A Mayfly

A Mayfly

Paul Muldoon

A mayfly（蜉蝣） taking off from a spike¹ of mullein（毛蕊花属）
would blunder into Deichtine's mouth to become Cuchulainn,
Cuchulainn who had it within him to steer² clear
of a battlefield on the shaft³ of his own spear,
his own spear from which he managed to augur⁴（预言）
the fate of that part-time cataloguer,
that cataloguer who might yet transcend⁵（胜过，超越） the crush
as its own tumult⁶（骚动，骚乱） transcends⁷ the thrush（画眉） ,
the thrush that's known to have tipped off avalanches⁸（雪崩）
from the larch⁹'s lowest branches,
the lowest branches of the larch
that model themselves after a triumphal arch,
a triumphal arch made of the femora（腿节）
of a woman who's even now filed under Ephemera.