罗伯特·潘·沃伦(Robert Penn Warren, 1905—1989年),美国第一任桂冠诗人。早年为“新批评派”代表之一,晚年诗风发生重大转变。被评论界称为“我们最杰出的文学家”以及“二十世纪后半叶最重要的美国诗人”。
It was only a bird call at evening, unidentified①,
As I came from the spring with water, across the rocky back-pasture②;
But I stood so still sky above was not stiller than sky in pail③-water.
Years pass, all places and faces fade, some people have died,
And I stand in a far land, the evening still, and am at last sure
That I miss more that stillness at bird-call than some things that were to fail later.
① unidentifiedadj. 未辨别出的;身份不明的
② pasturen. 牧草地,放牧场;牧草
③ pailn. 桶;提桶;一桶的量[(+of)]
世事沧桑话鸣鸟
那只是一只鸟在晚上鸣叫,认不出是什么鸟,
当我从泉边取水回来,走过满是石头的牧场,
我站得那么静,头上的天空和水桶里的天空一样静。
多少年过去,多少地方多少脸都淡漠了,有的人已谢世,
而我站在远方,夜那么静,我终于肯定
我最怀念的,不是那些终将消逝的东西,
而是鸟鸣时那种宁静。
这是一首现代自然诗,该诗简洁明静。淡淡几个字深深刻出世事沧桑,宁静鸟鸣映衬出作者内心的思想,内心的宁静才是最美的时刻,这首诗体现出了一种宁静之美。