William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

喜愛看長篇的小說。喜愛那種走到那裡都想「捧着它、追着看」及當故事看完後那種恍惚失落的感覺。喜愛看新詩，喜愛那斷斷續續的優美文字，喜愛那種像看懂又像看不懂的微妙曖昧。不是讀英國文學出身，加上英語水平麻麻，對英語古詩存有恐懼感﹔現代英詩，比較易讀，有時還比現今的中文新詩容易明白。

Down by the Salley Gardens ----- by William Butler Yeats

DOWN by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.

In a field by the river my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.

W. B. Yeats 是愛爾蘭詩人亦是戲劇作家，1923年獲諾貝爾文學獎，詩歌韵律優美，感情細膩。Down by the Salley Gardens 是早期作品，在纤細茂密的柳枝園襯托下，悲傷失落的情緒極是感人。W. B. Yeats 苦苦追求一位思想獨立與倔强性格的女演員２8年，曾三次求婚仍是失敗，為了她，他寫了很多簡潔優美的詩歌來表達他複雜、衝動的心情。

When You Are Old 是1893年寫給女演員的愛情詩篇。當兩人未能相濡以沬，扶持到老，雖然青春、美麗外表已消失，但那愛慕之情依然永恒。此詩文字淺易，感情深厚並且有着抑揚頓挫的押韵，若果懂得誦讀，定會額外漂亮感人。

When You Are Old----- by William Butler Yeats

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

中國出版過 W. B. Yeats 詩歌的譯本。經翻譯後，詩歌的原本意象減卻很多，更可惜是原有的形式美與格律便完全失去。從我書架上找到蘇纓的譯本，翻譯得比較有「詩」味。

當你老了，頭髮白了，睡意漸沉，倦坐在爐邊，翻開這本書，
慢慢讀着，追夢你當年的眼神
那輕柔的光和深沉的影﹔太多人愛過你青春的片影，
愛你的美，以虛情，以真情，
只一人愛你朝聖者的心，
愛你哀戚的臉上歲月的留痕﹔

然後在爐柵邊彎下了腰，
喃喃着，帶着淺淺的傷感，
愛是怎樣離去，怎樣步上群山，
怎樣在星斗與星斗間，藏起了臉。