杨牧《时光命题》英译

时光命题

杨牧

灯下细看我一头白发：
去年风雪是不是特别大？
半夜也曾独坐飘摇的天地
我说，抚着胸口想你

可能是为天上的星星忧虑
有些开春将要从摩羯宫除名
但每次对镜我都认得她们
许久以来归宿在我两鬓

或许长久关切哪棵月桂
受伤还开花？你哪样问
秋天以前我从不想它
吴刚累死了就轮到我伐

看早晨的露在葵叶上滚动
设法于脉络间维持平衡
珠玉将装饰后脑如哲学与诗
而且比露更美，更在乎

北半球的鳞状云点点反射
在鲭鱼游泳的海面，默默
我在探索一条航线，倾全力
将岁月显示在傲岸的额

老去的日子里我还为你宁馨
弹琴，送你航向拜占庭
在将尽未尽的地方中断，静
这里是一切的峰顶

The Proposition of Time

Yang Mu 

Look closely at my gray hair under the light:
Were last year’s snowstorms unusually fierce?
At midnight, when I sat alone between the tumbling sky and earth
I say, with a hand on my chest, I missed you

Maybe you worry about the stars in the sky
some will be expelled from Capricorn when spring arrives
But I recognize them each time I look in the mirror
they have long found a home on my temples
Maybe you care about the cassia tree
in the moon: Is it wounded
or will it bloom? So you ask
I never think about it before autumn comes
If Wu Gang1 dies from fatigue, I will take his place  

See the morning dewdrops rolling on the sunflower leaves
trying to balance themselves between veins
Jade and pearls adorn the back of your hair like philosophy and poetry
only prettier than dewdrops, and more concerned

Fish-scale nebulae in the northern hemisphere cast their reflections
on the surface of the sea where mackerel swim. Quietly
I look for a navigation route, and muster all my strength
to display time on the proud beach of my forehead
In old age I will still play the piano for you
like this, I will send you on a voyage to Byzantium—
when the end is near, there will be tranquility
“über allen Gipfeln…’’

1. Wu Gang and the cassia tree in the moon refer to a Chinese myth reminiscent of the Greek myth of Sisyphus. For his offense Wu was made to chop down the cassia tree, which immediately grew back where it was cut. 

（Michelle Yeh 译）