Senility's queasy furtive love-making,
And searching those dear eyes for human meaning,

Propping the bald and helpless head, and cleaning
A scrap that life's flung by, and love's forgotten, --

Then you'll be tired; and passion dead and rotten;
And he'll be dirty, dirty!

O lithe and free
And lightfoot, that the poor heart cries to see,

That's how I'll see your man and you! --
But you

-- Oh, when THAT time comes, you'll be dirty too!
Blue Evening

My restless blood now lies a-quiver,
Knowing that always, exquisitely,

This April twilight on the river
Stirs anguish in the heart of me.

For the fast world in that rare glimmer
Puts on the witchery of a dream,

The straight grey buildings, richly dimmer,
The fiery windows, and the stream

With willows leaning quietly over,
The still ecstatic fading skies . . .

And all these, like a waiting lover,
Murmur and gleam, lift lustrous eyes,

Drift close to me, and sideways bending
Whisper delicious words.

But I
Stretch terrible hands, uncomprehending,

Shaken with love; and laugh; and cry.
My agony made the willows quiver;

I heard the knocking of my heart
Die loudly down the windless river,

I heard the pale skies fall apart,
And the shrill stars' unmeaning laughter,

And my voice with the vocal trees
Weeping. And Hatred followed after,

Shrilling madly down the breeze.
In peace from the wild heart of clamour,

A flower in moonlight, she was there,
Was rippling down white ways of glamour

Quietly laid on wave and air.
Her passing left no leaf a-quiver.

Pale flowers wreathed her white, white brows.
Her feet were silence on the river;

And "Hush!" she said, between the boughs.
The Charm

In darkness the loud sea makes moan;
And earth is shaken, and all evils creep

About her ways.
Oh, now to know you sleep!

Out of the whirling blinding moil, alone,
Out of the slow grim fight,

One thought to wing -- to you, asleep,
In some cool room that's open to the night

Lying half-forward, breathing quietly,
One white hand on the white

Unrumpled sheet, and the ever-moving hair
Quiet and still at length! . . .

Your magic and your beauty and your strength,
Like hills at noon or sunlight on a tree,

Sleeping prevail in earth and air.
In the sweet gloom above the brown and white

Night benedictions hover; and the winds of night
Move gently round the room, and watch you there.

And through the dreadful hours
The trees and waters and the hills have kept

The sacred vigil while you slept,
And lay a way of dew and flowers

Where your feet, your morning feet, shall tread.
And still the darkness ebbs about your bed.

Quiet, and strange, and loving-kind, you sleep.
And holy joy about the earth is shed;

And holiness upon the deep.
Finding

From the candles and dumb shadows,
And the house where love had died,

I stole to the vast moonlight
And the whispering life outside.

But I found no lips of comfort,
No home in the moon's light

(I, little and lone and frightened
In the unfriendly night),

And no meaning in the voices. . . .
Far over the lands and through

The dark, beyond the ocean,
I willed to think of YOU!

For I knew, had you been with me
I'd have known the words of night,

Found peace of heart, gone gladly
In comfort of that light.

Oh! the wind with soft beguiling
Would have stolen my thought away;

And the night, subtly smiling,
Came by the silver way;

And the moon came down and danced to me,
And her robe was white and flying;

And trees bent their heads to me
Mysteriously crying;

And dead voices wept around me;
And dead soft fingers thrilled;

And the little gods whispered. . . .
But ever

Desperately I willed;
Till all grew soft and far

And silent . . .
And suddenly

I found you white and radiant,
Sleeping quietly,

Far out through the tides of darkness.
And I there in that great light

Was alone no more, nor fearful;
For there, in the homely night,

Was no thought else that mattered,
And nothing else was true,

But the white fire of moonlight,
And a white dream of you.

Song
"Oh! Love," they said, "is King of Kings,

And Triumph is his crown.
Earth fades in flame before his wings,

And Sun and Moon bow down." --
But that, I knew, would never do;

And Heaven is all too high.
So whenever I meet a Queen, I said,

I will not catch her eye.
"Oh! Love," they said, and "Love," they said,

"The gift of Love is this;
A crown of thorns about thy head,

And vinegar to thy kiss!" --
But Tragedy is not for me;

And I'm content to be gay.
So whenever I spied a Tragic Lady,

I went another way.
And so I never feared to see

You wander down the street,
Or come across the fields to me

On ordinary feet.
For what they'd never told me of,

And what I never knew;
It was that all the time, my love,

Love would be merely you.
The Voice

Safe in the magic of my woods
I lay, and watched the dying light.

Faint in the pale high solitudes,
And washed with rain and veiled by night,

Silver and blue and green were showing.
And the dark woods grew darker still;

And birds were hushed; and peace was growing;
And quietness crept up the hill;

And no wind was blowing
And I knew

That this was the hour of knowing,
And the night and the woods and you

Were one together, and I should find
Soon in the silence the hidden key

Of all that had hurt and puzzled me --
Why you were you, and the night was kind,

And the woods were part of the heart of me.
And there I waited breathlessly,

Alone; and slowly the holy three,
The three that I loved, together grew

One, in the hour of knowing,
Night, and the woods, and you ----

And suddenly
There was an uproar in my woods,

The noise of a fool in mock distress,
Crashing and laughing and blindly going,

Of ignorant feet and a swishing dress,
And a Voice profaning the solitudes.

The spell was broken, the key denied me
And at length your flat clear voice beside me

Mouthed cheerful clear flat platitudes.
You came and quacked beside me in the wood.

You said, "The view from here is very good!"
You said, "It's nice to be alone a bit!"

And, "How the days are drawing out!" you said.
You said, "The sunset's pretty, isn't it?"

* * * * *
By God! I wish -- I wish that you were dead!

Dining-Room Tea
When you were there, and you, and you,

Happiness crowned the night; I too,
Laughing and looking, one of all,

I watched the quivering lamplight fall
On plate and flowers and pouring tea

And cup and cloth; and they and we
Flung all the dancing moments by

With jest and glitter. Lip and eye
Flashed on the glory, shone and cried,

Improvident, unmemoried;
And fitfully and like a flame

The light of laughter went and came.
Proud in their careless transience moved

The changing faces that I loved.
Till suddenly, and otherwhence,

I looked upon your innocence.
For lifted clear and still and strange

From the dark woven flow of change
Under a vast and starless sky

I saw the immortal moment lie.

• helpless [´helpləs] a.无助的，无依靠的 (初中英语单词)
• passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)
• restless [´restləs] a.没有休息的 (初中英语单词)
• twilight [´twailait] n.黎明；黄昏 (初中英语单词)
• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
• delicious [di´liʃəs] a.美味的，可口的 (初中英语单词)
• hatred [´heitrid] n.憎恨，敌意 (初中英语单词)
• moonlight [´mu:nlait] n.&a.月光(的) (初中英语单词)
• shaken [´ʃeikən] shake的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• sunlight [´sʌnlait] n.日光 (初中英语单词)
• prevail [pri´veil] vi.胜(过)；流行；普遍 (初中英语单词)
• gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)
• dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)
• sacred [´seikrid] a.神圣的；庄严的 (初中英语单词)
• stolen [´stəulən] steal 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• triumph [´traiəmf] n.胜利 vi.得胜，战胜 (初中英语单词)
• whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)
• tragedy [´trædʒidi] n.悲剧；惨案；灾难 (初中英语单词)
• wander [´wɔndə, ´wɑ:n:dər] v.徘徊；流浪 (初中英语单词)
• hidden [´hid(ə)n] hide 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• ignorant [´ignərənt] a.无知的，愚昧的 (初中英语单词)
• cheerful [´tʃiəful] a.快乐的；高兴的 (初中英语单词)
• glitter [´glitə] n.光辉 vi.闪烁，炫耀 (初中英语单词)
• laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)
• careless [´keəlis] a.粗心的；草率的 (初中英语单词)
• immortal [i´mɔ:təl] a.不死的n.不朽的人物 (初中英语单词)
• anguish [´æŋgwiʃ] n.(极度的)痛苦；苦恼 (高中英语单词)
• shrill [ʃril] a.(声音)尖锐的 (高中英语单词)
• homely [´həumli] a.朴素的；不漂亮的 (高中英语单词)
• tragic [´trædʒik] a.悲剧的；悲惨的 (高中英语单词)
• richly [´ritʃli] ad.富裕地；浓厚地 (英语四级单词)
• vinegar [´vinigə] n.醋 (英语四级单词)
• uproar [´ʌprɔ:] n.喧嚣；骚动；轰鸣，轰动 (英语四级单词)
• blindly [blaindli] ad.盲目地；没头脑地 (英语四级单词)
• drawing [´drɔ:iŋ] n.画图；制图；图样 (英语四级单词)
• holiness [´həulinis] n.神圣 (英语六级单词)