It was possible, in the mind's eye at least,
但至少在想象中
to gaze west towards the setting sun
朝西向着落日
and see an unclouded Eden.
有可能看到清晰的伊甸园
Some truly lurid panorama paintings
一些华丽的全景画由此诞生
were produced in the name of these paradise illusions,
代表了天堂的幻想
all shining with the stage lighting of Providence.
都在天意之光的照耀下熠熠生辉
All of these efforts, like most propaganda,
令人伤感的是 和大多数传道一样

were sentimentally forgettable once the war was over.
所有这些一旦战争结束就被遗忘
But one great painting
但一副伟大的画作
came out of the craving for landscape consolation.
摆脱了渴望美景的模式
And it was a distinctly unromantic elegy,
它无疑是平淡无奇的挽歌
both tragic and hopeful at the same time.
同时具有悲剧色彩和希望
The Veteran In A New Field
《在新田野的老兵》
was the work of the greatest, in my view,
在我看来是十九世纪所有美国艺术家的作品中
of all 19th-century American artists.
最伟大作品
Winslow Homer was then just 29
温斯洛.霍默时年仅二十九岁
and fresh from the battlefield.
刚从战场上返回
As a war illustrator for magazines and newspapers,
他给杂志和报纸画战争插画
he'd seen the carnage first-hand.
他见过大屠杀
Unlike the starry-eyed painters of expansive horizons,
不像那些画广阔天空的画家
with their Olympian points of view,
持超图世俗的观点
Homer's picture comes down to earth
霍默的画脚踏实地
and plants us deep in the soil.
带我们深入土地
That soil is both infinitely fertile, bursting with gold,
土地肥沃 充满金子
but also, of course, deeply blood-soaked.
但也浸满鲜血
Homer painted it in 1865,
霍默于1865年完成该作品
just a few months after the bloodiest war in all US history
就在美国史上最血腥的战争
had come to an end.
结束后的几个月之后
The traumatic shock of Lincoln's assassination, too,
林肯被刺杀造成的震惊
was still raw in Homer's mind.
霍默依旧记忆犹新
In the solitary, epic figure of the veteran, there is, of course,
在孤独又伟大的老兵身上
something of the lonely nobility of the martyred president -
当然也有遇害总统身上孤单又高贵的品质
thanklessly toiling, and,
徒劳地劳苦
I believe, also something of Homer himself.
我相信也有霍默自身的东西
Like his namesake from classical antiquity,
像和他同名的古典时代人物一样[荷马]
Homer conjures the great themes
霍默创造了伟大的主题
of sacrifice and regeneration and, of course,
将牺牲 重生 当然还有
the endless regiments of the fallen, embodied in the wheat.
无数倒下的军人 通过小麦而体现