Domestic Didactics. By an Old Servant.

1.
The Broken Dish.

What’s life but full of care and doubt

With all its fine humanities,

With parasols we walk about,

Long pigtails, and such vanities.

We plant pomegranate trees and things,

And go in gardens sporting,

With toys and fans of peacocks’ wings,

To painted ladies courting.

We gather flowers of every hue¹,

And fish in boats for fishes,

Build summer-houses painted blue —

But life’s as frail² as dishes!

Walking about their groves³ of trees,

Blue bridges and blue rivers,

How little thought them two Chinese,

They’d both be smashed to shivers!
2.
Ode to Peace.
Written on the night of my mistress’s Grand Rout⁴.

Oh Peace, oh come with me and dwell —

But stop, for there’s the bell.

Oh Peace! for thee I go and sit in churches

On Wednesday, when there’s very few

In loft⁵ or pew —

Another ring, the tarts⁶ are come from Birch’s.

Oh Peace! for thee I have avoided marriage —

Hush⁷! there’s a carriage.

Oh Peace! thou art the best of earthly goods —

The five Miss Woods!

Oh Peace! thou art the goddess I adore —

There come some more.

Oh Peace! thou child of solitude⁸ and quiet —

That’s Lord Dunn’s footman, for he loves a riot!

Oh Peace!

Knocks will not cease.

Oh Peace! thou wert for human comfort plann’d —

That’s Weippert’s band.

Oh Peace! how glad I welcome thy approaches —

I hear the sound of coaches.

Oh Peace! oh Peace! another carriage stops —

It’s early for the Blenkinsops.

Oh Peace! with thee I love to wander,

But wait till I have showed up Lady Squander⁹,

And now I’ve seen her up the stair,

Oh Peace! — but here comes Captain Hare.

Oh Peace! thou art the slumber¹⁰ of the mind,

Untroubled, calm and quiet, and unbroken —

If that is Alderman Guzzle¹¹ from Portsoken,

Alderman Gobble won’t be far behind.

Oh Peace! serene¹² in worldly shyness —

Make way there for his Serene Highness!

Oh Peace! if you do not disdain¹³

To dwell amongst the menial train,

I have a silent place and lone¹⁴,

That you and I may call our own;

Where tumult¹⁵ never makes an entry —

Susan! what business have you in my pantry?

Oh Peace! but there is Major Monk¹⁶,

At variance¹⁷ with his wife — Oh Peace!

And that great German, Vander Trunk,

And that great talker, Miss Apreece;

Oh Peace! so dear to poet’s quills¹⁸ —

Oh Peace! our greatest renovator¹⁹;

I wonder where I put my waiter —

Oh Peace! but here my Ode I’ll cease,

I have no peace to write of Peace!
3.
A Few Lines on Completing Forty-seven.

When I reflect with serious sense,

While years and years run on,

How soon I may be summoned hence —

There’s cook a-calling John.

Our lives are built so frail and poor,

On sand and not on rocks,

We’re hourly standing²⁰ at Death’s door —

There’s some one double knocks.

All human days have settled terms,

Our fates we cannot force;

This flesh of mine will feed the worms —

They’re come to lunch of course!

And when my body’s turned to clay,

And dear friends hear my knell²¹,

Oh let them give a sigh and say —

I hear the upstairs bell!
4.
To Mary Housemaid, on Valentine’s Day.

Mary, you know I’ve no love nonsense,

And though I pen on such a day,

I don’t mean flirting²², on my conscience,

Or writing in the courting way.

Though Beauty hasn’t formed your feature,

It saves you p’rhaps from being vain,

And many a poor unhappy creature

May wish that she was half as plain.

Your virtues²³ would not rise an inch,

Although your shape was two foot taller,

And wisely you let others pinch

Great waists and feet to make them smaller.

You never try to spare your hands

From getting red by household duty,

But doing all that it commands,

Their coarseness is a moral beauty.

Let Susan flourish her fair arms,

And at your old legs sneer²⁴ and scoff²⁵,

But let her laugh, for you have charms

That nobody knows nothing of.

1 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

2 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

3 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

4 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

5 loft   

n.阁楼，顶楼

参考例句：

• We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs.我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
• By converting the loft,they were able to have two extra bedrooms.把阁楼改造一下，他们就可以多出两间卧室。

6 tarts   

n.果馅饼( tart的名词复数 )；轻佻的女人；妓女；小妞

参考例句：

• I decided to make some tarts for tea. 我决定做些吃茶点时吃的果馅饼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They ate raspberry tarts and ice cream. 大家吃着木莓馅饼和冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

7 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

8 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

9 squander   

v.浪费，挥霍

参考例句：

• Don't squander your time in reading those dime novels.不要把你的时间浪费在读那些胡编乱造的廉价小说上。
• Every chance is precious，so don't squander any chance away!每次机会都很宝贵，所以不要将任何一个白白放走。

10 slumber   

n.睡眠，沉睡状态

参考例句：

• All the people in the hotels were wrapped in deep slumber.住在各旅馆里的人都已进入梦乡。
• Don't wake him from his slumber because he needs the rest.不要把他从睡眠中唤醒，因为他需要休息。

11 guzzle   

v.狂饮，暴食

参考例句：

• Melissa had guzzled gin and tonics like they were lemonade.梅利莎像喝柠檬汽水一样大口地喝着加奎宁水的杜松子酒。
• Pigs guzzle their food.猪总是狼吞虎咽地吃东西。

12 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

13 disdain   

n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑

参考例句：

• Some people disdain labour.有些人轻视劳动。
• A great man should disdain flatterers.伟大的人物应鄙视献媚者。

14 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

15 tumult   

n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹

参考例句：

• The tumult in the streets awakened everyone in the house.街上的喧哗吵醒了屋子里的每一个人。
• His voice disappeared under growing tumult.他的声音消失在越来越响的喧哗声中。

16 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

17 variance   

n.矛盾，不同

参考例句：

• The question of woman suffrage sets them at variance. 妇女参政的问题使他们发生争执。
• It is unnatural for brothers to be at variance. 兄弟之间不睦是不近人情的。

18 quills   

n.（刺猬或豪猪的）刺( quill的名词复数 )；羽毛管；翮；纡管

参考例句：

• Quills were the chief writing implement from the 6th century AD until the advent of steel pens in the mid 19th century. 从公元6世纪到19世纪中期钢笔出现以前，羽毛笔是主要的书写工具。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defensive quills dot the backs of these troublesome creatures. 防御性的刺长在这些讨人厌的生物背上。 来自互联网

19 renovator   

革新者

参考例句：

20 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

21 knell   

n.丧钟声；v.敲丧钟

参考例句：

• That is the death knell of the British Empire.这是不列颠帝国的丧钟。
• At first he thought it was a death knell.起初，他以为是死亡的丧钟敲响了。

22 flirting   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Don't take her too seriously; she's only flirting with you. 别把她太当真，她只不过是在和你调情罢了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• 'she's always flirting with that new fellow Tseng!" “她还同新来厂里那个姓曾的吊膀子！ 来自子夜部分

23 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

24 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

25 scoff   

n.嘲笑，笑柄，愚弄；v.嘲笑，嘲弄，愚弄，狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• You are not supposed to scoff at religion.你不该嘲弄宗教。
• He was the scoff of the town.他成为全城的笑柄。