Hail to thee, blithe¹ Spirit!

Bird thou never wert,

That from Heaven, or near it,

Pourest thy full heart

In profuse² strains of unpremeditated art.

你好啊，欢乐的精灵！

你似乎从不是飞禽，

从天堂或天堂的邻近，

以酣畅淋漓的乐音，

不事雕琢的艺术，倾吐你的衷心。

Higher still and higher

From the earth thou springest

Like a cloud of fire;

The blue deep thou wingest,

And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.

向上，再向高处飞翔，

从地面你一跃而上，

象一片烈火的轻云，

掠过蔚蓝的天心，

永远歌唱着飞翔，飞翔着歌唱。

In the golden lightning

Of the sunken sun

O'er which clouds are bright'ning,

Thou dost float and run,

Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun.

地平线下的太阳，

放射出金色的电光，

晴空里霞蔚云蒸，

你沐浴着阳光飞行，

似不具形体的喜悦刚开始迅疾的远征。

The pale purple even

Melts around thy flight;

Like a star of Heaven

In the broad daylight

Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill³ delight:

淡淡的紫色黎明

在你航程周围消融，

象昼空里的星星，

虽然不见形影，

却可以听得清你那欢乐的强音——

Keen as are the arrows

Of that silver sphere,

Whose intense lamp narrows

In the white dawn clear

Until we hardly see--we feel that it is there.

那犀利无比的乐音，

似银色星光的利箭，

它那强烈的明灯，

在晨曦中暗淡，

直到难以分辨，却能感觉到就在空间。

All the earth and air

With thy voice is loud.

As, when night is bare,

From one lonely cloud

The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflowed⁴.

整个大地和大气，

响彻你婉转的歌喉，

仿佛在荒凉的黑夜，

从一片孤云背后，

明月射出光芒，清辉洋溢宇宙。

What thou art we know not;

What is most like thee?

From rainbow clouds there flow not

Drops so bright to see

As from thy presence showers a rain of melody.

我们不知，你是什么，

什么和你最为相似？

从霓虹似的彩霞

也降不下这样美的雨，

能和当你出现时降下的乐曲甘霖相比。

Like a poet hidden

In the light of thought,

Singing hymns⁵ unbidden,

Till the world is wrought⁶

To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded⁷ not:

象一位诗人，隐身

在思想的明辉之中，

吟诵着即兴的诗韵，

直到普天下的同情

都被未曾留意过的希望和忧虑唤醒。

Like a high-born maiden⁸

In a palace tower,

Soothing⁹ her love-laden

Soul in secret hour

With music sweet as love, which overflows¹⁰ her bower¹¹:

象一位高贵的少女，

居住在深宫的楼台，

在寂寞难言的时刻，

排遣她为爱所苦的情怀，

甜美有如爱情的歌曲，溢出闺阁之外；

Like a glow-worm golden

In a dell of dew,

Scattering¹² unbeholden

Its aerial hue¹³

Among the flowers and grass, which screen it from the view:

象一只金色的萤火虫，

在凝露的深山幽谷，

不显露它的行踪，

把晶莹的流光传播，

在遮断我们视线的芳草鲜花丛中；

Like a rose embowered

In its own green leaves,

By warm winds deflowered,

Till the scent¹⁴ it gives

Makes faint with too much sweet these heavy-winged thieves.

象一朵让自己的绿叶

阴蔽着的玫瑰，

遭受到热风的摧残，

直到它的芳菲

以过浓的香甜使鲁莽的飞贼沉醉；

Sound of vernal showers

On the twinkling grass,

Rain-awakened flowers,

All that ever was

Joyous¹⁵, and clear, and fresh, thy music doth surpass.

晶莹闪烁的草地，

春霖洒落的声息，

雨后苏醒的花瓣，

称得上明朗，欢悦，

清新的一切，都不及你的音乐。

Teach us, sprite or bird,

What sweet thoughts are thine:

I have never heard

Praise of love or wine

That panted forth¹⁶ a flood of rapture¹⁷ so divine.

飞禽或是精灵，有什么

甜美的思绪在你心头？

我从没有听到过

爱情或是淳酒的颂歌

能够迸涌出这样神圣的极乐音流。

Chorus hymeneal

Or triumphal chaunt

Matched with thine, would be all

But an empty vaunt--

A thing wherein we feel there is some hidden want.

赞婚的合唱也罢，

凯旋的欢歌也罢，

和你的乐曲相比，

不过是空调的浮夸，

人们可以觉察，其中总有着贫乏。

What objects are the fountains

Of thy happy strain?

What fields, or waves, or mountains?

What shapes of sky or plain?

What love of thine own kind? what ignorance of pain?

什么样的物象或事件，

是你欢乐乐曲的源泉？

什么田野、波涛、山峦？

什么空中陆上的形态？

是你对同类的爱，还是对痛苦的绝缘？

With thy clear keen joyance

Languor¹⁸ cannot be:

Shadow of annoyance¹⁹

Never came near thee:

Thou lovest, but ne'er knew love's sad satiety²⁰.

有你明澈强烈的欢快。

倦怠永不会出现，

烦恼的阴影从来

近不得你的身边，

你爱，却从不知晓过分充满爱的悲哀。

Waking or asleep,

Thou of death must deem

Things more true and deep

Than we mortals dream,

Or how could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream?

是醒来或是睡去，

你对死的理解一定比

我们凡人梦想到的

更加深刻真切，否则

你的乐曲音流，怎能象液态的水晶涌泻？

We look before and after,

And pine for what is not:

Our sincerest laughter

With some pain is fraught²¹;

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

我们瞻前顾后，为了

不存在的事物自扰，

我们最真挚的笑，

也交织着某种苦恼，

我们最美的音乐是最能倾诉哀思的曲调。

Yet if we could scorn

Hate, and pride, and fear;

If we were things born

Not to shed a tear,

I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.

可是，即使我们能摈弃

憎恨、傲慢和恐惧，

即使我们生来不会

抛洒一滴眼泪，

我也不知，怎能接近于你的欢愉。

Better than all measures

Of delightful²² sound,

Better than all treasures

That in books are found,

Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!

比一切欢乐的音律

更加甜蜜美妙，

比一切书中的宝库

更加丰盛富饶，

这就是鄙弃尘土的你啊，你的艺术技巧。

Teach me half the gladness

That thy brain must know,

Such harmonious²³ madness

From my lips would flow

The world should listen then, as I am listening now!

教给我一半，你的心

必定熟知的欢欣，

和谐、炽热的激情

就会流出我的双唇，

全世界就会象此刻的我——侧耳倾听。