这首诗

【美】唐纳德·霍尔     陈子弘 译

1
这首诗就是我
为什么晚上躺下
睡觉；这就是为什么
我解便、阅读、
吃三明治；
这就是为什么我
在早上起来；
这就是为什么我要呼吸。

2
你觉得（这我知道
因为你给我说过）
诗就是
要说事情，就像你
打电话以及我
写信——就像
这首诗操练了
互通信息。

3
曾几何时这首诗
拿新机器
比较过自己，
还有一次比较过
荷兰奶牛的反刍 。
八乘以五乘以八
共有三百二十个
音节。

4
如你相须时，
这首诗就来慰籍——
用一座山让你
停留的慰籍方式
就算它经受了
地震、总统
离婚还有严霜。
花岗石继往开来。

5
这首诗知会
受伤的耳朵警惕
噪音，又向那
哭泣的眼睛唱歌。
当那苦难
自行减退，人们
或可欣赏
随机的艺术。

6
诗就在这里。
但能不能又在
别处？每一问题
都是错误的问题。
唯一的答案
在页面闲逛
在其虚线处
顾盼、顾影弄姿。

7
它装扮自己
不是为其自得的
小镜子——当然
也不会是为你们的：
修饰容貌;
标上编号;
命名仁善为
“重中之最。”

8
这首诗整夜
敲响睡眠紧闭的
门扉：“放我进来。”
设想所有的诗
都包罗这首诗，
它梦想握有一种
肉体字汇措施
装扮的知识。

英文原文：

This Poem

1
This poem is why
I lie down at night
to sleep; it is why
I defecate, read,
and eat sandwiches;
it is why I get
up in the morning;
it is why I breathe.

2
You think (and I know
because you told me)
that poems exist
to say things, as you
telephone and I
write letters—as if
this poem practiced
communication.

3
One time this poem
compared itself to
new machinery,
and another time
to a Holstein's cud.
Eight times five times eight
counts three hundred and
twenty syllables.

4
When you require it,
this poem consoles—
the way a mountain
comforts by staying
as it was despite
earthquakes, presidents,
divorces, and frosts.
Granite continues.

5
This poem informs
the hurt ear wary
of noises, and sings
to the weeping eye.
When the agony
abates itself, one
may appreciate
arbitrary art.

6
This poem is here.
Could it be someplace
else? Every question
is the wrong question.
The only answer
saunters down the page
in its broken lines
strutting and primping.

7
It styles itself not
for the small mirror
of its own regard—
nor even for yours:
to fix appearance;
to model numbers;
to name charity
"the greatest of these."

8
All night this poem
knocks at the closed door
of sleep: "Let me in."
Suppose all poems
contain this poem,
dreaming one knowledge
shaped by the measure
of the body's word.

                 Donald Hall