Before I knockedBefore I knocked and flesh let enter,With liquid hands tapped on the womb,I who was shapeless as the waterThat shaped the Jordan near my homeWas brother to Mnetha's daughterAnd sister to the fathering worm.

I who was deaf to spring and summer,Who knew not sun nor moon by name,Felt thud beneath my flesh's armour,As yet was in a molten form,The leaden stars, the rainy hammerSwung by my father from his dome.

I knew the message of the winter,The darted hail, the childish snow,And the wind was my sister suitor;Wind in me leaped, the hellborn dew;My veins flowed with the Eastern weather;Ungotten I knew night and day.

As yet ungotten, I did suffer;The rack of dreams my lily bonesDid twist into a living cipher,And flesh was snipped to cross the linesOf gallow crosses on the liverAnd brambles in the wringing brains.

My throat knew thirst before the structureOf skin and vein around the wellWhere words and water make a mixtureUnfailing till the blood runs foul;My heart knew love, my belly hunger;I smelt the maggot in my stool.

And time cast forth my mortal creatureTo drift or drown upon the seasAcquainted with the salt adventureOf tides that never touch the shores.

I who was rich was made the richerBy sipping at the vine of days.

I, born of flesh and ghost, was neitherA ghost nor man, but mortal ghost.

And I was struck down by death's feather.

I was a mortal to the lastLong breath that carried to my fatherThe message of his dying christ.

You who bow down at cross and altar,Remember me and pity HimWho took my flesh and bone for armourAnd doublecrossed my mother's womb.

在我敲开之前在我伸出流动的手指，轻叩子宫，敲开肉体大门之前，我像水一样飘忽无形，那水汇成了家乡附近的约旦河，我是摩尼莎女儿的兄弟，我也是繁衍蠕虫的姐妹。

我充耳不闻春天和夏天，叫不出太阳和月亮的名字，我感到血肉盔甲之下，砰然作响，迄今还在熔合，父亲在穹顶下挥舞雨点般的铁锤，铅星飞溅。

我知晓冬天的讯息，冰雹纷飞，雪花如嬉，而寒风追逐我的姐妹;风在我体内跳动，恶露降临;我的血管随东方的天气流动;未出生我就知晓黑夜与白昼。

还未出生，我就饱经风霜;噩梦折磨着我，百合般的骨头绞成一组活生生的密码。

而被肢解的血肉穿越一排排耸立在肝区的十字架，穿越脑海里缠结的荆棘丛。

在肌肤和血管围拢井口之前，我的喉咙早已知道干渴，言词和水在那儿融为一体，无穷无尽，直到血发臭;我的心感受到爱，胃饱尝饥饿;我在自己的粪便嗅到蛆虫。

时光抛出我凡夫俗子的躯体追随咸潮奔涌的冒险在海上漂泊沉浮却未曾触及到岸。

我啜饮时光的葡萄汁愈加变得奢华富有。

我的灵与肉天生一体，非人亦非魔，却是凡间的幽灵。

我被死亡的羽毛击倒在地。

终有一死，我最后一口长长的呼吸捎给父亲那基督临终的口信。

你俯首眼前的十字架和祭坛，记着我，并怜悯基督，是他误将我的骨肉当成盔甲，欺骗了我母亲的子宫。

【英汉对照|托马斯诗选：在我敲开之前查看网站：[db:时间]】