01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 | I like to see it lap the Miles- And lick the Valleys up- And stop to feed itself at Tanks- And then-prodigious step Around a Pile of Mountains- And supercilious peer In Shanties-by the sides of Roads- And then a Quarry pare To fit its sides And crawl between Complaining all the while In horrid-hooting stanza- Then chase itself down Hill- And neigh like Boanerges- Then-prompter than a Star Stop-docile and omnipotent At its own stable door- | 我喜歡看牠繞跑長路 全速越過山谷 停在槽前餵食自己 然後絕妙踏行 環繞群山 高傲環視 路旁的陋屋 與一座削石場 為適應牠的兩邊 緩緩行進中間 一路上抱怨 可怕與號叫的小節 追逐自己下山丘 嘶鳴如雷子 之後敏捷甚於辰星 停下,溫馴與全能 於牠自己馬廄的門 |
1862, F.0383, J.0585
唐吉軻德(Don Quixote)視他那皮包骨的瘦馬世間無可比擬,他花了四天功夫為牠命名。羅西南多或駑辛難得(Rocinante)這名字有特別的含意――過去的劣馬今日之後成為一流的坐騎,只因為唐吉軻德給了牠新的名字。馬名的意義發揮於這首詩的深層解釋,其他答案沒有由劣轉優的解讀。
艾蜜莉家中的藏書包含了1803出版的英譯本《唐吉軻德》,這首詩的主述者為艾蜜莉,她喜歡書中的羅西南多,「我喜歡看牠繞跑長路」。羅西南多是書中經常出現的主角之一,這首詩的內容多半可配合牠的表現,除了採石場(quarry),《唐吉軻德》的故事中沒有這場景。
艾蜜莉的謎詩寫法,讓看來似駑馬的詩,在得到謎語答案後,瞬間轉變為一流作品,提示於第12行的詩節(stanza)這個字。最後一行馬廄的門(stable door)可譯為穩重的途徑,敘述艾蜜莉真正的想法穩當密封於謎語中。採石場(quarry)有獵物或任何被追逐之物的字義,削(pare)有縮減的解釋,她簡縮自己的文字以躲避當地清教徒社會的追獵。
雷子這個字源自聖經:「還有西庇太的兒子雅各,和雅各的兄弟約翰。又給這兩個人起名叫半尼其(Boanerges),就是雷子(sons of thunder)的意思(馬可福音 3:17)。」雷子常用來描述強而有力的演說或布道者……
I like to *see it lap the Miles – [*hear it] And lick the Valleys up- And stop to feed itself at Tanks- And then-prodigious step Around a Pile of Mountains- And supercilious peer In Shanties, by the sides of Roads- And then a Quarry pare To fit it's *sides [*Ribs] And crawl between Complaining all the while In horrid-hooting stanza- Then chase itself down Hill- *And neigh like Boanerges – [*And, or then] Then-*prompter than a Star [*punctual as] Stop-docile and omnipotent At it's own stable door- |