Billy Collins was born in New York City in 1941. He is the author of several books of poetry. In 2001, he was named U.S. Poet Laureate. His other honors and awards include fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He lives in Somers, New York.

比利-科林斯1941年生于纽约市。他是七本诗集的作者。2001年任美国桂冠诗人。曾获古根汉基金会以及国家艺术捐赠奖。

许宁是中国一家外企的专业翻译。现居广州。

Xu Ning works as a professional translator for a foreign company in China. He lives in Guangzhou, China.

Introduction to Poetry

介绍诗歌

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
			

我让他们拿起一首诗
高举至光亮处
像看彩色幻灯片

或把一只耳朵紧贴它的蜂房。

我说将一只老鼠投入诗中
并看它如何设法出逃，

或走进诗的房间
在墙壁上摸索灯的开关。

我要它们滑水
滑过一首诗的表面
在岸上向作者的名字挥手。

但所有他们想做的却是
用绳子把诗捆绑在椅子上
并折磨它使之招供。

他们开始用橡皮管打它
以求找出其真实含义。