My mother bore me in the southern wild,

我妈妈生我在南方荒凉的地方，

    And I am black, but O my soul is white!

我黑，可是啊！我的灵魂洁白；

White as an angel is the English child,

白得像天使的是英国人的孩子，

    But I am black, as if bereaved of light.

可我黑，黑得好像失去了光彩。

My mother taught me underneath a tree,

在白昼的暑热中，妈妈坐着，

    And, sitting down before the heat of day,

在一棵树下面她谆谆教导我；

She took me on her lap and kissèd me,

她将我抱在膝上，把我亲吻，

    And, pointing to the East, began to say:

她指着东方，开始对我诉说。

‘Look on the rising sun: there God does live,

“看升起的太阳！那儿住着上帝，

    And gives His light, and gives His heat away,

他放射出光明，放射出热；

And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive

花草树木、飞禽走兽和人们

    Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.

清晨得安慰，正午时分得欢乐。

‘And we are put on earth a little space,

“我们被安置在一块小小的天地，

    That we may learn to bear the beams of love;

我们可学着感受爱的光辉；

And these black bodies and this sunburnt face

而这黑黑的肢体，晒黑的面容，

    Are but a cloud, and like a shady grove.

只是一片云，也像是多荫的树丛。

‘For, when our souls have learned the heat to bear,

“当我们的灵魂学会忍受暑热，

    The cloud will vanish, we shall hear His voice,

那云会消散，他将召唤我们：

Saying, “Come out from the grove, my love and care,

‘走出树林来吧，我的爱和担忧，

    And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice.”’

羔羊般快乐地围着我金色的帐篷。’”

Thus did my mother say, and kissed me,

妈妈亲着我，对我说了这些话。

    And thus I say to little English boy.

我便这样对英国人的孩子谈讲：

When I from black, and he from white cloud free,

当我从黑云、他从白云 [2] 得到解放，

    And round the tent of God like lambs we joy,

羔羊般快乐地围着上帝的篷帐，

I’ll shade him from the heat till he can bear

我会为他遮阴，到他能忍受热，

    To lean in joy upon our Father’s knee;

能够快乐地倚着父亲 [3] 的膝盖；

And then I’ll stand and stroke his silver hair,

我将站着，抚摸着他的银发，

    And be like him, and he will then love me.

变得像他一样，得到他的爱。