The Sick Muse

 Alas—my poor Muse—what aileth thee now?

Thine eyes are bedimmed with the visions of Night,

And silent and cold—I perceive on thy brow

In their turns—Despair and Madness alight.

 

A succubus green, or a hobgoblin red,

Has it poured o'er thee Horror and Love from its urn¹?

Or the Nightmare with masterful bearing hath led

Thee to drown in the depths of some magic Minturne?

 

I wish, as the health-giving fragrance² I cull³,

That thy breast with strong thoughts could for ever be full,

And that rhymthmic'ly flowing—thy Christian⁴ blood

 

Could resemble the olden-time metrical-flood,

Where each in his turn reigned⁵ the father of Rhymes

Phoebus—and Pan, lord of Harvest-times.

1 urn   

n.（有座脚的）瓮；坟墓；骨灰瓮

参考例句：

• The urn was unearthed entire.这只瓮出土完整无缺。
• She put the big hot coffee urn on the table and plugged it in.她将大咖啡壶放在桌子上,接上电源。

2 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。

3 cull   

v.拣选；剔除；n.拣出的东西；剔除

参考例句：

• It is usually good practice to cull the poorest prior to field planting.通常在实践上的好方法是在出圃栽植前挑出最弱的苗木。
• Laura was passing around photographs she'd culled from the albums at home.劳拉正在分发她从家里相册中挑选出的相片。

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 reigned   

vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》