Chapter 1

From off a hill whose concave womb reworded A plaintful story froma sist'ring vale, My spirits t'attend this double voice accorded, And down Ilaid to list the sad-tuned tale, Ere long espied¹ a fickle² maid full pale,Tearing of papers, breaking rings atwain, Storming her world withsorrow's wind and rain.

　　Upon her head a platted hive of straw, Which fortified³ her visagefrom the sun, Whereon the thought might think sometime it saw Thecarcase of a beauty spent and done. Time had not scythed⁴ all that youthbegun, Nor youth all quit, but spite of heaven's fell rage Some beautypeeped through lattice of seared age.

　　Oft did she heave her napkin to her eyne, Which on it had conceitedcharacters, Laund'ring the silken figures in the brine That seasoned woehad pelleted in tears, And often reading what contents it bears; As oftenshrieking undistinguished woe⁵, In clamours of all size, both high and low.

　　Sometimes her levelled eyes their carriage ride, As they did batt'ry tothe spheres intend; Sometime diverted their poor balls are tied To th' orbedearth; sometimes they do extend Their view right on; anon their gazes lendTo every place at once, and nowhere fixed⁶, The mind and sightdistractedly commixed.

　　Her hair, nor loose nor tied in formal plat, Proclaimed in her acareless hand of pride; For some, untucked, descended⁷ her sheaved hat,Hanging her pale and pined cheek beside; Some in her threaden fillet stilldid bide⁸, And, true to bondage⁹, would not break from thence, Thoughslackly braided in loose negligence¹⁰.

　　A thousand favours from a maund she drew Of amber¹¹, crystal, and ofbeaded jet, Which one by one she in a river threw, Upon whose weepingmargent she was set; Like usury¹² applying wet to wet, Or monarchs¹³' handsthat lets not bounty¹⁴ fall Where want cries some, but where excess begs all.

　　Of folded schedules had she many a one, Which she perused¹⁵, sighed,tore, and gave the flood; Cracked many a ring of posied gold and bone,Bidding them find their sepulchres in mud; Found yet moe letters sadlypenned in blood, With sleided silk feat¹⁶ and affectedly¹⁷ Enswathed andsealed to curious secrecy¹⁸.

1 espied   

v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• One day a youth espied her as he was hunting.She saw him and recognized him as her own son, mow grown a young man. 一日，她被一个正在行猎的小伙子看见了，她认出来这个猎手原来是自己的儿子，现在已长成为一个翩翩的少年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In a little while he espied the two giants. 一会儿就看见了那两个巨人。 来自辞典例句

2 fickle   

adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的

参考例句：

• Fluctuating prices usually base on a fickle public's demand.物价的波动往往是由于群众需求的不稳定而引起的。
• The weather is so fickle in summer.夏日的天气如此多变。

3 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

4 scythed   

v.（长柄）大镰刀( scythe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scent of newly scythed grass 新割下的草散发的清香
• He's scythed half the orchard. 他已经将半个果园的草割除。 来自辞典例句

5 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

8 bide   

v.忍耐；等候；住

参考例句：

• We'll have to bide our time until the rain stops.我们必须等到雨停。
• Bide here for a while. 请在这儿等一会儿。

9 bondage   

n.奴役，束缚

参考例句：

• Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage.奴隶主们有时允许奴隶为自己赎身。
• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。

10 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

11 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

12 usury   

n.高利贷

参考例句：

• The interest of usury is unfairly high.高利贷的利息惊人得高。
• He used to practise usury frequently.他过去经常放高利贷。

13 monarchs   

君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Monarchs ruled England for centuries. 世袭君主统治英格兰有许多世纪。
• Serving six monarchs of his native Great Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity. 他在大不列颠本国为六位君王服务，也为全人类的自由和尊严服务。 来自演讲部分

14 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

15 perused   

v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字）

参考例句：

• I remained under the wall and perused Miss Cathy's affectionate composition. 我就留在墙跟底下阅读凯蒂小姐的爱情作品。 来自辞典例句
• Have you perused this article? 你细读了这篇文章了吗？ 来自互联网

16 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

17 affectedly   

参考例句：

• Two people affectedly bashful half talent says: "Without. " 两人扭捏了半天才说：“没有。” 来自互联网
• The officials don't accept people's petition, if they do, they just affectedly. 这些官员不会接受人民的请愿，如果他们会接受，那也只是在做作而已。 来自互联网

18 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。