The Last Leaf -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

最后的叶片--奥利弗·温德尔·霍姆斯

 

 

I saw him once before, as he passed by the door

他曾从门前经过，我在一旁观望

And again, the pavement stones resound

如今，石板路又哒哒作响

As he totters o'er the ground with his cane

他蹒跚走来，手里拄着拐杖

They say that in his prime

人们说他当时年轻力壮

Ere the pruning-knife of time cut him down

时光的剪刀虽有锐利锋芒，尚未削去他的青春模样

Not a better man was found

周围的人们有口皆碑

By the Crier on his round through the town

满城数他最为善良

But now he walks the streets

如今，他却在街头流浪

And he looks at all he meets sad and wan

看着别人的面孔，憔悴忧伤

And he shakes his feeble head

虚弱的脑袋，不断摇晃

That it seems as if he said, "They are gone!"

似乎在说：“他们已不在世上”？

The mossy marbles rest on the lips that he has prest in their bloom

他曾热吻过的姑娘，就在这墓中安葬

And the names he loved to hear have been carved for many a year on the tomb

一块生苔的石碑，立在墓旁，刻着他所爱慕的芳名，岁月悠长

My grandmamma has said-- poor old lady, she is dead, long ago--

我年迈的祖母久已过世，话音还在耳边回荡

That he had a Roman nose

说他长着高高的鼻梁

And his cheek was like a rose in the snow

说他的面颊像一朵玫瑰，在雪中绽放

But now his nose is thin, and it rests upon his chin like a staff

可是现在，他的鼻子干瘪瘦长，贴近下巴像纤细的棍棒

And a crook is in his back, and a melancholy crack in his laugh

弯腰驼背，沙哑的笑声带着不尽的凄凉

I know it is a sin for me to sit and grin at him here

坐着笑看他的模样，一种负罪的感觉在我心底隐藏

But the old three-cornered hat

可那破旧的尖顶小帽

And the breeches, and all that

还有马裤，所有的衣装

Are so queer!

实在是奇形怪状！

And if I should live to be

假如我的生命十分久长

The last leaf upon the tree in the spring

能够成为最后的叶片挂在春天的树上

Let them smile, as I do now

让人们冲着我悬挂的残枝发笑吧

At the old forsaken bough where I cling

就像我现在这样那残枝久已被人们淡忘

 

 

英语美文