《译诗:桌上的行星》
史蒂文斯 原作
雪歌(阿泳)译
阿里尔欣喜他完成了属于自己的诗篇。
它们追忆一段似水流年
或留在他眼中的钟爱的事物。
太阳其他的创造
无非是废弃和混乱之物
以及一团乱麻的茂盛的灌木
他的自我隐身于太阳
他的诗篇,虽然出自他的创造
却无异于产自太阳
它们能否传世,这并不重要。
如果语言的贫瘠使诗意潦草
至为重要的使命,这些诗篇
应该匹配承载它们的行星,
那些清晰的身姿,或不群的个性
还有那些丰厚的意蕴。
原诗:
The Planet On The Table
by Wallace Stevens
Ariel was glad he had written his poems.
They were of a remembered time
Or of something seen that he liked.
Other makings of the sun
Were waste and welter
And the ripe shrub writhed.
His self and the sun were one
And his poems, although makings of his self,
Were no less makings of the sun.
It was not important that they survive.
What mattered was that they should bear
Some lineament or character,
Some affluence, if only half-perceived,
In the poverty of their words,
Of the planet of which they were part.
桌上的行星是什么?史蒂文斯给我们展开了一个谜语。直到你把全诗读通透了,你才能解开它。
它们是诗人创造的,就像太阳创造的,像行星一样璀璨,而且个性鲜明,内涵丰富(这像行星一样)的诗篇。它们摆放在桌上,围绕着诗人的思想运行。
诗中也隐喻到诗人在创作中的狂热(自喻太阳)和投入。除了诗歌(行星),诗人在世一无所出,“是废弃和混乱之物”。有意思的是诗人还自嘲自己在现实生活中的混乱,缺乏逻辑,一团糟的 - “以及一团乱麻的茂盛的灌木”。
挑战无疑来自最后五行。它们是结构较复杂的一个整句。如果你试图强行按照原作的行列次序以中文依次摆放,你能传达正确诗意的可能性几乎为零。即使你勉强做到了,这也会使阅读变得艰辛,不优美,于是原诗在英文语境中的意境丢失了。 |