OUR LONELINESS.

 There is no deeper grief than loneliness.

Our sharpest anguish¹ at the death of friends

Is loneliness. Our agony of heart

When love has gone from us is loneliness.

The crying of a little child at night

In the big dark is crowding loneliness.

Slow death of woman on a Kansas farm;

The ache of those who think beyond their time;

Pain unassuaged of isolated² lives,—

All this is loneliness.

Oh, we who are one body of one soul!

Great soul of man born into social form!

Should we not suffer at dismemberment?

A finger torn from brotherhood³; an eye

Having no cause to see when set alone.

Our separation is the agony

Of uses unfulfilled—of thwarted⁴ law;

The forces of all nature throb⁵ and push,

Crying for their accustomed avenues;

And we, alone, have no excuse to be,—

No reason for our being. We are dead

Before we die, and know it in our hearts.

Even the narrowest union has some joy,

Transient and shallow, limited and weak;

And joy of union strengthens with its strength,

Deepens and widens as the union grows.

Hence the pure light of long-enduring love,

Lives blended slowly, softly, into one.

Hence civic⁶ pride, and glory in our states,

And the fierce thrill of patriotic⁷ fire

When millions feel as one!

When we shall learn

To live together fully⁸; when each man

And woman works in conscious interchange

With all the world,—union as wide as man,—

No human soul can ever suffer more

The devastating⁹ grief of loneliness.

1 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

2 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

3 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

4 thwarted   

阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The guards thwarted his attempt to escape from prison. 警卫阻扰了他越狱的企图。
• Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the rain. 我们的野餐计划因雨受挫。

5 throb   

v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动

参考例句：

• She felt her heart give a great throb.她感到自己的心怦地跳了一下。
• The drums seemed to throb in his ears.阵阵鼓声彷佛在他耳边震响。

6 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

7 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。