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rhymes a la mode-第7部分

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Thenceforth shall cast no shadow in the Sun;
Ay; and within the year his life is cold!

Hard by dwelt he {13} who; while the Gods deigned eat
At good men's tables; gave them dreadful meat;
A child he slew: his mountain altar green
Here still hath Zeus; with rites untold of me;
Piteous; but as they are let these things be;
And as from the beginning they have been!



INVOCATION OF ISIS(Apuleius; Metamorph。  XI。)



Thou that art sandalled on immortal feet
With leaves of palm; the prize of Victory;
Thou that art crowned with snakes and blossoms sweet;
Queen of the silver dews and shadowy sky;
I pray thee by all names men name thee by!
Demeter; come; and leave the yellow wheat!
Or Aphrodite; let thy lovers sigh!
Or Dian; from thine Asian temple fleet!

Or; yet more dread; divine Persephone
From worlds of wailing spectres; ah; draw near;
Approach; Selene; from thy subject sea;
Come; Artemis; and this night spare the deer:
By all thy names and rites I summon thee;
By all thy rites and names; Our Lady; hear!



THE COMING OF ISIS



So Lucius prayed; and sudden; from afar;
Floated the locks of Isis; shone the bright
Crown that is tressed with berry; snake; and star;
She came in deep blue raiment of the night;
Above her robes that now were snowy white;
Now golden as the moons of harvest are;
Now red; now flecked with many a cloudy bay;
Now stained with all the lustre of the light。

Then he who saw her knew her; and he knew
The awful symbols borne in either hand;
The golden urn that laves Demeter's dew;
The handles wreathed with asps; the mystic wand;
The shaken seistron's music; tinkling through
The temples of that old Osirian land。



THE SPINET



My heart an old Spinet with strings
To laughter chiefly turned; but some
That Fate has practised hard on; dumb;
They answer not whoever sings。
The ghosts of half…forgotten things
Will touch the keys with fingers numb;
The little mocking spirits come
And thrill it with their fairy wings。

A jingling harmony it makes
My heart; my lyre; my old Spinet;
And now a memory it wakes;
And now the music means 〃forget;〃
And little heed the player takes
Howe'er the thoughtful critic fret。



NOTES



The Fortunate Islands。

This piece is a rhymed loose version of a passage in the Vera
Historia of Lucian。  The humorist was unable to resist the
temptation to introduce passages of mockery; which are here
omitted。  Part of his description of the Isles of the Blest has a
close and singular resemblance to the New Jerusalem of the
Apocalypse。  The clear River of Life and the prodigality of gold
and of precious stones may especially be noticed。

WHOSO DOTH TASTE THE DEAD MEN'S BREAD; &。c。  This belief that the
living may visit; on occasion; the dwellings of the dead; but can
never return to earth if they taste the food of the departed; is
expressed in myths of worldwide distribution。  Because she ate the
pomegranate seed; Persephone became subject to the spell of Hades。
In Apuleius; Psyche; when she visits the place of souls; is
advised to abstain from food。  Kohl found the myth among the
Ojibbeways; Mr。 Codrington among the Solomon Islanders; it occurs
in Samoa; in the Finnish Kalewala (where Wainamoinen; in Pohjola;
refrains from touching meat or drink); and the belief has left its
mark on the mediaeval ballad of Thomas of Ercildoune。  When he is
in Fairy Land; the Fairy Queen supplies him with the bread and
wine of earth; and will not suffer him to touch the fruits which
grow 〃in this countrie。〃  See also 〃Wandering Willie〃 in
Redgauntlet。

AS NOW THE HUTTED ESKIMO。  The Eskimo and the miserable Fuegians
are almost the only Socialists who practise what European
Anarchists preach。  The Fuegians go so far as to tear up any piece
of cloth which one of the tribe may receive; so that each member
may have a rag。  The Eskimo are scarcely such consistent walkers;
and canoes show a tendency to accumulate in the hands of
proprietors。  Formerly no Eskimo was allowed to possess more than
one canoe。  Such was the wild justice of the Polar philosophers。

THE LATEST MINSTREL。  〃The sound of all others dearest to his ear;
the gentle ripple of Tweed over its pebbles; was distinctly
audible as we knelt around the bed and his eldest son kissed and
closed his eyes。〃Lockhart's Life of Scott; vii。; 394。

RONSARD'S GRAVE。  This version ventures to condense the original
which; like most of the works of the Pleiad; is unnecessarily
long。

THE SNOW; AND WIND; AND HAIL。  Ronsard's rendering of the famous
passage in Odyssey; vi。; about the dwellings of the Olympians。
The vision of a Paradise of learned lovers and poets constantly
recurs in the poetry of Joachim du Bellay; and of Ronsard。

ROMANCE。  Suggested by a passage in La Faustin; by M。 E。 de
Goncourt; a curious moment of poetry in a repulsive piece of
naturalisme。

M。 BOULMIER; author of Les Villanelles; died shortly after this
villanelle was written; he had not published a larger collection
on which he had been at work。

EDMUND GORLIOT。  The bibliophile will not easily procure Gorliot's
book; which is not in the catalogues。  Throughout The Last Maying
there is reference to the Pervigilium Veneris。

BIRD…GODS。  Apparently Aristophanes preserved; in a burlesque
form; the remnants of a genuine myth。  Almost all savage religions
have their bird…gods; and it is probable that Aristophanes did not
invent; but only used a surviving myth of which there are scarcely
any other traces in Greek literature。

SPINET。  The accent is on the last foot; even when the word is
written spinnet。  Compare the remarkable Liberty which Pamela took
with the 137th Psalm。

My Joys and Hopes all overthrown;
My Heartstrings almost broke;
Unfit my Mind for Melody;
Much more to bear a Joke。
But yet; if from my Innocence
I; even in Thought; should slide;
Then; let my fingers quite forget
The sweet Spinnet to guide!

Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded; vol。 i。; p。 184。; 1785



Footnotes:



{1}  N。B。  There is only one veracious statement in this ballade;
which must not be accepted as autobiographical。

{2}  These lines do NOT apply to Miss Annie P。 (or Daisy) Miller;
and her delightful sisters; Gades aditurae mecum; in the pocket
edition of Mr。 James's novels; if ever I go to Gades。

{3}  Tonatiu; the Thunder Bird; well known to the Dacotahs and
Zulus。

{4}  The Hawk; in the myth of the Galinameros of Central
California; lit up the Sun。

{5}  Pundjel; the Eagle Hawk; is the demiurge and 〃culture…hero〃
of several Australian tribes。

{6}  The Creation of Man is thus described by the Australians。

{7}  In Andaman; Thlinkeet; Melanesian; and other myths; a Bird is
the Prometheus Purphoros; in Normandy this part is played by the
Wren。

{8}  Yehl:  the Raven God of the Thlinkeets。

{9}  Indra stole Soma as a Hawk and as a Quail。  For Odin's feat
as a Bird; see Bragi's Telling in the Younger Edda。

{10}  Pundjel; the Eagle Hawk; gave Australians their marriage
laws。

{11}  Lubra; a woman; kobong; 〃totem;〃 or; to please Mr。 Max
Muller; 〃otem。〃

{12}  The Crow was the Hawk's rival。

{13}  Lycaon; the first werewolf。





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