无心剑中译叶芝《凡事皆可诱惑我》

Posted 2022-06-18 howard2005

All Things Can Tempt Me

凡事皆可诱惑我

William Butler Yeats

威廉·巴特勒·叶芝

All things can tempt me from this craft of verse:
One time it was a woman’s face, or worse—
The seeming needs of my fool-driven land;
Now nothing but comes readier to the hand
Than this accustomed toil. When I was young,
I had not given a penny for a song
Did not the poet sing it with such airs
That one believed he had a sword upstairs;
Yet would be now, could I but have my wish,
Colder and dumber and deafer than a fish.

凡事皆可诱惑我轻抛诗艺
曾是美女娇颜，或糟糕至极——
为白痴操控之国劳神费力
如今没什么玩意儿能比
字斟句酌让我更熟能生巧
年少时听人吟诗，半钱不抛
除非他神采飞扬才华高
让人相信他剑出奇招
然而如今，让我随心而动
只愿比鱼更冷更哑更聋

译于2022年6月15日