“The Lake Isle of Innisfree” (by William Butler Yeats)
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
( I ) Background Information(背景資料) :
1. A brief introduction of William Butler Yeats :
a romanticist --- a mystic --- an Irish nationalist
2. Yeats’ note : “ My father had read to me some passage out of
Thoreau’s Walden梭羅「湖濱散記」, and I planned to live some
day in a cottage on a little island called Innisfree. “
3. Innisfree: an islet in Lough Gill,County Sligo,Ireland,where Yeats
lived when a boy.
4. The poem was written in 1890 : Yeats thought of his hometown’s
natural scenes while walking in the noisy street of London on a
gloomy day..
( II ) An Analysis(分析) of “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” :
1. Style: lyric / pastoral / romantic
2. Form: 12 lines in 3 stanzas
3. Rhythm: iambic foot ( - / )-- one accented syllable plus one
unaccented syllable
4. Rime: a b a b / c d c d / e f e f
5. Imagery: visual and auditory images with symbolic meanings
6. Sound Effects:
a) alliteration : a hive for the honey bee / lake water lapping
b)assonance: where the cricket sings / full of the linnet’s wings
c) slippery sound “1” : There midnight’s all a glimmer and noon
a purple glow, / And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
7. Theme:
a) nostalgia:The adult poet wants to return to the idyllic country
of his childhood.
b) love of nature
c) yearning for an ideal place or lifestyle ( a peaceful life in the
native country)
( III ) The Chinese Translation(中譯) of “ The Lake Isle of Innisfree “
余 光 中 vs. 楊 牧
湖 島 因 尼 斯 夫 莉 (余 光 中 譯 )
我就要動身前去 去到那湖心的茵島
用泥土和枝條 結一座小小的茅廬
我要種九行豆畦 搭一個蜜蜂的窩巢
然後獨隱在蜂吟的深處
我要在島上享一點清靜 因為清靜緩緩地降落
從早晨的面紗上降落到蟋蟀低吟的地方
那兒子夜是一片朦朧 正午是一片紫色的閃爍
而黃昏飛滿了紅雀的翅膀
我就要動身前去 因為白天和黑夜 往往
我聽到湖水輕輕地舔著湖邊
無論我站在路上 或是在灰色的行人道旁
我總在心的深處把它聽見
湖 島 因 尼 斯 夫 莉 (楊 牧 譯 )
我現在就動身前去，去到因尼斯夫莉，
在那裏蓋一間小屋子，混擬土夾木條；
九畦豆莢園，一套蜂房飼養貯聚些蜜，
蜜蜂熙攘的隙地那裏我獨居逍遙。
於是我擁有和平，那裏和平墜落緩緩，
墜自早晨的煙幕向蟋蟀嘈切的地方；
那裏子夜是一片燦爛，正午紫光一團，
暮靄充滿了朱頂雀無數翻飛的翅膀。
我現在就動身前去，因為白天黑夜
我都聽見湖水輕輕舐沏岸沚的聲音；
或通衢駐足，或在灰色石版路上站，
我都聽見它響在胸臆深處，在我的心。
( IV ) A Comparative Approach(比較法) to “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” :
1. Compared with 陶淵明 【歸去來辭】
歸去來兮﹐田園將蕪胡不歸 ?
宅邊有五柳樹﹐因以為號焉。( 引"五柳先生傳" )
世與我而相遺﹐復駕言兮焉求。
雲無心以出岫。
鳥倦飛而知返。
羨萬物之得時。感吾生之行休。
寓形宇內復幾時﹐曷不委心任去留 ?
2. Compared with 楊牧 【瓶中稿】
這時日落的方向是西
越過眼前的柏樹。潮水
此岸。但知每一片波浪
都從花蓮開始——那時
也曾驚問過遠方
不知有沒有一個海岸？
如今那彼岸此岸，惟有
飄零的星光
如今也惟有一片星光
照我疲倦的傷感
細問洶湧而來的波浪
可懷念花蓮的沙灘？
不知道一片波浪喧嘩
向花蓮的沙灘——迴流以後
也要經過十個夏天才趕到此？
想必也是一時介入的決心
翻身剎那就已成型，忽然
是同樣一片波浪來了
寧靜地溢向這無人的海岸
如果我靜坐聽潮
觀察每一片波浪的形狀
並為自己的未來寫生
像左手邊這一片小的
莫非是蜉生的魚苗？
像那一片姿態適中的
大概是海草，像遠處
那一片大的，也許是飛魚
奔火於夏天的夜晚
不知道一片波浪
湧向無人的此岸，這時
我應該決定做甚麼最好？
也許還是做他波浪
忽然翻身，一時迴流
介入寧靜的海
溢上花蓮的
沙灘
然則，當我涉足入海
輕微的質量不滅，水位漲高
彼岸的沙灘當更濕了一截
當我繼續前行，甚至淹沒於
無人的此岸七尺以西
不知道六月的花蓮啊花蓮
是否又謠傳海嘯？
3. Associated with 文夏 【黃昏的故鄉】
叫著我 叫著我
黃昏的故鄉不時地叫我
叫我這個苦命的身軀
流浪的人無厝的渡鳥
孤單若來到異鄉
不時也會念家鄉
今日又是會聽見著喔～
親像塊叫我的
叫著我 叫著我
黃昏的故鄉不時地叫我
懷念彼時故鄉的形影
月光不時照落的山河
彼邊山 彼條溪水
永遠抱著咱的夢
今夜又是來夢著伊喔～
親像塊等我的
叫著我 叫著我
黃昏的故鄉不時地叫我
含著悲哀也有帶目屎
盼我倒去的聲叫無停
白雲啊～你若要去
請你帶著我心情
送去乎伊我的阿母喔～
不倘來忘記的
( V ) Further Reference(延伸參考) : “ Sailing to Byzantium “ (1927) :
The aged poet seeks to move from the sensual world of biological activity to Byzantium, the timeless world of spirit and art. Byzantium had become for Yeats the symbol of art.
“ Sailing to Byzantium “ (航向拜占庭by William Butler Yeats)
I) That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees,
—Those dying generations—at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.
II) An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
III) O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.
IV) Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.
{ Vincent Chen May 4 , 1999 }
