Many people know that Ireland and Scotland are feuding, but in fact, Ireland and England have a good relationship. In the eighteenth century, the Irish were very poor, eating potatoes as a single food**, the advantage of potatoes was that they were highly productive, and a small amount of land fed eight million Irishmen, but as soon as the potatoes became ill, famine occurred, and the next year the farmers cut the potatoes with the germ into pieces and continued to plant them in the soil, and the potato disease continued. Famine has been going on for five or six years.
Due to the religious antagonism between Ireland and England, most of the people in Ireland believe in Catholicism, England believes in Protestantism, and the mainstream of Britain believes that the Irish famine is deserved, and Britain** sits idly by and ignores Ireland, resulting in the death of more than one million people. As a result, Ireland exported millions of refugees to the New World. Because I've been drenched in the rain, I also want to hold an umbrella for others. This painful historical memory has made Ireland one of the few countries in contemporary Europe that does not exclude refugees.
The potato famine spurred an awakening of national consciousness, and Yeats was surrounded by a circle of people who unearthed national history, taught national languages, and wrote in national languages, who eventually became the leading nucleus of the Easter uprising.
More than 1,000 people took part in the Easter Uprising, merging the Irish Volunteers led by Pierce and the smaller Irish Civic Army (former workers' pickets) led by Connelly, with the participation of the Irish Women's Republic.
The leaders of the rebels, Patrick Henry Pierce, and Thomas McDonagh, both poets and playwrights whose works were published or staged, were poets and playwrights who ran a bilingual secondary school, where MacDonagh was vice-principal, and who also served as a lecturer at a national university, and among his students was Warahajiri Venkata Giri, who later became the fourth Indian **.
Yeats's muse, actress Maud Gang, also participated in the Easter Rising and was imprisoned for 6 months, and Maud Gang's husband, Major John McBride, also participated in the uprising and was executed by the British army. Yeats was a lifelong admirer of Maud Gon, and in his later years even proposed to Gon's daughter, which was also rejected. In Gang's eyes, Yeats was a bit of a sissy, while John McBride was a tough guy who fought in the Boer War in South Africa, although the two later divorced because of McBride's alcoholism, domestic violence, infidelity, and sexual harassment of girls. He and Gang's son, Sean McBride, became commander-in-chief of the IRA in 1936 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in the 70s.
Yeats's poem is like pointing to a piece of ** to tell you who they are and what traces they have left in his life.
Due to Yeats's highly concise language and the fact that English verbs have their own stresses, the literal translation will be dry. What's more, when the author writes the original poem, he would have added and subtracted rhetoric for the sake of rhyme. There are many places in this poem that are either added or subtracted, and through "words without words" or "filling", we strive for sentence comprehension and balance of language sense. "minute by minute they chang" translates to "the long-legged moor-hens dive.""Translated as "the long-legged female water chicken pierces a fierce child". But it is impossible to literally reflect the original appearance of the writing. If you are interested, it is better to read the original poem.
The most widely circulated is Yuan Kejia's translation. Mr. Yuan Kejia's translation of "Sailing to Byzantium" is my favorite translated poem when I was young, such as Huang Zhong Da Lu, sonorous and sound. In a word, poetic. But there is a problem, he does not pay much attention to the choice of words and grammar. Like "Easter 1919", stone has the meaning of diamond and gemstone, although diamond and gemstone are also stones, and if they are directly translated as stones, they are too real and lack the crystal clear temperament of the original.
a stone to trouble the living stream"In the past, when the British carried out sea rescues, they first poured oil on the water, because oil is lighter than water, and floating on the water can calm down the turbulent waters, and troubled waters is said to be turbulent seawaters, and trouble is used as a means of "making ......turbulent". So "a stone to trouble the living stream.""It means a gem that makes the water flow. Yuan Kejia's translation of "make the active river immovable" is obviously wrong. Of course, the reader will say, isn't the living water inherently active, shouldn't it be still after the trouble, no, the river encounters obstacles, splits in two and merges, it will only be more turbulent, it will not stop. There are many mistranslations here, but I like Mr. Yuan's plain style of translating poems.
Easter 1919
Author: W. B. Yeats.
Translator: Flying Flowers Full Building.
I've seen them, at sunset.
Vivid faces.
From the 18th century grey houses.
Behind the counter or at the desk.
I walked by and nodded in acknowledgement.
Bring out a few polite words.
Or stop and rub for a while.
Say a few polite words.
I used to sit around the fire in the club.
To please a companion.
A banter story comes to mind.
Or a joking word.
I'm very sure of them and me.
I have only lived in places where I wear variegated colors.
It's all changed now, it's all changed.
A terrifying beauty was born.
The woman was a pair of 1s during the day
Impolite warm-heartedness.
The night is all about arguing.
Until the voice gets sharper and sharper.
Looking back, she was young and beautiful.
The hounds ran ahead.
She hits the horse and chases after her.
What kind of voice could be sweeter than hers?
This man ran a school 2
He's riding our Pegasus 3
The other, his assistant and friend.
also join his army; 4
His nature is so sensitive.
His thoughts are so considerate that he could have become a famous artist.
Another man I had imagined.
He was an alcoholic, pretentious reckless man 5
The girl on the tip of my heart.
The most asshole thing ever done.
But I'm going to mention him in the poem.
He, too, is from this improvised comedy.
resigned from his role;
When it was his turn, it was also changed.
It's completely transformed.
A terrifying beauty was born.
Regardless of the cold winter or the heat.
Hearts with the same goal.
Hooked on a piece.
Let the water flow of the gem.
The galloping horse galloped along the road.
The riders, the birds.
Walk through the tumbling clouds.
The posture changes minute by minute.
The shadow of the clouds in the stream.
The posture changes minute by minute.
A horse's hoof slides into the water's edge.
Then, a horse splashed.
The long-legged female water chicken pierced a fierce son.
Next, the hen greets the rooster.
They're alive every minute.
Gems sit on the watch for it all.
To create a jewel heart.
A sacrifice goes on too long.
Oh, how long will it take?
That's God's role, our role.
It's muttering names one by one.
It's as if a mother is calling her child's name.
When sleep finally quiets Sa Huan'er's limbs.
It's not nightfall, what is that?
No, no, not night but death.
Is this death unnecessary?
After all, England will say that
Doing it, keeping its promises. 6
We know their dreams, we know.
They have dreamed and died, and that is enough.
If only they had died.
It's all too much love to get dazed?
Now and in the days to come.
I'll write in the poem
McDonagh and McBride 7
Connolly and Pierce.
*There is a green to wear on the body 8
* It's changed, it's all changed.
A terrifying beauty was born.
1. Constance Georgina Makiwicz, Yeats's childhood friend, established the United Literary Club with Yeats and others, and after the Easter Uprising**, she was sentenced to life imprisonment because she was a woman, and was later amnestied and became the first female minister in Ireland.
2. Pegasus refers to the goddess of literature and art.
3. Patrick Henry Pierce, leader of the Irish Volunteer Army, one of the seven signatories of the Provisional *** Easter Declaration. Pierce was a poet, playwright, and a bilingual boys' school that taught English and Irish. ** He was later executed.
4. Thomas McDonagh, Irish poet, playwright, teacher at the National University of Ireland, former vice-principal of the bilingual school in Pierce, appointed director of training for the Irish Volunteers, commander of the second battalion, one of the seven signatories,** was later executed.
5. John McBride, an Irish Major officer, deputy commander of the 2nd Battalion, and Maud Gang's husband, had committed domestic violence against Gang and was later executed.
6. Prior to the uprising, Irish nationalist leader John Redmond had already pushed for the passage of the third Home Rule Act in 1914, which provided for the division of Ireland into Northern and Southern Ireland and self-government within the British Commonwealth, although its implementation was delayed by the outbreak of World War I.
7. James Connolly, Marxist, leader of the Irish Civic Army, military commander-in-chief, one of the seven signatories,** was later executed.
8. Green is the national color of Ireland.
easter，1916
w·b·yeats
i h**e met them at close of day
coming with vivid faces
from counter or desk among grey
eighteenth-century houses.
i h**e passed with a nod of the head
or polite meaningless words,or h**e lingered awhile and said
polite meaningless words,and thought before i had done
of a mocking tale or a gibe
to please a companion
around the fire at the club,being certain that they and i
but lived where motley is worn:
all changed, changed utterly:
a terrible beauty is born.
that woman's days were spent
in ignorant good-will,her nights in argument
until her voice grew shrill.
what voice more sweet than hers
when, young and beautiful,she rode to harriers?
this man had kept a school
and rode our wingèd horse;
this other his helper and friend
was coming into his force;
he might h**e won fame in the end,so sensitive his nature seemed,so daring and sweet his thought.
this other man i had dreamed
a drunken, vainglorious lout.
he had done most bitter wrong
to some who are near my heart,yet i number him in the song;
he, too, has resigned his part
in the casual comedy;
he, too, has been changed in his turn,transformed utterly:
a terrible beauty is born.
hearts with one purpose alone
through summer and winter seem
enchanted to a stone
to trouble the living stream.
the horse that comes from the road,the rider, the birds that range
from cloud to tumbling cloud,minute by minute they change;
a shadow of cloud on the stream
changes minute by minute;
a horse-hoof slides on the brim,and a horse plashes within it;
the long-legged moor-hens dive,and hens to moor-cocks call;
minute by minute they live:
the stone's in the midst of all.
too long a sacrifice
can make a stone of the heart.
o when may it suffice?
that is he**en's part, our part
to murmur name upon name,as a mother names her child
when sleep at last has come
on limbs that had run wild.
what is it but nightfall?
no, no, not night but death;
was it needless death after all?
for england may keep faith
for all that is done and said.
we know their dream; enough
to know they dreamed and are dead;
and what if excess of love
bewildered them till they died?
i write it out in a verse—
macdonagh and macbride
and connolly and pearse
now and in time to be,wherever green is worn,are changed, changed utterly:
a terrible beauty is born.
Other Translations: I saw them at dusk.
With a lively look, he walked out of the gray eighteenth-century house, from the counter and the desk.
I walked over, nodded, and said something meaningless, or lingered for a while, and said a few words.
Meaningless words, polite;
Before the conversation was finished, I had already thought about it.
Satirical stories or sarcasm, it's good to be on the side of the club fire.
Amuse your friends.
I'm sure they're just like me, but in the land of clowns:
Everything has changed, completely changed :
A terrible beauty has been born.
The woman in broad daylight.
He does things with foolish kindness, and at night he argues with others.
until the glottis hisses;
When she was young and pretty, chasing hares and riding horses, no one's voice raced her.
This man ran a school, he rode our Pegasus, and that one was his assistant and friend, and he joined his troops;
Perhaps he eventually won fame, he was sentimental in nature, and he was bold and beautiful in his thoughts.
The other , I had thought.
He was a drunkard, a vain fool who had done the most painful evil to my beloved.
But I also want to mention him in the song, and he also quit his role from the accidental comedy
When it was his turn, he also changed, completely changed:
A terrible beauty has been born.
The hearts of the people have only one goal, and after summer and winter, it seems that evil has turned into rocks, so that the active river does not move.
Horses coming from the main road, horseback riders and from the clouds.
Birds that fly to the clouds and tumble.
Minute by minute;
The shadow of a cloud falling in the river.
Minute by minute, a horse's hoof slipped from the water's edge, and a horse flapped among the water;
The long-legged female grouse rushed down, crowing at the male grouse, alive minute by minute, with the rock at the center of everything.
A sacrifice that lasted too long.
Can make the heart hard as a rock, oh, when will the sacrifice come to an end?
It is up to God to answer.
We can only call people by their names, like a mother calling her child's name, and when sleep finally comes, it quiets the limbs of the wilderness. .
Is this the coming of night?
No, no, it's not night but death;
Isn't this a superfluous death?
Britain may keep her word, no matter what she says or does
We know their dreams, we know that they have dreamed and died, and that's enough, maybe it's excessive love.
Cause them to be confused and die?
I'm going to write in the poem-
MacDonald and McBlatt, Connolly and Pierce, today and in the days to come, wherever the green banner hangs, they have all changed, completely changed:
A terrible beauty has been born.
Refers to Countess MacChamwicz (1868-1927), who participated in the uprising, was sentenced to death, and later commuted to a long prison sentence.
Patrick Pierce (1879-1916), leader of the rebels, was sentenced to death.
Thomas MacDonald (1878-1916), poet and playwright.
Refers to Colonel John McBlatt, husband of Maute Goney. At the time of the uprising, they had been separated for many years.
Comedy of Chance", referring to the banal life of Ireland in the past. Meaning, he also got rid of the boring life and plunged into the tragedy of the uprising.
Britain** had promised Ireland autonomy.
The Irish are accustomed to using green as a sign of national festivities.
Translated by Yuan Kejia).