艾米·洛威爾詩歌欣賞：Patterns

　　艾米·洛威爾，美國詩人，她的第一部詩集是《多彩玻璃頂》。1913年她在實驗性的意象派運動中脫穎而出，并繼埃茲拉·龐德之后而成為該運動的領袖人物。她運用“自由韻律散文”和自由詩的形式進行創作，被稱為“無韻之韻”。下面學習啦小編為大家帶來艾米·洛威爾經典詩歌：Patterns，歡迎大家閱讀!

　　I walk down the garden paths,

　　And all the daffodils

　　Are blowing, and the bright blue squills.

　　I walk down the patterned garden-paths

　　In my stiff, brocaded gown.

　　With my powdered hair and jewelled fan,

　　I too am a rare

　　Pattern. As I wander down

　　The garden paths.

　　My dress is richly figured,

　　And the train

　　Makes a pink and silver stain

　　On the gravel, and the thrift

　　Of 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 shade

　　Of a lime tree. For my passion

　　Wars against the stiff brocade.

　　The daffodils and squills

　　Flutter in the breeze

　　As they please.

　　And I weep;

　　For the lime-tree is in blossom

　　And one small flower has dropped upon my bosom.

　　And the plashing of waterdrops

　　In the marble fountain

　　Comes down the garden-paths.

　　The dripping never stops.

　　Underneath my stiffened gown

　　Is the softness of a woman bathing in a marble basin,

　　A basin in the midst of hedges grown

　　So thick, she cannot see her lover hiding,

　　But she guesses he is near,

　　And the sliding of the water

　　Seems the stroking of a dear

　　Hand 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 crumpled 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 buckles

　　on his shoes.

　　I would choose

　　To lead him in a maze 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 bruised 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 swoon

　　With the weight of this brocade,

　　For the sun sifts through the shade.

　　Underneath the fallen blossom

　　In 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 Hartwell

　　Died 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 refreshment.

　　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 rigid to the pattern

　　By 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 whim

　　That sunlight carried blessing.

　　And I answered, "It shall be as you have said."

　　Now he is dead.

　　In Summer and in Winter I shall walk

　　Up and down

　　The patterned garden-paths

　　In my stiff, brocaded gown.

　　The squills and daffodils

　　Will give place to pillared roses, and to asters, and to snow.

　　I shall go

　　Up and down,

　　In my gown.

　　Gorgeously arrayed,

　　Boned and stayed.

　　And the softness of my body will be guarded from embrace

　　By 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?