I
一
Complacencies of the peignoir, and late
怡然于披着晨衣，洒满阳光的椅子上
Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair,
迟迟未动的咖啡和蜜橘，
And the green freedom of a cockatoo
地毯上一只自在的绿鹦鹉，
Upon a rug mingle to dissipate
这种种乐事搅在一起，冲散了
The holy hush of ancient sacrifice.
耶稣殉难的神圣静穆。
She dreams a little, and she feels the dark
她梦魂稍动，感觉到
Encroachment of that old catastrophe,
那古老灾难的黑影逼近，
As a calm darkens among water-lights.
犹如水波中无声的阴影。
The pungent oranges and bright, green wings
刺鼻的蜜橘和明晃晃的绿翼
Seem things in some procession of the dead,
仿佛是夹在死者行列中的东西，
Winding across wide water, without sound.
蜿蜒爬过广袤的水面，杳无声息。
The day is like wide water, without sound,
白昼也如广袤的水面，万籁俱寂，
Stilled for the passing of her dreaming feet
好让她梦一般的双足
Over the seas, to silent Palestine,
跨过海洋，走向寂静的巴勒斯坦，
Dominion of the blood and sepulchre.
那鲜血与坟墓的疆域。
II
二
Why should she give her bounty to the dead?
她为何竟向死者馈赠礼品？
What is divinity if it can come
倘若神性只能在无声的阴影
Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
和梦中显现，那算什么神性？
Shall she not find in comforts of the sun,
为什么她不能从太阳的抚慰中，
In pungent fruit and bright, green wings, or else
从刺鼻的蜜橘和明亮的绿翼中，
In any balm or beauty of the earth,
从世上其他的醇香和美丽中．
Things to be cherished like the thought of heaven?
找到弥足珍贵的东西，比如天堂的思想？
Divinity must live within herself:
神性惟能留存于她心中：
Passions of rain, or moods in falling snow;
雨的欲念，落雪的心境；
Grievings in loneliness, or unsubdued
孤独中的悲戚，林花怒放时
Elations when the forest blooms; gusty
难耐的欢欣；以及秋夜湿路上
Emotions on wet roads on autumn nights;
进发出来的阵阵激情；
All pleasures and all pains, remembering
念及盛夏的绿叶和冬的残枝
The bough of summer and the winter branch.
万般欢乐与痛苦便如潮般诵起。
These are the measures destined for her soul.
这些才是衡量她灵魂的尺度。
III
三
Jove in the clouds had his inhuman birth.
高居云端的朱庇特绝非凡胎。
No mother suckled him, no sweet land gave
没有母亲给他哺乳，没有甜蜜的大地
Large-mannered motions to his mythy mind.
给他神奇的心灵注进万般风情。
He moved among us, as a muttering king,
他走在我们中间，像一位低语的皇帝，
Magnificent, would move among his hinds,
威严地走在一群红鹿中间，
Until our blood, commingling, virginal,
直到我们贞洁的鲜血，与天国
With heaven, brought such requital to desire
融为一体，把这种酬劳送给欲望，
The very hinds discerned it, in a star.
那群红鹿看到了酬劳，从一颗星中。
Shall our blood fail? Or shall it come to be
我们的鲜血会白流吗？或许它将成为
The blood of paradise? And shall the earth
乐园的鲜血？这片土地
Seem all of paradise that we shall know?
是否会变成我们想象的乐园？
The sky will be much friendlier then than now,
那时苍天会比现在更友善，
A part of labor and a part of pain,
劳作和痛苦，在名份上
And next in glory to enduring love,
仅仅次于万古长青的爱，
Not this dividing and indifferent blue.
而不是现在这般生分而冷漠的一片蓝。
IV
四
She says, “I am content when wakened birds,
她说：“我心满意足，当苏醒的鸟儿
Before they fly, test the reality
在飞翔之前，用美妙动听的询问
Of misty fields, by their sweet questionings;
试探迷雾蒙蒙的田野是否实在；
But when the birds are gone, and their warm fields
但当鸟群远去，温暖的田野
Return no more, where, then, is paradise?”
也一去不返，那时．何处为乐园？”
There is not any haunt of prophecy,
这里再也没有预言常往之地，
Nor any old chimera of the grave,
再也没有出没墓地的老妖怪，
Neither the golden underground, nor isle
再也没有金色的地府．也没有
Melodious, where spirits gat them home,
曼歌的仙岛，精灵们曾在那里聚集，
Nor visionary south, nor cloudy palm
再也没有幻梦中的南国，在那遥远的仙山
Remote on heaven’s hill, that has endured
也没有了浓荫如盖的棕榈，那棕榈
As April’s green endures; or will endure
已经凋零，像四月的绿叶过了时令；
Like her remembrance of awakened birds,
或许树叶还会泛青，像她对鸟儿的回忆
Or her desire for June and evening, tipped
以及她对六月和黄昏的渴念，
By the consummation of the swallow’s wings.
从燕翼绝妙的比划中抖落。
V
五
She says, “But in contentment I still feel
她说：“然而．在满足中我仍然
The need of some imperishable bliss.”
感到需要某种不朽的赐福。”
Death is the mother of beauty; hence from her,
死乃美之母；唯有自她那里
Alone, shall come fulfilment to our dreams
我们的梦和渴望才变得圆满。
And our desires. Although she strews the leaves
虽然她在我们的道路上，
Of sure obliteration on our paths,
撒下片片遗忘的落叶，
The path sick sorrow took, the many paths
这难堪的遗憾之路，有几段路途
Where triumph rang its brassy phrase, or love
胜利敲响过它黄铜般的声音，或者
Whispered a little out of tenderness,
爱情发出过温情脉脉的低语！
She makes the willow shiver in the sun
她让柳枝在阳光下悚悚颤动
For maidens who were wont to sit and gaze
为那些习惯于坐着凝视草地的
Upon the grass, relinquished to their feet.
个个少女重又站起身来。
She causes boys to pile new plums and pears
她使男孩子们在被人遗忘的
On disregarded plate. The maidens taste
盘子里，堆满新采的梅子和梨。
And stray impassioned in the littering leaves.
少女们尝后，欣喜地去踏叶漫步。
VI
六
Is there no change of death in paradise?
乐园里难道没有死亡嬗变？
Does ripe fruit never fall? Or do the boughs
成熟的果子不落？沉甸甸的枝桠
Hang always heavy in that perfect sky,
水远沉重地悬空在完美的天空下？
Unchanging, yet so like our perishing earth,
其实酷似我们生生死死的尘世，
With rivers like our own that seek for seas
那里的河流也在寻找海洋，
They never find, the same receding shores
却无法找到，那里也有退潮的
That never touch with inarticulate pang?
海滩，却永远无法感受不可言喻的痛苦？
Why set the pear upon those river-banks
为什么把梨摆放在河岸两旁，
Or spice the shores with odors of the plum?
或者用梅之芬芳把河岸切成两半？
Alas, that they should wear our colors there,
啊，它们应披上我们午后的绸衣，
The silken weavings of our afternoons,
披上我们的绚烂的色彩，
And pick the strings of our insipid lutes!
拨动我们单调的琴弦！
Death is the mother of beauty, mystical,
死乃美之母亲，神秘的母亲，
Within whose burning bosom we devise
在她炽热的怀抱中，我们让
Our earthly mothers waiting, sleeplessly.
自己尘世的母亲无眠地等待。
VII
七
Supple and turbulent, a ring of men
狂热的人群将在一个夏日之晨
Shall chant in orgy on a summer morn
在祭奠酒神的仪式上围成一圈
Their boisterous devotion to the sun,
热烈而虔诚地把太阳颂赞，
Not as a god, but as a god might be,
不把它当作神，只当作“若神”，
Naked among them, like a savage source.
裸露于他们之间，如原始生命之源
Their chant shall be a chant of paradise,
人群高唱颂歌，宛如天堂圣乐，
Out of their blood, returning to the sky;
发自肺腑，又复归云端；
And in their chant shall enter, voice by voice,
此起彼伏的歌声，颂扬着
The windy lake wherein their lord delights,
为他们的主人喜爱的风中湖泊，
The trees, like serafin, and echoing hills,
还有天使般迷人的树林．
That choir among themselves long afterward.
以及歌声回荡的深谷山峦。
They shall know well the heavenly fellowship
他们会深刻地体会到，注定一死
Of men that perish and of summer morn.
的人类的神圣情谊，夏晨般短暂，
And whence they came and whither they shall go
他们从何处来，往何处去，
The dew upon their feet shall manifest.
足上的露珠将使之昭然。
VIII
八
She hears, upon that water without sound,
她听到在那片死寂的水面上
A voice that cries, “The tomb in Palestine
一个声音高喊：“巴勒斯坦的墓穴，
Is not the porch of spirits lingering.
不是灵魂徘徊的门廊，
It is the grave of Jesus, where he lay.”
那是耶稣之墓，他安息的地方。”
We live in an old chaos of the sun,
我们生存在混乱之中，风云难测，
Or old dependency of day and night,
依存着白昼和黑夜的循环，
Or island solitude, unsponsored, free,
在荒凉无援的孤岛上被大海
Of that wide water, inescapable.
围困，我们没有约束也没有逃路。
Deer walk upon our mountains, and the quail
鹿群在我们的山林悠闲地漫步，
Whistle about us their spontaneous cries;
鹌鹑在我们的四周嘤嘤高鸣，
Sweet berries ripen in the wilderness;
荒野上的甜草莓已经熟透；
And, in the isolation of the sky,
黄昏中孤零空旷的天际
At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
偶尔掠过队队鸽群，
Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
起伏时划出隐约的波浪，
Downward to darkness, on extended wings.
展开双翼，缓缓沉入黑夜茫茫。