"Do ye think I would waste my good pit-coal on the hide of a brain-sick fool?
I see no worth in the hobnailed mirth or the jolthead jest ye did

That I should waken my gentlemen that are sleeping three on a grid."
Then Tomlinson looked back and forth, and there was little grace,

For Hell-Gate filled the houseless Soul with the Fear of Naked Space.
"Nay, this I ha' heard," quo' Tomlinson, "and this was noised abroad,

And this I ha' got from a Belgian book on the word of a dead French lord."
-- "Ye ha' heard, ye ha' read, ye ha' got, good lack!

and the tale begins afresh --
Have ye sinned one sin for the pride o' the eye

or the sinful lust of the flesh?"
Then Tomlinson he gripped the bars and yammered, "Let me in --

For I mind that I borrowed my neighbour's wife to sin the deadly sin."
The Devil he grinned behind the bars, and banked the fires high:

"Did ye read of that sin in a book?" said he; and Tomlinson said, "Ay!"
The Devil he blew upon his nails, and the little devils ran,

And he said: "Go husk this whimpering thief that comes in the guise of a man:
Winnow him out 'twixt star and star, and sieve his proper worth:

There's sore decline in Adam's line if this be spawn of earth."
Empusa's crew, so naked-new they may not face the fire,

But weep that they bin too small to sin to the height of their desire,
Over the coal they chased the Soul, and racked it all abroad,

As children rifle a caddis-case or the raven's foolish hoard.
And back they came with the tattered Thing, as children after play,

And they said: "The soul that he got from God he has bartered clean away.
We have threshed a stook of print and book, and winnowed a chattering wind

And many a soul wherefrom he stole, but his we cannot find:
We have handled him, we have dandled him, we have seared him to the bone,

And sure if tooth and nail show truth he has no soul of his own."
The Devil he bowed his head on his breast and rumbled deep and low: --

"I'm all o'er-sib to Adam's breed that I should bid him go.
Yet close we lie, and deep we lie, and if I gave him place,

My gentlemen that are so proud would flout me to my face;
They'd call my house a common stews and me a careless host,

And -- I would not anger my gentlemen for the sake of a shiftless ghost."
The Devil he looked at the mangled Soul that prayed to feel the flame,

And he thought of Holy Charity, but he thought of his own good name: --
"Now ye could haste my coal to waste, and sit ye down to fry:

Did ye think of that theft for yourself?" said he; and Tomlinson said, "Ay!"
The Devil he blew an outwardbreath, for his heart was free from care: --

"Ye have scarce the soul of a louse," he said,
"but the roots of sin are there,

And for that sin should ye come in were I the lord alone.
But sinful pride has rule inside -- and mightier than my own.

Honour and Wit, fore-damned they sit, to each his priest and whore:
Nay, scarce I dare myself go there, and you they'd torture sore.

Ye are neither spirit nor spirk," he said; "ye are neither book nor brute --
Go, get ye back to the flesh again for the sake of Man's repute.

I'm all o'er-sib to Adam's breed that I should mock your pain,
But look that ye win to worthier sin ere ye come back again.

Get hence, the hearse is at your door -- the grim black stallions wait --
They bear your clay to place to-day. Speed, lest ye come too late!

Go back to Earth with a lip unsealed -- go back with an open eye,
And carry my word to the Sons of Men or ever ye come to die:

That the sin they do by two and two they must pay for one by one --
And. . .the God that you took from a printed book be with you, Tomlinson!"

L'ENVOI TO "LIFE'S HANDICAP"
My new-cut ashlar takes the light

Where crimson-blank the windows flare;
By my own work, before the night,

Great Overseer I make my prayer.
If there be good in that I wrought,

Thy hand compelled it, Master, Thine;
Where I have failed to meet Thy thought

I know, through Thee, the blame is mine.
One instant's toil to Thee denied

Stands all Eternity's offence,
Of that I did with Thee to guide

To Thee, through Thee, be excellence.
Who, lest all thought of Eden fade,

Bring'st Eden to the craftsman's brain,
Godlike to muse o'er his own trade

And Manlike stand with God again.
The depth and dream of my desire,

The bitter paths wherein I stray,
Thou knowest Who hast made the Fire,

Thou knowest Who hast made the Clay!
One stone the more swings to her place

In that dread Temple of Thy Worth --
It is enough that through Thy grace

I saw naught common on Thy earth.
Take not that vision from my ken;

Oh whatsoe'er may spoil or speed,
Help me to need no aid from men

That I may help such men as need!
L'ENVOI

There's a whisper down the field where the year has shot her yield,
And the ricks stand gray to the sun,

Singing: -- "Over then, come over, for the bee has quit the clover,
And your English summer's done."

You have heard the beat of the off-shore wind,
And the thresh of the deep-sea rain;

You have heard the song -- how long! how long?
Pull out on the trail again!

Ha' done with the Tents of Shem, dear lass,
We've seen the seasons through,

And it's time to turn on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,
Pull out, pull out, on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new.

It's North you may run to the rime-ringed sun,
Or South to the blind Horn's hate;

Or East all the way into Mississippi Bay,
Or West to the Golden Gate;

Where the blindest bluffs hold good, dear lass,
And the wildest tales are true,

And the men bulk big on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,
And life runs large on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new.

The days are sick and cold, and the skies are gray and old,
And the twice-breathed airs blow damp;

And I'd sell my tired soul for the bucking beam-sea roll
Of a black Bilbao tramp;

With her load-line over her hatch, dear lass,
And a drunken Dago crew,

And her nose held down on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail
From Cadiz Bar on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new.

There be triple ways to take, of the eagle or the snake,
Or the way of a man with a maid;

But the fairest way to me is a ship's upon the sea
In the heel of the North-East Trade.

Can you hear the crash on her bows, dear lass,
And the drum of the racing screw,

As she ships it green on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,
As she lifts and 'scends on the Long Trail --

the trail that is always new?
See the shaking funnels roar, with the Peter at the fore,

And the fenders grind and heave,
And the derricks clack and grate, as the tackle hooks the crate,

And the fall-rope whines through the sheave;
It's "Gang-plank up and in," dear lass,

It's "Hawsers warp her through!"
And it's "All clear aft" on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,

We're backing down on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new.
O the mutter overside, when the port-fog holds us tied,

And the sirens hoot their dread!
When foot by foot we creep o'er the hueless viewless deep

To the sob of the questing lead!
It's down by the Lower Hope, dear lass,

With the Gunfleet Sands in view,
Till the Mouse swings green on the old trail,

our own trail, the out trail,
And the Gull Light lifts on the Long Trail --

the trail that is always new.
O the blazing tropic night, when the wake's a welt of light

That holds the hot sky tame,
And the steady fore-foot snores through the planet-powdered floors

Where the scared whale flukes in flame!
Her plates are scarred by the sun, dear lass,

And her ropes are taut with the dew,
For we're booming down on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,

We're sagging south on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new.
Then home, get her home, where the drunken rollers comb,

And the shouting seas drive by,
And the engines stamp and ring, and the wet bows reel and swing,

And the Southern Cross rides high!
Yes, the old lost stars wheel back, dear lass,

That blaze in the velvet blue.
They're all old friends on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,

They're God's own guides on the Long Trail --
the trail that is always new.

Fly forward, O my heart, from the Foreland to the Start --
We're steaming all-too slow,

And it's twenty thousand mile to our little lazy isle
Where the trumpet-orchids blow!

You have heard the call of the off-shore wind,
And the voice of the deep-sea rain;

You have heard the song -- how long! how long?
Pull out on the trail again!

The Lord knows what we may find, dear lass,
And The Deuce knows what we may do --

But we're back once more on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,
We're down, hull down on the Long Trail -- the trail that is always new.

THE SEVEN SEAS
1891-1896

DEDICATION
To the City of Bombay

The Cities are full of pride,
Challenging each to each --

This from her mountain-side,
That from her burthened beach.

They count their ships full tale --
Their corn and oil and wine,

Derrick and loom and bale,
And rampart's gun-flecked line;

City by City they hail:
"Hast aught to match with mine?"

And the men that breed from them
They traffic up and down,

But cling to their cities' hem
As a child to their mother's gown.

When they talk with the stranger bands,
Dazed and newly alone;

When they walk in the stranger lands,
By roaring streets unknown;

Blessing her where she stands
For strength above their own.

(On high to hold her fame
That stands all fame beyond,

By oath to back the same,
Most faithful-foolish-fond;

Making her mere-breathed name
Their bond upon their bond.)

So thank I God my birth

• sleeping [´sli:piŋ] n.&a.睡着(的) (初中英语单词)
• deadly [´dedli] a.致命的 ad.死一般地 (初中英语单词)
• height [hait] n.高度；顶点；卓越 (初中英语单词)
• careless [´keəlis] a.粗心的；草率的 (初中英语单词)
• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
• scarce [skeəs, skers] a.缺乏的；稀有的 (初中英语单词)
• priest [pri:st] n.教士；牧师；神父 (初中英语单词)
• torture [´tɔ:tʃə] n.&vt.折磨；痛苦；拷问 (初中英语单词)
• temple [´tempəl] n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词)
• vision [´viʒən] n.视觉；想象力；幻影 (初中英语单词)
• whisper [´wispə] v.耳语 n.低语；沙沙声 (初中英语单词)
• mississippi [,misi´sipi] n.密西西比(河) (初中英语单词)
• drunken [´drʌŋkən] a.喝醉的；常醉的 (初中英语单词)
• mutter [´mʌtə] v.&n.咕哝；嘀咕 (初中英语单词)
• velvet [´velvit] n.&a.天鹅绒(般的) (初中英语单词)
• traffic [´træfik] n.交通，运输 (初中英语单词)
• charity [´tʃæriti] n.施舍；慈悲；博爱 (高中英语单词)
• outward [´autwəd] a.外面的 ad.向外 (高中英语单词)
• wherein [weər´in] ad.那里面 (高中英语单词)
• naught [nɔ:t] n.无；零 (高中英语单词)
• tackle [´tækəl] n.用具；装置 vt.处理 (高中英语单词)
• belgian [´beldʒən] n.&a.比利时人(的) (英语四级单词)
• tattered [´tætəd] a.(衣服等)破烂的 (英语四级单词)
• tropic [´trɔpik] n.热带地区；回归线 (英语四级单词)
• triple [´tripəl] a.三倍的v.增加到三倍 (英语六级单词)