譯文:
她坐在那如同發光寶座的扶手椅內,
就在大理石地上照耀著,
那兒有個玻璃盤,以葡萄藤雕花為基座,有一位金色邱比特從基座探出頭來
(另一位用羽翼遮住雙眼)。
七柱燈台閃耀雙倍火焰,
在桌面上反射出光芒,
和她珠寶的光輝匹配,
這光是由緞帶珠寶盒大量洩出。
在象牙和彩色玻璃的瓶中,
散發出隱藏著她奇特混和的香水味,
膏油,粉末,或液狀——令人困擾迷糊
沉浸在香氣的感覺中,被空氣攪動著
由窗戶灌入的風,
使旺盛燭焰的煙霧上升,
將它們直送雕梁畫棟般的天花板,
因而模糊了天花板的圖案。
包覆青銅的巨大海檀木,
閃爍出青色與棕色的光,建造在彩色石頭上,
在這憂鬱的光中雕刻了一隻游泳的海豚。
文本:
The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,
Glowed on the marble, where the glass
Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines
From which a golden Cupidon peeped out
(Another hid his eyes behind his wing)
Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra
Reflecting light upon the table as
The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it,
From satin cases poured in rich profusion;
In vials of ivory and coloured glass
Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,
Unguent, powdered, or liquid—troubled, confused
And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air
That freshened from the window, these ascended
In fattening the prolonged candle-flames,
Flung their smoke into the laquearia,
Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling.
Huge sea-wood fed with copper
Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone,
In which sad light a carvéd dolphin swam.
閱讀心得:
詩人在一個似乎是貴婦的房間中,做了細膩的觀察,並將之分解描述。就像畢卡索的抽象畫,這些景物是由物質與思想融合成變體但有真實意義的現象。在這觀察中,不只是視覺,同時加上觸覺、嗅覺、味覺和聽覺,是一種感官綜合體驗,從而由抽象意念轉化成具體文字。而語言的修辭運用,又加強了畫面的流動,活化了情境。詩詞本身在當時特立前衛,今天看來也是獨樹一格,似乎接近意識流。豪華的珠光寶氣金燈銀飾,似乎並沒有富貴帶來的快樂;卻是在光影氣味中,顯出了複雜且模糊的物質觀。在片片斷斷中,詩人要藉著萬花情境,表達若全然在乎世界,就要知道這世界其實是個「荒原」。