Backward, turn backward, O time, in your flight,
噢,流逝的时光,后退,向后退，
Make me a child again just for tonight!
就只是今夜, 让我做回纯真小孩!
Mother, come back from the echoless shore,
妈妈,从没有回音的海岸回来，
Take me again to your heart as of yore,
一如往昔把我拥入怀里，
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care,
亲吻我额头时那充满关怀的皱纹，
Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair,
顺理我头上乱糟糟的银色发丝，
Over my slumbers your loving watch keep,
在我熟睡时,一直怜爱地望着我，
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!
摇我入眠,妈妈,摇我入眠!
Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years!
噢,岁月的潮汐,后退,向后退!
I am so weary of toil and of tears,—，
我己厌倦於辛劳与眼泪，
Toil without recompense, tears all in vain,
辛劳而无补偿,眼泪徒流而无助，
Take them, and give me my childhood again,
都拿去吧,只要回到我童年，
I have grown weary of dust and decay,
我已经厌倦了尘埃与腐败，
Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away,
厌倦於丢失我的精神财富，
Weary of sowing for others to reap,
厌倦於为他人作出嫁衣裳，
Rock me to sleep, mother rock me to sleep!
摇我入眠,妈妈,摇我入眠!
Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
厌倦於空洞,卑鄙,不真实，
Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you!
妈妈,噢,妈妈,我的心在呼唤您!
Many a summer the grass has grown green,
多少个夏天,草长绿了，
Blossomed and faded, our faces between,
花开了,凋谢了,在你我之间，
Yet, with strong yearning and passionate pain,
然而,强烈的愿望,激情的痛苦，
Long I tonight for your presence again,
让我今夜渴望再见到您的出现，
Come from the silence so long and so deep,
来自沉默,那么久远,那么深沉，
Rock me to sleep, mother ， rock me to sleep!
摇我入眠,妈妈,摇我入眠！
Come, let your brown hair ， just lighted with gold,
来吧,让您的棕发,闪闪发光，
Fall on your shoulders again as of old,
一如往昔落在您的肩膀，
Let it drop over my forehead tonight,
让它落在我额头,今夜，
Shading my faint eyes away from the light,
护我微弱的眼晴，不让光线照到，
For with its sunny-edged shadows once more,
再一次,这个边缘充满柔光的身影，
Happily will throng the sweet visions of yore,
无意中又撩起昔日甜蜜的愿景，
Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep,
深情地,轻柔地,您明亮的发丝,波光粼粼，
Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!
摇我入眠,妈妈,摇我入眠！
Mother, dear mother, the years have been long,
妈妈,自我最后一次听您的摇篮曲，
Since I last listened your lullaby song,
我亲爱的妈妈,已经过去那么多年了，
Sing, then, and unto my soul it shall seem,
那么,唱吧,唱到我心灵深处，
Womanhood’s years have been only a dream.
让扮演妇人的岁月,只是场梦，
Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace,
将我紧靠您的心,作个爱的拥抱，
With your light lashes just sweeping my face,
您的睫毛轻轻,扫过我的面庞，
Never hereafter to wake or to weep—，
从今而后不再醒来或哭泣，
Rock me to sleep, mother– rock me to sleep!
摇我入眠, 妈妈, 摇我入眠…