“The Eagle” by Alfred Lord Tennyson

THE EAGLE
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson
FRAGMENT

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

1851

这首名作从韵脚到节奏到选词中的深意，处处可圈可点——研究的资料也太多了，略过不提。最早是在Brooks & Warren书中看到，一连读了好多遍。中文译文能找到的就有十数种，余光中、黄杲昕、彭镜禧、郭沫若等名家都译过。虽有大师珠玉在前，可还是忍不住手痒，试译如下：

嶙峋劲爪握危崖
平野孤身伴日斜
碧穹环抱立不拔

生波海皱匍匐过
万仞壁头极目彻
惊如霹雳忽飞落