瑪麗·奧利弗(Mary Oliver, 1935-),當(dāng)今美國(guó)女詩(shī)人,以書(shū)寫自然著稱。1935年9月10日生于美國(guó)俄亥俄州,13歲開(kāi)始寫詩(shī),1962年瑪麗前往倫敦,任職于移動(dòng)影院有限公司和莎士比亞劇場(chǎng)。后來(lái)奧利弗又回到美國(guó),并定居馬薩諸塞州。瑪麗·奧利弗沒(méi)有獲得過(guò)一個(gè)正式的本科文憑,但她的詩(shī)歌研討會(huì)卻在各地舉辦并在各大學(xué)盛行。她的詩(shī)歌贏得了多項(xiàng)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng),其中包括國(guó)家圖書(shū)獎(jiǎng)和普利策詩(shī)歌獎(jiǎng)(1984年)。她的主要詩(shī)集有:《夜晚的旅行者》(1978),《美國(guó)原貌》(1983),《燈光的屋宇》(1990),《新詩(shī)選》(1992),《白松》(1994)等。
The Swan
天鵝
by Mary Oliver
瑪麗·奧利弗
Did you too see it, drifting, all night, on the black river?
Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air -
An armful of white blossoms,
A perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned
into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies,
Biting the air with its black beak?
Did you hear it, fluting and whistling
A shrill dark music - like the rain pelting the trees - like a waterfall
Knifing down the black ledges?
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds -
A white cross Streaming across the sky, its feet
Like black leaves, its wings Like the stretching light of the river?
And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?
你是否也看見(jiàn)它,整夜,漂浮在黑暗的河上?
你是否看見(jiàn)它在早晨,飛入銀亮的空氣——
一束白色的花,
絲綢與亞麻的一陣完美抖動(dòng),當(dāng)它
將頭藏進(jìn)翅膀中;一道雪堤,一片開(kāi)滿百合的坡岸,
它黑色的喙咬緊了空氣?
你是否聽(tīng)見(jiàn)它,笛聲和哨音
一種尖銳而深沉的音樂(lè)——像雨拍打著樹(shù)——像一片瀑布
沖下黑色的巖石?
你是否看見(jiàn)它,最后,就在云層下——
滑過(guò)天空的一個(gè)白十字架,它的腳
像黑色的葉子,它的翅膀像河面上伸展的光?
在你心里,是否感受到它如何化歸萬(wàn)物?
而你最終領(lǐng)會(huì)了,美是為了什么?
并改變了你的生活?