柳树带来一种迟缓的声音，

The willows carried a slow sound,

风跳着萨拉班德舞，扫过草坪。

A sarabande the wind mowed on the mead.

我从不记得

I could never remember

沼泽地火热而固执的水位

That seething, steady leveling of the marshes

直到年岁把我带到海边。

Till age had brought me to the sea.

旗帜、杂草。还有关于一面陡峭凹壁

Flags, weeds. And remembrance of steep alcoves

的记忆：在那儿柏树分享着月亮的

Where cypresses shared the noon’s

暴政；它们快要把我拖进了地狱。

Tyranny; they drew me into hades almost.

猛犸海龟们爬上硫磺梦

And mammoth turtles climbing sulphur dreams

而后塌下来，阳光的裂口把它们

Yielded, while sun-silt rippled them

割成了碎片……

Asunder ...

我放弃了怎样一笔交易啊！漆黑的峡谷

How much I would have bartered! the black gorge

和山中所有奇异的巢穴：

And all the singular nestings in the hills

在那儿海狸学到了缝纫和牙齿。

Where beavers learn stitch and tooth.

我曾进去过又迅速逃了出来的池塘——

The pond I entered once and quickly fled—

现在我记起来那是柳树歌唱着的边缘。

I remember now its singing willow rim.

最后，在那个记忆中所有东西都在看护。

And finally, in that memory all things nurse;

在我最终经过的城市——象流淌的滚烫油膏

After the city that I finally passed

和冒烟的飞镖一样经过——之后

With scalding unguents spread and smoking darts

季候风巧妙地绕过三角洲

The monsoon cut across the delta

到达海湾的门口……在那儿，在堤坝以远

At gulf gates ... There, beyond the dykes

我听见风一片一片剥下蓝宝石，就象这个夏天，

I heard wind flaking sapphire, like this summer,

柳树不能再保留更多稳定的声音。

And willows could not hold more steady sound.