Stephen Collins Foster
1
Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay;
Gone are my friends from the cotton fields away;
Gone from the earth to a better land I know,
I hear their gentIe voices calling,
“Old Black Joe!”
I'm coming, I'm coming, for my head is bending low;
I hear their gentle voices calling,
“Old Black Joe!”
2
Why do I weep when my heart should feel no pain?
Why do I sigh that my friends come not again?
Grieving for forms now departed Iong ago,
I hear their gentle voices calling,
“Old Black Joe!”
3
Where are thee hearts once so happy and so free?
The children so dear that I held upon my knee?
Gone to the shore where my souI has longed to go,
I hear their gentle voices calling,
“Old Black Joe!”
史蒂芬·柯林斯·福斯特
1
快樂(lè)童年,如今一去不復(fù)返,
親愛(ài)的朋友,都已離開(kāi)家園,
離開(kāi)塵世到那天上的樂(lè)園,
我聽(tīng)見(jiàn)他們輕聲把我呼喚,
“老黑喬!”
我來(lái)了,我來(lái)了,
我已年老背又彎,
我聽(tīng)見(jiàn)他們輕聲把我呼喚。
2
為何哭泣,如今我不應(yīng)憂傷?
為何嘆息,朋友不能重相見(jiàn)?
為何悲痛,親人去世已多年。
我聽(tīng)見(jiàn)他們輕聲把我呼喚,
“老黑喬!”
3
昔日快樂(lè)無(wú)羈的人們,如今安在?
還有,我抱在膝上可愛(ài)的小家伙?
他們都已經(jīng)到了我靈魂所渴望去的海岸,
我聽(tīng)見(jiàn)他們?nèi)崧暫魡荆?/p>
“老黑喬!”
實(shí)戰(zhàn)提升
背景知識(shí)
史蒂芬·柯林斯·福斯特(Stephen Collins Foster),美國(guó)作曲家。他生于匹茲堡東邊的一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn),在家中十個(gè)兄弟姊妹中排行第九。因?yàn)榧抑胁⒉桓辉?,所以自小幾乎失學(xué)在家,但他喜歡閱讀及熱愛(ài)音樂(lè)。青少年時(shí)期與哥哥等合組一個(gè)音樂(lè)社,名為“方桌武士”,在其十八歲時(shí)寫(xiě)下其生平第一首歌《打開(kāi)窗扉的愛(ài)》。
這是一首由斯蒂芬·福斯特作詞作曲,在美國(guó)特別是在美國(guó)黑人中廣為流傳的歌曲。歌中向世人傾訴了黑人兄弟辛勞艱難最終將走向天堂與家人團(tuán)聚的一生。這首歌反映了一個(gè)老黑奴痛苦的一生和回憶。如今老黑奴年事已高,滄桑歲月壓彎了腰,他將走向理想的樂(lè)園。他的身邊時(shí)時(shí)響起“他們輕聲的呼喚”。這呼喚是心靈的呼喚,這呼喚將把他帶入天堂和在那里的親人們團(tuán)圓。
單詞注解
cotton['k?tn]棉,棉花
gentIe['d?entl]溫和的;和善的
Iong[l??]渴望
souI[s?ul]靈魂,心靈
名句誦讀
Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay;Gone are my friends from the cotton fields away;Gone from the earth to a better land l know, l hear their gentle voices calling,“Old Black Joe!”
Why do l weep when my heart should feel no pain?Why do l sigh that my friends come not again?Grieving for forms now departed long ago, l hear their gentle voices calling,“Old Black Joe!”
Where are thee hearts once so happy and so free?The children so dear that l held upon my knee?Gone to the shore where my soul has longed to go, l hear their gentle voices calling,“Old Black Joe!”