The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished, tone and tint. They have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears, and coaxed and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen vainly, but with thirsty ears, for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long roll. In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield. But in the evening of my memory, always I come back to West Point. Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country. Today marks my final roll call with you, but I want you to know that when I cross the river my last conscious thoughts will be of The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps. Notetone: v. 缓和,减轻tint: v. 染色coax: v. 安慰,哄caress: v. 抚爱witching: a. 有魅力的bugle: n. 喇叭, 军号reveille: n. 起床号crash: n. 爆裂声musketry: n. 步枪射击mutter: n. 咕哝West Point: 西点军校echo: n. 回声 中文翻译: 我的生命已近黄昏,暮色已经降临,我昔日的风采和荣誉已经消失。它们随着对昔日事业的憧憬,带着那余晖消失了。昔日的记忆奇妙而美好,浸透了眼泪和昨日微笑的安慰和抚爱。我尽力但徒然地倾听,渴望听到军号吹奏起床导对那微弱而迷人的旋律,以及远处战鼓急促敲击的动人节奏。我在梦幻中依稀又听到了大炮在轰鸣,又听到了滑膛枪在鸣放,又听到了战场上那陌生、哀愁的呻吟。 |