Go, Little Book — The Ancient Phrase

GO, little book — the ancient phrase

And still the daintiest — go your ways,

My Otto, over sea and land,

Till you shall come to Nelly’s hand.

How shall I your Nelly know?

By her blue eyes and her black brow,

By her fierce and slender look,

And by her goodness, little book!

What shall I say when I come there?

You shall speak her soft and fair:

See — you shall say — the love they send

To greet their unforgotten friend!

Giant Adulpho you shall sing

The next, and then the cradled king:

And the four corners of the roof

Then kindly¹ bless; and to your perch² aloof³,

Where Balzac all in yellow dressed

And the dear Webster of the west

Encircle the prepotent throne

Of Shakespeare and of Calderon,

Shall climb an upstart.

There with these

You shall give ear to breaking seas

And windmills turning in the breeze,

A distant undetermined din⁴

Without; and you shall hear within

The blazing and the bickering⁵ logs,

The crowing child, the yawning dogs,

And ever agile⁶, high and low,

Our Nelly going to and fro.

There shall you all silent sit,

Till, when perchance the lamp is lit

And the day’s labour done, she takes

Poor Otto down, and, warming for our sakes,

Perchance beholds⁷, alive and near,

Our distant faces reappear.

1 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

2 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

3 aloof   

adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的

参考例句：

• Never stand aloof from the masses.千万不可脱离群众。
• On the evening the girl kept herself timidly aloof from the crowd.这小女孩在晚会上一直胆怯地远离人群。

4 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

5 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 agile   

adj.敏捷的，灵活的

参考例句：

• She is such an agile dancer!她跳起舞来是那么灵巧！
• An acrobat has to be agile.杂技演员必须身手敏捷。

7 beholds   

v.看，注视( behold的第三人称单数 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• He who beholds the gods against their will, shall atone for it by a heavy penalty. 谁违背神的意志看见了神，就要受到重罚以赎罪。 来自辞典例句
• All mankind has gazed on it; Man beholds it from afar. 25?所行的，万人都看见；世人都从远处观看。 来自互联网