I walk down the garden paths,And all the daffodilsAre blowing, and the bright blue squills.I walk down the patterned garden-pathsIn my stiff, brocaded gown.With my powdered hair and jewelled fan,I too am a rarePattern. As I wander downThe garden paths.My dress is richly figured,And the trainMakes a pink and silver stainOn the gravel1, and the thriftOf the borders.Just a plate of current fashion,Tripping by in high-heeled, ribboned shoes.Not a softness anywhere about me,Only whalebone and brocade.And I sink on a seat in the shadeOf a lime tree. For my passionWars against the stiff brocade.The daffodils and squillsFlutter in the breezeAs they please.And I weep;For the lime-tree is in blossomAnd one small flower has dropped upon my bosom2.And the plashing of waterdropsIn the marble fountainComes down the garden-paths.The dripping never stops.Underneath3 my stiffened4 gownIs the softness of a woman bathing in a marble basin,A basin in the midst of hedges grownSo thick, she cannot see her lover hiding,But she guesses he is near,And the sliding of the waterSeems the stroking of a dearHand upon her.What is Summer in a fine brocaded gown!I should like to see it lying in a heap upon the ground.All the pink and silver crumpled5 up on the ground.I would be the pink and silver as I ran along the paths,And he would stumble after,Bewildered by my laughter.I should see the sun flashing from his sword-hilt and the buckleson his shoes.I would chooseTo lead him in a maze6 along the patterned paths,A bright and laughing maze for my heavy-booted lover,Till he caught me in the shade,And the buttons of his waistcoat bruised7 my body as he clasped me,Aching, melting, unafraid.With the shadows of the leaves and the sundrops,And the plopping of the waterdrops,All about us in the open afternoon --I am very like to swoonWith the weight of this brocade,For the sun sifts8 through the shade.Underneath the fallen blossomIn my bosom,Is a letter I have hid.It was brought to me this morning by a rider from the Duke."Madam, we regret to inform you that Lord HartwellDied in action Thursday se'nnight."As I read it in the white, morning sunlight,The letters squirmed like snakes."Any answer, Madam," said my footman."No," I told him."See that the messenger takes some refreshment9.No, no answer."And I walked into the garden,Up and down the patterned paths,In my stiff, correct brocade.The blue and yellow flowers stood up proudly in the sun,Each one.I stood upright too,Held rigid10 to the patternBy the stiffness of my gown.Up and down I walked,Up and down.In a month he would have been my husband.In a month, here, underneath this lime,We would have broke the pattern;He for me, and I for him,He as Colonel, I as Lady,On this shady seat.He had a whimThat sunlight carried blessing11.And I answered, "It shall be as you have said."Now he is dead.In Summer and in Winter I shall walkUp and downThe patterned garden-pathsIn my stiff, brocaded gown.The squills and daffodilsWill give place to pillared roses, and to asters, and to snow.I shall goUp and down,In my gown.Gorgeously arrayed,Boned and stayed.And the softness of my body will be guarded from embraceBy each button, hook, and lace.For the man who should loose me is dead,Fighting with the Duke in Flanders,In a pattern called a war.Christ! What are patterns for?
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1 gravel
n.砂躒；砂礫層；結(jié)石
參考例句：
We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我們購(gòu)買(mǎi)了六袋碎石用來(lái)鋪花園的小路。 More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的礫石來(lái)填平車(chē)道上的坑洼。
2 bosom
n.胸，胸部；胸懷；內(nèi)心；adj.親密的
參考例句：
She drew a little book from her bosom.她從懷里取出一本小冊(cè)子。 A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他內(nèi)心生出一陣惡毒的嫉妒。
3 underneath
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adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面
參考例句：
Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽車(chē)底下工作是件臟活。 She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿著一件大衣，里面套著一條連衣裙。
4 stiffened
加強(qiáng)的
參考例句：
He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯過(guò)身去，這種侵犯她個(gè)人空間的舉動(dòng)讓她繃緊了身子。 She stiffened with fear. 她嚇呆了。
5 crumpled
adj. 彎扭的, 變皺的動(dòng)詞crumple的過(guò)去式和過(guò)去分詞形式 <a hRef=http://www.zequeka.cn/miNiform.html>蘇州閱讀寫(xiě)作培訓(xùn)</a>
參考例句：
She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一團(tuán)扔進(jìn)了火里。 She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在寫(xiě)字臺(tái)上把皺巴巴的信展平。
6 maze
n.迷宮，八陣圖，混亂，迷惑
參考例句：
He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿過(guò)了迷宮一樣的走廊。 She was lost in the maze for several hours.一連幾小時(shí)，她的頭腦處于一片糊涂狀態(tài)。
7 bruised
[醫(yī)]青腫的，瘀紫的
參考例句：
his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾滿(mǎn)血的青腫的鼻子 She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青臉腫。
8 sifts
v.篩( sift的第三人稱(chēng)單數(shù) )；篩濾；細(xì)查；詳審
參考例句：
He sifts you to free you from your husks. 他將你們篩選，使你們擺脫麩糠。 來(lái)自互聯(lián)網(wǎng) The sunshine sifts through the cloud. 陽(yáng)光透過(guò)云層照射下來(lái)。 來(lái)自互聯(lián)網(wǎng)
9 refreshment
n.恢復(fù)，精神爽快，提神之事物；（復(fù)數(shù)）refreshments:點(diǎn)心，茶點(diǎn)
參考例句：
He needs to stop fairly often for refreshment.他須時(shí)不時(shí)地停下來(lái)喘口氣。 A hot bath is a great refreshment after a day's work.在一天工作之后洗個(gè)熱水澡真是舒暢。
10 rigid
adj.嚴(yán)格的，死板的；剛硬的，僵硬的
參考例句：
She became as rigid as adamant.她變得如頑石般的固執(zhí)。 The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考試很?chē)?yán)，幾乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。
11 blessing
n.祈神賜福；禱告；祝福，祝愿
參考例句：
The blessing was said in Hebrew.禱告用了希伯來(lái)語(yǔ)。 A double blessing has descended upon the house.雙喜臨門(mén)。
《Amy Lowell - Patterns》添加時(shí)間：2024-12-14；更新時(shí)間：2025-03-09
