When I Was One-and-Twenty

　

When I was one-and-twenty

I heard a wise man say,

"Give crowns and pounds and guineas

But not your heart away;

Give pearls away and rubies

But keep your fancy free."

But I was one-and-twenty,

No use to talk to me.

　

When I was one-and-twenty

I heard him say again,

"The heart out of the bosom

Was never given in vain;

'Tis paid with sighs a-plenty

And sold for endless rue."

And I am two-and-twenty,

And oh, 'tis true, 'tis true.

　

当我二十一岁时

当我二十一岁时，

我听聪明人言语，

“金子银子均可给，

不可把真心相与；

珍珠宝石均可给，

个人爱好不可失。”

我已年方二十一，

再说与我复何益。

　

当我二十一岁时，

我听他又在言语，

“你真心一朝相与，

也绝不会白给，

得到的是无尽哀叹，

换回来无限愁思。”

我已二十有二岁

啊，言之有理，有理。

解释：诗人以轻松而又有讽刺意味的诗句描述了一个青年恋爱时的感受。聪明人不要他轻易去谈恋爱以免招致无穷的失望与苦恼，他未听劝告，二十一岁就谈情说爱起来，结果，正如聪明人所说的，才一年光景（到了二十二岁），他已感到无穷的烦恼。

　

Look Not in My Eyes

　

Look not in my eyes, for fear

They mirror true the sight I see,

And there you find your face too clear

And love it and be lost like me,

One the long nights through must lie

Spent in star-defeated sighs,

But why should you as well as I

Perish? gaze not in my eyes.

　

A Grecian lad, as I hear tell,

One that many loved in vain,

Looked into a forest well

And never looked away again,

There, when the turf in springtime flowers,

With downward eye and gazes sad,

Stands amid the glancing showers

A jonquil, not a Grecian lad.

　

请别看我的眼睛，

我怕它映出我看的那付倩影。

当你看到那清晰的面貌，

你会爱上它，跟我一样神魂不定。

在漫漫黑夜里躺着，消瘦枯槁，

听任命运的煎熬。

你我何苦要毁灭？

请别看我的眼睛。

　

我听说有位希腊少年，

许多姑娘爱他也都枉然，

森林里池水中他看到自己容颜，

变成了水仙花，什么东西也不再看。

每当春天草地上白花盛开，

之间一株水仙花而不是希腊少年，

伫立在迷蒙细雨之间，

它眼睛低垂，神情伤感。

解释：诗人告诫一位他所爱的姑娘不要像一位希腊少年那样。 因为他在森林中一池清水里看见自己的影子而顾影自怜，对于许多爱他的姑娘他都不理，结果被神所罚，变成一株水仙花。 所以诗人要这位姑娘不要看诗人的眼睛，免得在眼睛中看到她自己的美丽影子而顾影自怜遭到同样的命运。