英语诗歌:Love Songs in Age

Philip Larkin (1922-1985)

She kept her songs, they took so little space,

The covers pleased her:

One bleached¹ from lying in a sunny place,

One marked in circles by a vase of water,

One mended, when a tidy fit had seized her,

And coloured, by her daughter -

So they had waited, till in widowhood

She found them, looking for something else, and stood

Relearning how each frank submissive chord

Had ushered² in

Word after sprawling³ hyphenated word,

And the unfailing sense of being young

Spread out like a spring-woken tree, wherein

That hidden freshness, sung,

That certainty of time laid up in store

As when she played them first. But, even more,

The glare of that much-mentioned brilliance⁴, love,

Broke out, to show

Its bright incipience⁵ sailing above,

Still promising⁶ to solve, and satisfy,

And set unchangeably in order. So

To pile them back, to cry,

Was hard, without lamely⁷ admitting how

It had not done so then, and could not now.

1 bleached   

漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的

参考例句：

• His hair was bleached by the sun . 他的头发被太阳晒得发白。
• The sun has bleached her yellow skirt. 阳光把她的黄裙子晒得褪色了。

2 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

4 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

5 incipience   

n.开始，早期

参考例句：

• He placed the incipience of democratic faith at around 1850. 他认为民主主义信念从大约1850年起开始出现。 来自互联网

6 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

7 lamely   

一瘸一拐地，不完全地

参考例句：

• I replied lamely that I hope to justify his confidence. 我漫不经心地回答说，我希望我能不辜负他对我的信任。
• The wolf leaped lamely back, losing its footing and falling in its weakness. 那只狼一跛一跛地跳回去，它因为身体虚弱，一失足摔了一跤。