Revolutions


Before man parted for this earthly strand,
While yet upon the verge of heaven he stood,
God put a heap of letters in his hand,
And bade him make with them what word he could.

And man has turn’d them many times; made Greece,
Rome, England, France;—yes, nor in vain essay’d
Way after way, changes that never cease!
The letters have combined, something was made.

But ah! an inextinguishable sense
Haunts him that he has not made what he should;
That he has still, though old, to recommence,
Since he has not yet found the word God would.

And empire after empire, at their height
Of sway, have felt this boding sense come on;
Have felt their huge frames not constructed right,
And droop’d, and slowly died upon their throne.

One day, thou say’st, there will at last appear
The word, the order, which God meant should be.
—Ah! we shall know that well when it comes near;
The band will quit man’s heart, he will breathe free.




部分段落翻译:

God put a heap of letters in his hand
上帝將一堆字母放入他的手心
And bade him make with them what word he could.
並吩咐他：用這些字母，拼出你所能拼出的单词
And man has turn’d them many times; made Greece,Rome, England, France;—yes, nor in vain essay’d
Way after way, changes that never cease
於是人類千百次地轉動它們；拼出了「希臘」 、 「羅馬」 、 「英國」 、 「法國」 ；—— 是的，並非徒勞一場，变幻无穷，周而复始。
The letters have combined, something was made
這些字母已經合併，某種東西被創造出來了

But ah! an inextinguishable sense
可叹啊，一种挥之不去的预感
Haunts him that he has not made what he should;
索绕心头，他觉得自己没有造出应有之物
That he has still, though old, to recommence,
他已经老去，仍然要重头再来
Since he has not yet found the word God would.
因为他还没找到神需要的那个单词

And empire after empire, at their heightOf sway,
一个又一个帝国，在权力的巅峰时刻
 have felt this boding sense come on;
都曾感到这种预兆袭来；
Have felt their huge frames not constructed right
感到它们宏大的框架并非构建得严丝合缝，

And droop’d, and slowly died upon their throne.
于是萎靡，在王座上缓缓枯萎。

One day, thou say’st, there will at last appear
The word, the order, which God meant should be.
如你所说，终有一天，那个词，那个秩序，那个神所旨意中该有的模样将会显现。