一直到1999年，我才知道聶魯達Pable Neruda 這位詩人，也才買下《二十首情詩與絕望的歌》這本詩集，在此之前，除了波特萊爾、葉慈、泰戈爾的一些詩作外，絕大多數接觸的也都只限於國內的詩人作品...或許是因為我自覺無法確認或理解譯文是否仍然可以維持原詩的優美文字跟意欲傳達的意象和情感，畢竟詩不像小說或評論，失之”一字”，差之千里

《二十首情詩與絕望的歌》的中譯本似乎免除了我的疑惑，就算是當作中文創作，我想大家也應該可以領略這些作品的美好

二十首情詩與絕望的歌

【內容簡介】

聶魯達（Pable Neruda 1904-1973），本世紀最偉大的拉丁美洲詩人，智利的外交官，馬克斯主義者，1971年諾貝爾文學獎得主。

聶魯達一生近半世紀的文學創作之中，情詩一直是他最膾炙人口的主題，也使得聶魯達的名字幾乎成為情詩的等義字。

＜二十首情詩與絕望的歌＞、＜船長之詩＞以及＜一百首愛的十四行詩＞是他最直接處理愛情主題的三本詩集。而本書＜二十首情詩與絕望的歌＞又是聶魯達最受歡迎且在拉丁美洲暢銷達數百萬冊、被譽為本世紀「情詩聖經」的詩集。

這本聶魯達二十歲時寫就的薄薄冊頁，赤裸而原始的記錄了一個天才而早熟的詩人，對愛情的追索與情欲的渴求。悲痛而獨白的語調，記述他與兩個年輕女孩的愛戀回憶。近乎感官而性慾般的激情描寫，全書將智利原始的自然景致如海、山巒、星宿、風雨等比喻成女人的肉體，讓性愛與肉體結合的完美成為孤獨的年輕男人，對母體與自然的永恆回歸。

全書始自對女人肉體結合的渴望，而結束於情人仳離的哀傷與絕望。

「奇蹟式的，這本令我悲痛的書，卻替許多人帶來撫慰與幸福。」聶魯達在這本詩集出版而遭傳頌不絕之後這樣說著。

寫就於聶魯達最年輕而原創時期，這本詩作直可視為是他一生作品的源頭，也是瞭解他浪漫與愛意濃烈的龐大詩作的鑰匙。

【詩選】

我喜歡你是寂靜的              

我喜歡你是寂靜的，彷彿你消失了一樣，

你從遠處聆聽我，我的聲音卻無法觸及你。

好像你的雙眼已經飛離遠去，

如同一個吻，封緘了你的嘴。 

如同所有的事物充滿了我的靈魂，

你從所有的事物中浮現，充滿了我的靈魂，

你像我的靈魂，一隻夢的蝴蝶。　　　　　　　　　　　

你如同憂鬱這個字。 

我喜歡你是寂靜的，好像你已遠去。

你聽起來像在悲嘆，一隻如鴿悲鳴的蝴蝶。

你從遠處聽見我，我的聲音無法企及你：

讓我在你的沉默中安靜無聲。 

並且讓我藉你的沉默和你說話，

你的沉默明亮如燈，簡單如指環。

你就像黑夜，擁有寂靜與群星。

你的沉默就是星星的沉默，遙遠而明亮。　

我喜歡你是寂靜的，彷彿你是消失了一樣，

遙遠而且哀傷，彷彿你已經死了。

彼時，一個字，一個微笑，已經足夠。

而我會覺得幸福，因那不是真的而覺得幸福。 

I Like You When You Are Quiet 

I like you when you are quiet because it is as though you are absent,
and you hear me from far away, and my voice does not touch you.
It looks as though your eyes had flown away
and it looks as if a kiss had sealed your mouth. 

Like all things are full of my soul
You emerge from the things, full of my soul.
Dream butterfly, you look like my soul,
and you look like a melancoly word. 

I like you when you are quiet and it is as though you are distant.
It is as though you are complaining, butterfly in lullaby.
And you hear me from far away, and my voice does not reach you:
let me fall quiet with your own silence. 

Let me also speak to you with your silence
Clear like a lamp, simple like a ring.
You are like the night, quiet and constellated.
Your silence is of a star, so far away and solitary. 

I like you when you are quiet because it is as though you are absent.
Distant and painful as if you had died.
A word then, a smile is enough.

And I am happy, happy that it is not true. 

今夜我可以寫 

今夜我可以寫下最哀傷的詩句。 

寫，譬如，「夜鑲滿群星， 

而星星遙遠地發出藍光並且顫抖。」 

夜風在天空中迴旋並歌唱。  

今夜我可以寫下最哀傷的詩句。 

我愛她，而且有時她也愛我。  

如同今晚的夜，我曾擁握她在懷中。 

在無盡的天空下一遍又一遍的吻她。 

她愛我，有時我也愛她。 

怎麼會不愛上她那一雙沈靜的眼睛呢？  

今夜我可以寫下最哀傷的詩句。 

去想我並不擁有她，感覺我已失去她。  

去聆聽廣闊的夜，因沒有她而更加廣闊。 

而詩句墬在靈魂上，如同露水墜在牧草上。  

我的愛若不能擁有她又有什麼關係？ 

夜鑲滿群星而且她沒有與我在一起。  

這就是一切了。遠處有人唱著歌。遠處。 

我的靈魂因失去了她而失落。  

我的視線試著要發現她，好像要把她拉近一樣， 

我的心尋找她，而她並沒有與我在一起。 

相同的夜讓相同的樹林泛白。 

彼時，我們也不再相似如初。  

我不再愛她，這是確定的，但我曾多愛她！ 

我的聲音試著找尋風來碰觸她的聽覺。  

別人的，如同她曾接受我的千吻一樣，她將會是別人的了。 

她的聲音，她的潔白的身體。她的無止盡的雙眼。  

我不再愛她，這是確定的，但也許我愛她。 

愛情如此短暫，而遺忘太長。  

藉著如同今晚的夜，我曾擁她入懷。 

我的靈魂因失去了她而失落。  

這是她最後一次讓我承受的傷痛。 

而這些，便是我為她而寫的最後的詩句。  

Tonight I Can Write    Translated by W.S. Merwin 

Tonight I can write the saddest lines. 

Write, for example, 'The night is starry

and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.' 

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings. 

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too. 

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.

I kissed her again and again under the endless sky. 

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.

How could one not have loved her great still eyes. 

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her. 

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.

And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture. 

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.

The night is starry and she is not with me. 

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.

My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her. 

My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer.

My heart looks for her, and she is not with me. 

The same night whitening the same trees.

We, of that time, are no longer the same. 

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.

My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing. 

Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses.

Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes. 

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.

Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms

my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her. 

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer

and these the last verses that I write for her.