第 8 节
作者:散发弄舟      更新:2024-01-16 22:40      字数:9321
  across the garden like a plume。 Over the trees a single bright star glows。
  Dear   garden   of   my   childhood;   here   my   years   Have   run   away   like   little
  grains   of   sand;   The   moments   of   my   life;   its   hopes   and   fears   Have   all
  found utterance here; where now I stand;              My eyes ache with the weight
  of unshed tears; You are my home; do you not understand?
  Mirage
  How is it that; being gone; you fill my days;            And all the long nights
  are   made   glad    by   thee?   No   loneliness   is   this;   nor   misery;  But   great
  30
  … Page 31…
  A Dome of Many…Coloured Glass
  content that these should be the ways Whereby the Fancy; dreaming as she
  strays;    Makes bright and present what she would would be。                    And who
  shall say if the reality Is not with dreams so pregnant。              For delays      And
  hindrances may bar the wished…for end; A thousand misconceptions may
  prevent     Our souls from coming near enough to blend; Let me but think
  we have the same intent;         That each one needs to call the other; 〃friend!〃
  It may be vain illusion。       I'm content。
  To a Friend
  I   ask   but one   thing   of   you;   only  one; That   always   you   will   be   my
  dream   of   you;     That   never   shall   I   wake   to   find   untrue All   this   I   have
  believed and rested on; Forever vanished; like a vision gone                Out into the
  night。    Alas;   how   few      There   are   who   strike   in   us   a   chord   we   knew
  Existed;   but   so   seldom  heard   its   tone  We   tremble   at   the   half…forgotten
  sound。  The   world   is   full   of   rude   awakenings    And   heaven…born   castles
  shattered to the ground; Yet still our human longing vainly clings                   To a
  belief   in   beauty   through   all   wrongs。   O   stay   your   hand;   and   leave   my
  heart its songs!
  A Fixed Idea
  What torture lurks within a single thought When grown too constant;
  and however kind; However welcome still; the weary mind Aches with its
  presence。       Dull     remembrance        taught    Remembers        on    unceasingly;
  unsought The  old delight is   with   us   but to   find That   all   recurring   joy  is
  pain refined; Become a habit; and we struggle; caught。 You lie upon my
  heart as on a nest; Folded in peace; for you can never know How crushed I
  am with having you at rest Heavy upon my life。                 I love you so You bind
  my freedom from its rightful quest。 In mercy lift your drooping wings and
  go。
  31
  … Page 32…
  A Dome of Many…Coloured Glass
  Dreams
  I do not care to talk to you although          Your speech evokes a thousand
  sympathies;       And   all   my   being's   silent   harmonies   Wake   trembling   into
  music。     When      you   go   It  is  as  if  some  sudden;    dreadful    blow    Had
  severed all the strings with savage ease。          No; do not talk; but let us rather
  seize   This   intimate   gift   of   silence   which   we   know。  Others   may   guess
  your   thoughts   from   what   you   say;   As   storms   are   guessed   from   clouds
  where darkness broods。          To me the very essence of the day Reveals its
  inner    purpose     and   its  moods;      As    poplars    feel  the   rain  and    then
  straightway Reverse their leaves and shimmer through the woods。
  Frankincense and Myrrh
  My heart is tuned to sorrow; and the strings             Vibrate most readily to
  minor chords;       Searching and sad; my mind is stuffed with words Which
  voice   the   passion   and    the   ache  of   things:  Illusions   beating   with  their
  baffled   wings     Against   the   walls   of   circumstance;   and   hoards    Of   torn
  desires;   broken   joys;   records   Of   all   a   bruised   life's   maimed   imaginings。
  Now you are come!          You tremble like a star Poised where; behind earth's
  rim; the sun has set。          Your voice has sung across my heart; but numb
  And   mute;   I   have   no   tones   to   answer。 Far   Within   I   kneel   before   you;
  speechless yet;         And life ablaze with beauty; I am dumb。
  From One Who Stays
  How empty seems the town now you are gone!                   A wilderness of sad
  streets;   where   gaunt   walls    Hide   nothing   to   desire;   sunshine   falls   Eery;
  32
  … Page 33…
  A Dome of Many…Coloured Glass
  distorted;   as   it   long   had   shone   On   white;   dead   faces   tombed   in   halls   of
  stone。    The whir of motors; stricken through with calls              Of playing boys;
  floats up at intervals; But all these noises blur to one long moan。                 What
  quest    is  worth   pursuing?      And     how   strange    That   other   men    still  go
  accustomed       ways!        I  hate   their  interest   in  the  things   they   do。   A
  spectre…horde repeating without change An old routine。                Alone I know the
  days        Are still…born; and the world stopped; lacking you。
  Crepuscule du Matin
  All night I wrestled with a memory             Which knocked insurgent at the
  gates of thought。       The crumbled wreck of years behind has wrought Its
  disillusion; now I only cry For peace; for power to forget the lie                 Which
  hope too long has whispered。           So I sought       The sleep which would not
  come; and night was fraught With old emotions weeping silently。 I heard
  your voice again; and knew the things             Which you had promised proved
  an   empty   vaunt。   I   felt   your   clinging   hands   while   night's   broad   wings
  Cherished   our   love   in   darkness。    From   the   lawn     A  sudden;   quivering
  birdnote; like a taunt。 My arms held nothing but the empty dawn。
  Aftermath
  I learnt to write to you in happier days;         And every letter was a piece I
  chipped      From off my heart; a fragment newly clipped From the mosaic
  of life; its blues and grays; Its throbbing reds; I gave to earn your praise。
  To   make   a   pavement   for   your   feet   I   stripped My  soul   for   you   to   walk
  upon; and slipped Beneath your steps to soften all your ways。                   But now
  my   letters   are   like   blossoms   pale   We   strew   upon   a   grave   with   hopeless
  tears。    I ask no recompense; I shall not fail Although you do not heed; the
  long;   sad   years   Still   pass;   and   still   I   scatter   flowers   frail; And   whisper
  words of love which no one hears。
  33
  … Page 34…
  A Dome of Many…Coloured Glass
  The End
  Throughout the echoing chambers of my brain                 I hear your words in
  mournful cadence toll         Like some slow passing…bell which warns the soul
  Of sundering darkness。          Unrelenting; fain To batter down resistance; fall
  again     Stroke after stroke; insistent diastole;         The bitter blows of truth;
  until the whole Is hammered into fact made strangely plain。                 Where shall
  I   look   for   comfort?    Not   to   you。    Our   worlds   are   drawn   apart;     our
  spirit's   suns   Divided;    and   the  light  of  mine    burnt   dim。    Now     in  the
  haunted twilight I must do          Your will。      I grasp the cup which over…runs;
  And with my trembling lips I touch the rim。
  The Starling
  〃‘I        can't        get       out';       said        the        starling。〃
  Sterne's ‘Sentimental Journey'。
  Forever   the   impenetrable   wall      Of   self   confines   my   poor   rebellious
  soul;    I   never   see   the   towering   white   clouds   roll   Before   a   sturdy   wind;
  save through the small Barred window of my jail。                 I live a thrall     With
  all   my   outer   life   a   clipped;   square   hole; Rectangular;   a   fraction   of   a
  scroll Unwound and winding like a worsted ball。               My thoughts are grown
  uneager and depressed            Through being always mine; my fancy's wings
  Are   moulted   and   the   feathers   blown   away。      I   weary   for   desires   never
  guessed;       For    alien   passions;