W. B. Yeats - Words for Music Perhaps(XV) 汉译

XV. Three Things

“O cruel Death, give three things back,”

Sang a bone upon the shore;

“A child found all a child can lack,

Whether of pleasure or of rest,

Upon the abundance of my breast”:

A bone wave-whitened and dried in the wind.

“Three dear things that women know,”

Sang a bone upon the shore;

“A man if I but held him so

When my body was alive

Found all the pleasure that life gave”:

A bone wave-whitened and dried in the wind.

“The third thing that I think of yet,”

Sang a bone upon the shore,

“Is that morning when I met

Face to face my rightful man

And did after stretch and yawn”:

A bone wave-whitened and dried in the wind.

或许可谱曲的歌词

十五、三样东西

威廉·巴特勒·叶芝

“残酷的死神呵，请归还三样东西，”

一根骨头在海滩上唱；

“一个孩子曾找到孩子所能要的一切，

无论是快乐还是休养，

在我丰满的胸房之上”：

一根被海浪洗白被海风吹干的骨头。

“女人们知道的三样心爱的东西，”

一根骨头在海滩上唱；

“当我的肉体活着时，

如果我只是这样抱一个男人。

他就找到了生命所给予的一切欢欣”：

一根被海浪洗白被海风吹干的骨头。

“我还在寻思的第三样东西，”

一根骨头在海滩上唱，

“是那个早晨，当时我

面对面遇见我合法的男人

接着便又伸懒腰又打哈欠”：

一根被海浪洗白被海风吹干的骨头。