chapter 30

 I see thine image through my tears to-night,

And yet to-day I saw thee smiling.  How

Refer the cause?—Belov?d, is it thou

Or I, who makes me sad?  The acolyte¹

Amid the chanted joy and thankful rite²

May so fall flat, with pale insensate brow,

On the altar-stair.  I hear thy voice and vow³,

Perplexed⁴, uncertain, since thou art out of sight,

As he, in his swooning ears, the choir’s amen.

Belov?d, dost thou love? or did I see all

The glory as I dreamed, and fainted when

Too vehement⁵ light dilated⁶ my ideal,

For my soul’s eyes?  Will that light come again,

As now these tears come—falling hot and real?

1 acolyte   

n.助手，侍僧

参考例句：

• To his acolytes,he is known simply as "the Boss".他被手下人简称为“老板”。
• Richard Brome,an acolyte of Ben Jonson's,wrote "The Jovial Crew" in 1641.本•琼森的仆人理查德•布罗姆在1641年写了《一伙快活人》。

2 rite   

n.典礼，惯例，习俗

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite.这个节日起源于宗教仪式。
• Most traditional societies have transition rites at puberty.大多数传统社会都为青春期的孩子举行成人礼。

3 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

4 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

5 vehement   

adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的

参考例句：

• She made a vehement attack on the government's policies.她强烈谴责政府的政策。
• His proposal met with vehement opposition.他的倡导遭到了激烈的反对。

6 dilated   

adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyes dilated with fear. 她吓得瞪大了眼睛。
• The cat dilated its eyes. 猫瞪大了双眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》