The Dairywoman and the Pot of Milk

   A Pot of Milk upon her cushioned crown,

  Good Peggy hastened to the market town;

  Short-clad and light, with step she went,

  Not fearing any accident;

    Indeed to be the nimbler tripper,

      Her dress that day,

      The truth to say,

    Was simply petticoat and slipper¹.

      And, thus bedight,

      Good Peggy, light,

    Her gains already counted,

      Laid out the cash

      At single dash,

  Which to a hundred eggs amounted.

        Three nests she made,

        Which, by the aid

  Of diligence and care, were hatched.

        "To raise the chicks,

        We'll easily fix,"

  Said she, "beside our cottage thatched.

        The fox must get

        More cunning yet,

  Or leave enough to buy a pig.

        With little care,

        And any fare,

  He'll grow quite fat and big;

        And then the price

        Will be so nice

  For which the pork will sell!

        'Twill go quite hard

        But in our yard

  I'll bring a cow and calf² to dwell—

    A calf to frisk among the flock!"

  The thought made Peggy do the same;

  And down at once the milk pot came,

    And perished with the shock.

  Calf, cow, and pig, and chicks, adieu!

  Your mistress' face is sad to view—

  She gives a tear to fortune spilt;

  Then, with the down-cast look of guilt³,

  Home to her husband empty goes,

  Somewhat in danger of his blows.

 

  Who buildeth not, sometimes, in air,

  His cots, or seats, or castles fair?

  From kings to dairywomen—all—

  The wise, the foolish, great and small—

  Each thinks his waking dream the best.

  Some flattering error fills the breast:

  The world, with all its wealth, is ours,

  Its honours, dames⁴, and loveliest bowers⁵.

  Instinct with valour, where alone,

  I hurl⁶ the monarch⁷ from his throne;

  The people glad to see him dead,

  Elect me monarch in his stead,

  And diadems⁸ rain on my head.

  Some accident then calls me back,

  And I'm no more than simple Jack⁹!

1 slipper   

n.拖鞋

参考例句：

• I rescued the remains of my slipper from the dog.我从那狗的口中夺回了我拖鞋的残留部分。
• The puppy chewed a hole in the slipper.小狗在拖鞋上啃了一个洞。

2 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

3 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

4 dames   

n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人

参考例句：

• Dames would not comment any further. Dames将不再更多的评论。 来自互联网
• Flowers, candy, jewelry, seemed the principal things in which the elegant dames were interested. 鲜花、糖果和珠宝看来是那些贵妇人的主要兴趣所在。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 bowers   

n.（女子的）卧室( bower的名词复数 )；船首锚；阴凉处；鞠躬的人

参考例句：

• If Mr Bowers is right, low government-bond yields could lose their appeal and equities could rebound. 如果鲍尔斯先生的预计是对的，那么低收益的国债将会失去吸引力同时股价将会反弹。 来自互联网

6 hurl   

vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂

参考例句：

• The best cure for unhappiness is to hurl yourself into your work.医治愁苦的最好办法就是全身心地投入工作。
• To hurl abuse is no way to fight.谩骂决不是战斗。

7 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

8 diadems   

n.王冠，王权，带状头饰( diadem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

9 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。