Anticipation.?

“Coming events cast their shadow before.”

I had a vision in the summer light —

Sorrow was in it, and my inward sight

Ached with sad images. The touch of tears

Gushed¹ down my cheeks:— the figured woes² of years

Casting their shadows across sunny hours.

Oh, there was nothing sorrowful in flowers

Wooing the glances of an April sun,

Or apple blossoms opening one by one

Their crimson³ bosoms⁴ — or the twittered words

And warbled sentences of merry birds; —

Or the small glitter and the humming wings

Of golden flies and many colored things —

Oh, these were nothing sad — nor to see Her,

Sitting beneath the comfortable stir

Of early leaves — casting the playful grace

Of moving shadows in so fair a face —

Nor in her brow serene⁵ — nor in the love

Of her mild eyes drinking the light above

With a long thirst — nor in her gentle smile —

Nor in her hand that shone blood-red the while

She raised it in the sun. All these were dear

To heart and eye — but an invisible fear

Shook in the trees and chilled upon the air,

And if one spot was laughing brightest — there

My soul most sank and darkened in despair! —

As if the shadows of a curtained room

Haunted me in the sun — as if the bloom

Of early flow’rets had no sweets for me,

Nor apple blossoms any blush to see —

As if the hour had brought too bright a day —

And little birds were all too gay! — too gay! —

As if the beauty of that Lovely One

Were all a fable⁶. — Full before the sun

Stood Death and cast a shadow long before,

Like a dark pall⁷ enshrouding her all o’er,

Till eyes, and lips, and smiles, were all no more!

1 gushed   

v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• Oil gushed from the well. 石油从井口喷了出来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Clear water gushed into the irrigational channel. 清澈的水涌进了灌溉渠道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

3 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

4 bosoms   

胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形

参考例句：

• How beautifully gold brooches glitter on the bosoms of our patriotic women! 金光闪闪的别针佩在我国爱国妇女的胸前，多美呀！
• Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there weep our sad bosoms empty. 我们寻个僻静的地方，去痛哭一场吧。

5 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

6 fable   

n.寓言；童话；神话

参考例句：

• The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
• He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

7 pall   

v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕

参考例句：

• Already the allure of meals in restaurants had begun to pall.饭店里的饭菜已经不像以前那样诱人。
• I find his books begin to pall on me after a while.我发觉他的书读过一阵子就开始对我失去吸引力。