第 22 节
作者:京文      更新:2021-12-07 09:25      字数:9321
  Haste; haste away!…
  Castor has tamed the planet Lion; see!
  And of the Bear has Pollux mastery:
  A third is in the race! who is the third
  Speeding away swift as the eagle bird?
  The ramping Centaur!
  The Lion's mane's on end: the Bear how fierce!
  The Centaur's arrow ready seems to pierce
  Some enemy: far forth his bow is bent
  Into the blue of heaven。 He'll be shent;
  Pale unrelentor;
  When he shall hear the wedding lutes a playing。…
  Andromeda! sweet woman! why delaying
  So timidly among the stars: come hither!
  Join this bright throng; and nimbly follow whither
  They all are going。
  Danae's Son; before Jove newly bow'd;
  Has wept for thee; calling to Jove aloud。
  Thee; gentle lady; did he disenthral:
  Ye shall for ever live and love; for all
  Thy tears are flowing。…
  By Daphne's fright; behold Apollo!…〃
  More
  Endymion heard not: down his steed him bore;
  Prone to the green head of a misty hill。
  His first touch of the earth went nigh to kill。
  〃Alas!〃 said he; 〃were I but always borne
  Through dangerous winds; had but my footsteps worn
  A path in hell; for ever would I bless
  Horrors which nourish an uneasiness
  For my own sullen conquering: to him
  Who lives beyond earth's boundary; grief is dim;
  Sorrow is but a shadow: now I see
  The grass; I feel the solid ground… Ah; me!
  It is thy voice… divinest! Where?… who? who
  Left thee so quiet on this bed of dew?
  Behold upon this happy earth we are;
  Let us aye love each other; let us fare
  On forest…fruits; and never; never go
  Among the abodes of mortals here below;
  Or be by phantoms duped。 O destiny!
  Into a labyrinth now my soul would fly;
  But with thy beauty will I deaden it。
  Where didst thou melt to? By thee will I sit
  For ever: let our fate stop here… a kid
  I on this spot will offer: Pan will bid
  Us live in peace; in love and peace among
  His forest wildernesses。 I have clung
  To nothing; lov'd a nothing; nothing seen
  Or felt but a great dream! O I have been
  Presumptuous against love; against the sky;
  Against all elements; against the tie
  Of mortals each to each; against the blooms
  Of flowers; rush of rivers; and the tombs
  Of heroes gone! Against his proper glory
  Has my own soul conspired: so my story
  Will I to children utter; and repent。
  There never liv'd a mortal man; who bent
  His appetite beyond his natural sphere;
  But starv'd and died。 My sweetest Indian; here;
  Here will I kneel; for thou redeemed hast
  My life from too thin breathing: gone and past
  Are cloudy phantasms。 Caverns lone; farewell!
  And air of visions; and the monstrous swell
  Of visionary seas! No; never more
  Shall airy voices cheat me to the shore
  Of tangled wonder; breathless and aghast。
  Adieu; my daintiest Dream! although so vast
  My love is still for thee。 The hour may come
  When we shall meet in pure elysium。
  On earth I may not love thee; and therefore
  Doves will I offer up; and sweetest store
  All through the teeming year: so thou wilt shine
  On me; and on this damsel fair of mine;
  And bless our silver lives。 My Indian bliss!
  My river…lilly bud! one human kiss!
  One sigh of real breath… one gentle squeeze;
  Warm as a dove's nest among summer trees;
  And warm with dew at ooze from living blood!
  Whither didst melt? Ah; what of that!… all good
  We'll talk about… no more of dreaming。… Now;
  Where shall our dwelling be? Under the brow
  Of some steep mossy hill; where ivy dun
  Would hide us up; although spring leaves were none;
  And where dark yew trees; as we rustle through;
  Will drop their scarlet berry cups of dew?
  O thou wouldst joy to live in such a place;
  Dusk for our loves; yet light enough to grace
  Those gentle limbs on mossy bed reclin'd:
  For by one step the blue sky shouldst thou find;
  And by another; in deep dell below;
  See; through the trees; a little river go
  All in its mid…day gold and glimmering。
  Honey from out the gnarled hive I'll bring;
  And apples; wan with sweetness; gather thee;…
  Cresses that grow where no man may them see;
  And sorrel untorn by the dew…claw'd stag:
  Pipes will I fashion of the syrinx flag;
  That thou mayst always know whither I roam;
  When it shall please thee in our quiet home
  To listen and think of love。 Still let me speak;
  Still let me dive into the joy I seek;…
  For yet the past doth prison me。 The rill;
  Thou haply mayst delight in; will I fill
  With fairy fishes from the mountain tarn;
  And thou shalt feed them from the squirrel's barn。
  Its bottom will I strew with amber shells;
  And pebbles blue from deep enchanted wells。
  Its sides I'll plant with dew…sweet eglantine;
  And honeysuckles full of clear bee…wine。
  I will entice this crystal rill to trace
  Love's silver name upon the meadow's face。
  I'll kneel to Vesta; for a flame of fire;
  And to god Phoebus; for a golden lyre;
  To Empress Dian; for a hunting spear;
  To Vesper; for a taper silver…clear;
  That I may see thy beauty through the night;
  To Flora; and a nightingale shall light
  Tame on thy finger; to the River…gods;
  And they shall bring thee taper fishing…rods
  Of gold; and lines of Naiads' long bright tress。
  Heaven shield thee for thine utter loveliness!
  Thy mossy footstool shall the altar be
  'Fore which I'll bend; bending; dear love; to thee:
  Those lips shall be my Delphos; and shall speak
  Laws to my footsteps; colour to my cheek;
  Trembling or stedfastness to this same voice;
  And of three sweetest pleasurings the choice:
  And that affectionate light; those diamond things;
  Those eyes; those passions; those supreme pearl springs;
  Shall be my grief; or twinkle me to pleasure。
  Say; is not bliss within our perfect seisure?
  O that I could not doubt!〃
  The mountaineer
  Thus strove by fancies vain and crude to clear
  His briar'd path to some tranquillity。
  It gave bright gladness to his lady's eye;
  And yet the tears she wept were tears of sorrow;
  Answering thus; just as the golden morrow
  Beam'd upward from the vallies of the east:
  〃O that the flutter of this heart had ceas'd;
  Or the sweet name of love had pass'd away。
  Young feather'd tyrant! by a swift decay
  Wilt thou devote this body to the earth:
  And I do think that at my very birth
  I lisp'd thy blooming titles inwardly;
  For at the first; first dawn and thought of thee;
  With uplift hands I blest the stars of heaven。
  Art thou not cruel? Ever have I striven
  To think thee kind; but ah; it will not do!
  When yet a child; I heard that kisses drew
  Favour from thee; and so I kisses gave
  To the void air; bidding them find out love:
  But when I came to feel how far above
  All fancy; pride; and fickle maidenhood;
  All earthly pleasure; all imagin'd good;
  Was the warm tremble of a devout kiss;…
  Even then; that moment; at the thought of this;
  Fainting I fell into a bed of flowers;
  And languish'd there three days。 Ye milder powers;
  Am I not cruelly wrong'd? Believe; believe
  Me; dear Endymion; were I to weave
  With my own fancies garlands of sweet life;
  Thou shouldst be one of all。 Ah; bitter strife!
  I may not be thy love: I am forbidden…
  Indeed I am… thwarted; affrighted; chidden;
  By things I trembled at; and gorgon wrath。
  Twice hast thou ask'd whither I went: henceforth
  Ask me no more! I may not utter it;
  Nor may I be thy love。 We might commit
  Ourselves at once to vengeance; we might die;
  We might embrace and die: voluptuous thought!
  Enlarge not to my hunger; or I'm caught
  In trammels of perverse deliciousness。
  No; no; that shall not be: thee will I bless;
  And bid a long adieu。〃
  The Carian
  No word return'd: both lovelorn; silent; wan;
  Into the vallies green together went。