Hélas!

To drift with every passion till my soulIs a stringed lute on which all winds can play,Is it for this that I have given awayMine ancient wisdom, and austere control?

Methinks my life is a twice-written scrollScrawled over on some boyish holidayWith idle songs for pipe and virelay,Which do but mar the secret of the whole.

Surely there was a time I might have trodThe sunlit heights, and from life's dissonanceStruck one clear chord to reach the ears of God:Is that time dead?

lo!

with a little rodI did but touch the honey of romance—And must I lose a soul's inheritance?

唉！

伴随每一次激情而漂流，直到我的灵魂变作竖琴任每阵清风抚弄，莫非因为这个，我不得不放弃我古老的智慧和严苛的节制？

我想我的生命是二度书写的卷轴，在稚气的假日里被潦草地涂抹，为笛管和古风写就慵懒的歌曲，只是它毁弃了整个生活的秘密。

确实有过一段时光，我走过阳光普照的峰顶，而生命的不和谐音清晰地撞击琴弦，直抵上帝耳畔：莫非那时光已死？

噢！

我只是用一根嫩枝蘸取了浪漫传奇的蜂蜜——我就必须丧失一个灵魂的遗产？

【英汉对照|王尔德诗选：唉!查看网站：[db:时间]】