一．

I

隆冬里的春天是它自己的季节

Midwinter spring is its own season

恒久，虽然在日落前湿透，

Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,

它停止在时间里，在两极与回归线之间。

Suspended in time, between pole and tropic.

短暂的白天变得最光亮时，因为霜和火——

When the short day is brightest, with frost and fire,

匆忙的日光点燃了沟渠和池塘里的冰，

The brief sun flames the ice, on pond and ditches,

在无风的严寒中，那是心脏的热量，

In windless cold that is the heart's heat,

在水淋淋的镜面反射出

Reflecting in a watery mirror

一道炫目的、夺人视力的光，在晌午之后。

A glare that is blindness in the early afternoon.

这光比柴火或火盆里的更强烈，更刺目，

And glow more intense than blaze of branch, or brazier,

它激起哑默的灵魂：没有风，只有圣灵降临节的火，

Stirs the dumb spirit: no wind, but pentecostal fire

——在一年里的黑暗时节。在融化和冰冻之间，

In the dark time of the year. Between melting and freezing

灵魂颤抖着。没有泥土的气息，

The soul's sap quivers. There is no earth smell

没有生命的气息。这是春天的时日，

Or smell of living thing. This is the spring time

但不在时间的契约里。现在矮木篱笆

But not in time's covenant. Now the hedgerow

被暂时开放的雪花染白了一个小时，

Is blanched for an hour with transitory blossom

雪花——一次比夏日花朵更突然的开放，

Of snow, a bloom more sudden

不经过花苞，也不会凋零，

Than that of summer, neither budding nor fading,

也不会落入世代繁衍的计划。

Not in the scheme of generation.

夏天在哪里，那不可想象的

Where is the summer, the unimaginable

零度的夏天？

Zero summer?

如果你前来这里，

              If you came this way,

走你最可能走的路线，

Taking the route you would be likely to take

从那你最可能出发的地方，

From the place you would be likely to come from,

如果你是在五月到来，你应该发现

If you came this way in may time, you would find the hedges

树篱再次变白，带着放纵的甜蜜，在五月。

White again, in May, with voluptuary sweetness.

在旅程的终点，可能结果都一样，

It would be the same at the end of the journey,

如果你像一个困顿的国外连夜赶来，

If you came at night like a broken king,

如果你在白天赶来却不知为何而来，

If you came by day not knowing what you came for,

结果可能都一样，——当你离开那粗粝的小路

It would be the same, when you leave the rough road

由猪栏后面转向阴暗的正面和一旁的

And turn behind the pig-sty to the dull facade

墓碑。此时，你心中原有的目的

And the tombstone. And what you thought you came for

只是真实意义之外的一层壳，或一只荚，

Is only a shell, a husk of meaning

真正的目的，只有实现之时才会破壳而出。

From which the purpose breaks only when it is fulfilled

也许你并没有目的，

If at all. Either you had no purpose

或者你无法描绘自己的目的，

Or the purpose is beyond the end you figured

它在实现时发生改变。另有一些地方，

And is altered in fulfilment. There are other places

也是世界的尽头，有的在大海的入口，

Which also are the world's end, some at the sea jaws,

或者一个黑暗的湖泊上空，一片沙漠或城市中。

Or over a dark lake, in a desert or a city—

但这里是最近的，不论时间还是空间，

But this is the nearest, in place and time,

现在，在英格兰。

Now and in England.

如果你前来这里，

              If you came this way,

走任何线路，从任何地方出发，

Taking any route, starting from anywhere,

在任何时间，或任何季节，

At any time or at any season,

结果永远都将一样：你必须抛开

It would always be the same: you would have to put off

自我的感受和主张。你来此不是为了

Sense and notion. You are not here to verify,

证明什么，教导自己，或满足好奇

Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity

或传送报告。你到这里——祷告总会应验的地方

Or carry report. You are here to kneel

——跪下。而且祷告不只是

Where prayer has been valid. And prayer is more

一连串的话语，或祷词对大脑的占据，

Than an order of words, the conscious occupation

也不只是诵念祷词的声音。

Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying.

逝者生前无法告诉你的

And what the dead had no speech for, when living,

现在，作为死者，可以告诉你：死后的世界，

They can tell you, being dead: the communication

通过火焰的语言沟通——超越生者的语言。

Of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living.

这里，所有无始无终的时刻在此交汇，

Here, the intersection of the timeless moment

在英格兰而非他处。从不、永远。

Is England and nowhere. Never and always.

二．

II

一个老人衣袖上的灰烬

Ash on an old man's sleeve

是玫瑰燃烧后留下的所有灰烬。

Is all the ash the burnt roses leave.

尘土，在空气中悬浮，

Dust in the air suspended

标示出故事结束的地方。

Marks the place where a story ended.

进入呼吸的尘土曾是，一栋房屋——

Dust inbreathed was a house—

墙，护壁板和老鼠，

The walls, the wainscot and the mouse,

希望和绝望的消亡，

The death of hope and despair,

　　　　　　　　这是空气的死亡。

       This is the death of air.

有洪水和干旱，

There are flood and drouth

在眼前，在口中，

Over the eyes and in the mouth,

死水和死沙

Dead water and dead sand

挣着要占据上风。

Contending for the upper hand.

龟裂、贫瘠的土壤

The parched eviscerate soil

茫然地注视着人们徒然的辛劳，

Gapes at the vanity of toil,

笑声里没有欢乐，

Laughs without mirth.

　　　　　　　　这是土地的死亡。

       This is the death of earth.

水与火接管了

Water and fire succeed

城市，牧场和野草。

The town, the pasture and the weed.

水与火嘲弄

Water and fire deride

我们拒绝供奉的牺牲。

The sacrifice that we denied.

水与火也将腐化为

Water and fire shall rot

那我们已经忘记的毁坏的

The marred foundations we forgot,

圣殿和唱诗班。

Of sanctuary and choir.

　　　　　　　　这是水与火的死亡。

       This is the death of water and fire.

在黎明前某个不可确知的时辰，

In the uncertain hour before the morning

漫漫长夜行将结束，

     Near the ending of interminable night

在它反复出现的永不终结的终点，

     At the recurrent end of the unending

一只归途中的黑鸽子，携着明灭的叫声，

After the dark dove with the flickering tongue

掠过地平线，

     Had passed below the horizon of his homing

此时枯死的树叶像风中的锡片一样嘎嘎作响，

     While the dead leaves still rattled on like tin

除此之外，沥青路上再无其它声音，

Over the asphalt where no other sound was

在冒烟的三个街区之间，

     Between three districts whence the smoke arose

我遇上一个行色匆匆的游荡者，

     I met one walking, loitering and hurried

似一片张大的金属叶子迎面而来，

As if blown towards me like the metal leaves

迎着一阵无力的都市晨风。

     Before the urban dawn wind unresisting.

我定睛观察他垂转下来的面孔，

     And as I fixed upon the down-turned face

就像在暗淡的暮色中审视

That pointed scrutiny with which we challenge

一个初次邂逅的陌生人，

     The first-met stranger in the waning dusk

我突然发现一张大师的脸，

     I caught the sudden look of some dead master

我曾熟识，后又忘记，现在又恍惚忆起，

Whom I had known, forgotten, half recalled

既是一个，又是多个；在那张烟熏火烤般的褐色的脸上，

     Both one and many; in the brown baked features

是一双熟悉的复合灵魂的眼睛，

     The eyes of a familiar compound ghost

既亲切，又模糊难辨。

Both intimate and unidentifiable.

于是，我似乎变成了两个部分，喊道

     So I assumed a double part, and cried

——同时听到另一个声音喊道：“怎么！您在这里！”

     And heard another's voice cry: 'What! are you here?'

虽然我知道这是幻觉。我仍然是一个，

Although we were not. I was still the same,

但已经变成了另外一个人。

     Knowing myself yet being someone other—

他的脸还在变化中；但我的话已足够

     And he a face still forming; yet the words sufficed

让他们现出以前的身份。

To compel the recognition they preceded.

于是，顺从于同一阵风的吹拂，

     And so, compliant to the common wind,

我们相会在这个和谐的时间交叉点上

     Too strange to each other for misunderstanding,

相遇，不在任何地方，无前也无后，

In concord at this intersection time

并由于太过陌生而不会彼此误解，

     Of meeting nowhere, no before and after,

我们踩在路面上，开始一次死亡巡视。

     We trod the pavement in a dead patrol.

我说道：“我心中的疑惑并不难解，

I said: 'The wonder that I feel is easy,

是松懈产生了这些疑惑。所以说：

     Yet ease is cause of wonder. Therefore speak:

我可能未曾领会，也不曾记住。”

     I may not comprehend, may not remember.'

他说：“我并不准备去复述

And he: 'I am not eager to rehearse

我那些已被你忘记的思想和理论。

     My thoughts and theory which you have forgotten.

他们已经完成了自己的任务：就让他们去吧。

     These things have served their purpose: let them be.

你自己的也是如此，祈求它们被他人宽免吧，

So with your own, and pray they be forgiven

就像我祈求你宽免一样，

     By others, as I pray you to forgive

不论好的坏的。当季的果实被吃光后，

     Both bad and good. Last season's fruit is eaten

喂饱的牲畜就会把空桶踢开。

And the fullfed beast shall kick the empty pail.

去年说的话属于去年的语言，

     For last year's words belong to last year's language

明年的话在等待另一种语音。

     And next year's words await another voice.

但是，就像现在路上没有障碍一样，

But, as the passage now presents no hindrance

对于一个来自异域的未得安息的灵魂，

     To the spirit unappeased and peregrine

——它已在两个世界间变得非常相像，

     Between two worlds become much like each other,

当我把肉体留在远方的海岸上，

So I find words I never thought to speak

在我从未想过要再次造访的街道上，

     In streets I never thought I should revisit

我找到了我从未想说的话。

     When I left my body on a distant shore.

既然我们关心的是言说，言说又驱策我们

Since our concern was speech, and speech impelled us

净化族人的语言，

     To purify the dialect of the tribe

并促使我们瞻前也顾后，

     And urge the mind to aftersight and foresight,

就让我打开岁月的礼物

Let me disclose the gifts reserved for age

来为你一生的努力加冕。

     To set a crown upon your lifetime's effort.

首先，当人的感受力丧失生命的魔力，行将熄灭，

     First, the cold friction of expiring sense

它自身的任何冷漠的冲突，都不会提供任何承诺，

Without enchantment, offering no promise

而只是苦涩无味的幻影一般的果实，

     But bitter tastelessness of shadow fruit

就像身体和灵魂开始分离成碎片。

     As body and soul begin to fall asunder.

其次，狂怒暴露了无能——人类的

Second, the conscious impotence of rage

愚蠢，而放浪的笑声，

     At human folly, and the laceration

则再难以取悦他人。

     Of laughter at what ceases to amuse.

最后，对自己所是和所做之物的重新评价

And last, the rending pain of re-enactment

和定位，会让人感受到撕裂之痛；

     Of all that you have done, and been; the shame

你曾试图从中践习美德的，是你

     Of motives late revealed, and the awareness

做错和伤害他人的事物带来的耻辱，

Of things ill done and done to others' harm

傻瓜们的拥护给人刺痛；他们的赞美给人玷污。

     Which once you took for exercise of virtue.

激愤的灵魂从错误到错误中前行，

     Then fools' approval stings, and honour stains.

——就像一个舞者一样前行，直到

From wrong to wrong the exasperated spirit

在炼狱之火的洗礼中重塑自己。”

     Proceeds, unless restored by that refining fire

天色破晓，在这条遭损毁的街道上，

     Where you must move in measure, like a dancer.'

他离开了我，念着一种告别词，

The day was breaking. In the disfigured street

隐身在一阵号角的长鸣中。

     He left me, with a kind of valediction,

     And faded on the blowing of the horn.

三．

III

有三种情况经常看起来相似，

实则完全不同，它们就像盛开在同一片树篱之中：

There are three conditions which often look alike

对自身，对事物和对他人的迷恋，

Yet differ completely, flourish in the same hedgerow:

对人与事物的冷漠和疏远；以及生长于两者之间的，对人与事物的淡然处之，

Attachment to self and to things and to persons, detachment

后者之于前两者，就像死亡之于生命，

From self and from things and from persons; and, growing between them, indifference

处于两种生命状态之间——无花无果，处于

Which resembles the others as death resembles life,

生之烦恼和死之烦恼之间。这是记忆的价值：

Being between two lives—unflowering, between

解脱——不是减少爱，而是超越了

The live and the dead nettle. This is the use of memory:

欲望的爱在增长，因此也将从未来和

For liberation—not less of love but expanding

过去中获得解脱。所以，对国家之爱

Of love beyond desire, and so liberation

始于对我们自己行动之地的迷恋，

From the future as well as the past. Thus, love of a country

然后发现行动本身并非爱的关键，

Begins as attachment to our own field of action

虽然这行动从来就不是无关紧要的。历史可能是束缚，

And comes to find that action of little importance

历史也可能是自由。看，现在它们消失了，

Though never indifferent. History may be servitude,

那一张张面孔和一个个地点，同自我一起——如它可以的那样爱着它们，

History may be freedom. See, now they vanish,

而后，又在另一种方式中更新，变化。

The faces and places, with the self which, as it could, loved them,

To become renewed, transfigured, in another pattern.

罪是一种必要，但

一切终将变好，并且

Sin is Behovely, but

一切事务都将各安其位。

All shall be well, and

如果我，再次，想起这个地方

All manner of thing shall be well.

和这个地方的人们——他们并非全然值得称赞，

If I think, again, of this place,

我想到的不是那些直系家族，或某些慈行善举，

And of people, not wholly commendable,

而是某些特别的天才，

Of no immediate kin or kindness,

受到同一种天意的感召，

But of some peculiar genius,

在那让他们分裂的斗争中归于一体；

All touched by a common genius,

如果我想起夜幕中的国王，

United in the strife which divided them;

想到三个人，或更多，在断头台上，

If I think of a king at nightfall,

以及那些死在别处——此地或异域——

Of three men, and more, on the scaffold

已被人遗忘的人，

And a few who died forgotten

或是想起一个在失明与宁静中逝去的人，

In other places, here and abroad,

为什么要纪念他们

And of one who died blind and quiet

胜于纪念那如今正在死去的人们？

Why should we celebrate

这不是去敲昔日的钟，

These dead men more than the dying?

也不是去召唤

It is not to ring the bell backward

一枝玫瑰的幽灵的咒语。

Nor is it an incantation

我们不能重组昔日的派系，

To summon the spectre of a Rose.

也不能恢复往昔的律条，

We cannot revive old factions

或跟上那些旧日的鼓点。

We cannot restore old policies

这些人和那些反对他们的人们，

Or follow an antique drum.

以及那些他们反对的人们，

These men, and those who opposed them

接受了那沉默的法则，

And those whom they opposed

并最终归于一体。

Accept the constitution of silence

不论我们从幸运者那里继承什么

And are folded in a single party.

或从失败者那里得到什么，

Whatever we inherit from the fortunate

他们终将留给我们的是——一种象征：

We have taken from the defeated

一种在死亡中归于圆满的象征。

What they had to leave us—a symbol:

一切都将变好，

A symbol perfected in death.

一切事物都将各安其位，

And all shall be well and

凭着对内心的救赎，

All manner of thing shall be well

在我们热切恳求的土地上。

By the purification of the motive

In the ground of our beseeching.

四．

IV

携着炽热的恐怖火焰，

鸽子俯冲而下，划破夜空，

The dove descending breaks the air

它以烈焰的火舌宣告

With flame of incandescent terror

赦免人们的罪愆和过错。

Of which the tongues declare

唯一的希望，或者绝望

The one discharge from sin and error.

存在于从柴堆到柴堆的选择——

The only hope, or else despair

从火焰到火焰中获得救赎。

     Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre—

     To be redeemed from fire by fire.

是谁安排了这磨难？爱。

爱是个不为人熟知的名字，

Who then devised the torment? Love.

它躲在那双编织火焰之衫的手的后面，

Love is the unfamiliar Name

这火衫给人以无法承受的煎熬

Behind the hands that wove

却不能为人力所去除。

The intolerable shirt of flame

我们只有生活着，叹息着，

Which human power cannot remove.

被吞灭在火焰与火焰之中。

     We only live, only suspire

     Consumed by either fire or fire.

五．

V

我们称之为开始的往往是结束，

所以来到终点，也就是来到起点。

What we call the beginning is often the end

终点是我们开始的地方。而每个准确的

And to make an end is to make a beginning.

词汇和语句（字在其中各得其所，

The end is where we start from. And every phrase

各安其位并互相照应，

And sentence that is right (where every word is at home,

文字既不自卑也不卖弄，

Taking its place to support the others,

它是古老与现代的轻松交流，

The word neither diffident nor ostentatious,

朴实的文字准确而不粗俗，

An easy commerce of the old and the new,

规范的文字精确而不迂腐，

The common word exact without vulgarity,

犹如天造地设的一对翩翩起舞）

The formal word precise but not pedantic,

每个词汇每个句子都是一次结束也是一个开始，

The complete consort dancing together)

每首诗都是一篇墓志铭。任何一次行动

Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning,

都是朝向泥土的一步，朝向火焰，朝向大海的喉咙，

Every poem an epitaph. And any action

或者朝向一块字迹难辨的墓碑：这同样是我们开始的地方。

Is a step to the block, to the fire, down the sea's throat

我们与垂死者一起死去：

Or to an illegible stone: and that is where we start.

看，他们离去，我们与之同行。

We die with the dying:

我们伴着死者出生：

See, they depart, and we go with them.

看，他们转世，携我们一起返回。

We are born with the dead:

玫瑰的时刻，紫杉的时刻

See, they return, and bring us with them.

同样持久。一个没有历史的民族

The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew-tree

不会从时间中获得救赎，因为历史

Are of equal duration. A people without history

是每个永恒瞬间的存在形式。因此，在一个光线渐淡的

Is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern

冬日下午，在一间僻静的小礼拜堂内，

Of timeless moments. So, while the light fails

历史就是现在，就是英格兰。

On a winter's afternoon, in a secluded chapel

History is now and England.

由于这爱的图像和这召唤的声音，

我们不应停止探寻，

With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this

在探寻的终点，

     Calling

我们将抵达我们的出发地，

并第一次真正了解这个地方。

We shall not cease from exploration

通过那未知的，未进入记忆的大门，

And the end of all our exploring

只剩下最后一片土地尚待发现，

Will be to arrive where we started

当时，那就是曾经的起点；

And know the place for the first time.

在最长的河流的源头，

Through the unknown, remembered gate

隐藏的瀑布的声响，

When the last of earth left to discover

和苹果树上的孩子们，

Is that which was the beginning;

不为人知，因为无人找寻，

At the source of the longest river

只是被听见，隐约听见，在寂静中

The voice of the hidden waterfall

在大海的两排波浪之间。

And the children in the apple-tree

就是此刻，这里，此刻，永远。

Not known, because not looked for

一种完全单纯的状态，

But heard, half-heard, in the stillness

（但要付出的不比任何事物少）

Between two waves of the sea.

一切都将安好，

Quick now, here, now, always—

一切事物都将各安其位，

A condition of complete simplicity

当火焰之舌折卷着

(Costing not less than everything)

进入一尊火之皇冠，

And all shall be well and

火与玫瑰合而为一。

All manner of thing shall be well

When the tongues of flame are in-folded

Into the crowned knot of fire

And the fire and the rose are one.