爱华网In FlandersFields是第一次世界大战期间最著名的诗。这首诗是以死者寄托遗愿的口吻写的，谈到他们的牺牲并因此要求活着的人们前赴后继。诗歌被译成许多种语言，作者甚至开玩笑说“现在肯定只缺中文译本了。”
这首诗和罂粟花成了Remembrance Day （“阵亡将士纪念日”）的符号，特别是在加拿大，因为作者John AlexanderMcCrae（约翰·亚历山大·麦克雷，1872-1918）是加拿大人，并且这首诗也是全国最有名的文学作品之一。
一、原诗与译稿
In Flanders Fields By John AlexanderMcCrae In Flanders fields thepoppies blow Between the crosses, row onrow, That mark our place; and inthe sky The larks, still bravelysinging, fly Scarce heard amid the gunsbelow. We are the Dead. Short daysago We lived, felt dawn, sawsunset glow, Loved and were loved, andnow we lie In Flandersfields.
To you from failing hands wethrow The torch; be yours to holdit high. If ye break faith with uswho die We shall not sleep, thoughpoppies grow In Flandersfields. | 在佛兰德斯战场 ——约翰·亚历山大·麦克雷 在佛兰德斯战场，十字架一行行， 标示着我们下葬的地方， 罂粟花一丛丛在行间绽放；高空中* 地面上炮声隆隆，听不到鸟儿在歌唱。 我们刚刚阵亡。就在数日前 我们还活着，感受过黎明晨曦，观赏过日落斜阳， 我们爱过，也被爱过，而今我们长眠 在佛兰德斯战场。 替我们去与仇敌一决胜负吧： 我们用下垂乏力的双手把火炬抛给你们， 这火炬就是你们的，请把它高高举起。 如果对我们这些死去的人你们背信弃义， 我们将永不瞑目，即使罂粟遍地生长 在佛兰德斯战场。 |
*罂粟花的颜色是血红色的，所以有红罂粟一说。为了哀悼死者和祈祷和平，又由于罂粟花不是普通植物，所以后来就有人造白色罂粟花，以替代天然的红罂粟花用作阵亡将士纪念日的配花。
二、原诗词汇与句型难点解析以及翻译理据
1、为了让汉语读者和听众更容易进入原诗所描绘的场景，特意调整了“罂粟花”和“十字架”出现的次序。
2、To blow意为to bloom，译为（鲜花）绽放或盛开。gun的一个意思是A discharge of a firearm orcannon，所以guns译为“炮声隆隆”。
3、将“our place”译为“我们下葬的地方”，将“we are the dead”译为“我们刚刚阵亡”，将“Take up our quarrel with thefoe”译为“替我们去与仇敌一决胜负吧”，以烘托战争的悲壮场景。
4、原诗第一行the poppiesblow与倒数第二行poppies grow这两个词组的冠词用法特别值得注意。第一行the poppies（定冠词）与倒数第二行poppies（零冠词）表达的应当是不同的概念。汉译如何表达这种不同呢？笔者认为，the poppies（定冠词）是特指在十字架行间盛开的罂粟花，而poppies（零冠词）则是泛指在那战场遍地生长的罂粟。
三、其他译者译文选录
百度百科的参考译本：
在佛兰德斯战场，罂粟花随风飘荡
一行又一行，绽放在殇者的十字架之间，
那是我们的疆域。而天空
云雀依然在勇敢地歌唱，展翅
歌声湮没在连天的烽火里
此刻，我们已然罹难。倏忽之前，
我们还一起生活着，感受晨曦，仰望落日
我们爱过，一如我们曾被爱过。而今，我们长眠
在佛兰德斯战场……
继续战斗吧
请你从我们低垂的手中接过火炬，
让它的光辉，照亮血色的疆场
若你背弃了与逝者的盟约
我们将永不瞑目。纵使罂粟花依旧绽放
在佛兰德斯战场……
联合早报的译本
血红罂粟花盛开在佛兰德斯战场，
排在十字架之间，成列又成行，
那标志着我们的长眠之地；
而天空上云雀们，仍然在勇敢地飞翔，
枪林弹雨中依稀听得见它们的歌唱。
我们已是逝者。
几天前，我们还活着，
感受拂晓，目睹夕阳灿烂，
爱着并且被爱着，
而现在却长眠于佛兰德斯战场。
继续我们同敌人的战斗吧：
我们倒下的手向你投掷这一把火炬，
请把它高高举起。
如果你背弃了先烈的遗志，
我们将难以安息，
虽然罂粟花遍布在这佛兰德斯战场。
四、关于原诗及其作者
关于这首诗及其作者，英文维基百科有详细的介绍，摘录如下：
"In Flanders Fields"is awar poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First WorldWar by Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. Hewas inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over thefuneral of friend and fellow soldier Alexis Helmer, who died in theSecond Battle of Ypres. According to legend, fellow soldiersretrieved the poem after McCrae, initially unsatisfied with hiswork, discarded it. "In Flanders Fields" was first published onDecember 8 of that year in the London-based magazinePunch.
Itis one of the most popular and most quoted poems from the war. As aresult of its immediate popularity, parts of the poem were used inpropaganda efforts and appeals to recruit soldiers and raise moneyselling war bonds. Its references to the red poppies that grew overthe graves of fallen soldiers resulted in the remembrance poppybecoming one of the world's most recognized memorial symbols forsoldiers who have died in conflict. The poem and poppy areprominent Remembrance Day symbols throughout the Commonwealth ofNations, particularly in Canada, where "In Flanders Fields" is oneof the nation's best known literary works.
Aswith his earlier poems, "In Flanders Fields" continued McCrae'spreoccupation with death and how it stood as the transition betweenthe struggle of life and the peace that followed. It was writtenfrom the point of view of the dead. It spoke of their sacrifice andserved as their command to the living to press on. Historian PaulFussell criticized the poem in his work The Great War and Modern Memory(1975). He noted the distinction between the pastoral tone of thefirst nine lines and the "recruiting-poster rhetoric" of the thirdstanza. Describing it as "vicious" and "stupid", Fussell called thefinal lines a "propaganda argument against a negotiated peace". Aswith many of the most popular works of the First World War, it waswritten early in the conflict, before the romanticism of war turnedto bitterness and disillusion for soldiers and civiliansalike.
According to Fussell, "In Flanders Fields" was the mostpopular poem of its era. McCrae received numerous letters andtelegrams praising his work when he was revealed as the author. Thepoem was republished throughout the world, rapidly becomingsynonymous with the sacrifice of the soldiers who died in the FirstWorld War. It was translated into numerous languages, so many thatMcCrae himself quipped that "it needs only Chinese now, surely".Its appeal was nearly universal. Soldiers took encouragement fromit as a statement of their duty to those who died while people onthe home front viewed it as defining the cause for which theirbrothers and sons were fighting.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields]
