第二首
Winter: My Secret
I tell my secret? No indeed, not I:
Perhaps some day, who knows?
But not today; it froze, and blows, and snows.
And you’re too curious: fie!
You want to hear it? Well:
Only, my secret’s mine, and I won’tell.
Or, after all, perhaps there’s none:
Suppose there is no secret after all,
But only just my fun.
Today’s a nipping day, a biting day;
In which one wants a shawl,
A veil, a cloak, and other wraps:
I cannot ope to every one who taps,
And let the draughts come whistling through my hall;
Come bounding and surrounding me,
Come buffeting, astounding me,
Nippng and clipping through my wraps and all.
I wear my mask for warmth: who ever shows
His nose to Russian snows
To be pecked at by every wind that blows?
You would not peck? I thank you for good will,
Believe, but leave that truth untested still.
Spring’s an expansive time: yet I don’t trust
March with its peck of dust,
Nor April with its rainbow-crowned brief showers,
Nor even May, whose flowers
One frost may wither through the sunless hours.
Perhaps some languid summer day,
When drowsy birds sing less and less,
And golden fruit is ripening to excess,
If there’s not too much sun nor too much cloud,
And the warm wind is neither still nor loud,
Perhaps my secret I may say,
Or you may guess.
冬天:我的秘密
我道出了我的秘密?不会,定然不是我:
也许某天吧,谁知道呢?
但不会在今天;今天冻死了,风又大,雪又飘。
你也太好奇啦:呸!
你想打听?噢:
只是,我的秘密是我的啦,我不会泄露。
或者,其实,也许,没有什么秘密:
假定根本没有什么秘密,
而仅仅只是我逗你玩而已。
今日真是刺骨寒冷,
这种天,人想要个披肩,
面纱、斗篷和其它外套包裹:
我不能让随便哪个叩门的人自由出入,
就让气流从我的厅堂呼啸而过吧;
跳跃而来,将我围绕,
匍匐振动,让我惊骇,
如针如芒,刺透我的外套及全身。
我戴上面罩保暖:谁会将鼻子暴露
于厚重大雪
让所有吹过的风有如小刀割?
你不会打岔找毛病?我多谢你好心,
信啦,但是仍然请您不要探听。
春天让人心情舒畅,然而我不相信
尘土飞扬的三月,
也不信阵雨后彩虹冠顶的四月
即使是五月,鲜花盛开,
没有阳光的时刻即被霜打凋谢。
也许会在某个懒洋洋的夏日,
当昏昏欲睡的鸟儿慢慢停止歌唱,
当金色果实肥熟饱满,
如果阳光不多不少,云层恰到好处,
而且暖风非静非闹,
也许我会说出我的秘密,
要不您就猜去吧。
这首诗很调皮,很好玩。翻译过来象白话口语,原诗可是押韵的。诗中虚构出一个诗人与读者(或诗人隐含未点明的听者)之间的关系,谜一样的秘密驱使着读者的好奇心,让我们一读到底,而最后,秘密虽未泄露,语言、形式和比喻营造出的谜一样的一件艺术作品已经跃然纸上了。
第三首
A Birthday
My heart is like a singing bird
Whose nest is in a watered shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree
Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these
Because my love is come to me.
Raise me a dais of silk and down;
Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
Carve it in doves and pomeganates;
And peacock with a hundred eyes;
Work it in gold and silver grapes,
In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;
Because the birthday of my life
Is come, my love is come to me.
生日
我的心象歌唱的鸟儿
它筑巢在水灵灵的新叶上,
我的心象苹果树
它果实累累枝条弯弯垂地上;
我的心象彩虹轻舟
在平静海面荡漾;
我的心比这一切都要欢乐
因为我的爱来到我的身旁。
放我在丝绸羽绒妆裹的高台;
悬饰以松鼠皮和紫色彩染;
刻上飞鸽和石榴果,
孔雀羽毛上有很多眼睛闪烁;
饰之以金色银色的葡萄,
配上青葱绿叶和银的鸢尾花;
因为我的生日来临,
我的爱要来陪伴我。
轻快、活泼、喜悦,是这首诗传播出的情绪;abcb的韵律使这首诗富于歌唱性(注意:与“歌”(Song) 的韵律一样)。克里斯蒂娜的哥哥威廉姆注解说不知道妹妹是为什么写了这首诗,也不觉得她的生活中有过让她这样欢乐的时刻。真是遗憾。不过不管女诗人诗中的“爱”是否有所指,我很高兴女诗人并不总是忧郁的。