Don Juan 

Some Passages from the Poem

From Canto I

LIV

Young Juan now was sixteen years of age,

Tall, handsome, slender, but well knit: he seem'd

Active, though not so sprightly, as a page;

And everybody but his mother deem'd

Him almost man; but she flew in a rage

And bit her lips (for else she might have scream'd)

If any said so, for to be precocious

Was in her eyes a thing the most atrocious.

slender

seem'd

sprightly

deem'd

rage

precocious

atrocious

thin

seemed

energetic

thought of/considered

extreme anger

intelligent (or early-developed)

terrible

LV

 Amongst her numerous acquaintance, all

Selected for discretion and devotion,

There was the Donna Julia, whom to call

Pretty were but to give a feeble notion

Of many charms in her as natural

As sweetness to the flower, or salt to ocean,

Her zone to Venus, or his bow to Cupid

(But this last simile is trite and stupid).[...]

amongst

numerous

acquaintance

discretion

devotion

were but

feeble

notion

trite

among

many

casual friend/knowledge

(ability to make wise decisions)

loving loyalty

were only

weak

idea/plan

boring

LXII

Wedded she was some years, and to a man

Of fifty, and such husbands are in plenty;

And yet, I think, instead of such a ONE

'T were better to have TWO of five-and-twenty,

Especially in countries near the sun:

And now I think on 't, 'mi vien in mente,'

Ladies even of the most uneasy virtue

Prefer a spouse whose age is short of thirty.[...]

virtue

spouse

trite

good thing/excellence/advantage

(husband or wife)

boring

CXXXVI

'T was midnight-Donna Julia was in bed,

Sleeping, most probably,-when at her door

Arose a clatter might awake the dead,

If they had never been awoke before,

And that they have been so we all have read,

And are to be so, at the least, once more.--

The door was fasten'd, but with voice and fist

First knocks were heard, then 'Madam-Madam-hist!

T was

arose

clatter

fasten'd

it was

rose up

noise

fastened

CXXXVII

'For God's sake, Madam-Madam-here 's my master,

With more than half the city at his back-

Was ever heard of such a curst disaster!

'T is not my fault-I kept good watch-Alack!

Do pray undo the bolt a little faster-

They 're on the stair just now, and in a crack

Will all be here; perhaps he yet may fly-

Surely the window 's not so very high!'[...]

sake

T is

alack

perhaps

fasten'd

benefit (of something or someone)

it is

(what a shame!)

maybe

fastened

CXLII

Now Julia found at length a voice, and cried,

'In heaven's name, Don Alfonso, what d' ye mean?

Has madness seized you? would that I had died

Ere such a monster's victim I had been!

What may this midnight violence betide,

A sudden fit of drunkenness or spleen?

Dare you suspect me, whom the thought would kill?

Search, then, the room!'-Alfonso said, 'I will.'

ye

seized

ere

betide

spleen

you

grabbed and took control of

before

happen to

(organ that stores blood)

CXLIII

He search'd, they search'd, and rummaged everywhere,

Closet and clothes' press, chest and window-seat,

And found much linen, lace, and several pair

Of stockings, slippers, brushes, combs, complete,

With other articles of ladies fair,

To keep them beautiful, or leave them neat:

Arras they prick'd and curtains with their swords,

And wounded several shutters, and some boards.

search'd

several

arras

prick'd

searched

(more than two, but not a lot of)

hanging wall curtain

pricked

CXLIV

Under the bed they search'd, and there they found-

No matter what-it was not that they sought;

They open'd windows, gazing if the ground

Had signs or footmarks, but the earth said nought;

And then they stared each other's faces round:

'T is odd, not one of all these seekers thought,

And seems to me almost a sort of blunder,

Of looking in the bed as well as under.[...]

search'd

sought

open'd

gazing

nought

T is

seekers

blunder

searched

searched for/tried to get

opened

looking

nothing

it is

searchers (for something)

mistake

CLXXX

Alfonso closed his speech, and begg'd her pardon,

Which Julia half withheld, and then half granted,

And laid conditions he thought very hard on,

Denying several little things he wanted:

He stood like Adam lingering near his garden,

With useless penitence perplex'd and haunted,

Beseeching she no further would refuse,

When, lo! he stumbled o'er a pair of shoes.

withheld

several

lingering

penitence

perplex

beseeching

stumbled

o'er

held back

(more than two, but not a lot of)

(staying around; not going away)

sorrow for sin

confuse

begging

(tripped while walking/made a mistake)

over

CLXXXI

A pair of shoes!-what then? not much, if they

Are such as fit with ladies' feet, but these

(No one can tell how much I grieve to say)

Were masculine; to see them, and to seize,

Was but a moment's act.-Ah! well-a-day!

My teeth begin to chatter, my veins freeze-

Alfonso first examined well their fashion,

And then flew out into another passion.

grieve

seize

was but

chatter

suffer (because of death)

grab and take control of

was only

talk

CLXXXII

He left the room for his relinquish'd sword,

And Julia instant to the closet flew.

'Fly, Juan, fly! for heaven's sake-not a word-

The door is open-you may yet slip through

The passage you so often have explored-

Here is the garden-key-Fly-fly-Adieu!

Haste-haste! I hear Alfonso's hurrying feet-

Day has not broke-there 's no one in the street:

relinquish

for heaven's sake

adieu

haste

give up

so heaven remains a good place

goodbye

(hurrying/foolish rushing)

CLXXXIII

None can say that this was not good advice,

The only mischief was, it came too late;

Of all experience 't is the usual price,

A sort of income-tax laid on by fate:

Juan had reach'd the room-door in a. trice,

And might have done so by the garden-gate,

But met Alfonso in his dressing-gown,

Who threaten'd death-so Juan knock'd him down.[...]

advice

t is

fate

reach'd

(opinions about what could or should be done about a situation)

it is

(the) unavoidable, already-decided future

reached

LnT recommends

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