Plath: Mystic

Sylvia Plath Collected Poems

No. 219

　　　Mystic

The air is a mill of hooks---
Questions without answer,
Glittering and drunk as flies
Whose kiss stings unbearably
In the fetid wombs of black air under pines in summer.

I remember
The dead smell of sun on wood cabins,
The stiffness of sails, the long salt winding sheets.
Once one has seen God, what is the remedy?
Once one has been seized up

Without a part left over,
Not a toe, not a finger, and used,
Used utterly, in the sun's conflagrations, the stains
That lengthen from ancient cathedrals
What is the remedy?

The pill of the Communion tablet,
The walking beside still water? Memory?
Or picking up the bright pieces
Of Christ in the faces of rodents,
The tame flower-nibblers, the ones

Whose hopes are so low they are comfortable---
The humpback in his small, washed cottage
Under the spokes of the clematis.
Is there no great love, only tenderness?
Does the sea

Remember the walker upon it?
Meaning leaks from the molecules.
The chimneys of the city breathe, the window sweats,
The children leap in their cots.
The sun blooms, it is a geranium.

The heart has not stopped.
　　　　　　　　　1 February 1963

Chinese Translation of Sylvia Plath's Mystic from her Collected Poems

　　　神秘论者
　　　　　　　希薇娅·普拉斯　　tr. Fan Jinghua
天空是长满钩子的磨车——
没有答案的提问，
闪着光、醉醺醺，像苍蝇；
夏天松柏下的阴浊空气
如腥臭的子宫，它们在里面叮叮啃啃，令人难忍。

我记得
木屋上阳光的死人味，
蓬帆僵硬，卷夹着咸涩的布条。
某人一旦目睹了上帝的尊容，还有什么补救？
一旦被完全没收，

一块部件也不留下，
不剩一只脚趾、一根手指，而是用滥了，
彻底用滥，在太阳的大火下，污渍
从远古的大教堂延伸至今，
还有什么补救？

圣餐牌上的小药丸，
在死水边行走？记忆？
或者面对着啮齿动物
捡起基督闪亮的碎片？——
那些温顺的啃花者、那些家伙

愿望太卑微所以知足常乐——
那位驼背经风历雨的小茅屋，
笼罩于铁线莲的辐条下。
是否只有心软，根本没有伟大的爱？
大海是否

记得那踏过水面的行者？
意义从分子间泄漏。
城市的烟囱喘着气，窗户冒汗，
孩子们在童床上跳跃。
太阳绽放，它是一株天竺葵。

心尚未停滞。
　　　　　　　　　　1963年2月1日

　　I love this poem so much that I used the lines “Does the sea/ Remember the walker upon it” as the signature of my BBS postings. This poem contains most elements of Plath’s repertoire. The catchwords include hook, glitter (bright pieces), the fecund womb-like space with smells, body part(icles) such as toes and fingers, and of course Christian images, etc. These elements are coordinated in the form of a womb filled with bright pieces, but the speaker appears to be a small low creature trying hard to find a place under a much too big dome. This type of creatures includes the flies, the stains in the sun, the rodents, the flower-nibblers, the humpback, and eventually these creatures become vertical (to borrow a word from the poem “I am Vertical”) and pose questions. The vertical becomes increasingly active and engaged and make impact, like “Meaning [that] leaks from the molecules” as we see the change from the walker upon the water, the chimneys in the city, to the children in the cots. Eventually, the sun blooms, therefore it responds to the heart, contrary to the early image of the sun.
　　我特别喜欢这首诗，因此在我的网名个性签名上就用了其中的“大海是否／记得那踏过水面的行者？”。这首诗可以说包含了普拉斯诗歌意象库中的大部分常用意象。它们包括钩子、闪光（明亮的碎片）、散发味道的子宫似的肥沃空间、身体（小）部分如脚趾手指，当然还包括宗教意象。这些因素被协调成为充满明亮碎片的子宫这个图景，但是这首诗的说话者却显示为一个拱顶之下的卑微生灵，努力寻找一个合适的立足点。这些生灵在这首诗中显示为苍蝇、阳光下的污渍、啮齿动物、温顺的啃花者、那位驼背，但是他们最终都会直立起来（她有一首诗的题目就叫“我是直立的”），向穹拱发出问题。这些直立起来的物体越来越显得积极干预，犹如“意义从分子间泄漏”。这个变化过程在于水上的行者、城里的烟囱、小床上跳跃的孩子；而结果便是太阳终于绽开，从而回应了人心。