A Parthian Glance.

“Sweet Memory, wafted¹ by thy gentle gale²,

Oft up the stream of time I turn my sail.”— ROGERS.

Come, my Crony, let’s think upon far-away days,

And lift up a little Oblivion’s veil;

Let’s consider the past with a lingering gaze,

Like a peacock whose eyes are inclined to his tail.

Aye, come, let us turn our attention behind,

Like those critics whose heads are so heavy, I fear,

That they cannot keep up with the march of the mind,

And so turn face about for reviewing the rear.

Looking over Time’s crupper and over his tail,

Oh, what ages and pages there are to revise!

And as farther our back-searching glances prevail,

Like the emmets, “how little we are in our eyes!”

What a sweet pretty innocent, half-a-yard long,

On a dimity lap of true nursery make!

I can fancy I hear the old lullaby song

That was meant to compose me, but kept me awake.

Methinks I still suffer the infantine throes,

When my flesh was a cushion for any long pin —

Whilst they patted my body to comfort my woes³,

Oh! how little they dreamt they were driving them in!

Infant sorrows are strong — infant pleasures as weak —

But no grief was allow’d to indulge in its note;

Did you ever attempt a small “bubble and squeak,”

Through the Dalby’s Carminative down in your throat?

Did you ever go up to the roof with a bounce?

Did you ever come down to the floor with the same?

Oh! I can’t but agree with bath ends, and pronounce

“Heads or tails,” with a child, an unpleasantish game!

Then an urchin⁴ — I see myself urchin indeed —

With a smooth Sunday face for a mother’s delight;

Why should weeks have an end? — I am sure there was need

Of a Sabbath, to follow each Saturday night.

Was your face ever sent to the housemaid to scrub?

Have you ever felt huckaback soften’d with sand?

Had you ever your nose towell’d up to a snub,

And your eyes knuckled⁵ out with the back of the hand?

Then a school-boy — my tailor was nothing in fault,

For an urchin will grow to a lad by degrees —

But how well I remember that “pepper-and-salt”

That was down to the elbows, and up to the knees!

What a figure it cut when as Norval I spoke⁶!

With a lanky⁷ right leg duly planted before;

Whilst I told of the chief that was kill’d by my stroke,

And extended my arms as “the arms that he wore!”

Next a Lover — Oh! say, were you ever in love?

With a lady too cold — and your bosom⁸ too hot?

Have you bow’d to a shoe-tie, and knelt to a glove,

Like a beau that desired to be tied in a knot?

With the Bride all in white, and your body in blue,

Did you walk up the aisle⁹ — the genteelest of men?

When I think of that beautiful vision anew,

Oh! I seem but the biffin of what I was then!

I am withered¹⁰ and worn by a premature¹¹ care,

And wrinkles confess the decline of my days;

Old Time’s busy hand has made free with my hair,

And I’m seeking to hide it — by writing for bays!

1 wafted   

v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The sound of their voices wafted across the lake. 他们的声音飘过湖面传到了另一边。
• A delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafted across the garden. 花园中飘过一股刚出炉面包的香味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

3 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

4 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。

5 knuckled   

v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的过去式和过去分词 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝

参考例句：

• He knuckled me in the chest. 他用指关节敲击我的胸部。 来自辞典例句
• Mr. Cruncher knuckled his forehead, as Sydney Carton and the spy returned from the dark room. 克朗彻先生用指关节敲敲自己的前额，这时西德尼 - 卡尔顿和密探从黑屋出来了。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

6 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。

7 lanky   

adj.瘦长的

参考例句：

• He was six feet four,all lanky and leggy.他身高6英尺4英寸，瘦高个儿，大长腿。
• Tom was a lanky boy with long skinny legs.汤姆是一个腿很细的瘦高个儿。

8 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

9 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

10 withered   

adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
• The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。

11 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。