W. H. 奥登[1]
停下所有时钟,切断电话线,
给狗一块带汁的骨头阻止它吠叫,
别再弹奏钢琴,敲起低沉的大鼓
抬出棺椁,让致哀者前来。
让飞机在头顶哀鸣盘旋
在天空划出信息他死了,
在鸽群白色的颈上围上绉纱领结,
让交通警察戴上黑色的手套。
他是我的北方,南方,东方与西方,
我的工作日,我的礼拜天,
我的中午,我的夜半,我的谈话,我的歌;
我以为爱可以永远:我错了。
星星用不着了:把它们熄灭;
收起月亮,拆掉太阳;
倒干海水,扫除森林。
因为一切都已经没有意义。
Funeral Blues
W. H. Auden
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
注释:
[1]W. H. 奥登1907—1973,出生于英国约克郡,1946年加入美国国籍,是20世纪上半叶重要的英语诗人。著名诗篇有《1939年9月1日》《阿喀琉斯之盾》《焦虑年代》《暂时》等。