This poem talks about a love affair that Lord Byron had with a married woman some years before he got married. They loved each other very much, but they knew their love would have to finish, and finally she put an end to their relationship. Sometimes it sounds as if she just broke up, and sometimes it sounds as if she died. It’s a very good example of the literary genre called "Romanticism", which flourished in Europe in the 19th century.

　　這首詩講述的是拜倫沒有結(jié)婚之前和一個(gè)已婚女人的不倫戀。他們深愛對(duì)方，但是彼此都知道，這段感情必須結(jié)束，最后以她的離開為這段感情畫下了終結(jié)。有時(shí)聽上去，好像她剛分手，而有時(shí)又像是她離世了。這是一首很典型的浪漫主義文學(xué)詩歌，在19世紀(jì)的歐洲風(fēng)靡一時(shí)。

　　1

　　When we two parted

　　昔日依依別，

　　In silence and tears,

　　淚流默無言;

　　Half broken-hearted

　　離恨肝腸斷，

　　To sever for years,

　　此別又幾年。

　　Pale grew thy cheek and cold,

　　冷頰何慘然，

　　Colder, thy kiss;

　　一吻寒更添;

　　Truly that hour foretold

　　日后傷心事，

　　Sorrow to this.

　　此刻已預(yù)言。

　　2

　　The dew of the morning

　　朝起寒露重，

　　Sunk; chill on my brow,

　　凜冽凝眉間--

　　It felt like a warning

　　彼時(shí)已預(yù)告：

　　Of what I feel now.

　　悲傷在今天。

　　Thy vows are all broken,

　　山盟今安在?

　　And light is thy fame;

　　汝名何輕賤!

　　I hear thy name spoken,

　　吾聞汝名傳，

　　And share in its shame.

　　羞愧在人前。

　　3

　　They name thee before me,

　　聞汝名聲惡，

　　A knell to mine ear;

　　猶如聽喪鐘。

　　A shudder comes o'er me...

　　不禁心怵惕--

　　Why wert thou so dear?

　　往昔情太濃。

　　They knew not I knew thee,

　　誰知舊日情，

　　Who knew thee too well...

　　斯人知太深。

　　Long, long shall I rue thee,

　　綿綿長懷恨，

　　Too deeply to tell.

　　盡在不言中，

　　4

　　In secret we met

　　昔日喜幽會(huì)，

　　In silence I grieve

　　今朝恨無聲。

　　That thy heart could forget,

　　舊情汝已忘，

　　Thy spirit deceive.

　　疾心遇薄幸。

　　If I should meet thee

　　多年離別后，

　　After long years,

　　抑或再相逢，

　　How should I greet thee?

　　相逢何所語?

　　(with silence and tears)

　　淚流默無聲。

　　詩歌語言點(diǎn)講解：

　　拜倫這首感人至深的詩歌有很多古英語(archaisms)詞匯，還有很多倒裝(hyperbaton)。

　　在古英語(莎士比亞時(shí)代)中，第二人稱You寫作Thou /ðaʊ/。如今這種用法只能在詩歌中，《圣經(jīng)》里，還有祈禱辭里見到了。Thou后面加動(dòng)詞要在詞尾加st。比如：

　　You live here = Thou livest here

　　Do you love me? = Dost thou love me?

　　當(dāng)然也有一些不規(guī)則的動(dòng)詞變形，比如：

　　You are= thou art

　　You were= thou wert

　　I will give you= I shall give THEE /ði:/

　　This is your house= this is THY house (/ðaɪ/)

　　在古英語中，thou是“你”的單數(shù)，復(fù)數(shù)形式則是you。

　　第一詩節(jié)

　　To sever，被分開，和前面的better押韻。

　　Pale grew thy cheek and cold(倒裝)=your cheeks grew cold and pale, to grow后面跟形容詞，表示“更像”(to become more like that)。

　　第二詩節(jié)

　　Brow=forehead(前額)。當(dāng)我們說道情緒在我們的前額刻下了皺紋(以憤怒)或是冒出汗水(以恐懼或疼痛)。

　　Vows= promises 和前面的cow押韻

　　Light is thy fame(倒裝)=you fame is light.

　　第三詩節(jié)

　　Knell，喪鐘聲。

　　Mine ear= my ear. 古英語中輔音緊跟所有格my，元音后面緊跟mine。

　　O're= over

　　They knew not：在古英語里，所有動(dòng)詞都能接not，不用don’t。will not, work not.

　　Shall: 古英語里，第一人稱I、we用shall,其他人稱用will。

　　Long shall I rue thee= For a long time I’ll regret having loved you, because it was wrong.

　　第四詩節(jié)

　　In secret we met= we met secretly

　　In silence I grieve= I suffer but I don’t say anything

　　Thy spirit deceive：這句話其實(shí)不完整，因?yàn)樵娙瞬幌胫貜?fù)上面說了好幾遍的內(nèi)容了，所以完整的意思應(yīng)該是I am really sad because your heart forgot me and because your spirit deceived me.

　　If I should meet thee：助動(dòng)詞should用在if條件句里，表達(dá)的是可能未曾發(fā)生的情況。比如：if you should see my sister, tell her to come (but I don’t think you will see her)。

　　How should I greet thee? 這句話里should又回歸了它”建議“的本意。這句話的意思就是：how am I supposed to say hello to you?