~约翰·济慈
我害怕,害怕我可能要英年早逝,
以至我的笔,来不及写下泉涌的灵感,
以至我堆积如山的簿册,来不及
像丰收的谷仓那样填满丰美的文字;
我望见,望见繁星点点的夜空下,
飘浮着象征高贵传奇的巨大云团,
我便自觉不久于人世,恐怕不能
执起神来之笔描绘稍纵即逝的幻影;
我感到,感到神的造物美而短暂,
我将永远不可能再把你凝神端详,
永远不能沐浴在纯洁爱情之中
体味个中神韵;——于是我独自站立
在广阔世界的涯际,苦苦地思索
直到爱情与名誉都沉入虚无的深渊。
(桔子 译)
原文:
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen’d grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness to sink.
注:
1、原诗无标题。
2、诗歌格式为商籁体(即十四行诗)。
3、诗歌采用莎士比亚韵式,译文不押韵。
4、诗歌写于1818年,三年后诗人英年早逝。
Vicent van Gogh, The Starry Night