2006年VOA标准英语-'Gettysburg Address' Echoes in American History

By Joseph Mok
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
07 November 2006
 
watch Gettysburg Address

 
Abraham Lincoln
Most speeches by American presidents fade with time from people's memories. However, some have left indelible marks on history. One of the most famous is President Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address," a two-minute speech that has inspired generations of Americans ever since. For producer Joseph Mok, Elaine Lu has the story.

The time was July 1863, in the midst of the American Civil War.  The pivotal three-day battle at Gettysburg, in the northeast state of Pennsylvania, was one of the bloodiest¹ of the war, inflicting² great losses on both the southern Confederate and northern Union armies.

Shortly after the battle, the governor of Pennsylvania commissioned David Wills, an attorney, to purchase a proper burial site near the battlefield for several thousand of the Union soldiers killed.  The 7.9-hectare cemetery³ was to be dedicated⁴ four months after the battle.

The famous politician and great orator⁵ Edward Everett would be the main speaker for the dedication⁶ ceremony.  Governors from all the Union states were invited to the occasion set for November 19th.

A letter was also sent to the White House to invite President Abraham Lincoln to make a few remarks at the cemetery's dedication. 

 
William Troxell
The current mayor of Gettysburg, William Troxell, tells of the day President Lincoln arrived in town. "Lincoln came in on the train on the 18th of November, walked to the train station we've restored. Then he walked up the circle to Wills’ house to spend the night there. There he finished writing the Gettysburg Address."

On the eve of the ceremony, the population of the small town of Gettysburg swelled⁷ to four times its size as people from around the country arrived for the event.

At the ceremony Edward Everest spoke⁸ for two hours. Then, in great contrast, President Lincoln delivered his now-famous remarks, a two-minute speech that not only remembered the battles fallen, but redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as "a new birth of freedom" that would bring true equality to all of its citizens.

Ron Hawkins is a Civil War reenactor and historian.  "It changed the country from what it once was to what it is now,” said Hawkins. “A country of the people, by the people, for the people -- yes that had always been the case, but it had been the case in a collection of states, each state was its own government, it was its own nation.  And this collection of states bound together to support itself, provide for the common defense⁹, promote the general welfare as was in the Constitution. But the binding¹⁰ has become permanent, and I'll say tighter, after this war, because now [the] U.S. [is] not considered a conglomeration¹¹, a joining of many little nations, it is now one nation made up of individual parts.

President Lincoln said "the world will little note, nor long remember" what was said at the ceremony.  He never expected his Gettysburg Address would become one of most frequently quoted speeches and a classic piece of American history.

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The Address is:

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth¹² on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place, for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting, and proper that we should do this.     

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate¹³, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated¹⁴ it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here, dedicated to the great task remaining before us. That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. And that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.

 

1 bloodiest   

adj.血污的( bloody的最高级 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• The Russians were going to suffer their bloodiest defeat of all before Berlin. 俄国人在柏林城下要遭到他们的最惨重的失败。 来自辞典例句
• It was perhaps the bloodiest hour in the history of warfare. 这也许是战争史上血腥味最浓的1个小时。 来自互联网

2 inflicting   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。
• It's impossible to do research without inflicting some pain on animals. 搞研究不让动物遭点罪是不可能的。

3 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 orator   

n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家

参考例句：

• He was so eloquent that he cut down the finest orator.他能言善辩，胜过最好的演说家。
• The orator gestured vigorously while speaking.这位演讲者讲话时用力地做手势。

6 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

7 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

11 conglomeration   

n.团块，聚集，混合物

参考例句：

• a conglomeration of buildings of different sizes and styles 大小和风格各异的建筑楼群
• To her it was a wonderful conglomeration of everything great and mighty. 在她看来，那里奇妙地聚集着所有伟大和非凡的事业。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

12 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

13 consecrate   

v.使圣化，奉…为神圣；尊崇；奉献

参考例句：

• Consecrate your life to the church.把你的生命奉献给教堂吧。
• The priest promised God he would consecrate his life to helping the poor.牧师对上帝允诺他将献身帮助穷人。

14 consecrated   

adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献

参考例句：

• The church was consecrated in 1853. 这座教堂于1853年祝圣。
• They consecrated a temple to their god. 他们把庙奉献给神。 来自《简明英汉词典》