转贴方教授的翻译及分析：
弥尔顿《莎翁墓志铭》
弥尔顿《莎翁墓志铭》
What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones,
The labor of an age in pilèd stones,
Or that his hallowed relics should be hid
Under a star-ypointing pyramid?
Dear son of Memory, great heir of fame,
What need’st thou such weak witness of thy name?
Thou in our wonder and astonishment
Hast built thyself a live-long monument.
For whilst to th’ shame of slow-endeavouring art,
Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart
Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book
Those Delphic lines with deep impression took,
Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving,
Dost make us marble with too much conceiving;
And so sepúlchred in such pomp dost lie,
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.
此诗作于1630年，莎士比亚死后14年，时密尔顿22岁，好像正在读研。此乃其首发之诗。诗为五步抑扬格的双行体。每两行换一个韵。此种诗体多用于史诗，故亦称英雄双行体。
说实在我不喜欢英诗的结构，没有中文诗那么清楚。分析起来挺费劲。
What needs /my Shakes/peare for /his hon/oured bones,
比如这里的what，我怎么念也觉得不是抑而是扬。也可能是我划分错了。廖康应该知道。不过听听朗读似乎清楚了（Long live technology!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmigZ8_64MM
The la/bor of /an age /in piled/ s-tones,
Or that /his hal/lowed re/lics should/ be hid
Under/ a star/-ypoin/ting py/ramid?
英诗也不像中国诗，一行就是一个句子，意思和结构统一，容易听懂。英诗常常有长句跨行。做听力练习那一定是费老鼻子劲了。
Thou in our wonder and astonishment
Hast built thy self a livelong monument.
For whilst, to th’ shame of slow-endeavoring art,
Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart
Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book
Those Delphic lines with deep impression took,
Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving,
Dost make us marble with too much conceiving,
And so sepulchred in such pomp dost lie
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.
这里都是单句跨行的例子。按照现在的写法应该是
Thou Hast built thy self a livelong monument in our wonder and astonishment.
For to th’ shame of slow-endeavoring art,whilst Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart Hath took Those Delphic lines with deep impression, from the leaves of thy unvalued book
Then thou, bereaving our fancy of itself, Dost make us marble with too much conceiving, And so dost [Thou] lie sepulchred in such pomp That kings would wish to die for such a tomb.
逐行白话语释：
What needs my Shakespeare for his honored bones
我的莎士比亚，你那受到尊敬的骨骸，你需要什么
The labor of an age in piled stones?
一个时代的劳作所堆积起来的石头啊？
Or that his hallowed reliques should be hid
他的神圣的遗存难道还要藏在
Under a star-ypointing pyramid?
尖顶向上的金字塔底下吗？
Dear son of Memory, great heir of Fame,
记忆之神的儿子（缪斯的弟兄），盛名的伟大继承人
What need’st thou such weak witness of thy name?
难道你需要这么微弱的证据来光耀你的名字吗？
Thou in our wonder and astonishment
你让我们惊奇，让我们惊叹
Hast built thy self a livelong monument.
因为你自己已经建造了你终生的纪念碑
For whilst, to th’ shame of slow-endeavoring art,
你让寻章摘句苦苦经营的诗人羞愧，因为
Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart
你的诗作如流泉一样轻快，读者的心
Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book
已经从你那无价的书页里
Those Delphic lines with deep impression took,
的奇诗妙句中获取深刻的印象
Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving,
你剥夺了我们自己的想象力
Dost make us marble with too much conceiving,
让我们在冥思苦想中变成了大理石
And so sepulchred in such pomp dost lie
而你则长眠于这样的辉煌之中
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.
如此的墓地乃是连国王都要羡慕的啊。
此时主旨很简单：莎士比亚的荣耀用不着一个金字塔般的坟墓张显。他的荣耀在他的著作中，在读者心里。
最后一句让我想到另一首诗， 雪莱的《奥齐曼迪兹》：
（https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xng4jJsao4）
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear –
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.’
感觉有异曲同工之妙。
