Mary Oliver,這位曾于1984年獲得普利策詩歌獎的美國女詩人所創(chuàng)作的詩歌,無論是Lisel Mueller的Scenic Route(《風景線》),還是這首A Letter from Home(《一封家書》),總能觸動人心。她在詩歌里引用的意象常是樸實無華的,卻又讓人充滿聯(lián)想。她的詩歌寫到最后,總能編織出一幅純樸動人的圖畫,讓人心生憐惜。A Letter from Home寫的其實就是一份淡淡的鄉(xiāng)愁,以及母女之間的一份濃濃的思念。這思念超越彼此之間的距離,超越流逝著的年月,沉沉的,卻芳香滿懷。
She sends me news of 1)blue jays, frost,
Of stars and now the 2)harvest moon
That rides above the 3)stricken hills.
Lightly, she speaks of cold, of pain,
And lists what is already lost.
Here where my life seems hard and slow,
I read of glowing melons piled
Beside the door, and baskets filled
With 4)fennel, 5)rosemary and 6)dill,
While all she could not gather in
Or hid in leaves, grow black and falls.
她給我寄來藍松鴉、霜、
星星,和此刻懸掛在愁山之上
那秋夜圓月的消息。
她輕描淡寫地談起寒冷,談起痛苦,
并列出已喪失的一切。
在我這里,日子似是既苦也慢,
我讀到堆在門邊那
充滿光澤的瓜,籃子里裝滿
茴香、迷迭香和蒔蘿,
而所有那些她無法收集起來,
或是藏在葉子里的東西,都變黑、落下。
Here where my life seems hard and strange,
I read her wild excitement when
Stars climb, frost comes, and blue jays sing.
The broken year will make no change
Upon her wise and 7)whirling heart;—
She knows how people always plan
To live their lives, and never do.
She will not tell me if she cries.
在我這里,日子似是既苦也怪,
我讀到她的極度興奮,每當
星星升起,霜降下來,藍松鴉唱起歌來時。
紛亂的歲月一點也沒改變
她那聰慧靈動的心;——
她知道人們總是計劃著
如何過自己的生活,卻從不把這些計劃兌現(xiàn)。
她不會告訴我她有沒有哭。
I touch the crosses by her name;
I fold the pages as I rise,
And 8)tip the envelope, from which
Drift 9)scraps of 10)borage, 11)woodbine, 12)rue.
我撫摸著她名字旁那些十字符號;
我折好信,站起來,
傾斜信封,從里面
倒出了琉璃苣、忍冬、蕓香的碎片。