两首圣诞节的英文诗歌.docxVIP

The Cultivation of Christmas TreesThere are several attitudes towards Christmas,Some of which we may disregard:The social, the torpid, the patently commercial,The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight),And the childish - which is not that of the childFor whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angelSpreading its wings at the summit of the treeIs not only a decoration, but an angel.The child wonders at the Christmas Tree: ?Let him continue in the spirit of wonder ?At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext; ?So that the glittering rapture, the amazement ?Of the first-remembered Christmas Tree, ?So that the surprises, delight in new possessions ?(Each one with its peculiar and exciting smell), ?The expectation of the goose or turkey ?And the expected awe on its appearance,So that the reverence and the gaiety ?May not be forgotten in later experience, ?In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium, ?The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure, ?Or in the piety of the convert ?Which may be tainted with a self-conceit ?Displeasing to God and disrespectful to children ?(And here I remember also with gratitude ?St.Lucy, her carol, and her crown of fire):So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas ?(By eightieth meaning whichever is last) ?The accumulated memories of annual emotion ?May be concentrated into a great joy ?Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion ?When fear came upon every soul: ?Because the beginning shall remind us of the end ?And the first coming of the second coming.-T.S.Eliot, 1954虽然这首诗与宗教有关，但同时也探讨圣诞对于世俗之人的意义。艾略特开篇就说，人们对待圣诞节有几种态度，有人觉得就是为了社交，有人对它不感冒，有人觉得它太商业化，也有人说它太闹，还有人说它幼稚。艾略特马上说，这种幼稚和孩童的纯真是很不同的。纯真的孩子把蜡烛看成星星，把站在圣诞树顶端伸开双翅的镀金小天使当作真正的天使，而不仅仅是装饰品。诗人自己也渴望回到童年，不是变地幼稚，而是重新获得像孩童般的好奇，为圣诞树上挂着的闪闪发光的小东西着迷，像看到记忆中的第一棵圣诞树那样欣喜若狂，闻到树上各种奇怪而又神奇的味道，期待着不知道今天的大餐是烤鹅还是烤火鸡，又为谜底揭晓感到惊奇不已。那么为什么要记住关于第一棵圣诞树的回忆呢？艾略特难得乐观地说，当你被无聊的生活惯性左右，当你感到疲乏，厌倦，当你感受到死亡，失意时，那种童年极度欣喜的体验随着时间慢慢淡化，但也不至于在日后的老成世故中被彻底遗忘。可是现实哪有那么简单，对于西方人来说，过圣诞节也像咱过年一样一年又一年，过来过去还是差不多的老调