揮一揮衣袖 ， 不帶走一片雲彩

“再別康橋” (Uploaded by allenlinnz on Jan 30, 2010)

再別康橋 徐志摩 1928

輕輕的我走了，
正如我輕輕的來；
我輕輕的招手，
作別西天的雲彩。

那河畔的金柳，
是夕陽中的新娘；
波光裏的豔影，
在我心頭盪漾。

軟泥上的青荇，
油油的在水底招搖；
在康河的柔波裏，
我甘心做一條水草﹗

那榆蔭下的一潭，
不是清泉，是天上虹，
揉碎在浮藻間，
沈澱著彩虹似的夢。

尋夢？撐一支長篙，
向青草更青處漫溯，
滿載一船星輝，
在星輝斑斕裡放歌。

但我不能放歌，
悄悄是別離的笙蕭，
夏蟲也為我沈默，
沈默是今晚的康橋。

悄悄的我走了，
正如我悄悄的來，
我揮一揮衣袖，
不帶走一片雲彩。

The English version:

“Saying Good-bye to Cambridge Again”

Very quietly I take my leave,
As quietly as I came here;
Quietly I wave good-bye
To the rosy clouds in the western sky.

The golden willows by the riverside
Are young brides in the setting sun;
Their reflections on the shimmering waves
Always linger in the depth of my heart.

The floating heart growing in the sludge
Sways leisurely under the water;
In the gentle waves of Cambridge
I would be a water plant!

That pool under the shade of elm trees
Holds not water but the rainbow from the sky;
Shattered to pieces among the duckweed
Is the sediment of a rainbow-like dream?

To seek a dream? Just to pole a boat upstream
To where the green grass is more verdant;
Or to have the boat fully loaded with starlight
And sing aloud in the splendor of starlight.

But I cannot sing aloud
Quietness is my farewell music;
Even summer insects keep silence for me
Silent is Cambridge tonight!

Very quietly I take my leave
As quietly as I came here;
Gently I flick my sleeves
Not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away.


When we are interpreting a poem, we try to figure out what the

poet intended in the poem, but we can not always be sure. We can

only come up with the feelings the poem gives us when we read.

We try to understand the meaning, think what was implied, unsaid

or suggested, and then speculate.

A couple of years ago, some of my NTUMC1968 ( 台大醫學院)

classmates, D.J., Wei and Wy etc, tried to work collaboratively to

translate 徐志摩's poem “再別康橋” into English. They had to stop after

several attempts due to the fact that, at some point, they had hard

time figuring out or speculating what 徐志摩 intended to say, or

unsaid. One of them, after having discussion in her former high school

( 北一女) classmates’ poetry club, thought there was deeper layer of

meaning in the poem.

They believed, on the surface, 徐 was talking about Cambridge, but
deep in his heart, he was lamenting his unrequited love. They thought

the “金柳” reminded him a slender girl “林”, who always lingered in

the depth of his heart. 徐 remembered their good old time as he

described in his poem. He could not have her and he was alone there,

even the critters, 夏蟲 felt his pain and kept silent for him. He took his

leave as quietly as he came, and could not bring away even a wisp of

cloud. What else could he do but 揮一揮衣袖,不帶走一片雲彩, and

quietly leave, according to their speculation and conclusion.

Yeh Tze