李白《夜静思》10种英译版本-欣赏
古诗英译是一个古老的课题。晚清时期就有记录。但直到如今一些名篇的翻译仍然不能定稿，甚至永远都不能定稿，这是因为不同的译者有不同的翻译理念。
这里列出李白《夜静思》的10种英译版本，都是出自名家之手。其中翁显良先生的译本可能算是最差的。
《夜静思》 李白
床前明月光，疑是地上霜。
举头望明月，低头思故乡。
(1) Night Thoughts
I wake, and moonbeams play around my bed,
Glittering like hoar-frost to my wandering eyes;
Up towards the glorious moon I raise my head,
Then lay me down---and thoughts of home arise.
( 译者Herbert A. Giles，生于1845年，英国外交家，精通中文。)
(2) Thoughts in a Tranquil Night
Athwart the bed
I watch the moonbeams cast a trail
So bright, so cold, so frail,
That for a space it gleams
Like hoarfrost on the margin of my dreams.
I raise my head, -
The splendid moon I see:
Then droop my head,
And sink to dreams of thee -
My father land , of thee!
(译者L.Cranmer-Byng， 生于1872， 英国著名汉学家。)
(3) The Moon Shines Everywhere
Seeing the moon before my couch so bright
I thought hoar frost had fallen from the night.
On her clear face I gaze with lifted eyes:
Then hide them full of Youth's sweet memories.
(译者 W.J.B. Fletcher，生于1879，英国外交家。)
(4) In the Quiet Night
So bright a gleam on the foot of my bed---
Could there have been a frost already?
Lifting my head to look, I found that it was moonlight.
Sinking back again, I thought suddenly of home.
(译者Witter Bynner，生于1881年，美国著名诗人。)
(5) On a Quiet Night
I saw the moonlight before my couch,
And wondered if it were not the frost on the ground.
I raised my head and looked out on the mountain moon,
I bowed my head and thought of my far-off home.
(译者 Shigeyoshi Obata, 生于1888，日本翻译家和中国古诗爱好者。)
(6) In the Still of the Night
I descry bright moonlight in front of my bed.
I suspect it to be hoary frost on the floor.
I watch the bright moon, as I tilt back my head.
I yearn, while stooping, for my homeland more.
（译者徐忠杰，1901年出生于香港，后移居上海。1922年赴美国留学，在俄亥俄州迈阿密大学攻读英国文学）
(7) Night Thoughts
Before my bed there is bright moonlight
So that it seems like frost on the ground
Lifting my head, I watch the bright moon
Lowering my head, I dream that I'm home
(译者：Arthur Cooper，生于1916，英国外交家)
（8） A Tranquil Night
Abed, I see a silver light,
I wonder if it's frost aground.
Looking up, I find the moon bright;
Bowing, in homesickness I'm drowned.
(译者许渊冲，1921年生于江西南昌，北京大学著名教授，中国大翻译家)
（9） Nostalgia
A splash of white on my bedroom floor. Hoarfrost?
I raise my eyes to the moon, the same moon.
As scenes long past come to mind,
My eyes fall again on the splash of white
And my heart aches for home.
(译者：翁显良生于1924，暨南大学教授，翻译家)
（10） Night Thoughts
In front of my bed the moonlight is very bright.
I wonder if that can be frost on the floor?
I lift up my head and look at the full noon, the dazzling moon.
I drop my head, and think of the home of old days.
(译者：Amy Lowell，生于1974，美国诗人。)
在所有的译本中，我最喜欢的是L.Cranmer-Byng的译本。他真正做到了“以诗译诗”。唯一不足之处是译诗中的节奏感略微差了些，这也难免，因为英文的抑扬顿挫与中文的抑扬顿挫无法等同。
如今有不少翻译爱好者在自己的博客中推出了比较好的译本。本人也做了尝试，主要是注意了节奏感。我的尝试如下：
Thinking at midnight
In front of my bed, why it’s so bright?
Is it the chilly frost sticking to floor so tight?
Lifting myself to look, I see moonlight beams.
Sinking again in bed, hometown is in my dreams.
