A ROSE FROM THE GRAVE OF HOMER

ALL the songs of the East tell of the love of the nightingale for the rose; in the silent starlit nights the winged songster serenades his fragrant¹ flower.

Not far from Smyrna , under the lofty plane trees , where the merchant drives his loaded camels, that proudly lift their long necks and tramp clumsily over the holy ground , I saw a hedge of roses . Wild pigeons flew amongthe branches of the high trees, and their wings glistened², while a sunbeam glided³ over them, as if they were of mother-o' -pearl .

The rose hedge bore a flower which was the most beautiful among all, and the nightingale sang to her of his woes⁴; but the Rose was silent----not a dewdrop lay, like a tear of sympathy , upon her leaves : she bent⁵ down over a few great stones .

“Here rests the greatest singer of the world ! ” said the Rose: “over his tomb will I pour out my fragrance⁶, and on it I will let fall my leaves when the storm tears them off . He who sang of Troy became earth , and from that earth I have sprung . I , a rose from the grave of Homer , am too lofty to bloom for a poor nightingale!”

And the nightingale sang himself to death .

The camel driver came with his loaded camels and his black slaves: his little son found the dead bird, and buried the little songster in the grave of the great Homer. And the Rose trembled in the wind . The evening came , and the Rose wrapped her leaves more closely together, and dreamed thus :

“It was a fair sunshiny day; a crowd of strangers drew near, for they had undertaken a pilgrimage to the grave of Homer. Among the strangers was a singer from the North, the home of clouds and of the Northern Lights . He plucked the Rose , placed it in a book , and carried it away into another part of the world, to his distant fatherland. The Rose faded with grief, and lay in the narrow book, which he opened in his home, saying, ‘Here is a rose from the grave of Homer .’”

This the flower dreamed; and she awoke and trembled in the wind . A drop of dew fell from the leaves upon the singer' s grave . The sun rose , the day became warm, and the Rose glowed more beauteous than before ; she was in her own warm Asia. Then footsteps were heard, and Frankish strangers came , such as the Rose had seen in her dream; and among the strangers was a poet from the North: he plucked the Rose , pressed a kiss upon her fresh mouth , and carried her away to the home of the clouds and of the Northern Lights .

Like a mummy the flower corpse⁷ now rests in his Iliad, and, as in a dream, she hears him open the book and say , “Here is a rose from the grave of Homer. ”

1 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

2 glistened   

v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Pearls of dew glistened on the grass. 草地上珠露晶莹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Her eyes glistened with tears. 她的眼里闪着泪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

5 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

6 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。

7 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。