登陆注册
5395100000018

第18章

The rain imprinted the step's wet shine With target-circles that quivered and crossed As I was leaving this porch of mine;When from within there swelled and paused A song's sweet note;And back I turned, and thought, "Here I'll abide."The step shines wet beneath the rain, Which prints its circles as heretofore;I watch them from the porch again, But no song-notes within the door Now call to me To shun the dripping lea And forth I stride.

Jan. 1914.

SIGNS AND TOKENS

Said the red-cloaked crone In a whispered moan:

"The dead man was limp When laid in his chest;Yea, limp; and why But to signify That the grave will crimp Ere next year's sun Yet another one Of those in that house -It may be the best -

For its endless drowse!"

Said the brown-shawled dame To confirm the same:

"And the slothful flies On the rotting fruit Have been seen to wear While crawling there Crape scarves, by eyes That were quick and acute;As did those that had pitched On the cows by the pails, And with flaps of their tails Were far away switched."Said the third in plaid, Each word being weighed:

"And trotting does In the park, in the lane, And just outside The shuttered pane, Have also been heard -Quick feet as light As the feet of a sprite -And the wise mind knows What things may betide When such has occurred."Cried the black-craped fourth, Cold faced as the north:

"O, though giving such Some head-room, I smile At your falterings When noting those things Round your domicile!

For what, what can touch One whom, riven of all That makes life gay, No hints can appal Of more takings away!"PATHS OF FORMER TIME

No; no;

It must not be so:

They are the ways we do not go.

Still chew The kine, and moo In the meadows we used to wander through;Still purl The rivulets and curl Towards the weirs with a musical swirl;Haymakers As in former years Rake rolls into heaps that the pitchfork rears;Wheels crack On the turfy track The waggon pursues with its toppling pack.

"Why then shun -

Since summer's not done -

All this because of the lack of one?"

Had you been Sharer of that scene You would not ask while it bites in keen Why it is so We can no more go By the summer paths we used to know!

1913.

THE CLOCK OF THE YEARS

"A spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up."And the Spirit said, "I can make the clock of the years go backward, But am loth to stop it where you will."And I cried, "Agreed To that. Proceed:

It's better than dead!"

He answered, "Peace";

And called her up--as last before me;

Then younger, younger she freshed, to the year I first had known Her woman-grown, And I cried, "Cease! -"Thus far is good -

It is enough--let her stay thus always!"

But alas for me. He shook his head:

No stop was there;

And she waned child-fair, And to babyhood.

Still less in mien To my great sorrow became she slowly, And smalled till she was nought at all In his checkless griff;And it was as if She had never been.

"Better," I plained, "She were dead as before! The memory of her Had lived in me; but it cannot now!"And coldly his voice:

"It was your choice To mar the ordained."1916.

AT THE PIANO

A woman was playing, A man looking on;

And the mould of her face, And her neck, and her hair, Which the rays fell upon Of the two candles there, Sent him mentally straying In some fancy-place Where pain had no trace.

A cowled Apparition Came pushing between;And her notes seemed to sigh, And the lights to burn pale, As a spell numbed the scene.

But the maid saw no bale, And the man no monition;And Time laughed awry, And the Phantom hid nigh.

THE SHADOW ON THE STONE

I went by the Druid stone That broods in the garden white and lone, And I stopped and looked at the shifting shadows That at some moments fall thereon From the tree hard by with a rhythmic swing, And they shaped in my imagining To the shade that a well-known head and shoulders Threw there when she was gardening.

I thought her behind my back, Yea, her I long had learned to lack, And I said: "I am sure you are standing behind me, Though how do you get into this old track?"And there was no sound but the fall of a leaf As a sad response; and to keep down grief I would not turn my head to discover That there was nothing in my belief.

Yet I wanted to look and see That nobody stood at the back of me;But I thought once more: "Nay, I'll not unvision A shape which, somehow, there may be."So I went on softly from the glade, And left her behind me throwing her shade, As she were indeed an apparition -My head unturned lest my dream should fade.

Begun 1913: finished 1916.

IN THE GARDEN

(M. H.)

We waited for the sun To break its cloudy prison (For day was not yet done, And night still unbegun)Leaning by the dial.

After many a trial -

We all silent there -

It burst as new-arisen, Throwing a shade to where Time travelled at that minute.

Little saw we in it, But this much I know, Of lookers on that shade, Her towards whom it made Soonest had to go.

1915.

THE TREE AND THE LADY

I have done all I could For that lady I knew! Through the heats I have shaded her, Drawn to her songsters when summer has jaded her, Home from the heath or the wood.

At the mirth-time of May, When my shadow first lured her, I'd donned my new bravery Of greenth: 'twas my all. Now I shiver in slavery, Icicles grieving me gray.

Plumed to every twig's end I could tempt her chair under me. Much did I treasure her During those days she had nothing to pleasure her;Mutely she used me as friend.

I'm a skeleton now, And she's gone, craving warmth. The rime sticks like a skin to me;Through me Arcturus peers; Nor'lights shoot into me;Gone is she, scorning my bough!

AN UPBRAIDING

Now I am dead you sing to me The songs we used to know, But while I lived you had no wish Or care for doing so.

Now I am dead you come to me In the moonlight, comfortless;Ah, what would I have given alive To win such tenderness!

When you are dead, and stand to me Not differenced, as now, But like again, will you be cold As when we lived, or how?

THE YOUNG GLASS-STAINER

同类推荐
  • 许真君仙传

    许真君仙传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 辽方镇年表

    辽方镇年表

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 日涉编

    日涉编

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 達海叢書·附錄

    達海叢書·附錄

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 李氏家谱字派

    李氏家谱字派

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 女人的28个家庭掌权习惯

    女人的28个家庭掌权习惯

    也许在职场中,很多男性占有领导地位。但在家庭中,女性才是当之无愧的“领导”。美国最新公布的一项研究结果表明:在家庭生活中,无论是做各种决定,还是进行谈话,女性都比男性拥有更多的权威。专家在对已婚夫妇进行的调查中发现,女性在家庭中占主导地位的一个原因,是她们拥有决定家庭机器顺序运作的力景。研究人员梅甘,墨菲表示:“女性负责审查夫妻两人的关系,确保关系正常发展,确保处理好每件事情,并确保家庭中每个人快乐。”
  • 观猎三首

    观猎三首

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 随人乱

    随人乱

    ‘’哎?这不是那个硬闯三界的那个孩子吗?‘’‘’啊?还真是,她现在还这么悠闲,全世界的人都在抓她。‘’在远处的孩子瞟了那堆起哄哄的人,嘴角一钩,笑了‘’罢了,随人乱吧,我就是我,不一样的烟火。‘’
  • 郎君太野我太乖

    郎君太野我太乖

    尤悄然从来没觉得不会武功是一种这么大的罪过!不就是穿越做个任务嘛,这男主用得着这么不配合吗?不就是不会武功嘛,又没要求非做正妻,随便给个侍妾、姨娘的身份就行了啊,等她活到寿命尽,死撑死了也就十年夫妻,这男主是要作死吗?唉,穿越这种事,原主太强大了,自己没有发挥的余地也是很愁人啊!
  • 炼化诸天

    炼化诸天

    尘封在远古时期的寂寞,经历了千万次轮回,依旧无措。揭开上古的迷茫,挣脱天地的枷锁,天地之间,命运由谁主宰?万丈红尘,世间纷扰,困不住长剑笑傲,用剑的锋利,血的燃烧,去战!那天地浩荡!
  • 办好难办的事

    办好难办的事

    你想让那些难事不再难,你想成为一个出类拔萃的办事高手吗?那就赶快准备一册在手,关键时刻拿出来参详一二,天大的难事说不定就会迎刃而解,你的人生便由此改观,你的前途将由此充满无穷希望!
  • 喝对茶酒治百病

    喝对茶酒治百病

    自古以来,就有“茶为万病之药”,“酒为百药之长”的说法,用茶饮、药酒保健养生、防治疾病、延年益寿是我国劳动人民经过几千年实践所获得的宝贵财富。时至今日,生活在压力中的现代人,更加需要茶酒来帮助自己防治疾病、远离亚健康,女性朋友更是将茶酒运用到美容塑型中来。本书搜集了古今大量茶、酒防治疾病的资料,筛选出茶饮、药酒方剂百余则,按类编排成册,范围涉及茶酒养生治病常识、体质养生、四季养生、亚健康调养、美容塑型、常见病治疗等方面。编者以科学严谨的态度,用通俗易懂的叙述方式向读者传授着简便易行的养生、治病方法。可以说,获得本书就相当于拥有了最专业可靠的家庭医生!
  • 神农医圣

    神农医圣

    【小编力荐】乡村少年得高人传承,种田、治病、抓鬼、算命、看风水样样精通,还有龙组兵王在背后保驾护航,逍遥世间,无人可挡!----------------------新书《少年奶爸在未来》已经发布,求大家多多支持。
  • 窃国

    窃国

    窃钩者诛,窃国者侯。凤凰重生,绯心想要的,不过是拿回一个国。
  • 驱逐倭寇:戚继光

    驱逐倭寇:戚继光

    戚继光(1528年11月12日-1588年1月5日),字元敬,号南塘,晚号孟诸,汉族,山东登州人。明代著名抗倭将领、军事家,与俞大猷齐名。其父戚景通任漕运官员(今山东省微山县鲁桥镇)戚继光亦出生于此地。率军之日于浙、闽、粤沿海诸地抗击来犯倭寇,历十余年,大小八十余战,终于扫平倭寇之患,被现代中国誉为民族英雄,卒谥武毅。《中国文化知识读本·驱逐倭寇:戚继光》以优美生动的文字、简明通俗的语言、图文并茂的形式,介绍了驱逐倭寇戚继光传奇的一生。