The Chimney-Sweeper,1789
The Chimney-Sweeper，1789
by William Blake
The Chimney-SweeperWhen 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 chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.
There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; so I said,
'Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.'
And so he was quiet, and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight! -
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.
And by came an angel, who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins, and 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 and 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 and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
掃煙囪孩子
威廉·布萊克
The Chimney-Sweeper我母親死的時候，我還小得很，
我父親把我拿出來賣給了別人，
我當時還不大喊得清“掃呀，掃，”
我就掃你們煙囪，裹煤屑睡覺。
有個小托姆，頭發(fā)卷得像小羊頭，
剃光的時候，哭得好傷心，好難受，
我就說：“小托姆，不要緊，光了腦袋，
大起來煤屑就不會糟蹋你白頭發(fā)。”
他就安安靜靜了，當天夜里，
托姆睡著了，事情就來得稀奇，
他看見千千萬萬的掃煙囪小孩
阿貓阿狗全都給鎖進了黑棺材。
后來來了個天使，拿了把金鑰匙，
開棺材放出了孩子們（真是好天使！）
他們就邊跳，邊笑，邊跑過草坪，
到河里洗了澡，太陽里曬得亮晶晶。
光光的，白白的，把袋子都拋個一地，
他們就升上了云端，在風里游戲；
“只要你做個好孩子，”天使對托姆說，
“上帝會做你的父親，你永遠快樂。”
托姆就醒了；屋子里黑咕隆咚，
我們就起來拿袋子、掃帚去做工。
大清早盡管冷，托姆的心里可溫暖；
這叫做：各盡本分，就不怕災難。
（卞之琳 譯）
此詩選自布萊克的詩集《天真之歌》。在十八世紀，小孩，有時候甚至不到四五歲，被雇傭來爬上狹窄的煙道，去清掃煙囪，煙灰裝在口袋里。這些小孩有時候是被父母賣給專營清掃煙囪的人，那些人虐待他們，很多孩子染上各種病，身體變成畸形。這首詩，是對社會容許這種慘無人道的奴役的強烈譴責。全詩從一個孩子的視角，模仿孩子天真的語言，而強烈的諷刺寓于其中。小孩說的話和布萊克要表達的意思是很不相同的，從而起到一種反諷的效果。在詩的第八行，提到的白發(fā)，暗含強烈的諷刺意味，因為這些孩子很少有活到長出白頭發(fā)的那一天的！中間，托姆的美夢和結尾處冰冷的現實形成巨大的反差。最后一行“do their duty”隱含譴責那些沒有對可憐的掃煙囪的小孩盡到職責的人：他們的父母，以及整個社會。全詩的基調是compassion（同情）和angry（憤怒），而后一種情緒深深的隱藏在表面冷靜的文字底下。
詩人簡介威廉·布萊克簡介
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