1819年的5月春天，英國浪漫主義詩人濟慈(John Keats, 1795－1821)住在Hamstead的朋友布朗(Charles Brown)家中。根據布朗回憶： 當時濟慈罹患肺疾且病入膏肓，但仍嘔心瀝血筆耕不輟。這幾張紙片所留下的，就是這首不朽的《夜鶯頌》(Ode To A Nightingale)，屬於詩人代表名篇之一。 在〈夜鶯頌〉中，濟慈任遐想奔馳，進入一個忘我的境界(something like hallucination)，但詩歌最後仍以回到塵世收尾，反映了詩人的藝術觀：藝術是理想與現實、永恆與短暫、歡樂與痛苦、主體與客體的糾纏與衝突之下的作品。詩人的審美體驗也是由許多既無法調和又無法割裂的矛盾所構成：他感受到想像中美感的快樂，同時必須忍受生命的痛苦；他追求超然物外的解脫，卻清醒地明白自己無法脫離俗世的生活。詩人最終領悟到的真理是：世界並不存在著永恆，只有不斷逝去的生命；沒有人得以終身幸福，只有稍縱即逝的歡樂──我們既然都擺脫不了現實的苦難，美也只能存在於半虛半實、似夢非夢的境界中了。 （取材自尤克強教授PC Home名家專欄電子報 2008.07.29）

Ode to a Nightingale(John Keats, 1795~1821) I My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: ‘Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, But being too happy in thy happiness,– That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees, In some melodious plot Of beechen green, and shadows numberless, Singest of summer in full-throated ease. II O for a draught of vintage, that hath been Cooled a long age in the deep-delved earth, Tasting of Flora and the country green, Dance, and Provencal song, and sun-burnt mirth! O for a beaker full of the warm South, Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene, With beaded bubbles winking at the brim, And purple-stained mouth; That I might drink, and leave the world unseen, And with thee fade away into the forest dim: III Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget What thou among the leaves hast never known, The weariness, the fever, and the fret Here, where men sit and hear each other groan; Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs, Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies; Where but to think is to be full of sorrow And leaden-eyed despairs; Where beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, Or new love pine at them beyond tomorrow. IV Away! away! for I will fly to thee, Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, But on the viewless wings of Poesy, Though the dull brain perplexes and retards: Already with thee! tender is the night, And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne, Clustered around by all her starry fays; But here there is no light, Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways. V I cannot see what flowers are at my feet, Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs, But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet Wherewith the seasonable month endows The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild; White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine; Fast-fading violets covered up in leaves; And mid-May’s eldest child, The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine, The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves. VI Darkling I listen; and for many a time I have been half in love with easeful Death, Called him soft names in many a mused rhyme, To take into the air my quiet breath; Now more than ever seems it rich to die, To cease upon the midnight with no pain, While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad In such an ecstasy! Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain— To thy high requiem become a sod VII Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird! No hungry generations tread thee down; The voice I hear this passing night was heard In ancient days by emperor and clown: Perhaps the self-same song that found a path Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home, She stood in tears amid the alien corn; The same that oft-times hath Charmed magic casements, opening on the foam Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn. IIX Forlorn! the very word is like a bell To toll me back from thee to my sole self! Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well As she is famed to do, deceiving elf. Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades Past the near meadows, over the still stream, Up the hill-side; and now ’tis buried deep In the next valley-glades: Was it a vision, or a waking dream? Fled is that music:–do I wake or sleep?

夜鶯頌(尤克強譯) Ⅰ 我心疼痛 昏沉的麻痺折磨 我的感覺 彷彿啜過毒液 或是將鴉片一飲而盡 頃刻間 沉進忘川的水裡： 並非貪慕你的幸運 而是你的快樂太讓我欣喜── 你呀！林間仙子的羽翼輕靈 悠揚的組曲 來自山毛櫸的蔥綠 和無盡的幽影 放聲高唱盡情歌頌夏季 II 啊！真想吞下滿口葡萄酒 已然 在地窖冷藏多年的沁涼 品嚐花仙和綠野的芬芳 起舞 弄歌 烈日情歡！ 啊！真想暢飲滿杯暖鄉的佳釀 滿杯道地、紅艷的繆思之泉 杯緣的泡沫閃爍如珠串 雙唇盡染成紫 飲畢 再悄悄離開塵世 和你一起消失在幽暗的森林： III 遠遠地消失 隱沒 徹底忘掉 在綠蔭中的你從來不知道的 那些困倦 焦灼 還有煩躁 那兒 人們坐困愁城互相怨嘆 多少殘存的灰髮傷心地抖顫 多少骨瘦如魂的少年已夭亡 一想到這心中就充滿哀傷 承受不了的絕望 美貌止不住眼波的黯淡 愛情稍縱即逝徒留惆悵 IV 去吧！去吧！我也要飛向你 不必搭乘酒神花豹的車旅 要展開詩神無形的羽翼 儘管腦已昏沉思維遲鈍： 我已經追上了你！夜如此輕柔 月娘或許已經安登她的后座 被星光斑斕的仙女簇擁 可這兒夜色矇矓 除了微風拂來的一絲天光 穿過蒼鬱的暗影和蜿蜒的苔徑 V 分不清腳邊綻放的是什麼花 是那一種幽芳在樹梢懸掛 在薰香的黑暗中 我也只能猜想 是什麼時令在這個季節賦予 青草 灌木叢 和野果樹的甘甜 白色的山楂花 原野的薔薇 速凋的紫羅蘭隱在草叢中 那正五月的最寵 麝香玫瑰沾滿雨露含苞待放 夏夜的蚊蟲嗡嗡飛舞揮之不去 VI 我在黑暗中聆聽 多少次 幾乎愛上了安詳的死神 我用盡柔情的詩語懇求他 將我平靜的呼吸納入天宇 此刻若能死去華麗無以倫比 午夜時分舒緩地止住氣息 而你正向遠方縱情揮灑心聲 令人心醉神迷！ 你仍將高歌 但我已無復聽聞── 只剩塵泥回應你清悠的悼曲 VII 永生之鳥！你非為死亡而生 飢荒的年代也未能蹂躪你 我今夜所聽到的聲音也曾 在遠古被君王和村夫所聞： 或許也是同樣的歌聲鑽進了 寡婦的愁腸 正思念家鄉 站在異地的田隴淚濕衣裳 這樂曲也曾多次 吸引寂寞的窗扉開啟 迎望浪花 波濤洶湧 困在孤絕的仙境 IIX 孤絕！就是這個字響如鐘鳴 把我從你身邊喚回當下的孤零！ 別了！幻想無法再一廂情願 神通廣大的精靈也無計可施 別了！別了！你哀怨的旋律漸遠 拂過眼前的草原 越過靜靜的溪流 飄上山坡 深深地埋進 下一座山谷底： 究竟是幻覺 還是夢迴？ 樂音已歇：──我是醒還是睡？