(原2023/04/18公众号文章由唐简编辑/编发。)
非马译作
Uncage Me
/Wilda Morris
open
the
cage
let the bird fly
away
and
give
the cage
back
its
freedom
~ Bird Cage by William Marr
Sometimes life feels free and open
other times, I sense the
power of fate, a cage
that keeps me confined, doesn’t let
me try new things, break the
rules others set. Were I a bird
I think I would fly
I would go far away
from the voices that say stop and
never and don’t give
me the right to decide, from the
captors who would cage
me, restrain me and hold me back
Once it was my parents, now its
my children wanting to restrict my freedom.
放我出笼
/薇尔达•莫吕斯 作
鸟笼
打开
鸟笼的
门
让鸟飞
走
把自由
还给
鸟
笼
--引用非马的《鸟笼》
有时候我觉得生活自由而开放
其它时候,我感到
命运的威力,一个牢笼
把我拘禁,不让我
试验新的东西,破坏别人定的
规则。如果我是一只鸟
我想我会飞走
远离那些说停及
不许和不让我有权利做决定的声音,
远离那些把我囚禁起来,
拘束我并拉住我的捕者
从前那是我的父母,现在是
要限制我自由的孩子。
Makeup
/ Wilda Morris
The cop had to admit
the corpse
had a beautiful face
eye liner
shimmering lipstick
cheeks red with rouge
all applied
as she drove
seventy miles per hour
化妆
/薇尔达•莫吕斯 作
警察不得不承认
这尸首
有一张漂亮的脸
眼线
闪闪发亮的口红
胭脂的双颊
都是在她
七十英里时速开车时
涂上去的
女诗人薇尔达•莫吕斯(Wilda Morris):她曾担任过伊利诺州诗人协会及芝加哥诗人与赞助者协会的会长。作品经常得奖。她也是非马参加的每月举行的诗人工作坊的联系人,对诗歌活动非常热心积极。
The Act
/ William Carlos Williams
There were the roses, in the rain.
Don’t cut them, I pleaded.
They won’t last, she said
But they are so beautiful
Where they are.
Agh, we were all beautiful once, she
said,
And cut them and gave them to me
in my hand.
场景
/威廉斯 作
玫瑰花,在雨里。
别剪它们,我祈求。
它们撑不了多久,她说
可是它们在那里
很美
哦,我们也都美过,她说,
剪下了它们,还把它们交到
我手里。
Poem
/ William Carlos Williams
As the cat
climbed over
the top of
the jamcloset
first the right
forefoot
carefully
then the hind
stepped down
into the pit of
the empty
flowerpot
诗
/威廉斯 作
当猫
爬上
果酱橱
顶
先是右
前足
小心翼翼
接着后足
踩落
到空
花盆的
陷阱里
威廉斯 (William Carlos Williams, 1883-1963):在他的出生地新泽西州的一个小镇上度过一生。他是个小儿科医生,他的许多短诗是在看病之余用打字机打出来的。他可能是美国诗人中读者最多的一位,善于用寥寥几句话,勾画出一个人物的肖像。不加任何评语或多余的说明,让上场的人物用动作表演,生动而逼真。
A MINOR BIRD
/Robert Frost
I have wished a bird would fly away,
And not sing by my house all day;
Have clapped my hands at him from the door
When it seemed as if I could bear no more.
The fault must partly have been in me.
The bird was not to blame for his key.
And of course there must be something wrong
In wanting to silence any song.
小鸟
/佛洛斯特 作
我曾希望一只鸟飞开,
别尽在我屋旁磨他的声带;
在门口对他大拍其手
当我到了忍无可忍的时候。
错处必多少在我。
鸟的音调没有罪过。
而想让歌声静止
当然也有点谬误。
佛洛斯特 (Robert Frost 1874-1963)生于旧金山,是美国最受爱戴广被阅读的诗人之一。基本上他是个田园诗人,多写同新英格兰州乡间有关的事物,但他诗中的哲思却不受地域的限制。
The Little Boy Lost
/ William Blake
Father, father, where are you going
O do not walk so fast.
Speak father, speak to your little boy
Or else I shall be lost.
The night was dark no father was there
The child was wet with dew.
The mire was deep, & the child did weep
And away the vapour flew.
迷途的小孩
/布雷克 作
父亲,父亲,您上哪儿
啊别走得那么急促。
说话呀父亲,对您的孩子说话
不然我会迷路。
夜很黑,父亲不在那里
小孩被露水打湿。
烂泥很深,小孩在哭
水汽阵阵飞逝。
英国诗人布雷克(1757-1827),不曾受过正规教育,只在十岁时进过一间画图学校,后来又跟一个雕刻师当学徒做点雕刻工作维生。
A Huge Tribute
/Kenneth Burke
He had mighty bulges
This poet,
With Vigor of movement.
His output was substantial.
When he swished
By God he swished –
And better keep your distance.
Magnitude?
Solemnity?
Poise?
Calm self-affirmation?
This one had them all –
And curvature.
I mean
He was a horse’s ass.
巨颂
/勃克 作
他很突出
这诗人 ,
非常活跃 。
产量惊人 。
当他甩起来
老天爷他可是真甩 --
你最好站远点 。
硕大 ?
庄重 ?
匀称 ?
冷静的自我肯定?
这家伙都有了 --
还有曲线 。
我说的
是个马屁股哪!
勃克( Kenneth Burke ,1897-1995) 生于美国匹兹堡 。中学毕业后便在纽约的格林威治村同作家及艺术家们厮混 ,自学成材。写诗之外还写小说,音乐评论及文学评论。
I’m Nobody! Who Are You?...
/ Emily Dickinson
I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us ---- don’t tell!
They ‘d banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
我是个无名小卒!你呢?
/狄金森 作
我是个无名小卒!你呢?
你也是个无名小卒?
那我们可成了双──別说出來!
你知道,他们会把我们放逐。
作一个名人多可怕!
众目之下,像只青蛙
整天哇哇高唱自己的名字
对着一个咂咂赞美的泥淖!
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking…
/ Emily Dickinson
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
如果我能使一颗心免于破碎...
/狄金森 作
如果我能使一颗心免于破碎,
我便没白活;
如果我能使一个生命少受点罪,
或缓和一点痛苦,
或帮助一只昏迷的知更鸟
再度回到他的窝,
我便没白活。
女诗人狄金森(Emily Dickinson,1830-1886)生於麻萨诸塞州。父亲为名律师及议员。她在中年后遁世隐居。她的诗短而抒情,感情与意象密切结合。大部分的诗在她死后才被发现而结集出版。
Anna Imroth
/ Carl Sandburg
Cross the hands over the breast here -- so.
Straighten the legs a little more -- so.
And call for the wagon to come and take her home.
Her mother will cry some and so will her sisters and
brothers.
But all of the others got down and they are safe and
this is the only one of the factory girls who
wasn’t lucky in making the jump when the
fire broke.
It is the hand of God and the lack of fire escapes.
安娜-茵露丝
/桑德堡 作
把手交叠在胸前──这样子。
把腿扯直一点──这样子。
把车召来带她回家。
她的母亲会号几声还有她的兄弟姐妹。
所有其他的人都下来了他们都平安火起时
没跳成的只有这不幸的女工。
这是上帝的意旨也是防火梯的不足。
桑德堡(Carl Sandburg,1878-1967)生于伊利诺州,为瑞典移民后裔。当过农场工、洗碗工、记者、政党组织者、市长秘书、民歌手、《林肯传》作者。他的诗较平民化,富社会性,是芝加哥最有名的诗人之一。
One Thousand Nine Hundred & Sixty-Eight Winters …
/ Jackie Earley
Got up this morning
Feeling good & Black
Thinking black thoughts
Did black things
Played all my black records
And minded my own black bidness!
Put on my best black clothes
Walked out my black door
And ...
Lord have Mercy!
White
Snow!
一千九百六十八个冬天...
/ 尔蕾 作
今早起来
感觉好又黑
动动黑念头
做做黑杂务
听听黑唱片
管管我自己的黑闲事
穿上我最好的黑衣服
走出我的黑门
并且...
老天爷!
白
雪!
美国黑人女诗人尔蕾(Jackie Earley, 1939-),戏剧家。当过演员,教过舞蹈、写作、瑜伽及柔道。
Heaven ...
/ Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Heaven
was only half as far that night
at the poetry recital
listening to the burnt phrases
when I heard the poet have
a rhyming erection
then look away with a
lost look
‘Every animal’ he said at last
‘After intercourse is sad’
But the back-row lovers
looked oblivious
and glad
天堂……
/佛灵盖蒂 作
天堂那晚只有平时一半远
在诗歌朗诵会上
满耳是火辣辣的词句
当我听到诗人
音韵铿锵的勃起
然后望开去以一个
迷失的眼神
“所有动物”最后他说
“在性交之后都是悲哀的”
但后排的情人们
看起来心不在焉
而且很快活的样子
劳伦斯▪佛灵盖蒂(Lawrence Ferlinghetti,1919-2021) ,美国诗人、画家及社会活动家。他在旧金山开设了一个叫「城灯」(City Lights)的书店及出版社。是”疲脱一代“ (Beat Generation)的代表作家之一,勇敢而坦率地向学院派的低气压挑战。但他反对其他「疲脱」作家的神秘及政治狂热的倾向,而独创出一种机智、口语化及自然抒发的诗型。