W. B. Yeats - A Woman Young and Old (III) 汉译

III. A FIRST CONFESSION

I admit the briar

Entangled in my hair

Did not injure me;

My blenching and trembling,

Nothing but dissembling,

Nothing but coquetry.

I long for truth, and yet

I cannot stay from that

My better self disowns,

For a man's attention

Brings such satisfaction

To the craving in my bones.

Brightness that I pull back

From the Zodiac,

Why those questioning eyes

That are fixed upon me?

What can they do but shun me

If empty night replies?

一个女人的青年和老年

三、最初的表白

威廉·巴特勒·叶芝

我承认那纠缠在

我头发里的棘刺

并不曾把我伤着；

我脸变色身抖颤

不过是乔装遮掩

不过是撒娇卖俏。

我渴求真理，却

无法摆脱更好的

自我所拒斥的东西，

因为一个男人的注目

带来如此的满足

给我入骨的希冀。

我从黄道带上

扯回来的光亮，

为何这些疑问的眼睛

紧盯在我身上？

除了躲避我它们能怎样，

假若空空的夜作出回应？