Inaction, no falsifying dream
Between my hooked head and hooked feet:
Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.
我栖息在树端,双眼紧闭。
在我如钩般的头与爪之间的身体:
纹丝不动,无梦无息
或在熟睡中演练完美的猎杀和啄食。
The convenience of the high trees!
The air's buoyancy and the sun's ray
Are of advantage to me;
And the earth's face upward for my inspection.
高枝予我以便利!
空气的浮力与太阳的光辉
成就了我的优势;
地球上的一切都在接受我的检阅。
My feet are locked upon the rough bark.
It took the whole of Creation
To produce my foot, my each feather:
Now I hold Creation in my foot
我的双爪紧紧抓住粗糙的树皮。
万物之主造就了我
我的利爪,以至于每一根羽毛:
如今,万物尽在我的掌握之中。
Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly —
I kill where I please because it is all mine.
There is no sophistry in my body:
My manners are tearing off heads —
或者一飞冲天,慢慢盘旋——
兴之所至,手到擒来,因为一切都是我的。
我的躯体里没有别的念头:
我的主旨就是撕开猎物的头颅——
The allotment of death.
For the one path of my flight is direct
Through the bones of the living.
No arguments assert my right:
生死由我掌控。
我飞翔的目的清晰而唯一
直扑猎物,粉身碎骨。
我的权利不容争辩:
The sun is behind me.
Nothing has changed since I began.
My eye has permitted no change.
I am going to keep things like this.
上帝护佑着我。
从一开始,就没有任何改变。
我不允许任何改变。
一切如常,一如既往。
泰德·休斯Ted Hughes,英国诗人、儿童文学作家,休斯的诗歌笔触有力,情绪愤激,尤其擅写猛禽凶兽的动物诗。这首诗的主角,鹰,是丛林法则、暴政和权利的象征,人类社会又何尝不是如此?最后两行,鹰声称不会容许改变现状,或许也表现出诗人对世界的担忧。休斯本人也说:“事实上我想的是,在这只鹰身上是大自然在思索,简单说就是大自然自己。”