LESSON 69

THE BRAVE AT HOME

家里的勇敢者

Thomas Buchanan Read, 1822-1872, an American poet and painter, was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania. At the age of seventeen he entered a sculptor’s studio in Cincinnati. Here he gained reputation as a painter of portraits. From this city he went to New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, and soon after to Florence, Italy. In the later years of his life, he divided his time between Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and Rome. His complete poetical works fill three volumes. Several of his most stirring poems relate to the Revolutionary War, and to the late Civil War in America. Many of his poems are marked by vigor and a ringing power, while smoothness and delicacy distinguish others, no less.

The maid who binds her warrior’s sash,

And, smiling, all her pain dissembles,

The while beneath the drooping lash,

One starry tear-drop hangs and trembles;

Though Heaven alone records the tear,

And fame shall never know her story,

Her heart has shed a drop as dear

As ever dewed the field of glory!

The wife who girds her husband’s sword,

’Mid little ones who weep and wonder,

And bravely speaks the cheering word,

What though her heart be rent asunder;—

Doomed nightly in her dreams to hear

The bolts of war around him rattle,—

Has shed as sacred blood as e’er

Was poured upon the field of battle!

The mother who conceals her grief,

While to her breast her son she presses,

Then breathes a few brave words and brief,

Kissing the patriot brow she blesses;

With no one but her loving God,

To know the pain that weighs upon her,

Sheds holy blood as e’er the sod

Received on Freedom’s field of honor!

【中文阅读】

为向她的勇士系肩带的姑娘，

浅笑盈盈，掩饰起所有的痛苦，

就在低垂的鞭子下面，

布满星星的泪珠挂着，在颤抖；

虽然只有天空记录这滴泪珠，

可是名声从不晓得她的来历，

她的心流下珍贵的一滴，

依旧为原野洒下荣耀的露水！

束着丈夫剑的妻子，

站在一群哭泣和好奇的人中间，

勇敢地说些喝彩的话，

尽管她心无旁骛——

夜晚在梦里她注定会听到，

他周围响起嘎嘎的上闩的声响——

像往昔一样流出神圣的鲜血

涌向那战场！

掩饰住自己悲伤的这位母亲，

将儿子按在胸膛，

说出几句勇敢的话，就陷入悲伤，

亲吻勇士的前额，那是她求神赐福的地方；

除了她以外没人敬爱上帝，

知道痛苦会压垮她的肩膀，

像往昔一样草地满是流出的圣洁的鲜血，

只流淌在荣誉的自由之地上！