一
I
怡然于披着晨衣，洒满阳光的椅子上
Complacencies of the peignoir, and late
迟迟未动的咖啡和蜜橘，
Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair,
地毯上一只自在的绿鹦鹉，
And the green freedom of a cockatoo
这种种乐事搅在一起，冲散了
Upon a rug mingle to dissipate
耶稣殉难的神圣静穆。
The holy hush of ancient sacrifice.
她梦魂稍动，感觉到
She dreams a little, and she feels the dark
那古老灾难的黑影逼近，
Encroachment of that old catastrophe,
犹如水波中无声的阴影。
As a calm darkens among water-lights.
刺鼻的蜜橘和明晃晃的绿翼
The pungent oranges and bright, green wings
仿佛是夹在死者行列中的东西，
Seem things in some procession of the dead,
蜿蜒爬过广袤的水面，杳无声息。
Winding across wide water, without sound.
白昼也如广袤的水面，万籁俱寂，
The day is like wide water, without sound,
好让她梦一般的双足
Stilled for the passing of her dreaming feet
跨过海洋，走向寂静的巴勒斯坦，
Over the seas, to silent Palestine,
那鲜血与坟墓的疆域。
Dominion of the blood and sepulchre.
二
II
她为何竟向死者馈赠礼品？
Why should she give her bounty to the dead?
倘若神性只能在无声的阴影
What is divinity if it can come
和梦中显现，那算什么神性？
Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
为什么她不能从太阳的抚慰中，
Shall she not find in comforts of the sun,
从刺鼻的蜜橘和明亮的绿翼中，
In pungent fruit and bright, green wings, or else
从世上其他的醇香和美丽中．
In any balm or beauty of the earth,
找到弥足珍贵的东西，比如天堂的思想？
Things to be cherished like the thought of heaven?
神性惟能留存于她心中：
Divinity must live within herself:
雨的欲念，落雪的心境；
Passions of rain, or moods in falling snow;
孤独中的悲戚，林花怒放时
Grievings in loneliness, or unsubdued
难耐的欢欣；以及秋夜湿路上
Elations when the forest blooms; gusty
进发出来的阵阵激情；
Emotions on wet roads on autumn nights;
念及盛夏的绿叶和冬的残枝
All pleasures and all pains, remembering
万般欢乐与痛苦便如潮般诵起。
The bough of summer and the winter branch.
这些才是衡量她灵魂的尺度。
These are the measures destined for her soul.
三
III
高居云端的朱庇特绝非凡胎。
Jove in the clouds had his inhuman birth.
没有母亲给他哺乳，没有甜蜜的大地
No mother suckled him, no sweet land gave
给他神奇的心灵注进万般风情。
Large-mannered motions to his mythy mind.
他走在我们中间，像一位低语的皇帝，
He moved among us, as a muttering king,
威严地走在一群红鹿中间，
Magnificent, would move among his hinds,
直到我们贞洁的鲜血，与天国
Until our blood, commingling, virginal,
融为一体，把这种酬劳送给欲望，
With heaven, brought such requital to desire
那群红鹿看到了酬劳，从一颗星中。
The very hinds discerned it, in a star.
我们的鲜血会白流吗？或许它将成为
Shall our blood fail? Or shall it come to be
乐园的鲜血？这片土地
The blood of paradise? And shall the earth
是否会变成我们想象的乐园？
Seem all of paradise that we shall know?
那时苍天会比现在更友善，
The sky will be much friendlier then than now,
劳作和痛苦，在名份上
A part of labor and a part of pain,
仅仅次于万古长青的爱，
And next in glory to enduring love,
而不是现在这般生分而冷漠的一片蓝。
Not this dividing and indifferent blue.
四
IV
她说：“我心满意足，当苏醒的鸟儿
She says, “I am content when wakened birds,
在飞翔之前，用美妙动听的询问
Before they fly, test the reality
试探迷雾蒙蒙的田野是否实在；
Of misty fields, by their sweet questionings;
但当鸟群远去，温暖的田野
But when the birds are gone, and their warm fields
也一去不返，那时．何处为乐园？”
Return no more, where, then, is paradise?”
这里再也没有预言常往之地，
There is not any haunt of prophecy,
再也没有出没墓地的老妖怪，
Nor any old chimera of the grave,
再也没有金色的地府．也没有
Neither the golden underground, nor isle
曼歌的仙岛，精灵们曾在那里聚集，
Melodious, where spirits gat them home,
再也没有幻梦中的南国，在那遥远的仙山
Nor visionary south, nor cloudy palm
也没有了浓荫如盖的棕榈，那棕榈
Remote on heaven’s hill, that has endured
已经凋零，像四月的绿叶过了时令；
As April’s green endures; or will endure
或许树叶还会泛青，像她对鸟儿的回忆
Like her remembrance of awakened birds,
以及她对六月和黄昏的渴念，
Or her desire for June and evening, tipped
从燕翼绝妙的比划中抖落。
By the consummation of the swallow’s wings.
五
V
她说：“然而．在满足中我仍然
She says, “But in contentment I still feel
感到需要某种不朽的赐福。”
The need of some imperishable bliss.”
死乃美之母；唯有自她那里
Death is the mother of beauty; hence from her,
我们的梦和渴望才变得圆满。
Alone, shall come fulfilment to our dreams
虽然她在我们的道路上，
And our desires. Although she strews the leaves
撒下片片遗忘的落叶，
Of sure obliteration on our paths,
这难堪的遗憾之路，有几段路途
The path sick sorrow took, the many paths
胜利敲响过它黄铜般的声音，或者
Where triumph rang its brassy phrase, or love
爱情发出过温情脉脉的低语！
Whispered a little out of tenderness,
她让柳枝在阳光下悚悚颤动
She makes the willow shiver in the sun
为那些习惯于坐着凝视草地的
For maidens who were wont to sit and gaze
个个少女重又站起身来。
Upon the grass, relinquished to their feet.
她使男孩子们在被人遗忘的
She causes boys to pile new plums and pears
盘子里，堆满新采的梅子和梨。
On disregarded plate. The maidens taste
少女们尝后，欣喜地去踏叶漫步。
And stray impassioned in the littering leaves.
六
VI
乐园里难道没有死亡嬗变？
Is there no change of death in paradise?
成熟的果子不落？沉甸甸的枝桠
Does ripe fruit never fall? Or do the boughs
水远沉重地悬空在完美的天空下？
Hang always heavy in that perfect sky,
其实酷似我们生生死死的尘世，
Unchanging, yet so like our perishing earth,
那里的河流也在寻找海洋，
With rivers like our own that seek for seas
却无法找到，那里也有退潮的
They never find, the same receding shores
海滩，却永远无法感受不可言喻的痛苦？
That never touch with inarticulate pang?
为什么把梨摆放在河岸两旁，
Why set the pear upon those river-banks
或者用梅之芬芳把河岸切成两半？
Or spice the shores with odors of the plum?
啊，它们应披上我们午后的绸衣，
Alas, that they should wear our colors there,
披上我们的绚烂的色彩，
The silken weavings of our afternoons,
拨动我们单调的琴弦！
And pick the strings of our insipid lutes!
死乃美之母亲，神秘的母亲，
Death is the mother of beauty, mystical,
在她炽热的怀抱中，我们让
Within whose burning bosom we devise
自己尘世的母亲无眠地等待。
Our earthly mothers waiting, sleeplessly.
七
VII
狂热的人群将在一个夏日之晨
Supple and turbulent, a ring of men
在祭奠酒神的仪式上围成一圈
Shall chant in orgy on a summer morn
热烈而虔诚地把太阳颂赞，
Their boisterous devotion to the sun,
不把它当作神，只当作“若神”，
Not as a god, but as a god might be,
裸露于他们之间，如原始生命之源
Naked among them, like a savage source.
人群高唱颂歌，宛如天堂圣乐，
Their chant shall be a chant of paradise,
发自肺腑，又复归云端；
Out of their blood, returning to the sky;
此起彼伏的歌声，颂扬着
And in their chant shall enter, voice by voice,
为他们的主人喜爱的风中湖泊，
The windy lake wherein their lord delights,
还有天使般迷人的树林．
The trees, like serafin, and echoing hills,
以及歌声回荡的深谷山峦。
That choir among themselves long afterward.
他们会深刻地体会到，注定一死
They shall know well the heavenly fellowship
的人类的神圣情谊，夏晨般短暂，
Of men that perish and of summer morn.
他们从何处来，往何处去，
And whence they came and whither they shall go
足上的露珠将使之昭然。
The dew upon their feet shall manifest.
八
VIII
她听到在那片死寂的水面上
She hears, upon that water without sound,
一个声音高喊：“巴勒斯坦的墓穴，
A voice that cries, “The tomb in Palestine
不是灵魂徘徊的门廊，
Is not the porch of spirits lingering.
那是耶稣之墓，他安息的地方。”
It is the grave of Jesus, where he lay.”
我们生存在混乱之中，风云难测，
We live in an old chaos of the sun,
依存着白昼和黑夜的循环，
Or old dependency of day and night,
在荒凉无援的孤岛上被大海
Or island solitude, unsponsored, free,
围困，我们没有约束也没有逃路。
Of that wide water, inescapable.
鹿群在我们的山林悠闲地漫步，
Deer walk upon our mountains, and the quail
鹌鹑在我们的四周嘤嘤高鸣，
Whistle about us their spontaneous cries;
荒野上的甜草莓已经熟透；
Sweet berries ripen in the wilderness;
黄昏中孤零空旷的天际
And, in the isolation of the sky,
偶尔掠过队队鸽群，
At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
起伏时划出隐约的波浪，
Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
展开双翼，缓缓沉入黑夜茫茫。
Downward to darkness, on extended wings.