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the complete poetical works-第34部分

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In the heart of the city; they lie; unknown and unnoticed。

Daily the tides of life go ebbing and flowing beside them;

Thousands of throbbing hearts; where theirs are at rest and

forever;

Thousands of aching brains; where theirs no longer are busy;

Thousands of toiling hands; where theirs have ceased from their

labors;

Thousands of weary feet; where theirs have completed their

journey!



  Still stands the forest primeval; but under the shade of its

branches

Dwells another race; with other customs and language。

Only along the shore of the mournful and misty Atlantic

Linger a few Acadian peasants; whose fathers from exile

Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom。

In the fisherman's cot the wheel and the loom are still busy;

Maidens still wear their Norman caps and their kirtles of

homespun;

And by the evening fire repeat Evangeline's story;

While from its rocky caverns the deep…voiced; neighboring ocean

Speaks; and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the

forest。





**************



THE SEASIDE AND THE FIRESIDE



DEDICATION



As one who; walking in the twilight gloom;

  Hears round about him voices as it darkens;

And seeing not the forms from which they come;

  Pauses from time to time; and turns and hearkens;



So walking here in twilight; O my friends!

  I hear your voices; softened by the distance;

And pause; and turn to listen; as each sends

  His words of friendship; comfort; and assistance。



If any thought of mine; or sung or told;

  Has ever given delight or consolation;

Ye have repaid me back a thousand…fold;

  By every friendly sign and salutation。



Thanks for the sympathies that ye have shown!

  Thanks for each kindly word; each silent token;

That teaches me; when seeming most alone;

  Friends are around us; though no word be spoken。



Kind messages; that pass from land to land;

  Kind letters; that betray the heart's deep history;

In which we feel the pressure of a hand;

  One touch of fire;and all the rest is mystery!



The pleasant books; that silently among

  Our household treasures take familiar places;

And are to us as if a living tongue

  Spice from the printed leaves or pictured faces!



Perhaps on earth I never shall behold;

  With eye of sense; your outward form and semblance;

Therefore to me ye never will grow old;

  But live forever young in my remembrance。



Never grow old; nor change; nor pass away!

   Your gentle voices will flow on forever;

 When life grows bare and tarnished with decay;

  As through a leafless landscape flows a river。



Not chance of birth or place has made us friends;

  Being oftentimes of different tongues and nations;

But the endeavor for the selfsame ends;

  With the same hopes; and fears; and aspirations。



Therefore I hope to join your seaside walk;

  Saddened; and mostly silent; with emotion;

Not interrupting with intrusive talk

  The grand; majestic symphonies of ocean。



Therefore I hope; as no unwelcome guest;

  At your warm fireside; when the lamps are lighted;

To have my place reserved among the rest;

  Nor stand as one unsought and uninvited!







BY THE SEASIDE



THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP



〃Build me straight; O worthy Master!

  Stanch and strong; a goodly vessel;

That shall laugh at all disaster;

  And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!〃



The merchant's word

Delighted the Master heard;

For his heart was in his work; and the heart

Giveth grace unto every Art。



A quiet smile played round his lips;

As the eddies and dimples of the tide

Play round the bows of ships;

That steadily at anchor ride。

And with a voice that was full of glee;

He answered; 〃Erelong we will launch

A vessel as goodly; and strong; and stanch;

As ever weathered a wintry sea!〃

And first with nicest skill and art;

Perfect and finished in every part;

A little model the Master wrought;

Which should be to the larger plan

What the child is to the man;

Its counterpart in miniature;

That with a hand more swift and sure

The greater labor might be brought

To answer to his inward thought。

And as he labored; his mind ran o'er

The various ships that were built of yore;

And above them all; and strangest of all

Towered the Great Harry; crank and tall;

Whose picture was hanging on the wall;

With bows and stern raised high in air;

And balconies hanging here and there;

And signal lanterns and flags afloat;

And eight round towers; like those that frown

From some old castle; looking down

Upon the drawbridge and the moat。

And he said with a smile; 〃Our ship; I wis;

Shall be of another form than this!〃

It was of another form; indeed;

Built for freight; and yet for speed;

A beautiful and gallant craft;

Broad in the beam; that the stress of the blast;

Pressing down upon sail and mast;

Might not the sharp bows overwhelm;

Broad in the beam; but sloping aft

With graceful curve and slow degrees;

That she might be docile to the helm;

And that the currents of parted seas;

Closing behind; with mighty force;

Might aid and not impede her course。



In the ship…yard stood the Master;

  With the model of the vessel;

That should laugh at all disaster;

  And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!



Covering many a rood of ground;

Lay the timber piled around;

Timber of chestnut; and elm; and oak;

And scattered here and there; with these;

The knarred and crooked cedar knees;

Brought from regions far away;

From Pascagoula's sunny bay;

And the banks of the roaring Roanoke!

Ah! what a wondrous thing it is

To note how many wheels of toil

One thought; one word; can set in motion!

There's not a ship that sails the ocean;

But every climate; every soil;

Must bring its tribute; great or small;

And help to build the wooden wall!



The sun was rising o'er the sea;

And long the level shadows lay;

As if they; too; the beams would be

Of some great; airy argosy。

Framed and launched in a single day。

That silent architect; the sun;

Had hewn and laid them every one;

Ere the work of man was yet begun。

Beside the Master; when he spoke;

A youth; against an anchor leaning;

Listened; to catch his slightest meaning。

Only the long waves; as they broke

In ripples on the pebbly beach;

Interrupted the old man's speech。



Beautiful they were; in sooth;

The old man and the fiery youth!

The old man; in whose busy brain

Many a ship that sailed the main

Was modelled o'er and o'er again;

The fiery youth; who was to be

the heir of his dexterity;

The heir of his house; and his daughter's hand;

When he had built and launched from land

What the elder head had planned。



〃Thus;〃 said he; 〃will we build this ship!

Lay square the blocks upon the slip;

And follow well this plan of mine。

Choose the timbers with greatest care;

Of all that is unsound beware;

For only what is sound and strong

to this vessel stall belong。

Cedar of Maine and Georgia pine

Here together shall combine。

A goodly frame; and a goodly fame;

And the UNION be her name!

For the day that gives her to the sea

Shall give my daughter unto thee!〃



The Master's word

Enraptured the young man heard;

And as he turned his face aside;

With a look of joy and a thrill of pride;

Standing before

Her father's door;

He saw the form of his promised bride。

The sun shone on her golden hair;

And her cheek was glowing fresh and fair;

With the breath of morn and the soft sea air。

Like a beauteous barge was she;

Still at rest on the sandy beach;

Just beyond the billow's reach;

But he

Was the restless; seething; stormy sea!

Ah; how skilful grows the hand

That obeyeth Love's command!

It is the heart; and not the brain;

That to the highest doth attain;

And he who followeth Love's behest

Far excelleth all the rest!



Thus with the rising of the sun

Was the noble task begun

And soon throughout the ship…yard's bounds

Were heard the intermingled sounds

Of axes and of mallets; plied

With vigorous arms on every side;

Plied so deftly and so well;

That; ere the shadows of evening fell;

The keel of oak for a noble ship;

Scarfed and bolted; straight and strong

Was lying ready; and stretched along

The blocks; well placed upon the slip。

Happy; thrice happy; every one

Who sees his labor well begun;

And not perplexed and multiplied;

By idly waiting for time and tide!



And when the hot; long day was o'er;

The young man at the Master's door

Sat with the maiden calm and still。

And within the porch; a little more

Removed beyond the evening chill;

The father sat; and told them tales

Of wrecks in the great September gales;

Of pirates coasting the Spanish Main;

And ships that never came back again;

The chance and change of a sailor's life;

Want and plenty; rest and strife;

His roving fancy; like the wind;

That nothing can stay and nothing can bind;

And the magic charm of foreign lands;

With shadows of palms; and shining sands;

Where the tumbling surf;

O'er the coral reefs of Madagascar;

Washes the feet of the swarthy Lascar;

As he lies alone and asleep on the turf。

And the trembling maiden held her breath

At the tales of that awful; pitiless sea;

With all its terror and mystery;

The dim; dark sea; so like unto Death;

That divides and yet unites mankind!

And whenever the old man paused; a gleam

From the bowl of his pipe would awhile illume

The silent group in the twilight gloom;

And thoughtful faces; as in a dream;

And for a moment one might mark

What had been hidden by the dark;

That the head of the maiden lay at rest;

Tenderly; on the young man's breast!



Day by day the vessel grew;

With timbers fashioned strong and true;

Stemson and keelson and sternson…knee;

Till; framed with perfect symmetry;

A skeleton ship rose up to view!

And around the bows and alo

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