William Cowper: "The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk"

English poet William Cowper (1731-1800) helped popularize the story of sailor Alexander Selkirk, who quit the privateer ship on which he was a second mate to live on a deserted island off Chile. See Hermitary article. Selkirk regretted his decision almost at once, but spent four years on the island ingenious in survival before another British ship happened to anchor there. The poem is spoken as if by Selkirk. His solitude is framed negatively by Cowper, projecting Selkirk's misgivings into a reflection on the entire subject of solitude.

THE SOLITUDE OF ALEXANDER SELKIRK

I am monarch of all I survey;

My right there is none to dispute;

From the centre all round to the sea

I am lord of the fowl and the brute.

O Solitude! where are the charms

That sages have seen in thy face?

Better dwell in the midst of alarms,

Than reign in this horrible place.

I am out of humanity's reach,

I must finish my journey alone,

Never hear the sweet music of speech;

I start at the sound of my own.

The beasts that roam over the plain

My form with indifference see;

They are so unacquainted with man,

Their tameness is shocking to me.

Society, Friendship, and Love

Divinely bestow'd upon man,

O, had I the wings of a dove

How soon would I taste you again!

My sorrows I then might assuage

In the ways of religion and truth;

Might learn from the wisdom of age,

And be cheer'd by the sallies of youth.

Ye winds that have made me your sport,

Convey to this desolate shore

Some cordial endearing report

Of a land I shall visit no more:

My friends, do they now and then send

A wish or a thought after me?

O tell me I yet have a friend,

Though a friend I am never to see.

How fleet is a glance of the mind!

Compared with the speed of its flight,

The tempest itself lags behind,

And the swift-wingèd arrows of light.

When I think of my own native land,

In a moment I seem to be there;

But, alas! recollection at hand

Soon hurries me back to despair.

But the sea-fowl is gone to her nest,

The beast is laid down in his lair;

Even here is a season of rest,

And I to my cabin repair.

There's mercy in every place,

And mercy, encouraging thought!

Gives even affliction a grace,

And reconciles man to his lot.

詩人簡介摘自：https://www./literature/cowper.html

梭羅在《瓦爾登湖》里引用了這首詩，Bunny非常喜歡，并屢次帶著自己的學生細讀。買不起房的年輕人，也可翻到這一段，看看同樣買不起房的年輕人梭羅，如何在農(nóng)莊別墅前散步，觀察一草一木，將農(nóng)場的精華吸收，比生活在這里的人更加享用這里的一切。還可以假裝要買農(nóng)場，與農(nóng)場主攀談，講價。

所見之處，皆屬于我。凱撒說veni, vidi, veci，他是征服者，實實在在地擁有，可是梭羅并不在乎這種形式的擁有。自然的一切，皆屬于我。我就是最富有的人。

I am monarch of all I survey;
My right there is none to dispute;

詩歌韻律知識

陳才憶. 英語詩歌的韻律與類型. 四川人民出版社, 2008: 11-12.