听播客学英语 123 to hold you

 　　Hello, everyone. It is very good to be making a new podcast. My internet connection is working again. Thank you very much for your patience, and a big thank you in particular to all those of you who sent me e-mails saying how sorry you were about my internet problems.

　　It is a long time since we had any poetry on the podcast. From time to time, I look at a book of English poetry and wonder whether I can use any of the poems. But very few poems are written in simple English which is easy to understand. My friend, Margaret Scorey, however writes poems which use simple and direct English, and are therefore very good for English learners. Here is a poem she wrote about a month ago. She wrote it for a woman who had recently become a grandmother. But the woman’s family, and the new grandchild, were in America, so grandmother travelled to America to hold her new grandchild in her arms for the first time. Margaret has called the poem “To Hold you, to hold you”.

　　My longing¹ is to hold you,

　　to feel your soft cheeks against mine

　　to look into your gentle eyes

　　to touch your hair

　　and feel the warmth of your breath.

　　Soon I will.

　　But know that when I return,

　　the ache will be as great as it is now,

　　softened² only by memories.

　　But one thing, I will be able to say is,

　　‘I’ve done it, I’ve done it, I’ve held you’.

　　Poem copyright³ Margaret Scorey, 2007, used with permission.

1 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

2 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

3 copyright   

n.版权，著作权

参考例句：

• He retained the copyright of his book.他保留此书的著作权。
• This company has a proprietorship of the copyright.这家公司拥有版权所有权。