I put my head on my hands before me,

There is nothing left to be done or said,
There is nothing to hope for, I am tired,

And heavy as the dead.
Bells

At six o'clock of an autumn dusk
With the sky in the west a rusty red,

The bells of the mission down in the valley
Cry out that the day is dead.

The first star pricks as sharp as steel --
Why am I suddenly so cold?

Three bells, each with a separate sound
Clang in the valley, wearily tolled.

Bells in Venice, bells at sea,
Bells in the valley heavy and slow --

There is no place over the crowded world
Where I can forget that the days go.

Lovely Chance
O lovely chance, what can I do

To give my gratefulness to you?
You rise between myself and me

With a wise persistency;
I would have broken body and soul,

But by your grace, still I am whole.
Many a thing you did to save me,

Many a holy gift you gave me,
Music and friends and happy love

More than my dearest dreaming of;
And now in this wide twilight hour

With earth and heaven a dark, blue flower,
In a humble mood I bless

Your wisdom -- and your waywardness.
You brought me even here, where I

Live on a hill against the sky
And look on mountains and the sea

And a thin white moon in the pepper tree.
VIII

"There Will Come Soft Rains"
(War Time)

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.

In a Garden
The world is resting without sound or motion,

Behind the apple tree the sun goes down
Painting with fire the spires and the windows

In the elm-shaded town.
Beyond the calm Connecticut the hills lie

Silvered with haze as fruits still fresh with bloom,
The swallows weave in flight across the zenith

On an aerial loom.
Into the garden peace comes back with twilight,

Peace that since noon had left the purple phlox,
The heavy-headed asters, the late roses

And swaying hollyhocks.
For at high-noon I heard from this same garden

The far-off murmur as when many come;
Up from the village surged the blind and beating

Red music of a drum;
And the hysterical sharp fife that shattered

The brittle autumn air,
While they came, the young men marching

Past the village square. . . .
Across the calm Connecticut the hills change

To violet, the veils of dusk are deep --
Earth takes her children's many sorrows calmly

And stills herself to sleep.
Nahant

Bowed as an elm under the weight of its beauty,
So earth is bowed, under her weight of splendor,

Molten sea, richness of leaves and the burnished
Bronze of sea-grasses.

Clefts in the cliff shelter the purple sand-peas
And chicory flowers bluer than the ocean

Flinging its foam high, white fire in sunshine,
Jewels of water.

Joyous thunder of blown waves on the ledges,
Make me forget war and the dark war-sorrow --

Against the sky a sentry paces the sea-cliff
Slim in his khaki.

Winter Stars
I went out at night alone;

The young blood flowing beyond the sea
Seemed to have drenched my spirit's wings --

I bore my sorrow heavily.
But when I lifted up my head

From shadows shaken on the snow,
I saw Orion in the east

Burn steadily as long ago.
From windows in my father's house,

Dreaming my dreams on winter nights,
I watched Orion as a girl

Above another city's lights.
Years go, dreams go, and youth goes too,

The world's heart breaks beneath its wars,
All things are changed, save in the east

The faithful beauty of the stars.
A Boy

Out of the noise of tired people working,
Harried with thoughts of war and lists of dead,

His beauty met me like a fresh wind blowing,
Clean boyish beauty and high-held head.

Eyes that told secrets, lips that would not tell them,
Fearless and shy the young unwearied eyes --

Men die by millions now, because God blunders,
Yet to have made this boy he must be wise.

Winter Dusk
I watch the great clear twilight

Veiling the ice-bowed trees;
Their branches tinkle faintly

With crystal melodies.
The larches bend their silver

Over the hush of snow;
One star is lighted in the west,

Two in the zenith glow.
For a moment I have forgotten

Wars and women who mourn --
I think of the mother who bore me

And thank her that I was born.
By the Sea

IX
The Unchanging

Sun-swept beaches with a light wind blowing
From the immense blue circle of the sea,

And the soft thunder where long waves whiten --
These were the same for Sappho as for me.

Two thousand years -- much has gone by forever,
Change takes the gods and ships and speech of men --

But here on the beaches that time passes over
The heart aches now as then.

June Night
Oh Earth, you are too dear to-night,

How can I sleep while all around
Floats rainy fragrance and the far

Deep voice of the ocean that talks to the ground?
Oh Earth, you gave me all I have,

I love you, I love you, -- oh what have I
That I can give you in return --

Except my body after I die?
"Like Barley Bending"

Like barley bending
In low fields by the sea,

Singing in hard wind
Ceaselessly;

Like barley bending
And rising again,

So would I, unbroken,
Rise from pain;

So would I softly,
Day long, night long,

Change my sorrow
Into song.

"Oh Day of Fire and Sun"
Oh day of fire and sun,

Pure as a naked flame,
Blue sea, blue sky and dun

Sands where he spoke my name;
Laughter and hearts so high

That the spirit flew off free,
Lifting into the sky

Diving into the sea;
Oh day of fire and sun

Like a crystal burning,
Slow days go one by one,

But you have no returning.
"I Thought of You"

I thought of you and how you love this beauty,
And walking up the long beach all alone

I heard the waves breaking in measured thunder
As you and I once heard their monotone.

Around me were the echoing dunes, beyond me
The cold and sparkling silver of the sea --

We two will pass through death and ages lengthen
Before you hear that sound again with me.

On the Dunes
If there is any life when death is over,

These tawny beaches will know much of me,
I shall come back, as constant and as changeful

As the unchanging, many-colored sea.
If life was small, if it has made me scornful,

Forgive me; I shall straighten like a flame
In the great calm of death, and if you want me

Stand on the sea-ward dunes and call my name.
Spray

I knew you thought of me all night,
I knew, though you were far away;

I felt your love blow over me
As if a dark wind-riven sea

Drenched me with quivering spray.
There are so many ways to love

And each way has its own delight --
Then be content to come to me

• mission [´miʃən] n.代表团；使馆vt.派遣 (初中英语单词)
• valley [´væli] n.谷；河谷；流域 (初中英语单词)
• twilight [´twailait] n.黎明；黄昏 (初中英语单词)
• humble [´hʌmbəl] a.谦卑的 vt.贬抑 (初中英语单词)
• wisdom [´wizdəm] n.智慧，聪明，才智 (初中英语单词)
• pepper [´pepə] n.胡椒 vt.加胡椒 (初中英语单词)
• flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
• purple [´pə:pl] n.紫色 a.紫(红)的 (初中英语单词)
• violet [´vaiələt] n.&a.紫罗兰(的)；紫色 (初中英语单词)
• thunder [´θʌndə] n.雷 vi.打雷 vt.吼出 (初中英语单词)
• shaken [´ʃeikən] shake的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• steadily [´stedili] ad.坚定地；不断地 (初中英语单词)
• faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)
• crystal [´kristəl] n.水晶 a.水晶的 (初中英语单词)
• immense [i´mens] a.广大的，无限的 (初中英语单词)
• circle [´sə:kəl] n.圆圈 v.环绕；盘旋 (初中英语单词)
• constant [´kɔnstənt] a.坚定的；坚贞的 (初中英语单词)
• venice [´venis] n.威尼斯 (高中英语单词)
• crowded [´kraudid] a.充(拥)满了的 (高中英语单词)
• fragrance [´freigrəns] n.芬芳，芳香 (高中英语单词)
• barley [´bɑ:li] n.大麦 (高中英语单词)
• straighten [´streitn] v.弄直；矫正；整理 (高中英语单词)
• wearily [´wiərili] ad.疲倦地；厌烦地 (英语四级单词)
• aerial [´eəriəl] a.空中的 n.天线 (英语四级单词)
• far-off [´fɑ:rɔ:f] a.远方的，遥远的 (英语四级单词)
• boyish [´bɔiiʃ] a.少年的；幼稚的 (英语四级单词)
• tinkle [´tiŋkəl] v.&n.(使发)叮当声 (英语四级单词)
• tremulous [´tremjuləs] a.发抖的；震颤的 (英语六级单词)
• hysterical [hi´sterikəl] a.歇斯底里的，癔病的 (英语六级单词)
• richness [´ritʃnis] n.富饶；富裕；华美 (英语六级单词)
• sentry [´sentri] n.哨兵 v.站岗，放哨 (英语六级单词)
• zenith [´ziniθ] n.天顶，顶点；全盛 (英语六级单词)
• whiten [´waitn] v.(使)白，变白，漂白 (英语六级单词)