美好的花呀，你长得这么秀丽，

Fair flower, that dost so comely grow,

却藏身在这僻静沉闷的地方――

Hid in this silent, dull retreat,

甜美的花儿开了却没人亲昵，

Untouch’d thy honey’d blossoms blow,

招展的小小枝梢也没人观赏；

Unseen thy little branches greet:

    没游来荡去的脚来把你踩碎，

   No roving foot shall crush thee here,

    没东攀西摘的手来催你落泪。

   No busy hand provoke a tear.

大自然把你打扮得一身洁白，

By Nature’s self in white array’d,

她叫你避开庸俗粗鄙的目光，

She bade thee shun the vulgar eye,

她布置下树荫把你护卫起来，

And planted here the guardian shade,

又让潺潺的柔波淌过你身旁；

And sent soft waters murmuring by;

    你的夏天就这样静静地消逝，

   Thus quietly thy summer goes,

    这时候你日见萎蔫终将安息。

   Thy days declining to repose.

那些难免消逝的美使我销魂，

Smit with those charms, that must decay,

想起你未来的结局我就心疼，

I grieve to see thy future doom;

别的那些花儿也不比你幸运――

They died—nor were those flowers more gay,

虽开放在伊甸园中也已凋零，

(The flowers that did in Eden bloom)

    无情的寒霜再加秋风的威力，

   Unpitying frosts and Autumn’s power

    会叫这花朵消失得一无踪迹。

   Shall leave no vestige of this flower.

朝阳和晚露当初曾把你养育，

From morning suns and evening dews

让你这小小的生命来到世上，

At first thy little being came:

原来若乌有，就没什么可失去，

If nothing once, you nothing lose,

因为你的死让你同先前一样；

For when you die you are the same;

    这来去之间不过是一个钟点――

   The space between is but an hour,

    这就是脆弱的花享有的天年。

   The mere idea of a flower.