stoppingbywoodsonasnowyevening翻译及赏析

stoppingbywoodsonasnowyevening翻译及赏析

1Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening[雪夜林边小驻]

Whose woods these are I think I know,我知道林子的主人是谁，His house is in the village though.虽村落是他所居之地。

He will not see me stopping here,他不会看到我停留于此，

To watch his woods fill up with snow.凝视他的林子雪花纷飞。

My little horse must think it queer,我的小马一定以我为怪，

To stop without a farmhouse near,近无房舍，为何停伫。

Between the woods and frozen lake,况只有林子与冰湖，

The darkest evening of the year.和一年中最黑之夜。

He gives his harness bells a shake,他轻摇铃具

To ask if there is some mistake.询问有错与否。

The only other sound's the sweep,唯一的回复来自，

Of easy wind and downy flake.软雪和清风。

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.林子很美——昏暗而幽深，But I have promises to keep,但我已有约定。

And miles to go before I sleep.沉醉前还有一段路要走

And miles to go before I sleep沉醉前还有一段路要走。

Summary:

On the surface, this poem is simplicity itself. The speaker is stopping by some woods on a snowyevening.Heorshetakesinthelovelysceneinnear-

silence,istemptedtostaylonger,butacknowledges the pull of obligations and the considerable distance yet to be traveled before he orshe can rest for the night.

Form:

The poem consists of four (almost) identically constructed stanzas. Each line is iambic, with fourstressed syllables: Do not be fooled by the simple words and the easiness of

the rhymes; this is a very difficult formto achieve in English without debilitating a poem's content with forced rhymes.

Commentary:

Thebasicconflictinthepoem,resolvedinthelastanza,isbetween attractiontowardthewoo ds and the pull of responsibility outside of the woods. What do woods represent? Somethinggood? Something bad? Woods are sometimes a symbol for wildness, madness, the pre-rational,

theloomingirrational.Butthesewoodsdonotseemparticularly wild.Theyaresomeone'sw oods,someone's in particular--the owner lives in the village. But that owner is in the village on this, thedarkest evening of the year--so would any sensible person be. That is where the division seems tolie, between the village (or "society," "civilization," "duty," "sensibility," "responsibility") and thewoods (that which is beyond the borders of the village and all it represents). If the woods are notparticularly wicked, they still possess the seed of the irrational; and they are, at night, dark--withall the varied connotations of darkness.

Part of what is irrational about the woods is their attraction. They are restful, seductive, lovely,dark,anddeep--likedeepsleep,like

oblivion.Snowfallsindownyflakes,likeablankettolieunder and be covered by. And here is where many readers hear dark undertones to this lyric. T orest too long while snow falls could be to lose one's way, to lose the path, to freeze and die. Doesthis poem express a death wish, considered and then discarded? Do the woods sing a siren's song?T o be lulled to sleep could be truly dangerous. Is allowing oneself to be lulled akin to giving upthe struggle of prudence and self-preservation? Or does the poem merely describe the temptationto sit and watch beauty while