William Butler Yeats - What Then? 汉译

His chosen comrades thought at school<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

He must grow a famous man;

He thought the same and lived by rule,

All his twenties crammed with toil;

‘What then?’ sang Plato’s ghost. ‘What then?’

Everything he wrote was read,

After certain years he won

Sufficient money for his need,

Friends that have been friends indeed;

‘What then?’ sang Plato’s ghost. ‘What then?’

All his happier dreams came true –

A small old house, wife, daughter, son,

Grounds where plum and cabbage grew,

Poets and Wits about him drew;

‘What then?’ sang Plato’s ghost. ‘What then?’

‘The work is done,’ grown old he thought,

‘According to my boyish plan;

Let the fools rage, I swerved in naught,

Something to perfection brought’;

But louder sang that ghost, ‘What then?’

                                                1937