William Blake
When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry“‘weep!weep!weep!weep!”
So your chimney I sweep,&in soot I sleep.
There's little Tom Dacre who cried when his head
That curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd, so I said,
“Hush, Tom!never mind it, for when our head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoiI your white hair.”
And so he was quiet,&that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight!
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned,&Jack,
Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black;
And by came an angel who had a bright key,
And he open'd the coffins&set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun;
Then naked&white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind,
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.
And so Tom awoke;and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags&our brushes to work.
Tho'the morning was cold, Tom was happy&warm;
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
威廉·布萊克
我母親死的時(shí)候,我還小,
我父親把我賣給了別人,
我當(dāng)時(shí)還不太喊得清“掃呀,掃呀,”
就這樣白天掃你們的煙囪,晚上在煙灰里睡覺。
有個(gè)小湯姆,頭發(fā)卷得像羊毛,
剃光的時(shí)候,哭得好傷心,好難受,
我就說:“小湯姆,別哭,光了頭,
煙灰就不會(huì)糟蹋你的頭發(fā)了。”
他平靜了下來,當(dāng)天夜里,
湯姆睡著了,夢見了這樣的景象,
迪克,喬,南德,杰克等千千萬萬個(gè)掃煙囪小孩
統(tǒng)統(tǒng)被鎖進(jìn)了黑棺材。
后來來了個(gè)天使,拿了把金鑰匙,
他打開棺材放出了孩子們(真是好天使!)
他們又跳又笑地來到了草地上,
洗浴于河水,晾曬于陽光。
把工具袋丟下,赤條條的,白白的,
他們升到云端,在風(fēng)中嬉戲;
“只要你做個(gè)好孩子,”天使對湯姆說,
“上帝會(huì)做你的父親,永不缺少歡喜?!?/p>
湯姆于是夢醒,我們在黑暗中起床,
拿起工具袋和刷子去干活。
晨風(fēng)雖冷,湯姆自感心歡溫暖;
如果所有人都恪盡職守,就不怕災(zāi)難。
實(shí)戰(zhàn)提升
背景知識
威廉·布萊克(William Blake),18世紀(jì)末19世紀(jì)初英國著名的畫家,英國文學(xué)史上最復(fù)雜、最有個(gè)性的詩人之一。布萊克的早期詩歌以頌揚(yáng)愛情、向往歡樂與和諧為主題。他的詩歌語言質(zhì)樸,形象鮮明,富有音樂感,充滿瑰麗的想象和奔放的激情。后期詩作明顯具有神秘主義傾向和宗教色彩,用象征的手法來表達(dá)深邃的思想。布萊克生活清貧,靠繪畫和雕刻為生,他那富有個(gè)人靈念與想象力的恢弘詩篇生前并沒有得到承認(rèn)。英國文學(xué)界直到19世紀(jì)末才開始意識到他們原來忽略的的不僅僅是一位頗有造詣的版畫家,而且還是一位詩哲。
在很多年以前,男孩們經(jīng)常去掃煙囪。他們得爬到煙囪里面,刮干凈煤煙,然后把它們掃走,這可是一項(xiàng)艱苦的工作,而且對身體非常有害。這首詩選自《天真之歌》,進(jìn)一步表明“天真”是超越官能的感官束縛的關(guān)鍵,這樣就賦予天真以深刻的內(nèi)涵。
單詞注解
tongue[t??]說話能力;口才
spoiI[sp?il]損壞;糟蹋
coffin['k?fin]棺材,靈柩
名句誦讀
When my mother died l was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue Could scarcely cry“‘weep!weep!weep!weep!”So your chimney l sweep,&in soot l sleep.
And by came an angel who had a bright key, And he open'd the coffins&set them all free;Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run And wash in a river, and shine in the sun;
And so Tom awoke;and we rose in the dark, And got with our bags&our brushes to work. Tho'the morning was cold, Tom was happy&warm;So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.