The Rhodora

Ralph Waldo Emerson

On being asked, Whence is the flower?

In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes¹,

I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,

Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,

To please the desert and the sluggish² brook³.

The purple petals⁴, fallen in the pool,

Made the black water with their beauty gay;

Here might the red-bird come his plumes⁵ to cool,

And court the flower that cheapens his array.

Rhodora! if the sages⁶ ask thee why

This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,

Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,

Then Beauty is its own excuse for being:

Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!

I never thought to ask, I never knew:

But, in my simple ignorance, suppose

The self-same Power that brought me there brought you.

杜鹃

拉尔夫•沃尔多•爱默生

杜鹃花从哪里来?

五月的海风把孤独吹散，

我发现林中新开的杜鹃，

无叶的花朵伴随潮湿幽僻绽放，

让荒凉慵懒的小溪愁眉舒展。

落入池中的紫色花瓣，

让忧郁的池水换上美丽欢快的容颜;

红鸟飞来这里浸润羽毛，

定会自愧不如把此花眷恋。

杜鹃！如果圣哲对你发出疑问，

为何在天地之间枉费你的娇艳，

亲爱的，那你就直言相告，

美丽存在只因眼睛天生为了观看。

为何来到世上，你这玫瑰的劲敌！

我浑然不知，也不想打探：

但我只能浅薄地推测，

造就你我的是同一上天。