A Wife In London 倫敦的妻子

A Wife In London
Thomas Hardy

I

She sits in the tawny vapour

That the Thames-side lanes have uprolled,

Behind whose webby fold-on-fold

Like a waning taper

The street-lamp glimmers cold.

A messenger’s knock cracks smartly,

Flashed news in her hand

Of meaning it dazes to understand

Though shaped so shortly:

He—he has fallen—in the far South Land…

II

’Tis the morrow; the fog hangs thicker,

The postman nears and goes:

A letter is brought whose lines disclose

By the firelight flicker

His hand, whom the worm now knows:

Fresh—firm—penned in highest feather—

Page-full of his hoped return,

And of home-planned jaunts of brake and burn

In the summer weather,

And of new love that they would learn.

倫敦的妻子
哈代
 

(一)

泰晤士河邊條條小巷一片濃霧，

她獨自坐在褐色霧氣的深處，

透過重重的霧帳，

街燈象一支殘燭，

閃著寒冷的微光。

敲門聲清晰響亮，

送信人把急電交到她手上。

電文內(nèi)容雖然簡短，

卻使她猛一下眩暈倘恍：

他——在南方遙遠的土地上——陣亡……

(二)

第二天清晨大霧更濃，

郵遞員送信來去匆匆。

閃閃的爐火照著一封家書，

字字行行都是他親筆寫出，

而那只手呀，此刻已有蛆蟲光顧。

墨跡猶新，字體堅實，意氣昂揚，

滿篇都傾訴他渴望還鄉(xiāng)：

他打算就在明朗的夏天，

徜徉在故鄉(xiāng)的溪畔林間，

他們要把愛情重新體驗。

張玲　張揚 譯