A Woman Homer Sung

荷馬所歌頌的女人

威廉·巴特勒·葉芝

威廉·巴特勒·葉芝(William Butler Yeats)(1865～1939)，亦譯“葉慈”、“耶茨”，愛爾蘭詩人、劇作家，著名的神秘主義者，是“愛爾蘭文藝復興運動”的領袖，也是艾比劇院(Abbey Theatre)的創建者之一，被詩人艾略特譽為"當代最偉大的詩人"。葉芝對戲劇也有濃厚的興趣，先后寫過26部劇本。

If any man drew near

When I was young,

I thought, “He holds her dear,”

And shook with hate and fear.

But O! ’twas bitter wrong

If he could pass her by

With an indifferent eye.

我年輕的時候，

假如有哪個男人走近，

我就想：“他鐘情于她，”

于是又恨又怕直發抖。

可是喲!如果他無動于衷

從她身邊走過，

那就大錯特錯。

Whereon I wrote and wrought,

And now, being grey,

I dream that I have brought

To such a pitch my thought

That coming time can say,

“He shadowed in a glass

What thing her body was.”

For she had fiery blood

于是我寫呀作呀，

如今，鬢發斑白，

我夢想我已把我的思想,

發展到如此高度，

以至于未來可以說：

“他在一面鏡子里

描繪了她的身姿。”

When I was young,

And trod so sweetly proud

As ’twere upon a cloud,

A woman Homer sung,

That life and letters seem

But an heroic dream.

因為我年輕的時候，

她有著如火的熱血，

步態那么美妙而驕傲

就仿佛踩在云彩上，

是荷馬歌頌的一個女人，

以至于生命和文字都顯得

不過是一場英雄的夢。