第 74 节
作者:乐乐陶陶      更新:2021-02-20 05:16      字数:9322
  In this my prayer if I offend;
  One something sees beyond his reach
  From childhood to his journey's end。
  My wife; our little boy; Aignan;
  Have travelled even to Narbonne;
  My grandchild has seen Perpignan;
  And I … have not seen Carcassonne!〃
  So crooned; one day; close by Limoux;
  A peasant; double…bent with age。
  〃Rise up; my friend;〃 said I; 〃with you
  I'll go upon this pilgrimage。〃
  We left; next morning; his abode;
  But (Heaven forgive him!) half…way on
  The old man died upon the road。
  He never gazed on Carcassonne。
  Translated by John R。 Thompson from the French of
  Gustave Nadaud '1820… ? '
  CHILDHOOD
  Old Sorrow I shall meet again;
  And Joy; perchance … but never; never;
  Happy Childhood; shall we twain
  See each other's face forever!
  And yet I would not call thee back;
  Dear Childhood; lest the sight of me;
  Thine old companion; on the rack
  Of Age; should sadden even thee。
  John Banister Tabb '1845…1909'
  THE WASTREL
  Once; when I was little; as the summer night was falling;
  Among the purple upland fields I lost my barefoot way;
  The road to home was hidden fast; and frightful shadows; crawling
  Along the sky…line; swallowed up the last kind light of day;
  And then I seemed to hear you
  In the twilight; and be near you;
  Seemed to hear your dear voice calling …
  Through the meadows; calling; calling …
  And I followed and I found you;
  Flung my tired arms around you;
  And rested on the mother…breast; returned; tired out from play。
  Down the days from that day; though I trod strange paths unheeding;
  Though I chased the jack…o'…lanterns of so many maddened years;
  Though I never looked behind me; where the home…lights were receding;
  Though I never looked enough ahead to ken the Inn of Fears;
  Still I knew your heart was near me;
  That your ear was strained to hear me;
  That your love would need no pleading
  To forgive me; but was pleading
  Of its self that; in disaster;
  I should run to you the faster
  And be sure that I was dearer for your sacrifice of tears。
  Now on life's last Summertime the long last dusk is falling;
  And I; who trod one way so long; can tread no other way
  Until at death's dim crossroads I watch; hesitant; the crawling
  Night…passages that maze me with the ultimate dismay。
  Then when Death and Doubt shall blind me …
  Even then … I know you'll find me:
  I shall hear you; Mother; calling …
  Hear you calling … calling … calling:
  I shall fight and follow … find you
  Though the grave…clothes swathe and bind you;
  And I know your love will answer: 〃Here's my laddie home from play!〃
  Reginald Wright Kauffman '1877…
  TROIA FUIT
  The world was wide when I was young;
  My schoolday hills and dales among;
  But; oh; it needs no Puck to put;
  With whipping wing and flying foot;
  A girdle 'round the narrow sphere
  In which I labor now and here!
  Life's face was fair when careless I
  First loved beneath an April sky;
  And wept those fine…imagined woes
  That youth at nineteen thinks it knows;
  Now love and woe both run so deep
  I have not any time to weep。
  No matter; though at last we see
  That what was could not always be;
  It girds our loins and steels our hands
  In duller days and smaller lands
  To recollect the country where
  The world was wide and life was fair。
  Reginald Wright Kauffman '1877…
  TEMPLE GARLANDS
  There is a temple in my heart
  Where moth or rust can never come;
  A temple swept and set apart;
  To make my soul a home。
  And round about the doors of it
  Hang garlands that forever last;
  That gathered once are always sweet;
  The roses of the Past!
  A。 Mary F。 Robinson '1857…
  TIME LONG PAST
  Like the ghost of a dear friend dead
  Is Time long past。
  A tone which is now forever fled;
  A hope which is now forever past;
  A love so sweet it could not last;
  Was Time long past。
  There were sweet dreams in the night
  Of Time long past:
  And; was it sadness or delight;
  Each day a shadow onward cast
  Which made us wish it yet might last; …
  That Time long past。
  There is regret; almost remorse;
  For Time long past。
  'Tis like a child's beloved corse
  A father watches; till at last
  Beauty is like remembrance; cast
  From Time long past。
  Percy Bysshe Shelley '1792…1822'
  〃I REMEMBER; I REMEMBER〃
  I remember; I remember
  The house where I was born;
  The little window where the sun
  Came peeping in at morn;
  He never came a wink too soon
  Nor brought too long a day;
  But now; I often wish the night
  Had borne my breath away。
  I remember; I remember
  The roses; red and white;
  The violets; and the lily…cups …
  Those flowers made of light!
  The lilacs where the robin built;
  And where my brother set
  The laburnum on his birthday; …
  The tree is living yet!
  I remember; I remember
  Where I was used to swing;
  And though the air must rush as fresh
  To swallows on the wing;
  My spirit flew in feathers then
  That is so heavy now;
  The summer pools could hardly cool
  The fever on my brow。
  I remember; I remember
  The fir…trees dark and high;
  I used to think their slender tops
  Were close against the sky:
  It was a childish ignorance;
  But now 'tis little joy
  To know I'm farther off from Heaven
  Than when I was a boy。
  Thomas Hood '1799…1845'
  MY LOST YOUTH
  Often I think of the beautiful town
  That is seated by the sea;
  Often in thought go up and down
  The pleasant streets of that dear old town;
  And my youth comes back to me。
  And a verse of a Lapland song
  Is haunting my memory still:
  〃A boy's will is the wind's will;
  And the thoughts of youth; are long; long thoughts。〃
  I can see the shadowy lines of its trees;
  And catch; in sudden gleams;
  The sheen of the far…surrounding seas;
  And islands that were the Hesperides
  Of all my boyish dreams。
  And the burden of that old song;
  It murmurs and whispers still:
  〃A boy's will is the wind's will;
  And the thoughts of youth are long; long thoughts。〃
  I remember the black wharves and the slips;
  And the sea…tides tossing free;
  And Spanish sailors with bearded lips;
  And the beauty and mystery of the ships;
  And the magic of the sea。
  And the voice of that wayward song
  Is singing and saying still:
  〃A boy's will is the wind's will;
  And the thoughts of youth are long; long thoughts。〃
  I remember the bulwarks by the shore;
  And the fort upon the hill;
  The sunrise gun; with its hollow roar;
  The drum…beat repeated o'er and o'er;
  And the bugle wild and shrill。
  And the music of that old song
  Throbs in my memory still:
  〃A boy's will is the wind's will;
  And the thoughts of youth are long; long thoughts。〃
  I remember the sea…fight far away;
  How it thundered o'er the tide!
  And the dead captains; as they lay
  In their graves; o'erlooking the tranquil bay
  Where they in battle died。
  And the sound of that mournful song
  Goes through me with a thrill:
  〃A boy's will is the wind's will;
  And the thoughts of youth are long; long thoughts。〃
  I can see the breezy dome of groves;
  The shadows of Deering's Woods;
  And the friendships old and the early loves
  Come back with a Sabbath sound; as of doves
  In quiet neighborhoods。
  And the verse of that sweet old song;
  It flutters and murmurs still:
  〃A boy's will is the wind's will;
  And the thoughts of youth are long; long thoughts。〃
  I remember the gleams and glooms that dart
  Across the school…boy's brain;
  The song and the silence in the heart;
  That in part are prophecies; and in part
  Are longings wild and vain。
  And the voice of that fitful song
  Sings on; and is never still:
  〃A boy's will is the wind's will;
  And the thoughts of youth are long; long thoughts。〃
  There are things of which I may not speak;
  There are dreams that cannot die;
  There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak;
  And bring a pallor into the cheek;
  And a mist before the eye。
  And the words of that fatal song
  Come over me like a chill:
  〃A boy's will is the wind's will;
  And the thoughts of youth are long; long thoughts〃
  Strange to me are the forms I meet
  When I visit the dear old town;
  But the native air is pure and sweet;
  And the trees that o'ershadow each well…known street;
  As they balance up and down;
  Are singing the beautiful song;
  Are sighing and whispering still:
  〃A boy's will is the wind's will;
  And the thoughts of youth are long; long thoughts。〃
  And Deering's Woods are fresh and fair;
  And with joy that is almost pain
  My heart goes back to wander there;
  And among the dreams of the days that were
  I find my lost youth again。
  And the strange and beautiful song;
  The groves are repeating it still:
  〃A boy's will is the wind's will;
  And the thoughts of youth are long; long thoughts。〃
  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow '1807…1882'
  〃VOICE OF THE WESTERN WIND〃