Slumber My Darling

這次沒有長篇大論啦，來點音樂吧。

嗯，聽音樂學英文是再自然不過了。這裡為大家播放的是我很喜歡的現代bluegrass歌手Alison Krauss（愛莉森克勞絲）與馬友友等藝人合作演出的Slumber My Darling（睡吧，我親愛的）。此曲為美國音樂之父Stephen Foster（就是寫"Oh! Susanna"和"Beautiful Dreamer"的那位）所作，歌詞旋律簡單卻動人至深。Foster生於1826年，歌詞偶有出現thee, thou等早期英文並不足為奇。本曲收錄於馬友友阿帕拉契之旅專輯（右圖），想聽聽馬友友等藝人用一把大提琴、一把小提琴和低音提琴呈現這張帶有美國西部鄉村風味的演奏嗎？老師很歡迎同學來借喔！



Slumber, my darling, thy mother is near,
Guarding thy dreams from all terror and fear,
Sunlight has pass’d and the twilight has gone,
Slumber, my darling, the night’s coming on.

Sweet visions attend thy sleep,
Fondest, dearest to me,
While others their revels keep,
I will watch over thee.

Slumber, my darling, the birds are at rest,
The wandering dews by the flow’rs are caressed,
Slumber, my darling, I’ll wrap thee up warm,
And pray that the angels will shield thee from harm.

Slumber, my darling, till morn’s blushing ray
Brings to the world the glad tidings of day;
Fill the dark void with thy dreamy delight–
Slumber, thy mother will guard thee tonight,

Thy pillow shall sacred be
From all outward alarms;
Thou, thou are the world to me
In thine innocent charms.

Slumber, my darling, the birds are at rest,
The wandering dews by the flow’rs are caressed,
Slumber, my darling, I’ll wrap thee up warm,
And pray that the angels will shield thee from harm.

歌詞與詩這類文字往往為了壓韻而更動字序，或為了歌曲拍子省略音節，同學發現了嗎？你知道要怎麼把它乾坤大挪移回來嗎？別急著查單字，先聽幾遍，跟著唱，你會很享受在這音樂當中的！