美国国家公共电台 NPR The Star-Spangled Banner Verse You've Probably Never Heard

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

"The Star-Spangled Banner" will be playing all over the country tonight while fireworks go off. Few people know there are actually four official verses to the song. And even fewer know the one unofficial verse that was written a half a century later. Chloe Veltman of member station KQED says that verse might be relevant today.

CHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE¹: When poet Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote his extra verse, it was long after Francis Scott Key wrote the original. The U.S. was in the grip of Civil War. Here's the verse, sung by the concert choir² of Lowell High School in San Francisco.

LOWELL HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR: (Singing) When our land is illum'd (ph) with Liberty's smile, if a foe³ from within strikes a blow at her glory.

VELTMAN: Did you hear that? Unlike the familiar verse, it's not about a foreign enemy, it's about the foe from within.

LOWELL HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR: (Singing) Down, down with the traitor⁴ that tries to defile⁵ the flag of her stars and the page of her story.

STEPHEN MUCHER: He wrote that fifth verse I believe with real sorrow about what was happening to his country.

VELTMAN: Stephen Mucher is a history professor at Bard⁶ College.

MUCHER: The divisions that we had in this country in 1861 are similar to what we have now.

VELTMAN: It was, of course, actual war back then. And this verse circulated throughout the North, but there was also hope.

LOWELL HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR: (Singing) By the millions unchained who their birthright have gained, we will keep her bright blazon⁷ forever unstained.

VELTMAN: The millions unchanged - those lines look forward to the emancipation⁸ of enslaved people.

LOWELL HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR: (Singing) And "The Star-Spangled Banner" in triumph shall wave.

VELTMAN: Mucher says he can't imagine a country without, oh, say, can you see? He'd like for people to sing both the first and the fifth stanzas⁹ as a way for Americans to unite around the principles of the Constitution. For NPR News, I'm Chloe Veltman in San Francisco.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

3 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

4 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

5 defile   

v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道

参考例句：

• Don't defile the land of our ancestors!再不要污染我们先祖们的大地！
• We respect the faith of Islam, even as we fight those whose actions defile that faith.我们尊重伊斯兰教的信仰，并与玷污伊斯兰教的信仰的行为作斗争。

6 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

7 blazon   

n.纹章，装饰；精确描绘；v.广布；宣布

参考例句：

• I believe Shakespeare wants to blazon forth a notion of disciplinary well-ordered and morality.我认为莎士比亚想宣扬一种有纪律有秩序有道德的社会主张。

8 emancipation   

n.（从束缚、支配下）解放

参考例句：

• We must arouse them to fight for their own emancipation. 我们必须唤起他们为其自身的解放而斗争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They rejoiced over their own emancipation. 他们为自己的解放感到欢欣鼓舞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 stanzas   

节，段( stanza的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poem has six stanzas. 这首诗有六小节。
• Stanzas are different from each other in one poem. 诗中节与节差异颇大。