英文文学 第5章 诗歌

Sonnet XXX

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink

Nor Slumber nor a roof against the rain;

Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink

And raise and sink and raise and sink again;

Love cannot fill the thickened lung with breathe,

Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;

Yet many a man is making friends with death

Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.

It well may be that in a difficult hour,

Pinned down by pain and moaning for release,

Or nagged by want past resolution’s power,

I might be driven to sell your love for peace,

Or trade the memory of this night for food.

It well may be. I do not think I would.

解析：

这是一首典型的十四行诗，有着abab型的押韵。英语文学里的十四行诗，“sonnet”，一般都是描写爱情的，这首也不例外。Sonnet XXX 描写了作者自己对待爱情的观点。前半段作者表明爱情并不是一个必需品，但人还是甘之如饴的追求爱情。哪怕它什么都不能做，男人也愿意为了爱情去和死亡做朋友。作者的语气也带着不解和一点鄙视。而从第八句开始，作者从第三人称视角换成了第一人称，表示那是她自己的感受。后半段就是作者自己的沦陷。在体验过爱情后，作者也和那些人一样，她也终于理解为什么人们把爱情视如珍宝，因为换做她自己，她也不愿意失去爱情。