《When Death Comes》by Mary Oliver

When death comes

like the hungry bear in autumn;

when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

當死亡來臨，如同夏日飢餓的熊；當死亡來臨，它拿走錢包裡閃亮的錢幣

to bury me, and snaps the purse shut;

when death comes

like the measle-pox;

把我埋起來，扣上錢包；當死亡來臨，如同痲疹膿胞

when death comes

like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

當死亡來臨，如同雙肩上的冰山

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:

what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

我想穿越那道充滿好奇、驚嘆的門，看看裡面有些什麼，是闃暗的農舍？

And therefore I look upon everything

as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,

and I look upon time as no more than an idea,

and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common

as a field daisy, and as singular,

我試著回顧一切，兄弟姐妹的情誼，不過就是一念之間，

於是我將永恆視為一種可能，

將生命視為一朵花，一種常態，一片雛菊田、一種非凡，

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,

tending, as all music does, toward silence,

每個名字如同舒適的音樂自口中流瀉而出，然後漸趨於寂靜，

and each body a lion of courage, and something

precious to the earth.

每個身體如同猛獅，也如同世上珍貴的事物。

When it's over, I want to say: all my life

I was a bride married to amazement.

I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

當它結束時，我想說：我這一生

曾經是嫁給驚奇的新娘，

也曾經是把世界擁入懷中的新郎。

When it's over, I don't want to wonder

if I have made of my life something particular, and real.

I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,

or full or argument.

當生命它結束時，我無須懷疑，

如果我曾讓此生與眾不同且踏實，

我不會因此自怨自艾、感到震驚，或自得意滿，或辯論不休。

I don't want to end up simply having visited the world.

在還沒有探索這世界前，我的生命不願就此終止...