书城外语那些年那些诗
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第51章 Yet Do I Marvel

Countee Cullen

I doubt not God is good,well-meaning,kind,

And did He stoop to quibble could tell why

The little buried mole continues blind,

Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die.

Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus

Is bailed by the fickle fruit,declare

If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus

To struggle up a never-ending stair.

Inscrutable His ways are,and immune

To catechism by a mind too strewn

With petty cares to slightly understand

What awful brain compels His awful hand

Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:

To make a poet black,and bid him sing!

但是我感到惊奇

康蒂·卡伦

我不怀疑上帝的仁慈、善良和好意,

但若是他使用遁词便能解释,

为何地下的鼹鼠仍然瞎眼,

为何反映他形象的肉体总有一天要死去,

说明坦塔罗斯受折磨的原因,

是他被变化不定的果子吸引,

阐明是否仅仅因蛮横的任性,

西西弗斯就注定得攀登无限高的阶梯。

上帝之道深奥莫测,

对人们的诘问置之不理,

他们的头脑塞满鸡毛蒜皮

无法理解操纵他巨手的智慧的威力。

但我对这件怪事感到惊奇:

造出黑肤色诗人,令他唱吟!

背景知识

康蒂·卡伦(Countee Cullen),生于纽约市,并且在那里成为诗人,获得很多荣誉。早在中学时期他便在全市诗歌比赛中获奖;在纽约大学,他获得一项重要的诗歌创作奖,被选入美国大学优秀生全国性荣誉组织PBK联谊会。1925年卡伦出版第一部诗集《肤色》,蜚声美国诗坛,并成为二十年代哈莱姆文艺复兴的风云人物之一。除了几本诗集,他还写了一部题为《通往天堂的一条路》的小说和几本供儿童阅读的书。1934年以后卡伦在纽约市初级中学任教。

单词注解

quibble [5kwibl] 遁辞;谬论

fickle [5fikl] 易变的,无常的

inscrutable [in5skru:tEbl] 不可理解的;不可思议的

catechism [5kAtikizEm] (天主教)教义问答

名句诵读

I doubt not God is good,well-meaning,kind,And did He stoop to quibble could tell why The little buried mole continues blind,Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die.

Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:To make a poet black,and bid him sing!

第一章 A Man and a Woman Sit Near Each Other

Robert Bly

A man and a woman sit near each other,and they do not long

at this moment to be older,or younger,nor born

in any other nation,or time,or place.

They are content to be where they are,talking or not-talking.

Their breaths together feed someone whom we do not know.

The man sees the way his fingers move;

he sees her hands close around a book she hands to him.

They obey a third body that they share in common.

They have made a promise to love the body.

Age may come,parting may come,death will come.

A man and a woman sit near each other;

as they breathe they feed someone we do not know,

someone we know of,whom we have never seen.

一男一女促膝而坐

罗伯特·勃莱

一男一女促膝而坐,这样的时刻

他们不会渴求更老或更加年轻,抑或

生在另一个国度、另一个时间或地点。

他们心满意足于此情此景,无论交谈还是沉默。

他俩的呼吸共同为某个我们所不识的人提供养分。

那个男人看着他手指动弹的样子;

他看到她的双手围拢着一本递过来的书。

他们服从着他们共享的另一个身体。

他们早就作出承诺:爱这身体。

年龄会变老,分离会到来,死亡终会降临。

一男一女这样促膝而坐:

他们呼吸时,为我们所不识的人提供养分,

某个我们知道却从未见面的人。

背景知识

罗伯特·勃莱(Robert Bly),二十世纪美国后现代主义诗歌流派新超现实主义(又称“深度意象”)的领袖人物。勃莱是影响过大批当代中国青年诗人的美国诗人之一。他提倡“自然语言”,力图返璞归真;他强调诗歌的音乐性和“内在力量”,认为听众和读者与诗歌的相遇就是人与世界的相遇,他还认为现代世界夺走了语言的意义和情感,而诗人的职责就是要将其还原。他力图摆脱理性和学院派传统的钳制,通过引进中国古典诗、拉美诗歌和欧洲超现实主义诗歌而给美国诗坛带来新的活力。

单词注解

breath [breW] 呼吸,气息

promise [5prCmis] 承诺,诺言

feed [fi:d] 饲料;牧草

名句诵读

A man and a woman sit near each other,and they do not long at this moment to be older,or younger,nor born in any other nation,or time,or place.

They obey a third body that they share in common.

as they breathe they feed someone we do not know,someone we know of,whom we have never seen.