(单词翻译:单击)
The Lutherans sit stolidly1 in rows;
only their children feel the holy ghost
that makes them jerk and bobble and almost
destroys the pious3 atmosphere for those
whose reverence4 bows their backs as if in work.
The congregation sits, or stands to sing,
or chants the dusty creeds5 automaton6.
Their voices drone like engines, on and on,
and they remain untouched by everything;
confession7, praise, or likewise, giving thanks.
The organ that they saved years to afford
repeats the Sunday rhythms song by song,
slow lips recite the credo, smother8 yawns,
and ask forgiveness for being so bored.
I, too, am wavering on the edge of sleep,
and ask myself again why I have come
to probe the ruins of this dying cult9.
I come bearing the cancer of my doubt
as superstitious10 suffering women come
to touch the magic hem2 of a saint's robe.
Yet this has served two centuries of men
as more than superstitious cant11; they died
believing simply. Women, satisfied
that this was truth, were racked and burned with them
for empty words we moderns merely chant.
We sing a spiritual as the last song,
and we are moved by a peculiar12 grace
that settles a new aura on the place.
This simple melody, though sung all wrong,
captures exactly what I think is faith.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
That slaves should suffer in his agony!
That Christian13, slave-owning hypocrisy14
nevertheless was by these slaves ignored
as they pitied the poor body of Christ!
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble,
that they believe most, who so much have lost.
To be a Christian one must bear a cross.
I think belief is given to the simple
as recompense for what they do not know.
I sit alone, tormented15 in my heart
by fighting angels, one group black, one white.
The victory is uncertain, but tonight
I'll lie awake again, and try to start
finding the black way back to what we've lost.
1 stolidly | |
adv.迟钝地,神经麻木地 | |
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2 hem | |
n.贴边,镶边;vt.缝贴边;(in)包围,限制 | |
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3 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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4 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
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5 creeds | |
(尤指宗教)信条,教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
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6 automaton | |
n.自动机器,机器人 | |
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7 confession | |
n.自白,供认,承认 | |
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8 smother | |
vt./vi.使窒息;抑制;闷死;n.浓烟;窒息 | |
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9 cult | |
n.异教,邪教;时尚,狂热的崇拜 | |
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10 superstitious | |
adj.迷信的 | |
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11 cant | |
n.斜穿,黑话,猛扔 | |
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12 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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13 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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14 hypocrisy | |
n.伪善,虚伪 | |
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15 tormented | |
饱受折磨的 | |
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