IN DUTY BOUND.

 In duty bound, a life hemmed¹ in

Whichever way the spirit turns to look;

No chance of breaking out, except by sin;

Not even room to shirk—

Simply to live, and work.

An obligation pre-imposed, unsought,

Yet binding² with the force of natural law;

The pressure of antagonistic³ thought;

Aching within, each hour,

A sense of wasting power.

A house with roof so darkly low

The heavy rafters shut the sunlight out;

One cannot stand erect⁴ without a blow;

Until the soul inside

Cries for a grave—more wide.

A consciousness that if this thing endure,

The common joys of life will dull the pain;

The high ideals of the grand and pure

Die, as of course they must,

Of long disuse and rust⁵.

That is the worst. It takes supernal⁶ strength

To hold the attitude that brings the pain;

And they are few indeed but stoop at length

To something less than best,

To find, in stooping, rest.

1 hemmed   

缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围

参考例句：

• He hemmed and hawed but wouldn't say anything definite. 他总是哼儿哈儿的，就是不说句痛快话。
• The soldiers were hemmed in on all sides. 士兵们被四面包围了。

2 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

3 antagonistic   

adj.敌对的

参考例句：

• He is always antagonistic towards new ideas.他对新思想总是持反对态度。
• They merely stirred in a nervous and wholly antagonistic way.他们只是神经质地，带着完全敌对情绪地骚动了一下。

4 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

5 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

6 supernal   

adj.天堂的，天上的；崇高的

参考例句：

• The supernal ideology will not coexistence with the everyman.超凡的思想是不会与凡夫俗子共存的。
• It has virtue of strong function,supernal efficiency.它具有功能强，效率高的优点。