CHAPTER II.

 Six weeks our guardsman walked the yard,

                 In a suit of shabby grey:

               His cricket cap was on his head,

                 And his step seemed light and gay,

               But I never saw a man who looked

                 So wistfully at the day.

 

               I never saw a man who looked

                 With such a wistful eye

               Upon that little tent of blue

                 Which prisoners call the sky,

               And at every wandering cloud that trailed

                 Its raveled fleeces by.

 

               He did not wring¹ his hands, as do

                 Those witless men who dare

               To try to rear the changeling Hope

                 In the cave of black Despair:

               He only looked upon the sun,

                 And drank the morning air.

 

               He did not wring his hands nor weep,

                 Nor did he peek² or pine,

               But he drank the air as though it held

                 Some healthful anodyne³;

               With open mouth he drank the sun

                 As though it had been wine!

 

               And I and all the souls in pain,

                 Who tramped the other ring,

               Forgot if we ourselves had done

                 A great or little thing,

               And watched with gaze of dull amaze

                 The man who had to swing.

 

               And strange it was to see him pass

                 With a step so light and gay,

               And strange it was to see him look

                 So wistfully at the day,

               And strange it was to think that he

                 Had such a debt to pay.

 

               For oak and elm have pleasant leaves

                 That in the spring-time shoot:

               But grim to see is the gallows-tree,

                 With its adder-bitten root,

               And, green or dry, a man must die

                 Before it bears its fruit!

 

               The loftiest place is that seat of grace

                 For which all worldlings try:

               But who would stand in hempen⁴ band

                 Upon a scaffold high,

               And through a murderer's collar take

                 His last look at the sky?

 

               It is sweet to dance to violins

                 When Love and Life are fair:

               To dance to flutes⁵, to dance to lutes

                 Is delicate and rare:

               But it is not sweet with nimble feet

                 To dance upon the air!

 

               So with curious eyes and sick surmise⁶

                 We watched him day by day,

               And wondered if each one of us

                 Would end the self-same way,

               For none can tell to what red Hell

                 His sightless soul may stray.

 

               At last the dead man walked no more

                 Amongst the Trial Men,

               And I knew that he was standing⁷ up

                 In the black dock's dreadful pen,

               And that never would I see his face

                 In God's sweet world again.

 

               Like two doomed⁸ ships that pass in storm

                 We had crossed each other's way:

               But we made no sign, we said no word,

                 We had no word to say;

               For we did not meet in the holy night,

                 But in the shameful⁹ day.

 

               A prison wall was round us both,

                 Two outcast men were we:

               The world had thrust us from its heart,

                 And God from out His care:

               And the iron gin that waits for Sin

                 Had caught us in its snare¹⁰.

1 wring   

n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭

参考例句：

• My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿，我不得不拧干它们。
• I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩，我就拧断你的脖子。

2 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

3 anodyne   

n.解除痛苦的东西，止痛剂

参考例句：

• It was their delight,their folly,their anodyne,their intellectual stimulant.这是他们的人生乐趣，他们的一时荒唐，他们的止痛药，他们的脑力刺激剂。
• Friendship is not only the condiment but also the anodyne of life.友谊是人生的调味品，也是人生的止痛药。

4 hempen   

adj. 大麻制的, 大麻的

参考例句：

• The net destined to support the car was made of very solid hempen cord. 承受着吊篮的网子是用非常结实的麻绳编的。
• Plant the crop such as wheaten, corn, potato, horsebean, hempen, cole aptly, a year one ripe. 适宜种植小麦、玉米、马铃薯、蚕豆、大麻、油菜等作物，一年一熟。

5 flutes   

长笛( flute的名词复数 )； 细长香槟杯（形似长笛）

参考例句：

• The melody is then taken up by the flutes. 接着由长笛奏主旋律。
• These flutes have 6open holes and a lovely bright sound. 笛子有6个吹气孔，奏出的声音响亮清脆。

6 surmise   

v./n.猜想，推测

参考例句：

• It turned out that my surmise was correct.结果表明我的推测没有错。
• I surmise that he will take the job.我推测他会接受这份工作。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

9 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

10 snare   

n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑

参考例句：

• I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
• Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。