第 3 节
作者:翱翔1981      更新:2021-04-30 15:55      字数:9317
  As pure as those existing on;
  And burning still in mine。
  Had every treasure at your feet
  That I was wont to pour;
  Been never thrown like worthless weeds
  Upon a barren shore!
  The bitter edge of grief has passed;
  I would not now upbraid;
  Or count to you the broken vows;
  So often idly made!
  I would not cross your path to chase
  The falsehood from your brow …
  I know; with all that borrowed light;
  You are not happy now:
  Page: 9
  Since those that once have trampled down
  Affection's early claim;
  Have lost a peace they need not hope
  To find on earth again。
  AILEEN
  A SPLENDID sun betwixt the trees
  Long spikes of flame did shoot;
  When turning to the fragrant South;
  With longing eyes and burning mouth;
  I stretched a hand athwart the drouth;
  And plucked at cooling fruit。
  So thirst was quenched; and hastening on
  With strength returned to me;
  I set my face against the noon;
  And reached a denser forest soon;
  Which dipped into a still lagoon
  Hard by the sooming sea。
  All day the ocean beat on bar
  And bank of gleaming sand;
  Yet that lone pool was always mild;
  It never moved when waves were wild;
  But slumbered; like a quiet child;
  Upon the lap of land。
  And when I rested on the brink;
  Amongst the fallen flowers;
  I lay in calm; no leaves were stirred
  By breath of wind; or wing of bird;
  It was so still; you might have heard
  The footfalls of the hours。
  Faint slumbrous scents of roses filled
  The air which covered me:
  My words were low … ‘‘she loved them so;
  In Eden vales such odours blow:
  How strange it is that roses grow
  So near the shores of Sea!''
  Page: 10
  A sweeter fragrance never came
  Across the Fields of Yore!
  And when I said … ‘‘we here would dwell;'' …
  A low voice on the silence fell …
  ‘‘Ah! if you loved the roses well;
  You loved Aileen the more。''
  ‘‘Ay; that I did; and now would turn;
  And fall and worship her!
  But Oh; you dwell so far … so high!
  One cannot reach; though he may try;
  The Morning land; and Jasper sky …
  The balmy hills of Myrrh。
  ‘‘Why vex me with delicious hints
  Of fairest face; and rarest blooms;
  You Spirit of a darling Dream
  Which links itself with every theme
  And thought of mine by surf or stream;
  In glens … or caverned glooms?''
  She said; ‘‘thy wishes led me down;
  From amaranthine bowers:
  And since my face was haunting thee
  With roses (dear which used to be);
  They all have hither followed me;
  The scents and shapes of flowers。''
  ‘‘Then stay; mine own evangel; stay!
  Or; going; take me too;
  But let me sojourn by your side;
  If here we dwell or there abide;
  It matters not!'' I madly cried …
  ‘‘I only care for you。''
  Oh; glittering Form that would not stay! …
  Oh; sudden; sighing breeze!
  A fainting rainbow dropped below
  Far gleaming peaks and walls of snow
  And there; a weary way; I go;
  Towards the Sunrise seas。
  Page: 11
  KOOROORA
  THE gums in the gully stand gloomy and stark;
  A torrent beneath them is leaping;
  And the wind goes about like a ghost in the dark
  Where a chief of Wahibbi lies sleeping!
  He dreams of a battle … of foes of the past;
  But he hears not the whooping abroad on the blast;
  Nor the fall of the feet that are travelling fast。
  Oh; why dost thou slumber; Kooroora?
  They come o'er the hills in their terrible ire;
  And speed by the woodlands and water;
  They look down the hills at the flickering fire;
  All eager and thirsty for slaughter。
  Lo! the stormy moon glares like a torch from the vale;
  And a voice in the belah grows wild in its wail;
  As the cries of the Wanneroos swell with the gale …
  Oh! rouse thee and meet them; Kooroora!
  He starts from his sleep and he clutches his spear;
  And the echoes roll backward in wonder;
  For a shouting strikes into the hollow woods near;
  Like the sound of a gathering thunder。
  He clambers the ridge; with his face to the light;
  The foes of Wahibbi come full in his sight …
  The waters of Mooki will redden to…night。
  Go! and glory awaits thee; Kooroora!
  Lo! yeelamans splinter and boomerangs clash;
  And a spear through the darkness is driven …
  It whizzes along like a wandering flash
  From the heart of a hurricane riven。
  They turn to the mountains; that gloomy…browed band;
  The rain droppeth down with a moan to the land;
  And the face of a chieftain lies buried in sand …
  Oh; the light that was quenched with Kooroora!
  To…morrow the Wanneroo dogs will rejoice;
  And feast in this desolate valley;
  But where are his brothers … the friends of his choice;
  And why art thou absent; Ewalli?
  Page: 12
  Now silence draws back to the forest again;
  And the wind; like a wayfarer; sleeps on the plain;
  But the cheeks of a warrior bleach in the rain。
  Oh! where are thy mourners; Kooroora?
  FAINTING BY THE WAY
  SWARTHY wastelands; wide and woodless; glittering miles and miles away;
  Where the south wind seldom wanders and the winters will not stay;
  Lurid wastelands; pent in silence; thick with hot and thirsty sighs;
  Where the scanty thorn…leaves twinkle with their haggard; hopeless eyes;
  Furnaced wastelands; hunched with hillocks; like to stony billows rolled;
  Where the naked flats lie swirling; like a sea of darkened gold;
  Burning wastelands; glancing upward with a weird and vacant stare;
  Where the languid heavens quiver o'er red depths of stirless air!
  ‘‘Oh; my brother; I am weary of this wildering waste of sand;
  In the noontide we can never travel to the promised land!
  Lo! the desert broadens round us; glaring wildly in my face;
  With long leagues of sunflame on it; … oh! the barren; barren place!
  See; behind us gleams a green plot; shall we thither turn and rest
  Till a cold wind flutters over; till the day is down the west?
  I would follow; but I cannot! Brother; let me here remain;
  For the heart is dead within me; and I may not rise again。''
  ‘‘Wherefore stay to talk of fainting? … rouse thee for awhile; my friend;
  Evening hurries on our footsteps; and this journey soon will end。
  Wherefore stay to talk of fainting; when the sun; with sinking fire;
  Smites the blocks of broken thunder; blackening yonder craggy spire?
  Page: 13
  Even now the far…off landscape broods and fills with coming change;
  And a withered moon grows brighter bending o'er that shadowed range;
  At the feet of grassy summits sleeps a water calm and clear …
  There is surely rest beyond it! Comrade; wherefore tarry here?
  ‘‘Yet a little longer struggle; we have walked a wilder plain;
  And have met more troubles; trust me; than we e'er shall meet again!
  Can you think of all the dangers you and I are living through
  With a soul so weak and fearful; with the doubts I never knew?
  Dost thou not remember that the thorns are clustered with the rose;
  And that every Zin…like border may a pleasant land enclose?
  Oh; across these sultry deserts many a fruitful scene we'll find;
  And the blooms we gather shall be worth the wounds they leave behind!''
  ‘‘Ah; my brother; it is useless! See; o'erburdened with their load;
  All the friends who went before us fall or falter by the road!
  We have come a weary distance; seeking what we may not get;
  And I think we are but children; chasing rainbows through the wet。
  Tell me not of vernal valleys! Is it well to hold a reed
  Out for drowning men to clutch at in the moments of their need?
  Go thy journey on without me; it is better I should stay;
  Since my life is like an evening; fading; swooning fast away!
  ‘‘Where are all the springs you talked of? Have I not with pleading mouth
  Looked to Heaven through a silence stifled in the crimson drouth?
  Have I not; with lips unsated; watched to see the fountains burst;
  Where I searched the rocks for cisterns? And they only mocked my thirst!
  Oh; I dreamt of countries fertile; bright with lakes and flashing rills
  Leaping from their shady caverns; streaming round a thousand hills!
  Page: 14
  Leave me; brother; all is fruitless; barren; measureless; and dry;
  And my God will never help me though I pray; and faint; and die!''
  ‘‘Up! I tell thee this is idle! Oh; thou man of little faith!
  Doubting on the verge of Aidenn; turning now to covet death!
  By the fervent hopes within me; by the strength which nerves my soul;
  By the heart that yearns to help thee; we shall live and reach the goal!