The Widow.

One widow at a grave will sob¹

A little while, and weep, and sigh!

If two should meet on such a job,

They’ll have a gossip by and by.

If three should come together — why,

Three widows are good company!

If four should meet by any chance,

Four is a number very nice,

To have a rubber in a trice —

But five will up and have a dance!

Poor Mrs. C—— (why should I not

Declare her name? — her name was Cross)

Was one of those the “common lot”

Had left to weep “no common loss”;

For she had lately buried then

A man, the “very best of men,”

A lingering truth, discovered first

Whenever men “are at the worst.”

To take the measure of her woe²,

It was some dozen inches deep —

I mean in crape, and hung so low,

It hid the drops she did not weep:

In fact, what human life appears,

It was a perfect “veil of tears.”

Though ever since she lost “her prop³

And stay”— alas⁴! he wouldn’t stay —

She never had a tear to mop,

Except one little angry drop

From Passion’s eye, as Moore would say,

Because, when Mister Cross took flight,

It looked so very like a spite —

He died upon a washing-day!

Still Widow Cross went twice a week,

As if “to wet a widows’ cheek,”

And soothe⁵ his grave with sorrow’s gravy⁶ —

’Twas nothing but a make-believe,

She might as well have hoped to grieve

Enough of brine to float a navy;

And yet she often seemed to raise

A cambric kerchief to her eye —

A duster ought to be the phrase,

Its work was all so very dry.

The springs were locked that ought to flow —

In England or in widow-woman —

As those that watch the weather know,

Such “backward Springs” are not uncommon⁷.

But why did Widow Cross take pains

To call upon the “dear remains⁸”—

Remains that could not tell a jot⁹

Whether she ever wept or not,

Or how his relict took her losses?

Oh! my black ink turns red for shame —

But still the naughty world must learn,

There was a little German came

To shed a tear in “Anna’s Urn,”

At the next grave to Mr. Cross’s!

For there an angel’s virtues¹⁰ slept,

“Too soon did Heaven assert its claim!”

But still her painted face he kept,

“Encompassed in an angel’s frame.”

He looked quite sad and quite deprived,

His head was nothing but a hat-band;

He looked so lone¹¹, and so unwived,

That soon the Widow Cross contrived¹²

To fall in love with even that band!

And all at once the brackish¹³ juices

Came gushing¹⁴ out thro’ sorrow’s sluices¹⁵ —

Tear after tear too fast to wipe,

Tho’ sopped¹⁶, and sopped, and sopped again —

No leak in sorrow’s private pipe,

But like a bursting on the main!

Whoe’er has watched the window-pane —

I mean to say in showery weather —

Has seen two little drops of rain,

Like lovers very fond and fain,

At one another creeping, creeping,

Till both, at last, embrace together:

So fared it with that couple’s weeping!

The principle was quite as active —

Tear unto tear

Kept drawing near,

Their very blacks became attractive.

To cut a shortish story shorter,

Conceive them sitting tête-à-tête—

Two cups — hot muffins on a plate —

With “Anna’s Urn” to hold hot water!

The brazen¹⁷ vessel¹⁸ for awhile

Had lectured in an easy song,

Like Abernethy — on the bile —

The scalded herb was getting strong;

All seemed as smooth as smooth could be,

To have a cosy¹⁹ cup of tea.

Alas! how often human sippers

With unexpected bitters meet,

And buds, the sweetest of the sweet,

Like sugar, only meet the nippers!

The Widow Cross, I should have told,

Had seen three husbands to the mould:

She never sought an Indian pyre,

Like Hindoo wives that lose their loves;

But, with a proper sense of fire,

Put up, instead, with “three removes.”

Thus, when with any tender words

Or tears she spoke²⁰ about her loss,

The dear departed Mr. Cross

Came in for nothing but his thirds;

For, as all widows love too well,

She liked upon the list to dwell,

And oft ripped up the old disasters.

She might, indeed, have been supposed

A great ship owner; for she prosed

Eternally of her Three Masters!

Thus, foolish woman! while she nursed

Her mild souchong, she talked and reckoned

What had been left her by her first,

And by her last, and by her second.

Alas! not all her annual rents

Could then entice²¹ the little German —

Not Mr. Cross’s Three per Cents,

Or Consols, ever make him her man.

He liked her cash, he liked her houses,

But not that dismal²² bit of land

She always settled on her spouses²³.

So taking up his hat and band,

Said he, “You’ll think my conduct odd —

But here my hopes no more may linger;

I thought you had a wedding-finger,

But oh! — it is a curtain-rod!”

1 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

2 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

3 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

4 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。

5 soothe   

v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承

参考例句：

• I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
• This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。

6 gravy   

n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快

参考例句：

• You have spilled gravy on the tablecloth.你把肉汁泼到台布上了。
• The meat was swimming in gravy.肉泡在浓汁之中。

7 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 jot   

n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下

参考例句：

• I'll jot down their address before I forget it.我得赶快把他们的地址写下来，免得忘了。
• There is not a jot of evidence to say it does them any good.没有丝毫的证据显示这对他们有任何好处。

10 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。

11 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。

12 contrived   

adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的

参考例句：

• There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。
• The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。

13 brackish   

adj.混有盐的；咸的

参考例句：

• Brackish waters generally support only a small range of faunas.咸水水域通常只能存活为数不多的几种动物。
• The factory has several shallow pools of brackish water.工厂有几个浅的咸水池。

14 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 sluices   

n.水闸( sluice的名词复数 )；（用水闸控制的）水；有闸人工水道；漂洗处v.冲洗( sluice的第三人称单数 )；（指水）喷涌而出；漂净；给…安装水闸

参考例句：

• Excess water will drain through sluices into the sea. 过剩的水将会通过水闸排放到海里去。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）
• The sluices had already been opened, and with every day the floods were spreading. 水闸已经打开，洪水逐日奔流。 来自辞典例句

16 sopped   

adj.湿透的，浸透的v.将（面包等）在液体中蘸或浸泡( sop的过去式和过去分词 )；用海绵、布等吸起（液体等）

参考例句：

• The servant sopped up the water with a towel. 佣人用毛巾揩去水。 来自辞典例句
• She sopped up the spilt milk with a cloth. 她用一块布抹去溢出的牛奶。 来自辞典例句

17 brazen   

adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的

参考例句：

• The brazen woman laughed loudly at the judge who sentenced her.那无耻的女子冲着给她判刑的法官高声大笑。
• Some people prefer to brazen a thing out rather than admit defeat.有的人不愿承认失败，而是宁肯厚着脸皮干下去。

18 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

19 cosy   

adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的

参考例句：

• We spent a cosy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
• It was so warm and cosy in bed that Simon didn't want to get out.床上温暖而又舒适，西蒙简直不想下床了。

20 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。

21 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

22 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

23 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句