当甜蜜吹拂新的日子，

As sweetness flows through these new days,

树木生出新叶，

the woods leaf out, and songbirds phrase

当鸣禽从古乐谱上的篇章，

in neumes of roosted melody

谱写出新的歌曲。

incipits to a new song.

爱情应当发现

Then love should find lubricity

湿润和急切，

and quicken, having slept so long.

已经多么长久地远离。

The bloodroot blossoms, well and good,

血根草已经开花，明艳美丽

but I receive no word that would

但我仍然在等待

set my troubled heart at ease,

那能够平抚我心灵的言语。

nor could we turn our faces toward

我们也还不能一同把脸转向太阳，

the sun, and open by degrees,

让五官有几分舒展，

unless we reach a clear accord.

除非我们已经达到清澈的默契。

And so our love goes, night and day:

就这样爱情离开我们，日走夜行：

it’s like the thorny hawthorn spray

它像山楂树带刺的枝条，

that whips about in a bitter wind

在苦涩的风中抽打，

from dusk to dawn, shellacked with sleet,

从黄昏到黎明，

until the sun’s first rays ascend

直到那上升的第一缕阳光，

through leaves and branches, spreading heat.

穿透枝叶，传递热情。

I have in mind one April morning

我记得在一个四月的早晨，

when she relented without warning,

当她突然现出温存，

relenting from her cold rebuff

毫无征兆地，缕缕快乐幸福

in laughter, peals of happiness.

从她拒绝的冷笑中显现。

Sweet Christ, let me live long enough

我的好耶稣，让我活得足够长久，

to get my hands beneath her dress!

活到我可以伸手摸进她的衣衫！

I hate the elevated talk

我恨那些夸夸其谈自命清高，

that disregards both root and stalk

它们鄙视根也鄙视茎，

and sets insipid pride above

它们对起伏叠代的欲望和挣扎

vicissitudes of lust and strife.

施以同样无味的骄傲。

Let others claim a higher love:

让别人歌颂那“高尚”的爱情吧，

we’ve got the bread, we’ve got the knife.

我们已经有了面包，

我们已经有了餐刀。