William Butler Yeats - The Gyres 汉译

The gyres! the gyres! Old Rocky Face, look forth;

Things thought too long can be no longer thought,

For beauty dies of beauty, worth of worth,

And ancient lineaments are blotted out.

Irrational streams of blood are staining earth;

Empedocles has thrown all things about;

Hector is dead and there’s a light in Troy;

We that look on but laugh in tragic joy.

What matter though numb nightmare ride on top,

And blood and mire the sensitive body stain?

What matter? Heave no sigh, let no tear drop,

A-greater, a more gracious time has gone;

For painted forms or boxes of make-up

In ancient tombs I sighed, but not again;

What matter? Out of cavern comes a voice,

And all it knows is that one word "Rejoice!’

Conduct and work grow coarse, and coarse the soul,

What matter? Those that Rocky Face holds dear,

Lovers of horses and of women, shall,

From marble of a broken sepulchre,

Or dark betwixt the polecat and the owl,

Or any rich, dark nothing disinter

The workman, noble and saint, and all things run

On that unfashionable gyre again.

旋椎体

旋椎体！旋椎体！古老的山岩脸，向前瞧；

事情想得太久了不能再去想，

美陨于美，价值为价值抵消，

古老的面貌已被抹掉。

无理性的血玷污了大，

恩皮多克勒斯把事物抛撒一地，

和科托尔死了，特洛伊有光相照；

我们观望着，只为悲剧的欢乐而笑。

又怎样？麻木的梦魇在头上横行，

血和泥弄脏了敏感的身躯；

又怎样？不要掉泪，不要叹气，

一个更伟大、更优雅的时代已成过去；

我曾为墓中的画和成箱的化妆品

而叹息，现在不再这样干了、

那又怎样？从洞穴传来个声音，

它所知只有一个词“欢欣”！

行为和工作变得粗厉，心灵也粗俗，

又怎样？山岩脸喜爱道德种种一切，

骏马和女人的钟爱者，

将从破墓的大理石间，

或鸡貂和猫头鹰之间的黑暗中，

或任何丰富的黑暗的乌有中

发掘出工匠、贵族和圣人，

一切又将在那过时的旋椎体上运行。