Astrofan's Blog

Mowing by Robert Frost
There was never a sound beside the wood but one,
And that was my long scythe whispering to the ground.
What was it it whispered? I knew not well myself;
Perhaps it was something about the heat of the sun,
Something, perhaps, about the lack of sound--
And that was why it whispered and did not speak.
It was no dream of the gift of idle hours,
Or easy gold at the hand of fay or elf:
Anything more than the truth would have seemed too weak
To the earnest love that laid the swale in rows,
Not without feeble-pointed spikes of flowers
(Pale orchises), and scared a bright green snake.
The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.
My long scythe whispered and left the hay to make.

A deliberate vagueness is being shown in this poem this, i think is to pave the way for the
last line "left the hay to make" which, in my point of wiew means that the interpretation
of this poem can be anything. Or, to put it more precisely, it means that what the scythe
whispered is a open question. The poet doesn't close the meaning of tha poem by saying "this";
"that",no definate note can be found in the context.
Well, but there is however, as you might argue, one exception to this atmosphere of vagueness
and that is the second to last line, "The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows".
Well, I think that this line however does nothing what so ever to the vagueness of the whole.
I think that this is merely a clever trick! "The fact" is "the sweetest dream" that labor knows!
Got that? Well if you've already interpreted this then just consider what i've just said rubbish.
But now, we have one more problem, "the fact" and "dream". Why is fact in dreams? Isn't it a bit
like "dreaming of reality"? "Fact" to me, would give me the sence of "Reality". So, how could one
"dream of reality" when reality is something that is already there?
Well, i haven't deciphered that bit yet..........
So, think of it yourself! (If you have the time of course)
leave me a comment if you have any idea!


不翻譯詩的理由:不是我英文爛(是我中文爛)(自誇一下....)(真是不要臉) 翻譯詩會造成詩的原意的失真，同時可能摻入入翻譯者本身對於詩意的見解，故為此不遍翻譯，請自行體會啦!

中文版:

這首詩中似乎有種刻意營造的模糊感，我認為這是為了最後一句"left the hay to make"鋪路，這一句蘇乎是在告訴讀者"這首詩的意思是開放的，沒有答案"
也就是說"scythe"的"whisper"到底是什麼事沒答案的。
但這就有一個小問題，倒數第二行中他說"The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows"感覺就是他說"the fact is>事實上就是"
但，這裡似乎有一個文字遊戲"The fact(事實)" is是 "the sweetest dream最甜的夢" that labor knows苦力所知的(事實是苦力所知的最甜的夢)!
夠神吧?你若早就知道了那就當我再說屁話吧，但這有有一個奇怪的問題了，"the fact事實"與"dream夢"
為什麼事實在夢中?這部有點像是說"dreaming of reality夢見現實"?"Fact事實"對我而言有種"reality現實"的感覺，
那一個人如何"dreaming of reality夢見現實"?現實不是存在於當時嗎?
完全搞不懂......
加油自己想吧(有時間的話啦)
有答案就留個言吧。