Walt Whitman - Scented Herbage of My Breast 汉译

Scented herbage of my breast,

Leaves from you I glean, I write, to be perused best afterwards,

Tomb-leaves, body-leaves growing up above me above death,

Perennial roots, tall leaves, O the winter shall not freeze you

delicate leaves,

Every year shall you bloom again, out from where you retired you

shall emerge again;

O I do not know whether many passing by will discover you or inhale

your faint odor, but I believe a few will;

O slender leaves! O blossoms of my blood! I permit you to tell in

your own way of the heart that is under you,

O I do not know what you mean there underneath yourselves, you are

not happiness,

You are often more bitter than I can bear, you burn and sting me,

Yet you are beautiful to me you faint tinged roots, you make me

think of death,

Death is beautiful from you, (what indeed is finally beautiful

except death and love?)

O I think it is not for life I am chanting here my chant of lovers,

I think it must be for death,

For how calm, how solemn it grows to ascend to the atmosphere of lovers,

Death or life I am then indifferent, my soul declines to prefer,

(I am not sure but the high soul of lovers welcomes death most,)

Indeed O death, I think now these leaves mean precisely the same as

you mean,

Grow up taller sweet leaves that I may see! grow up out of my breast!

Spring away from the conceal’d heart there!

Do not fold yourself so in your pink-tinged roots timid leaves!

Do not remain down there so ashamed, herbage of my breast!

Come I am determin’d to unbare this broad breast of mine, I have

long enough stifled and choked;

Emblematic and capricious blades I leave you, now you serve me not,

I will say what I have to say by itself,

I will sound myself and comrades only, I will never again utter a

call only their call,

I will raise with it immortal reverberations through the States,

I will give an example to lovers to take permanent shape and will

through the States,

Through me shall the words be said to make death exhilarating,

Give me your tone therefore O death, that I may accord with it,

Give me yourself, for I see that you belong to me now above all, and

are folded inseparably together, you love and death are,

Nor will I allow you to balk me any more with what I was calling life,

For now it is convey’d to me that you are the purports essential,

That you hide in these shifting forms of life, for reasons, and that

they are mainly for you,

That you beyond them come forth to remain, the real reality,

That behind the mask of materials you patiently wait, no matter how long,

That you will one day perhaps take control of all,

That you will perhaps dissipate this entire show of appearance,

That may-be you are what it is all for, but it does not last so very long,

But you will last very long.

我胸口的芳草

我胸口的芳草，

我从你那里采集草叶，我写作，以便日后让人们更好地传诵，

墓上的草叶，生长在我和死亡之上的、尸体长出的草叶，

持久不死的根，高高的叶瓣，啊，冬天将不会把你冻死，娇柔的草叶啊，

你每年都会重新萌发，你会从你退却的地方再现；

啊，我不知道许多过路者会不会发现你或吸进你那淡淡的清香，但是我相信少数人也许能够；

啊，窈窕的草叶！啊，我鲜血的花朵！我允许你用自己的语言诉说你下面的心事，

啊，我不知道你身体下面包含着什么深义，你不是幸福，

你往往苦涩得使我忍受不了，你烧灼我，刺痛我，

但是你对我来说还是美丽的，你那稍带颜色的根啊，你使我想到死亡，

你带来的死亡是美丽的，（其实除了死亡和爱最终还有什么是美丽的呢？）

啊，我想我在这里讴歌密友的交情，不是为了生命，我想一定是为了死亡，

因为上升到密友的大气层中时，该是多么宁静、多么庄严啊，

是死亡还是生命我已毫不关心，我的灵魂不愿做出选择，

（我不敢肯定，但是密友们的崇高灵魂最欢迎的还是死亡，“

其实，啊，死亡，我现在认为这些草叶的含义和你的含义完全一样，

长高些吧，甜蜜的草叶，让我看个清楚！请从我胸口长出！

从那隐蔽着的心脏那里跳动吧！

不要把自己封闭在你那些粉红颜色的根须中，羞怯的草叶！

不要含羞忍辱地停留在那里，我胸口的草叶！

是的，我决心袒露我那宽阔的胸膛，我已窒息、憋闷得够久了；

具有象征意义而又喜怒无常的叶片啊，我要离开你们，你们现在已不再为我服务，

我将凭借叶片本身说出我要说的话，

我只要用声音表达我自己和伙伴们就足够了，除此以外，我将不会发出别的呼声，

我将让它在各州唤起不朽的回响，

我将给密友们做出榜样；让它在各州成为永久性的形体和意志，

我要让我说的话使死亡振奋人心，

因此啊，死亡把你的声调传给我吧，让我和它共鸣，

把你自己给我吧，因为我知道你现在主要属于我，你们，爱与死亡，是不可分离地紧抱在一起的，

我也不会容许你再用我所谓的生命给我设置障碍，

因为我现在理解你的含义是根本性的，

你隐藏在这些多变的生活形式中是有原因的，而且基本是为了你，

你超越了它们而继续存在下去，成为真正的现实，

你耐心地在物质的面具背后等候着，不管需要多久，

终究会有一天你可能掌握一切，

也许你会使便面形式全部烟消云散，

也许表面形式都是为了你，但这不会持续很久，

而你是会十分持久的。