Playing at Soldiers.

“Who’ll serve the King?”

What little urchin¹ is there never

Hath had that early scarlet² fever,

Of martial³ trappings caught?

Trappings well call’d — because they trap

And catch full many a country chap

To go where fields are fought!

What little urchin with a rag

Hath never made a little flag

(Our plate will show the manner),

And wooed each tiny neighbor still,

Tommy or Harry⁴, Dick or Will,

To come beneath the banner!

Just like that ancient shape of mist,

In Hamlet, crying “‘List, oh, ‘list!”

Come, who will serve the king,

And strike frog-eating Frenchmen dead,

And cut off Bonyparty’s head? —

And all that sort of thing.

So used I, when I was a boy,

To march with military toy,

And ape the soldier’s life; —

And with a whistle or a hum,

I thought myself a Duke of Drum

At least, or Earl of Fife.

With gun of tin and sword of lath,

Lord! how I walk’d in glory’s path

With regimental mates,

By sound of trump⁵ and rub-a dubs⁶ —

To ‘siege the washhouse — charge the tubs —

Or storm the garden gates.

Ah me! my retrospective soul!

As over memory’s muster-roll

I cast my eyes anew,

My former comrades all the while

Rise up before me, rank and file,

And form in dim review.

Ay, there they stand, and dress in line,

Lubbock, and Fenn, and David Vine,

And dark “Jamaeky Forde!”

And limping Wood, and “Cockey Hawes,”

Our captain always made, because

He had a real sword!

Long Lawrence, Natty⁷ Smart, and Soame,

Who said he had a gun at home,

But that was all a brag⁸;

Ned Ryder, too, that used to sham⁹

A prancing¹⁰ horse, and big Sam Lamb

That would hold up the flag!

Tom Anderson, and “Dunny White,”

Who never right-abouted right,

For he was deaf and dumb;

Jack¹¹ Pike, Jem Crack, and Sandy Gray,

And Dickey Bird, that wouldn’t play

Unless he had the drum.

And Peter Holt, and Charley Jepp,

A chap that never kept the step —

No more did “Surly Hugh;”

Bob Harrington, and “Fighting Jim”—

We often had to halt for him,

To let him tie his shoe.

“Quarrelsome Scott,” and Martin Dick,

That kill’d the bantam cock, to stick

The plumes¹² within his hat;

Bill Hook, and little Tommy Grout,

That got so thump’d for calling out

“Eyes right!” to “Squinting Matt.”

Dan Simpson, that, with Peter Dodd,

Was always in the awkward squad¹³,

And those two greedy Blakes

That took our money to the fair,

To buy the corps¹⁴ a trumpet¹⁵ there,

And laid it out in cakes.

Where are they now? — an open war

With open mouth declaring for? —

Or fall’n in bloody¹⁶ fray¹⁷?

Compell’d to tell the truth I am,

Their fights all ended with the sham —

Their soldiership in play.

Brave Soame sends cheeses out in trucks,

And Martin sells the cock he plucks,

And Jepp now deals in wine;

Harrington bears a lawyer’s bag,

And warlike Lamb retains his flag,

But on a tavern¹⁸ sign.

They tell me Cockey Hawes’s sword

Is seen upon a broker’s board:

And as for “Fighting Jim,”

In Bishopsgate, last Whitsuntide,

His unresisting cheek I spied

Beneath a Quaker brim!

Quarrelsome Scott is in the church,

For Ryder now your eye must search

The marts of silk and lace —

Bird’s drums are filled with figs¹⁹, and mute,

And I— I’ve got a substitute

To Soldier in my place!

1 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。

2 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

3 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 dubs   

v.给…起绰号( dub的第三人称单数 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

7 natty   

adj.整洁的，漂亮的

参考例句：

• Cliff was a natty dresser.克利夫是讲究衣着整洁美观的人。
• Please keep this office natty and use the binaries provided.请保持办公室整洁，使用所提供的垃圾箱。

8 brag   

v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的

参考例句：

• He made brag of his skill.他夸耀自己技术高明。
• His wealth is his brag.他夸张他的财富。

9 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

10 prancing   

v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lead singer was prancing around with the microphone. 首席歌手手执麦克风，神气地走来走去。
• The King lifted Gretel on to his prancing horse and they rode to his palace. 国王把格雷特尔扶上腾跃着的马，他们骑马向天宫走去。 来自辞典例句

11 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

12 plumes   

羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物

参考例句：

• The dancer wore a headdress of pink ostrich plumes. 那位舞蹈演员戴着粉色鸵鸟毛制作的头饰。
• The plumes on her bonnet barely moved as she nodded. 她点点头，那帽子的羽毛在一个劲儿颤动。

13 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

14 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

15 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

16 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

17 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

18 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

19 figs   

figures 数字，图形，外形

参考例句：

• The effect of ring dyeing is shown in Figs 10 and 11. 环形染色的影响如图10和图11所示。
• The results in Figs. 4 and 5 show the excellent agreement between simulation and experiment. 图4和图5的结果都表明模拟和实验是相当吻合的。