When You Are Old
——William Butler Yeats
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
William Butler Yeats
1865–1939
Yeats
当你老了
译者：裘小龙
当你老了，头发灰白，满是睡意，
在炉火旁打盹，取下这一册书本，
缓缓地读，梦到你的眼睛曾经
有的那种柔情，和它们的深深影子；
多少人爱你欢乐美好的时光，
爱你的美貌，用或真或假的爱情，
但有一个人爱你那朝圣者的灵魂，
也爱你那衰老了的脸上的哀伤；
在燃烧的火炉旁边俯下身，
凄然地喃喃说，爱怎样离去了，
在头上的山峦中间独步踽踽，
把他的脸埋藏在一群星星中。
