What do Sleep No More, American Horror Story, and Psycho all have in Common?

The answer is: Bernard Herrmann.

My ears perked up immediately when I re-watched the first few episodes of AHS: Murder House last week. Brought me instantly back to that Hitchcockian night of swooning in fantastical lights and overwhelming sounds at the lovely McKittrick Hotel.

More on Sleep No More to follow soon.

Translating Dead Poets: Sylvia Plath's "The Couriers" "信使" ： 譯讀普拉斯

The Couriers  |   信使



The word of a snail on the plate of a leaf?   |      蝸牛的字寫在樹葉的碟子上？
It is not mine. Do not accept it.   |   這不是我的。別收下它。

Acetic acid in a sealed tin?   |        醋酸密封在錫罐裏頭？
Do not accept it. It is not genuine.   |        別收下它。它不純粹。
 
A ring of gold with the sun in it?   |      圈住了陽光的金指環？
Lies. Lies and a grief.     |       謊言。謊言和一種哀愁。

Frost on a leaf, the immaculate    |       樹葉打了霜；  潔白無瑕的
Cauldron, talking and crackling |     大鼎說著話，噼啪著，
 
All to itself on the top of each |    在那九座黑色的阿爾匹斯頂峰上依次
Of nine black Alps. |     自言自語。

A disturbance in mirrors, |   如鏡子中的一場動亂，
The sea shattering its grey one ----   |    海洋在破裂那灰色 -----
  
Love, love, my season.   |     去愛吧，愛吧，我的季節。 






*Dated Nov. 4, 1962. Original translation.