Voyage

若說沒有天神召喚, 為什麼有這麼巧的事? 不到24小時內, 「撞見」Yeats的詩三次?


Sunday, May 07, 2006 20:11


今天在家看Must Love Dog . Christopher Plummer在片中飾演Diane Lane的爸爸. 應該是家族中的小孩受洗的餐會吧, 他在片中朗讀Yeats的詩, 哎聽起來韻律真美 -- 又契合故事.

我果真還是喜歡愛情小品, 小小的過場, 短短的幾句台詞, 搭配得宜的音樂, 竟讓人可以聯想起好多好多. 還記得我在拿出DVD時心裡還在想: 當初為什麼會買這個DVD呀? 只因為Winnie說Diane Lane的某句台詞讓她想到我嗎? (Related to JA, of course) 結果, 我還真過了個蠻有趣的下午. 不是怎麼了不得的片子, 只是April一直問: 妳到底在看什麼那麼好笑呀? 我也說不上來.


W.B. Yeats (1865–1939).

The Young Man’s Song


I WHISPERED, ‘I am too young,’
And then, ‘I am old enough’;
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
‘Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair,’
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.


Oh, love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away,
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.


Monday, May 08, 2006 09:35

Another Yests' Poem


在一個文章也是寫得很好的網誌裡的banner看到這首詩, 覺得好棒. Google的結果發現又是Yeats -- 最近和他真是有緣. 想到上次去誠品找詩時, 還故意跳過他哩, 結果冥冥中, 天神似乎一直在提醒我, 妳忘了另一個重要的人了.

或許我只可能消受得了短一點的詩吧. 這些句子不知該讓誰來朗讀才好. 自從看了Must Love Dog後, 我就一直想到朗讀這件事. 詩在讀出後, 那種感覺好奇妙, 說句子熨貼到心上有點太過, 可是回想起Christopher Plummer的嗓音 (有點年紀, 帶點看過世情的低語), 詩變得好美好美.

ps. 待我把詩句找到後才發現, 大概在兩三週前才在 致羞怯的情人 選譯中讀過, 這記性.....


A Drinking Song


WINE comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.


就在寫了前二篇雜記後, 準備下班時竟又看到另一個直接以Yeats的詩名為Blog名稱的網誌. 我想一個著名的詩人, 詩作處處可見應該是正常不過的事. 但在這廣大的世間, 或說無遠弗屆的網海裡, 為什麼像是有一隻指引的手? 透過不經意的click, 把我帶到Yeats的「詩」邊. 為了未來可能的忘記, 還是為自己留點線索吧.

All things can tempt me

All things can tempt me from this craft of verse：
One time it was a woman's face, or worse...
The seeming needs of my fool-driven land;
Now nothing but comes readier to the hand
Than this accustomed toil. When I was young,
I had not given a penny for a song
Did not the poet sing it with such airs
That one believed he has a sword upstairs;
Yet would be now, could I but have my wish,
Colder and dumber and deafer than a fish.

W.B. Yeats

甚麼事都教我分心

甚麼事都教我分心不專於詩意：
從前為伊人的容顏，等而下之
就以為白痴治下的國家需要我；
現在再也沒有甚麼更須舉手之勞了
除了這嫻習的工作。年輕時
我從未認真注文聽完一首歌
除非吟唱者採取的曲調風格
力足以令人信他樓上有一把利劍；
而現在但願，若是能照我初衷，
比一尾魚更冷，更啞，更聾。

作者：葉慈　譯：楊牧



因為逸蝶的告知, 才曉得Roseman橋上那張紙條上所用的詩句, 原來也來自Yeats. 回家前Google許久不可得(只有moth一字, 資料太多了, 又不知道詩名). 回家後找到小說相關章節, 才看到句子. 也終於了解為什麼上次找不到: 只因上回用偷懶的方式, 以為既是詩，應該會出現在現段落中間, 隔著空白; 結果不是, 只是被形容在文句中. Anyway. 找到了.

ps. 今天小小尋找過程中, 不可思議的是, link到詩句幾乎只算一個, 其他所有皆是The Bridge of Madison County的引文 -- 想來大受吸引的人實在是很多啊!
pps. 文末最後兩句好像在那裡讀過哩. 所以，　親愛的Dr. Bailey, 不只是文學批評啦, 連讀詩都一樣囉!

************************************************************
Literary critics make natural detectives," says Maud Bailey.
　　　　 --from A. S. Byatt's Possession: A Romance
************************************************************


The Song Of Wandering Aengus

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lads and hilly lands.
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.