第 68 节
作者:乐乐陶陶      更新:2021-02-20 05:16      字数:9322
  Of something without place or bound;
  And seemed to give me spiritual right
  To travel through that region bright。
  The voice was soft; and she who spake
  Was walking by her native lake:
  The salutation had to me
  The very sound of courtesy:
  Its power was felt; and while my eye
  Was fixed upon the glowing Sky;
  The echo of the voice enwrought
  A human sweetness with the thought
  Of travelling through the world that lay
  Before me in my endless way。
  William Wordsworth '1770…1850'
  A FAREWELL TO ARMS
  (To Queen Elizabeth)
  His golden locks Time hath to silver turned;
  O Time too swift; O swiftness never ceasing!
  His youth 'gainst time and age hath ever spurned;
  But spurned in vain; youth waneth by increasing:
  Beauty; strength; youth; are flowers but fading seen;
  Duty; faith; love; are roots; and ever green。
  His helmet now shall make a hive for bees;
  And lovers' sonnets turned to holy psalms;
  A man…at…arms must now serve on his knees;
  And feed on prayers; which are Age his alms:
  But though from court to cottage he depart;
  His Saint is sure of his unspotted heart。
  And when he saddest sits in homely cell;
  He'll teach his swains this carol for a song; …
  〃Blest be the hearts that wish my sovereign well;
  Curst be the souls that think her any wrong。〃
  Goddess; allow this aged man his right
  To be your beadsman now that was your knight。
  George Peele '1558?…1597?'
  THE WORLD
  The World's a bubble; and the life of Man
  Less than a span:
  In his conception wretched; … from the womb;
  So to the tomb;
  Curst from his cradle; and brought up to years
  With cares and fears。
  Who then to frail mortality shall trust;
  But limns on water; or but writes in dust。
  Yet whilst with sorrow here we live oppressed;
  What life is best?
  Courts are but only superficial schools
  To dandle fools:
  The rural parts are turned into a den
  Of savage men;
  And where's a city from foul vice so free;
  But may be termed the worst of all the three?
  Domestic cares afflict the husband's bed;
  Or pains his head:
  Those that live single; take it for a curse;
  Or do things worse:
  Some would have children; those that have them moan
  Or wish them gone:
  What is it; then; to have; or have no wife;
  But single thraldom; or a double strife?
  Our own affections still at home to please
  Is a disease;
  To cross the seas to any foreign soil;
  Peril and toil;
  Wars with their noise affright us; when they cease;
  We are worse in peace:
  … What then remains; but that we still should cry
  For being born; or; being born; to die?
  Francis Bacon '1561…1626'
  〃WHEN THAT I WAS AND A LITTLE TINY BOY〃
  From 〃Twelfth Night〃
  When that I was and a little tiny boy;
  With hey; ho; the wind and the rain;
  A foolish thing was but a toy;
  For the rain it raineth every day。
  But when I came to man's estate;
  With hey; ho; the wind and the rain;
  'Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate;
  For the rain it raineth every day。
  But when I came; alas! to wive;
  With hey; ho; the wind and the rain;
  By swaggering could I never thrive;
  For the rain it raineth every day。
  But when I came unto my beds;
  With hey; ho; the wind and the rain;
  With toss…pots still had drunken heads;
  For the rain it raineth every day。
  A great while ago the world begun;
  With hey; ho; the wind and the rain;
  But that's all one; our play is done;
  And we'll strive to please you every day。
  William Shakespeare '1564…1616'
  OF THE LAST VERSES IN THE BOOK
  When we for age could neither read nor write;
  The subject made us able to indite;
  The soul; with nobler resolutions decked;
  The body stooping does herself erect。
  No mortal parts are requisite to raise
  Her that; unbodied; can her Maker praise。
  The seas are quiet when the winds give o'er;
  So calm are we when passions are no more。
  For then we know how vain it was to boast
  Of fleeting things; so certain to be lost。
  Clouds of affection from our younger eyes
  Conceal that emptiness which age descries。
  The soul's dark cottage; battered and decayed;
  Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made:
  Stronger by weakness; wiser; men become
  As they draw near to their eternal home。
  Leaving the old; both worlds at once they view
  That stand upon the threshold of the new。
  Edmund Waller '1606…1687'
  A LAMENT
  The Night Before His Execution
  My prime of youth is but a frost of cares;
  My feast of joy is but a dish of pain;
  My crop of corn is but a field of tares;
  And all my good is but vain hope of gain;
  The day is fled; and yet I saw no sun;
  And now I live; and now my life is done!
  The spring is past; and yet it is not sprung;
  The fruit is dead; and yet the leaves be green;
  My youth is gone; and yet I am but young;
  I saw the world; and yet I was not seen;
  My thread is cut; and yet it is not spun;
  And now I live; and now my life is done!
  I sought my death; and found it in my womb;
  I looked for life; and saw it was a shade;
  I trod the earth; and knew it was my tomb;
  And now I die; and now I am but made;
  The glass is full; and now my glass is run;
  And now I live; and now my life is done!
  Chidiock Tichborne '1558?…1586'
  TOMORROW
  In the down…hill of life; when I find I'm declining;
  May my fate no less fortunate be
  Than a snug elbow…chair will afford for reclining;
  And a cot that o'erlooks the wide sea;
  With an ambling pad…pony to pace o'er the lawn;
  While I carol away idle sorrow;
  And blithe as the lark that each day hails the dawn;
  Look forward with hope for Tomorrow。
  With a porch at my door; both for shelter and shade too;
  As the sunshine or rain may prevail;
  And a small spot of ground for the use of the spade too;
  With a barn for the use of the flail:
  A cow for my dairy; a dog for my game;
  And a purse when a friend wants to borrow;
  I'll envy no Nabob his riches or fame;
  Nor what honors may wait him Tomorrow。
  From the bleak northern blast may my cot be completely
  Secured by a neighboring hill;
  And at night may repose steal upon me more sweetly
  By the sound of a murmuring rill。
  And while peace and plenty I find at my board;
  With a heart free from sickness and sorrow;
  With my friends may I share what Today may afford;
  And let them spread the table Tomorrow。
  And when I at last must throw off this frail covering;
  Which I've worn for three…score years and ten;
  On the brink of the grave I'll not seek to keep hovering;
  Nor my thread wish to spin o'er again;
  But my face in the glass I'll serenely survey;
  And with smiles count each wrinkle and furrow;
  And this old worn…out stuff; which is threadbare Today;
  May become everlasting Tomorrow。
  John Collins '1742?…1808'
  LATE WISDOM
  We've trod the maze of error round;
  Long wandering in the winding glade;
  And now the torch of truth is found;
  It only shows us where we strayed:
  By long experience taught; we know …
  Can rightly judge of friends and foes;
  Can all the worth of these allow;
  And all the faults discern in those。
  Now; 'tis our boast that we can quell
  The wildest passions in their rage;
  Can their destructive force repel;
  And their impetuous wrath assuage。 …
  Ah; Virtue! dost thou arm when now
  This bold rebellious race are fled?
  When all these tyrants rest; and thou
  Art warring with the mighty dead?
  George Crabbe '1754…1832'
  YOUTH AND AGE
  Verse; a breeze 'mid blossoms straying;
  Where Hope clung feeding like a bee; …
  Both were mine!  Life went a…maying
  With Nature; Hope; and Poesy
  When I was young!
  When I was young? … Ah; woful When!
  Ah; for the change 'twixt Now and Then!
  This breathing house not built with hands;
  This body that does me grievous wrong;
  O'er aery cliffs and glittering sands;
  How lightly then it flashed along: …
  Like those trim skiffs; unknown of yore;
  On winding lakes and rivers wide;
  That ask no aid of sail or oar;
  That fear no spite of wind or tide!
  Naught cared this body for wind or weather
  When Youth and I lived in't together。
  Flowers are lovely; Love is flower…like;
  Friendship is a sheltering tree;
  Oh! the joys that came down shower…like;
  Of Friendship; Love; and Liberty
  Ere I was old!
  Ere I was old?  Ah; woful Ere;
  Which tells me; Youth's no longer here!
  O Youth! for years so many and sweet;
  'Tis known that Thou and I were one。
  I'll think it but a fond conceit …
  It cannot be that Thou art gone!
  Thy vesper…bell hath not yet tolled: …
  And thou wert aye a masker bold!
  What strange disguise hast now put on
  To make believe that thou art gone?
  I see these locks in silvery slips;
  This drooping gait; this altered size:
  But Springtide blossoms on thy lips;
  And tears take sunshine from thine eyes!
  Life is but thought: so think I will
  That Youth and I are house…ma