Poem 1540

J1540

As imperceptibly as grief

 

The summer lapsed away,

 

Too imperceptible, at last,

 

To seem like perfidy.

 

A quietness distilled,

5

As twilight long begun,

 

Or nature, spending with herself

 

Sequestered afternoon.

 

The dusk drew earlier in,

 

The morning foreign shone

10

A courteous, yet harrowing grace

 

As guest, that would be gone

 

And thus, without a wing

 

Or service of a keel,

 

Our summer made her light escape

15

Into the beautiful.

 

 
 
  Annotation

Line

Word or phrase

Annotation

1 

imperceptibly

不知不覺的。憂傷之去總在不之不覺中,所以正好用來比喻夏日的逸失

4

perfidy

原意為背信或不義。在暗地裡作些背叛的事情總是有意的,但夏日之逝,卻輕巧的不像有意要背信而去。

5-6

 distilled

被蒸餾出來。夏日去,則黃昏來得早,此時一片寂靜。此時的寂靜像是被蒸餾出來的。可見其寂靜之純。

7-8

spending... afternoon

漸漸耗盡的。sequestered小便隱退;扣押。夏去秋來,草木漸枯萎,萬物日蕭條,宛若漸漸消瘦的(spending)大自然把下午繫押了起來。

10

The morning foreign shone

清晨射出陌生的光芒。

11

A courteous, yet harrowing grace

拘謹而惱人的「優雅」。grace在美學上指消逝的大地之美,在神學上則是永生的暗示。

14

keel

(船的)龍骨。這兩行旨在說明夏日之去無形跡可循。既不用翅膀飛去,也不用小舟划去。其悄然驟逝的情況令人難以察覺。

16

 the beautiful

美的境地。在基督教的歌詠中,the beautiful指的是天堂。