第 15 节
作者:想聊      更新:2021-02-24 22:40      字数:6290
  A breath stirs the dark abysses。 。 。 。           The deeps below the deep Are
  troubled and vexed 。 。 。 and a thousand worlds                Fall on eternal sleep!
  THE COMRADE
  I
  HATH not man at his noblest An air of something more than man? A
  hint   of   grace   immortal;   Born   of   his   greatly   daring   to   assist   the   gods   In
  conquering   these   shaggy   wastes;   These   desert   worlds; And   planting   life
  and order in these stars? So Woman at her best: Her eyes are bright with
  visions   and   with   dreams   That   triumph   over   time;   Her   plumed   thought;
  wing for wing; is mate with               his。
  II
  The     world    rolls  on   from    dream     to  dream;     And    'neath   the   vast
  impersonal revenges of its              going;
  Crushed      fools    that   cried   defeat    Lie   dead     amid    the   dust    they
  prophesied   Ye   doubters   of   man's   larger   destiny;   Ye   that   despair;   Look
  backward down the vistaed years; And all is battleand all victory! Man
  fought;   to   be   a   man!   Through   painful   centuries   the   slow   beast   fought;
  Blinded   and     baffled;   fought   to   gain   his   soul;   Wild;   hairy;   shag;   and
  feared    of   shadows;     Yet   the  clouds    Made    him    strange   signals    that  he
  puzzled o'er; Beast; child; and ape; And yet the winds harped to him; and
  the sea Rolled in upon his consciousness Its tides of wonder and romance;…
  … Uncouth and caked with mire; And yet the stars said something to him;
  and the          sun Declared itself a god; The lagging cycles turned at last
  The pictures into thought; Thought flowered in soul; But; oh; the myriad
  weary   years   Ere   Caliban   was   Shakespeare's   self   And   Darwin's   ape   had
  Darwin's brain! The battling; battling; and the steep ascent; The fight to
  hold the little gained; The loss; the doubt; the shaken heart; The stubborn;
  groping      slow     recovery!     But    looking     backward       toward     the   dim
  beginnings; You that despair; Hath he not climbed and conquered? Look
  backward       and   all's  Victory!   What    coward     looks   forward     and   foresees
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  DREAMS & DUST
  defeat?
  III
  Who climbed beside him; and who fought And suffered and was glad?
  Is she a lesser thing than he; Who stained the slopes with bloody feet; or
  stood   Beside   him   on   some   hard…won   eminence   of   hope   Exulting   as   the
  bold dawn swept A harper hand along the ringing hills? Flesh of his flesh;
  and of his soul the soul; Hath she not fought; hath she not climbed?
  And how is she a lesser thing? Nay; if she ever was 'Twas we that
  made her so; who called her queen But kept her slave。
  IV
  Had she not courage for the fight? Hath she not courage for the years
  to come? Hath she not courage who descends alone (How pitifully alone;
  except      for  Love!)     Where      man's    thought     even    falters   that   would
  follow;   Into   the   shadowy   abyss   (Through   vast   and   murmurous   caverns
  dark    with        crowding   dread   And       terrible   with   hovering    wings);   To
  battle there with Death?to battle There with Death; and wrest from him;
  O Conqueror and Mother; Life!
  V
  Hath she too long dwelt dream…bound in the world                     of love;
  Unconscious of the sterner throes; The more austere; impersonal; wide
  faith;   The   urge   that   drives   Christs   to   the   cross   Not   for   the   love   of   one
  beloved; But for the love of all? If so; she wakes! Wakes and demands a
  share in all man's bolder              destinies; The high; audacious ventures of
  the soul That thinks to scale the bastioned slopes And strike stark Chaos
  from   his   throne。   We   still   stand   in   the   dawn   of   time。   Not   meanly   let   us
  stand   nor  shaken   with low            doubts!   For  there  beyond   the verge  and
  margin   of   gray   cloud   The   future   thrills   with   promise And   the   skies   are
  tremulous      with   golden     light;  She    too  would     share   those    victories;
  Comrade;   and   more   than   comrade;   New   times;   new   needs   confront   us
  now; We must evolve new powers To battle with; We must go forward
  now together; Or perchance we fail!
  ENVOI
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  A LITTLE WHILE
  A little   while   the   tears   and   laughter; The   willow  and the   rose A
  little while; and what comes after          No man knows。
  An hour to sing; to love and linger 。 。 。           Then lutanist and lute Will
  fall on silence; song and singer         Both be mute。
  Our gods from our desires we fashion。 。 。 。            Exalt our baffled lives;
  And dream their vital bloom and passion             Still survives;
  But when we're done with mirth and weeping;                With myrtle; rue; and
  rose; Shall Death take Life into his keeping? 。 。 。          No man knows。
  What   heart   hath   not;   through   twilight   places;   Sought   for   its   dead
  again To gild with love their pallid faces? 。 。 。        Sought in vain! 。 。 。
  Still mounts the Dream on shining pinion 。 。 。             Still broods the dull
  distrust 。 。 。 Which shall have ultimate dominion;            Dream; or dust?
  A little while with grief and laughter;           And then the day will close;
  The shadows gather 。 。 。 what comes after            No man knows!
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