prising, unveiling, affirm

That the play is the tragedy, "Man,"

And its hero the Conqueror Worm.

(1843)

征服者爬虫①

瞧！这是个喜庆之夜

在最近这些寂寞的年头！

一群天使，收拢翅膀，

遮好面纱，掩住泪流，

坐在一个剧场，观看

一出希望与恐怖之剧，

此时乐队间间断断

奏出天外之曲。

装扮成上帝的一群小丑，

叽叽咕咕，自言自语，

从舞台这头飞到那头——

他们只是木偶，来来去去

全由许多无形物支配，

无形物不断把场景变换，

从它们秃鹰的翅膀内

拍出看不见的灾难！

那出杂剧——哦，请相信

将不会被人遗忘！

因为那些抓不住幻想的人

永远都在追求幻想，

因为一个永远旋转的怪圈

最后总是转回原处，

因为情节之灵魂多是罪愆，

充满疯狂，充满恐怖。

可看哟，就在那群小丑之中

闯进了一个蠕动的怪物！

那可怕的怪物浑身血红，

从舞台角落扭动而出！

它扭动——扭动！真是可怕，

小丑都成了它的美餐，

天使们呜咽，见爬虫毒牙

正把淋淋人血浸染。

熄灭——熄灭——熄灭灯光！

罩住每一个哆嗦的影子，

大幕像一块裹尸布一样，

倏然落下像暴风骤雨，

这时脸色苍白的天使，

摘下面纱，起身，肯定

这是一幕叫《人》的悲剧，

而主角是那征服者爬虫。

（1843）

注释

①　这首诗后来被爱伦·坡嵌入其小说《丽姬娅》1845年修改稿。美国作曲家弗朗茨·博恩沙因（Franz Bornschein，1879—1948）于1935年根据这首诗创作了乐队或钢琴伴奏女声三声部合唱曲《征服者爬虫》。——译者注

Dream-Land

By a route obscure and lonely,

Haunted by ill angels only,

Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,

On a black throne reigns upright,

I have reached these lands but newly

From an ultimate dim Thule —

From a wild weird clime that lieth, sublime,

Out of SPACE—out of TIME.

Bottomless vales and boundless floods,

And chasms, and caves, and Titan woods,

With forms that no man can discover

For the tears that drip all over;

Mountains toppling evermore

Into seas without a shore;

Seas that restlessly aspire,

Surging, unto skies of fire;

Lakes that endlessly outspread

Their lone waters—lone and dead,—

Their still waters—still and chilly

With the snows of the lolling lily.

By the lakes that thus outspread

Their lone waters, lone and dead,—

Their sad waters, sad and chilly

With the snows of the lolling lily,—

By the mountains—near the river

Murmuring lowly, murmuring ever,—

By the grey woods,—by the swamp

Where the toad and the newt encamp,—

By the dismal tarns and pools

Where dwell the Ghouls,—

By each spot the most unholy—

In each nook most melancholy,—

There the traveller meets, aghast,

Sheeted Memories of the Past—

Shrouded forms that start and sigh

As they pass the wanderer by—

White-robed forms of friends long given,

In agony, to the Earth—and Heaven.

For the heart whose woes are legion

'Tis a