(英文朗诵：Robert James Blyth 音频编辑：张晖 )

The Spirit of R.S. Thomas

In response to ‘Welcome’, ‘Welsh Landscape’, and ‘A Welsh Testament’

When I close my eyes,

I can see you

sitting at the antique desk,

overlooking the kestrel-perching hill,

harking to the ice-melting rill

as if to search for proper metaphors

to express what comes into your mind.

From the mind's ache and body's shackles,

you raised to serve the holy kingdom

for a whole life, never regretful.

The bombs of hegemony

may come in,

by plane,

by ship

or by railway,

and yet can never be inside

your mind that faithfully fights

for pure Welsh.

In the poems that I am reading

dwell your soul and spirit,

looking, listening, whispering,

smiling, laughing, and arguing.

Better remembered, you utter:

The earth we're treading

from inch to inch

is as pure as the snow

that crowns Snowdon

of our beloved Wales.

The sea we’re beholding

from shore to shore

is as azure as the heaven

that claims the root of every being.

The woods we’re exploring

from end to end

are as sacred as the church

that baptizes our heart of worldliness.

The lines you’re penning down

are as tranquil as the raindrops

that wash away the dirt of the mind.

Written at Shankland Reading Room, Bangor University Welsh Library

2015-5-4

发表于 Counterpoints: In Response to Poems by R.S. Thomas, ed. by Joy Neal (Pontypridd: J&P Davison, 2015), pp.66-7.

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