When Death Comes

　　

　　by Mary Oliver

　　

　　When death comes

　　like the hungry bear in autumn;

　　when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

　　

　　to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;

　　when death comes

　　like the measle-pox

　　

　　when death comes

　　like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

　　

　　I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:

　　what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

　　

　　And therefore I look upon everything

　　as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,

　　and I look upon time as no more than an idea,

　　and I consider eternity as another possibility,

　　

　　and I think of each life as a flower, as common

　　as a field daisy, and as singular,

　　

　　and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,

　　tending, as all music does, toward silence,

　　

　　and each body a lion of courage, and something

　　precious to the earth.

　　

　　When it's over, I want to say all my life

　　I was a bride married to amazement.

　　I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

　　

　　When it's over, I don't want to wonder

　　if I have made of my life something particular, and real.

　　

　　I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,

　　or full of argument.

　　

　　I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

当死亡降临

玛丽·奥利弗(1935-)

当死亡降临

就象秋天里饥饿的熊；

当死亡降临并掏出他钱包中所有崭新光鲜的钱币

将我买下，然后啪的一声合上钱包；

当死亡降临

就象麻疹；

当死亡降临

就象肩胛骨间的一座冰山，

我充满好奇想迈过门去，惊奇自问：

它会象是什么样子，那黑暗的小屋？

因此我将一切

视同兄弟和姐妹，

我把时间仅仅视为一种思想，

而且我把永恒看作另一种可能，

然后我把每一个生命想象成一朵花，

和野菊花一样常见，又非凡

而每个名字都是嘴里一段舒畅的音乐，

给人抚慰就像所有的音乐，面对死寂

而每个身体都是一头勇敢无畏的狮子，还是某些

珍贵无比的事物，对于地球而言。

当一死百了，我愿意说终此一生

我是与惊奇结婚的新娘。

我是新郎，将世界揽入怀抱。

当一死百了，我不愿去惊叹

是否我在人生中经历过独特而真实的事情。

我不愿发现自己叹息并惊恐，

或者充满争论。

我不愿只是草草游历了世界就死掉。
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