波浪猛击着堤岸，

The piers are pummelled by the waves;

孤独之地的暴雨

In a lonely field the rain

冲刷着被抛弃的队列。

Lashes an abandoned train;

而山洞里填满了亡命之徒。

Outlaws fill the mountain caves.

夜礼服被怪诞之风滋养；

Fantastic grow the evening gowns;

而国库的特工

Agents of the Fisc pursue

正穿过小县城的下水道，

Absconding tax-defaulters through

追逐逃税的人。

The sewers of provincial towns.

私密的魔法仪式，

Private rites of magic send

让神妓入睡；

The temple prostitutes to sleep;

所有的文人，

All the literati keep

都有一个想像的朋友。

An imaginary friend.

劳心销骨的将军

Cerebrotonic Cato may

或许赞美古代的律法；

Extol the Ancient Disciplines,

而肌肉僵硬的水兵在哗变，

But the muscle-bound Marines

为了食物和钱。

Mutiny for food and pay.

恺撒的双人床温暖，

Caesar's double-bed is warm

像一个粉红的正式表格

As an unimportant clerk

一个低层职员

Writes I DO NOT LIKE MY WORK

写下“我讨厌上班”。

On a pink official form.

贫富不知的红腿小鸟，

Unendowed with wealth or pity,

坐在它们布满斑点的蛋上，

Little birds with scarlet legs,

看着每个瘟疫横行的城市。

Sitting on their speckled eggs,

Eye each flu-infected city.

在外面的某个地方

大群的驯鹿穿过

Altogether elsewhere, vast

一里又一里金色地衣，

Herds of reindeer move across

静，而且快。

Miles and miles of golden moss,

Silently and very fast.