| After the torchlight red on sweaty faces | Note: 322-366 |
| After the frosty silence in the gardens | |
| After the agony in stony places | |
| The shouting and the crying | 325 |
| Prison and palace and reverberation | |
| Of thunder of spring over distant mountains | (322-327) (326-327) |
| He who was living is now dead | |
| We who were living are now dying | |
| With a little patience | 330(328-330) |
| Here is no water but only rock | Note:
331-366 Note: 331-345 |
| Rock and no water and the sandy road | |
| The road winding above among the mountains | |
| Which are mountains of rock without water | |
| If there were water we should stop and drink | 335 |
| Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think | |
| Sweat is dry and feet are in the sand | |
| If there were only water amongst the rock | |
| Dead mountain mouth of carious teeth that cannot spit | |
| Here one can neither stand nor lie nor sit | 340 |
| There is not even silence in the mountains | |
| But dry sterile thunder without rain | |
| There is not even solitude in the mountains | |
| But red sullen faces sneer and snarl | |
| From doors of mudcracked houses | 345 |
|
If there were
water
|
Note: 346-359 |
| And no rock | |
| If there were rock | |
| And also water | |
| And water | 350 |
| A spring | |
| A pool among the rock | |
| If there were the sound of water only | |
| Not the cicada | |
| And dry grass singing | 355 |
| But sound of water over a rock | |
| Where the hermit-thrush sings in the pine trees | |
| Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop | |
| But there is no water | (355-359) |
| Who is the third who walks always beside you? | 360 |
| When I count, there are only you and I together | |
| But when I look ahead up the white road | |
| There is always another one walking beside you | |
| Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded | |
| I do not know whether a man or a woman | 365 |
| －But who is that on the other side of you? | (360-366) |
| What is that sound high in the air | Note: 367-377 |
| Murmur of maternal lamentation | |
| Who are those hooded hordes swarming | |
| Over endless plains, stumbling in cracked earth | 370 |
| Ringed by the flat horizon only | |
| What is the city over the mountains | |
| Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air | |
| Falling towers | |
| Jerusalem Athens Alexandria | 375 |
| Vienna London | (375-376) |
| Unreal | |
| A woman drew her long black hair out tight | |
| And fiddled whisper music on those strings | |
| And bats with baby faces in the violet light | 380 |
| Whistled, and beat their wings | (380-381) |
| And crawled head downward down a blackened wall | |
| And upside down in air were towers | |
| Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours | |
| And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells. | 385(378-385) |
| In this decayed hole among the mountains | |
| In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing | |
| Over the tumbled graves, about the chapel | |
| There is the empty chapel, only the wind's home. | |
| It has no windows, and the door swings, | 390 |
| Dry bones can harm no one. | (386-391) |
| Only a cock stood on the rooftree | |
| Co co rico co co rico | |
| In a flash of lightning. Then a damp gust | |
| Bringing rain | 395(392-395) (394-395) |
| Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves | Note: 396-423 |
| Waited for rain, while the black clouds | |
| Gathered far distant, over Himavant. | |
| The jungle crouched, humped in silence. | |
| Then spoke the thunder | 400 |
| DA | (400-401) |
| Datta: what have we given? | |
| My friend, blood shaking my heart | |
| The awful daring of a moment's surrender | |
| Which an age of prudence can never retract | 405 |
| By this, and this only, we have existed | |
| Which is not to be found in our obituaries | |
| Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider | |
| Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor | |
| In our empty rooms | 410(406-410) |
| DA | |
| Dayadhvam: I have heard the key | |
| Turn in the door once and turn once only | (412-413) |
| We think of the key, each in his prison | |
| Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison | 415 |
| Only at nighfall, aethereal rumours | |
| Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus | |
| DA | |
| Damyata: The boat responded | |
| Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar | 420 |
| The sea was calm, your heart would have responded | |
| Gaily, when invited, beating obedient | |
| To controlling hands | |
|
I sat upon
the shore
|
(419-424) |
| Fishing, with the arid plain behind me | 425(424-425) |
| Shall I at least set my lands in order? | |
| London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down | |
| Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina | |
| Quando fiam uti chelidon－O swallow swallow | |
| Le Prince d'Aquitaine a la tour abolie | 430 |
| These fragments I have shored against my ruins | |
| Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo's mad againe. | |
| Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata. | |
|
Shantih
shantih shantih
|
副 題 What the Thunder Said：雷語。這一部份包括一首詩（322-423行）和總結（finale，421-434行）。詩中322-400行為背景，敘述行走於沙漠中的情形；401-423行為雷與說話者思想上之對白。總結為對The Waste Land一詩全盤之回憶。詩的主題觸及上帝之聲言，說明當今物質文明之進步已經到了上帝在人之心靈中已經死亡之地步，並述及存在意義的再發現乃不斷回憶原始人類生活中之啟示。結論的部份在說明人類仍可在希望與懷疑中，去追求心靈魂之平靜與精神生活之再生。第四部分「水死」指出人類靈魂已在物質文明中死亡，第五部「雷語」便是想從回憶原始人類生活中去求得啟示。思想上，第五部份「雷語」可分為四段來瞭解。第一段（322-366行）藉耶穌受難對其門徒之影響為喻指出上帝之死對現代人類精神生活影響；第二段（367-395行）回顧過去文明之消逝與交替，與現代文化之趨於式微；第三階段（396-423行）說明人類在追求生之意義，追求精神生活之復甦。總結描述，追求靈魂之平靜，而無法得到答案。[back] 322-366 此段描述耶穌受難對其門徒之意義，以闡釋在現代人心靈中，上帝之死對現代人生活的影響。換句話說，這兩種情形之比較，暗示現代人為求精神之再生，重新去探討、追求，與回憶原始之啟示（primitive revelation）。[back] 322-327 描述耶穌受難時的情形（參閱馬太福音26章，36-45節）。耶穌其門徒猶大出賣，在橄欖山（Olives）附近客西馬尼（Gethsemane）園中祈禱時被羅馬兵所捉。後來在耶路撒冷（Jerusalem）附近的各各他（Golgotha）地方，被釘死於十字架上，是時雷聲大作。[back] 322 torchlight red on sweaty faces：火炬照紅了流汗的臉孔。torchlight指捉拿耶穌時羅馬兵手持的火炬。[back] 323 the gardens：指客西馬尼（Gethsemane）附近果園（orchard）和各各地（Golgotha）地方。客西馬尼附近有一個果園，為耶穌及其門徒常到的地方。耶穌就是在這個地方為羅馬兵所捉拿（參見馬太福第26章，36-56節）。But Gethseme has not come down to us as a scene of mirth; its inexhaustible associations are the offspring of a single event－the Agony of the Son of God on the evening preceding His Passion. 各各他為耶穌被釘十字架的地方（參見馬太福音27章33節；馬可福書15章 322 節；約翰福音14章17節）。此地又名Place of Skull，因為這些地方是羅馬人執行死刑的地方，地上可見人頭骨。[back] 324 agony in stony places：指耶穌受難時之極大痛苦（agony of Gethsemane）。"stony places"可能指各各他山上full of skulls and stones，在此卻有荒原之暗示。[back] 326 Prison and palace：指Christ's imprisonment and trial。[back] 326-327 reverberation/Of thunder of spring over distant mountains：指耶穌受難時，雷聲大作（馬太福音第28章 50節-52節）。顯然這裡所指的是the death of Christ。這裡"spring"一字可能有復活之暗示，因為那時許多人都傳言耶穌會再復活。[back] 328-330 說明耶穌受難後對其門徒之影響，並暗示上帝之死對現代精神生活之影響。[back] 328 He who…is now dead：指耶穌已死。同時暗示上帝之死。[back] 329 We who were living are now dying：指耶穌受難後其門徒覺得生活失卻意義。同時暗示現代世界中，上帝之死使現代人過只有軀體而沒有靈魂的生活。[back] 330 With a little patience：指耶穌死後，門徒覺得生活失卻意義，覺得再過一段時間亦將死去。同時暗示，上帝之死，人類的精神生活失去憑藉，不久亦將死亡。Patience 含有suffering之意。[back] 331-366 描述心情沉重悲哀的門徒前往以馬忤斯（Emmous）等待耶穌復活後的再現。其間之行程可謂之為沙漠之旅，一路上沒有水，只有岩石。門徒對水之渴望便是在表現對精神生活之渴望，岩石卻暗示著耶穌復活之不可能，其心情之痛苦影射現代人在現代世界的荒原中渴望精神生活之復甦，但卻覺得沒有希望。[back] 331-345 描述荒原之情景，本詩詩題「荒原」（The Waste Land）即是由此而得。荒原或沙漠中只有岩石而沒有水，只有雷聲而沒有下雨。[back] 331 water：水。暗示精神生活與再生之意。在基督教義中水為聖潔的東西，可以洗去人類的一即罪愆。
rock：岩石。代表乾涸，無生命。影射精神生活之喪失。[back]
335 If there were water we should stop and drink：表示對精神生活之強烈渴望。[back] 339 carious teeth：齲齒（＝decayed teeth）。[back] 342 dry sterile thunder without rain：沒有雨的乾雷聲。暗示耶穌復活之不可能，更影射現代人精神生活再生沒有希望。[back] 346-359. 這幾行強烈地表現著對水的渴望。水是象徵著精神生活，渴望著之痛苦心情，影射現代人類情情痛苦地盼望著精神之復甦（Spiritual renewal）。
sullen faces：指不信耶穌的人。[back]
344 sneer and snarl；嘲笑與咆哮。[back] 345 mudcracked houses：泥牆龜裂的房屋。[back] 354 cicada：蟬。這裡的"cicada"與355行的"dry grass"皆代表（夏天）乾旱的現象。參閱第一節23行註。[back] 357 hermit-thrush：hermit為一種蜂雀，thrush為畫眉。hermit thrush為蜂雀屬的畫眉鳥。（或令人有隱士的聯想）。Eliot的自註上說，他曾在魁北克郡（Quebec County）聽見這種鳥的叫聲，活像水聲drip drip drip drip drip drip…. [back] 355-359 這幾行是說有水聲drip drip drip drip…它並不是真正的水聲，而是hermit thrush的叫聲。這幾行強烈地表達了沒有得救的希望。耶穌復活之不可能，並暗示現代人精神或靈魂的復甦沒有希望。其內心痛苦之情形在此充分的表現了出來。[back] 360-366 在前往以馬忤斯（Emmaus）等待耶穌復活的再現，兩位悲哀的門徒在路上，看見另外一個人出現，起初他們不認識，後來認出這個人是耶穌，他卻不見了。（參閱聖經路加福音第24章13-34節）。這一段的描述，一方面在說明兩位門徒因盼望見到耶穌而在路上產生幻覺，同時影射現代人心靈枯竭，盼望靈魂復甦之痛苦情形。[back] 360 the third：指幻覺中所見到的耶穌 。同時暗示著現代人幻覺中的上帝。暗示可能得救的一點希望。[back] 367-377 Eliot原註說："Cf. Herman Hesse, Blick ins Chaos"〔A Glim pse into Chaos〕。然後他引了赫塞的一段德文原文，英譯為："Already half of Europe, already at least half of Eastern Europe, on the way to Chaos, drives drunk in sacred infatuation along the edge of the precipice, sings drunkenly, as though hymn singing, Dimitri Karamazov 〔in Dostoyevski's Brothers Karamazov〕says. The offended bourgeois laughs at the songs; the saint and the seer hear them with tears. "赫塞所描述的是俄國革命時的景象。在這幾行中可以看到蠻夷燒殺的情形。而文明亦隨之崩潰。[back] 368 maternal lamentation：母親的哀慟，因子女被殺。[back] 369 those hooded hordes：裡著衣服的遊牧民族。[back] 373 reforms；改造；重造。這裡是反諷用法，故應指破壞或毀壞（ruins）。
the violet air：指火燒得使天空發紫。[back]
375-376 Jerusalem…London：Jerusalem, Athens, Alexandria, Vienna皆是文明古都；但幾經戰亂的摧殘，它們都已非本來面目。而為現代文明代表的London，亦將步其後塵而遭摧殘。故在下一行說unreal。但文明是交替的，故在隱含的意義中，文明還是會再生。[back] 378-385 透過夢魘（nightmare）和絕望（despair）的意象（有如荷蘭畫家Hieronymus Bosch 〔1450?-1516〕畫中的景象）來描述文明崩潰的情景。[back] 378 drew her long black hair out tight：把她黑頭髮拉得很緊很直。[back] 379 fiddled whisper…strings：用髮作弦，輕聲奏樂。[back] 380-381 bats with …./Whistled：臉如嬰孩之蝙蝠在紫色的空中颼颼飛。[back] 382 crawled：（指蝙蝠）徐飛。[back] 383 upside down…towers：倒置於空中的高大建築，指倫敦各處廢毀的教堂鐘樓；象徵文明的崩潰。[back] 384 Tolling reminiscent bells：鐘聲徐鳴，令人追懷往事。[back] 385 empty cisterns…wells：空的水槽和乾的井，指文明破壞後廢墟的景象，缺乏生命所需的水。語出舊約耶利米書（Jeremiah）二章十三節中，上帝對先知Jeremiah 說： "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and carved themselves out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water."另箴言（Proverbs）五章十五節中所羅門王（Solomon）對人民說："Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well."故此處亦暗示人們背棄上帝缺乏信德，猶如生活在缺水的廢墟中。[back] 386-391 這幾行以追尋聖杯為喻，描述現代人摒棄the chapel，即摒棄一種神聖的地方，而使之殘破不堪。[back] 386 decayed：廢毀的。[back] 388 tumbled：塌倒的。[back] 388 chapel：指the Chapel Perilous of the Grail Legends. 傳說云：如武士在該禮拜堂裡忍受得了可怖的最後考驗，他就有希望翌日獲得聖杯。然而，涉水越山，歷經艱辛，他所發現的只是一個塌廢而空無一物的禮拜堂。[back] 390 the door swings：門搖來搖去。[back] 392-395 雞鳴電閃，濕風挾雨帶來復甦的景象。[back] 392 rooftree：屋樑；屋頂。[back] 393 Co co rico co co rico：公雞啼叫聲；喔喔。雞啼有兩種意義。一指馬太福音所載，如耶穌所預言，當他被逮捕時，其十二門徒之一的彼得會三次否認與耶穌相識。待公雞兩度啼叫時，彼得會因羞愧與怯懦而哭泣。故而在耶穌受死（即人類得救）之前，公雞啼叫為其儀式（ritual）的一部份。另一種意義是雞啼會提醒蟲魂應該回到陰府，如Hamlet I, i中Hamlet父親的鬼魂聽到雞啼而消逝。故雞啼暗示夢魘之消逝。[back] 394-395 Then… rain：然後潮濕的陣風帶來雨。寓意帶來生命的復甦。[back] 396-423 恆河水減，軟弱的樹葉等待著雨，遠處的喜馬拉雅山上聚集著烏雲。森林靜靜的渴望甘霖（暗示人們渴望精神的滋潤）。此時，造物者藉雷聲教誨人們要奉獻（Datta），同情（Dayadhvam），和克制（Damyata）。[back] 396 Ganga：即the Ganges，印度恆河，是印度人奉為神聖之河。
sunken：（水位）下降，指乾旱之甚。
limp leaves缺乏生氣的樹葉，暗指荒野，不毛之地。[back]
398 Himavant：喜馬拉雅山脈中的一座聖山。[back] 399 The jungle…in silence：叢林（沿山）起伏，靜寂無聲；指其缺水，急需甘霖。[back] 400-401 Then spoke the thunder…given?典出梵文宗著作 Brihadaranyaka-U panishad V,I。故事說造物主（the supreme Lord of Creation〔Prajapati〕）的兒子們到他們的父親那兒見習修行。造物主的兒子分成三級：Gods, Men, 和Demons（次級的神祇）。他們在見習修行完畢之後，Gods, Men, 和Demons依次要求造物主對他們講話。而造物主對各級的回答都是"DA"，並問他們是否瞭解真意。各級都說瞭解，但解釋卻各有異。The Gods解為Damyata（control，克制）；the Men解為Datta （give，奉獻）；the Demons解為Dayadhvam （sympathize，同情）。故此擬聲字DA DA DA乃造物主藉雷聲所發出的教誨。Eliot選用西方文化及宗教之源的梵文，更能含括印歐的一切文化與宗教。[back] 402 Datta：奉獻＝（give）。[back] 403 blood….my heart：血搖憾著我的心，即我處於恐懼之中。[back] 404 a moment's surrender：片刻的縱情，對人獻出強烈的愛。[back] 405 an age of … retract：畢生的謹慎不能撤收，意即在心中所留下的印象永難忘卻。[back] 406-410 By this… empty rooms：憑了這（即奉獻，亦即片刻的縱情，對人獻出強烈的愛），我們才能覺得確確實實的生活著。這種奉獻不是在訃聞、墓碑 遺囑裡找得到，或能發現的。[back] 407 obituaries：訃聞。[back] 408 memories draped…spider：意謂墓碑上的碑文。在Eliot 原註中提到，此處典出John Webster所著The White Devil, V, VI,中Flamineo的講詞。Flamineo警告要謹防女子的善變：
…they'll remarry
Ere the worm pierce your winding-sheet, ere the spider
Make a thin curtain for your epitaphs. [back]409 seals…solicitor：瘦律師拆開的封印，意指遺囑。[back] 412 Dayadhvam：即sympathize，同情。[back] 412-413 the key… once only：Eliot的原註中提到此處典出Dante的Inferno, XXXIII, 46。詩中十三世紀義大利貴族Ugolino della Ghevardesca以自述的語氣，回憶他自己和他兩個兒子及兩個孫子被監禁塔中，飢餓而死的情形：Ugolino聽見鑰匙只轉動了一次（'turn once only'），因為他們被鎖在裡面之後，鑰匙被丟入河中，他們終於挨餓而死。另參看F.H. Bradley的Appearance and Reality："My external sensations are no less private to myself than are my thoughts or my feelings. In either case my experience falls within my own circle, a circle closed on the outside; and, with all its elements alike, every sphere is opaque to the others which surround it… In brief, regarded as an existence which appears in a soul, the whole world for each is peculiar and private to that soul." 綜觀之，一個人不要自囿於自我中心的牢獄中，人應有同情之心，才能從牢獄中解放出來。[back] 416 aethereal rumours：指羅馬城裡傳來的纖弱的聲音，詳見下註。[back] 417 Coriolanus是莎劇「考利歐雷諾斯」（Coriolanus）的主人翁。他原是羅馬的大將，因平息暴亂有功，被貴族們推為政官。然而因為他驕傲自私，不為平民所擁戴，以致在公民投票時未獲通過。Coriolanus氣憤之餘，竟投靠敵方而攻打羅馬城。當他軍隊駐紮在羅馬城外時，全城恐慌，最後他的母親，妻子和兒子都向他求情，勸他應念故土親友之情不要攻城。Coriolanus亦為所動，乃決定要居閒調停。此時他所投靠的敵人因恐懼和嫉妒，乘機造謠並將Coriolanus刺死。此處之aethereal rumours / Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus即指羅馬城中傳來的聲音，使他自囿的心靈敞開，憶起他所愛的一切事物。因此，這裡所說的是，人如能同情，便能從自我中心的囿限中掙脫出來。[back] 419 Damyata：克制（＝Control）。[back] 419-424 The boat… hands：Eliot年輕時是一個狂熱的遊艇駕駛者。Eliot把Damyata比划船；划船得法則船行平穩，不怕風浪；人如能自我克制，也就能夠心平氣和，得心應手。[back] 424-425 Eliot在原註中要我們看Weston所著From Ritual to Romance中有關漁夫王（the Fisher King）的那一章。故垂釣者為漁夫王，垂釣的意思是尋求靈魂的得救（salvation）、更生（regeneration），和永恆的生命（eternity）。釣魚時的背景是不毛原野（the arid plain），亦即the waste land。參照本詩第189行。[back] 426 set…in order：整頓我的家園，指對秩序（order）的一種渴望。其目的在拯救所能拯救的事物。在Isaiah（以賽亞書），XXXVIII裡，先知Isaiah向國土被亞述人（Assyrians）所佔而當時又垂死的國王Hezekiah說 ： "Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live." Hezekiah乃祈求上帝忴憐他，上帝於是答應把他的國家從亞述人手裡解救出來，並賜他活十五年。[back] 427 London Bridge…falling down：一首兒歌中的疊句。
London Bridge：象徵文明；倫敦橋崩塌即意指文明的崩潰。[back]
428 Poi…affina：He disappeared into the flame that refines them. 他消失在淨化他的火焰裡，指人在煉獄裡甘心受難以贖罪，在受難中懷著希望。參見但丁Purgatorio（煉獄），XXVI, 145-8："Ara vos prec per aquella volor/que vos guida al somde l'escalina, / 'sovegna vos a temps de ma dolor,'/Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina."英譯為"'And so I pray you, by that virtue which leads you to the topmost of the stair－be mindful in due time of my pain.' Then dived he back into that fire which refines them." 當 Dante登上the Mount of Purgatory，正在煉獄裡的淨火（the cleaning fires）中受難的Arnaut Daniel對他講以上的一段話。Eliot曾評這幾行詩說："The souls in purgatory suffer because they wish to suffer, for purgation…in their suffering is hope." [back] 429 Quando…chelidon：When shall I be like the swallow? Eliot在原註要我們參閱拉丁軼名詩人所寫的Pervigilium Veneris (The Vigil of Venus)一詩。該詩的詩人感嘆他的詩歌不為人所聞，並問何時春回大地，能使他的詩歌像燕子一般呢喃有聲。另Eliot要我們參較Part II和Part III（見99-103行註及206行註）中Philomela的故事。故此處說話者道出一種變形的希望，希望由此而重獲靈魂，過有意義的生活。[back] 430 Le Prince…abolie：The Prince of Aquitaine at the ruined tower. 源出詩人Gerard de Nerval（1808-55）的商籟詩 El Desdichad. 詩人自稱是"被剝奪繼承權的王子"，指被剝奪繼承法國抒情詩人（法國南部Aquitaince城堡相關連而名）傳統之權。此處表示傳統之喪失，但由於緬懷往日而希望再回到傳統之中。[back] 431 此行表示盡力支撐殘局，不使完全崩潰。shored：支撐；supported or made stable with or as if with a shore or shores（支柱；撐）。[back] 432 Why then…mad againe：Thomas Kyd（1557?-1595）所作The Spanish Tragedy (1594) 的副標題即為 Hieronymo is Mad Againe。Hieronymo因兒子被殺而悲憤欲狂。稍好之後乃計劃復仇。後受邀寫劇以娛宮廷，他答道："Why then Ile fit you!"（那麼我會迎合你們！）他於是著手排戲。該戲在他安排下，以前謀害他兒子的人一一被殺。他得遂復仇之願後亦自殺身死。此處的含義在指出現代人所失的非常多，但在失望之餘，盡力營救可營救者。[back] 434 Shantih：Eliot原註："Shantih. Repeated as here, a formal ending to an Upanishad. 'The Peace which passeth understanding' is our equivalent to this word." The Upanishads是接於古印度教經典the Vedas之後討論印度教神子的作品。Eliot對Shantih一字的譯法令人聯想起聖經中腓立比書（Philippians）四章七節中的話；"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall deep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Eliot引用梵文，用意亦在含括一切印歐宗教。本詩結束時表示，憑藉Datta（奉獻），Dayadhvam （同情），Damyata（克制），人雖未能真正從荒原中獲救，卻由於企念而一種難以理解的安寧。[back] [top]