Saturday, October 3, 2009

Plaht: Berck-Plage 6&7

Sylvia Plath Collected Poems
No. 167

   Berck-Plage


   (6)
The natural fatness of these lime leaves!—
Pollarded green balls, the trees march to church.

The voice of the priest, in thin air,
Meets the corpse at the gate,

Addressing it, while the hills roll the notes of the dead bell;
A glitter of wheat and crude earth.

What is the name of that color?—
Old blood of caked walls the sun heals,

Old blood of limb stumps, burnt hearts.
The widow with her black pocketbook and three daughters,

Necessary among the flowers,
Enfolds her face like fine linen,

Not to be spread again.
While a sky, wormy with put-by smiles,

Passes cloud after cloud.
And the bride flowers expend a freshness,

And the soul is a bride
In a still place, and the groom is red and forgetful, he is featureless.


普拉斯《诗全编》
第167首

  伯克海滨


   (六)
这些酸橙叶,自然的富态!——
修剪成绿球状的灌木,向教堂行进。

牧师的嗓音,在稀薄的空气中,
与尸体相遇在大门口,

对它致辞,而群山涌起丧钟的音符;
麦子的闪烁应和古朴的大地。

那种颜色有什么名字?——
太阳治愈了裂墙的旧血污,

残肢的旧血污,烧焦的心。
那寡妇带着黑色袖珍书和三个女儿,

花丛中必需的,
她把脸折叠起来,像精纺的麻布,

再不让它展开。
而天空,蠕动着弃置的笑容,

飘出一朵又一朵云。
新娘的花已耗尽了鲜气,

灵魂便是一个新娘,
幽居于静谧之所,新郎则鲜红而健忘,没有五官。

   (7)
Behind the glass of this car
The world purrs, shut-off and gentle.

And I am dark-suited and still, a member of the party,
Gliding up in low gear behind the cart.

And the priest is a vessel,
A tarred fabric, sorry and dull,

Following the coffin on its flowery cart like a beautiful woman,
A crest of breasts, eyelids and lips

Storming the hilltop.
Then, from the barred yard, the children

Smell the melt of shoe-blacking,
Their faces turning, wordless and slow,

Their eyes opening
On a wonderful thing—

Six round black hats in the grass and a lozenge of wood,
And a naked mouth, red and awkward.

For a minute the sky pours into the hole like plasma.
There is no hope, it is given up.
                30 June 1962


(七)
这辆车的玻璃后,
那世界嘟嘟哝哝,隔绝而雍雅。

我一身黑礼服,静默,这场聚会的一员,
挂着低档,跟在灵车后滑步。

牧师是一条船,
一块涂了柏油的布,忧戚、呆滞,

跟着棺材,而那辆花车就像一个漂亮女人,
乳房、眼帘与嘴唇的浪峰

如风暴抽打山巅。
然后,木栅隔开的庭院里,孩子们

闻到黑鞋油熔化的味道,
他们背过脸去,无言,迟缓,

眼睛睁大,盯着
一件奇妙的东西——

草地里的六顶黑色圆帽,一块菱形的木头,
还有一张裸露的嘴,鲜红而笨拙。

恍惚间,天空像血浆一般泻进那个洞穴。
毫无希望了,已彻底放弃。
         1962年6月30日



原编者注:伯克海滨是诺曼底海岸的一个海滩,普拉斯曾在1961年6月去过。那儿有一所医院俯瞰大海,供伤残老兵和交通事故的受害者在沙滩上锻炼疗养。诗中提到的葬礼是指Percy Key。Key死于1962年6月,离普拉斯去伯克海滨刚好一年。
译按:Percy Key是诗人住在Devon时的隔壁邻居。他得癌症去世时诗人一直在他身边。另外有一首诗《水仙丛中》也是写他的。
第7节第7行中的“花车”是指老式葬礼上的手推车。手推车上放着棺材,棺材上堆放花圈花环,走在送葬车队的前面。
第7节第16行中的“嘴,鲜红而笨拙”:这是指墓穴。当地墓园中的土和底土都是红色的。

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