A Psalm of Life
人生颂
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
朗费罗
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
不要在哀伤的诗句里告诉我：
“人生不过是一场幻梦！”
灵魂睡着了，就等于死了，
事物的真相与外表不同。
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
人生是真切的!人生是实在的!
它的归宿绝不是荒坟;
“你本是尘土，必归于尘土，
这是指躯壳，不是指灵魂。
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
我们命定的目标和道路
不是享乐，也不是受苦；
而是行动，在每个明天
都超越今天，跨出新步。
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
智艺无穷，时光飞逝；
这颗心，纵然勇敢坚强，
也只如鼙鼓，闷声擂动着，
一下又一下，向坟地送丧。
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
世界是一片辽阔的战场，
人生是到处扎寨安营；
莫学那听人驱策的哑畜，
做一个威武善战的英雄！
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
别指靠将来，不管它多可爱！
把已逝的过去永久掩埋！
行动吧——趁着活生生的现在！
胸中有赤心，头上有真宰！
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
伟人的生平启示我们：
我们能够生活得高尚，
而当告别人世的时候，
留下脚印在时间的沙上。
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
也许我们有一个弟兄
航行在庄严的人生大海，
遇险沉了船，绝望的时刻，
会看到这脚印而振作起来。
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
那么，让我们起来干吧，
对任何命运要敢于担载；
不断地进取，不断地追求，
要善于劳动，善于等待。
