TEN POEMS

 MITRAIGLIATRICE

 

The mills of the gods grind slowly;

But this mill

Chatters² in mechanical staccato.

Ugly short infantry³ of the mind,

Advancing over difficult terrain⁴,

Make this Corona⁵

Their mitrailleuse.

OKLAHOMA

 

All of the Indians are dead

(a good Indian is a dead Indian)

Or riding in motor cars—

(the oil lands, you know, they’re all rich)

Smoke smarts my eyes,

Cottonwood twigs⁷ and buffalo⁸ dung

Smoke grey in the teepee—

(or is it myopic⁹ trachoma)

The prairies are long,

The moon rises,

Ponies¹⁰

Drag at their pickets¹¹.

The grass has gone brown in the summer—

(or is it the hay crop failing)

Pull an arrow out:

If you break it

The wound closes.

Salt is good too

And wood ashes.

Pounding it throbs¹² in the night—

(or is it the gonorrhea)

OILY WEATHER

 

The sea desires deep hulls—

It swells¹³ and rolls.

The screw churns a throb—

Driving, throbbing¹⁴, progressing.

The sea rolls with love

Surging, caressing¹⁵,

Undulating its great loving belly¹⁶.

The sea is big and old—

Throbbing ships scorn it.

ROOSEVELT

 

Workingmen believed

He busted¹⁷ trusts,

And put his picture in their windows.

“What he’d have done in France!”

They said.

Perhaps he would—

He could have died

Perhaps,

Though generals rarely die except in bed,

As he did finally.

And all the legends that he started in his life

Live on and prosper¹⁸,

Unhampered now by his existence.

CAPTIVES

 

Some came in chains

Unrepentent but tired.

Too tired but to stumble.

Thinking and hating were finished

Thinking and fighting were finished

Retreating and hoping were finished.

Cures thus a long campaign,

Making death easy.

CHAMPS D’HONNEUR

 

Soldiers never do die well;

Crosses mark the places—

Wooden crosses where they fell,

Stuck above their faces.

Soldiers pitch and cough and twitch—

All the world roars red and black;

Soldiers smother¹⁹ in a ditch,

Choking through the whole attack.

RIPARTO D’ASSALTO

 

Drummed their boots on the camion floor,

Hob-nailed boots on the camion floor.

Sergeants²⁰ stiff,

Corporals sore.

Lieutenant²¹ thought of a Mestre whore—

Warm and soft and sleepy whore,

Cozy²², warm and lovely whore;

Damned cold, bitter, rotten ride,

Winding²³ road up the Grappa side.

Arditi on benches stiff and cold,

Pride of their country stiff and cold,

Bristly faces, dirty hides—

Infantry marches, Arditi rides.

Grey, cold, bitter, sullen²⁴ ride—

To splintered pines on the Grappa side

At Asalone, where the truck-load died.

MONTPARNASSE

 

There are never any suicides in the quarter among people one knows

No successful suicides.

A Chinese boy kills himself and is dead.

(they continue to place his mail in the letter rack at the Dome)

A Norwegian boy kills himself and is dead.

(no one knows where the other Norwegian boy has gone)

They find a model dead

alone in bed and very dead.

(it made almost unbearable²⁵ trouble for the concierge)

Sweet oil, the white of eggs, mustard and water, soap suds

and stomach pumps rescue the people one knows.

Every afternoon the people one knows can be found at the café.

ALONG WITH YOUTH

 

A porcupine²⁶ skin,

Stiff with bad tanning,

It must have ended somewhere.

Stuffed horned owl¹

Pompous²⁷

Yellow eyed;

Chuck-wills-widow on a biassed²⁸ twig⁶

Sooted²⁹ with dust.

Piles of old magazines,

Drawers of boy’s letters

And the line of love

They must have ended somewhere.

Yesterday’s Tribune is gone

Along with youth

And the canoe that went to pieces on the beach

The year of the big storm

When the hotel burned down

At Seney, Michigan.

CHAPTER HEADING

 

For we have thought the longer thoughts

And gone the shorter way.

And we have danced to devils’ tunes³⁰,

Shivering home to pray;

To serve one master in the night,

Another in the day.

PRINTED AT DIJON

BY

MAURICE DARANTIERE

M. CM. XXIII

The End

1 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

2 chatters   

（人）喋喋不休( chatter的第三人称单数 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤

参考例句：

• The dabbler in knowledge chatters away; the wise man stays silent. 一瓶子不响，半瓶子晃荡。
• An improperly adjusted tool chatters. 未调好的工具震颤作响。

3 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

4 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

5 corona   

n.日冕

参考例句：

• The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
• The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光，几乎像满月一样明亮。

6 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

7 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

8 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

9 myopic   

adj.目光短浅的，缺乏远见的

参考例句：

• The Government still has a myopic attitude to spending.政府在开支问题上仍然目光短浅。
• Myopic views could be potentially damaging for us.目光短浅会给我们带来严重的后果。

10 ponies   

矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑

参考例句：

• They drove the ponies into a corral. 他们把矮种马赶进了畜栏。
• She has a mania for ponies. 她特别喜欢小马。

11 pickets   

罢工纠察员( picket的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Five pickets were arrested by police. 五名纠察队员被警方逮捕。
• We could hear the chanting of the pickets. 我们可以听到罢工纠察员有节奏的喊叫声。

12 throbs   

体内的跳动( throb的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My finger throbs with the cut. 我的手指因切伤而阵阵抽痛。
• We should count time by heart throbs, in the cause of right. 我们应该在正确的目标下，以心跳的速度来计算时间。

13 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。

14 throbbing   

a. 跳动的,悸动的

参考例句：

• My heart is throbbing and I'm shaking. 我的心在猛烈跳动，身子在不住颤抖。
• There was a throbbing in her temples. 她的太阳穴直跳。

15 caressing   

爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的

参考例句：

• The spring wind is gentle and caressing. 春风和畅。
• He sat silent still caressing Tartar, who slobbered with exceeding affection. 他不声不响地坐在那里，不断抚摸着鞑靼，它由于获得超常的爱抚而不淌口水。

16 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

17 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

18 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

19 smother   

vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息

参考例句：

• They tried to smother the flames with a damp blanket.他们试图用一条湿毯子去灭火。
• We tried to smother our laughter.我们强忍住笑。

20 sergeants   

警官( sergeant的名词复数 )； （美国警察）警佐； （英国警察）巡佐； 陆军（或空军）中士

参考例句：

• Platoon sergeants fell their men in on the barrack square. 排长们在营房广场上整顿队伍。
• The recruits were soon licked into shape by the drill sergeants. 新兵不久便被教育班长训练得象样了。

21 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

22 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

23 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

24 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

25 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

26 porcupine   

n.豪猪， 箭猪

参考例句：

• A porcupine is covered with prickles.箭猪身上长满了刺。
• There is a philosophy parable,call philosophy of porcupine.有一个哲学寓言，叫豪猪的哲学。

27 pompous   

adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities.他有点自大，自视甚高。
• He is a good man underneath his pompous appearance. 他的外表虽傲慢，其实是个好人。

28 biassed   

（统计试验中）结果偏倚的，有偏的

参考例句：

29 sooted   

v.煤烟，烟灰( soot的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The flue has become sooted up. 烟道里都是黑灰。 来自辞典例句

30 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》