THE MAHOGANY TREE

 Christmas is here:

Winds whistle shrill¹,

Icy and chill,

Little care we:

Little we fear

Weather without,

Sheltered about

The Mahogany Tree

 

 

Once on the boughs²

Birds of rare plume³

Sang, in its bloom;

Night-birds are we:

Here we carouse⁴,

Singing like them,

Perched round the stem

Of the jolly old tree.

 

 

Here let us sport,

Boys, as we sit;

Laughter and wit

Flashing so free.

Life is but short—

When we are gone,

Let them sing on

Round the old tree.

 

Evenings we knew,

Happy as this;

Faces we miss,

Pleasant to see.

Kind hearts and true,

Gentle and just,

Peace to your dust!

We sing round the tree.

 

 

Care, like a dun,

Lurks⁵ at the gate:

Let the dog wait;

Happy we'll be!

Drink, every one;

Pile up the coals,

Fill the red bowls,

Round the old tree!

 

Drain we the cup—

Friend, art afraid?

Spirits are laid

In the Red Sea.

Mantle⁶ it up;

Empty it yet;

Let us forget,

Round the old tree.

 

Sorrows, begone!

Life and its ills,

Duns and their bills,

Bid we to flee.

Come with the dawn,

Blue-devil sprite.

Leave us to-night,

Round the old tree.

1 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

2 boughs   

大树枝( bough的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The green boughs glittered with all their pearls of dew. 绿枝上闪烁着露珠的光彩。
• A breeze sighed in the higher boughs. 微风在高高的树枝上叹息着。

3 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

4 carouse   

v.狂欢；痛饮；n.狂饮的宴会

参考例句：

• I am just enjoying carouse.我正在尽情地享受狂欢呢。
• His followers did not carouse,like the troops of many warlord armies.他的部下也不象许多军阀的军队那样大吃大喝。

5 lurks   

n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Behind his cool exterior lurks a reckless and frustrated person. 在冷酷的外表背后，他是一个鲁莽又不得志的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Good fortune lies within Bad, Bad fortune lurks within good. 福兮祸所倚，祸兮福所伏。 来自互联网

6 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。