to strike a gait The original sentence is Nothing to strike but a gait gen.

[alex1945]

Please help to translate.

Phrase is used in the following sentence:

Thanks in advance

[johnstephenson]

It's from a US literary work. I don't know which one as I know very little about literature; you'll need to ask someone who does. It's not used in everyday English, at least in the UK.

[натрикс]

ask Mr Google, he does know everything :)
отличный стих, кстати...
http://www.bartleby.com/380/poem/269.html

[Tamerlane]

The Poem (by Benjamin Franklin King)

Nothing to do but work,
Nothing to eat but food,
Nothing to wear but clothes
To keep one from going nude.

Nothing to breathe but air
Quick as a flash 't is gone;
Nowhere to fall but off,
Nowhere to stand but on.

Nothing to comb but hair,
Nowhere to sleep but in bed,
Nothing to weep but tears,
Nothing to bury but dead.

Nothing to sing but songs,
Ah, well, alas! alack!
Nowhere to go but out,
Nowhere to come but back.

Nothing to see but sights,
Nothing to quench but thirst,
Nothing to have but what we've got;
Thus thro' life we are cursed.

Nothing to strike but a gait;
Everything moves that goes.
Nothing at all but common sense
Can ever withstand these woes

Ниже там автор статьи растолковывает вещи, озвученные автором стиха.
http://poems.wikia.com/wiki/The_Pessimist

"Nothing to strike but a gait, which means that whenever we strike, it's a pose."

(to) strike a pose
to position oneself in a certain posture.
Bob struck a pose in front of the mirror to see how much he had bulked up. Lisa walked into the room and struck a pose, hoping she would be noticed.
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/strike+a+pose

[Tamerlane]

Получается, пессимисты всё видят в чёрном и белом?

[Tamerlane]

Здесь игра слов. Слово предоставляется великим поэтам форума.

[интровверт]

если аскер не понимает, что без контекста хороших ответов на такой вопрос быть не может, значит уровень его вдумчивости близок к нулю
кто хочет - помогайте такому аскеру, напрягайтесь

[натрикс]

дык непонятно, что тому аскеру надо.
может хотел узнать, откуда цытату выдрали - узнал. нашли ему стих, почитали, похвалили, стих реально очень хороший.
хотел перевесть? предложение - дословно переводим, смотрим контекст. хотя непонятно нафига, но мысли я читать не умею.
а стих надо перевесть целиком - ну да, лично я бы смогла.
но за деньги (с))