Death of President Lincoln 林肯总统之死

沃尔特·惠特曼(Walter Whitman)

April 16, 1865 — I find in my notes of the time, this passage on the death of Abraham Lincoln: He leaves for America's history and biography, so far, not only its most dramatic reminiscence — he leaves, in my opinion, the greatest, best, most characteristic, artistic, moral personality. Not but that he had faults, and show'd them in the Presidency; but honesty, goodness, shrewdness , conscience, and (a new virtue, unknown to other lands, and hardly yet really known here, but the foundation and tie of all, as the future will grandly develop,) UNIONISM , in its truest and amplest sense, formed the hardpan of his character. These he sealed with his life. The tragic splendor of his death, purging , illuminating all, throws round his form, his head, an aureole that will remain and will grow brighter through time, while history lives, and love of country lasts. By many has this Union been help'd; but if one name, one man, must be picked out, he, most of all, is the conservator of it, to the future. He was assassinated — but the Union is not assassinated! One falls, and another falls. The soldier drops, sinks like a wave — but the ranks of the ocean eternally press on. Death does its work, obliterates a hundred, a thousand — President, general, captain, private — but the Nation is immortal.

- shrewdness [ˈʃruːdnɪs] n. 敏锐

- unionism [ˈjuːnjənɪzəm] n. 联邦主义思想

- hardpan [ˈhɑːdpæn] n. 坚固基础

- purge [pɜːdʒ] v. (使)净化

- aureole [ˈɔːrɪəl] n. (身上的)光环

- conservator [ˈkɒnsɜːveɪtə] n. 保护人，监督官

1865年4月16日——我发现在当时的笔记中，有关亚伯拉罕·林肯之死的这一片段：到目前为止，他留在美国历史和传记上的不只是最戏剧性的回忆录——在我看来，他留下了最伟大的、最好的、最典型的、最有艺术魅力的、最有道德的个性。虽然他有过错，而且在担任总统期间表现了这些过错，但他的诚实、他的善心、他的机敏、他的良知以及他的联邦主义（一种新的美德，在别的国家前所未闻，在这里也鲜为人知，但却是一切的基础和纽带，未来将会发扬光大）在最真实、最充分的意义上，构成了他的个性的坚实基础。他用自己的生命给这些加盖了私人印章。他的死悲壮而光荣，净化了每一个人，启迪了每一个人，他的头部和身体周围的光环将会光芒四射，穿越时空而愈加明亮，只要有历史不朽，只要国家之爱尚存。这个美利坚合众国得到过许多人的帮助，但是如果一个人的名字，一个人，必须挑选出来，他，最最可能是美利坚合众国的保护者，直到永远。他遇刺身亡——但是美利坚合众国没有遇刺！一个人倒下了，又一个人倒下了。士兵倒下了，像海浪般下沉了——但是大海的阵容永远向前推进。死神可以让人死，把成千上万的人毁灭——总统、将军、上尉、士兵——但是这个国家是不朽的。