government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the earth a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal
Extraits du discours
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
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 battle-
field 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
consecrate ... we cannot hallow... this ground. The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated 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."
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 battle-
field 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
consecrate ... we cannot hallow... this ground. The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated 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."
Le contexte
Nous sommes le 19 novembre 1863, à Gettysburg, États-Unis. Au mois de juillet précédent, en ce même lieu, s'est déroulé une terrible bataille durant 3 jours, décisive de la guerre civile, qui a décidé de la victoire des Nordistes, pour la libération de l'esclavage. Abraham Lincoln, président de l'Union (la partie Nordiste) se rend au cimetière de la ville pour y célébrer les victimes de cette bataille. Il prépare son discours en chemin, en prenant des notes sur une enveloppe. Sur le fait son discours surprendre peu et passera un peu inaperçu. Par la suite, il est devenu un des textes les plus célèbres de l'histoire des États-Unis, gravé au Lincoln Memorial à Washington. Les enfants l'apprenaient par coeur. Certaines phrase ou expressions sont devenues des définitions de la démocratie.
Une seule photo de l'événement existe. On y voit à peine Lincoln au centre. Lincoln a fait plusieurs copies de son discours, qu'il a donné à ses proches et secrétaires. En voici une, la "Nicolay copy", qui serait une des premières.
Sources
Wikipedia (2010). Gettysburg Address. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address]Britton Rea (2007).Gettysburg Address [audio] (version transformée en format MP3). Wikipedia. [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/File:Gettysburg_by_Britton.ogg]
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire