Chapter 9

Old Love

You must be very old, Sir Giles,

I said; he said: Yea, very old!

Whereat the mournfullest of smiles

Creased¹ his dry skin with many a fold.

They hammer’d out my basnet point

Into a round salade, he said,

The basnet being quite out of joint²,

Natheless the salade rasps my head.

He gazed at the great fire awhile:

And you are getting old, Sir John;

(He said this with that cunning smile

That was most sad) we both wear on;

Knights³ come to court and look at me,

With eyebrows⁴ up; except my lord,

And my dear lady, none I see

That know the ways of my old sword.

(My lady! at that word no pang⁵

Stopp’d all my blood). But tell me, John,

Is it quite true that Pagans hang

So thick about the east, that on

The eastern sea no Venice flag

Can fly unpaid⁶ for? True, I said,

And in such way the miscreants⁷ drag

Christ’s cross upon the ground, I dread⁸

That Constantine must fall this year.

Within my heart, these things are small;

This is not small, that things outwear

I thought were made for ever, yea, all,

All things go soon or late, I said.

I saw the duke in court next day;

Just as before, his grand great head

Above his gold robes dreaming lay,

Only his face was paler; there

I saw his duchess sit by him;

And she, she was changed more; her hair

Before my eyes that used to swim,

And make me dizzy with great bliss⁹

Once, when I used to watch her sit,

Her hair is bright still, yet it is

As though some dust were thrown on it.

Her eyes are shallower, as though

Some grey glass were behind; her brow

And cheeks the straining bones show through,

Are not so good for kissing now.

Her lips are drier now she is

A great duke’s wife these many years,

They will not shudder¹⁰ with a kiss

As once they did, being moist with tears.

Also her hands have lost that way

Of clinging that they used to have;

They look’d quite easy, as they lay

Upon the silken cushions brave

With broidery of the apples green

My Lord Duke bears upon his shield.

Her face, alas¹¹! that I have seen

Look fresher than an April field,

This is all gone now; gone also

Her tender walking; when she walks

She is most queenly I well know,

And she is fair still. As the stalks

Of faded summer-lilies are,

So is she grown now unto me

This spring-time, when the flowers star

The meadows, birds sing wonderfully.

I warrant once she used to cling

About his neck, and kiss’d him so,

And then his coming step would ring

Joy-bells for her; some time ago.

Ah! sometimes like an idle dream

That hinders true life overmuch,

Sometimes like a lost heaven, these seem.

This love is not so hard to smutch.

1 creased   

（使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的过去式和过去分词 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹； 皱皱巴巴

参考例句：

• You've creased my newspaper. 你把我的报纸弄皱了。
• The bullet merely creased his shoulder. 子弹只不过擦破了他肩部的皮肤。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

4 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

5 pang   

n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷

参考例句：

• She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
• She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

6 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

7 miscreants   

n.恶棍，歹徒( miscreant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I ordered the miscreants to let me out. 我命令这些土匪放我出去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Local people demanded that the District Magistrate apprehend the miscreants. 当地人要求地方法官逮捕那些歹徒。 来自辞典例句

8 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

9 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

10 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

11 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。