VIII "My blissful one

 "My blissful one, may this be true.

Pardon if I speak ill," I prayed:

"Art thou the queen o' the heaven's blue,

To whom earth's honour shall be paid?

We believe in Mary, of grace who grew,

A mother, yet a blameless maid;

To wear her crown were only due

To one who purer worth displayed.

For perfectness by none gainsaid²,

We call her the Phoenix³ of Araby,

That flies in faultless charm arrayed,

Like to the Queen of courtesy."

"Courteous⁴ Queen," that bright one said,

And, kneeling, lifted up her face:

"Matchless Mother and merriest Maid,

Blessèd Beginner of every grace."

Then she arose, and softly stayed,

And spoke⁵ to me across that space:

"Sir, many seek gain here, and are paid,

But defrauders are none within this place;

That Empress may all heaven embrace,

And earth and hell in her empery;

Her from her heritage none will chase,

For she is Queen of courtesy."

"The court of the kingdom of God doth thrive

Only because of this wondrous⁶ thing:

Each one who therein may arrive,

Of the realm is either queen or king;

And no one the other doth deprive,

But is fain of his fellow's guerdoning,

And would wish each crown might be worth five,

If possible were their bettering.

But my Lady, from whom our Lord did spring,

Rules over all our company,

And for that we all rejoice and sing,

Since she is Queen of courtesy."

"Of courtesy, as says St. Paul,

Members of Christ we may be seen.

As head and arm and leg, and all,

Bound to the body close have been,

Each Christian⁷ soul himself may call

A living limb of his Lord, I ween.

And see how neither hate nor gall⁸

'Twixt limb and limb may intervene;

The head shows neither spite nor spleen,

Though arm and finger jewelled be,

So fare we all in love serene⁹,

As kings and queens by courtesy."

"Courtesy flowers thy folk among,

And charity, I well believe.

If foolish words flow from my tongue,

Let not my speech thy spirit grieve.

A queen in heaven while yet so young,

Too high thou dost thyself upheave.

Then what reward from strife¹⁰ were wrung¹¹?

What worship more might he achieve

Who lived in penance¹² morn and eve,

Through bodily pain in bliss¹ to be?

Honour more high might he receive,

Than be crowned king by courtesy?"

1 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

2 gainsaid   

v.否认，反驳( gainsay的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Its logical reasoning cannot be gainsaid. 合乎逻辑的推理是不容否定的。 来自互联网

3 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

4 courteous   

adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的

参考例句：

• Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一，但她总是很谦恭有礼。
• He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善，而且彬彬有礼。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

7 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。

8 gall   

v.使烦恼，使焦躁，难堪；n.磨难

参考例句：

• It galled him to have to ask for a loan.必须向人借钱使他感到难堪。
• No gall,no glory.没有磨难，何来荣耀。

9 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

10 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

11 wrung   

绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水）

参考例句：

• He has wrung the words from their true meaning. 他曲解这些字的真正意义。
• He wrung my hand warmly. 他热情地紧握我的手。

12 penance   

n.（赎罪的）惩罪

参考例句：

• They had confessed their sins and done their penance.他们已经告罪并做了补赎。
• She knelt at her mother's feet in penance.她忏悔地跪在母亲脚下。