诗歌欣赏：Jorie Graham《Why》

This poem was freshly published on New Yorker July 14, 2021. It’s interesting and special in sentence pauses and word uses. See the brief introduction about the author, a currently well known poetess at the bottom. 

这首诗刚刚在 2021 年 7 月 14 日在《纽约客》上发表。它在断句和单词使用方面很有趣也很特别。 见底部的作者简介。作者是一位当代为人熟知的美国女诗人乔莉·格雷厄姆，哈佛教授。

Click the link below to listen to reciting of the poem by the author herself:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/05/why/amp


Why
By Jorie Graham

you ask me
again—why
putting your tiny hand on
the not yet

unsheathed
bud on the
rhododendron
and I see

I need to be sky
I need to be soil
there are no words
for why that I

can find fast
enough, why
you say at
the foot of the cherry’s wide

blossomfall
is it dead now why
did it let go, why,
tossed out

into what appears
to be silence
when I say
let’s run the

rain is starting—why
are we lost why did
we just leave
where we just

were why is
everything
so far behind
now as we go on I

see you think
when you reach
me again to ask
why when I say

are you coming now &

you say no,
I want to stay, I want
things to stay, I do
not want to come

away from things—what
is this we are
entering—me taking yr
hand now to speed

our going
as fast as we can in this suddenly
hard rain, yr
hand not letting go

of the rose pebble u found
feeling the first itching of
personal luck as
you now slowly

pocket it thinking
you have taken
with you a piece of
what u could not

leave behind. It is
why we went there
and left there.
It is your why.

 

Why
《为什么》

（翻译：忒绿）

you ask me
又一次
again—why
你问我 - 为什么
putting your tiny hand on
你把小手放在
the not yet
还没有

unsheathed
出苞的
bud on the
杜鹃花的
rhododendron
蓓蕾上
and I see
而我明白

I need to be sky
我需要成为天
I need to be soil
我需要成为地
there are no words
可也没有发现任何词语
for why that I
来回答为什么尽管我
can find fast
尽力地
enough, why
搜寻，看着
you say at
樱树
the foot of the cherry’s wide
树根处成片

blossomfall
凋落的樱花你说为什么
is it dead now why
它会死为什么
did it let go, why,
让花掉落下来，为什么，
tossed out
被静默地

into what appears
丢弃
to be silence
在那里
when I say
当我说
let’s run the
我们快跑雨

rain is starting—why
就要来了 - 为什么
are we lost why did
我们迷失了为什么
we just leave
我们非要离开
where we just
我们刚刚到达的地方

were why is
为什么
everything
任何事情
so far behind
都远远地落在了
now as we go on I
我们现在前行脚步的后面我

see you think
看见你又一次思索着
when you reach
走近我
me again to ask
问为什么
why when I say
在当我说

are you coming now &
你现在要过来吗而

you say no,
你说不，
I want to stay, I want
我想停留、我想让
things to stay, I do
事物停留，我
not want to come
不想离开

away from things—what
这些事物 - 这
is this we are
是我们正在进入的
entering—me taking yr
东西 - 我现在拽着你的
hand now to speed
手加速

our going
前行
as fast as we can in this 
越快越好在这一场
suddenly
突然降临的
hard rain, yr
暴雨里，你的
hand not letting go
手没有抛开
of the rose pebble u found
你发现的那块玫瑰色的鹅卵石
feeling the first itching of
带着自己渴望第一次得到满足
personal luck as
的欣慰
you now slowly
你慢慢地

pocket it thinking
把它放进口袋里心里想着
you have taken
你怀揣了
with you a piece of
一件
what u could not
你终究不能够

leave behind. It is
舍弃的东西。这是
why we went there
为什么我们去了那里
and left there.
又离开那里。
It is your why.
这是你的为什么。

Author: Jorie Graham
1950–

One of the most celebrated poets of the American post-war generation, Jorie Graham is the author of numerous collections of poetry.

Jorie Graham was born in New York City and raised in Rome, Italy. She studied philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris before attending New York University as an undergraduate, where she studied filmmaking. She received an MFA in Poetry from the University of Iowa.

She has taught at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is currently the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University.

About her work, James Longenbach writes in the New York Times: “For 30 years Jorie Graham has engaged the whole human contraption—intellectual, global, domestic, apocalyptic—rather than the narrow emotional slice of it most often reserved for poems. She thinks of the poet not as a recorder but as a constructor of experience. Like Rilke or Yeats, she imagines the hermetic poet as a public figure, someone who addresses the most urgent philosophical and political issues of the time simply by writing poems.”