221B
BY VINCENT STARRETT
Here dwell together still two men of note
Who never lived and so can never die;
How very near they seem, yet how remote
That age before the world went all awry.
But still the game's afoot for those with ears
Attuned to catch the distant view-halloo;
England is England yet, for all our fears--
Only those things the heart believes are true.
A yellow fog swirls past the window-pane
As night descends upon this fabled street;
A lonely hansom splashes through the rain,
The ghostly gas lamps fail at twenty feet.
Here, though the world explode, these two survive,
And it is always eighteen ninety-five.
这里的两位纸中人依然存在，
他们不曾活着, 也就不曾离开;
似乎近在咫尺, 却又遥不可及,
远在那世界尚未错置的年代。
但游戏仍然在继续, 就在耳畔,
去追寻那场遥远盛大的围猎。
英格兰依旧是英格兰，而对我们的恐惧--
只有用心坚信之事最为确切。
昏黄的雾漫延越过那格窗户,
夜幕降临在这传说中的街道;
孤独的双轮马车疾驰过雨幕,
煤气灯消散在二十尺的远处。
这里，即便世界颠覆，他们谈笑如初，
时间永远停留在这一八九五。