Dann zur Blumenflor der Sterne
Aufgeschauet liebewarm,
Fass’ ihn freundlich Arm in Arm
Trag’ ihn in die blaue Ferne.
Then towards the Garden of the Star
Lift up thine aspect warm with love,
And, friendlike link’d through space afar,
Mount with him, arm in arm, above.
Uhland, “Poem to Death.”
He stood upon the lofty balcony that overlooked the quiet city. Though afar, the fiercest passions of men were at work on the web of strife2 and doom3, all that gave itself to his view was calm and still in the rays of the summer moon, for his soul was wrapped from man and man’s narrow sphere, and only the serener4 glories of creation were present to the vision of the seer. There he stood, alone and thoughtful, to take the last farewell of the wondrous5 life that he had known.
Coursing through the fields of space, he beheld6 the gossamer7 shapes, whose choral joys his spirit had so often shared. There, group upon group, they circled in the starry8 silence multiform in the unimaginable beauty of a being fed by ambrosial9 dews and serenest10 light. In his trance, all the universe stretched visible beyond; in the green valleys afar, he saw the dances of the fairies; in the bowels11 of the mountains, he beheld the race that breathe the lurid12 air of the volcanoes, and hide from the light of heaven; on every leaf in the numberless forests, in every drop of the unmeasured seas, he surveyed its separate and swarming13 world; far up, in the farthest blue, he saw orb14 upon orb ripening15 into shape, and planets starting from the central fire, to run their day of ten thousand years. For everywhere in creation is the breath of the Creator, and in every spot where the breath breathes is life! And alone, in the distance, the lonely man beheld his Magian brother. There, at work with his numbers and his Cabala, amidst the wrecks16 of Rome, passionless and calm, sat in his cell the mystic Mejnour,— living on, living ever while the world lasts, indifferent whether his knowledge produces weal or woe17; a mechanical agent of a more tender and a wiser will, that guides every spring to its inscrutable designs. Living on,— living ever,— as science that cares alone for knowledge, and halts not to consider how knowledge advances happiness; how Human Improvement, rushing through civilisation18, crushes in its march all who cannot grapple to its wheels (“You colonise the lands of the savage19 with the Anglo–Saxon,— you civilise that portion of THE EARTH; but is the SAVAGE civilised? He is exterminated20! You accumulate machinery,— you increase the total of wealth; but what becomes of the labour you displace? One generation is sacrificed to the next. You diffuse21 knowledge,— and the world seems to grow brighter; but Discontent at Poverty replaces Ignorance, happy with its crust. Every improvement, every advancement22 in civilisation, injures some, to benefit others, and either cherishes the want of today, or prepares the revolution of tomorrow.”— Stephen Montague.); ever, with its Cabala and its number, lives on to change, in its bloodless movements, the face of the habitable world!
And, “Oh, farewell to life!” murmured the glorious dreamer. “Sweet, O life! hast thou been to me. How fathomless23 thy joys,— how rapturously has my soul bounded forth24 upon the upward paths! To him who forever renews his youth in the clear fount of Nature, how exquisite25 is the mere26 happiness TO BE! Farewell, ye lamps of heaven, and ye million tribes, the Populace of Air. Not a mote27 in the beam, not an herb on the mountain, not a pebble28 on the shore, not a seed far-blown into the wilderness29, but contributed to the lore30 that sought in all the true principle of life, the Beautiful, the Joyous31, the Immortal32. To others, a land, a city, a hearth33, has been a home; MY home has been wherever the intellect could pierce, or the spirit could breathe the air.”
He paused, and through the immeasurable space his eyes and his heart, penetrating34 the dismal35 dungeon36, rested on his child. He saw it slumbering37 in the arms of the pale mother, and HIS soul spoke38 to the sleeping soul. “Forgive me, if my desire was sin; I dreamed to have reared and nurtured39 thee to the divinest destinies my visions could foresee. Betimes, as the mortal part was strengthened against disease, to have purified the spiritual from every sin; to have led thee, heaven upon heaven, through the holy ecstasies40 which make up the existence of the orders that dwell on high; to have formed, from thy sublime41 affections, the pure and ever-living communication between thy mother and myself. The dream was but a dream — it is no more! In sight myself of the grave, I feel, at last, that through the portals of the grave lies the true initiation42 into the holy and the wise. Beyond those portals I await ye both, beloved pilgrims!”
From his numbers and his Cabala, in his cell, amidst the wrecks of Rome, Mejnour, startled, looked up, and through the spirit, felt that the spirit of his distant friend addressed him.
“Fare thee well forever upon this earth! Thy last companion forsakes43 thy side. Thine age survives the youth of all; and the Final Day shall find thee still the contemplator44 of our tombs. I go with my free will into the land of darkness; but new suns and systems blaze around us from the grave. I go where the souls of those for whom I resign the clay shall be my comates through eternal youth. At last I recognise the true ordeal45 and the real victory. Mejnour, cast down thy elixir46; lay by thy load of years! Wherever the soul can wander, the Eternal Soul of all things protects it still!”
1 den | |
n.兽穴;秘密地方;安静的小房间,私室 | |
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2 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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3 doom | |
n.厄运,劫数;v.注定,命定 | |
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4 serener | |
serene(沉静的,宁静的,安宁的)的比较级形式 | |
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5 wondrous | |
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地 | |
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6 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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7 gossamer | |
n.薄纱,游丝 | |
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8 starry | |
adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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9 ambrosial | |
adj.美味的 | |
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10 serenest | |
serene(沉静的,宁静的,安宁的)的最高级形式 | |
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11 bowels | |
n.肠,内脏,内部;肠( bowel的名词复数 );内部,最深处 | |
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12 lurid | |
adj.可怕的;血红的;苍白的 | |
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13 swarming | |
密集( swarm的现在分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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14 orb | |
n.太阳;星球;v.弄圆;成球形 | |
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15 ripening | |
v.成熟,使熟( ripen的现在分词 );熟化;熟成 | |
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16 wrecks | |
n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 );(事故中)遭严重毁坏的汽车(或飞机等);(身体或精神上)受到严重损伤的人;状况非常糟糕的车辆(或建筑物等)v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 );使(船舶)失事,使遇难,使下沉 | |
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17 woe | |
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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18 civilisation | |
n.文明,文化,开化,教化 | |
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19 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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20 exterminated | |
v.消灭,根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21 diffuse | |
v.扩散;传播;adj.冗长的;四散的,弥漫的 | |
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22 advancement | |
n.前进,促进,提升 | |
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23 fathomless | |
a.深不可测的 | |
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24 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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25 exquisite | |
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的 | |
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26 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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27 mote | |
n.微粒;斑点 | |
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28 pebble | |
n.卵石,小圆石 | |
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29 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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30 lore | |
n.传说;学问,经验,知识 | |
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31 joyous | |
adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的 | |
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32 immortal | |
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
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33 hearth | |
n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面 | |
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34 penetrating | |
adj.(声音)响亮的,尖锐的adj.(气味)刺激的adj.(思想)敏锐的,有洞察力的 | |
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35 dismal | |
adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的 | |
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36 dungeon | |
n.地牢,土牢 | |
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37 slumbering | |
微睡,睡眠(slumber的现在分词形式) | |
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38 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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39 nurtured | |
养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 ); 培育; 滋长; 助长 | |
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40 ecstasies | |
狂喜( ecstasy的名词复数 ); 出神; 入迷; 迷幻药 | |
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41 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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42 initiation | |
n.开始 | |
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43 forsakes | |
放弃( forsake的第三人称单数 ); 弃绝; 抛弃; 摒弃 | |
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44 contemplator | |
沉思者,静观者 | |
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45 ordeal | |
n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验 | |
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46 elixir | |
n.长生不老药,万能药 | |
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