Prelude of Nightingale Singing "The Acropolis of Athens"

何威廉

Tune: Prelude of Nightingale Singing

The Acropolis of Athens

By William He

Parthenon glows yellow at sunrise,
Painted on a white cloud.
It lies in ruined state,
Awed by lonely stones in the wind,
The Acropolis with temples being wrecked.
The flower petal falls gently,
Plodding upwards through the broken citadel,
Having a myriad of different emotions and thoughts.
Stunning Thalassa of the Aegean,
Restoring color to her face deprived even.

Cherry bobbing in the breeze,
Olive waiting in silent glory,
All around the world unseen here.
The immortal Athena,
As a asteroid in dear dim dawn,
She has surely hold Achilles by the hair.
On the cusp of natal pride,
Her victorious face is magnified,
With her wield her sword,
She guards the faint new breath.
On the telepathic rostrum,
The serpent in twine finds it as a prodigy,
When angel comes down from her height.

Breathing in the wind of wines,
Dionysus feels a bit tipsy,
While he is repeating the script.
To pass through a labyrinth,
With her high half-human passion,
Sphinx's bitter self grows sweet,
Words locked in eternal rock shields,
What is an eternally illusive riddle.
Holy hill rears starry skies,
And bids the Phoebus shines,
By love's alternate joy and woe,
Fleece for whose sake,
Jason decoys Medea the credulous girl.
Human souls above their low estate,
Zeus pursues the fearless one who ravished him,
Prometheus stole from Heaven the sacred fire.

To know what magic here can be,
The fragrance of Greek time,
While others as in sanctified trance.
Musing there hours alone,
The golden age of Pericles,
To urge some eyes to dance,
Reliving dramas of who we are,
Distance drives eternity out of sight.
Doria splendid over Genoa,
Venice bright with Dandolo,
Timon can't afford to bear deep feeling burden,
Along with neoteric vicissitude,
Mortals mock their doubts with creeds.
All men left the praise of Greece,
The Pyrrhic dance by Gerome,
The Pyrrhic phalanx is gone.


莺啼序

雅典卫城

作者：何威廉

晨晖璧宫草径，
早微云点缀。
半廊庙、
簌簌西风，
旧殿雕素羸悴。
蔷薇落、
颓垣断渐，
登临寄味犹多味。
似爱琴浮翮，
零圭碎璧萦系。

日下樱珠，
堂前橄榄，
正阙央仙气。
雅典娜、
星眼流精，
朱唇妆点金翠。
若惊鸿、
旌旗侧畔，
知多少、
翕然无愧。
步高台，
三尺青蛇，
征袍风佩。

胡床樽酒，
斟酌同醺，
狄奥尼索士。
忒拜谜、
斯芬克氏，
妖魅垂翼，
独倚岩崖，
悚惶辨对。
琼香缭绕，
缤纷瑞霭，
灵芝色秀分千叶，
待金羊、
美狄亚谐媚。
黄云拂紫，
宙斯堪羡羲和，
先觉盗火弘济。

圣林月笼，
过隙流光，
似梦游天际。
漫伫立、
层楹高峙，
绮陌凌波，
鸥鹭寻盟，
千里之外。
霓虹变幻，
珠缨飘转，
泰门夙怨终未解，
且浮沉、
世祚将何冀。
客纷如织丘墟，
老去英雄，
有谁相慰。


Notes:
“Thalassa”: Thalassa was the primordial goddess (protogenos) of the sea. Mingled with Pontos (Pontus), her male counterpart, she produced the fish and other sea creatures. Thalassa was the literal body of the sea and in the fables of Aesop, manifests as a woman formed of sea-water rising from her native element.
“Achilles”: Achilles, in Greek mythology, son of the mortal Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and the Nereid, or sea nymph, Thetis. Achilles was the bravest, handsomest, and greatest warrior of the army of Agamemnon in the Trojan War. According to Homer, Achilles was brought up by his mother at Phthia with his cousin and inseparable companion Patroclus.
“Dionysos”: Dionysos (Roman name: Bacchus) was the ancient Greek god of wine, merriment, and theatre. Being the bad boy of Mt. Olympus, he was perhaps the most colourful of the Olympian Gods.
“Phoebus”: Phoebus (Greek mythology) was Greek god of light,god of prophecy and poetry and music and healing,son of Zeus and Leto,twin brother of Artemis.
“Fleece”: The Golden Fleece was the fleece of the golden ram that was held in Colchis, and the object of desire for Jason, who organised an expedition with the Argonauts in order to retrieve it.
“Doria”: In Greek Baby Names the meaning of the name Dora is: Gift of God. A vision. Famous bearer: St Dorothea was martyred at the beginning of the 4th century.
“Timon”: Timon of Athens, tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, probably written sometime in 1605-08 and published in the First Folio of 1623 from an authorial manuscript, probably unfinished. Some parts of the play may be by Thomas Middleton. It belongs to Shakespeare’s late experimental period, when he explored a new kind of tragic form.
“Pyrrhic”: Pyrrhic victory. A victory that is accompanied by enormous losses and leaves the winners in as desperate shape as if they had lost The original Pyrrhic victory came courtesy of Pyrrhus of Epirus, a Greek king who was undone by his costly battles against the Romans.
“Gerome”: Jean-Leon Gerome was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits, and other subjects, bringing the academic painting tradition to an artistic climax.

《中国诗歌网-风雅版》链接：https://bbs.yzs.com/thread-948794-1-1.html

何威廉

Doria splendid over Genoa,
Venice bright with Dandolo,
Timon can't afford to bear deep feeling burden,
Along with neoteric vicissitude,
Mortals mock their doubts with creeds......

山居一翁

首读大作，赏学赞美。

何威廉

英国上议院终身贵族托斯科特勋爵点评拙词《莺啼序·雅典卫城》英文本（中文节译本）。

何先生：

这首词充分体现了您在希腊神话方面的渊博学识，用典高妙之处，不胜枚举。您真正道出了雅典卫城的核心精神。

阿克罗波利斯，特别是帕特农神庙，是希腊更是西方文明的象征，也是民主制度的摇篮。古希腊时期实行精英主义民主，对于奴隶和女性而言是没有民主的。古希腊哲学家亚里士多德的“政治学”是我在牛津大学读现代史的教科书之一（由此可以看出这部著作在牛津大学多么重要）。亚里士多德在书中详细探讨了古希腊民主的形式。

英国埃尔金伯爵从奥斯曼土耳其帝国买下帕特农神庙上的大理石建筑装饰和雕刻，并运回伦敦（大英博物馆的镇馆之宝），这件事一直争论不休。在奥斯曼土耳其帝国与威尼斯共和国之间的战争中，帕特农神庙遭到大面积的破坏。

祝周末愉快！

最诚挚的问候。

托斯科特勋爵

2020年10月17日

托斯科特勋爵是牛津大学哲学博士，英国上议院终身贵族，英国政府前能源部长，欧洲议会前安全委员会副主席。现任英国议会俄罗斯和独联体关系委员会主席，英国皇家三军联合研究所(RUSI)高级研究员。托斯科特勋爵同时也是英国著名作家。

何威廉

山居一翁 发表于 2020-10-20 21:05
首读大作，赏学赞美。

谢谢雅赏。迟复为歉。顺颂秋祺！

何威廉

Acropolis
By Alison Hodges

I woke up that morning and put on my brave face.
I went down to the bar and managed to get a shot.
Neither server spoke English and I didn’t speak Greek.
That was to be the tenor of the day.

It took me about an hour to find it.
I stopped for directions occasionally,
but for the most part, no one in the shops spoke English.
I walked up the tall hills and wound my way
up the stairs of marble leading to the flat top
of the Acropolis.  

With each step I walked farther
into the world I had dreamed of when reading books.
A place of great battles and great men.
As I was climbing up the smooth marble steps, felt holy
like a sanctified touch had lifted the affliction of my mind.
If not for the slickness of the marble I would have run!
Running toward the past, toward Thermopylae.

The soldiers camped the night before
knowing death may await them.
Did they think of their families at home in Athens,
children and partners gathered round the fires with concern?
Did they think of deserting, just skipping out?

I stood atop the Acropolis
with the Parthenon on my left
staring out to what use to be the sea.
I was the only one in the universe at the Parthenon.
Me and a stray dog with her puppies.
We were the only ones!  What kind of gift is that?
The smell of the ocean nearby,
the taste of the air on my tongue,
The breeze through the trees, the smell of the houses and markets.

Socrates was by my side, along with lingering dead soldiers.
Someone, somewhere was reciting the Hypocritic Oath.
And all of us, all of it, was just me alone on the Acropolis.
I sat for hours and just was.