Making Poetry

Anne Stevenson

∷王冬菊 譯析

‘You have to inhabit1. inhabit: 棲息，居住于。poetry if you want to make it.’

And what’s ‘to inhabit’?

To be in the habit of, to wear

words, sitting in the plainest light,in the silk of morning, in the shoe of night;a feeling bare and frondish2. frondish: 像蕨菜葉子一樣的。in surprising air;familiar … rare.

And what’s ‘to make’?

To be and to become words’ passing weather; to serve a girl on terrible terms, embark on voyages over voices,3. passing: 短暫的；on... terms: 以……樣的條件做；embark: 上船。evade the ego-hill, the misery-well,the siren hiss of publish, success, publish,success, success, success

And why inhabit, make, inherit poetry?

Oh, it’s the shared comedy of the worst blessed; the sound leading the hand;a wordlife running from mind to mind through the washed rooms of the simple senses;one of those haunted, undefendable, unpoetic crosses4. cross: 一種阻礙、不幸或折磨，常用在詞組bear one’s cross中。這里與cross搭配的“find”強(qiáng)調(diào)詩(shī)人是主動(dòng)迎接并積極面對(duì)各種創(chuàng)作瓶頸的。we have to find.

“想要作詩(shī)

你必須置身其中。”

何為“置身其中”？

習(xí)慣于，穿著文字的衣服，坐在最淺淡的光線里，早晨的絲綢，夜間的鞋；在奇異空氣中像蕨菜葉子般裸露的感覺；熟悉……罕見。

何為“作”詩(shī)？

融入和成為文字瞬間的

陰晴；為殘酷的繆斯女孩兒

效力；在爭(zhēng)議聲中開始遠(yuǎn)航，

逃離自我之山，痛苦之源，

和塞壬女妖的發(fā)表、成功、發(fā)表，成功、成功、成功的嘶嘶聲。

為何要置身詩(shī)中，創(chuàng)作，繼承？

哦，這是最不幸的人們共有的

喜劇；聲音帶領(lǐng)著手；

一種文字生活在心靈之間流淌

沖刷過(guò)簡(jiǎn)單知覺的房間；

那些令人困擾、無(wú)力抵抗、毫無(wú)詩(shī)意的災(zāi)難，我們必須悉數(shù)尋見。