Love Letter
by Sylvia Plath
Not easy to state the change you made.
If I'm alive now, then I was dead,
Though, like a stone, unbothered by it,
Staying put according to habit.
You didn't just tow me an inch, no-
Nor leave me to set my small bald eye
Skyward again, without hope, of course,
Of apprehending blueness, or stars.
That wasn't it. I slept, say: a snake
Masked among black rocks as a black rock
In the white hiatus of winter-
Like my neighbors, taking no pleasure
In the million perfectly-chiseled
Cheeks alighting each moment to melt
My cheeks of basalt. They turned to tears,
Angels weeping over dull natures,
But didn't convince me. Those tears froze.
Each dead head had a visor of ice.
And I slept on like a bent finger.
The first thing I was was sheer air
And the locked drops rising in dew
Limpid as spirits. Many stones lay
Dense and expressionless round about.
I didn't know what to make of it.
I shone, mice-scaled, and unfolded
To pour myself out like a fluid
Among bird feet and the stems of plants.
I wasn't fooled. I knew you at once.
Tree and stone glittered, without shadows.
My finger-length grew lucent as glass.
I started to bud like a March twig:
An arm and a leg, and arm, a leg.
From stone to cloud, so I ascended.
Now I resemble a sort of god
Floating through the air in my soul-shift
Pure as a pane of ice. It's a gift.
(Sylvia Plath, 1932-1963)
情書
by 希薇亞‧普拉斯
要描述你帶來的改變並非易事。
假使我現在是活，那麼過去我即是死，
如同一塊石頭，儘管不受驚擾，
卻因循舊習無法動彈。
你不只是將我拉升一吋，不只──
也非僅僅讓我渺小而赤裸的眼
再次望向天，當然，更不僅僅是讓我升起盼望
對那充滿理解的蔚藍，或者星光。
不僅僅是這樣。過去我沉睡，如同：一條蛇
在黑色岩石間將自己偽裝成一塊黑岩
藏身於冬日雪白的裂縫中──
像我的鄰居們，沒有任何喜悅
經歷千雕萬鑿的
臉頰仍燃燒著等待熔化
我那玄武岩般的臉頰。他們求助於淚水，
天使為黯淡的萬物哭泣，
但卻說服不了我。那些眼淚已凍結成冰。
每一個死亡的頭顱都戴著冰做的面具。
而我依然沉睡如一根彎曲的手指。
我看見的第一樣東西是險峻稀薄的空氣
曾被封鎖的水滴正從露珠裡升起
安祥透徹如同精靈。石頭們
晦澀而冷漠圍在一旁。
我不知如何是好。
我發光，剝落，然後被攤開
如同液體傾倒出我自己
在鳥兒的腳掌和樹枝之間。
我沒有被愚弄。我一眼就認出了你。
樹與石頭閃耀著光輝，無絲毫陰影。
我的手指越來越長且透光如同玻璃。
我開始發芽像三月的枝條：
長出一隻手臂和一條腿，然後手臂，又變成了腿。
如是我攀升，從石頭上升到雲。
此刻我近乎某種神衹
穿越空氣漂浮於我靈魂的更新
純潔如一方格的冰。此乃上天之贈禮。
(13 / 譯)
13譯注：
1. 網路可搜尋到普拉斯的這首譯詩，但譯文多處錯誤，無法令我滿足，只好找出原
文自己再譯一次。尤其原詩最後一段，普拉斯比喻自己因愛而得到生長，像枝條長出
手臂和腿，然後手臂又變成腿...，如此一直往上推高、生長直達雲端，因而搆著了
天空。此段剛好呼應第一段所寫，那種改變不僅僅只是像石頭在地上用渺小的眼睛
去仰望天，她是整個身子長大、升高，真正觸摸到天。全詩由一主題貫穿，充滿鮮
活自然又超現實的想像。
2. 原文分段以及部分譯文經大陸詩友得一忘二指教修正，特此致謝。
:: 延伸閱讀：得一忘二譯介普拉斯生平及詩作
