爱华网When You are Old
by William Butler Yeats （1865-1939）
When you are old and gray 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 o--ne 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 among a crowd of stars.
当你老了
威廉·巴特勒·叶芝
邹仲之 译
当你老了，头发白了，睡意昏昏，
偎着炉火打着盹，取下这本书，
慢慢读，梦中回到过去，
过去你的眼眸温柔，眼神深沉；
你的愉快优雅叫多少人爱慕，
他们爱你的美貌那爱有假有真，
唯独一个人爱你朝圣者的灵魂，
也爱你沧桑面容蕴含的凄楚；
炉火熊熊，你佝偻着身躯，
一缕哀愁，几声絮语，爱你的人去了，
他走行在高高的山岗，
漫天星辰隐藏他的脸庞。
[说明] 此诗为叶芝1891年写给他爱恋的爱尔兰革命家毛德·岗（MaudGonne），叶芝把此诗夹在一本书里送给了她。在诗中，叶芝想象多年后，毛德老了时阅读这首诗的情景，而此时，叶芝本人也“去了”。毛德在政治上是激进派，并没有接受温和派叶芝的爱情。
