2024-03-10 Laetare Sunday (4^th Sunday in Lent)

【Large Red Man Reading (1950)】

Wallace Stevens (1879—1955)

There were ghosts that returned to earth to hear his phrases,

As he sat there reading, aloud, the great blue tabulae.

They were those from the wilderness of stars that had expected more.

There were those that returned to hear him read from the poem of life,

Of the pans above the stove, the pots on the table, the tulips among them.

They were those that would have wept to step barefoot into reality,

That would have wept and been happy, have shivered in the frost

And cried out to feel it again, have run fingers over leaves

And against the most coiled thorn, have seized on what was ugly

And laughed, as he sat there reading, from out of the purple tabulae,

The outlines of being and its expressings, the syllables of its law:

Poesis, poesis, the literal characters, the vatic lines,

Which in those ears and in those thin, those spended hearts,

Took on color, took on shape and the size of things as they are

And spoke the feeling for them, which was what they had lacked.

—— • —— • —— • —— • —— • —— • —— • ——

【《大紅人朗讀》(1950)】

異鄉人·史蒂文斯(1879生—1955卒)

【紅霞譯】

        幽靈回到塵世要聽他說話，

        當他坐在那兒高聲朗讀藍色名著。

        牠們就是出自星辰荒野有着太多期盼的傢伙。

        有些來聽他朗讀生命的詩篇，

        關乎爐頂的平底鍋、桌上的罐子、其中的鬱金香。

        牠們就是哭着赤腳走進現實的傢伙，

        會破涕為笑，在霜凍中發抖

        並疾呼要再次感受，用手指撫過樹葉

        抵抗最捆縛的荊棘，抓住醜陋的東西

        大笑起來，當他坐在那兒從紫色書籍讀出，

        對存在及其表達的描述，格律的音節：

        韻文、創作、字符、預言似的詩行，

        在牠們的耳朵里乃至單薄的身軀，牠們倦乏的內心，

        呈現色彩，呈現事物本來的形狀和大小

        並為牠們道出感覺，而這正是牠們所缺乏的。

【注】今天是天主教大齋期的第四個禮拜天——歡喜主日，被視為耶穌復活的期待日，美國最知名的高貴聖徒大教堂(St. Patrick's Cathedral)內座無虛席，參加聖祭的教徒們追憶基督逾越髑髏山(Calvary)的聖死，並期待祂三個禮拜後的今天喜樂榮光地復活；象徵着希望和歡樂的玫瑰色代替了象徵懺悔的紫色，司鐸祭披和教堂帷幔也都主打粉紅色彩。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2024: Bryant Park in Midtown, NYC(紐約中城·誠實公園)

2024: National Arts Club, NYC(紐約城·國家藝術俱樂部)

2024: One-Michelin-Starred Gramercy Tavern, NYC(紐約城·米其林一星“多謝酒館”)

2016: MontCo Sci Research Contest(巨人山郡科研競賽)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

St. Patrick's Cathedral, NYC(紐約城·高貴聖徒大教堂)

USA·New York(美國·紐約州)

USA(出遊美國)