拜伦经典诗歌：在巴比伦的河边我们坐下来哭泣

 　　By the Rivers of Babylon We Sat Down and Wept

　　(1815)

　　在巴比伦的河边我们坐下来哭泣

　　by Lord Byron

　　(1788-1824)

　　1

　　We sat down and wept by the waters

　　Of Babel, and thought of the day

　　When our foe¹, in the hue² of his slaughters³,

　　Made Salem's high places his prey⁴;

　　And ye, oh her desolate⁵ daughters!

　　Were scattered⁶ all weeping away.

　　2

　　While sadly we gazed on the river

　　Which rolled on in freedom below,

　　They demanded the song; but, oh never

　　That triumph the stranger shall know!

　　May this right hand be withered⁷ for ever,

　　Ere it string our high harp⁸ for the foe!

　　3

　　On the willow⁹ that harp is suspended,

　　Oh Salem! its sound should be free;

　　And the hour when thy glories were

　　ended

　　But left me that token of thee:

　　And ne'er shall its soft tones be blended

　　With the voice of the spoiler by me!

　　在巴比伦的河边我们坐下来哭泣

　　一

　　在巴比伦的河边我们坐下来

　　悲痛地哭泣，我们想到那一天

　　我们的敌人如何在屠杀叫喊中，

　　焚毁了撒冷的高耸的神殿：

　　而你们，呵，她凄凉的女儿！

　　你们都号哭着四散逃散。

　　二

　　当我们忧郁地坐在河边

　　看着脚下的河水自由地奔流，

　　他们命令我们歌唱；呵，绝不！

　　我们绝不在这事情上低头！

　　宁可让这只右手永远枯瘦，

　　但我们的圣琴绝不为异族弹奏！

　　三

　　我把那竖琴悬挂在柳梢头，

　　噢，撒冷！它的歌声该是自由的；

　　想到你的光荣丧尽的那一刻，

　　却把你的这遗物留在我这里：

　　呵，我绝不使它优美的音调

　　和暴虐者的声音混在一起！

　　查良铮 译

1 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

2 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

3 slaughters   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• These vast slaughters have since become notorious. 此后，这些大规模的屠杀，就变成了很不光彩的新闻。 来自辞典例句
• Remembered that despairs and hope that each other slaughters. 记得绝望和希望，彼此厮杀。 来自互联网

4 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

5 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

6 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

7 withered   

adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
• The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。

8 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

9 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。