Chapter 17

The Wind

Ah! no, no, it is nothing, surely nothing at all,

Only the wild-going wind round by the garden-wall,

For the dawn just now is breaking, the wind beginning to fall.

Wind, wind! thou art sad, art thou kind?

Wind, wind, unhappy! thou art blind,

Yet still thou wanderest the lily-seed to find.

So I will sit, and think and think of the days gone by,

Never moving my chair for fear the dogs should cry,

Making no noise at all while the flambeau burns awry¹.

For my chair is heavy and carved, and with sweeping² green behind

It is hung, and the dragons thereon grin out in the gusts³ of the wind;

On its folds an orange lies, with a deep gash⁴ cut in the rind.

Wind, wind! thou art sad, art thou kind?

Wind, wind, unhappy! thou art blind,

still thou wanderest the lily-seed to find.

If I move my chair it will scream, and the orange will roll out afar,

And the faint yellow juice ooze⁵ out like blood from a wizard’s jar;

And the dogs will howl for those who went last month to the war.

Wind, wind! thou art sad, art thou kind?

Wind, wind, unhappy! thou art blind,

Yet still thou wanderest the lily-seed to find.

So I will sit and think of love that is over and past,

O, so long ago! Yes, I will be quiet at last:

Whether I like it or not, a grim half-slumber is cast

Over my worn old brains, that touches the roots of my heart,

And above my half-shut eyes, the blue roof ‘gins to part,

And show the blue spring sky, till I am ready to start

From out of the green-hung chair; but something keeps me still,

And I fall in a dream that I walk’d with her on the side of a hill,

Dotted, for was it not spring? with tufts of the daffodil.

Wind, wind! thou art sad, art thou kind?

Wind, wind, unhappy! thou art blind,

Yet still thou wanderest the lily-seed to find.

And Margaret as she walk’d held a painted book in her hand;

Her finger kept the place; I caught her, we both did stand

Face to face, on the top of the highest hill in the land.

Wind, wind! thou art sad, art thou kind?

Wind, wind, unhappy! thou art blind,

Yet still thou wanderest the lily-seed to find.

I held to her long bare arms, but she shudder’d away from me,

While the flush went out of her face as her head fell back on a tree,

And a spasm⁶ caught her mouth, fearful for me to see;

And still I held to her arms till her shoulder touched my mail,

Weeping she totter’d forward, so glad that I should prevail,

And her hair went over my robe, like a gold flag over a sail.

Wind, wind! thou art sad, art thou kind?

Wind, wind, unhappy! thou art blind,

Yet still thou wanderest the lily-seed to find.

I kiss’d her hard by the ear, and she kiss’d me on the brow,

And then lay down on the grass, where the mark on the moss⁷ is now,

And spread her arms out wide while I went down below.

Wind, wind! thou art sad, art thou kind?

Wind, wind, unhappy! thou art blind,

Yet still thou wanderest the lily-seed to find.

And then I walk’d for a space to and fro on the side of the hill,

Till I gather’d and held in my arms great sheaves of the daffodil,

And when I came again my Margaret lay there still.

I piled them high and high above her heaving breast,

How they were caught and held in her loose ungirded vest!

But one beneath her arm died, happy so to be prest!

Wind, wind! thou art sad, art thou kind?

Wind, wind, unhappy! thou art blind,

Yet still thou wanderest the lily-seed to find.

Again I turn’d my back and went away for an hour;

She said no word when I came again, so, flower by flower,

I counted the daffodils over, and cast them languidly lower.

Wind, wind! thou art sad, art thou kind?

Wind, wind, unhappy! thou art blind,

Yet still thou wanderest the lily-seed to find.

My dry hands shook and shook as the green gown show’d again,

Clear’d from the yellow flowers, and I grew hollow with pain,

And on to us both there fell from the sun-shower drops of rain.

Wind, wind! thou art sad, art thou kind?

Wind, wind, unhappy! thou art blind,

Yet still thou wanderest the lily-seed to find.

Alas⁸! alas! there was blood on the very quiet breast,

Blood lay in the many folds of the loose ungirded vest,

Blood lay upon her arm where the flower had been prest.

I shriek’d and leapt from my chair, and the orange roll’d out afar,

The faint yellow juice oozed⁹ out like blood from a wizard’s jar;

And then in march’d the ghosts of those that had gone to the war.

I knew them by the arms that I was used to paint

Upon their long thin shields; but the colours were all grown faint,

And faint upon their banner was Olaf, king and saint.

Wind, wind! thou art sad, art thou kind?

Wind, wind, unhappy! thou art blind,

Yet still thou wanderest the lily-seed to find.

1 awry   

adj.扭曲的，错的

参考例句：

• She was in a fury over a plan that had gone awry. 计划出了问题，她很愤怒。
• Something has gone awry in our plans.我们的计划出差错了。

2 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

3 gusts   

一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作

参考例句：

• Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
• Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

4 gash   

v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝

参考例句：

• The deep gash in his arm would take weeks to heal over.他胳膊上的割伤很深，需要几个星期的时间才能痊愈。
• After the collision,the body of the ship had a big gash.船被撞后，船身裂开了一个大口子。

5 ooze   

n.软泥，渗出物；vi.渗出，泄漏；vt.慢慢渗出，流露

参考例句：

• Soon layer of oceanic ooze began to accumulate above the old hard layer.不久后海洋软泥层开始在老的硬地层上堆积。
• Drip or ooze systems are common for pot watering.滴灌和渗灌系统一般也用于盆栽灌水。

6 spasm   

n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作

参考例句：

• When the spasm passed,it left him weak and sweating.一阵痉挛之后，他虚弱无力，一直冒汗。
• He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience.他突然变得不耐烦，一脚踢向椅子。

7 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

8 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。

9 oozed   

v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出

参考例句：

• Blood oozed out of the wound. 血从伤口慢慢流出来。
• Mud oozed from underground. 泥浆从地下冒出来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》