The Rhodora

Ralph Waldo Emerson

On being asked, Whence is the flower?

In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
The purple petals, fallen in the pool,
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
And court the flower that cheapens his array.
Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,
Then Beauty is its own excuse for being:
Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
I never thought to ask, I never knew:
But, in my simple ignorance, suppose
The self-same Power that brought me there brought you.

杜鹃

拉尔夫•沃尔多•爱默生

杜鹃花从哪里来?

五月的海风把孤独吹散，
我发现林中新开的杜鹃，
无叶的花朵伴随潮湿幽僻绽放，
让荒凉慵懒的小溪愁眉舒展。
落入池中的紫色花瓣，
让忧郁的池水换上美丽欢快的容颜;
红鸟飞来这里浸润羽毛，
定会自愧不如把此花眷恋。
杜鹃！如果圣哲对你发出疑问，
为何在天地之间枉费你的娇艳，
亲爱的，那你就直言相告，
美丽存在只因眼睛天生为了观看。
为何来到世上，你这玫瑰的劲敌！
我浑然不知，也不想打探：
但我只能浅薄地推测，
造就你我的是同一上天。