Nostos

There was an apple tree in the yard —
this would have benn
forty years ago — behind,
only meadows. Drifts
of crocus in the damp grass.
I stood at that window:
late April. Spring
flowers in the neighbor’s yard.
How many times, really, did the tree
flower on my birthday,
the exact day, not
before, not after? Substitution
of the immitable
for the shifting, the evolving.
Substitution of the image
for relentless earth. What
do I know of this place,
the role of the tree for decades
taken by a bonsai, voices
rising from the tennis courts —
Fields. Smell of the tall grass, new cut.
As one expects of a lyric poet.
We look at the world once, in childhood.
The rest is memory.

Louise Glück

返乡

以前，院子里有一棵苹果树——
那也许是
四十年以前——其后，
只有原野一片。番红花
在湿润的草丛中摇曳。
我站在窗前：
四月将尽。
春花在邻院盛开。
有多少次，这颗树，真正
在我的生日开花，
在当天，不早
也不晚？变化
与发展被不变所取代。
残酷的人间
被印象所取代。这个地方
我究竟了解多少，
十年间，树的角色
被盆景取代，
人声从网球场传来——
曾经的田野。高高的草散发清香，刚剪过。
像对抒情诗人的期待。
童年，我们曾向世界投以一瞥。
余下的尽是回忆。

路易丝·格丽克

译文版权所有 (C) 2009 (2022 修改)

作者简介

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Glück