8.John Wilmot, Earl Of Rochester
8.約翰·威爾莫特·羅切斯特伯爵
Rochester's life was one long shambolic debauch before he died exhausted at age 33 in 1680. He was the greatest rakehell in the golden age of hell-raising that followed the Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II in 1665.
1680年33歲的羅切斯特筋疲力盡而死。在此之前,他一直過(guò)著混亂不堪,放蕩墮落的生活。1665年查理二世復(fù)辟后,英國(guó)處于地獄般的大混亂中。他是那時(shí)最放蕩的人。
Brought up by a Puritan mother, Rochester was introduced to drinking and whoring as a teenager at Oxford. Facing opposition from the parents of the girl he wanted to marry, Rochester simply kidnapped her from her coach one night at Charing Cross. He was sent to the Tower of London, but he married her on his release in 1667.
羅徹斯特的母親是位清教徒,但他十幾歲的時(shí)候就在牛津?qū)W會(huì)了喝酒和嫖娼。羅切斯特愛(ài)上了一個(gè)女孩并想娶她為妻,卻遭到了女孩父母的反對(duì)。于是一天晚上他就在查林十字車(chē)站綁架了她。他因此被關(guān)進(jìn)了倫敦塔,但是1667刑滿(mǎn)釋放后還是娶了她。
All noblemen took mistresses, but Rochester possessed an especially voracious appetite for whoring. His poetry is obsessed with liaisons, orgies, and drinking. He once confessed to having been continuously drunk for five years, amid complaints from his neighbors about his naked cavorting.
所有貴族都有情人,但是羅切斯特卻對(duì)嫖娼情有獨(dú)鐘。他的詩(shī)歌中充滿(mǎn)了對(duì)偷情,狂歡,飲酒的描述。他曾在面對(duì)鄰居們對(duì)他赤裸狂歡抱怨時(shí)承認(rèn)自己已經(jīng)連續(xù)五年長(zhǎng)醉不醒了。
Rochester fought a sword fight with French officers at the Paris Opera in 1669, challenged several enemies to duels and was involved in the death of a drinking companion after a heavy session in 1676 ended with his cronies attacking a constable. He spent the 1670s in disgrace after insulting the king's favorite mistress, drunkenly destroying the royal sundial, and mistakenly handing Charles II a poem lampooning him.
1669年,羅切斯特在巴黎歌劇院與法國(guó)軍官以劍相搏,擊敗了幾位對(duì)手。1676年,在一次重要會(huì)議結(jié)束時(shí)他的親信攻擊了一名王室總管,之后他也卷入了酒友的死亡事件。他侮辱了國(guó)王最喜愛(ài)的情婦,醉酒打壞了皇家日冕又錯(cuò)獻(xiàn)給了查理二世一首諷刺他的詩(shī)。這些事故讓他在17世紀(jì)70年代生活得很不容易。
Although an enthusiastic participant in the sybaritic culture of the Restoration, Rochester remained a sardonic observer of the mores of his age in his verse. His work was important in developing the rhymed couplet in iambic pentameter as a medium for satire and for his imitations of the Roman poets Horace and especially Lucretius.
盡管羅切斯特?zé)嶂詮?fù)辟時(shí)期的奢侈逸樂(lè),他在他的詩(shī)歌中不忘諷刺那個(gè)時(shí)代的道德觀念。他的作品模仿古羅馬詩(shī)人賀拉斯和盧克萊修,作為諷刺的媒介,在五音步抑揚(yáng)格中雙韻體的發(fā)展起著重要作用。
At his best, Rochester combines wit, bawdiness, satire, and the materialism of Thomas Hobbes. Try “A Satyr Against Mankind,” “Signior Dildo,” or “A Ramble in St. James's Park,” but you might not want to read them too openly.
羅切斯特盡其所能地綜合了智慧,淫穢,諷刺和托馬斯·霍布斯的唯物主義。你可以試讀一下他的“危害人類(lèi)的色情狂”,“老先生的假陽(yáng)具”或“A漫步在圣詹姆斯公園”,不過(guò)最好不要在公共場(chǎng)合閱讀。