When You Are Old
When you are old and gray and full of sleep
And nodding by the fire,take down this book,
And slowly read,and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once,and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true;
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur,a little sadly,how love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead,
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
當(dāng)你老了
當(dāng)你老了,頭白了,睡思昏沉,
爐火旁打盹,請(qǐng)取下這部詩(shī)歌,
慢慢讀,回想你過(guò)去眼神的柔和
回想它們過(guò)去的濃重的陰影;
多少人愛(ài)你年輕環(huán)暢的時(shí)候
愛(ài)慕你的美貌出于假意或真心,
只有一個(gè)人愛(ài)你那朝圣者的靈魂,
愛(ài)你老去的容顏的痛苦的皺紋。
躬身在紅光閃耀的爐火旁,
凄然的低語(yǔ),愛(ài)為何消逝,
在頭頂?shù)纳缴纤従忰庵阶樱?br />
將臉隱沒(méi)在了群星之中。
作者WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS 葉芝(1865-1939),用英語(yǔ)寫(xiě)作的愛(ài)爾蘭詩(shī)人,早年曾參加愛(ài)爾蘭獨(dú)立運(yùn)動(dòng),但后來(lái)脫離政治運(yùn)動(dòng),專(zhuān)心致力于文學(xué)寫(xiě)作。其詩(shī)風(fēng)受布萊克影響較深;后與法國(guó)詩(shī)派接觸,使他的詩(shī)又帶上了唯美主義和象征主義色彩。葉芝在1923年獲得諾貝爾文學(xué)獎(jiǎng),是一位對(duì)現(xiàn)代詩(shī)歌具有重大影響的詩(shī)人。葉芝在1889年遇見(jiàn)女演員、愛(ài)爾蘭獨(dú)立運(yùn)動(dòng)戰(zhàn)士Maud Gonne,并愛(ài)上了她,他曾多次向她求婚,但均遭拒絕,但他終生愛(ài)慕著她,為她寫(xiě)下了許多詩(shī),《當(dāng)你老了》就是其中一首。