纪念祖父母的六节诗

昨晚灯下写了英文Sestina六节诗，这种诗体结构颇复杂，共6节，每节6行，再加3行作结尾，共39行诗。六节中诗行的结尾必用同样的六个单词，但六个单词的排序又都不同。例如，我用了1.house房子, 2.grandparents祖父母, 3.child孩子, 4.away离去, 5.behind后面, 6.remarks谈话作为第一节的诗行结尾，第二节诗的六句也要用同样结尾，但不同的顺序，顺序变为615243, 第三节六行诗用同样的六个单词，但顺序是364125, 第四节六行诗结尾是532614, 第五节是451362, 第六节是246531. 最后三行也有讲究，第一行里要有第1.house房子和第2.grandparents祖父母在诗里；第二行里要有3.child孩子, 4.away离去 在诗里；第三行里要有5.behind后面, 6.remarks谈话在诗句里。

 

我喜欢六节诗，不是因为它繁琐的结构，而是源于美国女诗人Elizabeth Bishop(1911-1979)的一首纪念她祖母的六节诗，每每读起，总将轻舟的记忆带回幼时与自己祖父母在一起的美好时光。昨夜写六节诗，以此缅怀对年幼轻舟疼爱有加的祖父母。今晚将诗翻译为中文。

 

Sestina
by Light Boat

 

September breeze blows on the house.
In the dwindling twilight, the old grandparents
sit in the kitchen with the child.
The swallows are chirping away,
leaving for the south with their nests behind.
Time for the winter, grandfather remarks.

He thinks that his chatty remarks
will cause attention in the house,
but the child is dreaming on the chair behind.
She sees the dust in the twilight, over the grandparents;
the dust flys in the light, dancing away,
while grandmother finds some peanuts for the child.

It's time for peanuts; but the child
thinks of the candies, and she remarks,
I like a candy instead, she cries her way,
with the sound of the wind blowing over the house.
Checking in the cabinet, and the old grandparents,
cheerfully, they find a candy from behind.

The child wipes away her tears on the chair behind,
taking the candy and savoring as a child,
twinkling are the delightful eyes of the grandparents.
I discover the dust can fly, the child remarks.
Now the moon starts to climb up over the house,
feeling chilly, and winter is not far away.

Do you know, says the grandfather, your parents are far away.
I know what you say, thinks the child behind.
With candy melting in the mouth, the child sees a string in the house,
Grandfather can teach you how to tie a slipknot, and the child
learns to tie the knot; good job, grandfather remarks.
Happily, the child ties the knot for the grandparents.

But secretly, while the grandparents
busy themselves cooking the dinner away,
the fire in the stove jumps up and down as if to remark
I brighten the faces of grandparents from behind,
blending them into the loving sight of a child,
and they have been carefully placed with the memories of the house.

Put away the string, ask the grandparents in the house,
candies are sweet, thinks the child while the string is put away.
I am adding more wood in the stove, the grandfather remarks from behind.

 

六节诗

轻舟一叶

 

九月微风吹过房子

渐弱的黄昏暮光中

年老的祖父母与孩子坐在厨房

燕子吱吱喳喳地飞远

离开他们的鸟巢，南迁

冬天就要到了，爷爷说

 

爷爷以为他的闲谈

能够引起家人的注意

但坐在椅子后面的孩子却在神游

暮光中的尘埃，漂浮过祖父母

尘埃在光线中飞扬，舞动

奶奶为孩子找了些花生

 

来吃花生了，但孩子

却想吃糖果，她说：

我要吃糖，她的哭叫声

和秋风吹刮房子的声音连在一起

祖父母到柜子里找寻

很高兴地在柜子后面找到了一粒糖果

 

坐在椅子后面的孩子擦干眼泪

拿过糖果，津津有味地吃起来

祖父母的眼睛里闪着愉快的光彩

我发现尘埃会飞，孩子说。

月亮慢慢爬到了房子上空

冷飕飕的,冬天是不远了。

 

你知道吗？爷爷说，你的父母住得很远

我知道你说什么？孩子想。

糖在嘴里溶化，孩子看到房子里的一根细绳

爷爷可以教你打活结，于是孩子

学着打活结，打得很好，爷爷称赞

孩子高兴地打起活结给奶奶看

 

但悄悄之中，当两老

忙着作晚餐时

灶膛里的火苗跳动，像是在谈，

我用光照亮了老人的脸庞

融合到孩子爱的视域

与房子一同珍藏到记忆深处

 

祖父母让孩子收好绳子

糖真甜，孩子收好绳子时想。

我再给灶膛里加些火吧，爷爷说。

 

sestina 六节诗 介绍：

 A sestina (also, sextina, sestine, or sextain) is a highly structured poem consisting of six six-line stanzas followed by a tercet (called its envoy or tornada), for a total of thirty-nine lines. The same set of six words ends the lines of each of the six-line stanzas, but in a different order each time; if we number the first stanza's lines 123456, then the words ending the second stanza's lines appear in the order 615243, then 364125, then 532614, then 451362, and finally 246531. This organization is referred to as retrogradatio cruciata ("retrograde cross"). These six words then appear in the tercet as well, with the tercet's first line usually containing 1 and 2, its second 3 and 4, and its third 5 and 6 (but other versions exist, described below).

(link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sestina)