William Butler Yeats
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer；
Things fall apart；the centre cannot hold；
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world，
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed，and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned；
The best lack all conviction，while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand；
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spritus Mundi
Troubles my sight：somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man，
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun，
Is moving its slow thighs，while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again；but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle，
And what rough beast，
its hour come round at last，
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
基督再临
威廉·巴特勒·叶芝
猎鹰绕着越来越大的圈子不停地盘旋
再也听不见放鹰人的呼唤；
万物分崩离析；中心难以为系；
世上只落下一盘散沙的无政府主义，
血色迷糊的潮流奔腾汹涌，
天真的仪典，亦已为滔天血浪所湮没；
至善者毫无信心，而至恶者
却躁动不止。
一准是某种启示已近在眼前；
一准是基督再临就在眼前。
基督再临！话未出口，
一个巨大的形象便出现在人们脑际
令我花了眼：在大漠沙海之中，
一个狮身人面的形体，
目光如烈日般茫然而无情。
正缓慢地挪动腿脚，周围环绕着
一群义愤的沙漠鸟的影子。
黑暗再度降临；不过现在我知道
过去两千年岩石般的沉睡
都被摇篮摇成了噩梦般的烦恼，
何等粗野的畜牲，
它的时辰已至，
慵懒地朝伯利恒走去投生。
背景知识
威廉·巴特勒·叶芝(William Butler Yeats)，曾于1923年获得诺贝尔文学奖，获奖的理由是“以其高度艺术化且洋溢着灵感的诗作表达了整个民族的灵魂”。
这首诗作于1921年。根据基督教传说，基督将在世界末日重临人间主持审判。叶芝认为古希腊罗马传下来的西方文明今天已接近毁灭时期，两百年内即将出现一种粗野狂暴的反文明，作为走向另一种贵族文明的过渡。
单词注解
gyre [5dVaiE] 旋回
falcon [5fAlkEn] 猎鹰
anarchy [5AnEki] 无秩序；混乱
revelation [7revi5leiFEn] 天启，神示
vexed [vekst] 动荡的
名句诵读
Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer；Things fall apart；the centre cannot hold；Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world，The blood-dimmed tide is loosed，and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned；The best lack all conviction，while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand；Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
And what rough beast，its hour come round at last，Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?