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第53节

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Beside a human door!



You yet may spy the fawn at play;

The hare upon the green;

But the sweet face of Lucy Gray

Will never more be seen。



〃To…night will be a stormy night; …

You to the town must go;

And take a lantern; Child; to light

Your mother through the snow。〃



〃That; Father; will I gladly do:

'Tis scarcely afternoon; …

The minster…clock has just struck two;

And yonder is the moon!〃



At this the Father raised his hook;

And snapped a fagot…brand。

He plied his work; … and Lucy took

The lantern in her hand。



Not blither is the mountain roe:

With many a wanton stroke

Her feet disperse the powdery snow;

That rises up like smoke。



The storm came on before its time:

She wandered up and down:

And many a hill did Lucy climb:

But never reached the town。



The wretched parents all that night

Went shouting far and wide;

But there was neither sound nor sight

To serve them for a guide。



At daybreak on the hill they stood

That overlooked the moor;

And thence they saw the bridge of wood;

A furlong from their door。



They wept; … and; turning homeward; cried;

〃In heaven we all shall meet;〃

When in the snow the mother spied

The print of Lucy's feet。



Then downwards from the steep hill's edge

They tracked the footmarks small:

And through the broken hawthorn…hedge;

And by the low stone…wall;



And then an open field they crossed …

The marks were still the same …

They tracked them on; nor ever lost;

And to the bridge they came。



They followed from the snowy bank

Those footmarks; one by one;

Into the middle of the plank;

And further there were none!



… Yet some maintain that to this day

She is a living child;

That you may see sweet Lucy Gray

Upon the lonesome wild。



O'er rough and smooth she trips along;

And never looks behind;

And sings a solitary song

That whistles in the wind。



William Wordsworth '1770…1850'





IN THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

Emmie



Our doctor had called in another; I never had seen him before;

But he sent a chill to my heart when I saw him come in at the door;

Fresh from the surgery…schools of France and of other lands …

Harsh red hair; big voice; big chest; big merciless hands!

Wonderful cures he had done; O yes; but they said too of him

He was happier using the knife than in trying to save the limb;

And that I can well believe; for he looked so coarse and so red;

I could think he was one of those who would break their jests on the dead;

And mangle the living dog that had loved him and fawned  at his knee …

Drenched with the hellish oorali … that ever such things should be!



Here was a boy … I am sure that some of our children would die

But for the voice of love; and the smile; and the comforting eye …

Here was a boy in the ward; every bone seemed out of its place …

Caught in a mill and crushed … it was all but a hopeless case:

And he handled him gently enough; but his voice and his face were not kind;

And it was but a hopeless case; he had seen it and made up his mind;

And he said to me roughly 〃The lad will need little more of your care。〃

〃All the more need;〃 I told him; 〃to seek the Lord Jesus in prayer;

They are all His children here; and I pray for them all as my own:〃

But he turned to me; 〃Ay; good woman; can prayer set a broken bone?〃

Then he muttered half to himself; but I know that I heard him say;

〃All very well … but the good Lord Jesus has had his day。〃



Had? has it come?  It has only dawned。  It will come by and by。

O; how could I serve in the wards if the hope of the world were a lie?

How could I bear with the sights and the loathsome smells of disease

But that He said 〃Ye do it to me; when ye do it to these〃?



So he went。  And we passed to this ward where the younger children are laid:

Here is the cot of our orphan; our darling; our meek little maid;

Empty you see just now!  We have lost her who loved her so much …

Patient of pain though as quick as a sensitive plant to the touch;

Hers was the prettiest prattle; it often moved me to tears;

Hers was the gratefullest heart I have found in a child of her years …

Nay you remember our Emmie; you used to send her the flowers;

How she would smile at 'em; play with 'em; talk to 'em hours after hours!



They that can wander at will where the works of the Lord are revealed

Little guess what joy can be got from a cowslip out of the field;

Flowers to these 〃spirits in prison〃 are all they can know of the spring;

They freshen and sweeten the wards like the waft of an angel's wing;

And she lay with a flower in one hand and her thin hands crossed on

  her breast …

Wan; but as pretty as heart can desire; and we thought her at rest;

Quietly sleeping … so quiet; our doctor said; 〃Poor little dear;

Nurse; I must do it to…morrow; she'll never live through it; I fear。〃



I walked with our kindly old doctor as far as the head of the stair;

Then I returned to the ward; the child didn't see I was there。



Never since I was nurse; had I been so grieved and so vexed!

Emmie had heard him。  Softly she called from her cot to the next;

〃He says I shall never live through it; O Annie; what shall I do?〃

Annie considered。  〃If I;〃 said the wise little Annie; 〃was you;

I should cry to the dear Lord Jesus to help me; for; Emmie; you see;

It's all in the picture there: 'Little children should come to Me。'〃 …

(Meaning the print that you gave us; I find that it always can please

Our children; the dear Lord Jesus with children about His knees。)

〃Yes; and I will;〃 said Emmie; 〃but then if I call to the Lord;

How should He know that it's me? such a lot of beds in the ward?〃

That was a puzzle for Annie。  Again she considered and said:

〃Emmie; you put out your arms; and you leave 'em outside on the bed …

The Lord has so much to see to! but; Emmie; you tell it Him plain;

It's the little girl with her arms lying out on the counterpane。〃



I had sat three nights by the child … I could not watch her for four …

My brain had begun to reel … I felt I could do it no more。

That was my sleeping…night; but I thought that it never would pass。

There was a thunderclap once; and a clatter of hail on the glass;

And there was a phantom cry that I heard as I tossed about;

The motherless bleat of a lamb in the storm and the darkness without;

My sleep was broken besides with dreams of the dreadful knife

And fears for our delicate Emmie who scarce would escape with her life;

Then in the gray of the morning it seemed she stood by me and smiled;

And the doctor came at his hour; and we went to see the child。



He had brought his ghastly tools: we believed her asleep again …

Her dear; long; lean; little arms lying out on the counterpane; …

Say that His day is done! Ah; why should we care what they say?

The Lord of the children had heard her; and Emmie had passed away。



Alfred Tennyson '1809…1892'





〃IF I WERE DEAD〃



〃If I were dead; you'd sometimes say; Poor Child!〃

The dear lips quivered as they spake;

And the tears brake

From eyes which; not to grieve me; brightly smiled。

Poor Child; poor Child!

I seem to hear your laugh; your talk; your song。

It is not true that Love will do no wrong。

Poor Child!

And did you think; when you so cried and smiled;

How I; in lonely nights; should lie awake;

And of those words your full avengers make?

Poor Child; poor Child!

And now; unless it be

That sweet amends thrice told are come to thee;

O God; have Thou no mercy upon me!

Poor Child!



Coventry Patmore '1823…1896'





THE TOYS



My little Son; who looked from thoughtful eyes

And moved and spoke in quiet grown…up wise;

Having my law the seventh time disobeyed;

I struck him; and dismissed

With hard words and unkissed;

… His Mother; who was patient; being dead。

Then; fearing lest his grief should hinder sleep;

I visited his bed;

But found him slumbering deep;

With darkened eyelids; and their lashes yet

From his late sobbing wet。

And I; with moan;

Kissing away his tears; left others of my own;

For; on a table drawn beside his head;

He had put; within his reach;

A box of counters and a red…veined stone;

A piece of glass abraded by the beach;

And six or seven shells;

A bottle with bluebells;

And two French copper coins; ranged there with careful art;

To comfort his sad heart。

So when that night I prayed

To God; I wept; and said:

Ah; when at last we lie with tranced breath;

Not vexing Thee in death;

And Thou rememberest of what toys

We made our joys;

How weakly understood

Thy great commanded good;

Then; fatherly not less

Than I whom Thou hast moulded from the clay;

Thou'lt leave Thy wrath; and say;

〃I will be sorry for their childishness。〃



Coventry Patmore '1823…1896'





A SONG OF TWILIGHT



Oh; to come home once more; when the dusk is falling;

To see the nursery lighted and the children's table spread;

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