42. Song

——E. Waller

Go, lovely Rose——

Tell her that wastes her time and me,

That now she knows,

When I resemble her to thee,

How sweet and fair she seems to be.

Tell her that's young,

And shuns to have her graces spied,

That hadst thou sprung

In deserts where no men abide,

Thou must have uncommended died.

Small is the worth

Of beauty from the light retired:

Bid her come forth,

Suffer herself to be desired,

And not blush so to be admired.

Then die——that she

The common fate of all things rare

May read in thee;

How small a part of time they share

That are so wondrous sweet and fair!

42　歌

华勒[1]

去吧，可爱的玫瑰——

告诉她时光在白白流逝，

让她知道，

当我把她比作你，

她显得何等可爱而靓丽。

告诉她：美若不让人窥视，

那是何等的浅薄无知。

如果你孑然而立

在无男子居住的沙漠，

你将无人赞美，死于孤独。

阳光一旦消遁，

美的价值也随之折损：

叮嘱她到我这里来，

让她接受我的追求，

别再因被人爱慕而害羞。

一切稀世之珍

都逃脱不了死亡的命运，

你也有这一天，

凡绝世的美貌和姿色，

都只能享有一时半刻！

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[1]爱德蒙·华勒（Edmund Waller，1606—1687），诗人。毕业于剑桥大学的国王学院。政治上是个保王派，曾因图谋营救被革命党逮捕的查理一世而坐牢并被流放。19岁即开始创作诗歌。德莱顿视他为“英诗节奏之父”（the father of our English numbers）。