Wandering
through John Keats' Poetic Garden,
August
2013 (1)
漸漸習慣每天練習與摸索，學習使用文字，學習傳達世間美好一面，學習與大自然對話。培養日行萬步習慣，體會「我走，故我在」，漫步，刺激神經元，點醒睡著的語言細胞，無雄心壯志寫名篇大作，只是漫步之際，被點播的思路就躍然筆端. . .
暑熱，幾分慵懶，找個花園小歇，我遊蕩，在穗花棋盤腳樹的落花與流水之間，在台中國美館的樹蔭與冷氣裏頭，讀Life of Pi與John Keats的詩集，散步、沉思、拍照、觀看。面對燒燙的台中太陽，我哪管「我思，故我在」，幾度放空腦袋，再轉到新的頻道，遠遠地，怎麼約翰‧濟慈也在古希臘時空裡頭兒作夢？
Ode on a
Grecian Urn
介紹古希臘時一定要讀的一首詩Ode on a Grecian Urn，至少要背的招牌的句子--
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know
on earth, and all ye need to know.'
一言以蔽之，這就是古希臘精神！古希臘的活潑生命力，就是源自這股追求至真至美的精神，永不止息的追尋，就是至善。回頭欣賞第一段:
Thou still unravish'd bride of
quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and
slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus
express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our
rhyme:
What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about
thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes
and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
每一隻希臘古甕，都是古希臘生活、社會、文化與藝術的縮影，盛水盛酒等用途廣泛，而畫的主題也極豐富，包括運動、動物、史詩.....等。濟慈看到的不只是古甕的外觀，而是精神價值與永恆的美學，他對著用寫詩，「你是...」，彷彿對著情人唱歌，情意綿綿！詩人乍見unravished bride of quietness, foster-child of
silence and slow time, Sylvan historian，靜，靜，安又寧，美好，無雜音，慢，慢，平又穩，喜悅，無懈可擊！
Sylvan，神話故事中森林之神（a mythical deity or spirit of the woods），這樣一位史學家，書寫花的故事(flowery tale)，訴說田園裡綿美的旋律。且看穗花棋盤腳樹，花開之際如煙火四射，落地風韻猶存，隨小溪潺潺飄遊也展現其膽識。
(2)
Heard melodies are sweet, but those
unheard
Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft
pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more
endear'd,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no
tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou
canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees
be bare;
Bold lover, never, never canst thou
kiss,
Though winning near the goal - yet,
do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast
not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be
fair!
在靜止中聆聽，傾聽耳朵無法把抓的旋律 (unheard melody)，是希臘眾神的樂章?樹下情人的低語?是樹葉即將滑落的節奏?是情侶的渴望?在牧笛無聲的演奏中，用眼睛聽、用心聽、用熱情聽、用生命聽。這幅景象，一切都是若即若離、凡事蓄勢待發，但因為畫在永恆的古甕，雖已踏出一腳，但未落地，盡皆懸浮半空當中。情人似乎親吻對方，但永遠吻不到，卻也因此青春永駐。
只是甚麼是青春永駐? 何時又是我們的黃金年華?花開?結果?且看漂流過小溪的穗花棋盤腳樹花，凋零的花比高掛樹上更美，在水流李，落花已脫離任何時間點，自成一獨立時空，因為許給大地一切所有，所以最美。何時達到勝利(winning near the goal)?被凍結的瞬間，永遠也無法完成，正因如此，永遠美麗！
就在生活的角落，小葉欖仁近在咫尺，樹下靜靜的每一座城堡，聆聽！悠揚的樂聲，慢慢地停住，在落葉落地之前。
(3)
Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot
shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring
adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy
love!
For ever warm and still to be
enjoy'd,
For ever panting, and for ever
young;
All breathing human passion far
above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful
and cloy'd,
A burning forehead, and a parching
tongue.
熱！困頓的大腦三不五時停擺。一帖良藥:練習手寫。手動，腦袋跟著運轉。我很感謝電腦與網路世界的便利，但如果我們都不用手了，會不會進化成熊掌、鴨掌....? 趁還沒進化到那階段，我許了個小願望，每天「動手」，抄筆記、寫詩、擬草稿都是親手完成；因為這樣也養成在「等」的時候塗鴉寫東西，特別是等人等車時，靈感總是蜂擁而至，我的小本子常常來不及抓住這些點子呢！因為手寫，我不再被等待的焦慮吞噬。
鋤頭，我已拿不動，殘存的餘力勉強還可以動動筆桿，寫幾個字兒，寫下也算是紀錄喜悅與美好的剎那。
Forever young真的很美，但溫度要適中，不宜過熱。年輕、歌聲、春天、愛、溫馨、心跳、呼吸與熱情都在青春樂章中播放，沒有悲傷、沒有厭倦、沒有發燒、沒有喉嚨發炎，停，也止住過度燃燒的氣焰。
(4)
Who are these coming to the
sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious
priest,
Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at
the skies,
And all her silken flanks with
garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea
shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful
citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious
morn?
And, little town, thy streets for
evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to
tell
Why thou art desolate, can e'er
return.
在第四個段落焦距在甕上的另一張圖，一組村民追著一隻犧牲牛犢，去那兒? 原來朝向綠色祭壇，這小牛卻是我們神秘的祭司，花環綴著腰，還對天鳴唱，扮演此景的最佳主角。全村的人跟著祭祀的進行，空城了，隨著古甕凍結時空，這一環山依水平靜的城堡就此空無一人了，沉默的街道，荒蕪，回不去。小城故事多，然而就在祭典的高潮，眾人湧入祭壇祈福，被擱置的巷弄從此被冷落了。
偶然一杯裡出現福木與春不老...還有小秘密在底下，福氣，又青春不老，嚮往不已?秘訣，水，水，水。就是最平常的、不間斷的關懷與照顧。
(5)
O Attic shape! Fair
attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
雅典風?古希臘精神? 從文藝復興、浪漫主義時期、現代，一直到今天西方文明不斷省思與下註解，但濟慈的總結最精闢，至真至美的永恆成為總結古希臘精神的綱領。
當世代替換，前朝規章一一被取代，後浪推進，終究一切都消逝與幻滅----Thou shalt remain----這是何方神聖，不僅抵擋千軍萬馬，還可以在時間的洪流中全身而退、毫髮無傷?答案是: Cold Pastoral! 查良錚翻譯成「冰冷的牧歌」，那可是淡定、默默、優雅的億萬年老歌！
我也回應此詩，當然遠遠不如濟慈的大作，但也與永恆之曲附和、共襄盛舉：
美人樹
Is anyone able to challenge John Keats'
Ode on a Grecian Urn, which tersely concludes
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty"--a theme eats
all our originality and more poetry eludes?
Ode on a Grecian Urn, which tersely concludes
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty"--a theme eats
all our originality and more poetry eludes?
Beauty beyond true trees, invisibly obvious
beholders are looking after from Academy to Garden
loitering on the street, visibly mysterious
perceiving burgeoning leaved legend--since ancient to modern
Truth, Magician of beauty, silently defends
nothing but Life and Death, evidently inevitable
mesmerizing followers with always excessive demands
blindingly revealing pretty pages, plainly unreadable...
If beauty without truth or truth without beauty, nothing is possible,
the unheard melody--with beauty and truth--is forever accessible.
beholders are looking after from Academy to Garden
loitering on the street, visibly mysterious
perceiving burgeoning leaved legend--since ancient to modern
Truth, Magician of beauty, silently defends
nothing but Life and Death, evidently inevitable
mesmerizing followers with always excessive demands
blindingly revealing pretty pages, plainly unreadable...
If beauty without truth or truth without beauty, nothing is possible,
the unheard melody--with beauty and truth--is forever accessible.
誰能挑戰約翰‧濟慈的大作
《希臘古甕頌》---一首詩漂亮總結
"美即是真 真即是美"---一語既出
再也沒有更有創意的詩作能超越
美 遠遠超越真實之樹 不可見卻明顯
觀 照 追 尋 踏遍學院與花園
漫步街頭 可見卻神秘
洞悉 傳奇片片 從亙古至今
真理 美的魔術師 默默地雄辯滔滔
生死之外 別無他求 無可避免
迷惑追尋者 總是過度予取予求
頓悟的章節 卻又不忍卒讀
美若無真 真若無美 事事皆非
聽不見得旋律---美與真融合----俯拾即是
