Ode to Joseph Grimaldi, Senior.

“This fellow’s wise enough to play the fool,

And to do that well craves¹ a kind of wit.”

Twelfth Night.
1.

Joseph! they say thou’st left the stage,

To toddle² down the hill of life,

And taste the flannel’d ease of age,

Apart from pantomimic strife³ —

“Retir’d —(for Young would call it so)—

The world shut out”— in Pleasant Row!
2.

And hast thou really wash’d at last

From each white cheek the red half-moon!

And all thy public Clownship cast,

To play the private Pantaloon?

All youth — all ages — yet to be

Shall have a heavy miss of thee!
3.

Thou didst not preach to make us wise —

Thou hadst no finger in our schooling⁴ —

Thou didst not “lure us to the skies”—

Thy simple, simple trade was — Fooling!

And yet, Heav’n knows! we could — we can

Much “better spare a better man!”
4.

Oh, had it pleased the gout to take

The reverend Croly from the stage,

Or Southey, for our quiet’s sake,

Or Mr. Fletcher, Cupid’s sage⁵,

Or, damme! namby-pamby Poole —

Or any other clown or fool!
5.

Go, Dibdin — all that bear the name,

Go, Byeway Highway man! go! go!

Go, Skeffy — man of painted fame,

But leave thy partner, painted Joe!

I could bear Kirby on the wane⁶,

Or Signor Paulo with a sprain⁷!
6.

Had Joseph Wilfrid Parkins made

His gray hairs scarce in private peace —

Had Waithman sought a rural shade —

Or Cobbett ta’en a turnpike lease —

Or Lisle Bowles gone to Balaam Hill —

I think I could be cheerful still!
7.

Had Medwin left off, to his praise,

Dead lion kicking, like — a friend! —

Had long, long Irving gone his ways,

To Muse⁸ on death at Ponder’s End

Or Lady Morgan taken leave

Of Letters — still I might not grieve!
8.

But, Joseph — everybody’s Jo! —

Is gone — and grieve I will and must!

As Hamlet did for Yorick, so

Will I for thee (though not yet dust),

And talk as he did when he miss’d

The kissing-crust that he had kiss’d!
9.

Ah, where is now thy rolling head!

Thy winking⁹, reeling, drunken eyes,

(As old Catullus would have said),

Thy oven-mouth, that swallow’d pies —

Enormous hunger — monstrous¹¹ drowth!

Thy pockets greedy as thou mouth!
10.

Ah, where thy ears, so often cuff’d! —

Thy funny, flapping, filching¹² hands! —

Thy partridge body, always stuff’d

With waifs, and strays, and contrabands! —

Thy foot — like Berkeley’s Foote— for why?

’Twas often made to wipe an eye!
11.

Ah, where thy legs — that witty¹³ pair!

For “great wits jump”— and so did they!

Lord! how they leap’d in lamplight air!

Caper’d — and bounc’d — and strode away! —

That years should tame the legs — alack!

I’ve seen spring thro’ an Almanack!
12.

But bounds will have their bound — the shocks

Of Time will cramp¹⁴ the nimblest toes;

And those that frisk’d in silken clocks

May look to limp in fleecy hose —

One only —(Champion of the ring)

Could ever make his Winter — Spring!
13.

And gout, that owns no odds¹⁵ between

The toe of Czar and toe of Clown,

Will visit — but I did not mean

To moralize, though I am grown

Thus sad — Thy going seem’d to beat

A muffled¹⁶ drum for Fun’s retreat!
14.

And, may be —’tis no time to smother¹⁷

A sigh, when two prime wags of London

Are gone — thou, Joseph, one — the other

A Joe! —“sic transit¹⁸ gloria Munden!”

A third departure some insist on —

Stage-apoplexy threatens Liston! —
15.

Nay¹⁹, then, let Sleeping Beauty sleep

With ancient ”Dozey“ to the dregs —

Let Mother Goose wear mourning deep,

And put a hatchment o’er her eggs!

Let Farley weep — for Magic’s man

Is gone — his Christmas Caliban!
16.

Let Kemble, Forbes, and Willet rain,

As tho’ they walk’d behind thy bier —

For since thou wilt²⁰ not play again,

What matters — if in heav’n or here!

Or in thy grave, or in thy bed! —

There’s Quick might just as well be dead!
17.

Oh, how will thy departure cloud

The lamplight of the little breast!

The Christmas child will grieve aloud

To miss his broadest friend and best —

Poor urchin²¹! what avails to him

The cold New Monthly’s Ghost of Grimm?
18.

For who like thee could ever stride!

Some dozen paces to the mile! —

The motley, medley²² coach provide —

Or like Joe Frankenstein compile

The vegetable man complete! —

A proper Covent Garden feat²³!
19.

Oh, who like thee could ever drink,

Or eat — swill²⁴, swallow — bolt — and choke!

Nod, weep, and hiccup²⁵ — sneeze and wink¹⁰? —

Thy very yawn was quite a joke!

Tho’ Joseph, Junior, acts not ill,

“There’s no Fool like the old Fool” still!
20.

Joseph, farewell! dear funny Joe!

We met with mirth — we part in pain!

For many a long, long year must go

Ere Fun can see thy like again —

For Nature does not keep great stores

Of perfect Clowns — that are not Boors²⁶!

1 craves   

渴望，热望( crave的第三人称单数 )； 恳求，请求

参考例句：

• The tree craves calm but the wind will not drop. 树欲静而风不止。
• Victory would give him a passport to the riches he craves. 胜利将使他有机会获得自己梦寐以求的财富。

2 toddle   

v.（如小孩）蹒跚学步

参考例句：

• The baby has just learned to toddle.小孩子刚会走道儿。
• We watched the little boy toddle up purposefully to the refrigerator.我们看著那小男孩特意晃到冰箱前。

3 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

4 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

5 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

6 wane   

n.衰微，亏缺，变弱；v.变小，亏缺，呈下弦

参考例句：

• The moon is on the wane.月亮渐亏。
• Her enthusiasm for him was beginning to wane.她对他的热情在开始减退。

7 sprain   

n.扭伤,扭筋

参考例句：

• He got a foot sprain in his ankle. 他脚踝受了严重的扭伤。
• The sprain made my ankle swell up. 我的脚踝扭伤肿了起来。

8 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

9 winking   

n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• Anyone can do it; it's as easy as winking. 这谁都办得到，简直易如反掌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The stars were winking in the clear sky. 星星在明亮的天空中闪烁。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

11 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

12 filching   

v.偷（尤指小的或不贵重的物品）( filch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boys were in the habit of filching fruit from the peddler's carts. 那些男孩们有偷小贩车上水果的习惯。 来自互联网

13 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

14 cramp   

n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚

参考例句：

• Winston stopped writing,partly because he was suffering from cramp.温斯顿驻了笔，手指也写麻了。
• The swimmer was seized with a cramp and had to be helped out of the water.那个在游泳的人突然抽起筋来，让别人帮着上了岸。

15 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

16 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 smother   

vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息

参考例句：

• They tried to smother the flames with a damp blanket.他们试图用一条湿毯子去灭火。
• We tried to smother our laughter.我们强忍住笑。

18 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

19 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

20 wilt   

v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱

参考例句：

• Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。
• Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。

21 urchin   

n.顽童；海胆

参考例句：

• You should sheer off the urchin.你应该躲避这顽童。
• He is a most wicked urchin.他是个非常调皮的顽童。

22 medley   

n.混合

参考例句：

• Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
• China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。

23 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

24 swill   

v.冲洗；痛饮；n.泔脚饲料；猪食；（谈话或写作中的）无意义的话

参考例句：

• Having finished his coffee,he swilled out the mug and left it on the draining board.喝完咖啡后，他涮了涮杯子然后把它放在滴水板上。
• A crowd of men were standing around swilling beer.一群人正站在一起痛饮啤酒。

25 hiccup   

n.打嗝

参考例句：

• When you have to hiccup,drink a glass of cold water.当你不得不打嗝时，喝一杯冷水就好了。
• How long did he hiccup?他打嗝打了多久？

26 boors   

n.农民( boor的名词复数 )；乡下佬；没礼貌的人；粗野的人

参考例句：

• We painters are no match for boors. We are glass, and they are stone. 我们画家比不过他们粗人。我们是玻璃，他们是石头。 来自辞典例句
• OK, boors, have a ball. 好吧，伙计们，拿起球来。 来自互联网