里尔克诗选：盲者之歌 - The Blindman's Song
盲者之歌
我是瞎子 你们这些外人。这是个诅咒
矛盾的 令人厌倦的闹剧
每一天我都会感到绝望
我把我的手放在我妻子的手臂上
(无色的手在无色的袖子上)
她带我走过空旷的空气
你们推推搡搡，认为自己的声音
与石头和石头的摩擦不同
但是你错了。只有我 一个人
活着 受罪 哀嚎
在我身体里 有一种无尽的呐喊
我不知道是什么在喊叫 是我
破碎的心还是我的肠子
这些调子熟悉吗？你们不是这么唱的
你们怎么会明白？
每天早晨，阳光照进你们的屋子
你们迎接它像是迎接一个朋友
你们知道 面对面 是什么感觉
而所有的这一切 诱发着你们的善…
～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～
Das Lied des Blinden
Ich bin blind, ihr draußen, das ist ein Fluch,
ein Widerwillen, ein Widerspruch,
etwas täglich Schweres.
Ich leg meine Hand auf den Arm der Frau,
meine graue Hand auf ihr graues Grau,
und sie führt mich durch lauter Leeres.
Ihr rührt euch und rückt und bildet euch ein
anders zu klingen als Stein auf Stein,
aber ihr irrt euch: ich allein
lebe und leide und lärme.
In mir ist ein endloses Schrein
und ich weiß nicht, schreit mir mein
Herz oder meine Gedärme.
Erkennt ihr die Lieder? Ihr sanget sie nicht nicht
ganz in dieser Betonung.
Euch kommt jeden Morgen das neue Licht
warm in die offene Wohnung.
Und ihr habt ein Gefühl von Gesicht zu Gesicht
und das verleitet zur Schonung.
The Blindman's Song
I am blind, you outsiders. It is a curse,
a contradiction, a tiresome farce,
and every day I despair.
I put my hand on the arm of my wife
(colorless hand on colorless sleeve)
and she walks me through empty air.
You push and shove and think that you've been
sounding different from stone against stone,
but you are mistaken: I alone
live and suffer and howl.
In me there is an endless outcry
and I can't tell what's crying, whether its my
broken heart or my bowels.
Are the tunes familiar? You don't sing them like this:
how could you understand?
Each morning the sunlight comes into your house,
and you welcome it as a friend.
And you know what it's like to see face-to-face;
and that tempts you to be kind.
(The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, Edited and Translated by Stephen Mitchell
FROM The Book of Pictures (1902 ;1906))
～～～～～～～
POEM ANAYSIS
https://medhum.med.nyu.edu/view/381
Summary
The poem, written in German, appears in both German and English in this and other versions. Those who understand German may feel that something has been lost in translation, inevitable for rhyming poetry. Nevertheless the "endless outcry" of isolation and bitterness is well expressed. This blind man is totally unresigned to his condition; "every day I despair." He feels himself uniquely cursed. He mocks those who are sighted for believing that THEY might be special and he is contemptuous of any kindness shown him: no one can understand how he feels.
Commentary
This piece is a potent reminder that people may respond with great bitterness, rage, and self-pity to disability or disease. They may not behave gracefully or be grateful to those who are caring for them. "The Blindman’s Song" is one of a group of Rilke poems written in the voices of sociomedical outcasts ["idiot", orphan, suicide, leper, dwarf (see The Song the Dwarf Sings, annotated in this database)].
It is worth noting that the translation in the alternate source listed here is more literal and the difference highlights some interesting ambiguities about poetic language: "every day I despair" becomes "something heavy every day"; "die Frau" is translated as "woman" instead of "wife", both meanings being literally correct, but having quite different significance in the context of the poem.