47. To His Coy Mistress

——A. Marvell

Had we but world enough, and time,

This coyness, Lady, were no crime.

We would sit down and think which way

To walk and pass our long love's day.

Thou by the Indian Ganges' side

Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide

Of Humber would complain. I would

Love you ten years before the Flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.

My vegetable love should grow

Vaster than empires, and more slow;

An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;

Two hundred to adore each breast;

But thirty thousand to the rest;

An age at least to every part,

And the last age should show your heart;

For, Lady, you deserve this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear

Time's winged chariot hurrying near;

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.

Thy beauty shall no more be found,

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound

My echoing song: then worms shall try

That long preserved virginity,

And your quaint honour turn to dust,

And into ashes all my lust:

The grave's a fine and private place,

But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires,

Now let us sport us while we may,

And now, like amorous birds of prey,

Rather at once our time devour

Than languish in his slow-chapped power.

Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball,

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Thorough the iron gates of life:

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

47　致害羞的情人

马韦尔[1]

只要我们有足够的时间和空间，

夫人，你的羞怯不是过失。

我们可以坐下来慢慢思索，

决定如何行走，如何消度长夜。

你将在恒河边寻找红宝石，

我则随汉姆河的潮水叹息。

我可以在大洪水前十年，

就开始与你说爱谈情，

你呢，只要你乐意这样做，

等到犹太人皈依基督后答应我。

我的平淡的爱可以慢慢生长，

比帝国还广阔，进展更缓慢。

一百年可用来把你的双眼赞美，

欣赏你额头上的神韵与光彩。

两百年爱慕你的每一只乳房，

另外用三万年专注其他地方。

每一部位我都要欣赏至少一世纪，

最后那个世纪才向你披露心迹。

夫人，你确实值得我这样去爱慕，

我自己也不愿让爱流于轻浮。

但是，我私下里经常听人说，

长翅膀的时间马车总匆匆驶过；

看那边，在我们前方不远处，

就是一片永恒的大沙漠。

你的美在那时再难寻觅，

你那座大理石砌成的坟墓

听不见我的歌：只有一群蛆虫

将你长期坚守的贞操享用。

你刻意维护的尊严将归于尘土，

我的一切欲念也将化为灰烬。

坟墓是一座美好的私人宅第，

我相信，无人在那里拥抱亲昵。

因此，趁青春的光华像晨露，

仍然在你的肌肤上留驻，

趁那颗早已以情相许的心，

正向外喷吐熊熊的火焰，

让我们嬉戏行乐，尽兴尽情，

学一学多情多义的猛禽，

宁可由自己一口吞咽时光，

而不要在蚕食中自甘悲凉。

让我们将自身的全部气力，

连同一切美妙聚集在一起，

然后猛一用劲，将生活的铁栏

彻底打开，放出我们的欢畅：

这样，我们虽不能把青春留住，

但将促使它为我们消度。

* * *

[1]安德鲁·马韦尔（Andrew Marvell，1621—1678），诗人。毕业于剑桥大学的三一学院。1657年继弥尔顿就任国会的拉丁文秘书。王政复辟时期曾援助过弥尔顿，使他免遭牢狱之灾。生前写过许多诗，但一直被读者忽视，直到20世纪初，即他死后200多年，他的诗才得到读者的高度评价。主要作品有《致害羞的情人》、《花园》及讽刺诗《对画家的最后指示》。