Poetry is a kind of money

诗歌是一种货币

whose value depends upon reserves.

其价值取决于储备。

It’s not the paper it’s written on

不是写在纸上的

or its self-announced denomination,

或自我宣称的面额，

but the bullion, sweated from the earth

而金条，在土里大汗淋漓

and hidden, which preserves its worth.

并隐藏着，保留了它的价值。

Nobody knows how this works,

没有人知道这是怎么回事，

and how can it? Why does something

怎么能（办到）呢？为什么有些东西

stacked in some secret bank or cabinet,

堆放在某些秘密银行或柜橱，

some miser’s trove, far back, lambent,

或者守财奴的宝库，远远的，闪闪发光，

and gloated over by its golem, make us

当它的傀儡和幸灾乐祸，

so solemnly convinced of the transaction

当曼德尔斯塔姆说，黄金，（为什么）让我们

when Mandelstam says love, even

如此郑重相信这桩交易，甚至

in translation?

在翻译呢？

译注：

约瑟夫曼德尔施塔姆（OsipMandelstam）：苏联时期诗人，被斯大林杀害。

黄金：第一稿时是love，但在她的诗集《The Best of It》里改为Gold。