Mary Lamb
A Creole boy from the West Indies brought,
To be in European learning taught,
Some years before to Westminster he went,
To a Preparatory school was sent.
When from his artless tale the mistress found,
The child had not one friend on English ground,
She ev’n as if she his own mother were,
Made the dark Indian her particular care.
Oft on her favourite’s future lot she thought;
To know the bent of his young mind she sought,
For much the kind preceptress wished to find,
To what profession he was most inclined,
That where his genius led they might him train;
For nature’s kindly bent she held not vain.
But vain her efforts to explore his will;
The frequent question he evaded still;
Till on a day at length he to her came,
Joy sparkling in his eyes; and said, the same,
Trade he would be those boys of colour were,
Who danced so happy in the open air.
It was a troop of chimney-sweeping boys,
With wooden music and obstreperous noise,
In tarnish’d finery and grotesque array,
Were dancing in the streets the first of May.
1.Answer the following questions according to your understanding of the poem.
1)What is the relationship between “she”and the Creole boy?
2)What do “mistress”and “preceptress”refer to?
3)What are the characteristics of the lady described in the poem?
4)What influence does this lady give to the boy?
5)What were the common professions for women when the poem was written?
2.Read the poem and translate it into Chinese.
Proper Names
Vienna 維也納
Berlin 柏林
Shakespeare 莎士比亞
Queen Victoria 維多利亞女王
Notes
1. Virginia Woolf (1882-1941):She was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the 20th century.Her most famous works include the novels Mrs Dalloway(1925), To the Lighthouse(1927) and Orlando(1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One’s Own(1929).