To the Queen

   O loyal to the royal in thyself,

  And loyal to thy land, as this to thee—

  Bear witness, that rememberable day,

  When, pale as yet, and fever-worn, the Prince

  Who scarce had plucked his flickering¹ life again

  From halfway² down the shadow of the grave,

  Past with thee through thy people and their love,

  And London rolled one tide of joy through all

  Her trebled millions, and loud leagues of man

  And welcome! witness, too, the silent cry,

  The prayer of many a race and creed³, and clime—

  Thunderless lightnings striking under sea

  From sunset and sunrise of all thy realm,

  And that true North, whereof we lately heard

  A strain to shame us “keep you to yourselves;

  So loyal is too costly⁴! friends—your love

  Is but a burthen:  loose the bond, and go.”

  Is this the tone of empire? here the faith

  That made us rulers? this, indeed, her voice

  And meaning, whom the roar of Hougoumont

  Left mightiest⁵ of all peoples under heaven?

  What shock has fooled her since, that she should speak

  So feebly? wealthier—wealthier—hour by hour!

  The voice of Britain, or a sinking land,

  Some third-rate isle⁶ half-lost among her seas?

  There rang her voice, when the full city pealed⁷

  Thee and thy Prince!  The loyal to their crown

  Are loyal to their own far sons, who love

  Our ocean-empire with her boundless⁸ homes

  For ever-broadening England, and her throne

  In our vast Orient, and one isle, one isle,

  That knows not her own greatness:  if she knows

  And dreads⁹ it we are fallen. —But thou, my Queen,

  Not for itself, but through thy living love

  For one to whom I made it o’er his grave

  Sacred, accept this old imperfect tale,

  New-old, and shadowing Sense at war with Soul,

  Ideal manhood closed in real man,

  Rather than that gray king, whose name, a ghost,

  Streams like a cloud, man-shaped, from mountain peak,

  And cleaves¹⁰ to cairn and cromlech still; or him

  Of Geoffrey’s book, or him of Malleor’s, one

  Touched by the adulterous finger of a time

  That hovered¹¹ between war and wantonness,

  And crownings and dethronements:  take withal

  Thy poet’s blessing¹², and his trust that Heaven

  Will blow the tempest in the distance back

  From thine and ours:  for some are scared, who mark,

  Or wisely or unwisely, signs of storm,

  Waverings of every vane with every wind,

  And wordy trucklings to the transient hour,

  And fierce or careless looseners of the faith,

  And Softness breeding scorn of simple life,

  Or Cowardice¹³, the child of lust¹⁴ for gold,

  Or Labour, with a groan¹⁵ and not a voice,

  Or Art with poisonous honey stolen from France,

  And that which knows, but careful for itself,

  And that which knows not, ruling that which knows

  To its own harm:  the goal of this great world

  Lies beyond sight:  yet—if our slowly-grown

  And crowned Republic’s crowning common-sense,

  That saved her many times, not fail—their fears

  Are morning shadows huger than the shapes

  That cast them, not those gloomier which forego

  The darkness of that battle in the West,

  Where all of high and holy dies away.

1 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

2 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

3 creed   

n.信条；信念，纲领

参考例句：

• They offended against every article of his creed.他们触犯了他的每一条戒律。
• Our creed has always been that business is business.我们的信条一直是公私分明。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 mightiest   

adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的

参考例句：

• \"If thou fearest to leave me in our cottage, thou mightiest take me along with thee. “要是你害怕把我一个人留在咱们的小屋里，你可以带我一块儿去那儿嘛。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
• Silent though is, after all, the mightiest agent in human affairs. 确实，沉默毕竟是人类事件中最强大的代理人。 来自互联网

6 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

7 pealed   

v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The bells pealed (out) over the countryside. 钟声响彻郊野。 来自辞典例句
• A gun shot suddenly pealed forth and shot its flames into the air. 突然一声炮响，一道火光升上天空。 来自辞典例句

8 boundless   

adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的

参考例句：

• The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep repose of nature.无边无际的森林在大自然静寂的怀抱中酣睡着。
• His gratitude and devotion to the Party was boundless.他对党无限感激、无限忠诚。

9 dreads   

n.恐惧，畏惧( dread的名词复数 )；令人恐惧的事物v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The little boy dreads going to bed in the dark. 这孩子不敢在黑暗中睡觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A burnt child dreads the fire. [谚]烧伤过的孩子怕火（惊弓之鸟，格外胆小）。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 cleaves   

v.劈开，剁开，割开( cleave的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• This wood cleaves easily. 这木材好劈。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The water cleaves the banks away like a knife. 河水象一把刀似的，把两岸削掉。 来自辞典例句

11 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

12 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

13 cowardice   

n.胆小，怯懦

参考例句：

• His cowardice reflects on his character.他的胆怯对他的性格带来不良影响。
• His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice.他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。

14 lust   

n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望

参考例句：

• He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。
• Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念，就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。

15 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。