登陆注册
5419700000170

第170章

I stood in silence and apart, And wondered more and more to see That shapeless, lifeless mass of clay Rise up to meet the master's hand, And now contract and now expand, And even his slightest touch obey;While ever in a thoughtful mood He sang his ditty, and at times Whistled a tune between the rhymes, As a melodious interlude.

Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change To something new, to something strange;Nothing that is can pause or stay;

The moon will wax, the moon will wane, The mist and cloud will turn to rain, The rain to mist and cloud again, To-morrow be to-day.

Thus still the Potter sang, and still, By some unconscious act of will, The melody and even the words Were intermingled with my thought As bits of colored thread are caught And woven into nests of birds.

And thus to regions far remote, Beyond the ocean's vast expanse, This wizard in the motley coat Transported me on wings of song, And by the northern shores of France Bore me with restless speed along.

What land is this that seems to be A mingling of the land and sea?

This land of sluices, dikes, and dunes?

This water-net, that tessellates The landscape? this unending maze Of gardens, through whose latticed gates The imprisoned pinks and tulips gaze;Where in long summer afternoons The sunshine, softened by the haze, Comes streaming down as through a screen;Where over fields and pastures green The painted ships float high in air, And over all and everywhere The sails of windmills sink and soar Like wings of sea-gulls on the shore?

What land is this? Yon pretty town Is Delft, with all its wares displayed;The pride, the market-place, the crown And centre of the Potter's trade.

See! every house and room is bright With glimmers of reflected light From plates that on the dresser shine;Flagons to foam with Flemish beer, Or sparkle with the Rhenish wine, And pilgrim flasks with fleurs-de-lis, And ships upon a rolling sea, And tankards pewter topped, and queer With comic mask and musketeer!

Each hospitable chimney smiles A welcome from its painted tiles;The parlor walls, the chamber floors, The stairways and the corridors, The borders of the garden walks, Are beautiful with fadeless flowers, That never droop in winds or showers, And never wither on their stalks.

Turn, turn, my wheel! All life is brief;What now is bud wilt soon be leaf, What now is leaf will soon decay;The wind blows east, the wind blows west;The blue eyes in the robin's nest Will soon have wings and beak and breast, And flutter and fly away.

Now southward through the air I glide, The song my only pursuivant, And see across the landscape wide The blue Charente, upon whose tide The belfries and the spires of Saintes Ripple and rock from side to side, As, when an earthquake rends its walls, A crumbling city reels and falls.

Who is it in the suburbs here, This Potter, working with such cheer, In this mean house, this mean attire, His manly features bronzed with fire, Whose figulines and rustic wares Scarce find him bread from day to day?

This madman, as the people say, Who breaks his tables and his chairs To feed his furnace fires, nor cares Who goes unfed if they are fed, Nor who may live if they are dead?

This alchemist with hollow cheeks And sunken, searching eyes, who seeks, By mingled earths and ores combined With potency of fire, to find Some new enamel, hard and bright, His dream, his passion, his delight?

O Palissy! within thy breast Burned the hot fever of unrest;Thine was the prophets vision, thine The exultation, the divine Insanity of noble minds, That never falters nor abates, But labors and endures and waits, Till all that it foresees it finds, Or what it cannot find creates!

Turn, turn, my wheel! This earthen jar A touch can make, a touch can mar;And shall it to the Potter say, What makest thou.Thou hast no hand?

As men who think to understand A world by their Creator planned, Who wiser is than they.

Still guided by the dreamy song, As in a trance I float along Above the Pyrenean chain, Above the fields and farms of Spain, Above the bright Majorcan isle, That lends its softened name to art,--A spot, a dot upon the chart, Whose little towns, red-roofed with tile, Are ruby-lustred with the light Of blazing furnaces by night, And crowned by day with wreaths of smoke.

Then eastward, wafted in my flight On my enchanter's magic cloak, I sail across the Tyrrhene Sea Into the land of Italy, And o'er the windy Apennines, Mantled and musical with pines.

The palaces, the princely halls, The doors of houses and the walls Of churches and of belfry towers, Cloister and castle, street and mart, Are garlanded and gay with flowers That blossom in the fields of art.

Here Gubbio's workshops gleam and glow With brilliant, iridescent dyes, The dazzling whiteness of the snow, The cobalt blue of summer skies;And vase and scutcheon, cup and plate, In perfect finish emulate Faenza, Florence, Pesaro.

Forth from Urbino's gate there came A youth with the angelic name Of Raphael, in form and face Himself angelic, and divine In arts of color and design.

From him Francesco Xanto caught Something of his transcendent grace, And into fictile fabrics wrought Suggestions of the master's thought.

Nor less Maestro Giorgio shines With madre-perl and golden lines Of arabesques, and interweaves His birds and fruits and flowers and leaves About some landscape, shaded brown, With olive tints on rock and town.

Behold this cup within whose bowl, Upon a ground of deepest blue With yellow-lustred stars o'erlaid, Colors of every tint and hue Mingle in one harmonious whole!

With large blue eyes and steadfast gaze, Her yellow hair in net and braid, Necklace and ear-rings all ablaze With golden lustre o'er the glaze, A woman's portrait; on the scroll, Cana, the Beautiful! A name Forgotten save for such brief fame As this memorial can bestow,--A gift some lover long ago Gave with his heart to this fair dame.

同类推荐
  • 黄帝九鼎神丹经诀

    黄帝九鼎神丹经诀

    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。
  • The Story of a Pioneer

    The Story of a Pioneer

    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。
  • 早秋送台院杨侍御归

    早秋送台院杨侍御归

    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。
  • 卫将军文子

    卫将军文子

    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。
  • 道德真经玄德纂疏

    道德真经玄德纂疏

    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
  • 润卿鲁望寒夜见访

    润卿鲁望寒夜见访

    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。
  • 般泥洹后灌腊经

    般泥洹后灌腊经

    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。
  • 绝情毒物:黑客无间道

    绝情毒物:黑客无间道

    每一个时代都有自己的传奇,或许我们只是芸芸众生中的普通一员,但是千万不要忽略自己身上的闪光点,因为说不上什么时候,你就能闪亮一把,在历史的长河中,留下一个小小的印记。
  • 重生之来自魔界的不死少年

    重生之来自魔界的不死少年

    长久以来,很多使世界陷入混乱的事……还有那些看起来毫无关联的灾难片段,在谁都无法察觉的瞬间,以“命运”之名自行联系起来……而那些被“命运之指”选中的人,可能会认为那些灾难是偶然发生的悲剧……但……这其实是巨大的命运齿轮,按早已契合的轨道,开始缓缓旋转的信号……
  • 摩诃吠室啰末那野提婆喝啰阇陀罗尼仪轨

    摩诃吠室啰末那野提婆喝啰阇陀罗尼仪轨

    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。
  • 拯救天才之扁鹊篇

    拯救天才之扁鹊篇

    麦可、乔乔和木乙乘坐时光机来到法国巴黎,从斩首机下救出了现代化学之父拉瓦锡。在分头行动拯救库克船长和扁鹊的行动中,木乙在战国意外失踪。麦可和乔乔赶到战国时期,发现木乙失去记忆,而扁鹊早在十多年前已经过世,拯救行动变成令人头痛的一团乱麻。为了唤回木乙记忆,两个小伙伴展开调查,秦武王、太医李醯、秦始皇等历史人物相继卷入其中。扁鹊能透视人体的秘密、心脏手术的传说、秦王照骨镜究竟为何物……小伙伴们能否在重重迷雾中寻找到答案?在这次冒险中他们又收获到了什么?
  • 大学语文

    大学语文

    本教材打破一般《大学语文》教材按文学史线索编排的通常做法,按照主题单元理念,设置了八个单元。分别为:伦理哲思、经世致用、咏史怀古、世态人生、思乡亲情、爱情婚姻、诗意人生、写景记游。本教材在编写中试图从弘扬人文精神出发,通过对中国传统文学及现当代优秀篇章的集结,为学生提供一份精美的精神食粮。让学生在审美欣赏中陶冶情操,升华情感,在对经典美文的感悟中,丰富思想和精神内涵,从而达到以情动人,以情育德的作用。相信这对于提高学生的人生境界,拓宽人文视野,培养社会洞察力方面会发挥重要的、不可替代的作用。
  • 洞玄灵宝诸天世界造化经

    洞玄灵宝诸天世界造化经

    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。
  • 必知的战车枪械

    必知的战车枪械

    任何一个朝代或者一个国家的开始与终极,都是伴随着军事战争的开始或终极。军事历史使政治历史更加集中与清晰,更加丰富与生动。青少年若想培养自己的军事爱好,必须从多方面去了解军事知识,学习军事历史,掌握军事动态。这样才能对世界军事形态有一个宏观的认识,并为维护和保卫世界和平作出自己的贡献。
  • 妃池中物:魅后无双

    妃池中物:魅后无双

    命运弄人,为何让他们在这样的时间,以这样的身份相遇?吾生君未生,君生吾已老。恨不同时生,日日与君好。纳兰烨收拾好一身萧索,孤独的走出书房,莹柔的灯光辉映,月牙衣袍比降下的白霜更凄更凉……金丝楠木的棺材里,熟悉的容颜呈现的是死亡的淡青,仍记初见时,这张脸是多么的惑魅人心,有神的眸子闪烁着狡黠和邪魅。可如今,所有的表情都不见了,所有所有的一切,都如幻梦一场般,一夕之间消失殆尽,遗留给无双的,只有此刻毫无生气的容颜.......瞳孔猛地一缩!心,如滚油浇心,五脏俱焚!浑身陡然剧烈颤抖,双臂踉跄的伸向棺里想去抚摸他,抱抱他:“南宫月,你曾许诺过要一生一世好好待我,怎么可以先离我而去了呢?