《美国文学选读(第3版)》

Still I Rise

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrous clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave,
I rise
I rise
I rise.


注      释：
1. Still I Rise:我仍将奋起。”still”这个词在这儿的上下文中具有多层意义，它可以同时兼指”always”（永远）、”constantly”（不断地）、”nevertheless”（无论如何）和”all the same”（仍然）。

《我仍将奋起》

走出标志历史耻辱茅屋
我奋起
从基于痛苦之上的往昔
我奋起
我是黑色的海洋，浪高水阔，
汹涌澎湃，驾奴着野性的潮汐。
将恐怖的黑夜抛在身后
我奋起
走向光辉灿烂的黎明
我奋起
带着祖先给与的天赋
作为奴隶的梦想和希望
我奋起
我奋起
我奋起。.

Spring and AllBy William Carlos Williams

By the road to the contagious hospital under the surge of the blue mottled clouds driven from the northeast—a cold wind. Beyond, the waste of broad, muddy fields brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen patches of standing water the scattering of tall trees All along the road the reddish purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy stuff of bushes and small trees with dead, brown leaves under them leafless vines— Lifeless in appearance, sluggish dazed spring approaches— They enter the new world naked, cold, uncertain of all save that they enter. All about them the cold, familiar wind— Now the grass, tomorrow the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf One by one objects are defined— It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf But now the stark dignity of entrance—Still, the profound change has come upon them: rooted they grip down and begin to awaken 蓝天之下汹涌云彩 斑驳着从东北吹来 通往传染病院的路上 一阵冷风改变了视线方向 远处，大片开阔洪荒之地 褐色的草木一岁一枯荣 到处是高大的树木 间或有一块一块死水 路上低矮树丛枝条斜横 红的紫的 叉开的直立的 许多小树下面 是枯萎的昏黄的树叶 和脱尽叶子的藤蔓 景色呆滞了无生气 然后春天却慢悠悠地来了 春天赤裸裸地进入新世界 寒冷之中义无反顾 别的早已不大在乎 依然寒冷 还有惯常的风 今天草地一片 而明天 野萝卜僵僵的幼芽会昌尖 一点儿一点儿地成形 接着迅速长好端端的叶子 他们此刻唯有进入 带着淡重的神色 深刻的变化已发生 深扎根 到时候就会觉醒     意象派诗人威廉斯描述的春天，是“从通往传染病院的路边”（《春天及一切》）开始的：“一大片开阔泥泞的荒地呈褐色，枯草立着或到下……”残败的野外景色，冷清而毫无生气的事物——旧的已经衰亡，新的尚未诞生。

[ 本帖最后由 ououmama 于 2012-5-19 22:57 编辑 ].

Dreams (梦想)
By Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Hold fast to dreams
        For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
        That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
        For when dreams go
Life is a broken field
        Frozen with snow.



兰斯顿•休斯 （1902-1967）

紧紧抓住梦想，
        因为梦想若是死亡，
生命就像断翅的飞鸟，
        再也不能翱翔。

紧紧抓住梦想，
        因为梦想一旦消亡，
生命就像荒芜的田野，
        从此冰封雪藏。.

兰斯顿·休斯(1902—1967)在美国文坛，尤其是黑人文学方面，是一个举足轻重的人物。他写过小说、戏剧、散文、历史、传记等各种文体的作品，还把西班牙文和法文的诗歌翻译成英文，甚至编辑过其他黑人作家的文选，但他主要以诗歌著称，被誉为“黑人民族的桂冠诗人”。1960年代黑人领袖马丁·路德·金那篇流传至今、脍炙人口的《我有个梦想》跟休斯的关于“梦想”的诗歌有直接的联系。他在1926年发表在《民族》杂志上的《黑人艺术家与种族大山》中大无畏地宣称：“我们这些正在从事创作的年轻黑人文艺家抱定宗旨要既不畏惧也不羞愧地表现各自的黑皮肤的自我。如果白人喜欢，我们很高兴；如果他们不喜欢也没有关系。　……　如果黑人喜欢，我们很高兴；如果他们不喜欢，他们的不悦也没有任何关系……”　这篇文学宣言激励了无数黑人文学家，也确立了他在哈莱姆文艺复兴运动中的领袖地位。　
    2002年2月1日是美国黑人诗人兰斯顿·休斯诞辰100周年。这两年，美国文坛不断举行百周年纪念活动，先后纪念了福克纳、海明威和斯坦贝克等名家。也许因为休斯是第一个赶上这潮流的黑人作家，又赶上强调“多元化时代”，对他的纪念活动格外隆重，专门成立了一个纪念委员会，从2月1日开始，一直持续到4月。大学理所当然地是最活跃的。不仅是耶鲁大学、纽约大学等名牌学校，连一些小地方的科技学院都举办研讨会或休斯诗歌朗诵会。甚至有些书店也参与组织纪念活动。美国邮政总局颁发了一枚休斯头像的纪念邮票并为此举行首发式等活动。作家、诗人、评论家，还有戏剧家都积极出面朗诵休斯的诗歌，谈论对他的看法，演出他写的剧本片断。美国诗人学会、兰斯顿·休斯全国诗歌工程和全国英语教师协会还把4月2日定名为兰斯顿·休斯诗歌日，号召全国和世界各地的男女老少在这一天在学校、图书馆、社区中心、教堂、医院、书店或其他任何地方三三两两地集合起来朗诵他的诗歌。在所有这些纪念活动中，由坐落在休斯童年家乡的堪萨斯大学举办的活动规模最大，有五百多位国内外学者参加，内容有学术发言、电影、艺术展览和诗歌朗诵等。连《国际先驱论坛报》都在2002年2月19日第20版发了专稿。
1 Much is there to hold in this exact poem. It is short, but too concise. It might need care and attention. The lines may not differ as to worth, and they are employed faithfully. In fact, we are subjected to them and only because dreams do subject us to handsome ways.
To hold fast to dreams I shall commit some act such as sleep, and I shall be helpful to myself and others before I die, ‘for if dreams die’. I am especially finding words for such premises constantly in my existence, and I find the birds to carry a message of such privileged nature. They or it, the bird, is supposed to fly, so dreams even reside in this broken-winged bird to fly. It is only natural to die and dream.
It must carry a refrain of significance - ‘Hold fast to dreams’ - of such power that dreaming is inspired. It makes up for the bad dreams, and the wrong that may be committed by certain individuals. Those who are gone with dreams are always to be punished with no dreams.
It is interesting how the metaphor at the end is so strong for the entire meaning of this poem. Life is called a cold place, and not somewhere that contains dreams. To be frozen in sleep is warm enough for dreams to flourish in the mind of sleep and the wake of time: even the ice-age!

[ 本帖最后由 ououmama 于 2012-5-19 23:19 编辑 ].

Me and the mule
My old mule,
He's gota grin on his face.
He's been a mule so long
He's forgotten about his race.

I'm like that old mule --
Black -- and don't give a damn!
You got to take me
Like I am..

I used to wonder
  About living and dying
  I think the difference lies
  Between tears and crying


I used to wonder
About here and there
I think the distance
Is nowhere.

I'm nobody , who you are?
Are you nobody too?
Then there's a pair of us.
Don't tell--they'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody,
How public --like a frog--
To tell your name the livelong June
To an admiring bog.
---------by Emily Dickinson

我是无名之辈! 你是谁?
你也是无名之辈吗?
那么我们为一对!
别说! 他们会传开去-- 你知道!
多无聊-- 是-- 某某名人!
多招摇-- 象个青蛙—
告诉你的名字 -- 漫长的六月—
给一片赞赏的沼泽!

[ 本帖最后由 ououmama 于 2012-5-19 23:25 编辑 ].

Sonnet·To Science十四行诗《致科学》
Edgar Allan Poe埃德加·爱伦·坡
译/李景琪

Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.
Why preyest thou thus upon the poet’s heart,
Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?
How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise？
Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,
Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?
Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car?
And driven the Hamadryad from the wood
To seek a shelter in some happier star?
Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,
The Elfin from the green grass, and from me
The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?

科学，你是远古的真女郎！
你以犀利目光改变万物。
你枯燥现实如秃鹰翅膀，
为何凌辱、折磨诗人心灵？
诗人如何爱你，尊你为圣？
你竟阻止诗人漫游遐想，
不去灿烂星空探寻宝藏，
纵使诗人无畏展翅翱翔，
你仍将狄安娜拽出座舱，
从树林赶出树神，命他去
更快乐的星球寻找栖房。
你将水仙女扔出水晶宫，
撵小精灵离开绿茵草场，
惊我夏日树下美梦黄粱。

[ 本帖最后由 ououmama 于 2012-5-19 23:30 编辑 ].