英诗原创| The Spirit of R.S. Thomas
(英文朗诵：Robert James Blyth 音频编辑：张晖 )
The Spirit of R.S. Thomas
In response to ‘Welcome’, ‘Welsh Landscape’, and ‘A Welsh Testament’
When I close my eyes,
I can see you
sitting at the antique desk,
overlooking the kestrel-perching hill,
harking to the ice-melting rill
as if to search for proper metaphors
to express what comes into your mind.
From the mind's ache and body's shackles,
you raised to serve the holy kingdom
for a whole life, never regretful.
The bombs of hegemony
may come in,
by plane,
by ship
or by railway,
and yet can never be inside
your mind that faithfully fights
for pure Welsh.
In the poems that I am reading
dwell your soul and spirit,
looking, listening, whispering,
smiling, laughing, and arguing.
Better remembered, you utter:
The earth we're treading
from inch to inch
is as pure as the snow
that crowns Snowdon
of our beloved Wales.
The sea we’re beholding
from shore to shore
is as azure as the heaven
that claims the root of every being.
The woods we’re exploring
from end to end
are as sacred as the church
that baptizes our heart of worldliness.
The lines you’re penning down
are as tranquil as the raindrops
that wash away the dirt of the mind.
Written at Shankland Reading Room, Bangor University Welsh Library
2015-5-4
发表于 Counterpoints: In Response to Poems by R.S. Thomas, ed. by Joy Neal (Pontypridd: J&P Davison, 2015), pp.66-7.
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