每当我害怕

When I have fears that I may cease to be

Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,

Before high piled books, in charactery,

Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain;

When I behold, upon the night’s starred face,

Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,

And think that I may never live to trace

Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;

And when I feel, fair creature of an hour!

That I shall never look upon thee more,

Never have relish in the faery power

Of unreflecting love; —then on the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think

Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

每当我害怕

每当我害怕生命或许就要止息，

我的笔来不及苦集盈溢的思绪，

或把文字变为高高堆起的书籍，

像饱贮的谷仓蓄满成熟的谷米；

每当我看见那缀满繁星的夜景，

巨大星云画出非凡的传奇幻像，

想到即使运气帮忙，对我垂青，

生前或许也无法追摹这些云影；

每当我感到那瞬间即逝的美颜，

也许从今以后再也不可能看见，

更无法享受轻松爱情魔力若仙

——于是，在广袤世界的崖岸，

我形孤影单地伫立，细细思量，

直到爱与声名沉入乌有的穹苍。