helen of troy and other poems-第3章
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And I; their queen; would climb the stairs alone;
Pass through the banquet…hall; a loathed thing;
And seek my chambers for a hiding…place;
And I should find them but a sepulchre;
The very rushes rotted on the floors;
The fire in ashes on the freezing hearth。
I was a queen; and he who loved me best
Made me a woman for a night and day;
And now I go unqueened forevermore。
A queen should never dream on summer eves;
When hovering spells are heavy in the dusk:
I think no night was ever quite so still;
So smoothly lit with red along the west;
So deeply hushed with quiet through and through。
And strangely clear; and deeply dyed with light;
The trees stood straight against a paling sky;
With Venus burning lamp…like in the west。
I walked alone amid a thousand flowers;
That drooped their heads and drowsed beneath the dew;
And all my thoughts were quieted to sleep。
Behind me; on the walk; I heard a step
I did not know my heart could tell his tread;
I did not know I loved him till that hour。
Within my breast I felt a wild; sick pain;
The garden reeled a little; I was weak;
And quick he came behind me; caught my arms;
That ached beneath his touch; and then I swayed;
My head fell backward and I saw his face。
All this grows bitter that was once so sweet;
And many mouths must drain the dregs of it。
But none will pity me; nor pity him
Whom Love so lashed; and with such cruel thongs。
Erinna
They sent you in to say farewell to me;
No; do not shake your head; I see your eyes
That shine with tears。 Sappho; you saw the sun
Just now when you came hither; and again;
When you have left me; all the shimmering
Great meadows will laugh lightly; and the sun
Put round about you warm invisible arms
As might a lover; decking you with light。
I go toward darkness tho' I lie so still。
If I could see the sun; I should look up
And drink the light until my eyes were blind;
I should kneel down and kiss the blades of grass;
And I should call the birds with such a voice;
With such a longing; tremulous and keen;
That they would fly to me and on the breast
Bear evermore to tree…tops and to fields
The kiss I gave them。 Sappho; tell me this;
Was I not sometimes fair? My eyes; my mouth;
My hair that loved the wind; were they not worth
The breath of love upon them? Yet he passed;
And he will pass to…night when all the air
Is blue with twilight; but I shall not see。
I shall have gone forever。 Hold my hands;
Hold fast that Death may never come between;
Swear by the gods you will not let me go;
Make songs for Death as you would sing to Love
But you will not assuage him。 He alone
Of all the gods will take no gifts from men。
I am afraid; afraid。
Sappho; lean down。
Last night the fever gave a dream to me;
It takes my life and gives a little dream。
I thought I saw him stand; the man I love;
Here in my quiet chamber; with his eyes
Fixed on me as I entered; while he drew
Silently toward me he who night by night
Goes by my door without a thought of me
Neared me and put his hand behind my head;
And leaning toward me; kissed me on the mouth。
That was a little dream for Death to give;
Too short to take the whole of life for; yet
I woke with lips made quiet by a kiss。
The dream is worth the dying。 Do not smile
So sadly on me with your shining eyes;
You who can set your sorrow to a song
And ease your hurt by singing。 But to me
My songs are less than sea…sand that the wind
Drives stinging over me and bears away。
I have no care what place the grains may fall;
Nor of my songs; if Time shall blow them back;
As land…wind breaks the lines of dying foam
Along the bright wet beaches; scattering
The flakes once more against the laboring sea;
Into oblivion。 What care have I
To please Apollo since Love hearkens not?
Your words will live forever; men will say
〃She was the perfect lover〃 I shall die;
I loved too much to live。 Go Sappho; go
I hate your hands that beat so full of life;
Go; lest my hatred hurt you。 I shall die;
But you will live to love and love again。
He might have loved some other spring than this;
I should have kept my life I let it go。
He would not love me now tho' Cypris bound
Her girdle round me。 I am Death's; not Love's。
Go from me; Sappho; back to find the sun。
I am alone; alone。 O Cyprian 。 。 。
Love Songs
Song
You bound strong sandals on my feet;
You gave me bread and wine;
And bade me out; 'neath sun and stars;
For all the world was mine。
Oh take the sandals off my feet;
You know not what you do;
For all my world is in your arms;
My sun and stars are you。
The Rose and the Bee
If I were a bee and you were a rose;
Would you let me in when the gray wind blows?
Would you hold your petals wide apart;
Would you let me in to find your heart;
If you were a rose?
〃If I were a rose and you were a bee;
You should never go when you came to me;
I should hold my love on my heart at last;
I should close my leaves and keep you fast;
If you were a bee。〃
The Song Maker
I made a hundred little songs
That told the joy and pain of love;
And sang them blithely; tho' I knew
No whit thereof。
I was a weaver deaf and blind;
A miracle was wrought for me;
But I have lost my skill to weave
Since I can see。
For while I sang ah swift and strange!
Love passed and touched me on the brow;
And I who made so many songs
Am silent now。
Wild Asters
In the spring I asked the daisies
If his words were true;
And the clever little daisies
Always knew。
Now the fields are brown and barren;
Bitter autumn blows;
And of all the stupid asters
Not one knows。
When Love Goes
I
O mother; I am sick of love;
I cannot laugh nor lift my head;
My bitter dreams have broken me;
I would my love were dead。
〃Drink of the draught I brew for thee;
Thou shalt have quiet in its stead。〃
II
Where is the silver in the rain;
Where is the music in the sea;
Where is the bird that sang all day
To break my heart with melody?
〃The night thou badst Love fly away;
He hid them all from thee。〃
The Wayfarer
Love entered in my heart one day;
A sad; unwelcome guest;
But when he begged that he might stay;
I let him wait and rest。
He broke my sleep with sorrowing;
And shook my dreams with tears;
And when my heart was fain to sing;
He stilled its joy with fears。
But now that he has gone his way;
I miss the old sweet pain;
And sometimes in the night I pray
That he may come again。
The Princess in the Tower
I
The Princess sings:
I am the princess up in the tower
And I dream the whole day thro'
Of a knight who shall come with a silver spear
And a waving plume of blue。
I am the princess up in the tower;
And I dream my dreams by day;
But sometimes I wake; and my eyes are wet;
When the dusk is deep and gray。
For the peasant lovers go by beneath;
I hear them laugh and kiss;
And I forget my day…dream knight;
And long for a love like this。
II
The Minstrel sings:
I lie beside the princess' tower;
So close she cannot see my face;
And watch her dreaming all day long;
And bending with a lily's grace。
Her cheeks are paler than the moon
That sails along a sunny sky;
And yet her silent mouth is red
Where tender words and kisses lie。
I am a minstrel with a harp;
For love of her my songs are sweet;
And yet I dare not lift the voice
That lies so far beneath her feet。