D · A · 鮑威爾〈法院石階〉2022.7.10

D · A · 鮑威爾〈法院石階〉　　　2022.7.10，試譯

不必多說啊，藝術，全然地分心
　　是一種，始終不渝的狀態



因此，他的變奏曲：　　每種手工紡織品（一種計件工作）
　　讓我們這樣去定音：重瓣的訂婚戒指，原木小屋，或者破碎的盤碟
一切都建築在相同的幾何塑像上──
　　　　細緻地截取，視角和線條



與此相彷，每個愛情故事都植根於最初的故事：　　詩人
　　入冥府
　　　　最終賜予他陰影，這陰影將如影隨形，為了
消逝無蹤。 或許有個版本，他們會重新聚合
　　　　聚攏繁星，黏貼星光於獨奏的太陽色球層裡，那些繁星，
人眼看起來，似乎疊融在一起



沒有物質的愛
　　　　　　　　最終啊，免疫於重力與時間的作用──



在德克薩斯州（不妨把這，當成故事，容我這樣去敘述）有一個小鎮
　　鎮上的法院，基座是混凝土與扭曲的鐵
紅花崗岩、紅砂岩柱頭、紅砂岩的楣梁，都在薰陶著，這些水泥與鐵

一位雕刻師，以拳力與尖刀，鑿開了繆斯女神的肖像
　　他渲染她的面貌──臉頰潮紅到極致，如此誘人、悅耳

　　　　當然啦，她鄙棄了他，
　　理所當然，那裡存有，另一人的懷抱，於是她，轉過身去
愛不能寫在石頭上，理應啊，寫在流水裡
　　　　（我轉譯了，卡圖盧斯的拉丁語）


雕塑家，持續不懈：　　不只是他深愛的人
的臉龐。而是她，另一個情人的臉：
　　　　矮胖暴牙，有著胡椒粒般的疣
她們倆，都變成自己的滑稽戲，放蕩不羈
　　正如雕刻師所感知到的，她們是那樣淫慾



　　嗯，癲狂、墮落、崩潰：　　肖像支撐著
然而，很久以前，參與者都已，衰微如塵埃

　　美妙的。　　不美妙的。　　每個都有精密的神態



神態在這個基座上，踩著光芒。　　你的愛尚未毀容的
　　那段時光──讓夢來取代你的愛吧。那是一個，甚至可以
　　　　經受得住魯莽的時光，那被風的千錘，百鍊過後，錘薄的時間在反求諸己



D. A. Powell〈courthouse steps〉

to say no more of art than that it makes, by its very distraction
a mode of abiding



accordingly, its variations: each type of thread-and-piecework
named double engagement ring, log cabin, or broken dishes
all built on the same geometric figures—
precise interception of angle and line



so too each tale of love is rooted in that first tale: the poet
descending to the underworld
finally granted his shade, who'll follow him
only to disappear again. perhaps one version has them reunite
affixed in their solo chromospheres the stars, which,
to the human eye, appear to overlap



substanceless love
immune at last to gravity and time—



in texas (I might as well recount this as a story) there's a town
with a courthouse built on concrete and twisted iron
edified in red granite, capitals & architrave of red sandstone

with point and punch, a carver broached the effigy of his muse
he rendered her attractive features, down to the very blush

of course she spurned him,
of course there was another to whom she turned
love should not be written in stone but written in water
(I paraphrase the latin of catullus)


the sculptor carried on: not just the face of his beloved
but the face of her other lover:
snaggle-toothed, wart-peppered, pudgy
them both, made into ugly caricatures of themselves, as wanton
as the carver perceived them, and as lewd



well, craze and degenerate and crack: the portraits hold
though, long since, the participants have dwindled into dirt

beautiful. unbeautiful. each with an aspect of exactness



tread light upon this pedestal. dream instead of a time before
your love disfigured, a time
withstanding even crass, wind-beaten time itself

2008


完整的英文排版，請點網頁：
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/51698/courthouse-steps