Archibald MacLeish: Ars Poetica (Chinese translation)

　　　Ars Poetica
　　　　　　　Archibald MacLeish (1892-1972)

A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit,

Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb,

Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown -

A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.

A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs,

Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,

Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind -

A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs.

A poem should be equal to:
Not true.

For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf

For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea -

A poem should not mean
But be.


　　诗艺
　　　　　阿契鲍·麦克利许 (1892-1972) tr. Fan Jinghua

诗当可感而沉默，
若球形水果，

拙于言
若拇指摸着旧章纹，

无语若窗台上的卵石
青苔被衣袖轻抹——

诗当无字，
若翔鸟之飞天。

诗当静止于时间中，
如月亮升空，

离而不去，一如月亮一枝一枝
将夜幕笼罩的树木呈现，

离而不去，一如月亮在冬日的树叶后
一片一片呈现记忆——

诗当静止于时间中，
如月亮升空。

诗当只是神似，
而非写真。

抒写所有的痛史
只需一扇空空的门廊和一片枫叶

抒写爱情
惟有倾伏的草和大海上的两盏孤灯——

诗不该以言呈意，
诗就是自己。