贈 的情人節禮物雙語賞析

A Valentine to – – –
Edgar Allan Poe
For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
Brightly expressive as the twins of Lœda,
Shall find her own sweet name, that, nestling lies
Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly the lines! – they hold a treasure
Divine – a talisman – an amulet
That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure –
The words – the syllables! Do not forget
The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor!
And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
Which one might not undo without a sabre,
If one could merely comprehend the plot.
Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus
Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
Of poets, by poets – as the name is a poet’s, too,
Its letters, although naturally lying
Like the knight Pinto – Mendez Ferdinando –
Still form a synonym for Truth. – Cease trying!
You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.
1846

贈——的情人節禮物
愛倫·坡
這首詩專爲她而作，她那明亮的雙眼，
那如同勒達的雙子雙星的明眸，
將發現她自己可愛的名字，半隱半現
在這頁紙上，避開了讀者探求。
仔細搜尋每一行——其間藏着塊寶石——
是一件吉祥物——是一個護身符，
它必須戴在心裏。精心探索這些韻律——
詞彙——音節！請千萬不要疏忽
最細微的地方，不然你的辛苦將白搭！
但這裏並沒有戈耳狄俄斯之結，
人們要解開那怪結可以用快刀斬亂麻，
而你則只能弄懂解此謎的祕訣。
就在這頁現在正被眼睛所凝視並寫上
了一個閃光靈魂的紙上，潛隱
着三個動人的字眼，而這些字眼常常
被詩人說出或聽見——因那芳名
也是位詩人。它的字母，雖排列自然
如平託騎士——門德斯·弗迪南多——
仍構成“真”的同義詞。請停止實驗！
你解不開這謎，雖你再三琢磨。
（1846）
（曹明倫 譯）