A Letter from Home
Mary Oliver
麗·奧利弗(Mary Oliver, 1935-),當今美國女詩人,以書寫自然著稱。1935年9月10日生于美國俄亥俄州,13歲開始寫詩。1962年瑪麗前往倫敦,任職于移動影院有限公司和莎士比亞劇場。后來,奧利弗又回到美國,定居馬薩諸塞州。瑪麗·奧利弗沒有獲得過正式的本科文憑,但她的詩歌研討會卻在各地舉辦,并在各大學盛行。她的詩歌贏得了多項獎項,包括國家圖書獎和普利策詩歌獎(1984年)。她的主要詩集:《夜晚的旅行者》(1978),《美國原貌》(1983),《燈光的屋宇》(1990),《新詩選》(1992),《白松》(1994)等。
She sends me news of blue jays, frost,
Of stars and now the harvest moon
That rides above the 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 fennel, rosemary and dill,
While all she could not gather in
Or hid in leaves, grow black and falls.
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 whirling heart; -
She knows how people always plan
To live their lives, and never do.
She will not tell me if she cries.
I touch the crosses by her name;
I fold the pages as I rise,
And tip the envelope, from which
Drift scraps of borage, woodbine, rue.
一封家書
她給我寄來藍松鴉,霜,
星星,以及正在凋零的山丘上
此刻升起的秋月的消息。
她輕描淡寫地提及寒冷,痛苦,
并羅列出已經喪失的東西。
讀到這里,我的生活顯得艱難而緩慢,
我讀到鮮亮的瓜果
堆在門邊,籃子里裝滿
茴香,迷迭香和蒔蘿,
而所有無法采集,或隱藏在葉叢的
那些,她只能任其變黑并落下。
讀到這里,我的生活顯得艱難而陌生,
我讀到她躁動的興奮,每當
星星升起,霜降下來,藍松鴉歌唱。
斷了又續的歲月沒有改變
她聰明而熱情的心;
她知道人們總是
計劃自己的生活,卻難以實現。
如果她哭泣,她不會告訴我。
我撫摸著她的名字,
疊好信,站起來,
傾倒信封,從里面飄出了
琉璃苣,忍冬,蕓香的碎片。