Friday, May 2, 2008

Schwartz: Albert Einstein to Archibald MacLeish

  Albert Einstein to Archibald MacLeish
                 Delmore Schwartz (1913-1966)
I should have been a plumber fixing drains
And mending pure white bathtubs for the great Diogenes
(who scorned all lies, all liars, and all tyrannies),

And then, perhaps, he would bestow on me—majesty!
(O modesty aside, forgive my fallen pride, O hidden majesty,
The lamp, the lantern, the lucid light he sought for

All too often—sick humanity!)
            1961

 艾伯特·爱因斯坦写给艾切鲍·麦克利什
            戴尔默·史华兹(1913-66)

我本该做一个水暖工修理下水道
给伟大的第欧基尼镶补纯白的浴缸
(他叱骂所有的谎言、撒谎者以及一切暴君)

然后,他也许还会称呼我为——陛下!
(哦,除了谦逊,忘掉我沦陷的傲气,哦,潜在的陛下之威)
气灯、罩灯,他孜孜以求的明晰之光

都太常见了——病态的人性!)
          1961年

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