自 然
Nature
梭 羅
Henry David Thoreau
梭羅(Henry David Thoreau,1817-1862),美國著名散文家和詩人。他崇尚自由,反對蓄奴制,親自幫助黑奴逃離羈絆。他主張返樸歸真,接近自然,不應追求物質文明的發(fā)達,以免喪失人為萬物之靈長的崇高地位。他以散文著稱,《瓦爾登湖》是他的散文代表作。生前受到冷落,直到二十世紀三、四十年代,他的詩歌的價值才被重新認識。當年愛默生認為他只擅長散文,不擅寫詩。其實他的詩不屬于過去,而屬于現(xiàn)在。與狄金森相似,他作為詩人是二十世紀的前驅。
啊,自然!我并不企盼
O nature! I do not aspire
成為你歌隊里至尊的一員——
To be the highest in thy choir, —
做一顆天上璀璨的流星
To be a meteor in thy sky,
或在高空中漫游的彗星;
Or comet that may range on high;
我只想做一縷柔和的輕風,
Only a zephyr that may blow
穿梭在河畔的蘆葦叢中;
Among the reeds by the river low;
告訴我你最僻靜的地方,
Give me thy most privy place
讓我的氣息在那里飄蕩。
Where to run my airy race.
來到僻遠幽靜的草地,
In some withdrawn, unpublic mead
我倚著蘆葦輕輕地嘆息,
Let me sigh upon a reed ,
來到樹葉沙沙的森林,
Or in the woods, with leafy din ,
我悄聲低語來迎接黃昏,
Whisper the still evening in:
讓我為你做一些事情,——
Some still work give me to do, —
只要——我能夠跟你親近!
Only—be it near to you!
我寧愿生活在荒野叢林,
For I'd rather be thy child
做你的孩子,做你的學生,
And pupil, in the forest wild,
也不愿去做人間的皇帝,
Than be the king of men elsewhere,
或不折不扣的憂患的奴隸;
And most sovereign slave of care;
我愿享有你黎明的剎那,
To have one monent of thy dawn,
放棄城市中寂寞的年華。
Than share the city's year forlorn .