紀念祖父母的六節詩

昨晚燈下寫了英文Sestina六節詩，這種詩體結構頗複雜，共6節，每節6行，再加3行作結尾，共39行詩。六節中詩行的結尾必用同樣的六個單詞，但六個單詞的排序又都不同。例如，我用了1.house房子, 2.grandparents祖父母, 3.child孩子, 4.away離去, 5.behind後麵, 6.remarks談話作為第一節的詩行結尾，第二節詩的六句也要用同樣結尾，但不同的順序，順序變為615243, 第三節六行詩用同樣的六個單詞，但順序是364125, 第四節六行詩結尾是532614, 第五節是451362, 第六節是246531. 最後三行也有講究，第一行裏要有第1.house房子和第2.grandparents祖父母在詩裏；第二行裏要有3.child孩子, 4.away離去 在詩裏；第三行裏要有5.behind後麵, 6.remarks談話在詩句裏。

 

我喜歡六節詩，不是因為它繁瑣的結構，而是源於美國女詩人Elizabeth Bishop(1911-1979)的一首紀念她祖母的六節詩，每每讀起，總將輕舟的記憶帶回幼時與自己祖父母在一起的美好時光。昨夜寫六節詩，以此緬懷對年幼輕舟疼愛有加的祖父母。今晚將詩翻譯為中文。

 

Sestina
by Light Boat

 

September breeze blows on the house.
In the dwindling twilight, the old grandparents
sit in the kitchen with the child.
The swallows are chirping away,
leaving for the south with their nests behind.
Time for the winter, grandfather remarks.

He thinks that his chatty remarks
will cause attention in the house,
but the child is dreaming on the chair behind.
She sees the dust in the twilight, over the grandparents;
the dust flys in the light, dancing away,
while grandmother finds some peanuts for the child.

It's time for peanuts; but the child
thinks of the candies, and she remarks,
I like a candy instead, she cries her way,
with the sound of the wind blowing over the house.
Checking in the cabinet, and the old grandparents,
cheerfully, they find a candy from behind.

The child wipes away her tears on the chair behind,
taking the candy and savoring as a child,
twinkling are the delightful eyes of the grandparents.
I discover the dust can fly, the child remarks.
Now the moon starts to climb up over the house,
feeling chilly, and winter is not far away.

Do you know, says the grandfather, your parents are far away.
I know what you say, thinks the child behind.
With candy melting in the mouth, the child sees a string in the house,
Grandfather can teach you how to tie a slipknot, and the child
learns to tie the knot; good job, grandfather remarks.
Happily, the child ties the knot for the grandparents.

But secretly, while the grandparents
busy themselves cooking the dinner away,
the fire in the stove jumps up and down as if to remark
I brighten the faces of grandparents from behind,
blending them into the loving sight of a child,
and they have been carefully placed with the memories of the house.

Put away the string, ask the grandparents in the house,
candies are sweet, thinks the child while the string is put away.
I am adding more wood in the stove, the grandfather remarks from behind.

 

六節詩

輕舟一葉

 

九月微風吹過房子

漸弱的黃昏暮光中

年老的祖父母與孩子坐在廚房

燕子吱吱喳喳地飛遠

離開他們的鳥巢，南遷

冬天就要到了，爺爺說

 

爺爺以為他的閑談

能夠引起家人的注意

但坐在椅子後麵的孩子卻在神遊

暮光中的塵埃，漂浮過祖父母

塵埃在光線中飛揚，舞動

奶奶為孩子找了些花生

 

來吃花生了，但孩子

卻想吃糖果，她說：

我要吃糖，她的哭叫聲

和秋風吹刮房子的聲音連在一起

祖父母到櫃子裏找尋

很高興地在櫃子後麵找到了一粒糖果

 

坐在椅子後麵的孩子擦幹眼淚

拿過糖果，津津有味地吃起來

祖父母的眼睛裏閃著愉快的光彩

我發現塵埃會飛，孩子說。

月亮慢慢爬到了房子上空

冷颼颼的,冬天是不遠了。

 

你知道嗎？爺爺說，你的父母住得很遠

我知道你說什麽？孩子想。

糖在嘴裏溶化，孩子看到房子裏的一根細繩

爺爺可以教你打活結，於是孩子

學著打活結，打得很好，爺爺稱讚

孩子高興地打起活結給奶奶看

 

但悄悄之中，當兩老

忙著作晚餐時

灶膛裏的火苗跳動，像是在談，

我用光照亮了老人的臉龐

融合到孩子愛的視域

與房子一同珍藏到記憶深處

 

祖父母讓孩子收好繩子

糖真甜，孩子收好繩子時想。

我再給灶膛裏加些火吧，爺爺說。

 

sestina 六節詩 介紹：

 A sestina (also, sextina, sestine, or sextain) is a highly structured poem consisting of six six-line stanzas followed by a tercet (called its envoy or tornada), for a total of thirty-nine lines. The same set of six words ends the lines of each of the six-line stanzas, but in a different order each time; if we number the first stanza's lines 123456, then the words ending the second stanza's lines appear in the order 615243, then 364125, then 532614, then 451362, and finally 246531. This organization is referred to as retrogradatio cruciata ("retrograde cross"). These six words then appear in the tercet as well, with the tercet's first line usually containing 1 and 2, its second 3 and 4, and its third 5 and 6 (but other versions exist, described below).

(link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sestina)