We descend into solitude step by step

我们一步步陷入孤独

further and further down stanzas of verses

越来越远地沿着诗节

into depths never expected

进入从未预料到的深渊

determined to live without poor substitutes

决心宁缺毋滥地生活

in a cruel and impossible purity

在无情而不可能的纯粹中

there at the very bottom to regain

在最底部重获

all those who huddle

所有那些聚集

at the gate of this wide-open emptiness

在这大开的空旷的大门口的人

grandmothers aunts and uncles already forgotten

已经被遗忘的祖母、姑姑和叔叔

strangers who once crossed a courtyard

曾经穿过庭院的陌生人

someone out of work who knocked on the window

敲窗户的失业者

someone passed by on a footbridge

走过人行天桥的人

the dead the living it doesn’t matter

死者，生者，都没关系

the beautiful boy who stood below the pulpit

那个站在讲坛下面的漂亮男孩

looking like an angel almost an angel

看起来像个天使几乎就是个天使

and the one who hit me on the forehead with a stone

还有那个将一块石头砸在我额头上的人

where a mark still remains

那里至今还留有痕迹

and the washerwoman who reappeared at our home like Kronos

还有那个洗衣妇，她像克洛诺斯一样出现在我们家里

and went away bent under the weight of the laundry basket

又在洗衣篮的重压下弯着腰走了

the wagon-driver with whom I danced at the harvest festival

还有那个马车夫，我曾在收获节上与他共舞

and Someone else was there a carpenter or a woodworker

还另有个某人在那儿一个木匠或木工

who placed a hand on my forehead

他把一只手按在我额头上

and said Don’t be afraid

说不要怕

with me no one is lonely

和我在一起没有人会孤单