要做渴望大海卻又害怕出海的玩具船。

詩(shī)歌用人名作為標(biāo)題，用第一人稱敘事，弱化了說教的意味，更易于讓讀者接受和深思。美國(guó)作家梭羅說：世界上絕大多數(shù)人都過著平靜但沒有任何希望的生活。讀了這首詩(shī)，感慨的同時(shí)有沖動(dòng)：人生在于體驗(yàn)，不以成敗論人生，人生苦短，必須激情，要徜徉不要徘徊。只要我曾經(jīng)豪情萬丈，哪怕歸來的是空空的行囊，也不虛此生，至少比坐港望海有意義。endprint