MY PICTURE.

 I have a beautiful picture;

And gorgeous are its dyes,

Wherein the green of the meadows

Blends with the blue of the skies.

A forest stands in the background;

And hills are at the sides;

And a valley lies between them,

Through which a streamlet glides¹.

There are fields that teem² with a harvest

Of rich and ripening³ grain,

That has caught the glow of the sunlight,

And will not return it again;—

There are broad and spacious⁴ pastures,

Where the quiet cattle stray,

And the schoolboys meet to play at ball

On their weekly holiday;—

[225]

While here and there a cottage

Peeps out from the leafy lane;

And through the trees you can catch a glimpse

Of the farmer with his wain.

And out in the dark old forest

There is many a stately tree,

That has seen the green leaves come and go

For more than a century.

I have heard of the ancient masters,

I have heard of their marvellous skill,

And how the dull, dead canvas

Would glow with life at their will;—

But, when the sunshine falleth

The rifts⁵ of the cloudlets through,

It lends to my picture a glory

That Raphael never knew.

And, when the solemn moonlight

Looks down with its mellow⁶ shine,

My picture is bathed in beauty

That seemeth almost divine.

[226]

And whenever I gaze at my picture,

Whether sun or stars light the sky,

I feel that my spirit is strengthened,

And my heart is made richer thereby⁷.

 

1 glides   

n.滑行( glide的名词复数 )；滑音；音渡；过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The new dance consists of a series of glides. 这种新舞蹈中有一连串的滑步。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stately swan glides gracefully on the pond. 天鹅在池面上优美地游动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 teem   

vi.(with)充满，多产

参考例句：

• Good ideas teem in her head.她的头脑里好主意极多。
• Fish teem in the Chinese waters.中国近海鱼产丰富。

3 ripening   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成

参考例句：

• The corn is blossoming [ripening]. 玉米正在开花[成熟]。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• When the summer crop is ripening, the autumn crop has to be sowed. 夏季作物成熟时，就得播种秋季作物。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 spacious   

adj.广阔的，宽敞的

参考例句：

• Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
• The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

5 rifts   

n.裂缝( rift的名词复数 )；裂隙；分裂；不和

参考例句：

• After that, through the rifts in the inky clouds sparkled redder and yet more luminous particles. 然后在几条墨蓝色云霞的隙缝里闪出几个更红更亮的小片。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文
• The Destinies mend rifts in time as man etches fate. 当人类想要再次亵渎命运的时候，命运及时修正了这些裂痕。 来自互联网

6 mellow   

adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟

参考例句：

• These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节，苹果就熟透了。
• The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时，色彩变得柔和了。

7 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。