Man, the egregious egoist
(In mystery the twig is bent)
Imagines, by some mental twist,
That he alone is sentient
Of the intolerable load
That on all living creatures lies,
Nor stoops to pity in the toad
The speechless sorrow of his eyes.
He asks no questions of the snake,
Nor plumbs the phosphorescent gloom
Where lidless fishes, broad awake,
Swim staring at a nightmare doom.
Elinor Morton Wylie，是位出身名门的大美女。她的本姓为Hoyt, Wylie是她第二任丈夫的姓氏。Elinor的爷爷Henry M. Hoyt，曾做过宾西法尼亚州长，她的一个姑妈Helen Hoyt是一位诗人，她的父亲小 Hoyt( Henry Martyn Hoyt, Jr.)1903到1909曾任美国国家最高法院院长（United States Solicitor General ）
有人这样描述Elinor:
"She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious,
sensuous poetry."
基于上述研究，我把这首诗歌翻译成以下版本：
Cold-Blooded Creatures
冷血动物
by Elinor Wylie