英语沙龙：Deep in the Shady Sadness of a Vale

Deep in the Shady Sadness of a Vale

DEEP in the shady sadness of a vale 

Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn, 

Far from the fiery¹ noon, and eve’s one star, 

Sat gray-hair’d Saturn², quiet as a stone, 

Still as the silence round about his lair; 

Forest on forest hung about his head 

Like cloud on cloud. No stir of air was there, 

Not so much life as on a summer’s day 

Robs not one light seed from the feather’d grass, 

But where the dead leaf fell, there did it rest. 

A stream went voiceless by, still deadened more 

By reason of his fallen divinity 

Spreading a shade: the Naiad ’mid her reeds 

Press’d her cold finger closer to her lips.

Along the margin-sand large foot-marks went, 

No further than to where his feet had stray’d, 

And slept there since. Upon the sodden³ ground 

His old right hand lay nerveless, listless, dead, 

Unsceptred; and his realmless eyes were closed; 

While his bow’d head seem’d list’ning to the Earth, 

His ancient mother, for some comfort yet.

It seem’d no force could wake him from his place; 

But there came one, who with a kindred hand 

Touch’d his wide shoulders, after bending low 

With reverence⁴, though to one who knew it not. 

She was a Goddess of the infant world; 

By her in stature⁵ the tall Amazon 

Had stood a pigmy’s height: she would have ta’en 

Achilles by the hair and bent⁶ his neck; 

Or with a finger stay’d Ixion’s wheel. 

Her face was large as that of Memphian sphinx, 

Pedestal’d haply in a palace court, 

When sages⁷ look’d to Egypt for their lore⁸. 

But oh! how unlike marble was that face: 

How beautiful, if sorrow had not made 

Sorrow more beautiful than Beauty’s self. 

There was a listening fear in her regard, 

As if calamity⁹ had but begun; 

As if the vanward clouds of evil days 

Had spent their malice¹⁰, and the sullen¹¹ rear 

Was with its stored thunder labouring up. 

One hand she press’d upon that aching spot 

Where beats the human heart, as if just there, 

Though an immortal¹², she felt cruel pain: 

The other upon Saturn’s bended neck 

She laid, and to the level of his ear 

Leaning with parted lips, some words she spake 

In solemn tenour and deep organ tone: 

Some mourning words, which in our feeble tongue 

Would come in these like accents; O how frail 

To that large utterance¹³ of the early Gods! 

“Saturn, look up!—though wherefore, poor old King? 

“I have no comfort for thee, no not one: 

“I cannot say, “O wherefore sleepest thou?’ 

“For heaven is parted from thee, and the earth 

“Knows thee not, thus afflicted¹⁴, for a God; 

“And ocean too, with all its solemn noise, 

“Has from thy sceptre pass’d; and all the air 

“Is emptied of thine hoary¹⁵ majesty¹⁶. 

“Thy thunder, conscious of the new command, 

“Rumbles reluctant o’er our fallen house; 

“And thy sharp lightning in unpractised hands 

“Scorches and burns our once serene¹⁷ domain¹⁸. 

“O aching time! O moments big as years! 

“All as ye pass swell¹⁹ out the monstrous²⁰ truth, 

“And press it so upon our weary griefs 

“That unbelief has not a space to breathe. 

“Saturn, sleep on:—O thoughtless, why did I 

“Thus violate thy slumbrous solitude²¹? 

“Why should I ope thy melancholy²² eyes? 

“Saturn, sleep on! while at thy feet I weep.”

1 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

2 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

3 sodden   

adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑

参考例句：

• We stripped off our sodden clothes.我们扒下了湿透的衣服。
• The cardboard was sodden and fell apart in his hands.纸板潮得都发酥了，手一捏就碎。

4 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

5 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

6 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

7 sages   

n.圣人( sage的名词复数 )；智者；哲人；鼠尾草（可用作调料）

参考例句：

• Homage was paid to the great sages buried in the city. 向安葬在此城市的圣哲们表示敬意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Confucius is considered the greatest of the ancient Chinese sages. 孔子被认为是古代中国最伟大的圣人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

9 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

10 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

11 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

12 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

13 utterance   

n.用言语表达，话语，言语

参考例句：

• This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
• My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽，泣不成声。

14 afflicted   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
• A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。

15 hoary   

adj.古老的；鬓发斑白的

参考例句：

• They discussed the hoary old problem.他们讨论老问题。
• Without a word spoken,he hurried away,with his hoary head bending low.他什么也没说，低着白发苍苍的头，匆匆地走了。

16 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

17 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

18 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

19 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

20 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

21 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

22 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。