主题：Andrew Marr：我们英国人——英国诗歌文学简史 -- 万年看客

华兹华斯毕生的挚友、对手以及战友是来自德文郡的塞缪尔.泰勒.柯勒律治。就像华兹华斯一样，柯勒律治早年也是个革命派，一度曾计划前往美国宾夕法尼亚州建立一个互助社区，借此逃避英国生活的规范与限制。与华兹华斯不同，柯勒律治的诗歌极少涉及政治。但是一旦涉及了政治，他的笔锋甚至要比华兹华斯更加凶残。十八世纪九十年代末正值小皮特政府掌权，这届政府向法国保皇派在旺底发动的叛乱提供了军事支持并且导致了血腥的后果。柯勒律治为此创作了《烈火、饥荒与屠杀：战争牧歌》（Fire, Famine and Slaughter: A War Eclogue）一诗。在以下选段当中，屠杀告诉自己的两位好姐妹烈火与饥荒，是皮特首相打发她过来的：

Slau: He came by stealth, and unlocked my den，

And I have drunk the blood since then

Of thrice three hundred thousand men.

Both: Who bade you do it ?

Slau: The same! the same !

Letters four do form his name.

He let me loose, and cried Halloo!

To him alone the praise is due.

Fam: Thanks, sister, thanks! the men have bled，

Their wives and their children faint for bread.

I stood in a swampy field of battle ；

With bones and skulls I made a rattle，

To frighten the wolf and carrion-crow

And the homeless dog--but they would not go.

So off I flew: for how could I bear

To see them gorge their dainty fare ?

屠：他鬼鬼祟祟地前来，解锁了我的房门，

然后我就开怀痛饮，鲜血不离唇，

份量足足有三倍的三十万人。

烈/饥：谁下的命令？

屠：还是他！还是他！

那个四字母的名字着实堪夸！*

他释放我大杀四方，还高呼干的真棒！

所有的赞美都要归于他的头上！

饥：谢谢姐妹！让人流血滔滔，

他们的妻儿纷纷晕厥，因为吃不上面包。

我站在血泥遍地的战场，

将白骨踢得咯啦啦作响，

却吓不退食腐的乌鸦与饿狼

以及无家的野犬——只想填饱肚肠。

我只得赶紧飞走，实在不忍直视

这帮大嚼的食客吃相多么雅致！

*【既皮特（Pitt）】

柯勒律治的笔锋一发而不可收——尽管日后他向小皮特首相表示了歉意。这首诗的批判范围还进一步覆盖了1797年叛乱之后英国政府针对爱尔兰的野蛮镇压。这一次开腔的是烈火：

Fire: Sisters! I from Ireland came!

Hedge and corn-fields all on flame，

I triumph'd o'er the setting sun!

And all the while the work was done，

On as I strode with my huge strides，

I flung back my head and I held my sides，

It was so rare a piece of fun

To see the sweltered cattle run

With uncouth gallop through the night，

Scared by the red and noisy light!

By the light of his own blazing cot

Was many a naked Rebel shot:

The house-stream met the flame and hissed，

While crash! fell in the roof, I wist，

On some of those old bed-rid nurses，

That deal in discontent and curses.

烈：姐妹们！我来自爱尔兰！

我将树篱与玉米地全都点燃！

太阳落山后，我还在将天地照亮，

我干起活来任凭谁也赶不上，

我甩开双腿向前迈出大步，

昂首挺胸开辟出一条道路；

这么搞笑的乐子实属罕见，

眼看入夜后的牛群吓得乱窜，

粗笨的牛蹄蹬踏彻夜响个不停，

哔啵响的火光把它们吓得不行！

多少反贼的床铺也难免熊熊燃烧，

他们未及穿衣蔽体就被一枪报销：

房前溪水遇到火焰，烧得滋滋怪叫

与此同时屋顶塌落！我知道

屋顶下躺着好些老妪常年卧床，

她们临死前的咒骂多么凄惶。

柯勒律治对于华兹华斯的影响很深。两人一度都曾与革命激情密不可分，此外柯勒律治也华兹华斯一样有些不适应生活环境。日后他在闭塞的农村地区自行隐居了下来，这样做是谨慎之举。在交通基础设施尚不发达的那个时代，他们眼中的英国想必远比今天更为广大，当时的偏远地区也肯定远比今天更令人感到偏远。在《午夜霜》（Frost at Midnight）一诗中，柯勒律治将读者们带回了很久以前德文郡的一个暗夜，并且邀请大家蜷坐在他与熟睡的子女身边休息片刻：

The Frost performs its secret ministry,

Unhelped by any wind. The owlet's cry

Came loud—and hark, again! loud as before.

The inmates of my cottage, all at rest,

Have left me to that solitude, which suits

Abstruser musings: save that at my side

My cradled infant slumbers peacefully.

'Tis calm indeed! so calm, that it disturbs

And vexes meditation with its strange

And extreme silentness. Sea, hill, and wood,

This populous village! Sea, and hill, and wood,

With all the numberless goings-on of life,

Inaudible as dreams! the thin blue flame

Lies on my low-burnt fire, and quivers not;

Only that film, which fluttered on the grate,

Still flutters there, the sole unquiet thing.

Methinks, its motion in this hush of nature

Gives it dim sympathies with me who live,

Making it a companionable form,

Whose puny flaps and freaks the idling Spirit

By its own moods interprets, every where

Echo or mirror seeking of itself,

And makes a toy of Thought.

寒霜履行着它的秘密使命,

不借助半丝风力。小枭的叫声很尖厉

——听，又来了！跟上次一样。

我住的村舍里，大家全都安静了,

把我留给了寂寞，寂寞，适宜于

更深的沉思：只是，在我的身旁,

我的婴儿在襁褓里安然酣睡着。

真安静！安静到这样，竟然能干扰、

能打断我的冥想，由于那奇怪的、

极度的岑寂。大海，山岳，树木,

人烟稠密的村庄！海岳，森林,

人世间无穷无尽的纷纭扰攘,

梦一样悄无声息！淡蓝的轻焰

倚着将尽的炉火，一动也不动;

只有那飘在炉栅上面的淡烟,

仍然袅动着，是惟一不知安静的。

无声的宇宙间，只有它在运动，而我

依然清醒，它恰好与我相伴,

也许在暗地里与我交流感情,

闲游的精灵按照自己的心态

解释淡烟的飘动和奇形怪状,

到处寻觅自己的回声和映像,

凭遐想而逸兴遄飞。 【屠岸译】

至少在较短的一个时期内，柯勒律治与华兹华斯的关系可谓焦不离孟，以至于我们几乎不可能分清究竟是谁对谁的影响更大。但是柯勒律治不容于世界的疏离感至少也像湖畔诗人一样强烈。在笔者看来，《消沉：一首颂歌》（Dejection：an Ode）表明柯勒律治对于这种感受的表达更高一筹。笔者刚才提到过，柯勒律治的诗歌当中的政治倾向并不像华兹华斯那样显著。但是浪漫主义疏离感本身就是一种政治观点，在海涅与舒伯特这样的欧陆激进派身上同样能够得见。对于艺术家来说，疏离就意味着拒绝接受事物的既成状态：

A grief without a pang, void, dark, and drear,

A stifled, drowsy, unimpassioned grief,

Which finds no natural outlet, no relief,

In word, or sigh, or tear—

O Lady! in this wan and heartless mood,

To other thoughts by yonder throstle woo'd,

All this long eve, so balmy and serene,

Have I been gazing on the western sky,

And its peculiar tint of yellow green:

And still I gaze—and with how blank an eye!

And those thin clouds above, in flakes and bars,

That give away their motion to the stars;

Those stars, that glide behind them or between,

Now sparkling, now bedimmed, but always seen:

Yon crescent Moon, as fixed as if it grew

In its own cloudless, starless lake of blue;

I see them all so excellently fair,

I see, not feel, how beautiful they are!

My genial spirits fail;

And what can these avail

To lift the smothering weight from off my breast?

It were a vain endeavour,

Though I should gaze for ever

On that green light that lingers in the west:

I may not hope from outward forms to win

The passion and the life, whose fountains are within.

一种无疼痛的痛苦，空虚，黑暗，枯郁，

一种窒息，昏倦，无激情的痛苦，

在言辞，叹息，或泪水中无法寻到

天然的出路，也无解脱—

哦，女士！在这苍白而麻木的心境中，

远方的画眉招来了另一种思绪，

整个漫长的黄昏，宜人又安详，

一直以来我凝望着西边的天空，

以及它黄绿色的奇异色调：

此刻我仍在凝望—用一种木然的眼神！

还有上空这些薄薄的云，成块成缕，

他们为星星乍现自己的形姿；

那些星星，在云后或云间滑翔，

时而闪耀，时而昏糊，但总是可见：

那边新月牢牢固定，仿佛它

生长于自己无云无星的蓝湖；

我看到它们全部极其善美，

我看到，而非感受到它们多么美丽！

我的精神天生衰颓；

还有什么能帮助

从我胸口掀开这块令人窒息的重负？

这是徒劳的努力，

尽管我应永远凝望

那道流连西天的绿色光芒：

我或许不该求助外界的光景

去赢得源自内心的热情与生命。【L网友译】

与华兹华斯不同，柯勒律治应对疏离感的方式是创造完全属于自己的世界。首次出版于《歌谣集》的《古舟子咏》（The Rime of the Ancient Mariner）与1797年创作的幻觉诗歌《忽必烈汗》（Kubla Khan）都以各自的方式反映了世纪之交的现实英国。惊险的航海故事与中国的探索传说在当时的英国很流行，但是柯勒律治却借助宛如魔法的音律掌控力将这两者都转换成了质地更丰富、气质更诡异的另类存在。以下诗章节选自前者，描绘了海上航船被诅咒魇住动弹不得之后的景象。即便对于当时最聪明最有知识的头脑来说，这个世界依然充满了神秘与威胁：

All in a hot and copper sky，

The bloody Sun, at noon，

Right up above the mast did stand，

No bigger than the Moon.

“正午血红的太阳，高悬在

灼热的铜黄色的天上，

正好直射着桅杆的尖顶，

大小不过像一个月亮。

Day after day, day after day，

We stuck, nor breath nor motion；

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

“过了一天，又是一天，

我们停滞在海上无法动弹；

就像一幅画中的航船，

停在一幅画中的海面。

And the Albatross begins to be avenged.

Water, water, every where，

And all the boards did shrink；

Water, water, every where，

Nor any drop to drink.

“水呵水，到处都是水，

船上的甲板却在干涸；

水呵水，到处都是水，

却没有一滴能解我焦渴。

The very deep did rot: O Christ!

That ever this should be!

Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs

Upon the slimy sea.

“大海本身在腐烂，呵上帝！

这景象实在令人心悸！

一些长着腿的粘滑的东西，

在粘滑的海面上爬来爬去。

About, about, in reel and rout

The death-fires danced at night；

The water, like a witch's oils，

Burnt green, and blue and white.

“到了夜晚死火出现在海上，

在我们四周旋舞飞扬；

而海水好似女巫的毒油，

燃着青白碧绿的幽光。【译者不详】

《古舟子咏》与《忽必烈汗》的重要性不只在于它们是两首最伟大的英国幻想诗歌，而且还在于它们将会激励一代代后世诗人去营造属于自己的、同样光怪陆离的幻想世界，通过语言来逃避城市化、商业化且单调无聊的十九世纪英国生活现实。不过谁也赶不上柯勒律治的水平：

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

忽必列汗在上都曾经

下令造一座堂皇的安乐殿堂：

这地方有圣河亚佛流奔，

穿过深不可测的洞门，

直流入不见阳光的海洋。

So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round:

And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills，

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree；

And here were forests ancient as the hills，

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

有方圆五英里肥沃的土壤，

四周给围上楼塔和城墙：

那里有花园，蜿蜒的溪河在其间闪耀，

园里树枝上鲜花盛开，一片芬芳；

这里有森林，跟山峦同样古老，

围住了洒满阳光的一块块青草草场。

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!

A savage place! as holy and enchanted

As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

但是，啊！那深沉而奇异的巨壑

沿青山斜裂，横过伞盖的柏树！

野蛮的地方，既神圣而又着了魔－－

好象有女人在衰落的月色里出没，

为她的魔鬼情郎而凄声嚎哭！

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething，

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing，

A mighty fountain momently was forced:

Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail，

Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:

And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever

It flung up momently the sacred river.

巨壑下，不绝的喧嚣在沸腾汹涌，

似乎这土地正喘息在快速而猛烈的悸动中，

从这巨壑里，不断迸出股猛烈的地泉；

在它那断时续的涌迸之间，

巨大的石块飞跃着象反跳的冰雹，

或者象打稻人连枷下一撮撮新稻；

从这些舞蹈的岩石中，时时刻刻

迸发出那条神圣的溪河。

Five miles meandering with a mazy motion

Through wood and dale the sacred river ran，

Then reached the caverns measureless to man，

And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:

And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

Ancestral voices prophesying war!

迷乱地移动着，蜿蜒了五英里地方，

那神圣的溪河流过了峡谷和森林，

于是到达了深不可测的洞门，

在喧嚣中沉入了没有生命的海洋；

从那喧嚣中忽必列远远听到

祖先的喊声预言着战争的凶兆！

The shadow of the dome of pleasure

Floated midway on the waves；

Where was heard the mingled measure

From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device，

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

安乐的宫殿有倒影

宛在水波的中央漂动；

这儿能听见和谐的音韵

来自那地泉和那岩洞。

这是个奇迹呀，算得是稀有的技巧，

阳光灿烂的安乐宫，连同那雪窟冰窖！【屠岸译】