The Poe-et's Nightmare
坡仙的梦魇

诗歌的核心段落“可怕的真理”发表于《漂泊者》1918年七月刊。主标题意为“爱伦·坡式的诗人所做的噩梦”，此外借用另一位文豪苏轼的雅号“坡仙”，译为坡仙的梦魇。

A Fable

Luxus tumultus semper causa est.

Lucullus Languish , student of the skies,

And connoisseur of rarebits and mince pies,

A bard by choice, a grocer's clerk by trade,

（Grown pessimist thro' honours long delay'd）,

A secret yearning bore, that he might shine

In breathing numbers, and in song divine.

Each day his fountain pen was wont to drop

An ode or dirge or two about the shop,

Yet naught could strike the chord within his heart

That throbb'd for poesy, and cry'd for art.

寓言

穷奢极欲乃万恶之源。

卢库勒斯·兰格维施，诸天的学究，

以及干酪和百果派的鉴赏能手，

以诗人为生，以食杂店员为职，

（由于迟来的荣誉成为悲观人士），

暗中渴望的话痨，他或会炫技

轻声唱出韵律，与神圣的歌曲。

每一天他的自来水笔都习惯洒落

一两首关于商店的颂诗或挽歌，

而哪首都不能打动他的内心之弦

它为诗意而颤抖，并哀求美感。

Each eve he sought his bashful Muse to wake

With overdoses of ice-cream and cake;

But tho' th' ambitious youth a dreamer grew,

Th' Aonian Nymph declin'd to come to view.

Sometimes at dusk he scour'd the heav'ns afar,

Searching for raptures in the evening star;

One night he strove to catch a tale untold

In crystal deeps—but only caught a cold.

So pin'd Lucullus with his lofty woe,

Till one drear day he bought a set of Poe:

Charm'd with the cheerful horrors there display'd,

He vow'd with gloom to woo the Heav'nly Maid.

Of Auber's tarn and Yaanek's slope he dreams,

And weaves an hundred Ravens in his schemes.

Not far from our young hero's peaceful home

Lies the fair grove wherein he loves to roam.

Tho' but a stunted copse in vacant lot,

每个傍晚为将害羞的缪斯唤醒

他都吃下过量的冰激凌和糕饼；

虽然有志青年逐渐成为梦想家，

爱奥尼亚的宁芙却人间蒸发。

有时他会在薄暮将远空寻觅，

搜索黄昏之星所带来的狂喜；

一晚他竭力将未知的歌谣寻找

于晶莹的深渊—却只患上了感冒。

憔悴的卢库勒斯满怀崇高的痛苦，

直到沉闷的一天他买到坡的丛书：

为书中呈现的动人恐惧着迷，

他忧郁地立誓追求天仙般的少女。

将奥伯湖与耶涅山的坡地幻想，

并将一百只乌鸦编入他的提纲。

在我们年轻的主人公宁静的家园附近

有他喜爱在此徘徊的美丽树林。

虽然空地上只有发育不良的矮树，

He dubs it Tempe , and adores the spot;

When shallow puddles dot the wooded plain,

And brim o'er muddy banks with muddy rain,

He calls them limpid lakes or poison pools

（Depending on which bard his fancy rules）.

'Tis here he comes with Heliconian fire

On Sundays when he smites the Attic lyre;

And here one afternoon he brought his gloom,

Resolv'd to chant a poet's lay of doom.

Roget's Thesaurus , and a book of rhymes,

Provide the rungs whereon his spirit climbs:

With this grave retinue he trod the grove

And pray'd the Fauns he might a Poe-et prove.

But sad to tell, ere Pegasus flew high,

The not unrelish'd supper hour drew nigh;

Our tuneful swain th' imperious call attends,

And soon above the groaning table bends.

他将此处誉为坦佩，并极尽爱慕；

当浅浅的积水布满多树的平原，

而浑浊的雨水充溢泥泞的浅滩，

他将其称作清澈之湖或剧毒之池

（取决于哪位诗人将他的幻想统治）。

他怀着赫利孔式的激情来到此地

在星期天将雅典式的诗琴敲击；

而某一天下午他带来了他的忧愁，

决心把一位诗人多灾的歌谣吟奏。

罗格特同义词词典，以及一本韵书，

提供了阶梯供他的灵魂踏足：

他与这庄严的随从一同漫步在树林

并祈求半神自己成为坡仙般的诗人。

但悲伤的是，在天马行空之前，

便迎来了并非无趣的晚餐时间；

我们吟咏的青年感到急切的号召，

很快便向着满满当当的餐桌弯腰。

Tho' it were too prosaic to relate

Th' exact particulars of what he ate

（Such long-drawn lists the hasty reader skips,

Like Homer's well-known catalogue of ships ）,

This much we swear: that as adjournment near'd,

A monstrous lot of cake had disappear'd!

Soon to his chamber the young bard repairs,

And courts soft Somnus with sweet Lydian airs;

Thro' open casement scans the star-strown deep,

And 'neath Orion's beams sinks of to sleep.

Now start from airy dell the elfin train

That dance each midnight o'er the sleeping plain,

To bless the just, or cast a warning spell

On those who dine not wisely, but too well.

First Deacon Smith they plague, whose nasal glow

虽然太过单调以至于无须描写

他吃掉的那些东西的具体细节

（急迫的读者会将一长串清单略掉，

就像是荷马尽人皆知的船名表），

我们只说一点：随着终场的临近，

不可胜数的蛋糕已经荡然无存！

很快年轻的诗人回到了他的卧室，

并用吕底亚的香氛吸引着索莫诺斯；

透过敞开的窗扉扫视繁星密布的深空，

并在猎户座的光芒之下沉入睡梦。

此刻从空气之谷出发的精灵的行伍

每个午夜都在沉睡的平原之上起舞，

赐福于义人，或将警告的咒语施放

在那些用餐时丰盛而不智的人们身上。

它们先是缠扰狄肯·史密斯，他的鼻息

Comes from what Holmes hath call'd “Elixir Pro”;

Group'd round the couch his visage they deride,

Whilst thro' his dreams unnumber'd serpents glide.

Next troop the little folk into the room

Where snores our young Endymion , swath'd in gloom:

A smile lights up his boyish face, whilst he

Dreams of the moon—or what he ate at tea.

The chieftain elf th' unconscious youth surveys,

And on his form a strange enchantment lays:

Those lips, that lately thrill'd with frosted cake,

Uneasy sounds in slumbrous fashion make;

At length their owner's fancies they rehearse,

And lisp this awesome Poe-em in blank verse:

Aletheia Phrikodes

Omnia risus et omnia pulvis et omnia nihil.

Demoniac clouds, up-pil'd in chasmy reach

Of soundless heav'n, smother'd the brooding night;

Nor came the wonted whisp'rings of the swamp,

来自被霍姆斯称为“灵丹妙药”的东西；

它们环绕着卧床嘲笑着他的面容，

而无数的长蛇爬动着穿过他的梦境。

随后小仙子们结队进入另一间屋

我们年轻的恩底弥翁在打鼾，被黑暗束缚：

笑容点亮他孩子气的脸庞，当他

梦到了月亮—或大饱口福地用茶。

精灵的首领将沉睡的青年注目，

并在他的身上降下了奇异的咒术：

不久前为糖霜蛋糕发颤的嘴唇，

在昏昏沉沉中发出不安的声音；

最后它们复述了自己主人的幻想，

将可怕的坡式诗歌道于黑暗的诗行：

可怕的真理

一切皆欢笑，一切皆尘土，一切皆虚无。

恶魔般的云朵，堆积的裂隙区域

位于寂静的高空，窒息了忧思的黑夜；

没有寻常的低语从沼泽传来，

Nor voice of autumn wind along the moor,

Nor mutter'd noises of th' insomnious grove

Whose black recesses never saw the sun.

Within that grove a hideous hollow lies,

Half bare of trees; a pool in centre lurks

That none dares sound; a tarn of murky face

（Tho' naught can prove its hue, since light of day,

Afrighted, shuns the forest-shadow'd banks）.

Hard by, a yawning hillside grotto breathes,

From deeps unvisited, a dull, dank air

That sears the leaves on certain stunted trees

Which stand about, clawing the spectral gloom

With evil boughs. To this accursed dell

Come woodland creatures, seldom to depart:

Once I behold, upon a crumbling stone

Set altar-like before the cave, a thing

I saw not clearly, yet from glimpsing, fled.

In this half-dusk I meditate alone

At many a weary noontide, when without

A world forgets me in its sun-blest mirth.

Here howl by night the werewolves, and the souls

没有秋日的声音缭绕着荒原，

没有低声的噪音传出失眠的树丛

那里幽暗的深处从未见过旭日。

在树林里面有一块可怖的洼地

几乎没有树木；当中潜伏的水池

无人敢于测量；这片湖面目不明

（无法证实它的色调，因为白昼之光，

也胆战心惊，躲开树林荫翳下的湖岸）。

附近，呼吸着一座敞开的山间岩穴，

从无人造访的深渊，沉闷潮湿的气流

枯萎了那些发育不良的树上的叶片

它们静静伫立，将幽灵般忧郁撕开的

是它们邪恶的枝条。这诅咒的山谷中

涌入了林间的生物，永远不会离去：

我曾经看到，一块破碎的岩石

像祭坛一般伫立在洞穴之前，某物

不等我看清楚，便从视线中，逃走。

在这临近薄暮之时我独自冥想

而无休的疲惫达到极致，不会有

世界将我在阳光抚慰的欢乐中遗忘。

此地的夜晚有狼人嚎叫，而那些死灵

Of those that knew me well in other days.

Yet on this night the grove spake not to me;

Nor spake the swamp, nor wind along the moor,

Nor moan'd the wind about the lonely eaves

Of the bleak, haunted pile wherein I lay.

I was afraid to sleep, or quench the spark

Of the low-burning taper by my couch.

I was afraid when thro' the vaulted space

Of the old tow'r, the clock-ticks died away

Into a silence so profound and chill

That my teeth chatter'd—giving yet no sound.

Then flicker'd low the light, and all dissolv'd,

Leaving me floating in the hellish grasp

Of body'd blackness, from whose beating wings

Came ghoulish blasts of charnel-scented mist.

Things vague, unseen, unfashion'd, and unnam'd

Jostled each other in the seething void

That gap'd, chaotic, downward to a sea

Of speechless horror, foul with writhing thoughts.

All this I felt, and felt the mocking eyes

Of the curs'd universe upon my soul;

本是往日与我倾心相知的人们。

而这个夜里树林没有向我发声；

沼泽没有低语，荒原未被缭绕，

孤单的屋檐间，夜风未将呜咽

传入我那凄冷诡谲的栖身之地。

我不敢睡去，或是将火花扑灭，

捻熄在卧榻旁微微燃烧的蜡烛。

我害怕自那拱形的空间之上

古老的高塔，时钟的滴答消散

只剩下深沉冰冷的一片沉默

我牙齿打颤—却没有发出声响。

随后光芒低低摇曳，一切都已消融，

留下我飘飞于那地狱般的统治

那是群成形的黑暗，拍动的翅膀下

阴森尸臭的气息如雾弥漫。

模糊、隐匿、无形、未名的影迹

彼此推搡着置身于沸腾的虚空

裂开、混沌，俯接的那处海面

有着不可名状的恐怖，被扭曲的思想玷污。

我感受到这一切，以及嘲弄的眼眸

来自被诅咒的宇宙，加诸我的心灵；

Yet naught I saw nor heard, till flash'd a beam

Of lurid lustre thro' the rotting heav'ns,

Playing on scenes I labour'd not to see.

Methought the nameless tarn, alight at last,

Reflected shapes, and more reveal'd within

Those shocking depths than ne'er were seen before;

Methought from out the cave a demon train,

Grinning and smirking, reel'd in fiendish rout;

Bearing within their reeking paws a load

Of carrion viands for an impious feast.

Methought the stunted trees with hungry arms

Grop'd greedily for things I dare not name;

The while a stifling, wraith-like noisomeness

Fill'd all the dale, and spoke a larger life

Of uncorporeal hideousness awake

In the half-sentient wholeness of the spot.

Now glow'd the ground, and tarn, and cave, and trees,

And moving forms, and things not spoken of,

With such a phosphorescence as men glimpse

In the putrescent thickets of the swamp

Where logs decaying lie, and rankness reigns.

但我没有见闻，直到射下的光芒

穿越衰败的天国带来骇人的光彩，

掠过那些我竭力不想看到的景致。

我看到无名的湖泊，最终被照耀，

反射出阴影，而水中愈加露出

那些从未被如此直视的可怖深渊；

我看到洞穴外有一支恶魔的队列，

露齿冷笑，幸灾乐祸，溃败间四处逃窜；

它们恶臭的利爪之中紧握着许多

为亵渎的盛筵所准备的珍馐腐肉。

我看到低矮的树丛伸出饥渴的手臂

贪婪地搜寻着那些我不敢命名之物；

同时令人窒息的幽魂般的剧臭

充斥整座山谷，表明某个巨型存在

满怀着捉摸不定的恐怖并觉醒

在此地半梦半醒的整体之内。

此刻亮起的地面、湖泊、洞穴、树林，

移动的影迹，和未曾提及的种种，

连成了一片磷光使得人们瞥见

在沼泽即将腐烂的繁茂之处

横置着衰朽的原木，并被腐臭统辖。

Methought a fire-mist drap'd with lucent fold

The well-remember'd features of the grove,

Whilst whirling ether bore in eddying streams

The hot, unfinish'd stuf of nascent worlds

Hither and thither thro' infinities

Of light and darkness, strangely intermix'd;

Wherein all entity had consciousness,

Without th' accustom'd outward shape of life.

Of these swift-circling currents was my soul,

Free from the flesh, a true constituent part;

Nor felt I less myself, for want of form.

Then clear'd the mist, and o'er a star-strown scene,

Divine and measureless, I gaz'd in awe.

Alone in space, I view'd a feeble fleck

Of silvern light, marking the narrow ken

Which mortals call the boundless universe.

On ev'ry side, each as a tiny star,

Shone more creations, vaster than our own,

And teeming with unnumber'd forms of life;

Tho' we as life would recognise it not,

Being bound to earthy thoughts of human mould.

我看到火色迷雾以透明的褶皱覆盖

树林当中那些难以忘怀的身影，

而以太的漩涡凿入湍急的溪流

新生世界中炽热而未完成的事物

无处不在地越过无穷无尽的

光明与暗影，诡异地交织混杂；

在那里一切的实体都具有知觉，

却没有通常而言生命拥有的外形。

这些飞速旋转的激流间是我的灵魂，

超脱于肉体，真正的核心要素；

我并未感觉自身缺失，要把形体索求。

随后迷雾散去，下方星光熠熠的景象，

神圣又不可测量，我敬畏地注目。

独处于太虚，我看到微弱的一小片

银色光芒，标出的狭窄的领域

被凡人们称为广袤无垠的宇宙。

每个方向上，每一粒渺小的恒星，

都照亮更多的造物，远比我们壮阔，

并充满了不可胜数的生命的形态；

虽然我们无法将它们作为生命认出，

受限于人类的天性中尘俗的念头。

As on a moonless night the Milky Way

In solid sheen displays its countless orbs

To weak terrestrial eyes, each orb a sun;

So beam'd the prospect on my wond'ring soul:

A spangled curtain, rich with twinkling gems,

Yet each a mighty universe of suns.

But as I gaz'd, I sens'd a spirit voice

In speech didactic, tho' no voice it was,

Save as it carried thought. It bade me mark

That all the universes in my view

Form'd but an atom in infinity;

Whose reaches pass the ether-laden realms

Of heat and light, extending to far fields

Where flourish worlds invisible and vague,

Fill'd with strange wisdom and uncanny life,

And yet beyond; to myriad spheres of light,

To spheres of darkness, to abysmal voids

That know the pulses of disorder'd force.

Big with these musings, I survey'd the surge

Of boundless being, yet I us'd not eyes,

For spirit leans not on the props of sense.

在这个无月的夜里的璀璨星河

以繁密的光辉展现不计其数的星体

在尘世间虚弱的眼前，每颗都如同太阳；

这一幕景象如是照映着我惊诧的心灵：

一条晶莹的帘幕，布满闪耀的宝石，

每一颗宏伟的寰宇都由繁星组构。

但在我凝视之时，我感到有灵体发出

说教般的话语，虽然并没有声音，

只有它送来的思绪。它吩咐我铭记

在我视线当中的诸天世界不过

如同一个原子在兆载永劫中成形；

它们的领地跨过充满以太的区域

之中的光与热量，延伸至遥远的处所

那里大批滋生的世界无形而模糊，

充满奇异的智慧与不可思议的生命，

在此之外；有着无数光明的星球，

有着黑暗的群星，有着虚空的深渊

深深知晓着混沌之力的脉动。

满载着这些沉思，我详细探查着

无限的存在的洪流，却没有使用双眸，

因为精神并不依托于感官的支柱。

The docent presence swell'd my strength of soul;

All things I knew, but knew with mind alone.

Time's endless vista spread before my thought

With its vast pageant of unceasing change

And sempiternal strife of force and will;

I saw the ages flow in stately stream

Past rise and fall of universe and life;

I saw the birth of suns and worlds, their death,

Their transmutation into limpid flame,

Their second birth and second death, their course

Perpetual thro' the aeons' termless flight,

Never the same, yet born again to serve

The varying purpose of omnipotence.

And whilst I watch'd, I knew each second's space

Was greater than the lifetime of our world.

Then turn'd my musings to that speck of dust

Whereon my form corporeal took its rise;

That speck, born but a second, which must die

In one brief second more; that fragile earth;

That crude experiment; that cosmic sport

Which holds our proud, aspiring race of mites

这讲解的灵体激发了我灵魂的力量；

我知晓了一切，又仅是知晓于心。

时间无尽的幻象在我思绪前展开

呈现出瞬息万变的宏伟的盛装游行

以及力量与心智之间永恒的争斗；

我看到岁月在浩瀚的河流中逝去

穿越了宇宙与生命的兴衰沉浮；

我看到恒星与世界的诞生，它们的毁灭，

它们蜕变为透明的烈焰的过程，

它们再次的诞生与毁灭，它们的旅途

永无休止地穿过万古无尽的飞翔，

常变常新，却再一次降生以服从

全知全能者变幻莫测的意图。

在我观望之时，我知道每一秒的范畴

都远大于我们的世界拥有的生命周期。

随后我将沉思转向了一点尘埃

我有形的肉体在那里得以产生；

那个小点，诞生仅仅一秒，必然死去

于再过一秒之后；那脆弱的地球；

是残酷的实验，或宇宙的玩耍

将我们蜉蝣般骄傲自大的种族束缚

And moral vermin; those presuming mites

Whom ignorance with empty pomp adorns,

And misinstructs in specious dignity;

Those mites who, reas'ning outward, vaunt themselves

As the chief work of Nature, and enjoy

In fatuous fancy the particular care

Of all her mystic, super-regnant pow'r.

And as I strove to vision the sad sphere

Which lurk'd, lost in ethereal vortices,

Methought my soul, tun'd to the infinite,

Refus'd to glimpse that poor atomic blight;

That misbegotten accident of space;

That globe of insignificance, whereon

（My guide celestial told me）dwells no part

Of empyrean virtue, but where breed

The coarse corruptions of divine disease;

The fest'ring ailments of infinity;

The morbid matter by itself call'd man:

Such matter（said my guide）as oft breaks forth

On broad Creation's fabric, to annoy

For a brief instant, ere assuaging death

如心灵的害虫；这些恣肆的蜉蝣

其懵懂无知被空幻的盛景装扮，

并以徒有其表的自尊倒行逆施；

这些蜉蝣们，表面理性，吹嘘自己为

大自然最杰出的作品，所享受的

愚昧的幻影中专属的特殊看护

来自她神秘的支配全局的力量。

当我竭力想看清那颗悲伤的星球

是如何潜伏并失落于以太的漩涡，

我看到我的灵魂，再次转向无穷，

拒绝瞥视那可怜的原子般的祸端；

那颗太空之中身份可鄙的灾殃；

那微不足道的行星，在它上面

（我的引路之灵告知）找不到一丝

天堂般的美德，但却滋生出

神圣的疫病引发的粗鄙的堕落；

那是无穷患有的化脓的顽疾；

那病态的物质将自己称为人类：

这种物质（我的向导说）惯于突然爆发

在造物广袤的格局中，只为滋扰

短暂的一瞬，直到平息一切的死亡

Heal up the malady its birth provok'd.

Sicken'd, I turn'd my heavy thoughts away.

Then spake th' ethereal guide with mocking mien,

Upbraiding me for searching after Truth;

Visiting on my mind the searing scorn

Of mind superior; laughing at the woe

Which rent the vital essence of my soul.

Methought he brought remembrance of the time

When from my fellows to the grove I stray'd,

In solitude and dusk to meditate

On things forbidden, and to pierce the veil

Of seeming good and seeming beauteousness

That covers o'er the tragedy of Truth,

Helping mankind forget his sorry lot,

And raising Hope where Truth would crush it down.

He spake, and as he ceas'd, methought the flames

Of fuming Heav'n resolv'd in torments dire;

Whirling in maelstroms of rebellious might,

Yet ever bound by laws I fathom'd not.

Cycles and epicycles, of such girth

That each a cosmos seem'd, dazzled my gaze

治愈由它的诞生所导致的病症。

怀着厌恶，我将沉重的思维转向别处。

随后那缥缈的向导以嘲弄的态度发话，

对于我旨在真理的追寻横加指责；

逗留在我脑海中的灼人的轻蔑

带有精神的优越；它所嘲笑的悲哀

撕裂了我灵魂中至关重要的本真。

我看到他带来某个时刻的纪念

那时我离开同伴们向着树林游荡，

在薄暮与形单影只中仔细思考

禁忌的事物，试图揭穿那道帷幕

徒有其表的良善和徒有其表的优美

它实际上遮蔽着悲剧一般的真理，

并帮助着人类忘却极度的哀愁，

在真理无情碾过之处带来希望。

他作声，而当他停止，我看到烈火

自喷烟的天堂分解为可怖的磨难；

在力量桀骜难驯的大漩涡中转动，

却永远受制于我无法了解的律条。

循环与周转的圈环，画出的圆带

每一条都如同一个宇宙，使得我目眩

Till all a wild phantasmal glow became.

Now burst athwart the fulgent formlessness

A rift of purer sheen, a sight supernal,

Broader that all the void conceiv'd by man,

Yet narrow here. A glimpse of heav'ns beyond;

Of weird creations so remote and great

That ev'n my guide assum'd a tone of awe.

Borne on the wings of stark immensity,

A touch of rhythm celestial reach'd my soul;

Thrilling me more with horror than with joy.

Again the spirit mock'd my human pangs,

And deep revil'd me for presumptuous thoughts:

Yet changing now his mien, he bade me scan

The wid'ning rift that clave the walls of space;

He bade me search it for the ultimate;

He bade me find the Truth I sought so long;

He bade me brave th' unutterable Thing,

The final Truth of moving entity.

All this he bade and ofer'd—but my soul,

Clinging to life, fled without aim or knowledge,

Shrieking in silence thro' the gibbering deeps.

直到全部汇集为一束幽灵般的光芒。

此刻在灿烂的无形中相对地爆发出

一道更加纯粹的光辉，一幕神圣的景象，

比人类所设想的一切虚空更加广阔，

却在此显得狭小。它透漏出至高的苍旻；

那些遥远而又伟大的诡秘造物

甚至使我的向导在语调中表露惊恐。

被空无一物的无限的羽翼所承载，

一丝天上的韵律将我的灵魂触及；

使我更多地由于恐惧而非快乐颤抖。

那个灵体再次嘲弄着我人类的苦楚，

并严厉地责骂着我自以为是的念头：

但此刻他神情突变，并吩咐我扫视

分开了宇宙幕墙的宽阔的裂口；

他吩咐我在里面寻找终极答案；

他吩咐我将苦苦求索的真理探寻；

他吩咐我直面那不可名状之物，

关于变化着的本质的最终真理。

他吩咐这一切并开价—我的灵魂，

依附于生命，无知又盲目地逃窜，

在充满呓语的深渊中发出无声的哀鸣。

Thus shriek'd the young Lucullus, as he fled

Thro' gibbering deeps—and tumbled out of bed;

Within the room the morning sunshine gleams,

Whilst the poor youth recalls his troubled dreams.

He feels his aching limbs, whose woeful pain

Informs his soul his body lives again,

And thanks his stars—or cosmoses—or such

That he survives the noxious nightmare's clutch.

Thrill'd with the music of th' eternal spheres

（Or is it the alarm-clock that he hears?）,

He vows to all the Pantheon, high and low,

No more to feed on cake, or pie, or Poe.

And now his gloomy spirits seem to rise,

As he the world beholds with clearer eyes;

The cup he thought too full of dregs to quaf

Afords him wine enough to raise a laugh.

（All this is metaphor—you must not think

Our late Endymion prone to stronger drink!）

With brighter visage and with lighter heart,

He turns his fancies to the grocer's mart;

And strange to say, at last he seems to find

年轻的卢库勒斯如是哀鸣，并且逃出

充满呓语的深渊—而跌下了床铺；

在这被清晨的阳光照亮的房间之中，

可怜的青年回想起他不安的梦境。

他感到四肢发痛，那极度的苦涩

告知灵魂他的身体已再度存活，

感谢他的主星—或宇宙—或其他

他得以幸免于梦魇毒害无穷的利爪。

战栗于永恒的天体所发出的乐曲

（或者他听到的只是闹钟的响起？）

他向诸神中不论尊卑的每一位发誓，

再也不以蛋糕、馅饼，或坡仙为主食。

如今他阴郁的精神似乎得以缓解，

并用更加澄澈的双眼观察着世界；

他本觉得满是渣滓不愿畅饮的酒杯

提供给了他足以带来欢笑的酒水。

（这只是个隐喻—请不要想象

我们之前的恩底弥翁变成一个酒囊！）

带着明亮的脸庞和更加轻盈的心态，

他将他的爱好转向了食杂店的柜台；

说起来奇怪，到最后他似乎确认

His daily duties worthy of his mind.

Since Truth prov'd such a high and dang'rous goal,

Our bard seeks one less trying to his soul;

With deep-drawn breath he flouts his dreary woes,

And a good clerk from a bad poet grows!

Now close attend my lay, ye scribbling crew

That bay the moon in numbers strange and new;

That madly for the spark celestial bawl

In metres short or long, or none at all:

Curb your rash force, in numbers or at tea,

Nor overzealous for high fancies be;

Reflect, ere ye the draught Pierian take,

What worthy clerks or plumbers ye might make;

Wax not too frenzied in the leaping line

That neither sense nor measure can confine,

Lest ye, like young Lucullus Launguish, groan

Beneath Poe-etic nightmares of your own!

他的日常工作完全值得他用心。

既然真理具有如此奢侈又危险的目的，

我们的诗人设法让他的灵魂不再奋起；

他凭借深呼吸无视了自己阴沉的哀痛，

一位优秀的职员从糟糕的诗人中诞生！

现在靠近我的位置，乱涂乱写的你们

曾向月亮嗥叫发出崭新怪异的音韵；

为了天空中的火花而疯狂地大吼

以或短或长的格律，或是一无所有：

抑制你们的冲动，在作韵或用茶时，

也不要对崇高的幻想如醉如痴；

想一想，当你们还未饮下比埃里亚的圣泉，

是否能够成为有价值的水管工或职员；

不要在起跳线上变得太过狂野

令理智或是标准没有办法制约，

以免像年轻的卢库勒斯·兰格维施一样

在你们自身的坡仙风格的梦魇中哭嚷！ 5IhFYY7rOlbg+AtU43L6aN8oOfY3BV5TlnqRf1ggGM6aY+YrQ5GXsCxwldBcipwn