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incense, burning perfume. aisle (ile),
minster, a monastery church. wing; passage.
requiems, songs of rest. bestow, place; bury.
cumber, load; lie on as a weight. riven, torn; broken.
unransomed, not paid for; stoles. violated, abused; profaned.
war array, military dress and or der.
censers, vessels in which incense is burned.
bier, a wooden frame bearing a dead body.
[According to Orderic, a Norman monk who wrote a chronicle, William's grave (in St. Stephen's minster at Caen) had to be purchased from a knight whose estate he had seized to furnish a site for the abbey, and who stopped the burial-service to claim his right.]
1. Lowly upon his bier
The royal Conqueror lay;
Baron and chief stood near,
Silent, in war array.
2. Down the long minster's aisle
Crowds mutely gazing streamed;
Altar and tomb, the while,
Through mists of incense gleamed.
3. And by the torch's blaze
The stately priest had said
High words of power and praise
To the glory of the dead.
4. They lowered him with the sound
Of requiems to repose,
When from the throngs around
A solemn voice arose: —
5. “Forbear! forbear!” it cried;
“In the holiest name forbear!
He hath conquered regions wide,
But he shall not slumber there.
6. “By the violated hearth
Which made way for yon proud shrine;
By the harvests which this earth
Hath borne to me and mine,
7. “By the home even here o'erthrown,
On my children's native spot—
Hence! with his dark renown
Cumber our birth-place not!
8. “Will my sire's unransomed field
O'er which your censers wave,
To the buried spoiler yield
Soft slumber in the grave?
9. “The tree before him fell
Which we cherished many a year;
But its deep root yet shall swell,
And heave against his bier!
10. “The land that I have tilled,
Hath yet its brooding breast
With my home's white ashes fille—
And it shall not give him rest.
11. “Here each proud column's bed
Hath been wet by weeping eyes—
Hence! and bestow your dead
Where no wrong against him cries!” —
12. Shame glowed on each dark face
Of those proud and steel-girt men,
And they bought with gold a place
For their leader's dust e'en then.
13. A little earth for him
Whose banner fl ew so far
And a peasant's tale could dim
The name, a nation's star.
14. One deep voice thus arose
From a heart which wrongs had riven—
Oh! who shall number those
That were but heard in heaven?
—FELICIA HEMANS
中文阅读
【根据诺曼修道士罗德里克在他所著的编年史中记载，威廉的墓地（位于卡昂的圣斯蒂文大教堂）是从一位骑士手中买来的，这位骑士本来是想用他的资产布置一下这座大教堂，因此他曾打断葬礼的进行，声张他的权利。】
1. 低矮的棺椁之中，
国王征服者安息于此；
托孤大臣立侍左右，
身着戎装，无言相对。
2. 长长的教堂走廊上，
人头攒动却消无声息，
众人凝视着祭坛、墓穴，焚香祷告，
大厅烟雾袅袅，香头的火光微微闪耀。
3. 在火炬的光焰之下，
牧师庄严陈词，
荣耀与赞美滔滔不绝，
彰显着逝者的光辉。
4. 安魂曲响起，
人们将棺椁渐渐放下，让逝者长眠。
在周围拥挤的人群中，
一个严肃的声音突然响起：
5. “等一下！等一下！”他厉声喊道，
“以上帝的名义等一下！
他征服的土地如此广袤，
但他却不应该沉睡在这里。
6. 就凭这被亵渎的炉膛，
本该让位于彼处光荣的神殿；
还有这块土地的价值，
也本该属于我自己。
7. 还有我的归宿之地，在此被剥夺，
在我的后代子孙的故土上被剥夺。
是故，他的晦暗名声，
与我们的生养之地并不相符！
8. 阁下偷来的这块土地上，
香炉的香火正婀娜多姿，
而这被埋葬的盗窃者，
真的应该长眠于此？
9. 在他面前倒下的那颗树，
我们珍爱多年；
但它的根茎还会顽强地生长，
并也将抵抗他的棺椁。
10. 我耕种的这片土地，
依然在低沉地呻吟，
我的归宿之地撒满白灰，
但不该让他在此安息。
11. 这里每一根宏伟的廊柱阶石，
都记录着众人湿润的目光，
是故，重新选择你们逝者的埋葬之地吧，
只要认为满意就行。”
12. 尽管诸位身份显赫，
听者皆面红耳赤，
于是他们花钱买地，
让他们君王得以安息。
13. 一抔黄土，
他的旗帜却飘扬至今！
即使民间的歌谣，
也将他的名字喝为邦国之星
。
14. 一个深沉的声音响起，
发自一颗纠结交错的心。
啊！谁来细数啊？
细数这些只能在天国才能听见的述说与回音。
（费利西亚·赫门兹
）