the home book of verse-1-第68节
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Of something without place or bound;
And seemed to give me spiritual right
To travel through that region bright。
The voice was soft; and she who spake
Was walking by her native lake:
The salutation had to me
The very sound of courtesy:
Its power was felt; and while my eye
Was fixed upon the glowing Sky;
The echo of the voice enwrought
A human sweetness with the thought
Of travelling through the world that lay
Before me in my endless way。
William Wordsworth '1770…1850'
A FAREWELL TO ARMS
(To Queen Elizabeth)
His golden locks Time hath to silver turned;
O Time too swift; O swiftness never ceasing!
His youth 'gainst time and age hath ever spurned;
But spurned in vain; youth waneth by increasing:
Beauty; strength; youth; are flowers but fading seen;
Duty; faith; love; are roots; and ever green。
His helmet now shall make a hive for bees;
And lovers' sonnets turned to holy psalms;
A man…at…arms must now serve on his knees;
And feed on prayers; which are Age his alms:
But though from court to cottage he depart;
His Saint is sure of his unspotted heart。
And when he saddest sits in homely cell;
He'll teach his swains this carol for a song; …
〃Blest be the hearts that wish my sovereign well;
Curst be the souls that think her any wrong。〃
Goddess; allow this aged man his right
To be your beadsman now that was your knight。
George Peele '1558?…1597?'
THE WORLD
The World's a bubble; and the life of Man
Less than a span:
In his conception wretched; … from the womb;
So to the tomb;
Curst from his cradle; and brought up to years
With cares and fears。
Who then to frail mortality shall trust;
But limns on water; or but writes in dust。
Yet whilst with sorrow here we live oppressed;
What life is best?
Courts are but only superficial schools
To dandle fools:
The rural parts are turned into a den
Of savage men;
And where's a city from foul vice so free;
But may be termed the worst of all the three?
Domestic cares afflict the husband's bed;
Or pains his head:
Those that live single; take it for a curse;
Or do things worse:
Some would have children; those that have them moan
Or wish them gone:
What is it; then; to have; or have no wife;
But single thraldom; or a double strife?
Our own affections still at home to please
Is a disease;
To cross the seas to any foreign soil;
Peril and toil;
Wars with their noise affright us; when they cease;
We are worse in peace:
… What then remains; but that we still should cry
For being born; or; being born; to die?
Francis Bacon '1561…1626'
〃WHEN THAT I WAS AND A LITTLE TINY BOY〃
From 〃Twelfth Night〃
When that I was and a little tiny boy;
With hey; ho; the wind and the rain;
A foolish thing was but a toy;
For the rain it raineth every day。
But when I came to man's estate;
With hey; ho; the wind and the rain;
'Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate;
For the rain it raineth every day。
But when I came; alas! to wive;
With hey; ho; the wind and the rain;
By swaggering could I never thrive;
For the rain it raineth every day。
But when I came unto my beds;
With hey; ho; the wind and the rain;
With toss…pots still had drunken heads;
For the rain it raineth every day。
A great while ago the world begun;
With hey; ho; the wind and the rain;
But that's all one; our play is done;
And we'll strive to please you every day。
William Shakespeare '1564…1616'
OF THE LAST VERSES IN THE BOOK
When we for age could neither read nor write;
The subject made us able to indite;
The soul; with nobler resolutions decked;
The body stooping does herself erect。
No mortal parts are requisite to raise
Her that; unbodied; can her Maker praise。
The seas are quiet when the winds give o'er;
So calm are we when passions are no more。
For then we know how vain it was to boast
Of fleeting things; so certain to be lost。
Clouds of affection from our younger eyes
Conceal that emptiness which age descries。
The soul's dark cottage; battered and decayed;
Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made:
Stronger by weakness; wiser; men become
As they draw near to their eternal home。
Leaving the old; both worlds at once they view
That stand upon the threshold of the new。
Edmund Waller '1606…1687'
A LAMENT
The Night Before His Execution
My prime of youth is but a frost of cares;
My feast of joy is but a dish of pain;
My crop of corn is but a field of tares;
And all my good is but vain hope of gain;
The day is fled; and yet I saw no sun;
And now I live; and now my life is done!
The spring is past; and yet it is not sprung;
The fruit is dead; and yet the leaves be green;
My youth is gone; and yet I am but young;
I saw the world; and yet I was not seen;
My thread is cut; and yet it is not spun;
And now I live; and now my life is done!
I sought my death; and found it in my womb;
I looked for life; and saw it was a shade;
I trod the earth; and knew it was my tomb;
And now I die; and now I am but made;
The glass is full; and now my glass is run;
And now I live; and now my life is done!
Chidiock Tichborne '1558?…1586'
TOMORROW
In the down…hill of life; when I find I'm declining;
May my fate no less fortunate be
Than a snug elbow…chair will afford for reclining;
And a cot that o'erlooks the wide sea;
With an ambling pad…pony to pace o'er the lawn;
While I carol away idle sorrow;
And blithe as the lark that each day hails the dawn;
Look forward with hope for Tomorrow。
With a porch at my door; both for shelter and shade too;
As the sunshine or rain may prevail;
And a small spot of ground for the use of the spade too;
With a barn for the use of the flail:
A cow for my dairy; a dog for my game;
And a purse when a friend wants to borrow;
I'll envy no Nabob his riches or fame;
Nor what honors may wait him Tomorrow。
From the bleak northern blast may my cot be completely
Secured by a neighboring hill;
And at night may repose steal upon me more sweetly
By the sound of a murmuring rill。
And while peace and plenty I find at my board;
With a heart free from sickness and sorrow;
With my friends may I share what Today may afford;
And let them spread the table Tomorrow。
And when I at last must throw off this frail covering;
Which I've worn for three…score years and ten;
On the brink of the grave I'll not seek to keep hovering;
Nor my thread wish to spin o'er again;
But my face in the glass I'll serenely survey;
And with smiles count each wrinkle and furrow;
And this old worn…out stuff; which is threadbare Today;
May become everlasting Tomorrow。
John Collins '1742?…1808'
LATE WISDOM
We've trod the maze of error round;
Long wandering in the winding glade;
And now the torch of truth is found;
It only shows us where we strayed:
By long experience taught; we know …
Can rightly judge of friends and foes;
Can all the worth of these allow;
And all the faults discern in those。
Now; 'tis our boast that we can quell
The wildest passions in their rage;
Can their destructive force repel;
And their impetuous wrath assuage。 …
Ah; Virtue! dost thou arm when now
This bold rebellious race are fled?
When all these tyrants rest; and thou
Art warring with the mighty dead?
George Crabbe '1754…1832'
YOUTH AND AGE
Verse; a breeze 'mid blossoms straying;
Where Hope clung feeding like a bee; …
Both were mine! Life went a…maying
With Nature; Hope; and Poesy
When I was young!
When I was young? … Ah; woful When!
Ah; for the change 'twixt Now and Then!
This breathing house not built with hands;
This body that does me grievous wrong;
O'er aery cliffs and glittering sands;
How lightly then it flashed along: …
Like those trim skiffs; unknown of yore;
On winding lakes and rivers wide;
That ask no aid of sail or oar;
That fear no spite of wind or tide!
Naught cared this body for wind or weather
When Youth and I lived in't together。
Flowers are lovely; Love is flower…like;
Friendship is a sheltering tree;
Oh! the joys that came down shower…like;
Of Friendship; Love; and Liberty
Ere I was old!
Ere I was old? Ah; woful Ere;
Which tells me; Youth's no longer here!
O Youth! for years so many and sweet;
'Tis known that Thou and I were one。
I'll think it but a fond conceit …
It cannot be that Thou art gone!
Thy vesper…bell hath not yet tolled: …
And thou wert aye a masker bold!
What strange disguise hast now put on
To make believe that thou art gone?
I see these locks in silvery slips;
This drooping gait; this altered size:
But Springtide blossoms on thy lips;
And tears take sunshine from thine eyes!
Life is but thought: so think I will
That Youth and I are house…ma