From Akhmatova's Window - Wang Jiaxin / 王家新

Wang Jiaxin / 王家新/





From Akhmatova's Window

In Petersburg,
the Akhmatova museum,
fourth floor of "The Fountain House".
As if passing Hell's fourth circle halfway down,
I behold the dark grove beyond the window,
in its trees a half-hidden Siren,
a grieving mother, unyielding son,
a father knocked to the ground by a rifle-butt.
I see a cortège trailing through the treetops,
my last life's beloved still dazed on a park bench.
I see hands tacking poetry to tree trunks.
I see those who fled, signing crosses on their chests.
I see Marina's deep hollowed eyes turned toward me.
I see skulking men conceal themselves,
pockets bulging.
I see one blackbird bob across the grass, then another,
I see a snowmound in a corner, after thirty years unmelted.
I see dead souls self-flogging.
I see summer in the tree and the gilded autumn coming.
I see spring's lawn and the painful ring-dance.
I see all this, as if parting again from everything
I left long ago.
I see all this, as if dreaming open-eyed.
Someone with me watches behind my right shoulder.
We spiral up time's tower,
standing still at Akhmatova's window.

(Translated by Diana Shi & George O'Connell)





从阿赫玛托娃的窗口

在彼得堡，
在阿赫玛托娃纪念馆，
在这座被称为“喷泉屋”的四层楼上，
仿佛穿过“地狱”的第四圈，来到一个半坡上回望——
我看着窗外这个可疑的带风景的花园，
我看到树林间掩映着一个鸟身女妖，
我看到受难的母亲，倔犟的儿子，被枪托推倒在地的父亲，
我看到一场葬礼在树梢融化；
我看到我前世的情人仍坐在长椅上发呆，
我看到人们又在树上张贴诗歌海报；
我看到从这里出去的人，一个个在胸前划着十字，
我看到玛丽娜深陷的大眼睛，在朝我凝望；
我看到几个探头探脑的人，仍躲在树丛后，
衣兜里露出了报话器；
我看到一只黑鸟在草地上蹦跳，接着是另一只；
我看到花园一角的那堆雪，多少年了，还未融化。
我看到死魂灵们仍在鞭打自己。
我看到树上的夏天和即将来临的金色秋天。
我看到了春天草地上最悲痛的环舞。
我看着这一切，“仿佛我在重新告别
那在多年前我已告别的一切。”
我看着这一切，仿佛睁眼看着一个梦。
我看着它，我感到在我右肩的背后
还有一个人和我一起眺望，
因为我盘旋而上，在一个时间之塔上
站在了阿赫玛托娃的窗口。




***



Wang Jiaxin is a poet, essayist, critic and translator. He was born in 1957 in Hubei Province and enrolled in Wuhan University in 1978. In 1985 he moved to Beijing and began working as an editor for the journal "Poetry". He is the author of more than thirty collections of poetry and essays and translations. He is also the editor of many poetry anthologies: "Poems from Modern European and American Poets" (three volumes), "Chinese Poetry in the 1990s" , "An Introductory Guide to the World Modern Poetry". Since 2006 he has been Professor of Literature at Renmin University of China.
Wang Jiaxin is one of China's most eminent contemporary poets. He is highly regarded not only for his poetry, but also for his essays, criticism and translation. He has been invited frequently to attend international literary festivals and hold readings in many countries. His poetry and essays have received many awards. He is a former poet-in-residence at Colgate Univ., and 2013 resident in the Univ. of Iowa International Writing Program.A collection of his poems, "Dämmerung auf Gotland", published in Austria in 2011, "Nachgereichte Gedichte", published in Austria in 2017, "Night Train", published in Croatia in 2017. His collection of poems in English, titled "Darkening Mirror", translated by Diana Shi & George O'Connell with foreword by Robert Hass, was published in the US in 2017.


王家新，中国当代诗人，1957 年生于湖北丹江口，高中毕业后下放劳动，1978 年考
入武汉大学中文系。现为中国人民大学文学院教授，博士生导师。王家新的创作贯穿了中国当代诗歌四十年来的历程，先后出版有诗集、诗歌批评、诗论随笔、译诗集三十多种，并有中外现代诗歌诗论编著多种，在创作的同时，他的诗学批评和诗歌翻译也产生了广泛影响，被视为中国当代最重要、最有持久影响力的诗人之一。作品被译成多种文字发表和出版，其中包括德文诗选《哥特兰的黄昏》《晚来的献诗》、克罗地亚文诗选《夜行火车》、英文诗选《变暗的镜子》等。多次应邀参加一些国际诗歌节和文学交流活动，在国外一些大学讲学，2000 年德国慕尼黑文学艺术中心驻留作家，2007 年美国柯盖特大学驻校诗人，2013 年应邀参加爱荷华大学国际写作项目。曾获韩国KC 国际诗文学奖等多种国内外诗歌奖、诗学批评奖和翻译奖。由美国前桂冠诗人罗伯特·哈斯作序的英文诗选《变暗的镜子》入围2018 年度卢西安·斯特里克文学翻译奖，2019 年5 月被罗马尼亚雅西市授予“罗马尼亚历史名都诗人”称号。