散文：Dear March - Come in

Dear March - Come in - 

How glad I am - 

I hoped for you before - 

 

Put down your Hat - 

You must have walked - 

How out of Breath you are - 

Dear March, Come right up the stairs with me - 

I have so much to tell - 

 

I got your Letter, and the Birds - 

The Maples¹ never knew that you were coming - till I called 

I declare - how Red their Faces grew - 

But March, forgive me - and 

All those Hills you left for me to Hue² - 

There was no Purple suitable - 

You took it all with you - 

 

Who knocks? That April. 

Lock the Door - 

I will not be pursued - 

He stayed away a Year to call 

When I am occupied - 

But trifles look so trivial 

As soon as you have come 

 

That Blame is just as dear as Praise 

And Praise as mere³ as Blame - 

 

This poem portrays⁴ March as a real friend to the poetess, someone who enters a house, keeps off his hat, gets his breath back, and may climb the stairs. There are also other actions attributed to March as if he were a human being: he wrote a letter to her, the Birds and the Maples were waiting for his arrival, the poetess herself had prepared the hills around her house to welcome him, even if she did not have enough colors to do it. She feels relaxed and happy to see March after his long absence. 

 

All of a sudden April arrives and the poetess is annoyed because of it. She is busy with her guest, March, and she does not want to let April come in. She prefers the beginning of spring and the rebirth of nature more than the full blooming of the spring season. March is the month of colors and flowers, when nature springs up again. Birds also should be happy because it is time of migrations⁵. 

 

In the final stanza⁶, she has come to the realization⁷ when one blames March for taking away the beautiful purple hues⁸ of the hills, it is also praising March for bringing those very gorgeous colors. Basically what March takes away, it also brings and that is why blame and praise follow each other. Just simply enjoy the humor and casual cheerfulness of the poem. 

 

亲爱的三月，请进  

我是多么高兴  

一直期待你的光临  

请摘下你的帽子  

你一定是走来的 

瞧你上气不接下气  

亲爱的，别来无恙，等等等等  

你动身时自然可好 

噢，快随我上楼  

我有许多话要对你说   

 

你的信我已收到，而鸟和枫树

却不知你已在途中  

直到我宣告，他们的脸涨得多红啊  

可是，请原谅，你留下的那些山山岭岭 

你让我涂抹色彩  

却没有合适的紫红  

你都带走了，一点不剩  

是谁敲门？准是四月 

把门锁紧  

我不爱让人打扰  

他在别处呆了一年  

正当我有客，才来看我  

可是小事显得这样不足挂齿  

自从你一来到这里

 

以致怪罪像赞美一样亲切  

赞美也不过像怪罪 

1 maples   

槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木

参考例句：

• There are many maples in the park. 公园里有好多枫树。
• The wind of the autumn colour the maples carmine . 秋风给枫林涂抹胭红。

2 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

3 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

4 portrays   

v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

6 stanza   

n.（诗）节，段

参考例句：

• We omitted to sing the second stanza.我们漏唱了第二节。
• One young reporter wrote a review with a stanza that contained some offensive content.一个年轻的记者就歌词中包含有攻击性内容的一节写了评论。

7 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

8 hues   

色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点

参考例句：

• When the sun rose a hundred prismatic hues were reflected from it. 太阳一出，更把它映得千变万化、异彩缤纷。
• Where maple trees grow, the leaves are often several brilliant hues of red. 在枫树生长的地方，枫叶常常呈现出数种光彩夺目的红色。