雪水

雪水

Snow Water
By Michael Longley

烹茶須細究，
高手既詩人；
花甲無奢求，
壽禮雪水純。

A fastidious brewer of tea, a tea
Connoisseur as well as a poet, 
I modestly request on my sixtieth
Birthday a gift of snow water.

茶汽雜墨痕，
燙壺無別觀；
且取銀針許，
足夠泡兩盞。

Tea steam and ink stains. Single-
Mindedly I scald my teapot and
Measure out some Silver Needles Tea,
Enough for a second steeping.

尚愛茶湯清，
中有壽眉懸；
高山險峰出，
雲霧茶可探。

Other favourites include Clear
Distance and Eyebrows of Longevity
Or, from the precarious mountain peaks,
Cloud Mist Tea (quite delectable)

能猴去采摘
擇葉放入籃
帶回我住處
家有雪水壇。

Which competent monkeys harvest
Filling their baskets with choice leaves
And bringing them down to where I wait
With my crock of snow water.