颂诗译选

箭与歌 The Arrow and the Song

凌风 译

我向天空射一枝箭，
不知道着落在何地何方；
因箭飞行迅速不能看见
早已超越了我的眼光。

我向天空唱一支歌，
不知道飘落在何地何方；
因为谁有那么锐利的眼光，
怎能夠追寻歌声的飞扬？

过了许久，许久，在一棵橡树
我找到那枝箭依旧完整；
那支歌从起头到最后，
我又发现它在朋友的心中。

The Arrow and the Song

　　Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of a song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

郎斐罗 （Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-1882），
美国语文学家及教授，为当世最受欢迎的诗人。