H.D.’s Epitaph

A poem first published in her volume Red Roses for Bronze (1931), Epitaph was later engraved on H.D.’s headstone on her grave in Pennsylvania.

So I may say,
“I died of living,
having lived one hour”;

So they may say,
“she died soliciting
illicit fervour,”

So you may say,
“Greek flower; Greek ecstasy
reclaims for ever

one who died
following
intricate song’s lost measure.”

于是我可以说：
“我，在活过一个钟头后，
因生而死”；

于是他们可以说：
“她因煽动不正当的
热情而死”，

于是你可以说：
“希腊的花；希腊的狂喜
永远带回了”

那一个亡者，她因
追随隐秘之歌的
失落的旋律而死。”

There is another poem by H.D. titled Pear Tree (1919) that I like very much.

Pear Tree

Silver dust
lifted from the earth,
higher than my arms reach,
you have mounted.
O silver,
higher than my arms reach
you front us with great mass;

no flower ever opened
so staunch a white leaf,
no flower ever parted silver
from such rare silver;

O white pear,
your flower-tufts,
thick on the branch,
bring summer and ripe fruits
in their purple hearts.

梨树

银色的尘
从泥土中被举起，
比我手臂所及更高处，
是你攀上的地方。
噢——银子，
比我手臂所及更高处，
你不可胜数；

从没有花盛放过
这样坚贞的白色花瓣，
从没有花从这样珍罕的银中
洒下纯银；

噢——白色的梨，
你的花簇，
密布枝干，
将夏天和熟透的果实带进
他们紫色的心里。

我想最后一句应当是指，梨花白花中紫色的花蕊。不知道great mass是不是兼有宗教意象。

The things is, the kinds of pear trees that tend to flower in the stunning way H.D. describes here are usually ornamental varieties, and don’t produce a lot of fruits (or tasty ones for that matter). I have often wondered whether that fact takes away from the idea in the last stanza. No conclusion yet.

What’s more, ornamental pear trees come in a few varieties. The most common one, which happens to be the tallest, would be the Callery pear, native to China (我们这儿叫豆梨) and capable of growing up to 40 feet. Could the Callery pear be what H.D. was writing about? —Apparently they are quite a olfactory hazard and smell like rotten fish.