破晓前的黑暗中我攀越树林，
I climbed through woods in the hour—before—dawn dark.
空气不佳，一片结霜的沉寂，
Evil air, a frost—making stillness,
不见一片叶，不见一只鸟——
Not a leaf, not a bird—
一个霜冻的世界。我从林子上端出来，
A world cast in frost. I came out above the wood
我呼出的气在铁青的光线中留下扭曲的塑像。
Where my breath left tortuous statues in the iron light.
山谷正在吮吸黑暗
But the valleys were draining the darkness
直到沼泽地——亮起来的灰色之下暗下去的沉滓——边缘
Till the moorline– blackening dregs of the brightening grey –
把前面的天空分成对半。我看见了马群：
Halved the sky ahead. And I saw the horses:
浓灰色的庞然大物——一共十匹——
Huge in the dense grey –ten together –
巨石般屹立不动。它们呼着气，一动也不动，
Megalith—still. They breathed, making no move,
鬃毛披垂，后蹄倾斜；
With draped manes and tilted hind—hooves,
一声不响。
Making no sound.
我走了过去，没有哪匹马哼一声或扭一下头的。
I passed: not one snorted or jerked its head.
一个灰色的沉寂世界的
Grey silent fragments
灰色的沉寂部分。
Of a grey still world.
我在沼泽高地的空旷中倾听。
I listened in emptiness on the moor—ridge.
麻鹬的嘶叫声锋利地切割着沉寂。
The curlew’s tear turned its edge on the silence.
慢慢地，种种细节从黑暗中长了出来。接着太阳
Slowly detail leafed from the darkness. Then the sun
橘色的，红红的，悄悄地
Orange, red, red erupted
爆了出来，它从当中分裂，撕碎云层，把它们扔开，
Silently, and splitting to its core tore and flung cloud,
拉开一条狭长的口子，露出蔚蓝色，
Shook the gulf open, showed blue,
巨大的行星群悬挂空中。
And the big planets hanging—
我转过身，
I turned
在梦魇中跌跌撞撞地走下来，
Stumbling in a fever of a dream, down towards
走向黑暗的树林，从燃烧着的顶端
The dark woods, from the kindling tops,
走到马群这边来。
And came the horses.
它们还站在那里，
There, still they stood,
不过这时在光线波动下冒着热气，闪烁发光，
But now steaming, and glistening under the flow of light,
它们下垂的石头般的鬃毛，倾斜的后蹄，
Their draped stone manes, their tilted hind—hooves
在解冻中抖动，它们的四面八方
Stirring under a thaw while all around them
霜花吐着火焰。但它们依然一声不响。
The frost showed its fires. But still they made no sound.
没哪一匹哼一声，顿一下脚。
Not one snorted or stamped,
它们垂下头，象地平线一样忍受着，
Their hung heads patient as the horizons,
在山谷上空，在四射的红色光芒中——
High over valleys, in the red levelling rays—
在熙熙攘攘的闹市声中，在岁月流逝、人面相映中，
In din of the crowded streets, going among the years, the faces,
但愿我还能重温这段记忆：在如此僻静的地方
May I still meet my memory in so lonely a place
在溪水和赤云之间听麻鹬叫唤，
Between the streams and the red clouds, hearing curlews,
听地平线忍受着。
Hearing the horizons endure.