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.

杜鵑

拉爾夫•沃爾多•愛默生

杜鵑花從哪里來?

五月的海風把孤獨吹散，
我發現林中新開的杜鵑，
無葉的花朵伴隨潮濕幽僻綻放，
讓荒涼慵懶的小溪愁眉舒展。
落入池中的紫色花瓣，
讓憂郁的池水換上美麗歡快的容顏;
紅鳥飛來這里浸潤羽毛，
定會自愧不如把此花眷戀。
杜鵑！如果圣哲對你發出疑問，
為何在天地之間枉費你的嬌艷，
親愛的，那你就直言相告，
美麗存在只因眼睛天生為了觀看。
為何來到世上，你這玫瑰的勁敵！
我渾然不知，也不想打探：
但我只能淺薄地推測，
造就你我的是同一上天。