经济学人367:温暖的火花

 　　New poetry

　　新诗集

　　Sparks of warmth

　　温暖的火花

　　Love's Bonfire. By Tom Paulin.

　　《爱之篝火》汤姆 坡林著

　　TOM PAULIN, an Anglo-Irish poet and Oxford¹ academic, is no stranger to the evocative power of words. He was born in Leeds in 1949 and grew up in Belfast.

　　汤姆 坡林，一位盎格鲁血统的爱尔兰诗人兼牛津学者，运用字句能量来激荡人心，挥洒自如。他于1949年出生于里兹，后于贝尔法斯特长大成人。

　　His work is attentive² to the shift between these differing cultures, the pinpoints³ of speech that separate one from another.

　　他的作品关注不同文化之间的微妙转换，以及相应的独特语言记号。

　　His poetry takes place both against the backdrop of Irish sectarian violence and in the glare of “that cold intense/English light”;

　　其诗歌创作时期，正逢爱尔兰宗派暴力斗争涌起，同时“冷酷繁复的英文”正焕发光芒，大行其道。

　　his feeling of displacement⁴ between the two places described in lean, simple phrases.

　　他在两者之间逡巡，颇有流离之感，于是付诸笔端，词句嶙峋，着意素淡。

　　“Love's Bonfire”, his latest collection, is no less stark⁵.

　　《爱之篝火》是他最新的集子，风格一如既往，鲜明夺目。

　　Eight years in the making, Mr Paulin's poetry has been whittled⁶ down over years of revision.

　　历时8年，几经批删，坡林先生成诗十分精悍。

　　His short, punchy poems are characterised by their ability to evoke⁷ images through the smallest of details, or through sudden shifts of register.

　　虽篇幅短小，却一击中的，其诗特色便是，以最幽微的细节抑或语域的骤然切换，于读者眼前唤起鲜活画面。

　　Often impatient with what he sees as euphemisms⁸ or newspeak—“It was some phrase like level playing field/that gunked me as he said it”

　　他对于那些忸怩的委婉语或做作的新闻语极其不耐烦。“‘公平竞争平台'一旦出口/我瞬间陷入泥潭沼泽”。

　　—Mr Paulin's poems fight against lazy uses of language: “let's try to unpack⁹ this gave me the cue/to leave”.

　　坡林先生极其反对懒惰地套用现成词句。“‘我们就用这个吧'/此时我应掉头便走”。

　　Like the nearly burned-out bonfire described in the title poem, Mr Paulin's poetry revels¹⁰ in a certain charred¹¹ bleakness¹².

　　诗集开篇中所描述的，那余烬尚有一丝红亮的篝火，正是坡林先生的诗，仅存词句之焦烬，似无意涵之生息，却别蕴一种狂纵和自得。

　　However, the poems that make up the centre of “Love's Bonfire”—translations and adaptations by Mr Paulin from the work of his contemporary, the Palestinian poet Walid Khazendar—are far more playful.

　　然而，构筑《爱之篝火》主骨的则是坡林先生译自或改写其同代人——巴勒斯坦诗人Walid Khazendar的作品，似乎出于玩乐趣味。

　　Coupling Mr Paulin's lean language with the livelier, surreal images of Mr Khazendar, they are among the most compelling works here.

　　坡林先生的语言瘦骨嶙峋，搭配Khazendar诗作的蓬勃生机和荒诞画面，真是引人入胜的组合。

　　Whether it is the description “you drag your shadow behind you/like it's a ladder” or the dreamlike evocation¹³ of someone,

　　无论是“你身后拖着影子/仿佛踩着梯子”之类的句子，或是某人

　　who “wanted to rub his tongue on tree bark/and ask how it happened”, these poems prevent “Love's Bonfire” from becoming too austere¹⁴.

　　“将舌头于树皮上摩擦/问这一切何以发生”之类梦幻的画面，都让《爱之篝火》不会过于素淡寡味。

　　And although Mr Khazendar's poetry can be serious or sinister—one,

　　尽管Khazendar的诗作可能严肃而且恐怖，

　　“Belongings”, opening “Who entered my room when I was out/and moved the vase on the mantelpiece just a tad?”—in Mr Paulin's translations, they never seem too laboured.

　　比如《归属》这首的开头，“是谁趁我外出闯入房间/将壁炉上花瓶挪动一丁点”，坡林先生的翻译却毫无累赘之感。

　　This may surprise some readers who are aware of Mr Paulin's work as a cultural commentator¹⁵ in Britain.

　　对于那些把坡林先生视作英国文化评论员的读者们来说，这些作品可能让他们大吃一惊。

　　On television his political statements are not always so nuanced.

　　他在电视节目里的政治评论并不总是如此意涵微妙。

　　But unlike these appearances, in “Love's Bonfire” Mr Paulin demonstrates the strength that comes with saying less, not unlike relying on only a spark for warmth.

　　恰恰相反，坡林先生在《爱之篝火》里展现了简词素句的力量，所凭依的，不过是一颗温暖的小火花。

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

3 pinpoints   

准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的第三人称单数 )； 为…准确定位

参考例句：

• The bombs hit the pinpoints at which they were aimed. 炸弹精确地击中了目标。
• There's really no point in arguing about pinpoints. 为芝麻绿豆般的小事争论实在毫无意义。

4 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

5 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

6 whittled   

v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He whittled a simple toy from the piece of wood. 他把那块木头削成了一个简易的玩具。
• The government's majority has been whittled down to eight. 政府多数票减少到了八票。

7 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

8 euphemisms   

n.委婉语，委婉说法( euphemism的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• No point is in mincing words or hiding behind euphemisms. 没有必要闪烁其词或者羞羞答答。 来自辞典例句
• No point in mincing words or hiding behind euphemisms. 没必要闪烁其词或者羞羞答答。 来自辞典例句

9 unpack   

vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货

参考例句：

• I must unpack before dinner.我得在饭前把行李打开。
• She said she would unpack the items later.她说以后再把箱子里的东西拿出来。

10 revels   

n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉

参考例句：

• Christmas revels with feasting and dancing were common in England. 圣诞节的狂欢歌舞在英国是很常见的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Dickens openly revels in the book's rich physical detail and high-hearted conflict. 狄更斯对该书中丰富多彩的具体细节描写和勇敢的争斗公开表示欣赏。 来自辞典例句

11 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 bleakness   

adj. 萧瑟的, 严寒的, 阴郁的

参考例句：

• It forgoes the bleakness of protest and dissent for the energizing confidence of constructive solutions. 它放弃了bleakness抗议和持不同政见者的信心，激发建设性的解决办法。
• Bertha was looking out of the window at the bleakness of the day. 伯莎望着窗外晦暗的天色。

13 evocation   

n. 引起，唤起 n. <古> 召唤，招魂

参考例句：

• Against this brilliant evocation of airlessness we may put Whitman's view of the poet. 我们从他这段批评诗人无生气的精采论述中，可以看出惠特曼对于诗人的看法。
• It prefers evocation spells and illusions to help it disguise It'self. 他更喜欢塑能系法术和可以辅助伪装自己的幻术。

14 austere   

adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的

参考例句：

• His way of life is rather austere.他的生活方式相当简朴。
• The room was furnished in austere style.这间屋子的陈设都很简单朴素。

15 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。