Love’s Secret

By William Blake

Never seek to tell thy love,

Love that never told can be;

For the gentle wind does move

Silently, invisibly.

I told my love, I told my love,

I told her all my heart;

Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears,

Ah! she did depart!

Soon as she was gone from me,

A traveler came by,

Silently, invisibly

He took her with a sigh.

爱情的秘密

威廉.布莱克

朱光潜译

切莫告诉你的爱情，

爱情是永远不可以告诉的，

因为她像微风一样，

不做声不做气地吹着。

我曾经把我的爱情告诉了又告诉，

我把一切都披肝沥胆地告诉爱人了。

打着寒颤，耸头发地苦诉，

然而她终于离我而去了!

她离我去了，

不多时一个过客来了。

不做声不做气地，只微叹一声，

便把她带去了。

About the poet:

William Blake (28 November 1757–12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Although he lived in London his entire life except for three years spent in Felpham he produced a diverse and symbolically rich corpus, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God", or "Human existence itself".

Notes:

"Love" is one of the forever-lasting topics of the literary works.However, there is no doubt that "love" is abstract which we can’t see, touch and smell but feel.In this poem, the poet shows us the concret "love" and attraction between humans.