THE SISTER’S EXPOSTULATION ON THE BROTHER’S LEARNING LATIN V

 

Shut these odious¹ books up, brother;

They have made you quite another

Thing from what you used to be:

Once you liked to play with me,

Now you leave me all alone,

And are so conceited² grown

With your Latin, you’ll scarce look

Upon any English book.

We had used on winter eves

To con³ over Shakespeare’s leaves,

Or on Milton’s harder sense

Exercise our diligence,

And you would explain with ease

The obscurer passages;

Find me out the prettiest places,

The poetic⁴ turns and graces,

Which, alas⁵! now you are gone,

I must puzzle out alone;

 

And oft miss the meaning quite,

Wanting you to set me right.

All this comes since you’ve been under

Your new master. I much wonder

What great charm it is you see

In those words, musa, musæ;

Or in what do they excel

Our word song. It sounds as well

To my fancy as the other.

Now believe me, dearest brother,

I would give my finest frock

And my cabinet and stock

Of new playthings, every toy,

I would give them all with joy,

Could I you returning see

Back to English and to me.

 

1 odious   

adj.可憎的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• The judge described the crime as odious.法官称这一罪行令人发指。
• His character could best be described as odious.他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。

2 conceited   

adj.自负的，骄傲自满的

参考例句：

• He could not bear that they should be so conceited.他们这样自高自大他受不了。
• I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think.我不像很多人认为的那么自负。

3 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

4 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

5 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。