meditation¹

russell green

i saw the stars against the summer night

still trembling as they trembled when the light

first fell upon them from the further world.

i could not bend my proud humanity

to kneel before the cold immensity,

i,who had youth and love,i,who could know,——

they,——flotsam on the ethereal ebb² and flow,

dead things unmoved by immaterial fire

of hope and anguish³ and divine desire.

they were not more omnipotent⁴ than i,

they could not see and dream and change and die.

i could not bow before infinity⁵,

the silent grandeur⁶ could not conquer me.

默想

罗素·格林

我看见夏夜的星星，闪闪发亮，

似乎遥远的空际，

为他们送来第一缕灵光。

我不会抛弃人性的尊严，

去膜拜那不尽的冰凉，

我拥有爱和青春，还有求知的能量；

而他们是毫无生气的残渣，

漂浮于潮汐翻卷的波浪，

缺少精神之火，哪有苦闷和神圣的期 望。

他们不如我全知全能，

他们不见、不变、无梦、没有死亡。

我不能对无穷无尽低头弯腰，

我不会屈服于沉寂的堂皇。