书城外语澳大利亚学生文学读本(第6册)
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第36章 THE JOyS OF THE ROAD

Now the joys of the road are chiefly these:

A crimson touch on the hardwood trees;

A vagrant"s morning wide and blue,

In early fall, when the wind walks, too;

A shadowy highway cool and brown, Alluring up and enticing down;From rippled water to dappled swamp, From purple glory to scarlet pomp;The outward eye, the quiet will,And the striding heart from hill to hill;

The tempter apple over the fence;

The cobweb bloom on the yellow quince;

The palish asters along the wood- A lyric touch of the solitude;An open hand, an easy shoe,And a hope to make the day go through,

Another to sleep with, and a third, To wake me up at the voice of a bird;The resonant, far-listening morn, And the hoarse whisper of the corn;The crickets mourning their comrades lost,In the night"s retreat from the gathering frost;(Or is it their slogan, plaintive and shrill, As they beat on their corslets, valiant still?)A hunger fit for the kings of the sea,And a loaf of bread for Dickon and me;

A thirst like that of the thirsty sword, And a jug of cider on the board;An idle noon, a bubbling spring,The sea in the pine-tops murmuring;

A scrap of gossip at the ferry;

A comrade neither glum nor merry,

Asking nothing, revealing naught,

But minting his words from a fund of thought; .

And oh! the joy that is never won,

But follows and follows the journeying sun,

By marsh and tide, by meadow and stream, And will-o"-the-wind, a light-o"-dream,Delusion afar, delight anear,From morrow to morrow, from year to year,

A jack-o"-lantern, a fairy fire,

A dare, a bliss, and a desire!

The racy smell of the forest loam,

When the stealthy, sad-heart leaves go home;

(O leaves, O leaves, I am one with you,

Of the mould and the sun and the wind and the dew!)The broad, gold wake of the afternoon;The silent fleck of the cold, new moon;

The sound of the hollow sea"s release;

From stormy tumult to starry peace;

With only another league to wend;

And two brown arms at the journey"s end!

These are the joys of the open road- For him who travels without a load.

Bliss Carman.

Author.-Bliss Carman (1861-1929), born in Canada, became an engineer, a teacher, and the literary editor of the New York Independent. His Low Tide on Grand Pre has been followed by many other volumes of verse, including Songs from Vagabondia (with Richard Hovey), Echoes from Vagabondia, and April Airs.

General Notes.-Make a list in the fewest possible words of the joys enumerated by the poet. What does he mean by "dappled swamp "; "purple glory "; "scarter pomp "; "tempter apple "; "lyric touch "; "far- listening morn "; " beat on their corslets "; "minting his words "; " racy smell "; " I am one with you " ? Write an essay on the joys that are not mentioned in the poem.

When you read the poem aloud, notice the strolling movement-two steps to each line :-An ópen hand, an eásy shoe,And hópe to make the dáy go through.