Provider:Fr. Pierre Demer /談德義神父

SPRING
When daisies pied and violets blue, 1
And ladysmocks all silver-white,
And cuckoobuds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight,
The cuckoo then, on every tree, 5 [5-9]
Mocks married men; for thus sings he,
Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo: O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear!
When shepherds pipe on oaten straws, 10
And merry larks are ploughmen's clocks,
When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws,
And maidens bleach their summer smocks
The cuckoo then, on every tree,
Mocks married men; for thus sings he, 15
Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo: Oh word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear!
WINTER
When icicles hang by the wall
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, 20
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipped, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-who! 25
Tu-whit! To-who: a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
When all aloud the wind doe blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow, 30
And Marian's nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-who!
Tu-whit! Tu-who: a merry note 35
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
Line / No.
Word or Phrase
Annotation
1
 daisies 雛菊。
pied 雜色的。[back]
2
 ladysmocks ladysmock即lady'ssmock，或稱cuckoo-flower，中譯醮漿草，在杜鵑盛啼的時候開白色的花朵。[back]
3
 cuckoobud 一種花名。莎氏在詩中可能指金鳳花 (buttercup)或野櫻草(cowslip)，開黃色的花朵。[back]
5-9
 杜鵑的啼聲"cuckoo!"在英語中與cuckold（戴綠帽的人，鳥龜）諧音。戴綠帽的人在早期的英國文學中的常為取笑的對象，所以說 "Unpleasing to a married ear".[back]
10
 oaten straws 燕麥管；蘆笛。[back]
11
 因為larks （雲雀）在日出時啼唱，故稱是plowmen's clocks。[back]
12
 turtles treat turtles是turtledoves，即斑鳩；tread,交尾。
rooks 白嘴鴉。
daws 即jackdaws，穴烏。[back]
13
 bleach 漂白。
summer smocks 夏日的罩衫。[back]
19
 icicles 冰柱。[back]
20
 本歌中所用的人名都是英文中常見的人名，如同中國的張三，李四，小美，阿花，只是泛指，並非特指某一個人。
blows his nail 對指尖呵氣取暖。Nail即fingernails，指甲。[back]
23
 blood is nipped nip有箝挾，刺痛之意。此處在描述天氣寒冷，血液僵凝，循環不暢。
be 在莎翁的詩中，常用be來代其他形式的be 動詞。[back]
27
 greasy 滿沾油脂的。
keel the pot 攪鍋，以免鍋中之物沸騰而漫出鍋外。[back]
29
 parson's saw 教區牧師的勸世箴言(saw)。此處在描繪冬日裏感冒的人多，咳聲「淹」過牧師講道的聲音。[back]
32
 crabs 即crabapples，野蘋果，山楂子。[back]

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