英语诗歌:March Calf

Ted¹ Hughes

Right from the start he is dressed in his best - his blacks and his whites

Little Fauntleroy - quiffed and glossy²,

A Sunday suit, a wedding natty³ get-up,

Standing⁴ in dunged straw

Under cobwebby beams, near the mud wall,

Half of him legs,

Shining-eyed, requiring nothing more

But that mother's milk come back often.

Everything else is in order, just as it is.

Let the summer skies hold off, for the moment.

This is just as he wants it.

A little at a time, of each new thing, is best.

Too much and too sudden is too frightening -

When I block the light, a bulk from space,

To let him in to his mother for a suck,

He bolts a yard or two, then freezes,

Staring from every hair in all directions,

Ready for the worst, shut up in his hopeful religion,

A little syllogism⁵

With a wet blue-reddish muzzle⁶, for God's thumb.

You see all his hopes bustling⁷

As he reaches between the worn rails towards

The topheavy oven of his mother.

He trembles to grow, stretching his curl-tip tongue -

What did cattle ever find here

To make this dear little fellow

So eager to prepare himself?

He is already in the race, and quivering to win -

His new purpled eyeball swivel-jerks

In the elbowing push of his plans.

Hungry people are getting hungrier,

Butchers developing expertise⁸ and markets,

But he just wobbles his tail - and glistens⁹

Within his dapper profile

Unaware¹⁰ of how his whole lineage

Has been tied up.

He shivers for feel of the world licking his side.

He is like an ember - one glow

Of lighting¹¹ himself up

With the fuel of himself, breathing and brightening.

Soon he'll plunge¹² out, to scatter¹³ his seething¹⁴ joy,

To be present at the grass,

To be free on the surface of such a wideness,

To find himself himself. To stand. To moo.

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 glossy   

adj.平滑的；有光泽的

参考例句：

• I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
• She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。

3 natty   

adj.整洁的，漂亮的

参考例句：

• Cliff was a natty dresser.克利夫是讲究衣着整洁美观的人。
• Please keep this office natty and use the binaries provided.请保持办公室整洁，使用所提供的垃圾箱。

4 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。

5 syllogism   

n.演绎法，三段论法

参考例句：

• The ramifications or the mystery of a syllogism can become a weariness and a bore.三段论证法的分歧或者神秘会变成一种无聊、一种麻烦。
• The unexpected bursts forth from the syllogism.三段论里常出岔子。

6 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

7 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

8 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

9 glistens   

v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The lake glistens in the moonlight. 湖水在月光下闪烁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• VC:You forever are that star which in my heart most glistens. 翻译：你永远是我心中最闪亮的那一颗星。 来自互联网

10 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

11 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

12 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

13 scatter   

vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散

参考例句：

• You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。
• Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。

14 seething   

沸腾的，火热的

参考例句：

• The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
• The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。