愛默生《日子》經典詩篇欣賞

Days

Daughters of Time, the hypocritic Days,

Muffled and dumb like barefoot dervishes,

And marching single in an endless file,

Bring diadems and faggots in their hands.

To each they offer gifts after his will,

Bread, kingdoms, stars, and sky that holds them all.

I, in my pleached garden, watched the pomp,

Forgot my morning wishes, hastily

Took a few herbs and apples, and the Day

Turned and departed silent. I, too late,

Under her solemn fillet saw the scorn.

日子

光陰老人的女兒，僞善的時日，

喑啞無語如同赤足的託僧，

她們單行排列，無始也無終，

手託皇冠和一根根權杖，

按各人的心願向大家分贈禮品，

麪包，王國和包羅星辰的天空。

在枝丫纏繞的`花園裏，我見此壯觀，

忘掉了早晨的願望，匆匆忙忙地

採了些香草和蘋果，時日便已轉過身

靜默地離去。在她黑色的髮帶下

我看出她的輕藐，爲時已晚。

注：

1) Daughters: the reading as emended in Selected Poems (1876)

2) dervishes: Muslim friars who took vows of poverty and were known for their ceremonial whirling dances.

3) diadems: crowns. fagots: bunches of sticks or branches (for burning).

4) pleached garden: "Formed by the pleaching or intertwisting of boughs and twigs; fenced, bordered, or overarched with pleached boughs, as a garden-alley or arbour" (OED "pleached" 2).

5) fillet: hair ribbon.