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satires of circumstance-第9章

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Often I see her pale…faced form there
   Brushing her hair's bright bands。

〃There; too; at pallid midnight moments
   Quick she will come to my call;
   Smile from the frame withal
Ponderingly; as she used to regard me
   Passing her father's wall。

〃So that it was for its revelations
   I brought it oversea;
   And drag it about with me 。 。 。
Anon I shall break it and bury its fragments
   Where my grave is to be。〃



THE RE…ENACTMENT



   Between the folding sea…downs;
      In the gloom
   Of a wailful wintry nightfall;
      When the boom
Of the ocean; like a hammering in a hollow tomb;

   Throbbed up the copse…clothed valley
      From the shore
   To the chamber where I darkled;
      Sunk and sore
With gray ponderings why my Loved one had not come before

   To salute me in the dwelling
      That of late
   I had hired to waste a while in …
      Vague of date;
Quaint; and remotewherein I now expectant sate;

   On the solitude; unsignalled;
      Broke a man
   Who; in air as if at home there;
      Seemed to scan
Every fire…flecked nook of the apartment span by span。

   A stranger's and no lover's
      Eyes were these;
   Eyes of a man who measures
      What he sees
But vaguely; as if wrapt in filmy phantasies。

   Yea; his bearing was so absent
      As he stood;
   It bespoke a chord so plaintive
      In his mood;
That soon I judged he would not wrong my quietude。

   〃Ahthe supper is just ready;〃
      Then he said;
   〃And the years'…long binned Madeira
      Flashes red!〃
(There was no wine; no food; no supper…table spread。)

   〃You will forgive my coming;
      Lady fair?
   I see you as at that time
      Rising there;
The self…same curious querying in your eyes and air。

   〃Yet no。  How so?  You wear not
      The same gown;
   Your locks show woful difference;
      Are not brown:
What; is it not as when I hither came from town?

   〃And the place 。 。 。 But you seem other …
      Can it be?
   What's this that Time is doing
      Unto me?
YOU dwell here; unknown woman? 。 。 。 Whereabouts; then; is she?

   〃And the housethings are much shifted。 …
      Put them where
   They stood on this night's fellow;
      Shift her chair:
Here was the couch:  and the piano should be there。〃

   I indulged him; verily nerve…strained
      Being alone;
   And I moved the things as bidden;
      One by one;
And feigned to push the old piano where he had shown。

   〃Ahanow I can see her!
      Stand aside:
   Don't thrust her from the table
      Where; meek…eyed;
She makes attempt with matron…manners to preside。

   〃She serves me:  now she rises;
      Goes to play 。 。 。
   But you obstruct her; fill her
      With dismay;
And embarrassed; scared; she vanishes away!〃

   And; as 'twere useless longer
      To persist;
   He sighed; and sought the entry
      Ere I wist;
And retreated; disappearing soundless in the mist。

   That here some mighty passion
      Once had burned;
   Which still the walls enghosted;
      I discerned;
And that by its strong spell mine might be overturned。

   I sat depressed; till; later;
      My Love came;
   But something in the chamber
      Dimmed our flame; …
An emanation; making our due words fall tame;

   As if the intenser drama
      Shown me there
   Of what the walls had witnessed
      Filled the air;
And left no room for later passion anywhere。

   So came it that our fervours
      Did quite fail
   Of future consummation …
      Being made quail
By the weird witchery of the parlour's hidden tale;

   Which I; as years passed; faintly
      Learnt to trace; …
   One of sad love; born full…winged
      In that place
Where the predestined sorrowers first stood face to face。

   And as that month of winter
      Circles round;
   And the evening of the date…day
      Grows embrowned;
I am conscious of those presences; and sit spellbound。

   There; oftenlone; forsaken …
      Queries breed
   Within me; whether a phantom
      Had my heed
On that strange night; or was it some wrecked heart indeed?



HER SECRET



That love's dull smart distressed my heart
   He shrewdly learnt to see;
But that I was in love with a dead man
   Never suspected he。

He searched for the trace of a pictured face;
   He watched each missive come;
And a note that seemed like a love…line
   Made him look frozen and glum。

He dogged my feet to the city street;
   He followed me to the sea;
But not to the neighbouring churchyard
   Did he dream of following me。



〃SHE CHARGED ME〃



She charged me with having said this and that
To another woman long years before;
In the very parlour where we sat; …

Sat on a night when the endless pour
Of rain on the roof and the road below
Bent the spring of the spirit more and more 。 。 。

… So charged she me; and the Cupid's bow
Of her mouth was hard; and her eyes; and her face;
And her white forefinger lifted slow。

Had she done it gently; or shown a trace
That not too curiously would she view
A folly passed ere her reign had place;

A kiss might have ended it。  But I knew
From the fall of each word; and the pause between;
That the curtain would drop upon us two
Ere long; in our play of slave and queen。



THE NEWCOMER'S WIFE



He paused on the sill of a door ajar
That screened a lively liquor…bar;
For the name had reached him through the door
Of her he had married the week before。

〃We called her the Hack of the Parade;
But she was discreet in the games she played;
If slightly worn; she's pretty yet;
And gossips; after all; forget。

〃And he knows nothing of her past;
I am glad the girl's in luck at last;
Such ones; though stale to native eyes;
Newcomers snatch at as a prize。〃

〃Yes; being a stranger he sees her blent
Of all that's fresh and innocent;
Nor dreams how many a love…campaign
She had enjoyed before his reign!〃

That night there was the splash of a fall
Over the slimy harbour…wall:
They searched; and at the deepest place
Found him with crabs upon his face。



A CONVERSATION AT DAWN



He lay awake; with a harassed air;
And she; in her cloud of loose lank hair;
   Seemed trouble…tried
As the dawn drew in on their faces there。

The chamber looked far over the sea
From a white hotel on a white…stoned quay;
   And stepping a stride
He parted the window…drapery。

Above the level horizon spread
The sunrise; firing them foot to head
   From its smouldering lair;
And painting their pillows with dyes of red。

〃What strange disquiets have stirred you; dear;
This dragging night; with starts in fear
   Of me; as it were;
Or of something evil hovering near?〃

〃My husband; can I have fear of you?
What should one fear from a man whom few;
   Or none; had matched
In that late long spell of delays undue!〃

He watched her eyes in the heaving sun:
〃Then what has kept; O reticent one;
   Those lids unlatched …
Anything promised I've not yet done?〃

〃O it's not a broken promise of yours
(For what quite lightly your lip assures
   The due time brings)
That has troubled my sleep; and no waking cures!〃 。 。 。

〃I have shaped my will; 'tis at hand;〃 said he;
〃I subscribe it to…day; that no risk there be
   In the hap of things
Of my leaving you menaced by poverty。〃

〃That a boon provision I'm safe to get;
Signed; sealed by my lord as it were a debt;
   I cannot doubt;
Or ever this peering sun be set。〃

〃But you flung my arms away from your side;
And faced the wall。  No month…old bride
   Ere the tour be out
In an air so loth can be justified?

〃Ahhad you a male friend once loved well;
Upon whose suit disaster fell
   And frustrance swift?
Honest you are; and may care to tell。〃

She lay impassive; and nothing broke
The stillness other than; stroke by stroke;
   The lazy lift
Of the tide below them; till she spoke:

〃I once had a frienda Love; if you will …
Whose wife forsook him; and sank until
   She was made a thrall
In a prison…cell for a deed of ill 。 。 。

〃He remained alone; and we metto love;
But barring legitimate joy thereof
   Stood a doorless wall;
Though we prized each other all else above。

〃And this was why; though I'd touched my prime;
I put off suitors from time to time …
   Yourself with the rest …
Till friends; who approved you; called it crime;

〃And when misgivings weighed on me
In my lover's absence; hurriedly;
   And much distrest;
I took you 。 。 。 Ah; that such could be! 。 。 。

〃Now; saw you when crossing from yonder shore
At yesternoon; that the packet bore
   On a white…wreathed bier
A coffined body towards the fore?

〃Well; while you stood at the other end;
The loungers talked; and I could but lend
   A listening ear;
For they named the dead。  'Twas the wife of my friend。

〃He was there; but did not note me; veiled;
Yet I saw that a joy; as of one unjailed;
   Now shone in his gaze;
He knew not his hope of me just had failed!

〃They had brought her home:  she was born in this isle;
And he will return to his domicile;
   And pass his days
Alone; and not as he dreamt erstwhile!〃

〃So you've lost a sprucer spouse than I!〃
She held her
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