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Wordsworth
Scorn not the Sonnet;Critic,you have frowned,
Mindless of its just honours;with this key
Shakespeare unlocked his heart;the melody➀
Of this small lute gave ease to Petrarch’s wound➁;
A thousand times this pipe did Tasso sound➂;
With it Camoens soothed an exile’s grief➃;
The Sonnet glittered a gay myrtle leaf
Amid the cypress with which Dante crowned➄
His visionary brow: a glow-worm lamp➅,
It cheered mild Spenser,called from Faery-land
To struggle through dark ways;and when a damp➆
Fell round the path of Milton,in his hand
The Thing became a trumpet;whence he blew
Soul-animating strains—alas,too few➇!
➀莎士比亚写过十四行诗154首。
➁彼特拉克(1304—1374),意大利诗人。写过十四行诗三百多首,歌咏他对少女萝拉的爱情。“创痛”指爱情上的失意。
➂塔索(1544—1595),意大利诗人,写过十四行诗多首。
➃卡蒙斯(1524?—1580),葡萄牙诗人,写过十四行诗多首。他曾长期被放逐,浪迹于摩洛哥、印度等地。“逐客的离情”指此。
➄但丁为贝雅特里齐而写的抒情诗集《新生》中包括十四行诗多首。头上缠着柏枝,是表示对贝雅特里齐的悼念(欧洲人常以柏枝表示悼念)。
➅斯宾塞(1552—1599),英国诗人。他的十四行诗押韵形式独具一格,称为“斯宾塞体”。他以长诗《仙后》闻名于世,所以下行提到“仙乡”。
➆约翰•弥尔顿(1608—1674),卓越的英国革命诗人和政治家。
➇弥尔顿扩大了十四行诗的题材和视野,但他总共只写了23首十四行诗(18首用英文,5首用意大利文),所以华兹华斯认为他写得还“太少”。
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