一

I

   这可不是老年人的国度。青年

That is no country for old men. The young

      在彼此的臂弯里，鸟在树上，

In one another’s arms, birds in the trees —

   ——那些将死的世代——争鸣啼啭

Those dying generations — at their song,

      鲑鱼的瀑布，被鲭鱼挤满的海洋，

The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,

   游鱼，走兽，或飞禽，用整个夏天礼赞

Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long

      一切的降生，成长，与死亡。

Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.

人人迷恋那纵情的音乐，忽略

Caught in that sensual music all neglect

不老智慧的丰碑。

Monuments of unageing intellect.

二

II

   年老的人微不足道，

An aged man is but a paltry thing,

      吊在枯枝上的破烂衣衫，除非

A tattered coat upon a stick, unless

   灵魂拍起手来歌唱，大声唱到

Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing

      它衰朽的外衣破碎，

For every tatter in its mortal dress,

   没有什么歌唱学校，只好求教

Nor is there singing school but studying

      兀自壮丽的丰碑。

Monuments of its own magnificence;

于是我驶过海洋去追寻

And therefore I have sailed the seas and come

这神圣的都城拜占庭。

To the holy city of Byzantium.

三

III

   哦，屹立于上帝圣火的先贤

O sages standing in God’s holy fire

      宛若置身在墙面的金瓦，

As in the gold mosaic of a wall，

   从圣火出来，斡进这螺旋

Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,

      做我灵魂歌唱的导师吧。

And be the singing-masters of my soul.

   消灭我的心；这欲望的病患

Consume my heart away; sick with desire

      绑在一头垂死的动物上

And fastened to a dying animal

而不识它面目；将我卷入

It knows not what it is; and gather me

到这亘古永恒的艺术。

Into the artifice of eternity.

四

IV

  摆脱了自然的我再也不要

Once out of nature I shall never take

     由万物化成我的血肉，

My bodily form from any natural thing,

   而由古希腊的金匠所打造

But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make

      并锤炼的黄金和金黄的涂釉

Of hammered gold and gold enamelling

   以免皇帝困倦无聊；

To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;

      或栖居金色的枝头

Or set upon a golden bough to sing

歌唱给拜占庭的王公与贵妇听

To lords and ladies of Byzantium

过往，今时，或将来到的事情。

Of what is past, or passing, or to come.