【精读】林肯的演说 2

林肯的葛底斯堡演说（TheGettysburg Address， November 19， 1863）以庄严的圣经体开篇："Four scores and seven yearsago....";  以三个平行短语结尾："the government of the people, by the people,for the people, shall not parish from theearth."全篇266个词，字字玑珠。被认为自耶稣基督《山顶布道》之后最好的演讲，它不仅是一篇对后世有深远影响的美国历史思想政治文献，也因其“优雅的简洁”而成为英语语言和文学的旷世之作。

葛底斯堡演说266个词，一共10句话，平均每句话27个词 , 阅读水平是11th Grade (Flesch-KincaidGrade Level)。多数是单音节词和双音节的词，用词极为简洁洗练，朴实而优雅。但是遣词非常讲究，很多头韵和尾韵："Four score and seven years ago our fathersbrought forth onthiscontinent…”"newnation,""cannot consecrate"辅韵(Consonance)，类韵(Assonance)：thosewho here gavetheir lives that this nation might live.5个“dedicate”给整篇很强的 unity。前两个是dedicate给独立宣言阐述的美国的建国理念：“that all men are createdequal."   第三 dedicate给葛底斯堡的亡灵，第四个 dedicate 给为国捐躯的将士们未竟的事业 "to the unfinished work"，最后一个dedicate 给生者责无旁贷的使命 "great task remaining before us."全篇运用了大量修辞手法。整篇是一个贯穿全文的隐喻（metaphor）： 生-死-再生（birth - death - resurrection) - 一个国家和她的理想的诞生，经历内战的毁灭与洗涤，在自由中再生。第一句话就包含了4个 "生"的images:the nation was "conceived in liberty";"brought forth","by our fathers",with all men "created equal."接下来是"死"的 images:"finalresting places,""who gave their lives,""brave men, living anddead,""these honored dead"以及带有宗教洗涤意味的 “consecrate...hallow."最后是再生："this nation, under God, shallhave a new birth offreedom,"" notperish"。另一个修辞手法是 antithesis:"what we say here," "what they did here,""little note," "long remember,""add", "detract""we take" , "they gave"还有 anaphora："So conceived and so dedicated""We cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow""that from these honoreddead....that we here highlyresolve that these dead...thatthis nation, under God....and that government of the people, by thepeople, for the people..."葛底斯堡演说是最好的背诵文。这里是Gregory Peck 版本视频。葛底斯堡演说有名的中译有徐道邻、张培基、许渊冲三个译本，有很多文章评论三个译本的长短。美国国会图书馆藏的是的徐道邻译本。