Where the Arrows Fell

时间：2014-12-22 05:09:49

（单词翻译:单击）

Where the Arrows Fell
V. Penelope Pelizzon
 
 
At the upturns1 of your grin, the red beard 
                              This year's begun threading itself with white. 
          "Each agéd hair a gift" -- kiss -- "from you." 
                    You're joking, mostly. But in some deeper sense 
 It's true: we're married now, you've vowed 
                              Your life and all your coming years to me. 
                    Whatever other nuptial2 rites3 we cast out 
 
                    As too tribal4, not our style (the virgin 
 Gown, the given girl, the fertility- 
                              Provoking garter), we assume we'll weather 
          Through the turning hairs, or their decline, 
                    Together. And if we're successful, one of us, 
 Barring some unlikely twinned demise, 
                              Must end without the other. That's why 
 
          I cried before our rustled-up, gum- 
                    Chewing justice who kept calling you "Andy" 
 By mistake. You thought it was my normal mild 
                              Hysteria, mixed with trying not to laugh. 
          (I did wonder whether it would count as legal 
                    If he pronounced me the wrong man's wife.) 
 But it wasn't the Southern Gothic bridal 
 
                              Sapped me, love; it was all I was consenting 
          To: the life ahead we hope will use us fully, 
                    Wizening our bodies well as two liveoaks 
 Whose branches interlace fantastically 
                              Before they fail. Half-felled 
          Myself, I stood below the courthouse chapel's 
                    Fairy-lit take on the Bower5 of Bliss, 
 
Facing past the plastic fern to the abyss. 
                              Nothing bridges it. But you 
          Stood on its edge with me, grinning broader 
                    Through your beard each time our tipsy 
 String-tied gentleman bluffly 
                    Rechristened you. And seventy-five dollars 
          Later, on the streetcar toward our fancy 
 
                    Lunch for two: "It isn't every groom6 who'd eagerly 
 Give up his name. That makes you ... Mrs. Who?" 
                              By then, you'd driven my existential vapors 
          Off enough so I could laugh. And 
                    In spite of the humidity, the trolley 
 Chuckling fast along its tracks stirred up 
                              A cheerful draft. On either side the trees 
 
          Refreshed the street with sunshot shadows, so 
                    We flashed giddily through alternate 
 Bright blinks and blacknesses. Somewhere 
                              In the canopy7, a woodpecker 
          Uncorked his bubbling flute8. Time felt 
                    Suspended, balancing between symmetric 
 Poles where gravity is countered by 
 
                              Velocity9 as, years before, our bodies 
          Pressed together learned to take the hair- 
                    Pin curves along a coastal10 cliff by gently 
 Leaning with the motorcycle's angle 
                              Toward the road. 
                                                        Then you turned to me 
          And, with a question, broke the spell. Remember 
                    How I answered you? "I will. It's true. I am. I do."

分享到：


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 upturns c6d1aaa162998e126d3d4bd191f9a23d     
n.好转，上升趋势( upturn的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • Oscillators work great in trading ranges, where they catch upturns and downturns. 在横盘时振荡指标表现好，它们能抓住上涨和下跌。 来自互联网
2 nuptial 1vVyf     
adj.婚姻的，婚礼的
参考例句：
  • Their nuptial day hasn't been determined.他们的结婚日还没有决定。
  • I went to the room which he had called the nuptial chamber.我走进了他称之为洞房的房间。
3 rites 5026f3cfef698ee535d713fec44bcf27     
仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • to administer the last rites to sb 给某人举行临终圣事
  • He is interested in mystic rites and ceremonies. 他对神秘的仪式感兴趣。
4 tribal ifwzzw     
adj.部族的，种族的
参考例句：
  • He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
  • The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。
5 bower xRZyU     
n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽
参考例句：
  • They sat under the leafy bower at the end of the garden and watched the sun set.他们坐在花园尽头由叶子搭成的凉棚下观看落日。
  • Mrs. Quilp was pining in her bower.奎尔普太太正在她的闺房里度着愁苦的岁月。
6 groom 0fHxW     
vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁
参考例句：
  • His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
  • George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。
7 canopy Rczya     
n.天篷，遮篷
参考例句：
  • The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
  • They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。
8 flute hj9xH     
n.长笛；v.吹笛
参考例句：
  • He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
  • There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
9 velocity rLYzx     
n.速度，速率
参考例句：
  • Einstein's theory links energy with mass and velocity of light.爱因斯坦的理论把能量同质量和光速联系起来。
  • The velocity of light is about 300000 kilometres per second.光速约为每秒300000公里。
10 coastal WWiyh     
adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的
参考例句：
  • The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
  • This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

©2005-2010英文阅读网