A Dirge

by Christina Rossetti 

哀歌  少年游 （別格 ）二首

克里斯蒂娜·羅塞蒂作

傅正明譯

Why were you born when the snow was falling?
問君生日，緣何寒苦，梅雪正飄揚？
You should have come to the cuckoo’s calling,
祥和時節，春來布穀，啼叫喚兒郎，
Or when grapes are green in the cluster,
或應景葡萄新綠，
Or, at least, when lithe swallows muster
群燕近華堂。
For their far off flying
假若鳴禽飛天際，
From summer dying.
溫情死，夏時亡。

Why did you die when the lambs were cropping?
問君歸去，緣何倉促，青草正肥羊？
You should have died at the apples’ dropping,
秋來蘋果，紛紛落地，催老憶原鄉，
When the grasshopper comes to trouble,
或應景蝗蟲遭難，
And the wheat-fields are sodden stubble,
田野麥金黃。
And all winds go sighing
陣陣來風皆哀歎，
For sweet things dying.
芳菲劫，美淪亡。

克里斯蒂娜·羅塞蒂（1830－1894） ，英國維多利亞時代的著名女詩人