The Phoenix and the Turtle

The Phoenix and the Turtle

         by William Shakespeare

Let the bird of loudest lay,
On the sole Arabian tree,
Herald sad and trumpet be,
To whose sound chaste wings obey.

But thou, shrieking harbinger,
Foul pre-currer of the fiend,
Augur of the fever's end,
To this troop come thou not near.

From this session interdict
Every fowl of tyrant wing,
Save the eagle, feather'd king:
Keep the obsequy so strict.

Let the priest in surplice white,
That defunctive music can,
Be the death-defying swan,
Lest the requiem lack his right.

And thou, treble-dated crow,
That thy sable gender mak'st
With the breath thou giv'st and tak'st,
'Mongst our mourners shalt thou go.

Here the anthem doth commence:
Love and constancy is dead;
Phoenix and the turtle fled
In a mutual flame from hence.

So they lov'd, as love in twain
Had the essence but in one;
Two distincts, division none:
Number there in love was slain.

Hearts remote, yet not asunder;
Distance, and no space was seen
'Twixt the turtle and his queen;
But in them it were a wonder.

So between them love did shine,
That the turtle saw his right
Flaming in the phoenix' sight:
Either was the other's mine.

Property was thus appall'd,
That the self was not the same;
Single nature's double name
Neither two nor one was call'd.

Reason, in itself confounded,
Saw division grow together;
To themselves yet either-neither,
Simple were so well compounded.

That it cried how true a twain
Seemeth this concordant one!
Love hath reason, reason none
If what parts can so remain.

Whereupon it made this threne
To the phoenix and the dove,
Co-supreme and stars of love;
As chorus to their tragic scene.

凤凰和斑鸠

   威廉•莎士比亚

阿拉伯独有一树，
树上有鸟最激越。
请它做先导和号角，
贞禽会朝它飞聚。

可是嘶叫的枭，
魔鬼的前驱和仆从，
死亡将临的兆征，
不许你来骚扰。

禁止闯入我们的队伍，
一切霸道的翅膀，
除了鹰，羽族之王，
葬礼必须肃穆。

让白衣黑袍的牧师，
来唱死亡之歌，
他懂得对哀乐应和，
否则安魂缺少仪式。

还有你长命的乌鸦，
对嘴就生黑毛后裔，
只靠一口呼吸，
请你也来参加。

现在来诵葬词：
爱和忠贞已经死亡，
凤和鸠化作了火光，
双双飞腾，离开人世。

它们彼此相爱，
本质乃是一体，
分明是二，又浑然为一，
数已为爱所摧。

两心远隔，却不分离，
虽有距离，但无空间，
在风和鸠之间，
就是这样神奇。

爱情之光照耀两体，
鸠借凤的火眼，
看自己得到了所恋，
彼即是此，此即是彼。

物性变得离奇，
已身已非原身，
同质而有异名，
不叫二，也不称一。

理智也感到困惑，
眼见是分，却又合一，
两者也难说我或你，
简单变成了繁琐。

于是理智喊道：
“看似一体，却又成双，
爱有理而理无常，
但愿分而不倒！”

接着唱起这曲哀歌，
献给凤凰和斑鸠，
爱的双星，至上无俦，
为悲壮的结局伴乐。

威廉•莎士比亚简介

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