走进剑桥大学 第13期:失明诗人弥尔顿

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失明诗人弥尔顿

One of the greatest poets of the English language, John Milton, is best-known for his epic¹ poem Paradise Lost. Mihon’s powerful prose and poetry had an immense influence especially on the 18th-century verse. Besides poems, Milton published pamphlets defending civil and religious rights,

弥尔顿是用英语写作的最著名的诗人之一，他创作的史诗《失乐园》享誉世界。弥尔顿气势镑礴的散文和诗歌对18世纪的韵文写作影响深远。除了诗歌，弥尔顿还发表了维护民权和宗教权利的小册子。

John Milton was born into a rich family In London. Milton’s first teachers were his father, from whom he inherited love for art and music, and the writer Thomas Young, a graduate of St Andrews University.

约翰弥尔顿出生于伦敦的一个富裕家庭。弥尔顿的启蒙老师是他的父亲和毕业于圣安德鲁大学的作家托马斯杨。弥尔顿继承了父亲对艺术和音乐的热爱。

Milton traveled in France and Italy in the late 1630s, meeting in Paris the jurist and theologian Hugo Grotius and the astronomer² Galileo Gaiilei in Florence. Milton returned to London in 1639, and set up a school with his nephews. He had planned to write an epic based on the Arthurian legends, but then gave up his literary pursuits, partly due to the Civil War, which divided the country as Oliver Cromwell fought against the king, Charles I.

17世纪30年代晚期，弥尔顿到法国和意大利旅游，并在巴黎和佛罗伦萨分别遇到法理学家、神学家胡果格劳秀斯和天文学家伽利略伽利雷。1639年，弥尔顿回到英国，和他的侄子们共同创办了一个学校。他原本打算根据亚瑟王的传奇写一部史诗，但后来由于英国内战和其他一些原因，他放弃了这个计划。在英国内战中，奥利弗克伦威尔起兵反对国王查理一世，国家被分裂了。

England was in a great state of flux³ during his lifetime. Milton sided with the Puritans and Oliver Cromwell, rejected popular political and religious beliefs, adopted an anti-royalist stance against King Charles I，and joined the pamphlet wars, writing many pamphlets on the Church of England. Milton also wrote pamphlets on various political issues like free speech and the censorship exerted by Parliament as in Areopagitica.

在弥尔顿的有生之年，英格兰一直局势动荡。弥尔顿站在清教徒和克伦威尔一边，反对主流政治和宗教信仰，采取反保皇主义者立场，反对国王査理一世，还奋笔疾书，写了很多关于英国国教的小册子。弥尔顿还写了其他小册子，讨论众多政治议题，如他在《论出版自由》中谈到了言论自由和议会实施的审査制度。

Milton was appointed Cromweirs Latin secretary of foreign affairs and wrote many articles in defense⁴ of the republicanism. Milton’s poor eyesight, which was born with, was increasingly worsened over time and the intensive work led to his blindness.

弥尔顿被任命为克伦威尔的外交事务拉丁语秘书，并写了很多维护共和制的文章。弥尔顿天生就视力不佳，随着时间的推移，他的视力日益下降，高强度的工作最终导致了他的失明。

After the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, Milton was arrested as a noted⁵ defender⁶ of the republicanism, but was soon released, Milton escaped from more punishment, but he became a poor man because he was forced to pay a massive fine. The manuscript of Paradise Lost he sold for 5 pounds to Samuel Simmons, and was promised another 5 pounds if the first edition of 1,300 copies sold out.

作为知名的共和制拥护者，弥尔顿在査理二世1660年复辟后被捕，但很快就被释放。虽然弥尔顿逃脱了更多的惩罚，但他却因被迫付一大笔罚金而变得穷困潦倒。弥尔顿以5英镑的价格把《失乐园》的手 稿卖给了塞缪尔西蒙斯。西蒙斯承诺，如果第一版的 1300本书售完，他还可以再拿到5英镑。

Milton created a powerful and sympathetic portrait of Satan in Paradise Lost. His character bears similarities with Shakespeare’s hero-villains Iago and Macbeth. Milton’s view ’ influenced deeply such Romantic poets as William Blake and Percy Bysshe Shelley, who regarded Satan as the real hero-a rebel against the tyranny of Heaven.

弥尔顿在《失乐园》中创造了一个强有力而又令人同情的撒旦形象。他创造的角色和莎士比亚创造的亦正亦邪的埃古和麦克白有相似之处。浪漫主义诗人如威廉布莱克和珀西比希雪莱深受弥尔顿的影响。 他们把撒旦视作真正的英雄——一个与天国暴政抗争的反抗者。

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