西洋電影裡面常常會出現引用詩句的橋段，雖然稀哩呼嚕過去通常也不會影響劇情線，但仔細品味更會發覺另一層樂趣與感動。舉例看幾遍都不厭倦的Before Sunrise《愛在黎明破曉時》(1995年出品)，由超年輕的Ethan Hawke (伊森霍克)與Julie Delpy (茱莉蝶兒)主演。
在歐洲列車上偶然相遇的兩個人，因為相談甚歡，決定和對方消磨一天的時間至隔天早晨。這段時間中沒有什麼事件發生，焦點就放在他們的對話，編劇的功力由此可知。
到了深夜，站在昏黃靜謐的燈光下，Jesse (男主角)說他覺得時間在那晚好像已經停止了。但，到了清晨離別之際，在噴泉旁邊，他引用了W. H. Auden的” As I Walked Out One Evening” :
“But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
'O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.”
此時所有的鐘同時響起，說：”別讓時間欺騙了你，你無法戰勝時間”。
這首詩以詩人的觀點出發，當他出門散步時，遠遠聽到橋下的情人在對愛慕的人唱歌(1~2 節)。這情人唱著他的愛永無止盡(電影Titanic主題曲?)，我喜歡的是這句: “I'll love you till the ocean / Is folded and hung up to dry.” 我會愛你直到海洋被折起、晾起曬乾，這個形容比海枯石爛有創意多了。(3~5節)
但鐘是忠實記錄時間的機器，它說沒有人能逃脫時間的控制(6~14節)：”In headaches and in worry/ Vaguely life leaks away” 茫然的生命就在頭痛與煩惱中流逝。雖然年輕時，人們都對自己充滿了信心，對很多事都很鐵齒；但人生其實就在不知不覺中(或是惶恐中)過去了。
當火車要開走時，Jesse和Celine約定半年後要在同一個地方相見。他們錯過了彼此，再相見已經是八年後了。時間確實的在他們身上心上留下了痕跡，怎麼說？請看續集Before Sunset《愛在日落巴黎時》。
As I Walked Out One Evening
by W. H. Auden
As I walked out one evening,
Walking down Bristol Street,
The crowds upon the pavement
Were fields of harvest wheat.
And down by the brimming river
I heard a lover sing
Under an arch of the railway:
'Love has no ending.
'I'll love you, dear, I'll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,
'I'll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky.
'The years shall run like rabbits,
For in my arms I hold
The Flower of the Ages,
And the first love of the world.'
But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
'O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.
'In the burrows of the Nightmare
Where Justice naked is,
Time watches from the shadow
And coughs when you would kiss.
'In headaches and in worry
Vaguely life leaks away,
And Time will have his fancy
To-morrow or to-day.
'Into many a green valley
Drifts the appalling snow;
Time breaks the threaded dances
And the diver's brilliant bow.
'O plunge your hands in water,
Plunge them in up to the wrist;
Stare, stare in the basin
And wonder what you've missed.
'The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
The desert sighs in the bed,
And the crack in the tea-cup opens
A lane to the land of the dead.
'Where the beggars raffle the banknotes
And the Giant is enchanting to Jack,
And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer,
And Jill goes down on her back.
'O look, look in the mirror,
O look in your distress:
Life remains a blessing
Although you cannot bless.
'O stand, stand at the window
As the tears scald and start;
You shall love your crooked neighbour
With your crooked heart.'
It was late, late in the evening,
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.
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