佚名
THERE are gains for all our losses,
There are balms for all our pain:
But when youth, the dream, departs,
It takes something from our hearts,
And it never comes again.
We are stronger, and are better,
Under manhood?蒺s sterner reign:
Still we feel that something sweet
Following youth, with flying feet,
And will never come again.
Something beautiful is vanished,
And we sigh for it in vain:
We behold it everywhere,
On the earth, and in the air,
But it never comes again.
我們失去的一切都能得到补偿,
我们所有的痛苦都能得到安慰;
可是梦境似的青春一旦消逝,
它带走了我们心中的某种美好,
从此一去不复返。
在“高压”的成年生活驱使下,
我们变得日益刚强、更臻完美;
可是依然感到甜美的情感,
已随着青春飞逝,
不再返回。
美好已经消逝,
我们枉自为此叹息;
尽管在天地之间,
我们处处能见青春的魅力,
可是它不再返回!
理查德·亨利·斯托达德(Richard Henry Stoddard,1825—1903),美国评论家、诗人,生于美国的马萨诸塞州,当过铁匠。理查德1849年开始以写作为生,随后供职于多个杂志社,担任编辑和评论员。他的诗歌作品最为人所知,其作品以细腻、理想化著称。