I would I were a careless childBy George Gordon Byron

拜伦(1788—1824)，独步古今的天才诗人，在波澜诡谲的浪漫主义文苑诗坛上，他是手握如椽之笔，流金溢彩;在如火如荼的民族解放的政治舞台上，他又是身着戎装，叱咤风云，为民主和自由而战的坚强斗士。拜伦只活了36岁，被评论家称为是19世纪初英国的“满腔热情地辛辣地讽刺现实社会”的诗人。

I would I were a careless child,

Still dwelling in my Highland cave,

Or roaming through the dusky wild,

Or bounding o’er the dark blue wave;

我愿做无忧无虑的小孩，

仍然居住在高原的洞穴，

或是在微曛的旷野里徘徊，

或是在暗蓝的海波上腾跃;

The cumbrous pomp of Saxon pride

Accords not with the freeborn soul,

Which loves the mountain’s craggy side,

And seeks the rocks where billows roll.

Fortune! Take back these cultured lands,

Take back this name of splendid sound!

撒克逊浮华的繁文缛礼

不合我生来自由的意志，

我眷念坡道崎岖的山地，

我向往狂涛扑打的巨石.

命运啊!请收回丰熟的田畴，

收回这响亮的尊荣称号!

I hate the touch of servile hands,

I hate the slaves that cringe around.

Place me among the rocks I love,

Which sound to Ocean’s wildest roar;

I ask but this - again to rove

Through scenes my youth hath known before.

我厌恶被人卑屈地迎候，

厌恶被奴仆躬身环绕。

把我放回我酷爱的山岳，

听山岩应和咆哮的海洋;

我只求让我重新领略

我从小熟悉的故国风光。

Few are my years, and yet I feel

The world was ne’er designed for me:

Ah! why do dark’ning shades conceal

The hour when man must cease to be?

Once I beheld a splendid dream,

A visionary scene of bliss:

Truth!- wherefore did thy hated beam

我虽然年少，也能感觉出

这世界决不是为我而设;

幽冥的暗影为何要幂覆

世人向尘寰告别的时刻?

我也曾瞥见辉煌的梦境----

极乐之乡的神奇幻觉;

真相啊!为何你可憎的光明

Awake me to a world like this?

I loved - but those I loved are gone;

Had friends - my early friends are fled:

How cheerless feels the heart alone,

When all its former hopes are dead!

唤醒我面临这么个世界?

我爱过---所爱的人们已离去;

有朋友---早年的友谊已终结;

孤苦的心灵怎能不忧郁，

当原有的希望都黯然熄灭!