傅浩 译
译注：参见《新约·马太福音》7:24-27，耶稣作“登山宝训”云：“所以，凡听见我这话就去行的，好比一个聪明人，把房子盖在磐石上。雨淋，水冲，风吹，撞着那房子，房子总不倒塌；因为根基立在磐石上。凡听见我这话不去行的，好比一个无知的人，把房子盖在沙土上。雨淋，水冲，风吹，撞着那房子，房子就倒塌了；并且倒塌得很大。”艾略特参与创作的剧本《磐石》即基于此典故。该剧是应伦敦主教区下辖四十五教堂基金会委托而作，于1934年5月28日至6月9日在马具匠之井剧院上演。剧本未收入艾氏剧作集，其中这些合唱词则收入艾氏诗全集，因为艾氏认为只有这些部分才是他自己的创作。
1
雄鹰翱翔在天宇之顶，
猎户和猎犬循环追逐。
啊，有序群星的永久轮转；
啊，有定季节的永久轮回；
啊，春与秋、生与死的世界！
思想和行动的无尽轮换，
无尽的发明，无尽的实验，
带来运动的，而非静止的知识；
发言的，而非沉默的知识；
对可道的知识，和对常道的无知。
我们的一切知识都使我们更接近无知，
我们的一切无知都使我们更接近死亡，
可是接近死亡并不更接近上帝。
我们在生活中丢失的生命何在？
我们在知识中丢失的智慧何在？
我们在信息中丢失的知识何在？
两千年天宇的轮转
使我们离上帝更远，离尘土更近。
我旅行到伦敦，到那气数将尽之城，
那里河水流淌，载着外国的漂浮物。
在那里我被告知：我们有太多教堂，
太少餐馆。在那里我被告知：
让牧师们退休吧。在工作的地方
人们不需要教堂，在过礼拜天的地方才需要。
在这城里，我们不需要教堂钟：
让钟声去唤醒郊区吧。
我旅行到郊区，在那里我被告知：
我们劳作了六天，第七天必须开车
去鹿回头，或去女儿愁。
要是天气不好，我们就待在家里读报。
在工业园区，我被告知
经济法规。
在令人愉快的乡下，那里似乎
现在只适合野餐了。
在乡下和郊区，似乎
都不需要教堂；在城里
只用于举行重要的婚礼。
领唱：安静！保持示敬的距离。
我预感“磐石”就快
来了。他或许会解答我们的疑问。
那“磐石”。那守望者。那陌生人。
他，看见过发生过的事情，
能预见即将发生的事情。
那见证者。那批评者。那陌生人。
那亲近过上帝者，真理在他内心与生俱来。
“磐石”由一男童引领而入：
磐石：人的命运是无休止的劳作，
或无休止的清闲——那更难受，
或无定时的劳作——这令人不快。
我一直在独自踩踏榨汁器；我知道
做个真正有用的人很难：舍弃
人们视为幸福的事物，追求
导致默默无闻的善行，以平等的脸色
接待带来羞辱的人们，
所有人的喝彩或无一人的爱戴。
所有人都乐于投资，
但多半期盼分红。
我对你们说：完成你们的意愿！
我说：别想收获，
只管播种。
世界旋转；世界变幻，
但有一事不变。
在我有生以来，有一事不变。
无论你们怎么掩饰，此一事不变：
善与恶的永恒争斗。
由于善忘，你们忽视你们的神龛和教堂；
你们是这近代之人，嘲笑
一切善行义举；你们寻找解释
以满足理智觉悟的头脑。
其次，你们忽视且小看沙漠。
沙漠不在遥远的南方热带；
沙漠就在街拐角那边；
沙漠被挤进你身边的地铁车厢里；
沙漠在你兄弟的心里。
善人是建造者，如果他建造善者。
我要给你们展示现在正在做的事情，
还有很久以前就已做过的一些事情，
好让你们有信心。完成你们的意愿。
让我来给你们展示谦卑者的功德。听着。
灯光变暗；半明半暗中可听见众工人的声音在吟诵。
在空无一物的地方
我们将用新的砖头建造
有新的人手和机器
用泥土造新的砖头
用石灰造新的灰泥
在砖头已倒塌的地方
我们将用新的石头建造
在木板已腐朽的地方
我们将用新的木材建造
在大道不曾宣讲的地方
我们将用新的言语建造
有大家合作的工作
所有人共有的教堂
每个人都有的分工
人人都致力于工作。
此时苍茫的天空衬托出一群工人的剪影。从更远处，失业者的声音回答他们。
一直没有人雇佣我们
我们双手插在衣袋里
低垂着脸面
散立在空旷的地方
在无灯的屋里发抖。
只有风吹过
狂野，无人耕作，
犁铧歇着，与犁沟
形成夹角。在这块土地上
将只有一根香烟两个男人分，
两个女人分半罐苦
艾酒。在这块土地上
一直没有人雇佣我们。
我们的生不受欢迎，我们的死
在《泰晤士报》上提都不提。
工人再度吟诵。
河水流淌，季节轮回
麻雀儿和燕八哥没有时间可浪费。
要是人们不建造
他们将如何生活？
田野一旦被耕耘
小麦变成了面包
他们就不会死在截短的床上
和狭窄的被单下。在这条街道上
没有开始，没有运动，没有安宁，没有结束
只有没有言语的噪音，没有滋味的食物。
无须耽搁，无须匆忙
我们要建造这街道的开始与结束。
我们建造下列意义：
所有人共有的教堂
每个人都有的分工
人人都致力于工作。
2
就这样你们的祖先被造就成
圣徒的同城居民，同属于上帝的大家庭，那房子的基础
是使徒和先知，耶稣基督本身是首要的奠基石。
可是你们，你们可曾好好建造，以至现在无助地坐在毁坏的房子里？
在那里许多人生来游手好闲，生得委琐，死得龌龊，在无蜜的蜂房里遭受酷烈的鄙薄；
那些愿意建造和重建的人们伸出他们的手掌，或者徒劳地眼望异国外邦，企求施舍增多或盂钵盛满。
由于你们的建筑没有合适地构造在一起，你们满怀羞愧地坐着，不知道你们是否、如何才可以被造就成一体，成为圣灵中的上帝的一处居所——那圣灵曾运行在水面上，像一盏灯驮在乌龟的背上。
有人说：“我们怎能爱我们的邻居呢？因为爱必须在行动中实现，就像欲望与可欲结合；我们只有劳作可以付出，而我们的劳作无人需要。
我们在街角等待，没有什么可带，只有我们会唱的歌，可无人想听。
等待着最终被抛弃，到比粪堆还要无用的堆上。”
你们，你们可曾好好建造，你们可曾忘记那奠基石？
谈论着人们之间的正确关系，而不是人对于上帝的关系。
“我们的民籍在天国”；不错，可是那正是你们在地上做居民的模仿榜样。
你们的祖先修建好上帝的居所，
安顿好所有不便安置的圣徒、
使徒、殉道者，类似惠普斯奈德动物园那样，
然后他们就能够在工业发达的伴随下
着手进行帝国的扩张。
输出钢铁、煤炭和棉花产品
以及知识的启蒙
等等一切，包括资本
和若干版本的上帝之道：
不列颠民族有确定的使命感，
实干起来毫不含糊，但在国内却留下诸多的不确定。
过去所造作的一切，你们只吃成果，腐烂的也好，成熟的也罢。
而教堂必须永远建造，总是朽坏，总是被修复。
为以往每一桩恶行，我们都承受其恶果：
为懒惰，为贪财，为好吃、忽视上帝之道，
为傲慢，为淫荡、不忠，为每一项罪行。
过去所造作的善业，你们都继承其福报。
因为一个人独立在死亡的那一边时，善事恶行都只属于他一人。
但是在这尘世之上，你们都拥有前人所作善事恶行的业报。
如果你们在谦卑的悔罪中同行，赎取你们祖先的罪孽，你们就可以修复坏掉的一切；
你们必须为保存过去所有好的一切而战，要像你们的祖先为获得它们而战那样诚心诚意。
教堂必须永远建造，因为它永远从内部朽坏着，从外部遭受着攻击；
因为这就是生活的法律；你们必须记住，繁荣兴旺的年代，
人们会忽视圣殿；多灾多难的时代，他们又会诋毁它。
假如你们没有共同的生活，你们会有什么样的生活？
没有什么人的生活不是在社会群体之中，
没有什么社会群体不是在对上帝的赞美之中维持的。
就连独居冥想的隐修士——
日日夜夜都在为他重复对上帝的赞美——
也为教堂，基督的化身，祈祷。
而现在你们散居在狭长如带的路上，
无人知道或关心谁是谁的邻居，
除非邻居过分烦扰，
而都驾驶着汽车往来奔突，
熟悉公路却无处定居，
家人甚至不一块儿活动，
而是每个儿子都有自己的摩托车，
女儿们则随随便便坐在后座上疾驰而去。
许多东西要抛弃，许多要建造，许多要修复；
别耽误这工作，别浪费时间和臂力；
把泥土从坑里挖出来，用锯子锯开石头，
别让熔炉里的火熄灭！
3
主的话降临于我，说：
悲惨的诸城中心思工巧的人们呵，
不幸的一代思想开悟的人们呵，
在你们的聪明才智的迷宫中遭到背叛者，
被你们的发明本身赚得的金钱所出卖者：
我赐给了你们双手，你们转而不做礼拜，
我赐给了你们言语，用于无尽的争吵，
我赐给你们我的律法，你们却建立起各级教会，
我赐给你们嘴唇，以表达友善的情感，
我赐给你们心，为了相互的不信任。
我赐给了你们选择的能力，你们却只是在
无用的沉思和不假思索的行动之间轮换。
许多人从事着写书和出书，
许多人渴望看到自己的名字变成铅字，
许多人除了赛马报道什么也不读。
你们阅读得很多，但不读上帝的言辞；
你们建造得很多，但不造上帝的房子。
你们会给我建造一座塑料房子，用石棉瓦盖顶，
里面填满周日报纸的垃圾吗？
第一男声：来自东方的一声喊：
将要拿来支撑冒烟的大船的支柱怎么办？
你们将要把我健忘且被遗忘的人们留给
清闲、劳作和谵妄的昏聩么？
在一条砖头乱堆的街道上将剩下
残破的烟囱、剥了皮的龙骨、一堆生锈的铁，
在那里，山羊爬高，
在那里，我的话没人说。
第二男声：来自北方、西方和南方——
从那里，成千上万的人每天都旅行到这气数将尽之城；
在这里，我的话没人说，
在那遍布着半边莲和网球绒的土地上，
兔子将打洞，荆棘将重返，
荨麻将在碎石铺就的场院上茁长——
一声喊和风将会说：“这里曾有过体面的不信神之人：
他们唯一的纪念碑是柏油路
和一千个丢失的高尔夫球。”
合唱：除非主与我们共建，我们建了也是白建。
主若不与你们共有，你们可能保有这城市？
一千个指挥交通的警察
也无法告诉你，你为何而来，或向何处去。
一批天竺鼠或一群活跃的土拨鼠
比无主相助的人们建造得更好。
我们将在永久的废墟中间举足而行吗？
我曾经热爱您的房子之美，您的圣所之宁静，
我曾经扫地和擦拭圣坛。
没有圣殿的地方就没有家，
尽管你们有住处和机构，
付租金才可以住的日益破败的地下室
或门上有编号的卫生隔间
或比邻居家稍好的房子；
若是那陌生人问：“这城市的意义何在？
你们紧密地聚居在一块是因为你们彼此相爱吗？”
你们将怎样回答？“我们住在一块
都是为了赚彼此的钱”？还是“这是一个社会”？
那陌生人将会离去，回到沙漠。
我的灵魂啊，为了那陌生人的到来做好准备，
他懂得如何提问，为他做好准备。
倦怠的人们啊，你们背弃上帝
热衷于你们的头脑的伟大和行动的光荣，
热衷于艺术、发明和大胆的事业，
热衷于令人难以置信的表现人类之伟大的计划，
把土和水捆绑在一起为你们所用，
利用海洋，开发山区，
把星球分成普通的和特别的，
专注于设计完美的冰箱，
专注于构想理性的道德，
专注于印刷尽量多的书籍，
营造幸福，抛掷空瓶，
从你们的空虚转向火热的激情，
为了国家或民族或你们所谓的人类；
虽然你们忘却了通向圣殿的大道，
但是有一人记得通往你们家门的道路：
你们可以逃避生活，可是你们逃避不了死亡。
你们将不会否认那陌生人。
4
有人愿意建造圣殿，
有人情愿圣殿还是不造为好。
在先知尼西米的时代，
总体的规则没有例外。
在书珊城的宫中，在尼散月，
他在亚达薛西王面前摆酒；
他为那毁坏的耶路撒冷发愁；
王恩准他告假离开，
好去重建圣城。
于是他带了几个人，去了耶路撒冷；
那里，在龙井边，在粪厂门旁，
在泉门旁，在王池边，
耶路撒冷横卧荒凉，被火焚烧；
走兽都无路可走。
他和手下的人着手重建城墙的时候，
外部有敌人要摧毁他，
内部有奸细和谋私利者。
他们就这样建造，必须
一手拿剑，一手拿泥瓦刀。
5
主啊，把我从用意良好而心地不纯的人类那里解救出来吧：因为心地是超乎一切之上最善于欺诈的，是穷凶极恶的。
和伦人参巴拉、亚扪人多比雅、亚拉伯人基善：无疑是有公众精神和热忱之人。
保护我吧，让我远离有所获取的敌人：也远离有所丧失的朋友。
牢记先知尼西米的话：“把泥瓦刀拿在手，把枪套解开。”
那些坐在一所其功用被遗忘了的房子里的人：好像躺在正在朽坏的楼梯上的蛇，心满意足地在晒太阳。
别的人像狗一样四处奔跑，雄心勃勃，嗅着吠着：他们说，“这房子是个蛇窝，咱们来摧毁它吧；
我们已受够了基督徒的这些可憎的、恶劣的东西。”而这些人事不对的，另一些人也是不对的。
他们还写了数不清的书；太虚荣太浮躁而无法静默：在每个人那里寻找机会抬高自己，躲避自己的空虚。
如果谦卑和纯洁不在心里，它们也不在家里：如果他们不在家里，它们也不在城里。
白天参加建造的人愿在傍晚回到家里：被赐以静默之福气，在睡觉之前在壁炉前打个盹儿。
可是我们被蛇和狗包围着：所以有些人必须劳作，另一些人则必须紧握枪矛。
6
从来也不了解迫害为何物的人们，
从来也不认识一个基督徒的人们，
难以相信这些基督徒受迫害的故事。
住在银行附近的人们
难以怀疑他们的钱不安全。
住在警察局附近的人们
难以相信信仰已征服了世界，
狮子不再需要饲养人了吗？
你们需要人告知，曾经有过的一切，还能依旧存在吗？
你们需要人告知，就连你们能够以被彬彬有礼的方式
吹嘘的如此微不足道的成绩
也难以比赋予其意义的信仰存活得更久吗？
男人啊！作息之际刷亮你们的牙齿；
女人啊！磨光你们的指甲：
你们磨砺犬牙和猫爪。
人们为什么该爱教堂？他们为什么该爱她的律法？
她告知他们生死之义，以及他们会忘记的一切。
他们强硬之处她软和；他们软弱之时她强硬。
她告知他们罪与恶，以及其他令人不快的事实。
通过梦想完美得无人需要修行向善的体系，
他们不断地试图逃避
身心内外的黑暗。
可是真实存在之人将遮蔽
假装存在之人。
并非人子一劳永逸地受了钉刑，
并非殉道者的鲜血一劳永逸地抛洒，
并非圣徒的生命一劳永逸地献出：
而是人子永远在受钉刑，
还将会有殉道者和圣徒。
假如殉道者的鲜血将要流淌在台阶上，
我们就必须先建造台阶；
假如圣殿将被摧毁，
我们就必须建造圣殿。
7
太初，上帝创造了世界。荒凉而空虚。荒凉而空虚。黑暗在深渊之上。
有了人的时候，他们以各种各样的方式，盲目而徒劳地在痛苦的煎熬中挣扎着
趋向上帝，因为人是无用之物；人没有上帝就是风中的种子：被吹来吹去，找不到栖身和发芽之地。
他们追随光和影；光引领他们前行至光，影引领他们至黑暗，
敬拜蛇或树，敬拜魔鬼而非虚无：渴望生外之生，渴望非肉体的至福。
荒凉而空虚。荒凉而空虚。黑暗在深渊之上。
圣灵运行在水面之上。
转身向光且认得光的人
发明了种种高尚的宗教；高尚的宗教是好的，
引领人自光至光，明辨善恶。
可是他们的光总是被黑暗包围和射穿，
就像温带海面上的空气被北极样流的僵死气息刺破；
他们归于终结，一个曾被生的微光短暂照亮的死的终结；
他们归于一个死于饥饿的孩子那枯萎苍老的面容。
祈祷轮，祖先崇拜，厌离出世，无休无止被风鞭打的沙漠里
或劲风不让雪积的群山里，其含义已被遗忘的庄严祭仪。
荒凉而空虚。荒凉而空虚。黑暗在深渊之上。
于是，在一个前定的时刻，来了一个处于时间且属于时间的时刻，
一个不在时间之外，而在时间之中，在我们所谓的历史之中的时刻：把时间的世界拦腰分隔成两半，一个处于时间之中的时刻却又不像属于时间的时刻，
一个处于时间之中的时刻，但是时间却是通过那一时刻造就的：因为没有意义就没有时间，而那处于时间之中的时刻给出了意义。
于是，似乎人必须通过基督之受难和不顾自身艰难生存而节省下来的牺牲，
在上帝之道的光中，从光前行至光；
一如既往地无异于禽兽，一如既往地贪婪肉欲、图谋私利，一如既往地自我和昏聩，
但总是努力奋斗，总是反复更始，总是重新行进在被光照亮的道路上；
往往中途停顿，踯躅不前，立群失所，迁延耽搁，退步回头，但不会走别的路。
可是似乎发生了什么以前从未发生过的事情：尽管我们不知道何时，或为何，或如何，或何地。
他们说，人离开上帝，不是去拜别的神，而是什么神都不拜；这在以前从未发生过——
人既否认诸神又敬拜诸神，先是宣讲理智，
然后是金钱、权力和他们所谓的生活，或民族，或辩证法。
教堂不要了，钟楼推倒了，钟铎掀翻了，
在一个向后进步的时代里，
除了站在那里，两手空空，手心向上，我们得做些什么？
失业者的声音（远远地）：在这块土地上
将只有一根香烟两个男人分，
两个女人分半罐苦
艾酒……
合唱：这世界怎么说，全世界都乘着大马力汽车在环城公路上乱跑？
失业者的声音（越来越小）：在这块土地上
一直没有人雇用我们……
合唱：荒凉而空虚。荒凉而空虚。黑暗在深渊之上。
当此之时，教堂不再被理睬，甚至不再被反对，人已经忘却
除了高利贷、肉欲和权力之外的一切诸神，
是教堂辜负了人类，还是人类辜负了教堂？
8
神父啊，我们欢迎你的话，
我们要牢记过去，
鼓起勇气面向未来。
异教徒来到了您的遗产之中，
您的圣殿遭他们亵渎了。
来自以东的这个人是谁？
他一直独自踩踏榨汁器。
那边来了一个人，说起耶路撒冷的耻辱
和遭到亵渎的圣地；
隐修士彼得，用话语鞭打着人。
他的听众种有一小部分是好人，
许多是坏人，
大部分不好也不坏，
就像所有地方的所有人。
有的前去是出于对荣誉的热爱，
有的前去是由于不安和好奇，
有的是贪财和好色的。
许多人把身体留给了叙利亚的风筝
或沿途被海水掩盖；
许多人把灵魂留在了叙利亚，
继续活着，沉沦在道德败坏之中；
许多人回来身无分文，
罹患疾病，沦为乞丐，发现
陌生人占据了自己的家门：
回到家来时，已被东方的阳光晒裂，
被叙利亚的七重罪碾碎。
但是我们的王在亚柯统治有方，
尽管尊严丧尽，
准则败坏，生活败坏，
信仰败坏在一地又一地，
还有比老人在冬夜里讲的故事
更有意义的东西留下来。
唯有信仰能够实现它的积极意义；
一小部分人的全部信仰，
许多人的部分信仰，
不是贪财、好色、不忠、
觊觎、懒惰、贪食、嫉妒、骄傲：
不是这些造就了十字架骑士，
而是这些毁掉了他们。
记住那些信仰吧，它曾促使人们
在一位游方步道者的召唤下离开家园。
我们的时代是一个美德平庸
恶行也平庸的时代，
此时人们不会放下十字架，
因为他们从来就不会背起它。
但是对于有信仰和信念的人，
没有什么是不可能的，没有。
所有，让我们来完成我们的意愿。
上帝啊，帮帮我们。
9
人子啊，用您的眼看，用您的耳听，
把您的心放在我给您看的一切之上。
这是谁？曾如是说：上帝的房子是座悲哀的房子；
我们必须身着黑衣而行，中心哀戚，面色阴沉；
我们必须行走在空空的墙壁之间，躬身颤抖着，小声耳语着，
在数点分散而闪烁不定的灯光中间。
他们在忙于日常事务之时，会把自己的悲哀——
他们应为自己的罪过感到的悲哀——放在上帝身上。
然而他们昂首阔步走在大街上，好像准备赛跑的纯种马，
盛装修饰着，忙碌于市场、广场
和所有其他的世俗集会。
自我感觉良好，随时准备参加任何庆典聚会，
对待自己非常之好。
咱们来在一个私密的房间里伤悲，学习悔过的方法，
然后再来学习圣徒的欢喜会谈。
人的灵魂必须赶紧趋向创造。
当艺术家将自己和石头合为一体时，从形状不规整的石头里，
从与石头的灵魂相结合的人的灵魂里，总会迸发出新的生命形式；
从与艺术家的眼睛相遇的一切生物或无生物的
无意义的实际形状里，迸发出新生命、新形式、新色彩。
从声音的海洋里，迸发出音乐的生命；
从词语的黏滑淤泥里，从模糊不清的词语的冻雨和冰雹、
似是而非的思想和感情、取代思想和感情位置的词语里，
迸发出言辞的完美秩序，还有诵唱之美。
主啊，我们不该把这些当作礼物献给您吗？
我们不该献给您我们用来维持
生命、尊严、优雅和秩序，
以及理智的感官之乐的一切力量吗？
曾经创造的主必定希望我们去创造，
再用我们的创造为他效劳；
创造之中已经是在为他效劳。
因为人是由灵魂和肉体合成，
所以必须另肉合一来效劳。
可见的和不可见的，两个世界在人身上会合；
可见的和不可见的必须在主的圣殿中会合；
你们不可否认肉体。
在许多努力之好，在许多阻碍之后；
现在你们将眼看圣殿建成：
因为创造之功从不会不劳而获；
成形的石头、可见的基督受难像、
装饰一新的圣坛、高悬的灯光，
光
光
可见的光——令人想到不可见的光。
10
你们已眼见这房子建成，你们已眼见它
由夜里来的一个人装饰好，现在献给了上帝。
它现在是一座可见的教堂，又一盏灯光安置在一座山上，
在一个混乱、黑暗、被恐惧的征兆搅扰的世界里。
我们对于未来有何可说？我们能够建造的就只一座教堂？
或者说这可见的教堂将继续去征服世界？
那巨蛇永远半醒着，卧在世界的坑穴底下，盘绕
折叠，直到饿醒，左右摆动着脑袋，伺机吞噬。
可是不公之神秘对于肉眼凡胎是一个深不可测的坑穴。你们
快出来，离开那些珍视那蛇的金眼之人，
蛇的崇拜者、自愿现身的牺牲者。走
你们自己的路，独立不群。
不要对善恶太过好奇；
不要试图计数未来的时光之潮；
而要满足于你们拥有足够的光
可以照亮你们的脚步，找到你们的立足之处。
不可见的光啊，我们赞颂您！
您对于凡胎肉眼太过明亮。
更亮的光啊，我们替较小的光赞颂您：
清晨我们的塔尖触及的东方的光，
傍晚斜照在我们的西门上的光，
蝙蝠飞翔的时辰浮荡在静静池水上的微光，
月光和星光，猫头鹰和飞蛾的光，
草叶上萤火虫的亮光。
不可见的光啊，我们崇拜您！
我们感谢您，为了我们已点亮的光，
圣坛和神龛的光；
在夜半冥思的人们的小光；
直透过彩色窗玻璃的光；
磨光的石头、描金的木雕、
彩绘的壁画反射的光。
我们凝视水下，我们仰望天空，
看见透过不平静的水而分散的光。
我们看见光但看不出它从哪里来。
不可见的光啊，我们荣耀您！
在我们俗世生活的节奏里，我们厌倦光。白天结束时，游戏结束时，我们感觉愉快；极乐即太多的痛苦。
我们是很快就疲累的儿童：熬夜不睡，焰火点燃时却睡着了的儿童；用来工作或游戏的白天太长。
我们厌倦烦乱打扰或专心致志，我们睡觉且乐于睡觉，受控于血液、日夜和季节的律动。
我们必须熄灭烛火，把光灭掉再点亮；
必须永远扑灭，永远重新点燃那火焰。
因此我们感谢您赐给我们这微光，虽然它缀有阴影。
我们感谢您驱使我们运用自己的手指和眼光去建造、筑基、构架。
我们建好了礼拜不可见的光的圣坛之后，就可以把我们的凡胎肉眼可见的小光安置在上面。
我们感谢您，因为黑暗让我想起了光。
不可见的光啊，我们因为您伟大的荣耀而感谢您！
1934年
Choruses from "The Rock"
I
The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven,
The Hunter with his dogs pursues his circuit.
О perpetual revolution of configured stars,
О perpetual recurrence of determined seasons,
О world of spring and autumn, birth and dying!
The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.
I journeyed to London, to the timekept City,
Where the River flows, with foreign flotations.
There I was told: we have too many churches,
And too few chop-houses. There I was told:
Let the vicars retire. Men do not need the Church
In the place where they work, but where they spend their Sundays.
In the City, we need no bells:
Let them waken the suburbs.
I journeyed to the suburbs, and there I was told:
We toil for six days, on the seventh we must motor
To Hindhead, or Maidenhead.
If the weather is foul we stay at home and read the papers.
In industrial districts, there I was told
Of economic laws.
In the pleasant countryside, there it seemed
That the country now is only fit for picnics.
And the Church does not seem to be wanted
In country or in suburbs; and in the town
Only for important weddings.
Chorus Leader: Silence! and preserve respectful distance.
For I perceive approaching
The Rock. Who will perhaps answer our doubtings.
The Rock. The Watcher. The Stranger.
He who has seen what has happened.
And who sees what is to happen.
The Witness. The Critic. The Stranger.
The God-shaken, in whom is the truth inborn.
Enter the Rock, led by a Boy:
The Rock: The lot of man is ceaseless labour,
Or ceaseless idleness, which is still harder,
Or irregular labour, which is not pleasant.
I have trodden the winepress alone, and I know
That it is hard to be really useful, resigning
The things that men count for happiness, seeking
The good deeds that lead to obscurity, accepting
With equal face those that bring ignominy,
The applause of all or the love of none.
All men are ready to invest their money
But most expect dividends.
I say to you: Make perfect your will.
I say: take no thought of the harvest,
But only of proper sowing.
The world turns and the world changes,
But one thing does not change.
In all of my years, one thing does not change.
However you disguise it, this thing does not change:
The perpetual struggle of Good and Evil.
Forgetful, you neglect your shrines and churches;
The men you are in these times deride
What has been done of good, you find explanations
To satisfy the rational and enlightened mind.
Second, you neglect and belittle the desert.
The desert is not remote in southern tropics,
The desert is not only around the corner,
The desert is squeezed in the tube-train next to you.
The desert is in the heart of your brother.
The good man is the builder, if he build what is good.
I will show you the things that are now being done,
And some of the things that were long ago done,
That you may take heart. Make perfect your will.
Let me show you the work of the humble. Listen.
The lights fade; in the semi-darkness the voices of Workmen are heard chanting.
In the vacant places
We will build with new bricks
There are hands and machines
And clay for new brick
And lime for new mortar
Where the bricks are fallen
We will build with new stone
Where the beams are rotten
We will build with new timbers
Where the word is unspoken
We will build with new speech
There is work together
A Church for all
And a job for each
Every man to his work.
Now а group of Workmen is silhouetted against the dim sky. From farther away, they are answered by voices of the Unemployed.
No man has hired us
With pocketed hands
And lowered faces
We stand about in open places
And shiver in unlit rooms.
Only the wind moves
Over empty fields, untilled
Where the plough rests, at an angle
To the furrow. In this land
There shall be one cigarette to two men,
To two women one half pint of bitter
Ale. In this land
No man has hired us.
Our life is unwelcome, our death
Unmentioned in "The Times."
Chant of Workmen again.
The river flows, the seasons turn,
The sparrow and starling have no time to waste.
If men do not build
How shall they live?
When the field is tilled
And the wheat is bread
They shall not die in a shortened bed
And a narrow sheet. In this street
There is no beginning, no movement, no peace and no end
But noise without speech, food without taste.
Without delay, without haste
We would build the beginning and the end of this street.
We build the meaning:
A Church for all
And a job for each
Each man to his work.
II
Thus your fathers were made
Fellow citizens of the saints, of the household of God, being built upon the foundation
Of apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself the chief corner-stone.
But you, have you built well, that you now sit helpless in a ruined house?
Where many are born to idleness, to frittered lives and squalid deaths, embittered scorn in honey-hives,
And those who would build and restore turn out the palms of their hands, or look in vain towards foreign lands for alms to be more or the urn to be filled.
Your building not fitly framed together, you sit ashamed and wonder whether and how you may be builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit, the Spirit which moved on the face of the waters like a lantern set on the back of a tortoise.
And some say: "How can we love our neighbour? For love must be made real in act, as desire unites with desired; we have only our labour to give and our labour is not required.
We wait on corners, with nothing to bring but the songs we can sing which nobody wants to hear sung;
Waiting to be flung in the end, on a heap less useful than dung."
You, have you built well, have you forgotten the cornerstone?
Talking of right relations of men, but not of relations of men to God.
"Our citizenship is in Heaven"; yes, but that is the model and type for your citizenship upon earth.
When your fathers fixed the place of God,
And settled all the inconvenient saints,
Apostles, martyrs, in a kind of Whipsnade,
Then they could set about imperial expansion
Accompanied by industrial development.
Exporting iron, coal and cotton goods
And intellectual enlightenment
And everything, including capital
And several versions of the Word of God:
The British race assured of a mission
Performed it, but left much at home unsure.
Of all that was done in the past, you eat the fruit, either rotten or ripe.
And the Church must be forever building, and always decaying.and always being restored.
For every ill deed in the past we suffer the consequence:
For sloth, for avarice, gluttony, neglect of the Word of God.
For pride, for lechery, treachery, for every act of sin.
And of all that was done that was good, you have the inheritance.
For good and ill deeds belong to a man alone, when he stands alone on the other side of death,
But here upon earth you have the reward of the good and ill that was done by those who have gone before you.
And all that is ill you may repair if you walk together in humble repentance, expiating the sins of your fathers;
And all that was good you must fight to keep with hearts as devoted as those of your fathers who fought to gain it.
The Church must be forever building, for it is forever decaying within and attacked from without;
For this is the law of life; and you must remember that while there is time of prosperity
The people will neglect the Temple, and in time of adversity they will decry it.
What life have you if you have not life together?
There is no life that is not in community,
And no community not lived in praise of God.
Even the anchorite who meditates alone,
For whom the days and nights repeat the praise of God,
Prays for the Church, the Body of Christ incarnate.
And now you live dispersed on ribbon roads.
And no man knows or cares who is his neighbour
Unless his neighbour makes too much disturbance,
But all dash to and fro in motor cars,
Familiar with the roads and settled nowhere.
Nor does the family even move about together.
But every son would have his motor cycle,
And daughters ride away on casual pillions.
Much to cast down, much to build, much to restore;
Let the work not delay, time and the arm not waste;
Let the clay be dug from the pit, let the saw cut the stone.
Let the fire not be quenched in the forge.
Ⅲ
The Word of the Lord came unto me, saying:
О miserable cities of designing men,
O wretched generation of enlightened men,
Betrayed in the mazes of your ingenuities.
Sold by the proceeds of your proper inventions:
I have given you hands which you turn from worship,
I have given you speech, for endless palaver,
I have given you my Law, and you set up commissions,
I have given you lips, to express friendly sentiments,
I have given you hearts, for reciprocal distrust.
I have given you power of choice, and you only alternate
Between futile speculation and unconsidered action.
Many are engaged in writing books and printing them.
Many desire to see their names in print.
Many read nothing but the race reports.
Much is your reading, but not the Word of God,
Much is your building, but not the House of God.
Will you build me a house of plaster, with corrugated roofing,
To be filled with a litter of Sunday newspapers?
1st Male Voice: A Cry from the East:
What shall be done to the shore of smoky ships?
Will you leave my people forgetful and forgotten
To idleness, labour, and delirious stupor?
There shall be left the broken chimney,
The peeled hull, a pile of rusty iron.
In a street of scattered brick where the goat climbs,
Where My Word is unspoken.
2nd Male Voice: A Cry from the North, from the West and from the South
Whence thousands travel daily to the timekept City;
Where My Word is unspoken,
In the land of lobelias and tennis flannels
The rabbit shall burrow and the thorn revisit,
The nettle shall flourish on the gravel court,
And the wind shall say: "Here were decent godless people:
Their only monument the asphalt road
And a thousand lost golf balls."
Chorus: We build in vain unless the Lord build with us.
Can you keep the City that the Lord keeps not with you?
A thousand policemen directing the traffic
Cannot tell you why you come or where you go.
A colony of cavies or a horde of active marmots
Build better than they that build without the Lord.
Shall we lift up our feet among perpetual ruins?
I have loved the beauty of Thy House, the peace of Thy sanctuary,
I have swept the floors and garnished the altars.
Where there is no temple there shall be no homes.
Though you have shelters and institutions,
Precarious lodgings while the rent is paid,
Subsiding basements where the rat breeds
Or sanitary dwellings with numbered doors
Or a house a little better than your neighbour's;
When the Stranger says: "What is the meaning of this city?
Do you huddle close together because you love each other?"
What will you answer? "We all dwell together
To make money from each other"? or "This is a community"?
And the Stranger will depart and return to the desert.
О my soul, be prepared for the coming of the Stranger,
Be prepared for him who knows how to ask questions.
О weariness of men who turn from God
To the grandeur of your mind and the glory of your action,
To arts and inventions and daring enterprises.
To schemes of human greatness thoroughly discredited.
Binding the earth and the water to your service,
Exploiting the seas and developing the mountains,
Dividing the stars into common and preferred.
Engaged in devising the perfect refrigerator,
Engaged in working out a rational morality,
Engaged in printing as many books as possible,
Plotting of happiness and flinging empty bottles,
Turning from your vacancy to fevered enthusiasm
For nation or race or what you call humanity;
Though you forget the way to the Temple,
There is one who remembers the way to your door:
Life you may evade, but Death you shall not.
You shall not deny the Stranger.
Ⅳ
There are those who would build the Temple,
And those who prefer that the Temples should not be built.
In the days of Nehemiah the Prophet
There was no exception to the general rule.
In Shushan the palace, in the month Nisan,
He served the wine to the King Artaxerxes,
And he grieved for the broken city, Jerusalem;
And the King gave him leave to depart
That he might rebuild the city.
So he went, with a few, to Jerusalem,
And there, by the dragon's well, by the dung gate,
By the fountain gate, by the king's pool,
Jerusalem lay waste, consumed with fire;
No place for a beast to pass.
There were enemies without to destroy him.
And spies and self-seekers within,
When he and his men laid their hands to rebuilding the wall.
So they built as men must build
With the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other.
Ⅴ
О Lord, deliver me from the man of excellent intention and impure heart: for the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arabian: were doubtless men of public spirit and zeal.
Preserve me from the enemy who has something to gain: and from the friend who has something to lose.
Remembering the words of Nehemiah the Prophet: "The trowel in hand, and the gun rather loose in the holster."
Those who sit in a house of which the use is forgotten: are like snakes that lie on mouldering stairs, content in the sunlight.
And the others run about like dogs, full of enterprise, sniffing and barking: they say, "This house is a nest of serpents, let us destroy it,
And have done with these abominations, the turpitudes of the Christians." And these are not justified, nor the others.
And they write innumerable books; being too vain and distracted for silence: seeking every one after his own elevation, and dodging his emptiness.
If humility and purity be not in the heart, they are not in the home: and if they are not in the home, they are not in the City.
The man who has builded during the day would return to his hearth at nightfall: to be blessed with the gift of silence, and doze before he sleeps.
But we are encompassed with snakes and dogs: therefore some must labour, and others must hold the spears.
Ⅵ
It is hard for those who have never known persecution,
And who have never known a Christian,
To believe these tales of Christian persecution.
It is hard for those who live near a Bank
To doubt the security of their money.
It is hard for those who live near a Police Station
To believe in the triumph of violence.
Do you think that the Faith has conquered the World
And that lions no longer need keepers?
Do you need to be told that whatever has been, can still be?
Do you need to be told that even such modest attainments
As you can boast in the way of polite society
Will hardly survive the Faith to which they owe their significance?
Men! polish your teeth on rising and retiring;
Women! polish your fingernails:
You polish the tooth of the dog and the talon of the cat.
Why should men love the Church? Why should they love her laws?
She tells them of Life and Death, and of all that they would forget.
She is tender where they would be hard, and hard where they like to be soft.
She tells them of Evil and Sin, and other unpleasant facts.
They constantly try to escape
From the darkness outside and within
By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.
But the man that is will shadow
The man that pretends to be.
And the Son of Man was not crucified once for all.
The blood of the martyrs not shed once for all,
The lives of the Saints not given once for all:
But the Son of Man is crucified always
And there shall be Martyrs and Saints.
And if blood of Martyrs is to flow on the steps
We must first build the steps;
And if the Temple is to be cast down
We must first build the Temple.
Ⅶ
In the beginning God created the world. Waste and void. Waste and void. And darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And when there were men, in their various ways, they struggled in torment towards God
Blindly and vainly, for man is a vain thing, and man without God is a seed upon the wind: driven this way and that, and finding no place of lodgement and germination.
They followed the light and the shadow, and the light led them forward to light and the shadow led them to darkness,
Worshipping snakes or trees, worshipping devils rather than nothing: crying for life beyond life, for ecstasy not of the flesh.
Waste and void. Waste and void. And darkness on the face of the deep.
And the Spirit moved upon the face of the water.
And men who turned towards the light and were known of the light
Invented the Higher Religions; and the Higher Religions were good
And led men from light to light, to knowledge of Good and Evil.
But their light was ever surrounded and shot with darkness
As the air of temperate seas is pierced by the still dead breath of the Arctic Current;
And they came to an end, a dead end stirred with a flicker of life.
And they came to the withered ancient look of a child that has died of starvation.
Prayer wheels, worship of the dead, denial of this world, affirmation of rites with forgotten meanings
In the restless wind-whipped sand, or the hills where the wind will not let the snow rest.
Waste and void. Waste and void. And darkness on the face of the deep.
Then came, at a predetermined moment, a moment in time and of time,
A moment not out of time, but in time, in what we call history: transecting, bisecting the world of time, a moment in time but not like a moment of time,
A moment in time but time was made through that moment: for without the meaning there is no time, and that moment of time gave the meaning.
Then it seemed as if men must proceed from light to light, in the light of the Word,
Through the Passion and Sacrifice saved in spite of their negative being;
Bestial as always before, carnal, self-seeking as always before, selfish and purblind as ever before.
Yet always struggling, always reaffirming, always resuming their march on the way that was lit by the light;
Often halting, loitering, straying, delaying, returning, yet following no other way.
But it seems that something has happened that has never happened before: though we know not just when, or why, or how, or where.
Men have left God not for other gods, they say, but for no god; and this has never happened before
That men both deny gods and worship gods, professing first Reason,
And then Money, and Power, and what they call Life, or Race, or Dialectic.
The Church disowned, the tower overthrown, the bells upturned, what have we to do
But stand with empty hands and palms turned upwards In an age which advances progressively backwards?
Voice of the Unemployed [afar off]: In this land
There shall be one cigarette to two men,
To two women one half pint of bitter
Ale....
Chorus: What does the world say, does the whole world stray in high-powered cars on a by-pass way?
Voice of the Unemployed [more faintly］：in this land
No man has hired us . . . .
Chorus: Waste and void. Waste and void. And darkness on the face of the deep.
Has the Church failed mankind, or has mankind failed the Church?
When the Church is no longer regarded, not even opposed, and men have forgotten
All gods except Usury, Lust and Power.
Ⅷ
О Father we welcome your words.
And we will take heart for the future,
Remembering the past.
The heathen are come into thine inheritance,
And thy temple have they defiled.
Who is this that cometh from Edom?
He has trodden the wine-press alone.
There came one who spoke of the shame of Jerusalem
And the holy places defiled;
Peter the Hermit, scourging with words.
And among his hearers were a few good men,
Many who were evil,
And most who were neither.
Like all men in all places.
Some went from love of glory,
Some went who were restless and curious,
Some were rapacious and lustful.
Many left their bodies to the kites of Syria
Or sea-strewn along the routes;
Many left their souls in Syria,
Living on, sunken in moral corruption;
Many came back well broken,
Diseased and beggared, finding
A stranger at the door in possession:
Came home cracked by the sun of the East
And the seven deadly sins in Syria.
But our King did well at Acre.
And in spite of all the dishonour,
The broken standards, the broken lives,
The broken faith in one place or another,
There was something left that was more than the tales
Of old men on winter evenings.
Only the faith could have done what was good of it.
Whole faith of a few,
Part faith of many.
Not avarice, lechery, treachery,
Envy, sloth, gluttony, jealousy, pride:
It was not these that made the Crusades,
But these that unmade them.
Remember the faith that took men from home
At the call of a wandering preacher.
Our age is an age of moderate virtue
And of moderate vice
When men will not lay down the Cross
Because they will never assume it.
Yet nothing is impossible, nothing,
To men of faith and conviction.
Let us therefore make perfect our will.
О God, help us.
Ⅸ
Son of Man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears
And set thine heart upon all that I show thee.
Who is this that has said: the House of God is a House of Sorrow;
We must walk in black and go sadly, with long-drawn faces.
We must go between empty walls, quavering lowly, whispering faintly,
Among a few flickering scattered lights?
They would put upon God their own sorrow, the grief they should feel
For their sins and faults as they go about their daily occasions.
Yet they walk in the street proudnecked, like thoroughbred ready for races,
Adorning themselves, and busy in the market, the forum,
And all other secular meetings.
Thinking good of themselves, ready for any festivity,
Doing themselves very well.
Let us mourn in a private chamber, learning the way of penitence,
And dien let us learn the joyful communion of saints.
The soul of Man must quicken to creation.
Out of the formless stone, when the artist united himself with stone,
Spring always new forms of life, from the soul of man that is joined to the soul of stone;
Out of the meaningless practical shapes of all that is living or lifeless
Joined with the artist's eye, new life, new form, new colour.
Out of the sea of sound the life of music,
Out of the slimy mud of words, out of the sleet and hail of verbal imprecisions,
Approximate thoughts and feelings, words that have taken the place of thoughts and feelings,
There spring the perfect order of speech, and the beauty of incantation.
Lord, shall we not bring these gifts to Your service?
Shall we not bring to Your service all our powers
For life, for dignity, grace and order.
And intellectual pleasures of the senses?
The Lord who created must wish us to create
And employ our creation again in His service
Which is already His service in creating.
For Man is joined spirit and body,
And therefore must serve as spirit and body.
Visible and invisible, two worlds meet in Man;
Visible and invisible must meet in His Temple;
You must not deny the body.
Now you shall see the Temple completed:
After much striving, after many obstacles:
For the work of creation is never without travail;
The formed stone, the visible crucifix,
The dressed altar, the lifting light,
Light
Light
The visible reminder of Invisible Light.
Ⅹ
You have seen the house built, you have seen it adorned
By one who came in the night, it is now dedicated to God.
It is now a visible church, one more light set on a hill
In a world confused and dark and disturbed by portents of fear.
And what shall we say of the future? Is one church all we can build?
Or shall the Visible Church go on to conquer the World?
The great snake lies ever half awake, at the bottom of the pit of the world, curled
In folds of himself until he awakens in hunger and moving his head to right and to left prepares for his hour to devour.
But the Mystery of Iniquity is a pit too deep for mortal eyes to plumb. Come
Ye out from among those who prize the serpent's golden eyes,
The worshippers, self-given sacrifice of the snake. Take
Your way and be ye separate.
Be not too curious of Good and Evil;
Seek not to count the future waves of Time;
But be ye satisfied that you have light
Enough to take your step and find your foothold.
О Light Invisible, we praise Thee!
Too bright for mortal vision.
О Greater Light, we praise Thee for the less;
The eastern light our spires touch at morning,
The light that slants upon our western doors at evening.
The twilight over stagnant pools at batflight,
Moon light and star light, owl and moth light,
Glow-worm glowlight on a grassblade.
О Light Invisible, we worship Thee!
We thank Thee for the lights that we have kindled,
The light of altar and of sanctuary;
Small lights of those who meditate at midnight
And lights directed through the coloured panes of windows
And light reflected from the polished stone,
The gilded carven wood, the coloured fresco.
Our gaze is submarine, our eyes look upward
And see the light that fractures through unquiet water.
We see the light but see not whence it comes.
О Light Invisible, we glorify Thee!
In our rhythm of earthly life we tire of light. We are glad when the day ends, when the play ends; and ecstasy is too much pain.
We are children quickly tired: children who are up in the night and fall asleep as the rocket is fired; and the day is long for work or play.
We tire of distraction or concentration, we sleep and are glad to sleep,
Controlled by the rhythm of blood and the day and the night and the seasons.
And we must extinguish the candle, put out the light and relight it;
Forever must quench, forever relight the flame.
Therefore we thank Thee for our little light, that is dappled with shadow.
We thank Thee who hast moved us to building, to finding, to forming at the ends of our fingers and beams of our eyes.
And when we have built an altar to the Invisible Light, we may set thereon the little lights for which our bodily vision is made.
And we thank Thee that darkness reminds us of light.
О Light Invisible, we give Thee thanks for Thy great glory!
