K IL Kelly
Kilkelly Ireland, eighteen and sixty, my dear and lovin' son John
愛爾蘭基爾凱利鎮，1860年，我親愛的兒子約翰：
Your good friend the Schoolmaster Pat McNamara
你的好友帕特·麥克納馬拉校長
So good as to write these words down
他好心幫我寫了這封信
Your brothers have all gone to find work in England
你的兄弟們都去英格蘭找工作了
The house is so empty and sad
現在，屋子空蕩蕩的，讓人神傷
The crop of potatoes is sorely infected
地裡的土豆遭受很強的蟲害襲擊
A third to a half of them bad
三分之一甚至一半都壞掉了
And your sister Brigid and Patrick O'Donnell
你的妹妹布麗奇特和帕特里克·奧唐奈
Are going to be married in June
將於六月份結婚
Your mother says not to work on the railroad
你的媽媽說不久就不再去鐵路上上班了
And be sure to come on home soon
她確信這次真的是要待家裡了
Kilkelly Ireland, eighteen and sixty, my dear and lovin' son John
愛爾蘭基爾凱利鎮，1870年，我親愛的兒子約翰：
Hello to your missus and to your four children
向你的妻子和四個孩子問好
May they grow healthy and strong
祝愿他們健康，茁壯成長
Michael has got in a wee bit of trouble
邁克爾（約翰的兄弟）有點小小的麻煩
I suppose he never will learn
我想他沒有從以前的經驗中汲取教訓
Because of the dampness there's no turf to speak of
因為氣候太潮濕的緣故，這裡沒了乾草
And now we have nothing to burn
現在我們沒得可燒的東西了
And Brigid is happy, you named a child for her
布麗奇特很高興你給她的孩子取名
Although she's got six of her own
儘管她已經有了六個孩子
You say you've found work
你說你剛找到一份工作
But you don't say what kind
但是沒說是什麼樣的工作
Or when you' ll be comin' home
也沒說你什麼時候回家
Kilkelly Ireland, eighteen and eighty, dear Michael and John my sons
愛爾蘭基爾凱利鎮，1880年，親愛的邁克爾和兒子約翰：
I'm sorry to give you the very sad news
我很抱歉要告訴你一個非常悲傷的消息
Your mother has gone
你的媽媽逝世了
We buried her down at the church in Kilkelly
我們把她葬在了基爾凱利鎮的教堂邊
Your brothers and Bridget were there
你的兄弟們和布麗奇特那天都在
You don't have to worry, she died very quickly
你不要太憂慮，她走得很快
Remember her in your prayers
你做禱告的時候不要忘記媽媽
And it's so good to hear that Michael's returning with money he's sure to buy land
還有一件想必你聽了高興的事，邁克爾掙了一些錢回來了，而且真的買了一塊地
For the crop has been poor and the people are selling
因為地裡的收成實在糟糕，人們都在賣地
For any price that they can
只要給點底錢，他們幾乎都會賣
Kilkelly Ireland, eighteen and ninety, my dear and lovin' son John
愛爾蘭基爾凱利鎮，1890年，我親愛的兒子約翰：
I suppose that I must be close on eighty
我馬上就要八十歲了
It's thirty years since you've gone
而你已經走了整整三十年
Because of all of the money you sent me
正是因為你寄來的所有的錢
I'm still living' out of my own
我才能活到這個年齡，幾乎超出了我的命數
Michael has built himself a fine house
邁克爾已經給自己蓋了所很好的房子
And Bridget's daughters have grown
布麗奇特的小妮子們長得都很喜人
And thank you for sendin' your family picture
謝謝吾兒你寄來的你的全家福
They're lovely young women and men
他們是些非常可愛的年輕男女
You say you might even come for a visit
你說你甚至有可能回來看望我們
What a joy to see you again
能再次見到你，這是多麼讓人高興的事
Kilkelly Ireland, eighteen and ninety two, my dear brother John
愛爾蘭基爾凱利鎮，1892年，我親愛的兄弟約翰：
I'm sorry I didn't write sooner to tell you that father has gone
抱歉我沒有及時寫信給你，告訴你父親去世的事
He was living with Brigid, she said he was cheerful and healthy right down to the end
他一直和Brigid生活在一起，她說，父親愉快而健康，直到壽終正寢
And you should have seen him play with the grandchildren
而且，你真應該看看他和你的朋友
Of Pat McNamara your friend
帕特·麥克納馬拉的孫輩們玩耍時的樣子
And we buried him alongside of mother
我們把他葬在了媽媽旁邊
Down at Kilkelly churchyard
就是在咱們基爾凱利鎮教堂的墓地裡
He was a strong and a feisy old man
他是個很堅強的倔老頭
Considering that life is so hard
因為生活是如此的艱辛
And it's funny the way he kept talkin' about you
他總是提起你，而他提起你的時候總是很有趣
He called for you at the end
臨走的時候還在叫你的名字
And why don't you think about comin' to visit
為什麼不考慮一下回來看看我們
We'd all love to see you again
我們都真心盼著再見到你