Plath: The Tour

Sylvia Plath Collected Poems
No. 193

　　　The Tour

O maiden aunt, you have come to call.
Do step into the hall!
With your bold
Gecko, the little flick!
All cogs, weird sparkle and every cog solid gold.
And I in slippers and housedress with no lipstick!

And you want to be shown about!
Yes, yes, this is my address.
Not a patch on your place, I guess, with the Javanese
Geese and the monkey trees.
It's a bit burnt-out,
A bit of a wild machine, a bit of a mess!

O I shouldn't put my finger in that
Auntie, it might bite!
That's my frost box, no cat,
Though it looks like a cat, with its fluffy stuff, pure white.
You should see the objects it makes!
Millions of needly glass cakes!

Fine for the migraine or the bellyache. And this
Is where I kept the furnace,
Each coal a hot cross-stitch---a lovely light!
It simply exploded one night,
It went up in smoke.
And that's why I have no hair, auntie, that's why I choke

Off and on, as if I just had to retch.
Coal gas is ghastly stuff.
Here's a spot I thought you'd love---
Morning Glory Pool!
The blue's a jewel.
It boils for forty hours at a stretch.

O I shouldn't dip my hankie in, it hurts!
Last summer, my God, last summer
It ate seven maids and a plumber
And returned them steamed and pressed and stiff as shirts.
I am bitter? I'm averse?
Here's your specs, dear, here's your purse.

Toddle on home to tea now in your flat hat.
It'll be lemon tea for me,
Lemon tea and earwig biscuits---creepy-creepy.
You'd not want that.
Toddle on home, before the weather's worse.
Toddle on home, and don't trip on the nurse!---

She may be bald, she may have no eyes,
But auntie, she's awfully nice.
She's pink, she's a born midwife---
She can bring the dead to life
With her wiggly fingers and for a very small fee.
Well I hope you've enjoyed it, auntie!

Toddle on home to tea!
　　　　　　　　　25 October 1962

普拉斯《诗全编》
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　　　　　　　　希薇娅- 普拉斯

哦，独身姑姑，欢迎您登门！
快请到客厅！
带着你那明晃晃的
小壁虎装饰！
那些小齿轮，奇怪的闪光，一枚枚实在的金。
可我却还穿着拖鞋和休闲装，也没涂口红！

你要转转，看看我的家？
好的，好的，这是我的裙子。
我想，比不了你住处的一块补丁吧，
我的没有爪哇野鹅与猴子树。
穿得有点破旧了，
有点像破机器，乱七八糟的一堆！

哦，我不该把手指放进那里，
姑姑，它会咬人的！
那是我的霜盒子，没有猫，
不过看起来真像一只猫，毛绒绒的，纯白。
你真该看看它能制造些什么！
数百万只如针的玻璃蛋糕！

对偏头痛和腹痛很有效。而炉子
就被我藏在这里，
每块炭火都是一个十字针脚——多可爱的灯！
就那么在一个夜里爆炸。
随着烟升腾消散。
所以我才没有头发，姑姑，所以我呛了嗓子，

咳来咳去，好像刚刚呕吐。
煤烟是可怕的东西。
我一直想这才是你喜欢的一角——
牵牛花坛！
那蓝色的是宝贝啊。
它一口气能沸腾四十小时。

哦，我不该将手帕浸进去的，很疼！
去年夏天，啊，天啊，去年夏天，
它吃了七个佣人和一个管道工，
然后吐出来，就像蒸汽、熨烫、浆过的衬衫。
我刻薄？总和别人过不去？
这是你的眼镜，亲爱的，这是你的手袋。

您遛回家喝茶去吧，戴上您的宽边帽。
给我柠檬茶就好，
柠檬茶配蠼螋型饼干——咕叽咕叽像虫爬。
你不会要的。
您遛回家去吧，天气越来越糟了。
您遛回家去吧，可不要踩着保姆！——

虽说她是秃头，虽说她没有眼睛，
但是，姑姑，她真是个好人。
脸色粉红，天生就是一个接生婆——
她能把死亡还原为生命，
仅凭那颤抖的手指，而且收费极低。
嗯，但愿这一趟你很愉快，姑姑！

您遛回家喝茶去吧。
　　　　　　　　　1962年10月25日