Ode: Intimations of Immortality: VIII

ODE: INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY FROM RECOLLECTIONS
OF EARLY CHILDHOOD

原文與注釋(Text and Annotation): VIII

8. (Summary)
Thou, whose exterior semblance doth belie	110
Thy soul's immensity;
Thou best philosopher, who yet dost keep
Thy heritage, thou Eye among the blind,
That, deaf and silent, read'st the eternal deep,
Haunted for ever by the eternal mind,�	115
Mighty Prophet! Seer blest!
On whom those truths do rest,
Which we are toiling all our lives to find,
In darkness lost, the darkness of the grave;
Thou, over whom thy Immortality	120
Broods like the Day, a master o'er a slave,
A presence which is not to be put by;
Thou little Child, yet glorious in the might
Of heaven-born freedom on thy being's height,
Why with such earnest pains dost thou provoke	125
The years to bring the inevitable yoke,
Thus blindly with thy blessedness at strife?
Full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight,
And custom lie upon thee with a weight,
Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life!	130

Line / No.	Word or Phrase	Annotation
第八節大意：孩童乃是卓越的哲人，偉大的先知。既然處於這榮光四被的環境中卻又何苦於汲汲於成長，渴望成人。世俗的重擔總是來得何其快速。[back]
8/110	Thou	the Child.
	exterior	外在的。
	Semblance	outward appearance外表。
	belie	使人誤會。[back]
111	immensity	infinity無限大。[back]
113	heritaqge	繼承之財產，指目前生帶來的能力。
113	Eye among the blind	在芸芸眾生中只有孩童能看到幻象，而大人則猶如盲者一無所見。[back]
114	deaf and silent	既聾且啞。
114	read'st the eternal deep	了解永生的真意。[back]
115	Haunted	難忘的；常出現於腦海的。
115	Eternal mind	eternal soul永恒的靈魂。[back]
116	Prophet	先知，預言者。
116	Seer blest	指為上帝賜福的能洞真理的明眼人。blest=blessed。[back]
117	rest	在於，依歸。[back]
118	toiling	辛勞。[back]
119	darkness	death死亡。[back]
121	Brood (over)	籠罩。（sits over）。
121	a Master o'er a Slave	如主人對奴隸一般有絕對的權力。[back]
122	to be put by	丟棄。[back]
124	heaven-born	天賜的。
124	Thy being's height	生命的最高峰。[back]
125	provoke/The years	provoke 惹起。此處provoke the years指渴望求長大。[back]
126	inevitable yoke	不可避免的桎梏。
126	Yoke	軛。[back]
127	即身在福中不知福而渴求長大。[back]
128	earthly freight	指此生的重擔。[back]