Tennyson: 10 essential quotes
丁尼生:10佳隽语
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The poetic words of Alfred Lord Tennyson will be engraved in the 2012 Olympic village. But what other notable expressions can be attributed to Tennyson?
阿尔弗雷德·罗德·丁尼生的诗句将镌刻在2012年的奥林匹克村里。但丁尼生别的隽语还有哪些?
The last line of Tennyson's monologue Ulysses, "to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield", will serve as inspirational words for the world's athletes when they come to London for next year's games.
丁尼生的独角戏《尤利西斯》的结尾:“奋斗吧,追求吧,去寻觅,不要放弃。”明年,全世界来伦敦参加比赛的运动员,都会受到这些语句的鼓励。
Tennyson is quoted everywhere from books to episodes of the Simpsons, and some of his phrases have become commonly used maxims.
从书籍到电视剧《辛普森一家》,随处可见丁尼生的语言。他的有些话已经成了格言。
Here are 10 other quotes by Tennyson that may ring a bell.
下面就是丁尼生耳熟能详的10佳隽语:
1. "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die."
“他们不去追问原因,他们只是奋斗至死。”
From The Charge of the Light Brigade, the poem tells of the famous and brutal military disaster in the Crimean war. Nowadays, the saying is often used in the workplace and encourages one to press on no matter what the task.
Though the narrative as a whole tells the story of soldiers, pieces of the text can be applied to modern situations. "Readers can detach lines from their context and enjoy rolling them around in their mouths and heads," says Oxford University literature professor Dr Robert Douglas-Fairhurst.
在《轻装旅进攻》(又译《英烈传》——译者注)中,诗人以此描绘了著名的克里米亚战争的惨烈。现在,经常在工作场所使用该语,意在鼓励无论何种工作,都要努力前进。
尽管大体描写战士的故事,但文中许多点滴与现代情形吻合。“读者可以撇开上下文,抽出几句话,反复咀嚼。”罗伯特·道格拉斯·菲尔赫斯特说。他是牛津大学的文学教授。
2. "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
“爱过,又失去爱,好过从未爱过。”
Perhaps the most well-known of Tennyson's quotes comes from "In Memoriam", a tribute to one of his late friends.
The saying, which is most commonly used to console someone after a break-up, tugs at the heartstrings and serves as a comfort for those with tumultuous love lives.
也许丁尼生最有名的格言出自《追思》——为一位过世的朋友写的作品。
这句话,通常用来安慰分手后的失意人,撩动心弦,也让在爱情中颠簸的人们,有了些许安慰。
3. "If I had a flower for every time I thought of you... I could walk through my garden forever."
“如果每次一想到你,就能开出一朵花……那我将永远徜徉在花园的花海中。”
This romantic sentiment may sound like the message on a greeting card, but it now makes its way into wedding speeches and toasts.
这句情话感觉象贺卡上的短语,实际上,这句话进入了婚礼,也成了祝酒词。
4."Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers."
“知识一路行来,智慧徘徊无依。”
From the dramatic monologue Locksley Hall, this poem tells the story of a soldier who stays behind to reflect on childhood struggles.
This simple phrase insinuates that knowledge is pieces of information that aren't always retained, but wisdom is a deeper understanding based on life experiences.
在独角戏《洛克斯·霍尔》中,诗人描写了一位士兵:他潜伏在敌后,回忆起年少时的种种挣扎。
这句简明短语暗示:知识只是信息的碎片,稍纵即逝;智慧却是世情练达后,更深的领悟。、
5. "A lie that is half-truth is the darkest of all lies."
“半真半假的谎言是最坏的谎言。”
"His poems are full of concentrated lines and phrases that linger in the mind because of their shape, their sound, their mouthability. They ask to be read and then re-read," explains Douglas-Fairhurst.
独角戏《尤利西斯》中,丁尼生细致地描写了希腊英雄的种种事迹,简明地说:生活的各种经历,塑造了人。
6. "I am a part of all that I have met."
“我的经历,就是我的一部分。”
In Ulysses, a dramatic monologue detailing the Greek hero's escapades, Tennyson succinctly offers his view that humans are shaped by a combination of all life's experiences.
独角戏《尤利西斯》中,丁尼生细致地描写了希腊英雄的种种事迹,简明地说:生活的各种经历,塑造了人。
7. "Better not be at all than not be noble."
“不高尚,不成活。”
In The Princess, Tennyson tells the story of a heroine who refuses to marry, and instead ends up founding a women's university. After a long pursuit and a series of trials, the princess eventually falls in love with a prince.
Tennyson's musing on nobility suggests that there is nothing worse than poor character.
丁尼生在《公主》中,讲述了一位拒绝结婚的女主人公,最终创建了一所女子大学的故事。漫长的寻寻觅觅,纷繁的尝试,最后,公主与王子坠入了情网。
丁尼生注重高尚,意指:坏品质是最糟糕的。<O o
8. "No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself."
“没人能拽下别人,然后自己爬高。聪明的商人不会攻击竞争对手。明智的工人不会攻击工友。不要攻击你的朋友。不要攻击你的敌人。不要攻击自己。”
This is the kind of maxim that The Office's David Brent might consider framing.
"Often he composed individual lines before working out where to fit them into a poem, and just as he sometimes treated these lines like pieces of lego he could build up into bigger blocks of writing," according to Douglas-Fairhurst. 《办公室的大卫·布伦特》应该考虑把这句话当背景。
“他经常还不知道如何在诗歌中安排,就想出了这些妙语;有时候,他把这些语句看成是垒高拼件(垒高:一种拼装玩具。——译者注。),以此,他可以写出大作品。”道格拉斯·菲尔赫斯特说。
9. "Who are wise in love, love most, say least."
“懂爱的人,爱的多,说的少。”
In Merlin and Viviene, Tennyson tells the passionate love story of a woman seducing a man.
In this particular line of the poem, Tennyson suggests that someone who is in love should show love, not just vocalise their admiration.
在《梅林和薇薇安》中,丁尼生讲述一个女子诱惑一个男子的狂热爱情故事。
丁尼生用这句话,表明:在爱情里,有些人应该有爱的行动,而不仅仅是表白心声。
10. "Nor is it wiser to weep a true occasion lost, but trim our sails, and let old bygones be."
“繁华消散,与其哀伤哭泣,不如潇洒掉头,放手过去。“
"Many of Tennyson's poems are concerned with memory - what we should hold onto from the past, and what we should abandon," says Douglas-Fairhurst. "His best poems don't just describe the workings of memory - they also enable it by making themselves so memorable."
“丁尼生的许多诗歌都有关记忆——应该握住哪些回忆,应该抛开哪些往事,”道格拉斯·菲尔赫斯特说,“他最好的诗歌不仅仅描写回忆的过程——还描绘如何使其永不磨灭。”
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