Chapter 2 The Changelings

OR EVER the battered¹ liners sank
?With their passengers to the dark.
I was head of a Walworth Bank.
?And you were a grocer’s clerk.
I was a dealer² in stocks and shares.
?And you in butters and teas.
And we both abandoned our own affairs
?And took to the dreadful seas.
Wet and worry about our ways —
?Panic, onset³, and flight —
Had us in charge for a thousand days
?And a thousand-year-long night.
We saw more than the nights could hide —
?More than the waves could keep —
And — certain faces over the side
?Which do not go from our sleep.
We were more tired than words can tell
?While the pied craft fled by.
And the swinging mounds⁴ of the Western swell⁵
?Hoisted⁶ us heavens-high . . .
Now there is nothing — not even our rank —
?To witness what we have been;
And I am returned to my Walworth Bank;
?And you to your margarine

1 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

2 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

3 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

4 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

5 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

6 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。