Nemesis
涅墨西斯

发表于《漂泊者》1918 年六月刊。洛夫克拉夫特曾说：“这首诗表达了一种可被正统想法所接受的概念，梦魇作为一种惩罚降临于在古老的岁月中铸成大错的灵魂之上—甚至跨越了数百万年！”作者本人也在小说《夜魔》中引用了这首诗的选段。涅墨西斯是希腊神话中的复仇女神，克苏鲁神话中的外神格赫罗斯也被称为涅墨西斯之星。

Thro' the ghoul-guarded gateways of slumber,

Past the wan-moon'd abysses of night,

I have liv'd o'er my lives without number,

I have sounded all things with my sight;

And I struggle andshriek ere the daybreak,being driven to

madness with fright.

I have whirl'd with the earth at the dawning,

When the sky was a vaporous flame;

I have seen the dark universe yawning,

Where the black planets roll without aim;

Where they rollin theirhorror unheeded,withoutknowledge

or lustre or name.

穿越食尸鬼守卫的沉睡门户，

在白月照耀的夜之深渊彼方，

我经历过的复生已不可计数，

我用自己的视线将万物奏响；

而我在破晓前挣扎着惊叫，满怀着恐惧坠入疯狂。

我曾在黎明与地球一同萦回，

蒸腾的烈火充满彼时的天空，

我见过昏暗的宇宙张开大嘴，

漆黑的行星在此盲目地转动，

带着它们饱经忽视的恐怖，无知、无光亦无名。

I had drifted o'er seas without ending,

Under sinister grey-clouded skies

That the many-fork'd lightning is rending,

That resound with hysterical cries;

With the moans ofinvisible daemons that out of

the green waters rise.

I have plung'd like a deer thro' the arches

Of the hoary primordial grove,

Where the oaks feel the presence that marches

And stalks on where no spirit dares rove;

And I flee from a thing thatsurrounds me,and

leers thro' dead branches above.

I have stumbled by cave-ridden mountains

That rise barren and bleak from the plain,

I have drunk of the fog-foetid fountains

That ooze down to the marsh and the main;

And in hot cursedtarns I have seen things I care

not to gaze on again.

我曾漂荡在无穷无尽的海面，

头顶不祥的天穹被灰云遮蔽，

多岔的枝状闪电正从中裂断，

回响着阵阵歇斯底里的哭泣，

无形的恶魔将呻吟混入，它们从万顷碧涛中升起。

我曾如同小鹿一样跃入拱门，

置身于暮气沉沉的原始林木，

那里的橡树感到有灵体行进

并蹑足于幽魂不敢徘徊之处；

某物从上方的枯枝外睨视，而我从它的包围中逃出。

我曾跋涉的洞穴密布的群山

荒凉贫瘠地升起在平原之上，

我曾啜饮的恶雾染臭的泉眼

缓缓流淌着注入沼泽与海洋；

而诅咒的沸湖中所见之物，我留心不再将它凝望。

I have scann'd the vast ivy-clad palace,

I have trod its untenanted hall,

Where the moon writhing up from the valleys

Shews the tapestried things on the wall;

Strange figures discordantly woven,which I cannot

endure to recall.

I have peer'd from the casement in wonder

At the mouldering meadows around,

At the many-roof'd village laid under

The curse of a grave-girdled ground;

And from rows of white urn-carven marble I listen

intently for sound.

I have haunted the tombs of the ages,

I have flown on the pinions of fear

Where the smoke-belching Erebus rages,

Where the jokulls loom snow-clad and drear:

And in realms where the sun ofthe desert consumes

what it never can cheer.

我曾端详过青藤覆盖的王宫

并在它空无一人的大厅盘桓，

那里的月亮自山谷翻滚上升

将绣帷般的影迹在墙上显现；

奇形异状毫不和谐地交织，我无法忍受将它追念。

我曾透过窗扉向外愕然窥视，

环绕在四周的草地渐渐腐朽，

挤满了屋顶的村镇无法自制

陷入坟墓合围的地表的诅咒。

在白色石瓮的行列当中，我专心致志将声音聆受。

我曾徘徊在岁月的坟茔之间，

我曾飞舞过那双恐惧的羽翼，

那里厄瑞玻斯愤然喷出浓烟，

那里阴郁积雪之山赫然耸立：

那片国度中的沙漠之日，将它不喜之物付之一炬。

I was old when the Pharaohs first mounted

The jewel-deck'd throne by the Nile;

I was old in those epochs uncounted

When I, and I only, was vile;

And Man,yet untainted and happy,dweltin bliss on

the far Arctic isle.

Oh, great was the sin of my spirit,

And great is the reach of its doom;

Not the pity of Heaven can cheer it,

Nor can respite be found in the tomb:

Down the infinite aeons come beating the wings of

unmerciful gloom.

Thro' the ghoul-guarded gateways of slumber,

Past the wan-moon'd abysses of night,

I have liv'd o'er my lives without number,

I have sounded all things with my sight;

And I struggle andshriek ere the daybreak,being

driven to madness with fright.

我老去时法老们才初次荣登

尼罗河岸边镶满宝石的王座；

我老去在数不清的纪元之中

那时我，只有我，代表邪恶；

而人类，无瑕又欢愉，身处北极的岛屿享受极乐。

啊，我的灵魂有着弥天大罪，

而它所带来的劫难影响深重；

天堂的怜悯并不能将它抚慰，

而坟墓之中它同样不得安宁：