HYMN TO PRIAPUS

  MY love lies underground

     With her face upturned to mine,

     And her mouth unclosed in a last long kiss

     That ended her life and mine.

 

     I dance at the Christmas party

     Under the mistletoe

     Along with a ripe, slack country lass

     Jostling to and fro.

 

     The big, soft country lass,

     Like a loose sheaf of wheat

     Slipped through my arms on the threshing floor

     At my feet.

 

     The warm, soft country lass,

     Sweet as an armful of wheat

     At threshing-time broken, was broken

     For me, and ah, it was sweet!

 

     Now I am going home

     Fulfilled and alone,

     I see the great Orion standing¹

     Looking down.

 

     He's the star of my first beloved

     Love-making.

     The witness of all that bitter-sweet

     Heart-aching.

 

     Now he sees this as well,

     This last commission.

     Nor do I get any look

     Of admonition.

 

     He can add the reckoning up

     I suppose, between now and then,

     Having walked himself in the thorny², difficult

     Ways of men.

 

     He has done as I have done

     No doubt:

     Remembered and forgotten

     Turn and about.

 

     My love lies underground

     With her face upturned to mine,

     And her mouth unclosed in the last long kiss

     That ended her life and mine.

 

     She fares in the stark³ immortal⁴

     Fields of death;

     I in these goodly, frozen

     Fields beneath.

 

     Something in me remembers

     And will not forget.

     The stream of my life in the darkness

     Deathward set!

 

     And something in me has forgotten,

     Has ceased to care.

     Desire comes up, and contentment

     Is debonair⁵.

 

     I, who am worn and careful,

     How much do I care?

     How is it I grin then, and chuckle⁶

     Over despair?

 

     Grief, grief, I suppose and sufficient

     Grief makes us free

     To be faithless and faithful together

     As we have to be.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

3 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

4 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

5 debonair   

adj.殷勤的，快乐的

参考例句：

• He strolled about,look very debonair in his elegant new suit.他穿了一身讲究的新衣服逛来逛去，显得颇为惬意。
• He was a handsome,debonair,death-defying racing-driver.他是一位英俊潇洒、风流倜傥、敢于挑战死神的赛车手。

6 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。