Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island 躺在威廉.达菲农庄的吊床上

Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota
By James Wright

Over my head, I see the bronze butterfly,
Asleep on the black trunk,
Blowing like a leaf in green shadow.
Down the ravine behind the empty house,
The cowbells follow one another
Into the distances of the afternoon.
To my right,
In a field of sunlight between two pines,
The droppings of last year’s horses
Blaze up into golden stones.
I lean back, as the evening darkens and comes on.
A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home.
I have wasted my life.

躺在明尼苏达州松岛威廉.达菲农庄的吊床上
詹姆斯·赖特
云天译

我瞧见头顶有一只青铜色的蝴蝶，
在黑色树干上憩息，
像绿荫里一片摇晃的叶子。
空屋后的溪谷里，
牛铃声声相连
步入午后的远方。
在我右面，
阳光洒在两株松树间,
去年的马粪
燃烧成金色石头。
我躺下来，此时暮色渐氲渐浓。
一只游鹰飞过，寻找归巢。
我浪费了我的生命。


【云天晕语】
Because of Robert Bly's After Long Busyness, I stumbled upon and fell love with James Wright's "Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota".  Being a nature lover, I'm absolutely intoxicated by his poem.

Butterflies rest on the tree trunk, cowbells jingle in the ravine, and horse manure turn into golden stones? ah, that's amazing!  Did the hawk find a nest to rest in for that night, or will it ever find one, a permanent one?  Wandering soul knows no rest and finds no home.  "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" Paul Gaugin once asked, and we still wonder.

"I have wasted my life." Yes, Mr. Wright used "wasted", not squandered away, frittered away, dillydallied, or any other fancy words, simply "wasted". But, does the poet really think he has wasted his life?  :)  He'd be John Muir's friend if they had met, no doubt.

John Muir said, "Between every two pines stood the door to the world's greatest cathedral."
And James Wright wrote, "In a field of sunlight between two pines, /The droppings of last year’s horses /Blaze up into golden stones. "
They both saw something magic or divine between two pines, so just for this, their lives were not wasted.


zt 百度：

詹姆斯·赖特(1927-1980)：生于俄亥俄州马丁斯渡口，早年就读于肯庸学院，曾师从大诗人罗伯特·弗罗斯特，后与罗伯特·勃莱一起创建“深度意象”诗歌流派。成为美国战后反学院派诗歌的主要阵地。他的诗集《树枝不会折断》是20世纪60年代最有影响的诗集之一，诗歌中新颖的实验品质让评论界迷惑又震惊，他的《诗歌集》于1972年获得普利策诗歌奖。

赖特以抒情短章闻名于世，他热爱自然，自认为受中国诗人王维的影响较深。

他终身在大学任教，1980年去世。赖特以其沉思型的抒情短诗而著名于世，他热爱大自然，善于捕捉大自然景色中最有意义的细节，并将其田园式的新超现实主义建立在强有力的意象和简洁的口语之上，在总体上赋予自然景色以深层意识的暗示，试图唤起超脱现实返回大自然的欲望，从大自然中找到安宁。虽然他去世较早，但他留下的诗作却足以使他在二十世纪美国后现代诗歌中占有一席之地。