两首圣诞节的英文诗歌

The Cultivation of Christmas Trees

There are several attitudes towards Christmas,

Some of which we may disregard:

The social, the torpid, the patently commercial,

The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight),

And the childish - which is not that of the child

For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angel

Spreading its wings at the summit of the tree

Is not only a decoration, but an angel.

The child wonders at the Christmas Tree: Let him continue in the spirit of wonder At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext; So that the glittering rapture, the amazement Of the first-remembered Christmas Tree, So that the surprises, delight in new possessions (Each one with its peculiar and exciting smell), The expectation of the goose or turkey And the expected awe on its appearance,

So that the reverence and the gaiety May not be forgotten in later experience, In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium, The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure, Or in the piety of the convert Which may be tainted with a self-conceit Displeasing to God and disrespectful to children (And here I remember also with gratitude St.Lucy, her carol, and her crown of fire):

So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas (By "eightieth" meaning whichever is last) The accumulated memories of annual emotion May be concentrated into a great joy Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion When fear came upon every soul: Because the beginning shall remind us of the end And the first coming of the second coming.

-T.S.Eliot, 1954 虽然这首诗与宗教有关，但同时也探讨圣诞对于世俗之人的意义。艾略特开篇就说，人们对待圣诞节有几种态度，有人觉得就是为了社交，有人对它不感冒，有人觉得它太商业化，也有人说它太闹，还有人说它幼稚。艾略特马上说，这种幼稚和孩童的纯真是很不同的。纯真的孩子把蜡烛看成星星，把站在圣诞树顶端伸开双翅的镀金小天使当作真正的天使，而不仅仅是装饰品。诗人自己也渴望回到童年，不是变地幼稚，而是重新获得像孩童般的好奇，为圣诞树上挂着的闪闪发光的小东西着迷，像看到记忆中的第一棵圣诞树那样欣喜若狂，闻到树上各种奇怪而又神奇的味道，期待着不知道今天的大餐是烤鹅还是烤火鸡，又为谜底揭晓感到惊奇不已。

那么为什么要记住关于第一棵圣诞树的回忆呢？艾略特难得乐观地说，当你被无聊的生活惯性左右，当你感到疲乏，厌倦，当你感受到死亡，失意时，那种童年极度欣喜的体验随着时间慢慢淡化，但也不至于在日后的老成世故中被彻底遗忘。

可是现实哪有那么简单，对于西方人来说，过圣诞节也像咱过年一样一年又一年，过来过去还是差不多的老调调。每年不一样的圣诞树，为了环保可能都不用真的松树了，用完了再栽到地里去；往年的装饰品再拿出来摆一摆；程式化的圣诞大餐；买礼品的各种焦虑，收到各

种其实并不是真心想要的礼物；去教堂作礼拜唱颂歌。在一年又一年的消磨中，童年的兴奋劲儿早都消失殆尽。

可艾略特还是很乐观地说，从第一个到你此生最后一个圣诞节的全部零碎回忆加起来，也能汇聚成一个扎实完整的雪球，就像回到诗中第一节中描绘孩子们高高兴兴的情景一样。

在结尾，已经信教的艾略特自然用了基督降临和基督重生的宗教隐喻，但更广义上也指明了俗世中生与死的联系。常青树当然不仅仅指的宗教，栽培的也不仅仅是树。

The Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer! and Vixen!

On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder! and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.