Poems by George Meredith - Volume 1

by George Meredith
CHILLIANWALLAH

Chillanwallah, Chillanwallah!
Where our brothers fought and bled,

O thy name is natural music
And a dirge above the dead!

Though we have not been defeated,
Though we can't be overcome,

Still, whene'er thou art repeated,
I would fain that grief were dumb.

Chillianwallah, Chillianwallah!
'Tis a name so sad and strange,

Like a breeze through midnight harpstrings
Ringing many a mournful change;

But the wildness and the sorrow
Have a meaning of their own -

Oh, whereof no glad to-morrow
Can relieve the dismal tone!

Chillianwallah, Chillianwallah!
'Tis a village dark and low,

By the bloody Jhelum river
Bridged by the foreboding foe;

And across the wintry water
He is ready to retreat,

When the carnage and the slaughter
Shall have paid for his defeat.

Chillianwallah, Chillianwallah!
'Tis a wild and dreary plain,

Strewn with plots of thickest jungle,
Matted with the gory stain.

There the murder-mouthed artillery,
In the deadly ambuscade,

Wrought the thunder of its treachery
On the skeleton brigade.

Chillianwallah, Chillianwallah!
When the night set in with rain,

Came the savage plundering devils
To their work among the slain;

And the wounded and the dying
In cold blood did share the doom

Of their comrades round them lying,
Stiff in the dead skyless gloom.

Chillianwallah, Chillianwallah!
Thou wilt be a doleful chord,

And a mystic note of mourning
That will need no chiming word;

And that heart will leap with anguish
Who may understand thee best;

But the hopes of all will languish
Till thy memory is at rest.

THE DOE: A FRAGMENT (From 'WANDERING WILLIE')
And--'Yonder look! yoho! yoho!

Nancy is off!' the farmer cried,
Advancing by the river side,

Red-kerchieft and brown-coated;--'So,
My girl, who else could leap like that?

So neatly! like a lady! 'Zounds!
Look at her how she leads the hounds!'

And waving his dusty beaver hat,
He cheered across the chase-filled water,

And clapt his arm about his daughter,
And gave to Joan a courteous hug,

And kiss that, like a stubborn plug
From generous vats in vastness rounded,

The inner wealth and spirit sounded:
Eagerly pointing South, where, lo,

The daintiest, fleetest-footed doe
Led o'er the fields and thro' the furze

Beyond: her livelydelicate ears
Prickt up erect, and in her track

A dappled lengthy-striding pack.
Scarce had they cast eyes upon her,

When every heart was wagered on her,
And half in dread, and half delight,

They watched her lovely bounding flight;
As now across the flashing green,

And now beneath the stately trees,
And now far distant in the dene,

She headed on with graceful ease:
Hanging aloft with doubled knees,

At times athwart some hedge or gate;
And slackening pace by slow degrees,

As for the foremost foe to wait.
Renewing her outstripping rate

Whene'er the hot pursuers neared,
By garden wall and paled estate,

Where clambering gazers whooped and cheered.
Here winding under elm and oak,

And slanting up the sunny hill:
Splashing the water here like smoke

Among the mill-holms round the mill.
And--'Let her go; she shows her game,

My Nancy girl, my pet and treasure!'
The farmer sighed: his eyes with pleasure

Brimming: ''Tis my daughter's name,
My second daughter lying yonder.'

And Willie's eye in search did wander,
And caught at once, with moist regard,

The white gleams of a grey churchyard.
'Three weeks before my girl had gone,

And while upon her pillows propped,
She lay at eve; the weakling fawn -

For still it seems a fawn just dropt
A se'nnight--to my Nancy's bed

I brought to make my girl a gift:
The mothers of them both were dead:

And both to bless it was my drift,
By giving each a friend; not thinking

How rapidly my girl was sinking.
And I remember how, to pat

Its neck, she stretched her hand so weak,
And its cold nose against her cheek

Pressed fondly: and I fetched the mat
To make it up a couch just by her,

Where in the lone dark hours to lie:
For neither dear old nurse nor I

Would any single wish deny her.
And there unto the last it lay;

And in the pastures cared to play
Little or nothing: there its meals

And milk I brought: and even now
The creature such affection feels

For that old room that, when and how,
'Tis strange to mark, it slinks and steals

To get there, and all day conceals.
And once when nurse who, since that time,

Keeps house for me, was very sick,
Waking upon the midnight chime,

And listening to the stair-clock's click,
I heard a rustling, half uncertain,

Close against the dark bed-curtain:
And while I thrust my leg to kick,

And feel the phantom with my feet,
A loving tongue began to lick

My left hand lying on the sheet;
And warm sweet breath upon me blew,

And that 'twas Nancy then I knew.
So, for her love, I had good cause

To have the creature "Nancy" christened.'
He paused, and in the moment's pause,

His eyes and Willie's strangely glistened.
Nearer came Joan, and Bessy hung

With face averted, near enough
To hear, and sob unheard; the young

And careless ones had scampered off
Meantime, and sought the loftiest place

To beacon the approaching chase.
'Daily upon the meads to browse,

Goes Nancy with those dairy cows
You see behind the clematis:

And such a favourite she is,
That when fatigued, and helter skelter,

Among them from her foes to shelter,
She dashes when the chase is over,

They'll close her in and give her cover,
And bend their horns against the hounds,

And low, and keep them out of bounds!
From the house dogs she dreads no harm,

And is good friends with all the farm,
Man, and bird, and beast, howbeit

Their natures seem so opposite.
And she is known for many a mile,

And noted for her splendid style,
For her clear leap and quick slight hoof;

Welcome she is in many a roof.
And if I say, I love her, man!

I say but little: her fine eyes full
Of memories of my girl, at Yule

And May-time, make her dearer than
Dumb brute to men has been, I think.

So dear I do not find her dumb.
I know her ways, her slightest wink,

So well; and to my hand she'll come,
Sidelong, for food or a caress,

Just like a loving human thing.
Nor can I help, I do confess,

Some touch of human sorrowing
To think there may be such a doubt

That from the next world she'll be shut out,
And parted from me! And well I mind

How, when my girl's last moments came,
Her soft eyes very soft and kind,

She joined her hands and prayed the same,
That she "might meet her father, mother,

Sister Bess, and each dear brother,
And with them, if it might be, one

Who was her last companion."
Meaning the fawn--the doe you mark -

For my bay mare was then a foal,
And time has passed since then:- but hark!'

For like the shrieking of a soul
Shut in a tomb, a darkened cry

Of inward-wailing agony
Surprised them, and all eyes on each

Fixed in the mute-appealing speech
Of self-reproachful apprehension:

Knowing not what to think or do:
But Joan, recovering first, broke through

The instantaneous suspension,
And knelt upon the ground, and guessed

• volume [´vɔlju:m, ´vɑljəm] n.卷；书籍；体积；容量 (初中英语单词)
• breeze [bri:z] n.微风；不费力的事 (初中英语单词)
• midnight [´midnait] n.午夜；漆黑 (初中英语单词)
• relieve [ri´li:v] v.救济，援救；减轻 (初中英语单词)
• bloody [´blʌdi] a.(流)血的；血腥的 (初中英语单词)
• deadly [´dedli] a.致命的 ad.死一般地 (初中英语单词)
• thunder [´θʌndə] n.雷 vi.打雷 vt.吼出 (初中英语单词)
• savage [´sævidʒ] a.野蛮的 n.蛮人 (初中英语单词)
• fragment [´frægmənt] n.碎片；破片；断片 (初中英语单词)
• beaver [´bi:və] n.海狸；獭皮(帽) (初中英语单词)
• generous [´dʒenərəs] a.慷慨的；丰盛的 (初中英语单词)
• wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
• lively [´laivli] a.活泼的；热烈的 (初中英语单词)
• delicate [´delikət] a.精美的；微妙的 (初中英语单词)
• graceful [´greisfəl] a.优美的，流畅的 (初中英语单词)
• affection [ə´fekʃən] n.友爱；慈爱 (初中英语单词)
• thrust [θrʌst] v.&n.猛推；冲；刺；挤进 (初中英语单词)
• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
• strangely [´streindʒli] ad.奇怪地；陌生地 (初中英语单词)
• careless [´keəlis] a.粗心的；草率的 (初中英语单词)
• dismal [´dizməl] a.灰暗的；阴郁的 (高中英语单词)
• dreary [´driəri] a.阴郁的；枯燥无味的 (高中英语单词)
• skeleton [´skelitən] n.骨骼；骷髅 (高中英语单词)
• courteous [´kə:tiəs] a.有礼貌的；殷勤的 (高中英语单词)
• stubborn [´stʌbən] a.顽固的；坚持的 (高中英语单词)
• stately [´steitli] a.庄严的，雄伟的 (高中英语单词)
• foremost [´fɔ:məust] a.最重要的；最先的 (高中英语单词)
• loving [´lʌviŋ] a.爱的，有爱情的 (高中英语单词)
• mournful [´mɔ:nful] a.令人沮丧的 (英语四级单词)
• whereof [weər´ɔv] ad.关于什么；关于那事 (英语四级单词)
• fondly [´fɔndli] ad.喜爱地；愚蠢地 (英语四级单词)
• wintry [´wintri] a.冬天的；荒凉的 (英语六级单词)
• doleful [´dəulful] a.悲哀的；忧郁的 (英语六级单词)
• mystic [´mistik] a.神秘的；难以理解的 (英语六级单词)
• phantom [´fæntəm] n.幽灵；幻影 a.幻想的 (英语六级单词)
• beacon [´bi:kən] n.灯塔；信标 v.照亮 (英语六级单词)