依山傍湖的西庸城堡外觀看來十分浪漫，卻曾有200多名囚犯在其地下牢房度過餘生，其中最有名的是16世紀支持日內瓦獨立而被囚禁的François de Bonivard (1493~1570)，他被鐵鍊綁在柱子長達4年之久(1532~1536)。1816年英國詩人拜倫(Lord Byron) 來此參觀，在第3根柱子留下簽名，成為此古堡最重要的古蹟。他有感於此史實，寫下「西庸的囚犯」(The Prisoner of Chillon)敘事詩，使得西庸城堡聲名大噪，名人雅士絡繹不絕、前來朝聖。
日內瓦湖邊來往的行人
大砲維護得很好
盔甲和武器隱含著肅殺之氣
遙想當年刀光劍影，多少英雄人物今安在？
大概是施行絞刑的裝置
讓我們想像：1816年某個夏日，英國詩人拜倫(Lord Byron)和他的朋友雪萊(Shelley)同遊西庸古堡。拜倫深受Bonivard的故事感動，尤其在Bonivard被鐵鍊鍊著的柱子前，看到被限制活動範圍的Bonivard留在石板地面的足跡，觸發他寫下392行的英詩"The Prisoner of Chillon"的靈感。兩個年輕人因天候不佳，被困在旅館內無法外出，拜倫遂完成此長篇敘事詩。
拜倫在「西庸的囚犯」(The Prisoner of Chillon)這首長詩前面註明"a fable"，誠實的說明了此詩內容大部分來自詩人的想像力。細讀此詩，讓人不得不佩服詩人澎湃的感情、豐富的想像力、無以倫比的同理心、刻劃生動的詞藻字彙、以及流暢的表達能力。他寫此詩時年28歲，正是詩人文思泉湧、人生經驗累積到某種程度的時候吧？太精采！You Tube上有前91行的朗讀，可以聽聽看。http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epMJ6a0luXM
The Prisoner of Chillon (西庸的囚犯)
這首詩敘述一個孤獨的倖存者所承受的磨難。主角的父親被燒死在火刑柱上；6個兄弟中，兩個戰死在沙場上，一個死於火刑；剩下的三個被囚禁在西庸古堡地牢中，兩個弟弟逐漸消瘦、憔悴死於主角眼前。最後留下傷心欲絕的主角Bonivard獨白：
My hair is grey, but not with years,
Nor grew it white
In a single night,
As Men’s have grown from sudden fears;
My limbs are bowed, though not with toil, 5
But rusted with a vile repose,
For they have been a dungeon’s spoil,
And mine has been the fate of those
To whom the goodly earth and air
Are banned and barred – forbidden fare; 10
But this was for my Fathers’ faith
I suffered chains and courted death;
That Father perished at the stake
For tenets he would not forsake;
And for the same, his lineal race 15
In darkness found a dwelling-place;
We were seven – who now are One,
Six in youth and one in age,
Finished as they had begun,
Proud of Persecution’s rage; 20
One in fire, and two in field,
Their belief with blood have sealed
Dying as their Father died,
For the God their foes denied;
Three were in a dungeon cast, 25
Of whom this wreck is left the last. –
2.
There are seven pillars of Gothic mold
In Chillon’s dungeons deep and old;
There are seven columns massy and grey,
Dim with a dull imprisoned ray, 30
A Sunbeam which hath lost its way;
And through the Crevice and the cleft
Of the thick wall is fallen and left,
Creeping o’er the floor so damp,
Like a Marsh’s meteor lamp; 35
And in each pillar there is a ring,
And in each ring there is a chain;
That Iron is a cankering thing,
For in these limbs its teeth remain
With marks that will not wear away 40
Till I have done with this new day
Which now is painful to these eyes
Which have not seen the Sun so rise
For years – I cannot count them o’er;
I lost their long and heavy score 45
When my last Brother drooped and died,
And I lay living by his side.
3.
They chained us each to a column stone,
And we were three – yet each alone;
We could not move a single pace; 50
We could not see each other’s face,
But with that pale and livid light
That made us strangers in our sight;
And thus together, yet apart,
Fettered in hand, but pined in heart, 55
’Twas still some solace, in the dearth
Of the pure elements of earth,
To hearken to each other’s speech,
And each turn comforter to each,
With some new hope – or legend old, 60
Or song heroically bold;
But even these at length grew cold.
Our voices took a dreary tone,
An echo of the dungeon-stone,
A grating sound – not full and free, 65
As they of yore were wont to be,
It might be fancy – but to me
They never sounded like our own.
4.
I was the eldest of the three,
And to uphold and cheer the rest 70
I ought to do, and did my best,
And each did well in his degree.
The youngest – whom my Father loved,
Because our mother’s brow was given
To him, with eyes as blue as heaven – 75
For him my soul was sorely moved,
And truly might it be distresst
To see such bird in such a nest,
For he was beautiful as Day
(When Day was beautiful to me 80
As to young Eagles being free)
A polar Day which will not see
A Sunset till its Summer’s gone,
Its sleepless Summer of long light
The Snow-clad offspring of the Sun; 85
And thus he was as pure and bright,
And in his natural Spirit gay,
With tears for nought but others’ ills,
And then they flowed like mountain rills,
Unless he could assuage the woe 90
Which he abhorred to view below.
......
And then the sighs he would suppress,
Of fainting Nature’s feebleness,
More slowly drawn – grew less and less;
I listened – but I could not hear – 205
I called – for I was wild with fear,
I knew ’twas hopeless, but my dread
Would not be thus admonished.
I called, and thought I heard a sound;
I burst my chain with one strong bound 210
And rushed to him – I found him not;
.........
陰暗的地下牢房
英國詩人拜倫的刻字簽名
想像Bonivard修道士被鍊於此柱
Bonivard修道士孤獨、悲憤的被囚禁於此
也許這就是Bonivard修道士夢寐以求、卻不可得的光線吧？
多年前的圖片，西庸古堡看來有無限的哀戚與悲涼。
史實：Bonivard修道士是瑞士的愛國主義者、歷史學家。他接替叔叔成為修道院院長，為反抗Savoy 王朝的統治，1519~1521年被捕下獄，失去他的修道院。此後他更加反對Savoy 王朝
，1530年再度被捕，1532~1536年被拘禁於西庸古堡的地下牢房，1536年被Bernese釋放，成為新教徒，領取日內瓦發給的退休金。他結過四次婚，經常處於負債中。1542年開始編寫日內瓦歷史，1551年完稿，但是直到1831年才出版。
