4 William Wordsworth: Tintern Abbey 华兹华斯：《丁登寺》

《丁登寺》即Lines Written Above Tintern Abbey ，全名为Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks ofthe Wye during a Tour.July13, 1798。华兹华斯在诗中试图表达出自己对外部自然世界的态度，显示自然对其生活与世界观的影响。诗人在自然中发现了某种神秘的东西，而这神秘的东西把他引向上帝或宗教神秘主义。全诗共159行，分为5个诗节（stanza）。诗人首先表达了自己面对自然美景所感受到的欢乐，在最后一个诗节（第五节）中则就自然对人之心灵的神秘影响展开了说教式的大段论述。

全诗使用的是无韵诗体（blank verse），即不押韵的五音步十音节诗行。

Excerpt

1 Five years have past; five summers, with the length

Of five long winters! And again I hear

These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs

With a soft inland murmur.—Once again

5 Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs，

That on a wild secluded scene impress

Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect

The landscape with the quiet of the sky.

The day is come when I again repose

10 Here, under this dark sycamore, and view

These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts，

Which at this season, with their unripe fruits，

Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves

'Mid groves and copses.Once again I see

15 These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines

Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms，

Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke

Sent up, in silence, from among the trees！

With some uncertain notice, as might seem

20 Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods，

Or of some Hermit's cave, where by his fire

The Hermit sits alone.

（1st Stanza—a description is made of the quiet pastoral beauty of the valley）These beauteous forms,

Through a lone absence, have not been to me

As is a landscape to a blind man's eye：

25 But oft, in lonely rooms, and, mid the din

Of towns and cities, I have owed to them

In hours of weariness, sensations sweat，

Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart；

And passing even into my purer mind，

30 With tranquil restoration:—feelings too

Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps，

As have no slight or trivial influence

On that best portion of a good man's life，

His little, nameless, unremembered acts

35 Of kindness and of love.Nor less, I trust，

To them I may have owed another gift,

Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood，

In which the burthen of the mystery，

In which the heavy and the weary weight

40 Of all this unintelligible world，

Is lightened: —that serene and blessed mood

In which the affections gently lead us on, —

Until, the breath of this corporeal frame

And even the motion of our human blood

45 Almost suspended, we are laid asleep

In body, and become a living soul：

While with an eye made quiet by the power

Of harmony, and the deep power of joy，

We see into the life of things.

（2nd Stanza—the importance of nature in “[t]hese beauteous forms” when remembered at the moment oftranquility）

If this

50 Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! How oft—

In darkness and amid the many shapes

Of joyless daylight; when the fretful stir

Unprofitable, and the fever of the world,

Have hung upon the beatings of my heart—

55 How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee，

O sylvan Wye! thou wanderer thro' the woods，

How often has my spirit turned to thee！

（3rdStanza—a reiteration ofthe notion that nature offers a counterpoint against the world, with its joyless daylight, its unprofitable activity and its fever, all weighing heavily on the mind）

And now, with gleams of half-extinguished thought,

With many recognitions dim and faint，

60 And somewhat of a sad perplexity,

The picture of the mind revives again：

While here I stand, not only with the sense

Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts

That in this moment there is life and food

65 For future years.And so I dare to hope，

Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first

I came along these hills; when like a roe

I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides

Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams，

70 Wherever nature led: more like a man

Flying from something that he dreads, than one

Who sought the thing he loved.For nature then

（That coarser pleasures of my boyish days，

And their glad animal movements all gone by）

75 To me was all in all.—I cannot paint

What then I was.The sounding cataract

Haunted me like a passion; the tall rock，

The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood，

Their colours and their forms, were then to me

80 An appetite; a feeling and a love，

That had no need of remoter charm，

By thought supplied, nor any interest

Unborrowed from the eye, —That time is past，

And all its aching joys are now no more，

85 And all its dizzy raptures.Not for this

Faint I, Nor mourn, nor murmur; other gifts

Have followed; for such loss, I would believe，

Abundant recompense.For I have learned

To look on nature, not as in the hour

90 Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes

The still, sad music of humanity，

Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power

To chasten and subdue. And I have felt

A presence that disturbs me with the joy

95 Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime

Of something far more deeply interfused，

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns，

And the round ocean and the living air，

And the blue sky, and in the mind of man；

100 A motion and a spirit, that impels

All thinking things, all objects of all thought，

And rolls through all things.Therefore am I still

A lover of the meadows and the woods，

And mountains; and of all that we behold

105 From this green earth; of all the mighty world

Of eye, and ear, —both what they half create，

And what perceive; well pleased to recognise

In nature and the language of the sense，

The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse，

110 The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul

Of all my moral being.

（4th Stanza—three stages ofprogression ofthe poet's mind slowly learning about nature: as a boy with‘coarser pleasures' he ran into nature as ifby accident; as a grown-up 5 years ago, he had a passion and craze for nature; now with a deeper understanding ofand a deeper love for nature as it is a cosmic power that elevates our thought）

Nor perchance，

If I were not thus taught, should I the more

Suffer me genial spirits to decay：

For thou are with me here upon the banks

115 Of this fair river; thou my dearest Friend,

My dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I catch

The language of my former heart, and read

My former pleasures in the shooting lights

Of thy wild eyes, Oh! Yet a little while

120 May I behold in thee what I was once，

My dear, dear Sister! And this prayer I make，

Knowing that Nature never did betray

The heart that lover her; 'tis her privilege，

Through all the years of this our life, to lead

125 From joy to joy: for she can so inform

The mind that is within us, so impress

With quietness and beauty, and so feed

With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues，

Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men，

130 Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all

The dreary intercourse of daily life，

Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb

Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold，

Is full of blessings.Therefore let the moon

135 Shine on thee in thy solitary walk；

And let the misty mountain-winds be free

To blow against thee: and, in after years，

When these wild ecstasies shall be matured

Into a sober pleasure; when thy mind

140 Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms，

Thy memory be as a dwelling-place

For all sweet sounds and harmonies; oh! then，

If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief，

Should be thy portion, with that healing thoughts

145 Of tender joy wilt thou remember me，

And these my exhortations! Nor, perchance—

If I should be where I no more can hear

Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes these gleams

Of past existence—wilt thou then forget

150 That on the banks of this delightful stream

We stood together; and that I, so long

A worshipper of Nature, hither came

Unwearied in that service; rather say

With warmer love-oh! with far deeper zeal

155 Of holier love.Nor wilt thou then forget，

That after many wanderings, many years

Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs，

And the green pastoral landscape, were to me

159 More dear, both for themselves and for the sake！

July 1798

（5th Stanza—the poet's advice to his sister and to people like her or all his readers as to what to do with nature.He asks her to remember the visit, the poet as a faithful lover ofnature and the great joy he felt on the second visit）

Topics for discussion

1．What do you know about the Lake Poets and the Lyricall Ballads？

2．Why does the poet feel so delighted to see the river scene again？

3．How can “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” be combined with “thought long and deeply”, as well as “incidents and moments from common life”？

4．Try making a rough comparison between Wordsworth and Tao Yuanming.

附：华兹华斯抒情诗一首：“咏黄水仙”

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills，

When all at once I saw a crowd，

A host, of golden daffodils；

Beside the lake, beneath the trees，

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way，

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay：

Ten thousand saw I at a glance，

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside then danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee：

A poet could not but be gay，

With such a jocund company；

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought；

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood，

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude；

And then my heart pleasure fills，

And dances with the daffodils.