by W.B.Yeats 葉慈

 

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,

And nodding by the fire, take down this book,

And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

 

等妳徧生華髮歲近遲暮，

偎爐盹寐可取此書緩讀，

囘味秋水曾經溫柔一度，

夢裏波影幾番深淺沈浮。

 

How many loved your moments of glad grace,

And loved your beauty with love false or true,

But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,

And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

 

多少人曾愛妳初沐朝霞，

多少人曾愛妳難辨真假，

惟一人愛妳至誠的追索，

惟一人愛妳凋謝的芳華。

 

And bending down beside the glowing bars,

Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

 

佝僂在燒紅的爐柵旁邊，

妳些許憂傷地輕聲埋怨，

愛情怎就悄悄蹀越山嶺，

依稀繁星間那人的容顏。

 

1893年

古水 譯