其一
原文
TO HELEN
Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore,
That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,
The weary, wayworn wanderer bore
To his own native shore.
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On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece
And the grandeur that was Rome.
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Lo! in yon brilliant window-niche
How statue-like I see thee stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand!
Ah, Psyche, from the regions which
Are Holy Land!
譯文
致海倫
海倫，你的美在我的眼裡，
有如往日尼西亞的三桅船
船行在飄香的海上，悠悠地
把已倦於漂泊的睏乏船員
送回他故鄉的海岸。
--------------------------
早已習慣於在怒海上飄蕩，
你典雅的臉龐，你的鬈髮，
你水神般的風姿帶我返航，
光榮屬於希臘；
偉大屬於羅馬。
----------------------------
看哪！壁龕似的明亮窗戶里，
我看見你站著，多像尊雕像，
一盞瑪瑙的燈你拿在手上！
塞姬女神哪，神聖的土地
才是你家鄉！
注釋
* 普敘赫（Psyche）在希臘神話中是人的靈魂的化身，愛神厄洛斯為她的美貌所傾倒並最終娶她為妻。
* 該詩發表於1831年，據作者說，此詩是為中學一位同學年輕早逝的母親簡·斯坦納德夫人而作，寫的是“我的靈魂的第一次純潔、理想的愛”。
其二
原文
TO HELEN
I saw thee once — once only — years ago:
I must not say how many — but not many.
It was a July midnight; and from out
A full-orbed moon, that, like thine own soul, soaring,
Sought a precipitate pathway up through heaven,
There fell a silvery-silken veil of light,
With quietude, and sultriness, and slumber,
Upon the upturned faces of a thousand
Roses that grew in an enchanted garden,
Where no wind dared to stir, unless on tiptoe —
Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses
That gave out, in return for the love-light,
Their odorous souls in an ecstatic death —
Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses
That smiled and died in this parterre, enchanted
By thee, and by the poetry of thy presence.
-------------------
Clad all in white, upon a violet bank
I saw thee half reclining; while the moon
Fell on the upturn'd faces of the roses,
And on thine own, upturn'd—alas, in sorrow!
Was it not Fate, that, on this July midnight—
Was it not Fate, (whose name is also Sorrow,)
That bade me pause before that garden-gate,
To breathe the incense of those slumbering roses?
No footstep stirred: the hated world an slept,
Save only thee and me. (Oh, Heaven!—oh, God!
How my heart beats in coupling those two words!)
Save only thee and me. I paused—I looked—
And in an instant all things disappeared.
(Ah, bear in mind this garden was enchanted!)
The pearly lustre of the moon went out:
The mossy banks and the meandering paths,
The happy flowers and the repining trees,
Were seen no more: the very roses' odors
Died in the arms of the adoring airs.
All—all expired save thee—save less than thou:
Save only the divine light in thine eyes —
Save but the soul in thine uplifted eyes.
I saw but them—they were the world to me!
I saw but them—saw only them for hours,
Saw only them until the moon went down.
What wild heart-histories seemed to he enwritten
Upon those crystalline, celestial spheres!
How dark a woe, yet how sublime a hope!
How silently serene a sea of pride!
How daring an ambition; yet how deep —
How fathomless a capacity for love!
------------------------
But now, at length, dear Dian sank from sight,
Into a western couch of thunder-cloud;
And thou, a ghost, amid the entombing trees
Didst glide away. Only thine eyes remained;
They would not go—they never yet have gone.
Lighting my lonely pathway home that night,
They have not left me (as my hopes have) since.
They follow me—they lead me through the years.
They are my ministers—yet I their slave.
Their office is to illumine and enkindle —
My duty, to be saved by their bright light,
And purified in their electric fire,
And sanctified in their elysian fire.
They fill my soul with Beauty (which is Hope),
And are far up in Heaven—the stars I kneel to
In the sad, silent watches of my night;
While even in the meridian glare of day
I see them still—two sweetly scintillant
Venuses, unextinguished by the sun!
譯文
致海倫
我見過你，只一次，在多年以前；
我無須說幾年——但並不久遠。
那是七月的一個午夜，從一輪
圓月，一輪像你的靈魂、翱翔著
尋找經過天國之路的圓月，
灑下一層如銀如絲的光的薄紗，
帶著寧靜，帶著熱情，帶著睡意，
罩上一千朵玫瑰花仰起的臉龐，
玫瑰花長在一座令人著迷的花園，
那裡風兒不敢吹，除非踮起腳尖——
月光照耀在玫瑰花仰起的臉上，
為了報答那愛之光，玫瑰花給出——
在銷魂盪魄的死亡中——縷縷芳魂。
月光照耀在玫瑰花仰起的臉上，
玫瑰花微笑而死去，在那個花壇，
那個被你——被你的詩迷住的花壇。
-----------------
穿一身白衣 , 靠著一排紫羅蘭，
我看見你半倚半躺；那時月光
照在那些仰著臉龐的玫瑰花上，
也照著你仰起的臉——啊，憂傷的臉！
莫非是命運，在這七月的午夜——
莫非是命運（它也名叫悲傷）
讓我在那座花園門口止步，
吸一口那些熟睡的玫瑰的芳香 ?
闃無一人，這可恨的世界已沉睡，
只除開你和我。( 喔，蒼天！喔，上帝！
我的心跳得多快，當把這兩個字聯在一起）
只除開你和我。我止步——我張望——
突然，所有的一切都不復存在。
（喔，我心中只剩那座有魔力的花園 ）
月亮流溢出珍珠色的光華：
那些長苔的堤，那些通幽的徑，
那些快活的花，那些哀怨的樹，
都無影無蹤；連那玫瑰的芬芳
也在空氣慈愛的手臂中消失。
一切都消逝了——只剩你——只剩你；
只剩下你那雙眼睛神聖的光芒——
只剩下你仰望的眼中那個靈魂。
我只看見它們——它們是我的世界。
我只看見它們——幾個時辰我只見它們——
只看見它們，直到那輪圓月落下。
多熾熱的心的傾述仿佛就寫在
那雙晶亮的、神聖的眼睛裡！
多濃的愁！但多崇高的希望！
多么柔和平靜的驕傲的海洋！
多無畏的雄心！但多么深——
多么深不可測的一顆愛心！
-----------------------
但此刻，可愛的黛安娜終於墜下，
墜入西邊一片挾雷攜電的雲的臥榻；
而你，一個幽靈，也悄然隱去，
被埋進樹叢。只留下你的眼睛。
它們不會離去——它們從來沒離去。
那晚它們照亮我回家的孤途，
從此再也沒離開我 ( 如我的希望 ) 。
它們伴著我，引導我度過這些年頭。
它們是我的情人——而我是它們的奴僕。
它們的天職就是把我照亮，點燃——
我的任務就是被它們的光亮拯救，
在它們帶電的火焰中得以純潔，
在它們福地的火焰中得以神聖。
它們讓我的靈魂充滿美 ( 希望之美)，
當它們高高在天上——我跪向那雙星
在憂傷的、靜謐的、不眠的夜晚；
甚至在白天陽光燦爛的正午
我仍看見它們——兩顆美妙閃爍的
金星 , 並不因太陽的光輝而失色！
注釋
* 該詩發表於1845年，詩中的海倫指女詩人莎拉·海倫·惠特曼（Sarah Helen Whitman），愛倫·坡曾於當年向她求過婚。
作者信息
埃德加·愛倫·坡（Edgar Allan Poe）（1809～1849），十九世紀美國詩人、小說家和文學評論家，在世時長期擔任報刊編輯工作。其作品形式精緻、語言優美、內容多樣，在任何時代都是“獨一無二”的風格。愛倫·坡被尊崇為美國浪漫主義運動要角之一，以懸疑、驚悚小說最負盛名，被公認為推理小說開創者、象徵主義先驅，甚至被視為科幻小說的奠基人。
