湖边的英文角

这首诗是美国文坛最耀眼的黑人女作家和诗人Maya Angelou/玛娅· 安杰洛的作品，于1993年1月19日克林顿总统就职典礼上朗诵（Delivered January 19, 1993 at the Inauguration of President Clinton）。

A Rock, A River, A Tree
Hosts to species long since departed,
Marked the mastodon,
The dinosaur, who left dried tokens
Of Their sojourn here
On our planet floor,
Any broad alarm of their hastening doom
Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,
But seek no haven in my shadow,
I will give you no hiding place down here.

You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness
Have lain too long
Facedown in ignorance,
Your mouths spilling words
Armed for slaughter.

The Rock cries out to us today,
You may stand upon me;
But do not hide your face.
Across the wall of the world,
A River sings a beautiful song. It says,
Come, rest here by my side.

Each of you, a bordered country,
Delicate and strangely made proud,
Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.
Your armed struggles for profit
Have left collars of waste upon
My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.
Yet today I call you to my riverside,
If you will study war no more.

Come, clad in peace,
And I will sing the songs
The Creator gave to me when I and the
Tree and the Rock were one.
Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your brow
And when you yet knew you still knew nothing.
The River sang and sings on.

There is a true yearning to respond to
The singing River and the wise Rock.
So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew
The African, the Native American, the Sioux
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek,
The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheik,
The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,
The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher.
They hear. They all hear
The speaking of the Tree.

They hear the first and last of every Tree
Speak to humankind today.
Come to me,
Here beside the River.
Plant yourself beside the River.

Each of you, descendant of some passed-
On traveler, has been paid for.
You, who gave me my first name, you,
Pawnee, Apache, Seneca, you
Cherokee Nation, who rested with me, then
Forced on bloody feet,
Left me to the employment of
Other seekers — desperate for gain,
Starving for gold.

You, the Turk, the Arab, the Swede,
The German, the Eskimo, the Scot,
The Italian, the Hungarian, the Pole,
You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru, bought
Sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare
Praying for a dream.

Here, root yourselves beside me.
I am that Tree planted by the River,
Which will not be moved.
I, the Rock, I, the River, I, the Tree
I am yours -- your passages have been paid.
Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need
For this bright morning dawning for you.
History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.

Lift up your eyes
Upon this day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream.

Women, children, men,
Take it into the palms of your hands,
Mold it into the shape of your most
Private need. Sculpt it into
The image of your most public self.

Lift up your hearts
Each new hour holds new chances
For a new beginning.
Do not be wedded forever
To fear, yoked eternally
To brutishness.

The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space
To place new steps of change
Here, on the pulse of this fine day

You may have the courage
To look up and out and upon me,
The Rock, the River, the Tree, you country.
No less to Midas than the mendicant.
No less to you now than the mastodon then.

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes,
And into your brother's face,
Your country,
And say simply
Very simply
With hope --
Good morning.

清晨的脉搏

覃学岚 译

岩石、河流、树木
早已匿迹的物种的寄主，
有过乳齿象、恐龙的记录，
它们留下的印迹
历历在目，表明它们
曾在我们星球上面逗留，
它们加速灭绝的警钟
已为阴暗的尘埃和岁月湮灭。

可今天，岩石向我们发出了呼喊，清晰而有力，
来吧，你们可以站在我的
背上去正视你们遥远的命运，
但别在我的阴影下寻求庇护，
我不会为你们提供藏身之所。

你们呀，造物主只让你们
比天使矮了一点点，而你们却在
惨烈的黑暗中龟缩了太久
浑浑噩噩沉溺于
愚昧之中太久，
你们开口闭口
都忘不了杀戮。

岩石今天向我们发出了呼喊，
你可以站在我上面；
但不许把脸藏起来。
从世界之墙的那一边，
河流送来一首美妙的歌。歌中唱道，
来吧，到我身边来歇息。

你们每个人，都是一个有边界的国家，
天生脆弱而又莫名其妙地自豪，
还不停地在重围中挣扎。
为了利益，你们大动干戈
在我的岸边留下了一圈一圈的废物，
在我胸膛上留下了一浪一浪的垃圾。
不过今天，我呼唤你来到我的岸边，
如果你不再琢磨战争。

来吧，穿上和平装，
我会放开歌喉
把造物主在我与树和岩石
还浑然一体时赠我的歌儿唱。
在玩世不恭尚未在你眉宇间凝为血痕前
在你还知道自己依然一无所知的时候。
河流一曲方罢一曲又起。

有一种发自内心的渴望
回应歌唱的河流和睿智的岩石。
说这话的有亚洲人、西班牙人、犹太人
非洲人、印第安人、达科他人
天主教徒、穆斯林教徒、法国人、希腊人
爱尔兰人、拉比、牧师、酋长
同性恋、正派人、传教士
特权阶层、无家可归的人和教师。
他们听见，他们全都听见
树在娓娓道来。

他们听见每棵树浑身上下
今天都在跟人类说话。
到我这儿来吧，
在这河流的旁边。
将你自己植根在河边。

你们每一个人，无非是某个
匆匆过客的子孙，都是用代价换来的。
你，告诉了我你的名字，你，
波尼人、阿帕切人、塞纳卡人，你们
彻罗基人，曾跟我一起休息，然后
被迫拖着血淋淋的脚上路
撇下我，沦为另外一些
要钱不要命的人
谋取利润的工具。

你们土耳其人、阿拉伯人、瑞典人、
德国人、爱斯基摩人、苏格兰人、
意大利人、匈牙利人、波兰人，
你们阿散蒂人、约鲁巴人、克鲁人
倒买倒卖、偷盗之后，做着噩梦
祈祷着好梦。

来吧，在我身边扎下根来。
我是植在河边
移不走的那棵树。
我是岩石，我是河流，我是树木
我是你的——已有人买下的行程。

抬起你的脸来，你迫切需要
这样一个光辉灿烂的黎明。
历史，纵然令人刻骨铭心，
岂能回避，不过
倘若勇敢正视，也无须重复。

抬起你的眼睛
看看为你而来的拂晓。
让好梦
再次降临。

女人们、孩子们、大老爷儿们，
把梦捧在你们的手心里，
将它塑成你们内心
最需要的样子，雕成
你们最好的公众形象。

打起你的精神来
每一个新的小时都为一个新的开始
孕育着新的机遇。
不要永远与恐惧
为伍，终生为残忍
所缚。

地平线向前延伸，
为你提供空间
迈开变化的新步伐。
踏着这美好时光的脉搏
你可以勇气十足
昂首挺胸地看着我、
岩石、河流、树木和你的国家。
迈达斯与乞丐一视同仁。
当今的你与昔日的乳齿象伯仲不分。

踏着这新的一天的脉搏
你可以气宇轩昂
昂首挺胸地打量
你姐妹的目光，
你兄弟的脸庞，
还有你的国家，
满怀希望地
送上一句简单的
非常简单的
早上好。