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:
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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!''
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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。
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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?
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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?
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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!
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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!