第 126 节
作者:空白协议书      更新:2021-02-21 16:30      字数:9322
  White sunshine flooding square and street;
  Dark mountain…ranges; at whose feet
  The river…beds are dry with heat;
  All was a dream to me。
  Yet something sombre and severe
  O'er the enchanted landscape reigned;
  A terror in the atmosphere
  As if King Philip listened near;
  Or Torquemada; the austere;
  His ghostly sway maintained。
  The softer Andalusian skies
  Dispelled the sadness and the gloom;
  There Cadiz by the seaside lies;
  And Seville's orange…orchards rise;
  Making the land a paradise
  Of beauty and of bloom。
  There Cordova is hidden among
  The palm; the olive; and the vine;
  Gem of the South; by poets sung;
  And in whose Mosque Ahmanzor hung
  As lamps the bells that once had rung
  At Compostella's shrine。
  But over all the rest supreme;
  The star of stars; the cynosure;
  The artist's and the poet's theme;
  The young man's vision; the old man's dream;
  Granada by its winding stream;
  The city of the Moor!
  And there the Alhambra still recalls
  Aladdin's palace of delight;
  Allah il Allah! through its halls
  Whispers the fountain as it falls;
  The Darro darts beneath its walls;
  The hills with snow are white。
  Ah yes; the hills are white with snow;
  And cold with blasts that bite and freeze;
  But in the happy vale below
  The orange and pomegranate grow;
  And wafts of air toss to and fro
  The blossoming almond…trees。
  The Vega cleft by the Xenil;
  The fascination and allure
  Of the sweet landscape chains the will;
  The traveller lingers on the hill;
  His parted lips are breathing still
  The last sigh of the Moor。
  How like a ruin overgrown
  With flower's that hide the rents of time;
  Stands now the Past that I have known;
  Castles in Spain; not built of stone
  But of white summer clouds; and blown
  Into this little mist of rhyme!
  VITTORIA COLONNA。
  VITTORIA COLONNA; on the death of her hushand; the Marchese di
  Pescara; retired to her castle at Ischia (Inarime); and there
  wrote the Ode upon his death; which gained her the title of
  Divine。
  Once more; once more; Inarime;
  I see thy purple hills!once more
  I hear the billows of the bay
  Wash the white pebbles on thy shore。
  High o'er the sea…surge and the sands;
  Like a great galleon wrecked and cast
  Ashore by storms; thy castle stands;
  A mouldering landmark of the Past。
  Upon its terrace…walk I see
  A phantom gliding to and fro;
  It is Colonna;it is she
  Who lived and loved so long ago。
  Pescara's beautiful young wife;
  The type of perfect womanhood;
  Whose life was love; the life of life;
  That time and change and death withstood。
  For death; that breaks the marriage band
  In others; only closer pressed
  The wedding…ring upon her hand
  And closer locked and barred her breast。
  She knew the life…long martyrdom;
  The weariness; the endless pain
  Of waiting for some one to come
  Who nevermore would come again。
  The shadows of the chestnut…trees;
  The odor of the orange blooms;
  The song of birds; and; more than these;
  The silence of deserted rooms;
  The respiration of the sea;
  The soft caresses of the air;
  All things in nature seemed to be
  But ministers of her despair;
  Till the o'erburdened heart; so long
  Imprisoned in itself; found vent
  And voice in one impassioned song
  Of inconsolable lament。
  Then as the sun; though hidden from sight;
  Transmutes to gold the leaden mist;
  Her life was interfused with light;
  From realms that; though unseen; exist;
  Inarime!  Inarime!
  Thy castle on the crags above
  In dust shall crumble and decay;
  But not the memory of her love。
  THE REVENGE OF RAIN…IN…THE…FACE
  In that desolate land and lone;
  Where the Big Horn and Yellowstone
  Roar down their mountain path;
  By their fires the Sioux Chiefs
  Muttered their woes and griefs
  And the menace of their wrath。
  〃Revenge!〃 cried Rain…in…the…Face;
  〃Revenue upon all the race
  Of the White Chief with yellow hair!〃
  And the mountains dark and high
  From their crags re…echoed the cry
  Of his anger and despair。
  In the meadow; spreading wide
  By woodland and riverside
  The Indian village stood;
  All was silent as a dream;
  Save the rushing a of the stream
  And the blue…jay in the wood。
  In his war paint and his beads;
  Like a bison among the reeds;
  In ambush the Sitting Bull
  Lay with three thousand braves
  Crouched in the clefts and caves;
  Savage; unmerciful!
  Into the fatal snare
  The White Chief with yellow hair
  And his three hundred men
  Dashed headlong; sword in hand;
  But of that gallant band
  Not one returned again。
  The sudden darkness of death
  Overwhelmed them like the breath
  And smoke of a furnace fire:
  By the river's bank; and between
  The rocks of the ravine;
  They lay in their bloody attire。
  But the foemen fled in the night;
  And Rain…in…the…Face; in his flight
  Uplifted high in air
  As a ghastly trophy; bore
  The brave heart; that beat no more;
  Of the White Chief with yellow hair。
  Whose was the right and the wrong?
  Sing it; O funeral song;
  With a voice that is full of tears;
  And say that our broken faith
  Wrought all this ruin and scathe;
  In the Year of a Hundred Years。
  TO THE RIVER YVETTE
  O lovely river of Yvette!
  O darling river! like a bride;
  Some dimpled; bashful; fair Lisette;
  Thou goest to wed the Orge's tide。
  Maincourt; and lordly Dampierre;
  See and salute thee on thy way;
  And; with a blessing and a prayer;
  Ring the sweet bells of St。 Forget。
  The valley of Chevreuse in vain
  Would hold thee in its fond embrace;
  Thou glidest from its arms again
  And hurriest on with swifter pace。
  Thou wilt not stay; with restless feet
  Pursuing still thine onward flight;
  Thou goest as one in haste to meet
  Her sole desire; her head's delight。
  O lovely river of Yvette!
  O darling stream! on balanced wings
  The wood…birds sang the chansonnette
  That here a wandering poet sings。
  THE EMPEROR'S GLOVE
  〃Combien faudrait…il de peaux d'Espagne pour faire un gant de
  cette grandeur?〃  A play upon the words gant; a glove; and Gand;
  the French for Ghent。
  On St。 Baron's tower; commanding
  Half of Flanders; his domain;
  Charles the Emperor once was standing;
  While beneath him on the landing
  Stood Duke Alva and his train。
  Like a print in books of fables;
  Or a model made for show;
  With its pointed roofs and gables;
  Dormer windows; scrolls and labels;
  Lay the city far below。
  Through its squares and streets and alleys
  Poured the populace of Ghent;
  As a routed army rallies;
  Or as rivers run through valleys;
  Hurrying to their homes they went
  〃Nest of Lutheran misbelievers!〃
  Cried Duke Alva as he gazed;
  〃Haunt of traitors and deceivers;
  Stronghold of insurgent weavers;
  Let it to the ground be razed!〃
  On the Emperor's cap the feather
  Nods; as laughing he replies:
  〃How many skins of Spanish leather;
  Think you; would; if stitched together
  Make a glove of such a size?〃
  A BALLAD OF THE FRENCH FLEET
  OCTOBER; 1746
  MR。 THOMAS PRINCE loquitur。
  A fleet with flags arrayed
  Sailed from the port of Brest;
  And the Admiral's ship displayed
  The signal: 〃Steer southwest。〃
  For this Admiral D'Anville
  Had sworn by cross and crown
  To ravage with fire and steel
  Our helpless Boston Town。
  There were rumors in the street;
  In the houses there was fear
  Of the coming of the fleet;
  And the danger hovering near。
  And while from mouth to mouth
  Spread the tidings of dismay;
  I stood in the Old South;
  Saying humbly: 〃Let us pray!
  〃O Lord! we would not advise;
  But if in thy Providence
  A tempest should arise
  To drive the French fleet hence;
  And scatter it far and wide;
  Or sink it in the sea;
  We should be satisfied;
  And thine the glory be。〃
  This was the prayer I made;
  For my soul was all on flame;
  And even as I prayed
  The answering tempest came;
  It came with a mighty power;
  Shaking the windows and walls;
  And tolling the bell in the tower;
  As it tolls at funerals。
  The lightning suddenly
  Unsheathed its flaming sword;
  And I cried: 〃Stand still; and see
  The salvation of the Lord!〃
  The heavens were black with cloud;
  The sea was white with hail;
  And ever more fierce and loud
  Blew the October gale。
  The fleet it overtook;
  And the broad sails in the van
  Like the tents of Cushan shook;
  Or the curtains of Midian。
  Down on the reeling decks
  Crashed the o'erwhelming seas;
  Ah; never were there wrecks
  So pitiful as these!
  Like a potter's vessel broke
  The great ships of the line;
  They were carried away as a smoke;
  Or s