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第13节

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Blotting out the sun from sight; and overwhelming earthly things。

Oh; that we might feel Thy presence!  Surely we could rest our soul

In the shadow of Thy wings。







THE GARDEN OF SIN







I know the garden…close of sin;

The cloying fruits; the noxious flowers;

I long have roamed the walks and bowers;

Desiring what no man shall win:



A secret place to shelter in;

When soon or late the angry powers

Come down to seek the wretch who cowers;

Expecting judgment to begin。



The pleasure long has passed away

From flowers and fruit; each hour I dread

My doom will find me where I lie。

I dare not go; I dare not stay。

Without the walks; my hope is dead;

Within them; I myself must die。







URSULA







There is a village in a southern land;

By rounded hills closed in on every hand。

The streets slope steeply to the market…square;

Long lines of white…washed houses; clean and fair;

With roofs irregular; and steps of stone

Ascending to the front of every one。

The people swarthy; idle; full of mirth;

Live mostly by the tillage of the earth。



Upon the northern hill…top; looking down;

Like some sequestered saint upon the town;

Stands the great convent。



On a summer night;

Ten years ago; the moon with rising light

Made all the convent towers as clear as day;

While still in deepest shade the village lay。

Both light and shadow with repose were filled;

The village sounds; the convent bells were stilled。

No foot in all the streets was now astir;

And in the convent none kept watch but her

Whom they called Ursula。  The moonlight fell

Brightly around her in the lonely cell。

Her eyes were dark; and full of unshed woe;

Like mountain tarns which cannot overflow;

Surcharged with rain; and round about the eyes

Deep rings recorded sleepless nights; and cries

Stifled before their birth。  Her brow was pale;

And like a marble temple in a vale

Of cypress trees; shone shadowed by her hair。

So still she was; that had you seen her there;

You might have thought you were beholding death。

Her lips were parted; but if any breath

Came from between them; it were hard to know

By any movement of her breast of snow。



But when the summer night was now far spent;

She kneeled upon the floor。  Her head she leant

Down on the cold stone of the window…seat。

God knows if there were any vital heat

In those pale brows; or if they chilled the stone。

And as she knelt; she made a bitter moan;

With words that issued from a bitter soul; …

‘O Mary; Mother; and is this thy goal;

Thy peace which waiteth for the world…worn heart?

Is it for this I live and die apart

From all that once I knew?  O Holy God;

Is this the blessed chastening of Thy rod;

Which only wounds to heal?  Is this the cross

That I must carry; counting all for loss

Which once was precious in the world to me?

If Thou be God; blot out my memory;

And let me come; forsaking all; to Thee。

But here; though that old world beholds me not;

Here; though I seek Thee through my lonely lot;

Here; though I fast; do penance day by day;

Kneel at Thy feet; and ever watch and pray;

Beloved forms from that forsaken world

Revisit me。  The pale blue smoke is curled

Up from the dwellings of the sons of men。

I see it; and all my heart turns back again

From seeking Thee; to find the forms I love。



‘Thou; with Thy saints abiding far above;

What canst Thou know of this; my earthly pain?

They said to me; Thou shalt be born again;

And learn that worldly things are nothing worth;

In that new state。  O God; is this new birth;

Birth of the spirit dying to the flesh?

Are these the living waters which refresh

The thirsty spirit; that it thirst no more?

Still all my life is thirsting to the core。

Thou canst not satisfy; if this be Thou。

And yet I dream; or I remember how;

Before I came here; while I tarried yet

Among the friends they tell me to forget;

I never seemed to seek Thee; but I found

Thou wert in all the loveliness around;

And most of all in hearts that loved me well。



‘And then I came to seek Thee in this cell;

To crucify my worldliness and pride;

To lay my heart's affections all aside;

As carnal hindrances which held my soul

From hasting unencumbered to her goal。

And all this have I done; or else have striven

To do; obeying the behest of Heaven;

And my reward is bitterness。  I seem

To wander always in a feverish dream

On plains where there is only sun and sand;

No rock or tree in all the weary land;

My thirst unquenchable; my heart burnt dry。

And still in my parched throat I faintly cry;

Deliver me; O Lord:  bow down Thine ear!



‘He will not answer me。  He does not hear。

I am alone within the universe。

Oh for a strength of will to rise and curse

God; and defy Him here to strike me dead!

But my heart fails me; and I bow my head;

And cry to Him for mercy; still in vain。

Oh for some sudden agony of pain;

To make such insurrection in my soul

That I might burst all bondage of control;

Be for one moment as the beasts that die;

And pour my life in one blaspheming cry!'



The morning came; and all the convent towers

Were gilt with glory by the golden hours。

But where was Ursula?  The sisters came

With quiet footsteps; calling her by name;

But there was none that answered。  In her cell;

The glad; illuminating sunshine fell

On form and face; and showed that she was dead。

‘May Christ receive her soul!' the sisters said;

And spoke in whispers of her holy life;

And how God's mercy spared her pain and strife;

And gave this quiet death。  The face was still;

Like a tired child's; that lies and sleeps its fill。







UNDESIRED REVENGE







Sorrow and sin have worked their will

For years upon your sovereign face;

And yet it keeps a faded trace

Of its unequalled beauty still;

As ruined sanctuaries hold

A crumbled trace of perfect mould

In shrines which saints no longer fill。



I knew you in your splendid morn;

Oh; how imperiously sweet!

I bowed and worshipped at your feet;

And you received my love with scorn。

Now I scorn you。  It is a change;

When I consider it; how strange

That you; not I; should be forlorn。



Do you suppose I have no pain

To see you play this sorry part;

With faded face and broken heart;

And life lived utterly in vain?

Oh would to God that you once more

Might scorn me as you did of yore;

And I might worship you again!







POETS







Children of earth are we;

Lovers of land and sea;

Of hill; of brook; of tree;

Of all things fair;

Of all things dark or bright;

Born of the day and night;

Red rose and lily white

And dusky hair。



Yet not alone from earth

Do we derive our birth。

What were our singing worth

Were this the whole?

Somewhere from heaven afar

Hath dropped a fiery star;

Which makes us what we are;

Which is our soul。







A PRESENTIMENT







It seems a little word to say …

FAREWELLbut may it not; when said;

Be like the kiss we give the dead;

Before they pass the doors for aye?



Who knows if; on some after day;

Your lips shall utter in its stead

A welcome; and the broken thread

Be joined again; the selfsame way?



The word is said; I turn to go;

But on the threshold seem to hear

A sound as of a passing bell;

Tolling monotonous and slow;

Which strikes despair upon my ear;

And says it is a last farewell。







A BIRTHDAY GIFT







No gift I bring but worship; and the love

Which all must bear to lovely souls and pure;


Those lights; that; when all else is dark; endure;

Stars in the night; to lift our eyes above;



To lift our eyes and hearts; and make us move

Less doubtful; though our journey be obscure;

Less fearful of its ending; being sure

That they watch over us; where'er we rove。



And though my gift itself have little worth;

Yet worth it gains from her to whom ‘tis given;

As a weak flower gets colour from the sun。

Or rather; as when angels walk the earth;

All things they look on take the look of heaven …

For of those blessed angels thou art one。







CYCLAMEN







I had a plant which would not thrive;

Although I watered it with care;

I could not save the blossoms fair;

Nor even keep the leaves alive。



I strove till it was vain to strive。

I gave it light; I gave it air;

I sought from skill and counsel rare

The means to make it yet survive。



A lady sent it me; to prove

She held my friendship in esteem;

I would not have it as she said;

I wanted it to be for love;

And now not even friends we seem;

And now the cyclamen is dead。







LOVE RECALLED IN SLEEP







There was a time when in your face

There dwelt such power; and in your smile

I know not what of magic grace;

They held me captive for a while。



Ah; then I listened for your voice!

Like music e

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