第 15 节
作者:
老是不进球 更新:2021-02-19 17:49 字数:9322
How linked in Life and Death are they
The Shamrock and the Cross。
The gravestones face the Golden East;
And in the morn they take
The blessing of the Great High Priest;
Before the living wake。
Who was she? Never ask her name;
Her beauty and her grace
Have passed; with her poor little shame;
Into the Silent Place。
In Avonaise; in Avonaise;
Where all is dead and done;
The folk who rest there all their days
Care not for moon or sun。
They care not; when the living pass;
Whether they sigh or smile;
They hear above their graves the grass
That sighs 〃A little while!〃
A white stone marks her small green bed
With 〃Anna〃 and 〃Adieu〃。
Madonna Mary; rest her head
On your dear lap of blue!
The Night Ride
The red sun on the lonely lands
Gazed; under clouds of rose;
As one who under knitted hands
Takes one last look and goes。
Then Pain; with her white sister Fear;
Crept nearer to my bed:
〃The sands are running; dost thou hear
Thy sobbing heart?〃 she said。
There came a rider to the gate;
And stern and clear spake he:
〃For meat or drink thou must not wait;
But rise and ride with me。〃
I waited not for meat or drink;
Or kiss; or farewell kind
But oh! my heart was sore to think
Of friends I left behind。
We rode o'er hills that seemed to sweep
Skyward like swelling waves;
The living stirred not in their sleep;
The dead slept in their graves。
And ever as we rode I heard
A moan of anguish sore
No voice of man or beast or bird;
But all of these and more。
〃Is it the moaning of the Earth?
Dark Rider; answer me!〃
〃It is the cry of life at birth〃
He answered quietly:
〃But thou canst turn a face of cheer
To good days still in store;
Thou needst not care for Pain or Fear
They cannot harm thee more。〃
Yet I rode on with sullen heart;
And said with breaking breath;
〃If thou art he I think thou art;
Then slay me now; O Death!〃
The veil was from my eyesight drawn
〃Thou knowest now;〃 said he:
〃I am the Angel of the Dawn!
Ride back; and wait for me。〃
So I rode back at morning light;
And there; beside my bed;
Fear had become a lily white
And Pain a rose of red。
Alice Werner。
Bannerman of the Dandenong
I rode through the Bush in the burning noon;
Over the hills to my bride;
The track was rough and the way was long;
And Bannerman of the Dandenong;
He rode along by my side。
A day's march off my Beautiful dwelt;
By the Murray streams in the West;
Lightly lilting a gay love…song
Rode Bannerman of the Dandenong;
With a blood…red rose on his breast。
〃Red; red rose of the Western streams〃
Was the song he sang that day
Truest comrade in hour of need;
Bay Mathinna his peerless steed
I had my own good grey。
There fell a spark on the upland grass
The dry Bush leapt into flame;
And I felt my heart go cold as death;
And Bannerman smiled and caught his breath;
But I heard him name Her name。
Down the hill…side the fire…floods rushed;
On the roaring eastern wind;
Neck and neck was the reckless race;
Ever the bay mare kept her pace;
But the grey horse dropped behind。
He turned in the saddle 〃Let's change; I say!〃
And his bridle rein he drew。
He sprang to the ground; 〃Look sharp!〃 he said
With a backward toss of his curly head
〃I ride lighter than you!〃
Down and up it was quickly done
No words to waste that day!
Swift as a swallow she sped along;
The good bay mare from Dandenong;
And Bannerman rode the grey。
The hot air scorched like a furnace blast
From the very mouth of Hell:
The blue gums caught and blazed on high
Like flaming pillars into the sky; 。 。 。
The grey horse staggered and fell。
〃Ride; ride; lad; ride for her sake!〃 he cried;
Into the gulf of flame
Were swept; in less than a breathing space
The laughing eyes; and the comely face;
And the lips that named HER name。
She bore me bravely; the good bay mare;
Stunned; and dizzy and blind;
I heard the sound of a mingling roar
'Twas the Lachlan River that rushed before;
And the flames that rolled behind。
Safe safe; at Nammoora gate;
I fell; and lay like a stone。
O love! thine arms were about me then;
Thy warm tears called me to life again;
But O God! that I came alone!
We dwell in peace; my beautiful one
And I; by the streams in the West;
But oft through the mist of my dreams along
Rides Bannerman of the Dandenong;
With the blood…red rose on his breast。
Ethel Castilla。
An Australian Girl
〃She's pretty to walk with;
And witty to talk with;
And pleasant; too; to think on。〃
Sir John Suckling。
She has a beauty of her own;
A beauty of a paler tone
Than English belles;
Yet southern sun and southern air
Have kissed her cheeks; until they wear
The dainty tints that oft appear
On rosy shells。
Her frank; clear eyes bespeak a mind
Old…world traditions fail to bind。
She is not shy
Or bold; but simply self…possessed;
Her independence adds a zest
Unto her speech; her piquant jest;
Her quaint reply。
O'er classic volumes she will pore
With joy; and true scholastic lore
Will often gain。
In sports she bears away the bell;
Nor; under music's siren spell;
To dance divinely; flirt as well;
Does she disdain。
A Song of Sydney
(1894)
High headlands all jealously hide thee;
O fairest of sea…girdled towns!
Thine Ocean…spouse smileth beside thee;
While each headland threatens and frowns。
Like Venice; upheld on sea…pinion;
And fated to reign o'er the free;
Thou wearest; in sign of dominion;
The zone of the sea。
No winter thy fertile slope hardens;
O new Florence; set in the South!
All lands give their flowers to thy gardens;
That glow to thy bright harbour's mouth;
The waratah and England's red roses
With stately magnolias entwine;
Gay sunflowers fill sea…scented closes;
All sweet with woodbine。
Thy harbour's fair flower…crowned islands
See flags of all countries unfurled;
Thou smilest from green; sunlit highlands
To open thine arms to the world!
Dark East's and fair West's emulations
Resound from each hill…shadowed quay;
And over the songs of all nations;
The voice of the sea。
Francis William Lauderdale Adams。
Something
It is something in this darker dream demented
to have wrestled with its pleasure and its pain:
it is something to have sinned; and have repented:
it is something to have failed; and tried again!
It is something to have loved the brightest Beauty
with no hope of aught but silence for your vow:
it is something to have tried to do your duty:
it is something to be trying; trying now!
And; in the silent solemn hours;
when your soul floats down the far faint flood of time
to think of Earth's lovers who are ours;
of her saviours saving; suffering; sublime:
And that you with THESE may be her lover;
with THESE may save and suffer for her sake
IT IS JOY TO HAVE LIVED; SO TO DISCOVER
YOU'VE A LIFE YOU CAN GIVE AND SHE CAN TAKE!
Gordon's Grave
All the heat and the glow and the hush
of the summer afternoon;
the scent of the sweet…briar bush
over bowing grass…blades and broom;
the birds that flit and pass;
singing the song he knows;
the grass…hopper in the grass;
the voice of the she…oak boughs。
Ah; and the shattered column
crowned with the poet's wreath。
Who; who keeps silent and solemn
his passing place beneath?
~This was a poet that loved God's breath;
his life was a passionate quest;
he looked down deep in the wells of death;
and now he is taking his rest。~
To A。 L。 Gordon
In night…long days; in aeons
where all Time's nights are one;
where life and death sing paeans
as of Greeks and Galileans;
never begun or done;
where fate; the slow swooping condor;
comes glooming all the sky
as you have pondered I ponder;
as you have wandered I wander;
as you have died; shall I die?
Love and Death
Death? is it death you give? So be it! O Death;
thou hast been long my friend; and now thy pale
cool cheek shall have my kiss; while the faint breath
expires on thy still lips; O lovely Death!
Come then; loose hands; fair Life; without a wail!
We've had good hours together; and you were sweet
what time love whispered with the nightingale;
tho' ever your music by the lark's would fail。
Come then; loose hands! Our lover time is done。
Now is the marriage with the eternal sun。
The hours ar