Melancholy

Miss Melancholy

a poem by Tatiana

Dear Miss Melancholy,
I write constantly of how you affect me
you're like a guest
who overstays their welcome
in my head
and in my heart.
You seem to keep me all together
yet you constantly tear me apart.
And sometimes I think
that I will miss your constant presence,
but then I remember,
I will not miss Miss Melancholy
because she enjoys my sadness
and loves making me bleed
for reasons that are not clear to me.

 

附注：最近在词典里查“melancholy”的中文翻译。这个词常见的翻译是“忧郁”、“悲伤”、“悲哀”等。你们学会英文的人可能知道，“melancholy”这个词不完全是这个意思。我觉得，这些翻译太强调“melancholy”的悲伤方面。这个英文词不一定只指一种郁闷和悲伤的情绪。

那“melancholy”究竟是什么意思呢？对我来说，这个词带有一种很浓的诗意。它是一种心理状态。在这样的心情下，人们倾向于思考过去，白日做梦地沉思一去不复返的幸福的时刻。我觉得，偶尔感觉“melancholy”不必是一件坏事。最珍贵的“melancholy”时刻是跟老朋友一起经验的。

我们也经常用“melancholy”这个词来描写音乐的感情。比如Leonard Cohen的《Suzanne》是一个非常有”melancholy“的歌曲。

Melancholy的情感可能跟sentimental很像，可以翻译成“怀旧”或“感性”

文字来源：http://lang-8.com/348514/journals/1574075?

 

Suzanne is a song written by Canadian poet and singer/song writer Leonard Cohen which was first written as a poem in 1966 and first recorded by Judy Collins that same year. In 1967 he recorded it as a single from his album Songs of Leonard Cohen. This intimate song was inspired by his platonic relationship with Suzanne Verdal, the then girlfriend of sculpter Armand Valliancourt. It relates to their visits at her apartment by the Montreal harbor and walks past the church of Notre - Dame - de - Bon - Secoures where sailors were blessed before going to sea.

Suzanne

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by, you can spend the night forever
And you know that she's half-crazy but that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her that you have no love to give her
Then he gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer that you've always been her lover

And you want to travel with her, and you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body with your mind

And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them
But he himself was broken, long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone

And you want to travel with him, and you want to travel blind
And you think you maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with her mind

Now, Suzanne takes your hand and she leads you to the river
She's wearing rags and feathers from Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey on our lady of the harbor
And she shows you where to look among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed, there are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love and they wil lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds her mirror

And you want to travel with her, and you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind