venus and adonis-第8章
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When he was by; the birds such pleasure took
That some would sing; some other in their bills
Would bring him mulberries and ripe…red cherries;
He fed them with his sight; they him with beffies。
'But this foul; grim; and urchin…snouted boar;
Whose downward eye still looketh for a grave;
Ne'er saw the beauteous livery that he wore;
Witness the entertainment that he gave。
If he did see his face; why then I know
He thought to kiss him; and hath killed him so。
''Tis true; 'tis true; thus was Adonis slain:
He ran upon the boar with his sharp spear;
Who did not whet his teeth at him again;
But by a kiss thought to persuade him there;
And nuzzling in his flank; the loving swine
Sheathed unaware the tusk in his soft groin。
'Had I been toothed like him; I must confess;
With kissing him I should have killed him first;
But he is dead; and never did he bless
My youth with his; the more am I accurst。'
With this; she falleth in the place she stood;
And stains her face with his congealed blood。
She looks upon his lips; and they are pale;
She takes him by the hand; and that is cold;
She whispers in his ears a heavy tale;
As if they heard the woeful words she told;
She lifts the coffer…lids that close his eyes;
Where; lo; two lamps; burnt out; in darkness lies;
Two glasses; where herself herself beheld
A thousand times; and now no more; reflect;
Their virtue lost wherein they late excelled;
And every beauty robbed of his effect。
'Wonder of time;' quoth she; 'this is my spite;
That; thou being dead; the day should yet be light。
'Since thou art dead; lo; here I prophesy
Sorrow on love hereafter shall attend;
It shall be waited on with jealousy;
Find sweet beginning but unsavoury end;
Ne'er settled equally; but high or low;
That all love's pleasure shall not match his woe。
'It shall be fickle; false and full of fraud;
Bud; and be blasted; in a breathing while;
The bottom poison; and the top o'erstrawed
With sweets that shall the truest sight beguile;
The strongest body shall it make most weak;
Strike the wise dumb; and teach the fool to speak。
'It shall be sparing; and too full of riot;
Teaching decrepit age to tread the measures;
The staring ruffian shall it keep in quiet;
Pluck down the rich; enrich the poor with treasures;
It shall be raging…mad; and silly…mild;
Make the young old; the old become a child。
'It shall suspect where is no cause of fear;
It shall not fear where it should most mistrust;
It shall be merciful and too severe;
And most deceiving when it seems most just;
Perverse it shall be where it shows most toward;
Put fear to valour; courage to the coward。
'It shall be cause of war and dire events;
And set dissension 'twixt the son and sire;
Subject and servile to all discontents;
As dry combustious matter is to fire。
Sith in his prime death doth my love destroy;
They that love best their loves shall not enjoy。'
By this the boy that by her side lay killed
Was melted like a vapour from her sight;
And in his blood that on the ground lay spilled
A purple flower sprung up; chequ'red with white;
Resembling well his pale cheeks; and the blood
Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood。
She bows her head the new…sprung flower to smell;
Comparing it to her Adonis' breath;
And says within her bosom it shall dwell;
Since he himself is reft from her by death;
She crops the stalk; and in the breach appears
Green…dropping sap; which she compares to tears。
'Poor flower;' quoth she; 'this was thy father's guise
Sweet issue of a more sweet…smelling sire
For every little grief to wet his eyes。
To grow unto himself was his desire;
And so 'tis thine; but know; it is as good
To wither in my breast as in his blood。
'Here was thy father's bed; here in my breast;
Thou art the next of blood; and 'tis thy right。
Lo; in this hollow cradle take thy rest;
My throbbing heart shall rock thee day and night;
There shall not be one minute in an hour
Wherein I will not kiss my sweet love's flower。'
Thus weary of the world; away she hies;
And yokes her silver doves; by whose swift aid
Their mistress; mounted; through the empty skies
In her light chariot quickly is conveyed;
Holding their course to Paphos; where their queen
Means to immure herself and not be seen。
…THE END…
。