When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
當妳老了
袁可嘉譯
當妳老了,頭白了,睡意昏沈,
爐火旁打盹,請取下這部詩歌,
慢慢讀,回想妳過去眼神的柔和,
回想它們昔日濃重的陰影;
多少人愛妳青春歡暢的時辰,
愛慕妳的美麗,假意或真心,
只有壹個人愛妳那朝聖者的靈魂,
愛妳衰老了的臉上痛苦的皺紋;
垂下頭來,在紅光閃耀的爐子旁,
淒然地輕輕訴說那愛情的消逝,
在頭頂的山上它緩緩踱著步子,
在壹群星星中間隱藏著臉龐。
作者:威廉·巴特勒·葉芝(William Butler Yeats)(1865~1939),亦譯“葉慈”、“耶茨”,愛爾蘭詩人、劇作家,著名的神秘主義者,是“愛爾蘭文藝復興運動”的領袖,也是艾比劇院(Abbey Theatre)的創建者之壹,被詩人艾略特譽為"當代最偉大的詩人"。葉芝對戲劇也有濃厚的興趣,先後寫過26部劇本。