The Harlot's House

We caught the tread of dancing feet,

We loitered down the moonlit street,

And stopped beneath the Harlot's house.



Inside, above the din and fray,

We heard the loud musicians play

The 'Treues Liebes Herz' of Strauss.



Like strange mechanical grotesques,

Making fantastic arabesques,

The shadows raced across the blind.



We watched the ghostly dancers spin

To sound of horn and violin,

Like black leaves wheeling in the wind.



Like wire-pulled automatons,

Slim silhouetted skeletons

Went sidling through the slow quadrille,



Then took each other by the hand,

And danced a stately saraband;

Their laughter echoed thin and shrill.



Sometimes a clockwork puppet pressed

A phantom lover to her breast,

Sometimes they seemed to try and sing.



Sometimes a horrible Marionette

Came out, and Smoked its cigarette

Upon the steps like a live thing.



Then turning to my love I said,

'The dead are dancing with the dead,

The dust is whirling with the dust.'



But she, she heard the violin,

And left my side, and entered in;

Love passed into the house of Lust.



Then suddenly the tune went false,

The dancers wearied of the waltz,

The shadows ceased to wheel and whirl,



And down the long and silent street,

The dawn with silver-sandalled feet,

Crept like a frightened girl.

妓　院

我们听到跳舞的踢踏声，

我们在月光下的街道游逛，

在一家妓院门前停步。



门内，在一片骚音之上，

我们听到下作的乐师正演奏

施特劳斯的《真诚的爱》。



仿佛一个机器的怪物，

跳着怪诞的阿拉伯舞蹈，

影子在屏风之间穿梭。



我们看着舞者魔鬼似地旋转，

应和笛管和小提琴的音乐，

像一片黑色叶子随着风儿翻卷。



仿佛铁丝牵引的玩偶，

仅有轮廓的瘦骷髅

侧身穿过缓慢的四人舞，



于是他们相互手拉手，

跳起庄严的萨拉班德舞；

他们的笑声激起尖厉的回响。



有时，装有发条的木偶

将一个幻影情人抱在胸口，

有时，他们似乎在努力地歌唱，



有时，一个恐怖的傀儡

走出来，坐在台阶上

吸烟，就像一个真正的活人。



于是，我转身对我的情人说，

“死者正和死者在跳舞，

尘土正围着尘土旋转。”



但是她，她听到小提琴声，

将我扔在一边，走进去；

爱就此进入了情欲的屋子。



接着音调突然变了味，

舞者厌倦了华尔兹，

那些影子也停止了旋转，



黎明穿着一双银色的凉鞋，

像一位受了惊吓的姑娘，

悄悄地溜进这安静的长街。