W. B. Yeats - What Then? 汉译

His chosen comrades thought at school

He must grow a famous man;

He thought the same and lived by rule,

All his twenties crammed with toil;

“What then?” sang Plato’s ghost. “What then?”

Everything he wrote was read,

After certain years he won

Sufficient money for his need,

Friends that have been friends indeed;

“What then?” sang Plato’s ghost. “What then?”

All his happier dreams came true

A small old house, wife, daughter, son,

Grounds where plum and cabbage grew,

Poets and Wits about him drew;

“What then?” sang Plato’s ghost. “What then?”

“The work is done,” grown old he thought,

“According to my boyish plan;

Let the fools rage, I swerved in naught,

Something to perfection brought”;

But louder sang that ghost, “What then?”