I found this jawbone at the sea's edge:

我在海边找到了这块颌骨：

There, crabs, dogfish, broken by the breakers or tossed

那儿，螃蟹，星鲨，被大浪击碎

To flap for half an hour and turn to a crust

或被抛来抛去半小时，变成硬壳

Continue the beginning. The deeps are cold:

延续着开端。深海是冷酷的：

In that darkness camaraderie does not hold.

在那黑暗里，友情不能持久：

Nothing touches but, clutching, devours. And the jaws,

没有触摸只有攫住、吞噬。而那些牙齿，

Before they are satisfied or their stretched purpose

在它们感到满足或它们扩张的企图

Slacken, go down jaws; go gnawn bare. Jaws

削减之前，落入另外的颌中；被啃光。牙齿

Eat and are finished and the jawbone comes to the beach:

咀嚼也会被终结，而颌骨漂到了沙滩上：

This is the sea's achievement; with shells,

这就是海的成就；伴着贝壳，

Verterbrae, claws, carapaces, skulls.

椎骨，螯肢，甲壳和头骨。

Time in the sea eats its tail, thrives, casts these

时间在海里咬住自己的尾巴，充盈茁壮，吐出这些

Indigestibles, the spars of purposes

消化不了的东西，各有所图的争斗

That failed far from the surface. None grow rich

在远离海面的深处以失败告终。谁都富不起来

In the sea. This curved jawbone did not laugh

在海里。这块弯曲的颌骨没有笑

But gripped, gripped and is now a cenotaph.

而是咬紧，啮合，现在成了纪念碑。