Billy Collins: Everyday moments, caught in time

譯者: ChiaWei Liu 審譯者: Hsin Haydn

I'm here to give you

今天我給各位帶來

your recommended dietary allowance

每個人詩的

of poetry.

每日建議攝取量

And the way I'm going to do that

我要做的是

is present to you

將五首我的創作

five animations

用動畫的方式

of five of my poems.

呈現給各位

And let me just tell you a little bit of how that came about.

先讓我告訴大家這個想法是怎麼來的

Because the mixing of those two media

因為要將這兩個媒體素材結合起來

is a sort of unnatural or unnecessary act.

其實是有點不自然又多此一舉

But when I was United States Poet Laureate --

但是在我還是美國桂冠詩人的時候...

and I love saying that.

我真喜歡這樣說

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

It's a great way to start sentences.

用這句話來開頭很棒

When I was him back then,

當我還是"他"的時候

I was approached by J. Walter Thompson, the ad company,

廣告公司智威湯遜來找我

and they were hired

他們應該是

sort of by the Sundance Channel.

受了聖丹斯頻道之託

And the idea was to have me record some of my poems

他們的構想是要我錄製一些我的創作

and then they would find animators

然後他們會找來動畫師

to animate them.

替我的創作作出動畫

And I was initially resistant,

一開始我不答應

because I always think

因為我一直認為

poetry can stand alone by itself.

詩能夠獨自地存在

Attempts to put my poems to music

以前我有試過

have had disastrous results,

要把詩變成音樂

in all cases.

結果都很不堪

And the poem, if it's written with the ear,

而且如果詩是用耳朵來寫的話

already has been set to its own verbal music

在創作的時後

as it was composed.

它就已經被賦予了口語的音樂性

And surely, if you're reading a poem

再者

that mentions a cow,

如果你在讀一篇提到牛的詩

you don't need on the facing page

我想你也不必去

a drawing of a cow.

看到一頭牛的圖案

I mean, let's let the reader do a little work.

我想說的是，讓讀者發揮點想像力吧

But I relented because it seemed like an interesting possibility,

但後來我還是答應了

and also I'm like a total cartoon junkie

因為這似乎還蠻有趣的

since childhood.

而且我從小就超愛看卡通

I think more influential

對我來說

than Emily Dickinson or Coleridge or Wordsworth

華納兄弟，快樂美樂蒂和兔寶寶的卡通

on my imagination

對我的想像力的啟發

were Warner Brothers, Merrie Melodies

更勝於艾蜜莉狄更生或是柯勒律治

and Loony Tunes cartoons.

還是華茲華斯的詩

Bugs Bunny is my muse.

我超愛兔寶寶

And this way poetry could find its way onto television of all places.

而且這樣一來，詩就能出現在任何有電視的地方

And I'm pretty much all for poetry in public places --

而我完全支持將詩推及大眾--

poetry on buses, poetry on subways,

不論是在公車上、在地鐵上

on billboards, on cereal boxes.

在廣告看板還是在麥片盒上

When I was Poet Laureate, there I go again --

在我還是桂冠詩人的時候，又來了--

I can't help it, it's true --

真的，我也不想--

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

I created a poetry channel on Delta Airlines

我為達美航空公司做了一個詩的頻道

that lasted for a couple of years.

總共播出了兩年

So you could tune into poetry as you were flying.

人們在搭飛機的時候就也可以欣賞詩了

And my sense is,

我的想法是

it's a good thing to get poetry off the shelves

讓詩從書本裡走出來更貼近大家

and more into public life.

是個很好的概念

Start a meeting with a poem. That would be an idea you might take with you.

你們可以這樣想，就像踏出閱讀詩的第一步

When you get a poem on a billboard or on the radio

當你在廣告看板上，廣播裡

or on a cereal box or whatever,

還是麥片盒上等等的看到詩的時候

it happens to you so suddenly

一切發生得很快

that you don't have time

以至於你來不及去

to deploy your anti-poetry deflector shields

啟動你在高中的時候學到的

that were installed in high school.

詩歌金鐘罩

So let us start with the first one.

那我們就開始第一首吧

It's a little poem called "Budapest,"

這首小品叫作"布達佩斯"

and in it I reveal,

我在裡頭揭露出

or pretend to reveal,

或是假裝揭露出

the secrets of the creative process.

創作歷程的秘密

(Video) Narration: "Budapest."

(影片)旁白: "布達佩斯"

My pen moves along the page

我的筆在紙上寫著

like the snout of a strange animal

就像一隻奇獸的嘴巴

shaped like a human arm

看起來像隻人類的手臂

and dressed in the sleeve

穿著一件

of a loose green sweater.

鬆垮的綠色毛衣

I watch it sniffing the paper ceaselessly,

我看著它不斷地在紙上嗅著

intent as any forager

就像任何一隻動物

that has nothing on its mind

心裡頭甚麼也沒有

but the grubs and insects

只想著能讓他活下去的

that will allow it to live another day.

蠐螬和昆蟲

It wants only to be here tomorrow,

牠只是想活到明天

dressed perhaps

或許可以穿著

in the sleeve of a plaid shirt,

格子花呢衫

nose pressed against the page,

鼻子貼著紙面

writing a few more dutiful lines

乖乖的又寫了幾句

while I gaze out the window

而我正凝視窗外

and imagine Budapest

想像著布達佩斯

or some other city

或是其他的

where I have never been.

我從來沒去過的城市

BC: So that makes it seem a little easier.

這樣就比較好瞭解了

(Applause)

(掌聲)

Writing is not actually as easy as that for me.

其實寫作對我來說沒有這麼簡單

But I like to pretend that it comes with ease.

但我想要假裝這是個信手拈來的工作

One of my students came up after class, an introductory class,

有一個學生在入門課，下課後來找我

and she said, "You know, poetry is harder than writing,"

她說 "我認為作詩比寫作還難"

which I found both erroneous and profound.

我覺得她說的不對但卻發人深省

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

So I like to at least pretend it just flows out.

所以我傾向至少假裝作詩很簡單

A friend of mine has a slogan; he's another poet.

我的一位詩人朋友，他有一句口號

He says that, "If at first you don't succeed,

他說: "如果一開始寫得不好，

hide all evidence you ever tried."

記得把失敗的證據都藏好"

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

The next poem is also rather short.

下一首詩也頗短的

Poetry just says a few things in different ways.

詩就只是用不同的方法詮釋一些東西

And I think you could boil this poem down to saying,

我覺得你們可以把這首詩簡化成

"Some days you eat the bear, other days the bear eats you."

"有時你吃熊，有時熊吃你"

And it uses the imagery

這會運用到各位玩

of dollhouse furniture.

娃娃屋的想像力

(Video) Narration: "Some Days."

(影片)旁白: 有時候

Some days

有時候

I put the people in their places at the table,

我把人們沿著桌子擺好

bend their legs at the knees,

膝蓋的地方彎著

if they come with that feature,

如果買來就是這樣的話

and fix them into the tiny wooden chairs.

然後把他們放在小小的木椅上

All afternoon they face one another,

一整個下午他們面面相覷

the man in the brown suit,

穿咖啡色西裝的男人

the woman in the blue dress --

穿藍色洋裝的女人--

perfectly motionless, perfectly behaved.

完美的靜止，完美的表現

But other days I am the one

但其他時候

who is lifted up by the ribs

我則是那個被提著胳臂

then lowered into the dining room of a dollhouse

放到娃娃屋裡

to sit with the others at the long table.

和其他人一起坐在長桌邊

Very funny.

這很有趣

But how would you like it

但你會不會想要

if you never knew from one day to the next

也許有一天

if you were going to spend it

你可以花上一整天

striding around like a vivid god,

像神一樣闊步

your shoulders in the clouds,

肩膀就在雲端

or sitting down there

或是只是坐著

amidst the wallpaper

夾在壁紙之間

staring straight ahead

用一張小小的塑膠臉

with your little plastic face?

直愣愣的看著前方

(Applause)

(掌聲)

BC: There's a horror movie in there somewhere.

這部裡面有段挺像恐怖片的

The next poem is called forgetfulness,

下一首叫做遺忘

and it's really just a kind of poetic essay

有點像是詩寫成的文章

on the subject of mental slippage.

講的是心理失衡

And the poem begins

詩的開頭是

with a certain species of forgetfulness

一種

that someone called

人們稱為

literary amnesia,

文學健忘症的健忘症

in other words, forgetting the things that you have read.

也就是說，把剛才才讀到的東西給忘了

(Video) Narration: "Forgetfulness."

(影片)旁白: 遺忘

The name of the author is the first to go,

一開始是作者的名字

followed obediently

接著總是

by the title, the plot,

書名，情節

the heartbreaking conclusion,

再來是令人心碎的結局

the entire novel,

然後整本小說

which suddenly becomes one you have never read,

突然變成一本素未謀面的書

never even heard of.

甚至連聽都沒聽過

It is as if, one by one,

這就好像

the memories you used to harbor

記憶的船從熟悉的港口

decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain

統統跑去腦子上的南半球退休去了

to a little fishing village

跑到一個沒有電話的

where there are no phones.

小漁村去

Long ago,

很久以前

you kissed the names of the nine muses good-bye

你向九位繆斯女神們的名字說了聲再見

and you watched the quadratic equation

然後看著二次方程式

pack its bag.

打包行李走人

And even now,

即便現在

as you memorize the order of the planets,

當你試著回想九大行星的順序時

something else is slipping away,

就有甚麼其他的事物被遺忘了

a state flower perhaps,

或許是某個州花

the address of an uncle,

一位叔叔的地址

the capital of Paraguay.

巴拉圭的首都

Whatever it is

不論是甚麼

you are struggling to remember,

你總是很難想得起來

it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,

它沒有在你的舌尖上準備好

not even lurking

也沒有埋伏在

in some obscure corner

你脾臟裡的

of your spleen.

某個角落

It has floated away

它已經漂走了

down a dark mythological river

漂向一條神話裡的黑暗河流

whose name begins with an L

但就你的記得的

as far as you can recall,

也只有那條河名字開頭是L而已

well on your own way to oblivion

在你走向遺忘的道路上

where you will join those

你會遇到那些

who have forgotten even how to swim

連游泳都忘記怎麼游

and how to ride a bicycle.

或是腳踏車都不會騎了的人

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night

難怪你會在半夜爬起來

to look up the date of a famous battle

在書裡面去翻找

in a book on war.

一個有名的戰役的日期

No wonder the Moon in the window

也難怪窗外的月亮

seems to have drifted out of a love poem

怎麼好像

that you used to know by heart.

是從一篇你曾經用心體會的詩中漂了出來

(Applause)

(掌聲)

BC: The next poem is called "The Country"

下一首詩叫做"鄉下"

and it's based on,

我的靈感是來自

when I was in college

我在大學的時候

I met a classmate who remains to be a friend of mine.

的一個同學，現在是我的朋友

He lived, and still does, in rural Vermont.

他一直都住在佛蒙特的鄉村裡

I lived in New York City.

而我住在紐約

And we would visit each other.

我們會互相登門拜訪

And when I would go up to the country,

在我去鄉下的時候

he would teach me things like deer hunting,

他會教我獵鹿

which meant getting lost with a gun basically --

其實就是拿著槍然後迷路了--

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

and trout fishing and stuff like that.

還有去釣鱒魚那類的活動

And then he'd come down to New York City

到他來紐約的時候

and I'd teach him what I knew,

我就會教他我會的事情

which was largely smoking and drinking.

大部分就是抽菸和喝酒

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

And in that way we traded lore with each other.

而我們就這樣互相學習著

The poem that's coming up

接下來的這首詩

is based on him trying to tell me a little something

是有關他要跟我說一些

about a domestic point of etiquette

一開始我很難理解的

in country living

在鄉村居家生活的

that I had a very hard time, at first, processing.

小撇步

It's called "The Country."

這首詩叫做"鄉下"

(Video) Narration: "The Country."

(影片)旁白: "鄉下"

I wondered about you

當你跟我說

when you told me never to leave

不要把易燃的火柴

a box of wooden strike-anywhere matches

隨便丟在家裡

just lying around the house,

因為老鼠會跑進去

because the mice might get into them

然後生火的時候

and start a fire.

我真的很懷疑

But your face was absolutely straight

但是當你把錫罐上的蓋子轉開的時候

when you twisted the lid down

你看起來很正經

on the round tin

你跟我說

where the matches, you said, are always stowed.

這就是我們放火柴的地方

Who could sleep that night?

有誰能在那天晚上睡著?

Who could whisk away the thought

有誰能夠不去想

of the one unlikely mouse

那隻應該不會出現的老鼠

padding along a cold water pipe

沿著冰冷的水管爬著

behind the floral wallpaper,

爬到印花壁紙的後面

gripping a single wooden match

用他尖銳的牙齒

between the needles of his teeth?

咬著一隻木頭火柴?

Who could not see him rounding a corner,

誰能不去注意到沿著牆角跑著

the blue tip scratching against rough-hewn beam,

那藍色的火柴頭摩擦著粗糙的橫樑

the sudden flare

突然一陣火焰

and the creature, for one bright, shining moment,

那生物，就在這明亮閃耀的時刻

suddenly thrust ahead of his time --

突然超越了牠的時空--

now a fire-starter,

變成了一個縱火者

now a torch-bearer

一個火炬手

in a forgotten ritual,

在一個被遺忘的儀式裡

little brown druid

小小的棕色祭師

illuminating some ancient night?

照亮了幾個亙古的夜晚?

And who could fail to notice,

而誰又能不去注意到

lit up in the blazing insulation,

被那閃耀的光線下

the tiny looks of wonderment

其他老鼠小小的

on the faces of his fellow mice --

驚嚇的表情--

one-time inhabitants

那些曾經住在

of what once was your house in the country?

你鄉下家裡的小老鼠們?

(Applause)

(掌聲)

BC: Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

(掌聲)

Thank you. And the last poem is called "The Dead."

謝謝。最後一首詩叫做 "亡人"

I wrote this after a friend's funeral,

我在一位朋友過世後寫下這首詩

but not so much about the friend as something the eulogist kept saying,

但是不是寫

as all eulogists tend to do,

念弔詞的人常說的那些

which is how happy the deceased would be

死去的人們

to look down and see all of us assembled.

看到我們聚在一起有多開心

And that to me was a bad start to the afterlife,

我認為要目睹自己的喪禮還要感到欣慰

having to witness your own funeral and feel gratified.

用這樣的方式開始我的來世很差

So the little poem is called "The Dead."

所以我把這首詩命名為"亡人"

(Video) Narration: "The Dead."

(影片)旁白: "亡人"

The dead are always looking down on us,

他們說

they say.

亡人們總是往下看著我們

While we are putting on our shoes or making a sandwich,

我們在穿鞋子或是做三明治的時候

they are looking down

透過那艘玻璃底的船

through the glass-bottom boats of heaven

他們往下看著

as they row themselves slowly

同時他們慢慢划著船

through eternity.

直到永恆

They watch the tops of our heads

他們看著我的的頭頂

moving below on Earth.

在地球上移動著

And when we lie down

當我們躺下來

in a field or on a couch,

躺在草地上或是沙發上時

drugged perhaps

可能我們正沉浸在

by the hum of a warm afternoon,

溫暖的午後時光裡

they think we are looking back at them,

他們會覺得我們回看他們

which makes them lift their oars

這會讓他們收起槳來

and fall silent

變得安靜無聲

and wait like parents

就像父母親一樣等著

for us to close our eyes.

等到我們都閉上了眼睛

(Applause)

(掌聲)

BC: I'm not sure if other poems will be animated.

我不確定會不會有其他詩被做成動畫

It took a long time --

這花了很長一段時間--

I mean, it's rather uncommon to have this marriage --

我是說，這種關聯很少見--

a long time to put those two together.

要花很長一段時間來把這兩個東西結合起來

But then again, it took us a long time

不過呢，把輪子和行李箱結合在一起

to put the wheel and the suitcase together.

也花了我們不少時間

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

I mean, we had the wheel for some time.

我是說，我們已經使用輪子很久了

And schlepping is an ancient and honorable art.

而在地上拖東西又是一項古老又崇高的藝術

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

I just have time

我還有點時間

to read a more recent poem to you.

來念一首近期寫的詩給你們聽

If it has a subject,

如果有主題的話

the subject is adolescence.

主題就是青春期

And it's addressed to a certain person.

這是為了某個特定的人寫的

It's called "To My Favorite 17-Year-Old High School Girl."

這首詩叫做"給我最愛的17歲女高中生"

"Do you realize that if you had started building the Parthenon

你知道如果你從你出生那天開始

on the day you were born,

就開始蓋帕台農神廟的話

you would be all done in only one more year?

只要再一年你就會完工了嗎?

Of course, you couldn't have done that all alone.

當然，你不可能獨自完成

So never mind;

所以就算了

you're fine just being yourself.

你只要做自己就很好了

You're loved for just being you.

我們喜歡你做你自己

But did you know that at your age

但你知道跟你同年的時候

Judy Garland was pulling down 150,000 dollars a picture,

朱蒂嘉蘭拍個電影就可以賺150,000塊

Joan of Arc was leading the French army to victory

貞德就在帶領法軍打勝仗

and Blaise Pascal had cleaned up his room --

然後布萊茲帕斯卡把自己的房間整理乾淨了--

no wait, I mean he had invented the calculator?

喔不，我是說他發明了計算機

Of course, there will be time for all that

當然，在你的未來的生命裡

later in your life,

類似的事情一樣會發生

after you come out of your room

就在你走出房間

and begin to blossom,

然後像花朵一樣綻放

or at least pick up all your socks.

或是把你的襪子統統撿起來之後

For some reason I keep remembering

基於某些原因我一直想到

that Lady Jane Grey was queen of England

琴格蕾小姐15歲的時候

when she was only 15.

就成為了英國女皇

But then she was beheaded, so never mind her as a role model.

但她之後就被砍頭了，所以不要把她當作偶像

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

A few centuries later,

在幾個世紀之後

when he was your age,

當舒伯特跟你一樣大的時候

Franz Schubert was doing the dishes for his family,

他在家會幫忙洗洗碗

but that did not keep him

但那並沒有阻礙他

from composing two symphonies, four operas

去寫出兩部交響樂和四齣歌劇

and two complete masses as a youngster.

還有兩個完整的彌撒曲

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

But of course, that was in Austria

不過呢，那是在奧地利

at the height of Romantic lyricism,

在浪漫抒情時代高漲的年代

not here in the suburbs of Cleveland.

不是在一個克里夫蘭的郊區裡

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Frankly, who cares

老實說，誰會在乎

if Annie Oakley was a crack shot at 15

安妮歐克麗在15歲就成神射手

or if Maria Callas debuted as Tosca at 17?

或瑪麗亞卡拉絲17歲就在托斯卡裡初試啼聲

We think you're special just being you --

我們覺得你做自己就可以很特別--

playing with your food and staring into space.

玩玩食物或是在盯著空氣發呆

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

By the way,

對了

I lied about Schubert doing the dishes,

舒伯特洗碗的事我是騙你的

but that doesn't mean he never helped out around the house."

不過並不代表他從來不做家事

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

(Applause)

(掌聲)

Thank you. Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

(掌聲)

Thanks.

謝謝

(Applause)

(掌聲)