William Cullen Bryant to His Mother
威廉·卡伦·布莱恩特（1794—1878），美国诗人，生于马萨诸塞州一个医生家庭。19世纪20年代初，布莱恩特移居纽约，从事新闻工作。1829年主编《晚邮报》，主张“自由土地、自由言论、自由劳动、自由人”。作家爱默生曾称赞他为“乡土的、诚挚的、有独创性的爱国诗人”。
本篇是布莱恩特写给母亲的信，描述婚礼当日自己的感受。
Dear Mother，
I hasten to send you the melancholy intelligence of what has lately happened to me.
Early on the evening of the eleventh day of the present month I was at a neighboring house in this village. Several people of both sexes were assembled in one of the apartments， and three or four others， with myself， were in another. At last came in a little elderly gentleman， pale， thin， with a solemn countenance， hooked nose， and hollow eyes. It was not long before we were summoned to attend in the apartment where he and the rest of the company were gathered. We went in and took our seats； the little elderly gentleman with the hooked nose prayed， and we all stood up. When he had finished， most of us sat down. The gentleman with the hooked nose then muttered certain cabalistic expressions which I was too much frightened to remember， but I recollect that at the conclusion I was given to understand that I was married to a young lady of the name of Frances Fair-child， whom I perceived standing by my side， and I hope in the course of a few months to have the pleasure of introducing to you as your daughter-in-law， which is a matter of some interest to the poor girl， who has neither father nor mother in the world...
I looked only for goodness of heart， an ingenuous and affectionate disposition， a good understanding， etc.， and the character of my wife is too frank and single hearted to suffer me to fear that I may be disappointed. I do myself wrong； I did not look for these nor any other qualities， but they trapped me before I was aware， and now I am married in spite of myself.