I Walked in a Desert……

New Jersey/Stephen Crane

 

In the desert

I saw a creature, naked, bestial,

Who, squatting upon the ground,

Held his heart in his hands,

And ate of it.

I said, "Is it good, friend?"

"It is bitter─bitter," he answered;

"But I like it

"Because it is bitter,

"And because it is my heart."

"我走在沙漠上……

美国芝加哥/非马编译

在沙漠

我看到一个生物,赤条条,象只野兽

蹲在地上,

手里捧著他的心,

在吃。

我说:“好吃吗,朋友?”

“很苦──很难吃,”他回答;

“但我喜欢它

“因为它苦,

“因为它是我的心。”

 

原载:《让盛宴开始──我喜爱的英文诗》,非马编译,书林,台北,1999

斯蒂芬·克兰( Stephen Crane 1871-1900)生于纽泽西州,为一位牧师的第十四个孩子。记者,小说家,诗人。

 

1632

American/Emily Dickinson

 

So give me back to Death --

The Death I never feared

Except that it deprived of thee --

And now, by Life deprived,

In my own Grave I breathe

And estimate its size --

Its size is all that Hell can guess --

And all that Heaven was --

 

[1632]

 

那么把我还给死亡——

那个我从未恐惧过的死亡

除了它让你丧失——

而今,当生命被剥夺,

我躺在自己的坟墓里呼吸

并估计着它的大小——

它的大小是整个地狱所能猜出的——

还有整个天堂——

 

Emily Dickinson埃米莉•狄金森(1830-1886)是美国诗歌发展史上的重要诗人,20世纪英美意象派 诗歌的先驱, 诗歌从浪漫主义向消极的现代派的转变。埃米莉没结过婚,一生深居简出。 其诗作都没有题目,标在文中的数字为页码。