The Essay

时间：2013-07-25 03:40:35

（单词翻译:单击）

The Essay

Brian Culhane

I have asked my students once again to write on a theme.

The subject is not the end of the summer,

Though summer has once again ended and they are here.

The subject is not even the throes（痛苦的挣扎） of adolescence,

Or the Shakespearean sonnet's use of the couplet.

No, theirs is such a dark and rich theme that their essays

Will look at first like Kafka's diaries—with self-portraits,

Wraiths（鬼，幽灵） or ominous¹ clocks lodged² in the margins³.

I want each to follow the footsteps of the psychopomp

And find the Gates of Horn that so many have stood before.

Should they be frightened, the pure ether may calm them,

Moving over their hot foreheads with a mother's palm.

I watch them now bend low to their work, smudging ink,

Capitalizing proper nouns, stopping only to hurry forward,

Their nibs⁴ heavy oars⁵, their scribbling⁶ an awkward rowing.

The dread⁷ of conclusions scrunches⁸ their shoulders.

One girl wearing her hair up for the very first time

Raises her hand and, at my nod, walks up to my desk.

She has finished first. Her paragraphs have the weight

Of Etruscan tombs, and her face is that same shade of rose

That glimmers⁹ in the background of Pompeian frescoes¹⁰（壁画）.

I accept that her script is cuneiform and that a grave puzzle

Awaits my midnight's musing¹¹. For hers is the lost language

Of the young, a smooth stone I weigh in my palm, and let go.

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1 ominous
adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的
参考例句：
Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。 There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

2 lodged
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属
参考例句：
The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。来自《简明英汉词典》 Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。来自《简明英汉词典》

3 margins
边( margin的名词复数 )；利润；页边空白；差数
参考例句：
They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。 To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

4 nibs
上司，大人物；钢笔尖，鹅毛管笔笔尖( nib的名词复数 )；可可豆的碎粒；小瑕疵
参考例句：
They were careful not to offend his nibs. 他们小心翼翼，不敢冒犯这位大人。 Please tell his nibs that we'd like his help with the washing-up! 请转告那位大人，我们想请他帮助刷锅洗碗！

5 oars
n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。 The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。来自《简明英汉词典》

6 scribbling
n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下
参考例句：
Once the money got into the book, all that remained were some scribbling. 折子上的钱只是几个字！来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子 McMug loves scribbling. Mama then sent him to the Kindergarten. 麦唛很喜欢写字，妈妈看在眼里，就替他报读了幼稚园。来自互联网

7 dread
vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧
参考例句：
We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。 Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

8 scrunches
v.发出喀嚓声( scrunch的第三人称单数 )；蜷缩；压；挤压
参考例句：

9 glimmers
n.微光，闪光( glimmer的名词复数 )v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
A faint lamp glimmers at the end of the passage. 一盏昏暗的灯在走廊尽头发出微弱的光线。来自互联网 The first glimmers of an export-led revival are apparent. 拉动出库复苏的第一缕曙光正出现。来自互联网

10 frescoes
n.壁画( fresco的名词复数 )；温壁画技法，湿壁画
参考例句：
The Dunhuang frescoes are gems of ancient Chinese art. 敦煌壁画是我国古代艺术中的瑰宝。来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 The frescoes in these churches are magnificent. 这些教堂里的壁画富丽堂皇。来自《简明英汉词典》

11 musing
n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的动词muse的现在分词形式
参考例句：
"At Tellson's banking-house at nine," he said, with a musing face. “九点在台尔森银行大厦见面，”他想道。来自英汉文学 - 双城记 She put the jacket away, and stood by musing a minute. 她把那件上衣放到一边，站着沉思了一会儿。