頌詩譯選

箭與歌 The Arrow and the Song

凌風 譯

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

我向天空唱一支歌，
不知道飄落在何地何方；
因為誰有那麼銳利的眼光，
怎能夠追尋歌聲的飛揚？

過了許久，許久，在一棵橡樹
我找到那枝箭依舊完整；
那支歌從起頭到最後，
我又發現它在朋友的心中。

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.

郎斐羅 （Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-1882），
美國語文學家及教授，為當世最受歡迎的詩人。