Cousin Nancy

Miss Nancy Ellicott

Strode across the hills and broke them,

Rode across the hills and broke them--

The barren New England hills--

Riding to hounds

Over the cow-pasture.

Miss Nancy Ellicott smoked

And danced all the modern dances;

And her aunts were not quite sure how they felt about it,

But they knew that it was modern.

Upon the glazen shelves kept watch

Matthew and Waldo*, guardians of the faith,

The army of unalterable law.

*(Matthew Arnold e Ralph Waldo Emerson)

- T.S. Eliot

Miss Nancy Ellicott
Caminhava pelas colinas e as quebrava,
Cavalgava pelas colinas e as quebrava—
As colinas áridas de New England—
Cavalgando até sabujos
Onde o gado pastava.

Miss Nancy Ellicott fumava
E dançava todas as danças modernas;
E suas tias não sabiam bem o que pensar sobre isso,
Mas sabiam que isso era moderno.

Sobre a estante envernizada Matthew e Waldo
Mantinham vigília, guardiões da crença,
O exército da lei inalterável.