Did You Never Know? By Sara Teasdale

The lyrics of this video

Did you ever know that you were patient, thoughtful?
Did you ever know that you were everything that I need?
Everyone needs to have that someone to listen, laugh with...company
Did you know that you were this to me?
Did you know that you were this to me?

Did you ever know that you were awfully inviting?
Did you ever know that you were everything I hoped to be?
Everyone needs to have that someone to lean on, cry with in time of need
Did you know that you were this to me?
Did you know that you were this to me?

Chorus
Just like the birds take to air, the wind holds them there
Safe and lovely across the sky
That's what you did for my heart, right from the start
Did you know that you were this to me?
Did you know that you were this to me?

Did you ever know, you're not just a hero?
You have always been there and always will be
Since the moment we met, your love just can't forget
Did you know that you were this to me?
Did you know that you were this to me?

Chorus

Everyone needs to have that someone to lean on, cry with...company
Did you know that you were this to me?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESa1IHNaxwc

難道你不知道？ Did You Never Know?

Did you never know, long ago, how much you loved me --
That your love would never lessen and never go?
You were young then, proud and fresh-hearted,
You were too young to know.

Fate is a wind, and red leaves fly before it
Far apart, far away in the gusty time of year --
Seldom we meet now, but when I hear you speaking,
I know your secret, my dear, my dear. 

Sara Teasdale (August 8, 1884 – January 29, 1933) was an American lyric poet. She was born Sara Trevor Teasdale in St. Louis, Missouri, and used the name Sara Teasdale Filsinger after her marriage in 1914.

悌絲黛爾（Sara Teasdale，1884-1933），美國女詩人。悌絲黛爾出生於密蘇里州的聖路易城，自小成長於傳統保守家庭，受到父母過度的保護。她先後進入洛克伍德夫人學校（Mrs. Lockwood’s School）和瑪麗大學（Mary Institute）就讀，1903年，畢業於Hosmer Hall女子學院。她在大學時期開始寫詩，於 1907 年發表首篇詩作。1904 到 1907 年間，悌絲黛爾曾和一群朋友創辦了一份頗獲好評的文學月刊《陶匠的轉輪》（The Potter’s Wheel）。她遊蹤廣闊，並多次前往芝加哥，後來成為哈麗葉．孟若（Harriet Monroe）所辦《詩刊》的成員，結識不少詩人。詩人林賽（Vachel Lindsay，1879-1931）對她展開熱烈追求，但因他作風行徑過於狂野大膽，悌絲黛爾最後拒絕了他的求愛。1914 年，悌絲黛爾嫁給商人菲爾辛格（Ernst Filsinger）。丈夫對她呵護倍至，可是她個性孤僻，情緒不穩，再加上體弱多病，和丈夫關係漸行漸遠；1929 年，她與丈夫離婚。之後，她離群索居，健康狀況日益惡化，並患有精神衰弱症。1933年，她服用過量的安眠藥，死於紐約寓所的浴缸裡。

    悌絲黛爾的第一本詩集《給杜斯的十四行詩及其他》（Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems）於 1907 年出版，之後陸續出版了《奔流入海的河流》（Rivers to the Sea，1915），《戀歌》（Love Songs，1917），《火焰與陰影》（Flame and Shadow，1920），《月亮的黑暗面》（Dark of the Moon，1926），和《奇異的勝利》（Strange Victory，1933）等詩集。1918 年，《戀歌》為她贏得美國詩協會年度詩人獎，以及哥倫比亞大學詩協會獎（這是普立茲詩獎的前身）。

    歲月的消逝，愛情的喜悅與幻滅，往事的追憶，人生的孤寂，死亡的沉思是悌絲黛爾詩作中常見的主題。她的作品情感節制、冷靜，語調溫柔、含蓄，但她用字精練且擅長營造氣氛，因此詩的密度頗高，十分耐讀。她在寫給一位友人的書信中提到：詩人應該設法使自己的詩作具有火焰般安祥、敏捷的特質，如此才可讓讀者在閱讀時不假思索地立即感受，而在讀畢之後不斷思索。在此處譯的三首詩當中，我們可以看到她此種詩觀的實踐。

〈目光〉一詩點出三段戀情，詩中人雖與史崔封和羅賓的愛情進展到親吻的地步，但這些親吻都未能讓她回味；柯林從沒吻過她，但是對她而言，他深情的目光即是一種親吻，而且是一種讓她朝思暮想的親吻。此詩讓人聯想起濟慈在〈希臘古甕頌〉第二節的所暗示的：聽不到的樂聲反而更美，追不到的戀人永遠美麗，得不到的親吻讓你愛不止息。存在於渴望的事物如摘不到的星星，永遠讓人仰望；一旦獲得，便無法逃脫「無法永恆」的自然法則。

〈我不屬於你〉的前兩節似乎閃現一絲女性主體的自覺：她不屬於愛人／男人；她是一個自身俱足的個體（「……我是我，渴望／溶失如光溶失於光」）。但這樣的自覺畢竟是脆弱的，終究敵不過愛情的魔力：為了愛，詩中人還是願意卑微地做個沒有自我意識的小女人，如一根被疾風吹熄火苗的小蠟燭。

    在〈愛之後〉一詩，詩人用「男人是風而女人是海」的意象比喻愛戀中的兩性關係：風和海可一起創造出最壯觀卻也可能最危險的景象（譬如微風吹海面泛起漣漪，而狂風卻會掀起巨浪），即便有風暴，也是因愛而起。她用「海岸邊的一潭止水」比喻愛情消失之後的心境：當兩人不再爭吵時，「雖不虞風暴之害／ 而且不再受潮汐影響」，但這樣的平靜比洶湧的波濤還讓人痛苦，因為那表示愛情死亡了。悌絲黛爾以淡漠的語調道出對愛情本質的深刻理解，這稱得上是一首「舉重若輕」的好詩。