When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer
Walt Whitman
WHEN I heard the learn'd astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.
一堂天文課
沃爾特·惠特曼
當我聽那位博學的天文學家的講座時，
當那些證明、資料一欄一欄地排列在我眼前時，
當那些表格、圖解展現在我眼前要我去加、去減、去測定時，
當我坐在報告廳聽著那位天文學家演講、聽著響起一陣陣掌聲時，
很快地我竟莫名其妙地厭倦起來，
於是我站了起來悄悄地溜了出去，
在神祕而潮溼的夜風中，一遍又一遍，
靜靜地仰望星空。
（羅良功譯）
［注］此詩是《草葉集》（ Leaves of Grass，1900）中的第180首。
（插圖作者 Loren Long）