Sonnet

To Oscar Wilde

I dreamed of you last night, I saw your face

All radiant and unshadowed of distress¹,

And as of old, in measured tunefulness,

I heard your golden voice and marked you trace

Under the common thing the hidden grace,

And conjure² wonder out of emptiness,

Till mean things put on Beauty like a dress,

And all the world was an enchanted³ place.

And so I knew that it was well with you,

And that unprisoned, gloriously free,

Across the dark you stretched me out your hand.

And all the spite of this besotted crew,

(Scrabbling on pillars of Eternity)

How small it seems! Love made me understand.

Alfred Douglas.

December 10, 1900.

Whoever chooses to compare this first sketch⁴ of the sonnet⁵ of 1900 with the sonnet as it was published in 1910 will remark three notable differences.

The first sketch was entitled “To Oscar Wilde,” the revision to “The Dead Poet.”

In the early draft, the first line:

“I dreamed of you last night, I saw your face,” has become less intimate, having been changed into:

“I dreamed of him last night, I saw his face.”

Finally the sextet which in the first sketch was very inferior to the rest has now been discarded in favour of six lines which are worthy⁶ of the octave. The published sonnet is assuredly superior to the first sketch, superb though that was.

1 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

2 conjure   

v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法

参考例句：

• I conjure you not to betray me.我恳求你不要背弃我。
• I can't simply conjure up the money out of thin air.我是不能像变魔术似的把钱变来。

3 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

4 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

5 sonnet   

n.十四行诗

参考例句：

• The composer set a sonnet to music.作曲家为一首十四行诗谱了曲。
• He wrote a sonnet to his beloved.他写了一首十四行诗，献给他心爱的人。

6 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。