登陆注册
5451800000010

第10章

"And after this when I am there Where he is, you'll be dying still.

Your eyes are dead, and your black hair, --The rest of you be what it will.

"'Twas all to save him? Never mind, Eileen.You saved him.You are strong.

I'd hardly wonder if your kind Paid everything, for you live long.

"You last, I mean.That's what I mean.

I mean you last as long as lies.

You might have said that word, Eileen, --And you might have your hair and eyes.

"And what you see might be Lisette, Instead of this that has no name.

Your silence -- I can feel it yet, Alive and in me, like a flame.

"Where might I be with him to-day, Could he have known before he heard?

But no -- your silence had its way, Without a weapon or a word.

"Because a word was never told, I'm going as a worn toy goes.

And you are dead; and you'll be old;

And I forgive you, I suppose.

"I'll soon be changing as all do, To something we have always been;And you'll be old...He liked you, too.

I might have killed you then, Eileen.

"I think he liked as much of you As had a reason to be seen, --As much as God made black and blue.

He liked your hair and eyes, Eileen."

Llewellyn and the TreeCould he have made Priscilla share The paradise that he had planned, Llewellyn would have loved his wife As well as any in the land.

Could he have made Priscilla cease To goad him for what God left out, Llewellyn would have been as mild As any we have read about.

Could all have been as all was not, Llewellyn would have had no story;He would have stayed a quiet man And gone his quiet way to glory.

But howsoever mild he was Priscilla was implacable;And whatsoever timid hopes He built -- she found them, and they fell.

And this went on, with intervals Of labored harmony between Resounding discords, till at last Llewellyn turned -- as will be seen.

Priscilla, warmer than her name, And shriller than the sound of saws, Pursued Llewellyn once too far, Not knowing quite the man he was.

The more she said, the fiercer clung The stinging garment of his wrath;And this was all before the day When Time tossed roses in his path.

Before the roses ever came Llewellyn had already risen.

The roses may have ruined him, They may have kept him out of prison.

And she who brought them, being Fate, Made roses do the work of spears, --Though many made no more of her Than civet, coral, rouge, and years.

You ask us what Llewellyn saw, But why ask what may not be given?

To some will come a time when change Itself is beauty, if not heaven.

One afternoon Priscilla spoke, And her shrill history was done;At any rate, she never spoke Like that again to anyone.

One gold October afternoon Great fury smote the silent air;And then Llewellyn leapt and fled Like one with hornets in his hair.

Llewellyn left us, and he said Forever, leaving few to doubt him;And so, through frost and clicking leaves, The Tilbury way went on without him.

And slowly, through the Tilbury mist, The stillness of October gold Went out like beauty from a face.

Priscilla watched it, and grew old.

He fled, still clutching in his flight The roses that had been his fall;The Scarlet One, as you surmise, Fled with him, coral, rouge, and all.

Priscilla, waiting, saw the change Of twenty slow October moons;And then she vanished, in her turn To be forgotten, like old tunes.

So they were gone -- all three of them, I should have said, and said no more, Had not a face once on Broadway Been one that I had seen before.

The face and hands and hair were old, But neither time nor penury Could quench within Llewellyn's eyes The shine of his one victory.

The roses, faded and gone by, Left ruin where they once had reigned;But on the wreck, as on old shells, The color of the rose remained.

His fictive merchandise I bought For him to keep and show again, Then led him slowly from the crush Of his cold-shouldered fellow men.

"And so, Llewellyn," I began --

"Not so," he said; "not so, at all:

I've tried the world, and found it good, For more than twenty years this fall.

"And what the world has left of me Will go now in a little while."And what the world had left of him Was partly an unholy guile.

"That I have paid for being calm Is what you see, if you have eyes;For let a man be calm too long, He pays for much before he dies.

"Be calm when you are growing old And you have nothing else to do;Pour not the wine of life too thin If water means the death of you.

"You say I might have learned at home The truth in season to be strong?

Not so; I took the wine of life Too thin, and I was calm too long.

"Like others who are strong too late, For me there was no going back;For I had found another speed, And I was on the other track.

"God knows how far I might have gone Or what there might have been to see;But my speed had a sudden end, And here you have the end of me."The end or not, it may be now But little farther from the truth To say those worn satiric eyes Had something of immortal youth.

He may among the millions here Be one; or he may, quite as well, Be gone to find again the Tree Of Knowledge, out of which he fell.

He may be near us, dreaming yet Of unrepented rouge and coral;Or in a grave without a name May be as far off as a moral.

Bewick FinzerTime was when his half million drew The breath of six per cent;But soon the worm of what-was-not Fed hard on his content;And something crumbled in his brain When his half million went.

Time passed, and filled along with his The place of many more;Time came, and hardly one of us Had credence to restore, From what appeared one day, the man Whom we had known before.

The broken voice, the withered neck, The coat worn out with care, The cleanliness of indigence, The brilliance of despair, The fond imponderable dreams Of affluence, -- all were there.

Poor Finzer, with his dreams and schemes, Fares hard now in the race, With heart and eye that have a task When he looks in the face Of one who might so easily Have been in Finzer's place.

He comes unfailing for the loan We give and then forget;He comes, and probably for years Will he be coming yet, --Familiar as an old mistake, And futile as regret.

BokardoWell, Bokardo, here we are;Make yourself at home.

同类推荐
  • 梅间诗话

    梅间诗话

    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。
  • 武关南见元九题山石

    武关南见元九题山石

    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。
  • 天元五歌

    天元五歌

    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。
  • 相牛经

    相牛经

    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。
  • 笔梦叙

    笔梦叙

    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
  • 每天读点《论语》

    每天读点《论语》

    《论话》集中反映了孔子的政治主张、哲学思想、品德修养、伦理道德和教育原则。全书共20篇。前10篇有9篇以记录孔子的言论为主,第10篇《乡党》记录了孔子日常的生活、琐事、态度;后l0篇中有8篇以记录孔子言论为主,第l9篇《子张》记录的是孔子弟子的言论。本书从《论语》申挑选出近百个影响深远、富有哲理的句子,分为处世的智慧、交际的魅力、为人的准则、做事的态度、成功的启示、心灵的超越、品德的修养、生命的真谛、学习的方法等章节,其中既有原文、译丈,还有后人评注、人生感悟,能让大家更清楚地了解孔子的思想,为自己的道德修养、立身处世找到一个可靠的途径。
  • 柯南之永世黑暗

    柯南之永世黑暗

    光照在黑暗里,黑暗却不接受光。琴酒,是黑暗世界的王者,他不信佛,不敬神,唯一相信的,只有命运,掌握在自己手里的命运。“光明尽头是黑暗,黑暗的尽头还是黑暗。”看着无尽的夜空,声音冷漠无情,而他,源于黑暗,忠于黑暗。CP:主Gin、Vermouth,不拆官配。
  • 蜜婚娇妻:总裁霸道爱

    蜜婚娇妻:总裁霸道爱

    【重生+1V1+治愈系暖文+热血青春】此文有毒,慎入。她,慕若兮是重生界的一股废物流。他,顾璟辰是宠妻界的一股傲娇流。一朝重生,只有两件事,一是报仇,二是睡到他。复仇之路妖魔鬼怪各显神通,追夫之路牛鬼蛇神又各种作妖,为了能过上幸福的安康生活,只好化身圣斗士,斩妖除魔,披靳斩棘。她身披战衣,一手揪着上辈子的幕后主使,一手提着这辈子的完美情人。记者采访:请问顾先生,慕小姐在生活中是个什么样的人?顾傲娇:蠢。主持人问:请问慕小姐,顾先生在你心目中是个什么样的人?慕小废:傻不溜秋的。 蜜婚读者群:607369073
  • 花鼓戏

    花鼓戏

    《花鼓戏》主要内容分为走进花鼓戏、瑰丽的艺术、花鼓戏的种类等。 花鼓戏是湖南、湖北、安徽、广东各地的花鼓戏、采茶戏、灯戏和杨花柳等剧种的统称。主要曲调来源于民间小调,如花腔、打锣腔、川调、口子调、筒子腔等。
  • 灰姑娘的星动时代Ⅱ:艺往情深

    灰姑娘的星动时代Ⅱ:艺往情深

    皇天不负有心人,李若溪成功被选为林导演新片的女主角,谁知还没来得及开心,一个天大的消息让她瞠目结舌:自己?居然在老家生了一个孩子?麻烦接踵而至,最刺人的利刃往往来自最亲近的人。与文峰的再次相遇,让她沉寂许久的心荡起涟漪,可铺天盖地的报道强力袭来,疲惫的身心能否经受得住舆论的非议?这一次,她还能否扛得住命运的磨砺?
  • 重生之霸气村妞

    重生之霸气村妞

    不就是相亲的路上咒诅老天吗,竟然被雷给劈成了八岁的嫩娃儿!?所以说,人啊,还得做好人干好事,要不这种天下掉馅饼的事,怎么就让某大龄剩女赶上了!!!***数着手里一落厚厚的毛票,某女娃儿乐的口水直流,边上一同样大小的男娃儿露出了不屑外加鄙夷的眼神:切,真不明白,一堆破布整出来的玩意,怎么就有人挣啊抢的买?“我和你说啊,这钱啊,可是个好东西,你跟着我好好干,将来你娶媳妇买车买房的钱,我出!”某女娃儿喜滋滋的说道。某男娃儿听罢黑了脸,转身就走,真是受够这疯子,整天的娶媳妇娶媳妇,不知道的还以为那是他老妈呢!***某女一手摸着肚子,一手握着方向盘:“娃儿爹啊,你可要坚持住啊,不然你老婆和你未出世的孩子可就要被别人接手了。”某男一脸怒色,一把扯掉胳膊上染血的绷带,一脚踩上了某女脚下的油门:“靠,老子的女人,谁敢动下试试!”简介神马都是浮动,正文才是王道,轻松中带着欢愉,慢热中带着温馨,正太萝莉养成,让一凡带着大家重温儿时的生活吧!虽然开文没有帅哥美女但是长大后一个不会少,一对一绝对的宠文。喜欢的亲们欢迎收藏欢迎留言,谢谢!至于是谁宠了宠谁?亲们慢慢看就明白了。
  • 原本大学微言(上)

    原本大学微言(上)

    我们现在通常看到的《大学》是二程及朱熹对原本《大学》改编、注解而成的。南先生认为《大学》原文本来就是儒家追求“内圣外王”之道的集中表述,逻辑严密,文气通顺,粲然可观,不必加以篡改。为了向大众揭示原本《大学》短短千余字中所包含的微言大义,先生特依据西汉小戴所传曾子《大学》原经,对其本旨重新加以阐释,内容包括《大学》的价值,七证(知、止、定、静、安、虑、得)的修养工夫,“格物”至“正心”的内圣(明)之学,“修身”至“治国”的外王(用)之学,内外兼修之道,齐家、治国、平天下的历史教训,王朝更替与儒学的演化,中外文化的反思与前景,等等,旁征博引,融会古今,取精用宏,妙语连珠。
  • 马上天下

    马上天下

    一个乡村学子成为驾驭战场的风云人物:一对父子由精神背叛到心心相印:一组师生分道扬镳数年后殊途同归,一群新的战争人物从历史隐秘处向我们走来……
  • 众神皆言桃花劫

    众神皆言桃花劫

    她不服生前所言桃花劫,投胎前只此一愿,要他吻她。他被夺爱妻,大闹阎王殿,逃走前诱她出轮回。他守护本家千年,为救她被祭为妖兽,无怨无悔。别家都是英雄救美,她却为救奶奶被踏碎魂魄,得知自身秘密。为身边人的一世安好,她不得已踏上了寻找碎片的救市之旅。多年之后,再提此事,她恍惚感慨着:我……怕不是个男主?清现世恶鬼,寻前世碎片。看拿着原本拿着言情剧本,美男环膝的她,如何从大女主,变成了伪女主,真爷们。咳……众神皆言:桃花劫。
  • 下乡养儿

    下乡养儿

    这是一本我们从来没见过也无法归类的亲子书。在此之前,我们看到的个案都以成功者的面目出现。书里的孩子都是成功的,都上了哈佛耶鲁或北大清华;家长在书里也是成功的,拥有强大的内心、生活的智慧。然而,《下乡养儿》里的角色却是软弱无力的。一对有社交障碍的夫妻,带着一个有心理问题的孩子。孩子连续换了几个小学都无法适应,结果辍学在家一年,最后变得连睡觉都害怕,因为总是噩梦连连,一家人晨昏颠倒,以至于很久都没见过太阳。书中的父母看上去懦弱无能,没有单位,从事的工作是出版业的兼职校对……