Paul-Marie Verlaine was born in Metz, France on this day in 1844.
"My Recurring Dream" by Paul Verlaine
I often have this dream, strange, penetrating,
Of a woman, unknown, whom I love, who loves me,
And who’s never, each time, the same exactly,
Nor, exactly, different: and knows me, is loving.
Oh how she knows me, and my heart, growing
Clear for her alone, is no longer a problem,
For her alone: she alone understands, then,
How to cool the sweat of my brow with her weeping.
Is she dark, blonde, or auburn? – I’ve no idea.
Her name? I remember it’s vibrant and dear,
As those of the loved that life has exiled.
Her eyes are the same as a statue’s eyes,
And in her voice, distant, serious, mild,
The tone of dear voices, those that have died.
Of a woman, unknown, whom I love, who loves me,
And who’s never, each time, the same exactly,
Nor, exactly, different: and knows me, is loving.
Oh how she knows me, and my heart, growing
Clear for her alone, is no longer a problem,
For her alone: she alone understands, then,
How to cool the sweat of my brow with her weeping.
Is she dark, blonde, or auburn? – I’ve no idea.
Her name? I remember it’s vibrant and dear,
As those of the loved that life has exiled.
Her eyes are the same as a statue’s eyes,
And in her voice, distant, serious, mild,
The tone of dear voices, those that have died.
*
From the troubadours of the Middle Ages to the titans of modern poetry, from Rabelais and Ronsard to Aimé Césaire and Yves Bonnefoy, French Poetry offers English-speaking readers a one-volume introduction to a rich and varied tradition. Here are today’s rising stars mingling with the great writers of past centuries: La Fontaine, François Villon, Christine de Pizan, Marguerite de Navarre, Louise Labé, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, Mallarmé, Apollinaire, and many more. Here, too, are representatives of the modern francophone world, encompassing Lebanese, Tunisian, Senegalese, and Belgian poets, including such notable writers as Léopold Senghor, Vénus Khoury-Ghata, and Hédi Kaddour. Finally, this anthology showcases a wide range of the English language’s finest translators—including such renowned poet-translators as Ezra Pound, Marianne Moore, John Ashbery, and Derek Mahon—in a dazzling tribute to the splendors of French poetry. READ an excerpt from the Preface here: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/…/french-poetry-by-edite…/
Alain Buisine 魏爾倫傳 (Verlaine, histore d'un corps)由權/邵寶慶翻譯，上海:上海人民出版社，2007
confrere
魏爾倫（Paul Verlaine, 1844-1896） 極端的性格導致了魏爾倫悲劇性的一生：作為雙性戀者，結髮妻子和天才詩人蘭波最終都棄他而去；因為槍擊蘭波事件被判入獄；又因毆打和威脅母親被判監禁……他的暴力傾向源於內心的絕望，而這絕望的土壤產生了他生命中最敏感、寶貴的歌唱。本書引領我們回顧了魏爾倫痛苦掙扎的一生，對他性格、思想、情感的兩面性進行了深入的剖析。魏爾倫的創作和帕爾納斯等詩歌流派關係密切，本書對這些詩歌流派的記錄極具史料價值。
魏爾倫的詩作，深受波德萊爾和韓波的影響。魏爾倫曾說過：「藝術是絕對的自我。」也因此他在詩中，坦誠、純真地表露自我；而在他優美詩作中的憂鬱、傷懷，更是「魏爾倫式」的傑作中，最撩人憂思的韻味所在。他生於距巴黎東邊312公里的梅斯省。
白色的月
白色的月
照著幽林，
離披的葉
時吐輕音，
聲聲清切：
哦，我的愛人！
一泓澄碧，
淨的琉璃，
微波閃爍，
柳影依依——風在歎息：
夢罷，正其時。
無邊的靜
溫婉，慈祥，
萬丈虹影*垂自穹蒼
五色映輝……
幸福的辰光！
照著幽林，
離披的葉
時吐輕音，
聲聲清切：
哦，我的愛人！
一泓澄碧，
淨的琉璃，
微波閃爍，
柳影依依——風在歎息：
夢罷，正其時。
無邊的靜
溫婉，慈祥，
萬丈虹影*垂自穹蒼
五色映輝……
幸福的辰光！
*HC：譯者梁宗岱解釋為烘托原作而改
月光曲
你的魂是片迷幻的風景
斑衣的俳優在那裏遊行，
他們彈琴而且跳舞——終竟
彩裝下掩不住欲顰的心。
他們雖也曼聲低唱，歌頌
那勝利的愛和美滿的生，
終不敢自信他們的好夢，
他們的歌聲卻散入月明——
散入微茫，淒美的月明裏，
去縈繞樹上小鳥的夢魂，
又使噴泉在白石叢深處
噴出絲絲的歡樂的咽聲。
梁宗岱 譯
魏爾倫∕科比埃爾 Paul Verlaine∕Tristan Corbiere * 作者：李魁賢，臺北：桂冠出版社，2005年