英国诗人Walter Savage Landor的一首小诗,颇觉意境深远:
I strove with none, for none was worth my strife.
Nature I loved, and next to Nature, Art:
I warm'd both hands before the fire of life;
It sinks; and I am ready to depart.
杨绛将此诗译作为:
我和谁都不争,和谁争我都不屑;
我爱大自然,其次是艺术;
我双手烤着,生命之火取暖;
火萎了,我也准备走了。