The Map
Elizabeth Bishop

Land lies in water; it is shadowed green.
Shadows, or are they shallows, at its edges
showing the line of long sea-weeded ledges
where weeds hang to the simple blue from green.
Or does the land lean down to lift the sea from under,
drawing it unperturbed around itself?
Along the fine tan sandy shelf
is the land tugging at the sea from under?

The shadow of Newfoundland lies flat and still.
Labrador's yellow, where the moony Eskimo
has oiled it. We can stroke these lovely bays,
under a glass as if they were expected to blossom,
or as if to provide a clean cage for invisible fish.
The names of seashore towns run out to sea,
the names of cities cross the neighboring mountains
——the printer here experiencing the same excitement
as when emotion too far exceeds its cause.
These peninsulas take the water between thumb and finger
like women feeling for the smoothness of yard-goods.

Mapped waters are more quiet than the land is,
lending the land their waves' own conformation:
and Norway's hare runs south in agitation,
profiles investigate the sea, where land is.
Are they assigned, or can the countries pick their colors?
--What suits the character or the native waters best.
Topography displays no favorites; North's as near as West.
More delicate than the historians' are the map-makers' colors.

《地图》
伊丽莎白·毕肖普
胡桑译

陆地躺在水中；被荫成绿色。
阴影，它们真的是阴影吗，在它的边缘
展示着海草丛生的大陆架的线条
那里，海草从绿色向淡蓝摇曳。
或是陆地俯身从水底举起海，
拉着它，平静地围住自己？
晴朗的多沙的褐色岩架旁
是从水底拽着海的陆地？

纽芬兰岛的影子躺着，平坦而宁静。
拉布拉多半岛是黄色的，热爱月光的爱斯基摩人
给它抹上油彩。我们可以抚摸这些可爱的海湾，
它们在玻璃下面，就像我们期待的那样盛开，
或者像为隐形鱼群安置的干净笼子。
海岸小镇的名字跑入海里，
城市的名字横过邻近的山脉
——印刷工在这里经历着同样的激情
当情绪远远越过其肇端。
这些半岛在拇指和食指见取走水，
犹如女人触摸到庭院里顺滑的货物。

地图上的水比陆地更为安静，
把破浪的形状借给陆地：
野兔挪威激动地跑向南方，
海和陆地的轮廓相互入侵。
它们是分配的，还是国家能选择自己的颜色？
——什么最适合本国水域的特征？
地形学并不偏心；北方临近西方。
地图制造者所用的颜色比历史学家的更为纤弱。

胡桑按：此诗是毕肖普第一部诗集《北方与南方》（1946）第一首，亦是《毕肖普诗全集：1927—1979》的第一首。我不止一次宣称毕晓普是我最热爱的女诗人。她的诗无疑不是最伟大的。可是她的诗准确、精致、清晰，从来不会语无伦次，尽管她在生活中疯狂地依赖酒精。更吸引我的是她对旅行和地理的迷恋，这与我从小养成的对地理的嗜好一致。她所有的诗开始于对“地图”的想象，然后终其一生在这想象的地图上旅行。她晚年出的诗集，除了一本《诗全集》，另外两本诗集分别叫做：《旅行问题》（1965）和《地理学III》（1976）。