一．

 Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present in time future,

现在的与过去的时间

And time future contained in time past.

都可能存在于未来的时间中

If all time is eternally present

未来的时间已包含着过去。

All time is unredeemable.

如果所有的时间都永不消失

What might have been is an abstraction

那所有的时间也都无可挽留。

Remaining a perpetual possibility

可能曾经存在的事物也许只是一抹抽象

Only in a world of speculation.

在世界的影像中，

What might have been and what has been

永远保存着一种真实的可能。

Point to one end, which is always present.

那曾经可能存在的与已经存在的

Footfalls echo in the memory

指向一个一直存在着的终点。

Down the passage which we did not take

Towards the door we never opened

脚步声回响在记忆中

Into the rose-garden. My words echo

走向那条我们从未走过的路，

Thus, in your mind.

通往那道我们从未打开的

                              But to what purpose

玫瑰园的门。于是，我的话

Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves

回响在你的脑海。

I do not know.

但出于什么缘由

                        Other echoes

要去惊扰起一碗玫瑰花瓣上的尘土？

Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?

我不知道

Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,

别的回声

Round the corner. Through the first gate,

也栖息于这花园。我们要跟上它吗？

Into our first world, shall we follow

快，鸟儿说，找到它们，找到它们，

The deception of the thrush? Into our first world.

在花园的角落里。穿过第一道门

There they were, dignified, invisible,

进入我们的第一个世界，我们要追随

Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,

那画眉鸟的诡计？进入我们的第一个世界。

In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,

它们在那里，庄严而无形，

And the bird called, in response to

无痕地飘过枯死的叶子，

The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,

在秋热中，穿过振动的空气，

And the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roses

鸟儿鸣叫着，应和着

Had the look of flowers that are looked at.

那隐藏在灌木丛中的无声的音乐。

There they were as our guests, accepted and accepting.

不可见的一瞥闪过，因为玫瑰

So we moved, and they, in a formal pattern,

露出被人看到过的神色。

Along the empty alley, into the box circle,

那里，它们作为客人被我们接待，并接待我们。

To look down into the drained pool.

我们继续前行，——它们严肃有礼

Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,

站在空空的小径两旁——进入黄杨木围栏，

And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,

俯视被抽干的水池。

And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,

干涸的水池，干燥的水泥，褐色的池沿，

The surface glittered out of heart of light,

水池慢慢地注满阳光下不可见的水，

And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.

睡莲升起来，静静地，

Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.

水面闪烁，在内心的光芒之外，

Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,

它们在我们身后，在水池中留下倒影。

Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.

一块云飘过，水池空了。

Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind

去吧，鸟儿说，因为树叶里装满了童年，

Cannot bear very much reality.

藏着兴奋，还有笑声。

Time past and time future

去吧，去吧，去吧，鸟儿说，人们

What might have been and what has been

承受不了太多的现实。

Point to one end, which is always present.

过去和未来

那可能存在过的和已经存在的

指向同一个一直存在着的终点。

II

Garlic and sapphires in the mud

二．

Clot the bedded axle-tree.

The trilling wire in the blood

大蒜和蓝宝石陷入泥里

Sings below inveterate scars

阻塞了马车的轮轴。

Appeasing long forgotten wars.

颤抖的血液中的琴弦

The dance along the artery

在顽固的伤疤下歌唱

The circulation of the lymph

平息着那久已忘却的战争。

Are figured in the drift of stars

动脉里的舞蹈

Ascend to summer in the tree

淋巴中的循环

We move above the moving tree

被定格于星辰的漂流中

In light upon the figured leaf

在树梢中攀向夏天

And hear upon the sodden floor

我们在移动的树的上空移动

Below, the boarhound and the boar

在斑驳的树叶上的光芒里

Pursue their pattern as before

我们在潮湿的地面上方倾听

But reconciled among the stars.

下面，猎犬和野猪

延续古老的生存模式

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;

却在星群中归于和解。

Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,

But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,

在旋转的世界的静止点上。

Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,

没有肉体，也没有精灵；

Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,

没有来处，也没有去向；在那静止点上，只有舞蹈，

There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.

没有追捕，也没有逃离。

I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where.

也不要说是一成不变，

And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.

当过去与未来相聚

The inner freedom from the practical desire,

既无来处，也无去向，

The release from action and suffering, release from the inner

既无上升，也无下降

And the outer compulsion, yet surrounded

这一点——静止的一点——之外，

By a grace of sense, a white light still and moving,

世界上没有舞蹈；这里只有舞蹈。

Erhebung without motion, concentration

我才可以说，我们存在着；但我说不出是哪里。

Without elimination, both a new world

也说不出，有多久；因为它被置于时间之中。

And the old made explicit, understood

从现世欲望中脱身而出的自由，

In the completion of its partial ecstasy,

从奔波与苦难中获得解脱，内在的解脱，

The resolution of its partial horror.

虽然身外的逼迫，依然环绕，

Yet the enchainment of past and future

在恩宠的笼罩下，一道白光在静止中挪移，

Woven in the weakness of the changing body,

上升但无须运动，凝缩

Protects mankind from heaven and damnation

但无须消减，

Which flesh cannot endure.

在它独特的狂喜中

                                          Time past and time future

当它特有的恐惧的消散时，新的世界

Allow but a little consciousness.

与旧世界直接达成谅解。

To be conscious is not to be in time

过去与未来的链条依然

But only in time can the moment in the rose-garden,

在编织，在柔弱的不断变化的身体中，

The moment in the arbour where the rain beat,

保护人类远离天堂和诅咒，

The moment in the draughty church at smokefall

肉体无法承受它们。

Be remembered; involved with past and future.

过往和未来的时间

Only through time time is conquered.

都只接纳一点意识。

意识不等于处于时间之中

但只有在时间之中，玫瑰花园中的时刻，

III

被风吹打的凉亭中的时刻，

畅通的教堂笼罩在烟雾中的时刻

Here is a place of disaffection

才被记住；过去与未来交汇。

Time before and time after

只有通过时间，时间才被征服。

In a dim light: neither daylight

Investing form with lucid stillness

Turning shadow into transient beauty

三．

With slow rotation suggesting permanence

Nor darkness to purify the soul

这是一个遗恨之地

Emptying the sensual with deprivation

此刻之前与之后

Cleansing affection from the temporal.

在暗淡的光线中：日光不会

Neither plenitude nor vacancy. Only a flicker

赋予形体明澈和宁静

Over the strained time-ridden faces

让阴影化为哪怕短暂的美丽

Distracted from distraction by distraction

让缓慢的旋转传递永恒的气息

Filled with fancies and empty of meaning

黑暗也不会洁净灵魂

Tumid apathy with no concentration

去除肉体的享乐

Men and bits of paper, whirled by the cold wind

净化尘世中的情感。

That blows before and after time,

既无圆满也无空缺。只有一丝微光

Wind in and out of unwholesome lungs

闪过扭曲的饱经沧桑的脸

Time before and time after.

从一张转移到另一张，再到另一张

Eructation of unhealthy souls

充满幻象又空洞无物

Into the faded air, the torpid

虚肿冷漠，无所专注

Driven on the wind that sweeps the gloomy hills of London,

人们与纸屑，在冷风中旋转

Hampstead and Clerkenwell, Campden and Putney,

风吹在时间之前与之后。

Highgate, Primrose and Ludgate. Not here

空气在孱弱的肺中出入

Not here the darkness, in this twittering world.

过去的和未来的时间

虚弱的灵魂嗳出的麻木

    Descend lower, descend only

进入枯萎的空气，

Into the world of perpetual solitude,

被风裹挟着，掠过伦敦阴冷的山冈，

World not world, but that which is not world,

掠过汉姆斯蒂德和克拉肯威尔，开普敦和普特尼

Internal darkness, deprivation

海格特、普林姆罗斯和拉德盖特。

And destitution of all property,

并非这里

Desiccation of the world of sense,

并非这里，黑暗，在这个喋喋不休的世界里。

Evacuation of the world of fancy,

降得更低，只会降入

Inoperancy of the world of spirit;

世界永久的孤独中，

This is the one way, and the other

世界不是世界，它只是那个不是世界的世界，

Is the same, not in movement

内在的黑暗，剥夺，

But abstention from movement; while the world moves

贫困，一无所有，

In appetency, on its metalled ways

感觉枯竭的世界，

Of time past and time future.

幻象撤离的世界，

精神无能的世界；

就是这条路，另一条

IV

也一样，不是在运动中

而是在对运动的放弃中；世界依赖

Time and the bell have buried the day,

本能，在它的碎石路上前行，

The black cloud carries the sun away.

在过去的和未来的时间里。

Will the sunflower turn to us, will the clematis

Stray down, bend to us; tendril and spray

Clutch and cling?

四．

    Chill

时间和晚钟埋葬了白天，

Fingers of yew be curled

乌云挟走太阳。

Down on us? After the kingfisher's wing

向日葵会转向我们吗？铁线莲

Has answered light to light, and is silent, the light is still

会侧身偏向我们吗？用卷须，花束，

At the still point of the turning world.

紧紧抓住，贴住我们？

寒冷的

紫杉的手指会弯曲着

V

垂向我们吗？翠鸟的翅膀

以光线回答光线，之后是沉寂，光静止了

Words move, music moves

在旋转的世界的静止点上。

Only in time; but that which is only living

Can only die. Words, after speech, reach

Into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern,

五．

Can words or music reach

The stillness, as a Chinese jar still

语言行进，音乐流淌

Moves perpetually in its stillness.

只在时间之中；但只有那活着的

Not the stillness of the violin, while the note lasts,

才能死亡。语言，在言说之后，抵达

Not that only, but the co-existence,

进入沉默。

Or say that the end precedes the beginning,

只有获得形式和道路，

And the end and the beginning were always there

语言或音乐才能抵达

Before the beginning and after the end.

宁静，像一只中国瓷瓶

And all is always now. Words strain,

在静止中运动不息。

Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,

不是小提琴的静止，而是绕梁的旋律，

Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,

不仅如此，那是一种共存，

Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place,

或者说，结局抵达开始，

Will not stay still. Shrieking voices

而结局与开始一直在那里

Scolding, mocking, or merely chattering,

在开始之前与结局之后。

Always assail them. The Word in the desert

一切都是现在。由于负重

Is most attacked by voices of temptation,

语言紧张，开裂，甚至破碎，

The crying shadow in the funeral dance,

在重压之下，跌倒，划走，消散

The loud lament of the disconsolate chimera.

不再静止。尖叫声，

责骂声，嘲笑声，或哪怕低语声，

    The detail of the pattern is movement,

都在质问它们。世界在一片荒漠中

As in the figure of the ten stairs.

被诱惑击打，

Desire itself is movement

死亡的舞蹈中哭喊的影子，

Not in itself desirable;

凯米亚拉孤单的高声悲号。

Love is itself unmoving,

这过程的细处就是运动，

Only the cause and end of movement,

如同十级台阶所体现的形状。

Timeless, and undesiring

欲望本身就是运动。

Except in the aspect of time

但并非值得想望；

Caught in the form of limitation

爱本自静止不动，

Between un-being and being.

它是运动的起因和终结，

Sudden in a shaft of sunlight

超越时间和欲望

Even while the dust moves

除非时间被确定的形式

There rises the hidden laughter

定格在存在和非存在之间，

Of children in the foliage

爱才会从静止中脱身。

Quick now, here, now, always—

突然，在一道日光中

Ridiculous the waste sad time

——即使此刻灰尘扬起——

Stretching before and after.

传来隐藏在树叶中的

孩子们的笑声

就在此刻，这里，此刻，始终

荒谬可笑的是那被虚度的悲伤的时间

它伸展着，向前向后。