Lines to Mary.

Old Bailey Ballads¹.

(At No. 1, Newgate. Favored by Mr. Wontner.)

O Mary, I believed you true,

And I was blest in so believing;

But till this hour I never knew —

That you were taken up for thieving!

Oh! when I snatch’d a tender kiss,

Or some such trifle when I courted,

You said, indeed, that love was bliss²,

But never owned you were transported!

But then to gaze on that fair face —

It would have been an unfair feeling

To dream that you had pilfered³ lace —

And Flint’s had suffered from your stealing!

Or when my suit I first preferred,

To bring your coldness to repentance⁴,

Before I hammer’d out a word,

How could I dream you heard a sentence!

Or when with all the warmth of youth

I strove to prove my love no fiction,

How could I guess I urged a truth

On one already past conviction!

How could I dream that ivory part,

Your hand — where I have look’d and linger’d,

Altho’ it stole away my heart,

Had been held up as one light-fingered!

In melting verse your charms I drew,

The charms in which my muse⁵ delighted —

Alas⁶! the lay I thought was new.

Spoke⁷ only what had been indicted⁸!

Oh! when that form, a lovely one,

Hung on the neck its arms had flown to,

I little thought that you had run

A chance of hanging on your own too.

You said you pick’d me from the world,

My vanity it now must shock it —

And down at once my pride is hurled⁹,

You’ve pick’d me — and you’ve pick’d a pocket!

Oh! when our love had got so far,

The banns were read by Doctor Daly,

Who asked if there was any bar —

Why did not some one shout “Old Bailey”?

But when you robed your flesh and bones

In that pure white that angel garb¹⁰ is,

Who could have thought you, Mary Jones,

Among the Joans that link with Darbies?

And when the parson came to say,

My goods were yours, if I had got any,

And you should honor and obey,

Who could have thought —“O Bay of Botany!”

But oh! — the worst of all your slips

I did not till this day discover —

That down in Deptford’s prison ships,

O Mary! you’ve a hulking lover!

1 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

2 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

3 pilfered   

v.偷窃（小东西），小偷( pilfer的过去式和过去分词 )；偷窃（一般指小偷小摸）

参考例句：

• Oh, I remember. Lost, pilfered, short-shipped or something. 噢，我想起来了，是有关遗失、被盗、短缺之类的事。 来自商贸英语会话
• The pilfered was let off with some good advice. 小偷经教育后释放。 来自互联网

4 repentance   

n.懊悔

参考例句：

• He shows no repentance for what he has done.他对他的所作所为一点也不懊悔。
• Christ is inviting sinners to repentance.基督正在敦请有罪的人悔悟。

5 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。

6 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。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

9 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 garb   

n.服装，装束

参考例句：

• He wore the garb of a general.他身着将军的制服。
• Certain political,social,and legal forms reappear in seemingly different garb.一些政治、社会和法律的形式在表面不同的外衣下重复出现。