A Noiseless Patient Spider
一只无声而耐心的蜘蛛
Walt Whitman · 沃尔特·惠特曼
A noiseless patient spider,
I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
一只无声而耐心的蜘蛛，
我看见它独自立在小岬角上，
看见它如何探索空旷无尽的世界，
从自身喷出丝、丝、丝，
不停地放，不停地飞送。
而你，我的灵魂，你所立之处，
被环绕、又疏离，在无垠的空间之海里，
不断地沉思、冒险、抛掷、寻找能连接的星球，
直到你需要的那座桥架起，直到那柔韧的锚抓住，
直到你抛出的蛛丝在某处，我的灵魂。
惠特曼以蛛丝喻灵魂在无垠中探求连接——孤独的坚持，只为架起那座桥。