Chapter 2 The Dead Hope

 Ah, yes! with joy the April rain Thrills nature's breast; but mine with pain Sigheth: "He will not come again!" --ALBERT LAIGHTON. CHAPTER II. THE DEAD HOPE

 

    Time's Changes--Fall-down Castles--Little Bell Waiting--When will Father Come Home?--Little Bell Weary--What the Sea said--Never more. 

 

Longfellow beautifully asks in Hyperion, "What is Time, but the shadow of the hour-hand on a dial-plate?" The flowers of the earth and the hearts of men are dial-plates. The shadows coming and going on them are the hour-hands; when a flower fades, or a heart ceases to beat, it is only a weight run down. The whole universe is but one immense time-piece, throbbing¹ with innumerable wheels, heavy with weights, and wearing itself away! Desire is a restless pendulum², one end linked to the heart, and the other pointing downward! A year had added another link to that chain which stretches through eternity³. A year! Battles lost and won: nations in mourning for their dead: ships gone down at sea; and new paths worn to graveyards⁴! O, for the castles that blow down in a year! But time fell gently on the inmates⁵ of the Old House. The trees and vines were a little larger; and winter had somewhat browned the gables. Bell was paler and more beautiful, and Mortimer was still the same dreamer. There was a question which haunted the Old House. It was heard in the garden, at "the round window," and on the stair. "When will father come home?" The months flew away, like carrier doves, with memories beneath their wings. "When will father come home?" And the question was asked again and again, till the little lips and heart of Bell grew weary. Then she folded her hands, and said: "He will never come!" Her blue eyes became more dreamy, and her slight form--so very slight--glided about the house. She would listen to the sea. Once she said, "Never more!" and the sea repeated it with a human voice. In the still night she asked,-- "When will father come home?" "Never more," said the sea--and she heard it through the open window--"Never more!" She waited, and the months went by. Was the child Bell the only one in this world waiting? Who has not some hope at sea? Who has not waited, and watched, and grown weary? Who has not a question in his heart, to which a low spirit-voice replies: "Never more!" 

1 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。

2 pendulum   

n.摆，钟摆

参考例句：

• The pendulum swung slowly to and fro.钟摆在慢慢地来回摆动。
• He accidentally found that the desk clock did not swing its pendulum.他无意中发现座钟不摇摆了。

3 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

4 graveyards   

墓地( graveyard的名词复数 )； 垃圾场； 废物堆积处； 收容所

参考例句：

• He takes a macabre interest in graveyards. 他那么留意墓地，令人毛骨悚然。
• "And northward there lie, in five graveyards, Calm forever under dewy green grass," 五陵北原上，万古青蒙蒙。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

5 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》