Ivy Ode (Yale 2007 Commencement version)

Ivy Ode 常青颂

The gate swings open, and minutes pass, 大门缓缓敞开，时光悠悠流逝
Someone cracks a joke—the last 学子彼此的笑语欢声
Heard as a student. 即成往事
Four years ago, this stage was far. 遥想当年，这个舞台何其遥远
Now could we get there from where we are— 回首间，谁不奢望
Well, who wouldn’t? 时空倒转，昨日再现？

Bustling like bees, rallied into ranks, 如蜂群般熙攘，我们逐渐成行
Arranged like sinners giving thanks, 像感恩的信徒
The time arrives, 静候圣光
And down the well-worn rows we march 穿过沧桑的长廊，我们起步
To shake the hands, and disembark 轻轻握手
Into our real lives. 踏上人生的征途

The books we perused are snug in bed, 细品过的书香，淡淡地弥散床头
What angels watched us overhead 庇护我们的天使
Extend their contracts, 将延续她们的守候
While parents bend a wave of grief 父母的欣慰，掩饰着那丝丝的感伤：
Beneath a feeling of relief— 他们可以休息了
They can relax. 让孩子独当一方

As we, in gothic, graying towers, 古老的高塔，钟鼓沉音
Gilded libraries, where we spent hours 藏书室辉煌灯火
Rehearsing facts, 助我博览古今
Have borrowed knowledge of a kind 历史的积淀悄然演奏
The ready heart can only find 只有敞开的心扉，才能聆听
When it reacts 那辩证的低语，真情的魔咒

To difference, and to love’s full 借来这样的火焰
Enchantment. Too often, thoughts are dull 照不亮心中的沉迷
Or un-ignited 燃不尽思维的溟茫
Without their better counterpart: 单纯的思考, 若没有外化—
The art of making, made an art 创造的艺术，艺术的创造
Itself, unrequited 就难以迸出火花

Until it is given back. 我们就是自己的书
We are our books, barely a crack 书脊几乎崭新
Along the seams— 墨迹尚未模糊
Their wisdom here, freshly imparted, 先贤的知识刚刚传承到手
Is thrown to depths perpetually charted 折射着智慧的光芒
Beyond the sun’s beams. 映入遥遥苍穹

It falls to us, now graduated 毕业的我们
To share the worlds we’ve contemplated, 要将心中的天地呈现
To brandish hope; 以希望作盾，以正义为剑
To shield the war-sick, weary masses, 去庇护，那纷乱战火中的疲惫众生
And separate the volatile gases 去阻止，那无常的硝烟
Before they elope. 再次肆虐人间

It falls to us to be the strong, 坚强是我们的义务
To mark all those who worship wrong 引导那些诱人、却错误的想法
Yet tempting causes, 走出歧途
To marshal out our erudition 昭显我们的真知
Yet always keen to our position, 时刻牢记自己的立场
And our many flaws. 一日三省吾身

This task we have, these hearts to mend, 我们的责任，去唤醒这些疲惫的心
They are the same our fathers lend 他们低吟着父辈们的遗憾
From age to age: 从古至今：
The desperate manors, plush and futile, 绝望的田野丰沃而无助
The forges of the bored and brutal 工薪的冶炼
Company wage. 苦闷而残酷

Let us not marry our intent 别让那些贪婪的引诱
To keep up the establishment 虚荣的奢望
Of vain pursuits. 贻误你的追求
Remember what has meant the most, 铭记最深厚的感动
Give others a chance, and do not boast, 在争执时宽容
Be kind in disputes, 慷慨，谦恭

And always, always, love with true 而永远，永远要用真心去爱
And fervent love. None may undo 没有人能将系紧的结
What has been done. 轻易解开
A summer’s night cannot be made 仲夏之夜无法重温
Again—none uncode time’s blockade. 沉沉的时间之锁
There is only one. 会将历史尘封

So did you gather all you wanted? 那么，你是否满意你的丰收？
From classes, friends, professors vaunted 汲自敬仰的教授
Above the gods? 课程和学友
The captive seeds that in us churn 孵获的种子在心中，深深萌动
Now to the earth must be returned— 要送回大地，要发芽、生长
Are there more words 撑起天空

You wish you had distributed? 是否后悔当初的沉默？
Or times that, uninhibited, 若是没有羁绊
You would have changed? 你会否重新来过？
Collect them all, savor the lost 找回那曾经丢失的机遇
Chances, the freedoms that were glossed 珍视那被忽略的自由，去回味
Over, estranged 曾经愤懑的心绪

Embraces—pack them up for good, 更不要人云亦云
And do not do what others would 让他人的主张
Tell you is best. 左右自己的言行
Follow the distant drum that speaks 去追随那远方的鼓声
Of light and truth, and life that seeks 所颂扬的光明与真理
a surer’s rest. 更丰厚的人生

The clocks are whirring with a fury, 时钟的齿轮飞转、轰鸣
The streets are lined with those who hurry 街畔的人群侧头
With heads averted. 注目、倾听
The classroom doors to us now close, 教室的门窗对我们已不再开放
Our busy hands are in repose, 令我们此刻的双手
Though disconcerted. 安适，却又彷徨

The hidden walkways known to us 熟知的暗道今已敞开
Now open to those curious 迎接任何好奇的路人
Enough to look. 顾盼、徘徊
They pass along a legacy, 每一墙角，每一转弯
Our prints of anonymity 记录着我们无声的印痕
In every nook. 永恒的遗产

The stories of our hands explain 我们的故事默默铭记
A common bond that must remain, 那共享的情谊，心中的灵犀
Though we are gone— 我们虽然离开—
We are the grass, we are the rooms, 但我们是这里的青草，这里的高塔
The silent marching that resumes 是悠扬、骄傲的歌声里
Its slow, proud song. 沉默前行的步伐