Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.
In a field by the river my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.
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 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.
Wine comes in at the mouth,
And Love comes in at the eye.
That's all we shall know for truth,
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth.
I look at you, and I sigh.
英國詩人W. H. Auden在悼念葉芝時(shí)寫到,“瘋狂的愛爾蘭將你刺傷成詩(Mad Ireland hurt you into poetry)”。葉芝無疑是愛爾蘭靈魂的濃重一頁,在這個(gè)綠色的小島上,我更愿意把葉芝詩歌的源動(dòng)力解讀為愛,是愛的躊躇,愛的純凈,愛的堅(jiān)持,愛的痛楚。無望的愛總是給詩人帶來無盡的傷痛,而詩歌,則注定是悲觀澆注的花朵。
正如那首最廣為流傳的When you are old,道不盡人世間無數(shù)的愛情苦旅。愛你那朝圣者般的靈魂,愛你衰老的臉上痛苦的皺紋。愛情總是在單戀的哀傷中醞釀出最極致的悲觀美學(xué)。這種無助感,貫穿于你我青春所有說謊的日子。好友曾送以為心儀的女生一本《葦間風(fēng)》,并神情的向她朗誦《當(dāng)你老去》??赡俏徊唤怙L(fēng)情的工科女,淡淡的回了一句:“哦,這樣子,那就等我老了再來找我吧……”