America 美国篇
Words in Time
Archibald MacLeish (阿奇博尔德.麦克利仆)
Bewildered with the broken tongue
Of wakened angels in our sleep—
Then, lost the music that was sung
And lost the light time cannot keep!
There is a moment when we lie
Bewildered, wakened out of sleep,
When light and sound and all reply:
That moment time must tame and keep.
That moment, like a flight of birds
Flung from the branches where they sleep,
The poet with a beat of words
Flings into time for time to keep.
及时的文字
译者 / 马祖毅
在我们睡梦中醒来的天使
那不完整的文字让人困惑——
然后,唱着的音乐消逝
时光留不住的亮光也隐没!
当我们从梦中醒来,有那一霎
躺在那里,心里困惑迷糊。
当亮光、声音和一切回答:
那一瞬,时光必须将它驯服、留住。
那一瞬,像一群鸟
从它们冬眠的枝头飞出,
诗人带着文字的击敲
投入到时间里,让时光将它留住。