And as to you Death, and you bitter hug of mortality, it is idle to
try to alarm me.
To his work without flinching the accoucheur comes,
I see the elder-hand pressing receiving supporting,
I recline by the sills of the exquisite flexible doors,
And mark the outlet, and mark the relief and escape.
And as to you Corpse I think you are good manure, but that does not
offend me,
I smell the white roses sweet-scented and growing,
I reach to the leafy lips, I reach to the polish’d breasts of melons.
And as to you Life I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths,
(No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before.)
I hear you whispering there O stars of heaven,
O suns--O grass of graves--O perpetual transfers and promotions,
If you do not say any thing how can I say any thing?
Of the turbid pool that lies in the autumn forest,
Of the moon that descends the steeps of the soughing twilight,
Toss, sparkles of day and dusk--toss on the black stems that decay
in the muck,
Toss to the moaning gibberish of the dry limbs.
I ascend from the moon, I ascend from the night,
I perceive that the ghastly glimmer is noonday sunbeams reflected,
And debouch to the steady and central from the offspring great or small.
至于死亡,给人以痛苦的致命的拥抱的你,
你想来恐吓我是毫无用处的。
助产医生毫不畏缩地来做他的工作,
我看见他的老年人的手压挤着,接受着、支持着,
我靠在精致柔软的门边,
注视着出口,注意到痛苦的减轻和免除。
至于你,尸体,我想你是很好的肥料,这我并不介意,
我嗅着生长着的芳香的白玫瑰,
我伸手抚摩叶子的嘴唇,我抚摩西瓜的光滑的胸脯。
至于你,生命,我想你是许多死亡的遗物,
(无疑我自己以前已经死过了一万次。)
啊,天上的星星哟!我听见你在那里低语,
啊,太阳哟,——啊,墓边的青草哟,——啊,永恒的转变和前进哟,
假使你们不说什么,我又能说什么呢?
秋天树林中的混浊的水塘,从萧瑟的黄昏绝岩降下来的月亮,
摇动吧,白天和黑夜的闪光,——在垃圾堆里腐朽的茎叶上摇晃。
伴着干槁的树枝的悲痛的谵语摇晃。
我从月亮上升,我从黑夜上升,我觉出这膝胧的微光乃是午间的日光的
反映,我要从这些大小的子孙走出,走到那固定的中心。