葉慈禪詩新譯 |
William Butler Yeats,1865-1939 葉慈禪詩新譯
傅正明衍譯
威廉•巴特勒•葉慈(William Butler Yeats,1865-1939),愛爾蘭詩人和劇作家,1923年諾貝爾文學奬得主,主要詩集有《葦間風》(The Wind Among the Reeds,1899)和《塔》(The Tower, 1928)等。 譯者按∶葉慈沉迷的見神論(theosophy),是與猶太教和基督教神秘主義傳統有關的一種信仰。他後來直接接觸佛教,偏愛禪宗,與日本禪師鈴木大拙有書信來往。他的某些詩歌,既有多彩的希臘文明和希伯來文明的色彩,又有濃厚的禪宗意味。原因之一,是因為他熱愛的本土文明,即凱爾特文明,與佛教相通之處頗多,因此,早就有人創立了凱爾特佛教(Celtic Buddhism)。這壹點,我已在《葉慈之鳥∶葉慈的「情殤」及其禪宗公案意味》(見傅正明著《地球文學結構》,聯經,2013)等文章中作了探討。
William Butler Yeats 威廉•巴特勒•葉慈
1. We Can Make Our Minds So Like Still Water
We can make our minds so like still water
1. 修心之道(七律)1
人心散亂若飛蓬,亦可安如水一泓, 戲浪魚蝦蓮葉下,觀空意象鏡湖中。 三春生命多朝氣,萬壽僵屍欠夕紅。 向晚晴光非欲火,隻緣默照悟圓融。
1 譯自葉慈的《凱爾特的薄暮》( Celtic Twilight,1902) 中的短文<大地,火和水>( Earth, Fire and Water),以首行為題,引用者大多分行排列,因為原書是以詩意的筆調記敘的愛爾蘭神話傳說。
2. The Coming of Wisdom with Time
THOUGH leaves are many, the root is one;
2. 智慧與時俱進(七絕)2
樹葉繁多同壹根, 青春日損化埃塵, 葉同花落陽光下, 碾作空無妙有真。
2 譯自葉慈詩集《綠色頭盔和其他詩作》(The Green Helmet and Orher Poems,1910)。
3. The Nineteenth Century and After
Though the great song return no more There’s keen delight in what we have: The rattle of pebbles on the shore Under the receding vave.
3. 十九世紀以降(七絕) 3
即使崇高不再歌, 平凡喜樂可吟哦∶ 沙灘鵝石錚錚響, 任爾潮來又退波。
3 譯自葉慈詩集《盤旋的樓梯和其他詩作》(The Winding Stair and Other Poems,1933)。這首詩是對阿諾德(Matthew Arnold)名詩《多佛海灘》(Dower Beach)的悲觀情緒的一種樂觀回應。
4. The Sorrow of Love The quarrel of the sparrows in the eaves, The full round moon and the star-laden sky, And the loud song of the ever-singing leaves Had hid away earth's old and weary cry.
And then you came with those red mournful lips, 5 And with you came the whole of the world's tears, And all the sorrows of her labouring ships, And all burden of her myriad years.
And now the sparrows warring in the eaves, The crumbling moon, the white stars in the sky, 10 And the loud chanting of the unquiet leaves, Are shaken with earth's old and weary cry.
(First Printed Version, 1892)
4. 情殤(之一,七絕三首)4
禾雀群飛繞屋簷, 嘰喳爭嘴對星天, 高吟草葉含離恨, 濁世淚泉流遠天。
絕代風華遭劫後,5 普天悲戚傷紅顏。 殘帆壯士三生苦, 重負史家千載肩。
禾雀重來鬧屋簷, 星河冷落蟾宮寒, 高吟草葉迷津渡, 慰我愁人哭曉天。
1892年初寫本
4 這首詩最初發表1892年,即詩人認識女演員、愛爾蘭民族主義者毛德·崗(Maud Gonne)兩年之後的熱戀中。 5 指引發特洛伊戰爭的海倫。
5. The Sorrow of Love
The brilliant moon and all the milky sky, And all that famous harmony of leaves, Had blotted out man's image and his cry.
A girl arose that had red mournful lips 5 And seemed the greatness of the world in tears, Doomed like Odysseus and the labouring ships And proud as Priam murdered with his peers;
Arose, and on the instant clamorous eaves, A climbing moon upon an empty sky, 10 And all that lamentation of the leaves, Could but compose man's image and his cry.
(Final Printed Version, 1925)
5. 情殤(之二,七絕三首)6
禾雀單飛繞屋簷, 嘰喳爭嘴對星天,7 親和浩月照芳草, 撫慰愁人止淚泉。
朱唇情劫起爭端, 舉世哀傷淚不乾, 壯士風帆遠徵苦,8 霸王城闕劫灰寒。9
今夜又聞單雀喧, 星光顯隱拱嬋娟。 兩心牽動含情草, 一鳥鳴空破曉天。
1925年重寫本
6 1925年詩人重寫這首詩,借懷古抒寫他對毛德·崗的無望之戀以及對愛爾蘭民族獨立運動的思考。這兩首詩均曾由筆者譯為詞體「八六子」,載《英美抒情詩新譯》(臺灣商務印書館,2012年)。這裏每首譯為三首七絕,風味有所不同,請相互參看。 7葉慈把舊版的“The quarrel of the sparrows”(幾隻麻雀的口角)改為“The brawling of a sparrow”(一隻蘋麻雀的爭嘴),曾引起一位批評家的質疑∶一隻麻雀能爭嘴嗎?實際上葉慈在散文《人之魂》(Anima Hominus)中已回答了這個問題∶「借重與別人爭嘴,我們造出雄辯術,借重與自己爭嘴,我們造出詩歌。(We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry.)」可見這首詩修改後的起句,有類似於禪宗公案的意義。 8 壯士,指原文點明的希臘英雄奧德修斯。 9 霸王,指原文點明的特洛伊國王普萊姆。這個傲慢的國王在特洛伊陷落後被希臘英雄阿基裏斯殺死。 |