阿基里斯之盾

威斯坦•休•奥登(1907-1973) 威斯坦·休·奥登(1907-1973) 阿喀琉斯之盾 她从他肩上看过去 寻找葡萄和橄榄、 大理石、秩序井然的城市、 深红色大海上的船帆； 但是，在闪闪发光的金属上 他的双手放下的却是 像铅块一样的天空 和人造的荒凉的空地。 毫无特色的平原，发黑、光秃， 没一片草叶，没有邻居的足迹， 没东西进餐，没地方就坐； 然而在那空寂的荒地 难以理解的众人却在聚集， 百万只眼睛，百万双靴子， 没有情，列队等待着一个标记。 没人露面的声音从空中飘出， 统计资料表明，有些原因。 说出来像这块地方一样干燥、平板； 不愉悦任何人物，不讨论任何事情， 一队接着一队，迎着云雾般的灰尘， 他们齐步走开，忍受着一个信仰： 他们结果必然会在某处遭难。 她从他肩上看过去 寻找宗教仪式上的虔诚、 戴上了花环的白衣姑娘、 奠酒以及别的祭品； 但是，在闪闪发光的金属上 本来应该是祭坛， 可是在他那摇曳的炉火下， 她看到的却是另一番景象。 有刺的铁丝困住了专横的地方， 烦躁的官员们躺在那儿（说着趣闻）， 天气炎热，哨兵们汗流浃背； 一群正派的普通百姓， 从外面观看，既不移步也不出声。 就像三个暗淡的图像， 笔直地绑在钉于地上的木桩。 这个世上的群众和帝王， 都有着分量，而且分量始终一样， 但都躺在别人的手上；他们渺小， 不能期待帮助，也没有人肯来帮忙； 他们敌人想做的一切已经做完； 他们的羞耻无与伦比；失去自尊， 在肉体死亡之前，灵魂就不再生存。 她从他肩上看过去 寻找比赛中的运动队员， 寻找扭动腰肢的男男女女， 甜甜蜜蜜地起舞翩翩， 快速、快速地合着音乐的节奏； 但是，在闪闪发光的盾牌上， 他的双手布置的不是舞厅， 而是布满枯草的田地的荒凉。 一个衣着褴褛的顽童， 在那空地漫无目的地独自闲逛； 一只乌儿从真实的石头上溜之大吉； 两个姑娘遭到强奸，两个少年残杀第三， 这就是他看到的公理，他从未听见， 任和世界会信守诺言， 或任何人因别人痛哭而呜咽。 锻造武器的赫准斯托斯， 长着薄嘴唇，离去时蹒蹒跚跚； 胸膛闪闪发光的忒提斯—— 灰心丧气地大声哭喊， 责怪上帝迁就她的儿子—— 力大无比的阿喀琉斯， 他铁石心肠，残忍地杀人， 但他已经无法永生。 The Shield Of Achilles          W.H. Auden      She looked over his shoulder        For vines and olive trees,      Marble well-governed cities        And ships upon untamed seas,      But there on the shining metal        His hands had put instead      An artificial wilderness        And a sky like lead. A plain without a feature, bare and brown,   No blade of grass, no sign of neighborhood, Nothing to eat and nowhere to sit down,   Yet, congregated on its blankness, stood   An unintelligible multitude, A million eyes, a million boots in line, Without expression, waiting for a sign. Out of the air a voice without a face   Proved by statistics that some cause was just In tones as dry and level as the place:   No one was cheered and nothing was discussed;   Column by column in a cloud of dust They marched away enduring a belief Whose logic brought them, somewhere else, to grief.      She looked over his shoulder        For ritual pieties,      White flower-garlanded heifers,        Libation and sacrifice,      But there on the shining metal        Where the altar should have been,      She saw by his flickering forge-light        Quite another scene. Barbed wire enclosed an arbitrary spot   Where bored officials lounged (one cracked a joke) And sentries sweated for the day was hot:   A crowd of ordinary decent folk   Watched from without and neither moved nor spoke As three pale figures were led forth and bound To three posts driven upright in the ground. The mass and majesty of this world, all   That carries weight and always weighs the same Lay in the hands of others; they were small   And could not hope for help and no help came:   What their foes like to do was done, their shame Was all the worst could wish; they lost their pride And died as men before their bodies died.      She looked over his shoulder        For athletes at their games,      Men and women in a dance        Moving their sweet limbs      Quick, quick, to music,        But there on the shining shield      His hands had set no dancing-floor        But a weed-choked field. A ragged urchin, aimless and alone,   Loitered about that vacancy; a bird Flew up to safety from his well-aimed stone:   That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third,   Were axioms to him, who'd never heard Of any world where promises were kept, Or one could weep because another wept.      The thin-lipped armorer,        Hephaestos, hobbled away,      Thetis of the shining breasts        Cried out in dismay      At what the god had wrought        To please her son, the strong      Iron-hearted man-slaying Achilles        Who would not live long. 威斯坦·休·奥登(1907-1973)英国出生的美国诗人。是继托马斯·艾略特之后最重要的英语诗人。毕业于牛津大学。30年代崭露头角，成为新一代诗人代表和左翼青年作家领袖。1939年去美国定居，后入美国籍并皈依基督教。前期创作多涉及社会和政治题材，后期转向宗教。以能用从古到今各种诗体写作著称。代表作有《西班牙》、《新年书信》、《忧虑的时代》等。 上个世纪五、六十年代，奥登的诗歌创作进入了最后一个高峰，其中《阿基里斯之盾》被认为是奥登战后最为感人的诗集，获国家图书奖。1967年，获国家文学奖。奥登和艾略特是二十世纪英语诗歌的两位巨人，可以说是大西洋两岸最负盛名的英语诗人。